WorldWideScience

Sample records for selection including differencing

  1. Automatically tuned adaptive differencing algorithm for 3-D SN implemented in PENTRAN

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sjoden, G.; Courau, T.; Manalo, K.; Yi, C.

    2009-01-01

    We present an adaptive algorithm with an automated tuning feature to augment optimum differencing scheme selection for 3-D S N computations in Cartesian geometry. This adaptive differencing scheme has been implemented in the PENTRAN parallel S N code. Individual fixed zeroth spatial transport moment based schemes, including Diamond Zero (DZ), Directional Theta Weighted (DTW), and Exponential Directional Iterative (EDI) 3-D S N methods were evaluated and compared with solutions generated using a code-tuned adaptive algorithm. Model problems considered include a fixed source slab problem (using reflected y- and z-axes) which contained mixed shielding and diffusive regions, and a 17 x 17 PWR assembly eigenvalue test problem; these problems were benchmarked against multigroup MCNP5 Monte Carlo computations. Both problems were effective in highlighting the performance of the adaptive scheme compared to single schemes, and demonstrated that the adaptive tuning handles exceptions to the standard DZ-DTW-EDI adaptive strategy. The tuning feature includes special scheme selection provisions for optically thin cells, and incorporates the ratio of the angular source density relative to the total angular collision density to best select the differencing method. Overall, the adaptive scheme demonstrated the best overall solution accuracy in the test problems. (authors)

  2. Optimization of Finite-Differencing Kernels for Numerical Relativity Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto Alfieri

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available A simple optimization strategy for the computation of 3D finite-differencing kernels on many-cores architectures is proposed. The 3D finite-differencing computation is split direction-by-direction and exploits two level of parallelism: in-core vectorization and multi-threads shared-memory parallelization. The main application of this method is to accelerate the high-order stencil computations in numerical relativity codes. Our proposed method provides substantial speedup in computations involving tensor contractions and 3D stencil calculations on different processor microarchitectures, including Intel Knight Landing.

  3. New adaptive differencing strategy in the PENTRAN 3-d parallel Sn code

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sjoden, G.E.; Haghighat, A.

    1996-01-01

    It is known that three-dimensional (3-D) discrete ordinates (S n ) transport problems require an immense amount of storage and computational effort to solve. For this reason, parallel codes that offer a capability to completely decompose the angular, energy, and spatial domains among a distributed network of processors are required. One such code recently developed is PENTRAN, which iteratively solves 3-D multi-group, anisotropic S n problems on distributed-memory platforms, such as the IBM-SP2. Because large problems typically contain several different material zones with various properties, available differencing schemes should automatically adapt to the transport physics in each material zone. To minimize the memory and message-passing overhead required for massively parallel S n applications, available differencing schemes in an adaptive strategy should also offer reasonable accuracy and positivity, yet require only the zeroth spatial moment of the transport equation; differencing schemes based on higher spatial moments, in spite of their greater accuracy, require at least twice the amount of storage and communication cost for implementation in a massively parallel transport code. This paper discusses a new adaptive differencing strategy that uses increasingly accurate schemes with low parallel memory and communication overhead. This strategy, implemented in PENTRAN, includes a new scheme, exponential directional averaged (EDA) differencing

  4. Ice Sheet Change Detection by Satellite Image Differencing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bindschadler, Robert A.; Scambos, Ted A.; Choi, Hyeungu; Haran, Terry M.

    2010-01-01

    Differencing of digital satellite image pairs highlights subtle changes in near-identical scenes of Earth surfaces. Using the mathematical relationships relevant to photoclinometry, we examine the effectiveness of this method for the study of localized ice sheet surface topography changes using numerical experiments. We then test these results by differencing images of several regions in West Antarctica, including some where changes have previously been identified in altimeter profiles. The technique works well with coregistered images having low noise, high radiometric sensitivity, and near-identical solar illumination geometry. Clouds and frosts detract from resolving surface features. The ETM(plus) sensor on Landsat-7, ALI sensor on EO-1, and MODIS sensor on the Aqua and Terra satellite platforms all have potential for detecting localized topographic changes such as shifting dunes, surface inflation and deflation features associated with sub-glacial lake fill-drain events, or grounding line changes. Availability and frequency of MODIS images favor this sensor for wide application, and using it, we demonstrate both qualitative identification of changes in topography and quantitative mapping of slope and elevation changes.

  5. Effectiveness of a consistently formulated diffusion-synthetic acceleration differencing approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khalil, H.

    1988-01-01

    A consistently formulated differencing approach is applied to the diffusion-synthetic acceleration of discrete ordinates calculations based on various spatial differencing schemes. The diffusion ''coupling'' equations derived for each scheme are contrasted to conventional coupling relations and are shown to permit derivation of either point- or box-centered diffusion difference equations. The resulting difference equations are shown to be mathematically equivalent, in slab geometry, to equations derived by applying Larsen's four-step procedure to the S/sub 2/ equations. Fourier stability analysis of the acceleration method applied to slab model problems is used to demonstrate that, for any S/sub n/ differencing scheme (a) the upper bound on the spectral radius of the method occurs in the fine-mesh limit and equals that of the spatially continuous case (0.22466), and (b) the spectral radius decreases with increasing mesh size to an asymptotic value <0.13135. This model problem performance is somewhat superior to that of Larsen's approach, for which the spectral radius is bounded by 0.25 in the wide-mesh limit. Numerical results of multidimensional, heterogeneous, scattering-dominated problems are also presented to demonstrate the rapid convergence of accelerated discrete ordinates calculations using various spatial differencing schemes

  6. Pump-probe differencing technique for cavity-enhanced, noise-canceling saturation laser spectroscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Vine, Glenn; McClelland, David E; Gray, Malcolm B; Close, John D

    2005-05-15

    We present an experimental technique that permits mechanical-noise-free, cavity-enhanced frequency measurements of an atomic transition and its hyperfine structure. We employ the 532-nm frequency-doubled output from a Nd:YAG laser and an iodine vapor cell. The cell is placed in a folded ring cavity (FRC) with counterpropagating pump and probe beams. The FRC is locked with the Pound-Drever-Hall technique. Mechanical noise is rejected by differencing the pump and probe signals. In addition, this differenced error signal provides a sensitive measure of differential nonlinearity within the FRC.

  7. Application of volume-weighted skew-upwind differencing to thermal and fluid mixing in the cold leg and downcomer of a PWR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, F.F.; Miao, C.C.; Chen, B.C.J.; Domanus, H.M.; Lyczkowski, R.W.; Sha, W.T.

    1983-01-01

    Upwind differencing has been the most common numerical scheme used in computational fluid flow and heat transfer in past years. However, the numerical diffusion induced by the use of upwind differencing can be significant in problems involving thermal mixing. Thermal and fluid mixing in a pressurized water reactor during high pressurized coolant injection is a typical example where numerical diffusion is significant. An improved volume-weighted skew-upwind differencing is used here to reduce numerical diffusion without overshooting or undershooting which is the major defect of original skew-upwind differencing proposed by Raithby. The basic concept of volume-weighted skew-upwind differencing is shown. Computations were performed using COMMIX-1B, an extended version of the COMMIX-1A. The experiment analyzed here is test No. 1 of the SAI experiment

  8. Implicit Higher Order Temporal Differencing for Aeroacoustic and CFD Applications, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This proposal presents a stand-alone implicit high order temporal differencing solver concept that will interface with research and commercial numerical analysis...

  9. The new Exponential Directional Iterative (EDI) 3-D Sn scheme for parallel adaptive differencing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sjoden, G.E.

    2005-01-01

    The new Exponential Directional Iterative (EDI) discrete ordinates (Sn) scheme for 3-D Cartesian Coordinates is presented. The EDI scheme is a logical extension of the positive, efficient Exponential Directional Weighted (EDW) Sn scheme currently used as the third level of the adaptive spatial differencing algorithm in the PENTRAN parallel discrete ordinates solver. Here, the derivation and advantages of the EDI scheme are presented; EDI uses EDW-rendered exponential coefficients as initial starting values to begin a fixed point iteration of the exponential coefficients. One issue that required evaluation was an iterative cutoff criterion to prevent the application of an unstable fixed point iteration; although this was needed in some cases, it was readily treated with a default to EDW. Iterative refinement of the exponential coefficients in EDI typically converged in fewer than four fixed point iterations. Moreover, EDI yielded more accurate angular fluxes compared to the other schemes tested, particularly in streaming conditions. Overall, it was found that the EDI scheme was up to an order of magnitude more accurate than the EDW scheme on a given mesh interval in streaming cases, and is potentially a good candidate as a fourth-level differencing scheme in the PENTRAN adaptive differencing sequence. The 3-D Cartesian computational cost of EDI was only about 20% more than the EDW scheme, and about 40% more than Diamond Zero (DZ). More evaluation and testing are required to determine suitable upgrade metrics for EDI to be fully integrated into the current adaptive spatial differencing sequence in PENTRAN. (author)

  10. Multifunction Voltage-Mode Filter Using Single Voltage Differencing Differential Difference Amplifier

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chaichana Amornchai

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a voltage mode multifunction filter based on single voltage differencing differential difference amplifier (VDDDA is presented. The proposed filter with three input voltages and single output voltage is constructed with single VDDDA, two capacitors and two resistors. Its quality factor can be adjusted without affecting natural frequency. Also, the natural frequency can be electronically tuned via adjusting of bias current. The filter can offer five output responses, high-pas (HP, band-pass (BP, band-reject (BR, low-pass (LP and all-ass (AP functions in the same circuit topology. The output response can be selected by choosing the suitable input voltage without the component matching condition and the requirement of additional double gain voltage amplifier. PSpice simulation results to confirm an operation of the proposed filter correspond to the theory.

  11. Upwind differencing scheme for the equations of ideal magnetohydrodynamics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brio, M.; Wu, C.C.

    1988-01-01

    Recently, upwind differencing schemes have become very popular for solving hyperbolic partial differential equations, especially when discontinuities exist in the solutions. Among many upwind schemes successfully applied to the problems in gas dynamics, Roe's method stands out for its relative simplicity and clarity of the underlying physical model. In this paper, an upwind differencing scheme of Roe-type for the MHD equations is constructed. In each computational cell, the problem is first linearized around some averaged state which preserves the flux differences. Then the solution is advanced in time by computing the wave contributions to the flux at the cell interfaces. One crucial task of the linearization procedure is the construction of a Roe matrix. For the special case γ = 2, a Roe matrix in the form of a mean value Jacobian is found, and for the general case, a simple averaging procedure is introduced. All other necessary ingredients of the construction, which include eigenvalues, and a complete set of right eigenvectors of the Roe matrix and decomposition coefficients are presented. As a numerical example, we chose a coplanar MHD Riemann problem. The problem is solved by the newly constructed second-order upwind scheme as well as by the Lax-Friedrichs, the Lax-Wendroff, and the flux-corrected transport schemes. The results demonstrate several advantages of the upwind scheme. In this paper, we also show that the MHD equations are nonconvex. This is a contrast to the general belief that the fast and slow waves are like sound waves in the Euler equations. As a consequence, the wave structure becomes more complicated; for example, compound waves consisting of a shock and attached to it a rarefaction wave of the same family can exist in MHD. copyright 1988 Academic Press, Inc

  12. Modified Current Differencing Unit and its Application for Electronically Reconfigurable Simple First-order Transfer Function

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SOTNER, R.

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Modified current differencing unit (MCDU and its simple filtering application are introduced in this paper. Modification of the well-known current differencing unit consists in weighted difference of both input currents controlled by adjustable current gain, controllable intrinsic resistance of both current input terminals, and availability of additional voltage terminal(s. Definition of MCDU therefore requires four adjustable parameters (B1, B2, Rp, Rn. A presented active element offers and combines benefits of electronically controllable current conveyor of second generation and current differencing unit and allows synthesis of interesting adjustable applications, which are not available by classical approaches based on simple elements. MCDU brings variability of the transfer function into the structure. It provides several transfer types without necessity of input or output node change by simple electronic tuning. A presented structure represents so-called reconnection-less reconfigurable current-mode filter for realization of all-pass, inverting high-pass, low-pass and direct transfer response. Behavioral model of the MCDU was prepared and carefully tested in filtering application. Spice simulations and measurements confirmed theoretical assumptions.

  13. New diffusion-sythetic acceleration methods for the SN equations with corner balance spatial differencing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wareing, T.A.

    1993-01-01

    New methods are presented for diffusion-synthetic accelerating the S N equations in slab and x-y geometries with the corner balance spatial differencing scheme. With the standard diffusion-synthetic acceleration method, the discretized diffusion problem is derived from the discretized S N problem to insure stability through consistent differencing. The major difference between our new methods and standard diffusion-synthetic acceleration is that the discretized diffusion problem is derived from a discretization of the P 1 equations, independently of the discretized S N problem. We present theoretical and numerical results to show that these new methods are unconditionally efficient in slab and x-y geometries with rectangular spatial meshes and isotropic scattering. (orig.)

  14. CINDA-3G: Improved Numerical Differencing Analyzer Program for Third-Generation Computers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaski, J. D.; Lewis, D. R.; Thompson, L. R.

    1970-01-01

    The goal of this work was to develop a new and versatile program to supplement or replace the original Chrysler Improved Numerical Differencing Analyzer (CINDA) thermal analyzer program in order to take advantage of the improved systems software and machine speeds of the third-generation computers.

  15. Diffusion-accelerated solution of the 2-D x-y Sn equations with linear-bilinear nodal differencing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wareing, T.A.; Walters, W.F.; Morel, J.E.

    1994-01-01

    Recently a new diffusion-synthetic acceleration scheme was developed for solving the 2-D S n Equations in x-y geometry with bilinear-discontinuous finite element spatial discretization using a bilinear-discontinuous diffusion differencing scheme for the diffusion acceleration equations. This method differs from previous methods in that it is conditional efficient for problems with isotropic or nearly isotropic scattering. We have used the same bilinear-discontinuous diffusion scheme, and associated solution technique, to accelerate the x-y geometry S n equations with linear-bilinear nodal spatial differencing. We find that this leads to an unconditionally efficient solution method for problems with isotropic or nearly isotropic scattering. computational results are given which demonstrate this property

  16. Extended image differencing for change detection in UAV video mosaics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saur, Günter; Krüger, Wolfgang; Schumann, Arne

    2014-03-01

    Change detection is one of the most important tasks when using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for video reconnaissance and surveillance. We address changes of short time scale, i.e. the observations are taken in time distances from several minutes up to a few hours. Each observation is a short video sequence acquired by the UAV in near-nadir view and the relevant changes are, e.g., recently parked or moved vehicles. In this paper we extend our previous approach of image differencing for single video frames to video mosaics. A precise image-to-image registration combined with a robust matching approach is needed to stitch the video frames to a mosaic. Additionally, this matching algorithm is applied to mosaic pairs in order to align them to a common geometry. The resulting registered video mosaic pairs are the input of the change detection procedure based on extended image differencing. A change mask is generated by an adaptive threshold applied to a linear combination of difference images of intensity and gradient magnitude. The change detection algorithm has to distinguish between relevant and non-relevant changes. Examples for non-relevant changes are stereo disparity at 3D structures of the scene, changed size of shadows, and compression or transmission artifacts. The special effects of video mosaicking such as geometric distortions and artifacts at moving objects have to be considered, too. In our experiments we analyze the influence of these effects on the change detection results by considering several scenes. The results show that for video mosaics this task is more difficult than for single video frames. Therefore, we extended the image registration by estimating an elastic transformation using a thin plate spline approach. The results for mosaics are comparable to that of single video frames and are useful for interactive image exploitation due to a larger scene coverage.

  17. Kinematic behaviour of a large earthflow defined by surface displacement monitoring, DEM differencing, and ERT imaging

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Prokešová, R.; Kardoš, M.; Tábořík, Petr; Medveďová, A.; Stacke, V.; Chudý, F.

    2014-01-01

    Roč. 224, NOV 1 (2014), s. 86-101 ISSN 0169-555X R&D Projects: GA MŠk LM2010008 Institutional support: RVO:67985891 Keywords : earthflow * surface displacement * strain modelling * DEM differencing * kinematic behaviour Subject RIV: DE - Earth Magnetism, Geodesy, Geography Impact factor: 2.577, year: 2013

  18. Using classification and NDVI differencing methods for monitoring sparse vegetation coverage: a case study of saltcedar in Nevada, USA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    A change detection experiment for an invasive species, saltcedar, near Lovelock, Nevada, was conducted with multi-date Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI) hyperspectral datasets. Classification and NDVI differencing change detection methods were tested, In the classification strategy, a p...

  19. Automated Topographic Change Detection via Dem Differencing at Large Scales Using The Arcticdem Database

    Science.gov (United States)

    Candela, S. G.; Howat, I.; Noh, M. J.; Porter, C. C.; Morin, P. J.

    2016-12-01

    In the last decade, high resolution satellite imagery has become an increasingly accessible tool for geoscientists to quantify changes in the Arctic land surface due to geophysical, ecological and anthropomorphic processes. However, the trade off between spatial coverage and spatial-temporal resolution has limited detailed, process-level change detection over large (i.e. continental) scales. The ArcticDEM project utilized over 300,000 Worldview image pairs to produce a nearly 100% coverage elevation model (above 60°N) offering the first polar, high spatial - high resolution (2-8m by region) dataset, often with multiple repeats in areas of particular interest to geo-scientists. A dataset of this size (nearly 250 TB) offers endless new avenues of scientific inquiry, but quickly becomes unmanageable computationally and logistically for the computing resources available to the average scientist. Here we present TopoDiff, a framework for a generalized. automated workflow that requires minimal input from the end user about a study site, and utilizes cloud computing resources to provide a temporally sorted and differenced dataset, ready for geostatistical analysis. This hands-off approach allows the end user to focus on the science, without having to manage thousands of files, or petabytes of data. At the same time, TopoDiff provides a consistent and accurate workflow for image sorting, selection, and co-registration enabling cross-comparisons between research projects.

  20. SELECTION OF BURST-LIKE TRANSIENTS AND STOCHASTIC VARIABLES USING MULTI-BAND IMAGE DIFFERENCING IN THE PAN-STARRS1 MEDIUM-DEEP SURVEY

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumar, S.; Gezari, S.; Heinis, S.; Chornock, R.; Berger, E.; Soderberg, A.; Stubbs, C. W.; Kirshner, R. P.; Rest, A.; Huber, M. E.; Narayan, G.; Marion, G. H.; Burgett, W. S.; Foley, R. J.; Scolnic, D.; Riess, A. G.; Lawrence, A.; Smartt, S. J.; Smith, K.; Wood-Vasey, W. M.

    2015-01-01

    We present a novel method for the light-curve characterization of Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey (PS1 MDS) extragalactic sources into stochastic variables (SVs) and burst-like (BL) transients, using multi-band image-differencing time-series data. We select detections in difference images associated with galaxy hosts using a star/galaxy catalog extracted from the deep PS1 MDS stacked images, and adopt a maximum a posteriori formulation to model their difference-flux time-series in four Pan-STARRS1 photometric bands g P1 , r P1 , i P1 , and z P1 . We use three deterministic light-curve models to fit BL transients; a Gaussian, a Gamma distribution, and an analytic supernova (SN) model, and one stochastic light-curve model, the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, in order to fit variability that is characteristic of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We assess the quality of fit of the models band-wise and source-wise, using their estimated leave-out-one cross-validation likelihoods and corrected Akaike information criteria. We then apply a K-means clustering algorithm on these statistics, to determine the source classification in each band. The final source classification is derived as a combination of the individual filter classifications, resulting in two measures of classification quality, from the averages across the photometric filters of (1) the classifications determined from the closest K-means cluster centers, and (2) the square distances from the clustering centers in the K-means clustering spaces. For a verification set of AGNs and SNe, we show that SV and BL occupy distinct regions in the plane constituted by these measures. We use our clustering method to characterize 4361 extragalactic image difference detected sources, in the first 2.5 yr of the PS1 MDS, into 1529 BL, and 2262 SV, with a purity of 95.00% for AGNs, and 90.97% for SN based on our verification sets. We combine our light-curve classifications with their nuclear or off-nuclear host galaxy offsets, to

  1. Setting best practice criteria for self-differencing avalanche photodiodes in quantum key distribution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koehler-Sidki, Alexander; Dynes, James F.; Lucamarini, Marco; Roberts, George L.; Sharpe, Andrew W.; Savory, Seb J.; Yuan, Zhiliang; Shields, Andrew J.

    2017-10-01

    In recent years, the security of avalanche photodiodes as single photon detectors for quantum key distribution has been subjected to much scrutiny. The most prominent example of this surrounds the vulnerability of such devices to blinding under strong illumination. We focus on self-differencing avalanche photodiodes, single photon detectors that have demonstrated count rates exceeding 1 GCounts/s resulting in secure key rates over 1 MBit/s. These detectors use a passive electronic circuit to cancel any periodic signals thereby enhancing detection sensitivity. However this intrinsic feature can be exploited by adversaries to gain control of the devices using illumination of a moderate intensity. Through careful experimental examinations, we define here a set of criteria for these detectors to avoid such attacks.

  2. Continuous non-invasive blood glucose monitoring by spectral image differencing method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Hao; Liao, Ningfang; Cheng, Haobo; Liang, Jing

    2018-01-01

    Currently, the use of implantable enzyme electrode sensor is the main method for continuous blood glucose monitoring. But the effect of electrochemical reactions and the significant drift caused by bioelectricity in body will reduce the accuracy of the glucose measurements. So the enzyme-based glucose sensors need to be calibrated several times each day by the finger-prick blood corrections. This increases the patient's pain. In this paper, we proposed a method for continuous Non-invasive blood glucose monitoring by spectral image differencing method in the near infrared band. The method uses a high-precision CCD detector to switch the filter in a very short period of time, obtains the spectral images. And then by using the morphological method to obtain the spectral image differences, the dynamic change of blood sugar is reflected in the image difference data. Through the experiment proved that this method can be used to monitor blood glucose dynamically to a certain extent.

  3. Comment on “Voltage-Mode All-Pass Filters Including Minimum Component Count Circuits”

    OpenAIRE

    Lahiri, Abhirup

    2009-01-01

    This comment is related to the recently published article “Active and Passive Electronic Components” by S. Maheshwari (2007), which presents single current differencing buffered amplifier (CDBA) and current-controlled current differencing buffered amplifier- (CC-CDBA-) based first-order voltage-mode (VM) all-pass filtering (APF) sections. The paper is reviewed, and additional first-order APF realizations have been proposed.

  4. SELECTION OF BURST-LIKE TRANSIENTS AND STOCHASTIC VARIABLES USING MULTI-BAND IMAGE DIFFERENCING IN THE PAN-STARRS1 MEDIUM-DEEP SURVEY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kumar, S.; Gezari, S.; Heinis, S. [Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, Stadium Drive, College Park, MD 21224 (United States); Chornock, R.; Berger, E.; Soderberg, A.; Stubbs, C. W.; Kirshner, R. P. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Rest, A. [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Huber, M. E.; Narayan, G.; Marion, G. H.; Burgett, W. S. [Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States); Foley, R. J. [Astronomy Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1002 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801 (United States); Scolnic, D.; Riess, A. G. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Lawrence, A. [Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ (United Kingdom); Smartt, S. J.; Smith, K. [Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen' s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN (United Kingdom); Wood-Vasey, W. M. [Pittsburgh Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology Center, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, 3941 O' Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); and others

    2015-03-20

    We present a novel method for the light-curve characterization of Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey (PS1 MDS) extragalactic sources into stochastic variables (SVs) and burst-like (BL) transients, using multi-band image-differencing time-series data. We select detections in difference images associated with galaxy hosts using a star/galaxy catalog extracted from the deep PS1 MDS stacked images, and adopt a maximum a posteriori formulation to model their difference-flux time-series in four Pan-STARRS1 photometric bands g {sub P1}, r {sub P1}, i {sub P1}, and z {sub P1}. We use three deterministic light-curve models to fit BL transients; a Gaussian, a Gamma distribution, and an analytic supernova (SN) model, and one stochastic light-curve model, the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, in order to fit variability that is characteristic of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We assess the quality of fit of the models band-wise and source-wise, using their estimated leave-out-one cross-validation likelihoods and corrected Akaike information criteria. We then apply a K-means clustering algorithm on these statistics, to determine the source classification in each band. The final source classification is derived as a combination of the individual filter classifications, resulting in two measures of classification quality, from the averages across the photometric filters of (1) the classifications determined from the closest K-means cluster centers, and (2) the square distances from the clustering centers in the K-means clustering spaces. For a verification set of AGNs and SNe, we show that SV and BL occupy distinct regions in the plane constituted by these measures. We use our clustering method to characterize 4361 extragalactic image difference detected sources, in the first 2.5 yr of the PS1 MDS, into 1529 BL, and 2262 SV, with a purity of 95.00% for AGNs, and 90.97% for SN based on our verification sets. We combine our light-curve classifications with their nuclear or off-nuclear host

  5. Voltage-Mode All-Pass Filters Including Minimum Component Count Circuits

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sudhanshu Maheshwari

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents two new first-order voltage-mode all-pass filters using a single-current differencing buffered amplifier and four passive components. Each circuit is compatible to a current-controlled current differencing buffered amplifier with only two passive elements, thus resulting in two more circuits, which employ a capacitor, a resistor, and an active element, thus using a minimum of active and passive component counts. The proposed circuits possess low output impedance, and hence can be easily cascaded for voltage-mode systems. PSPICE simulation results are given to confirm the theory.

  6. Effective image differencing with convolutional neural networks for real-time transient hunting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sedaghat, Nima; Mahabal, Ashish

    2018-06-01

    Large sky surveys are increasingly relying on image subtraction pipelines for real-time (and archival) transient detection. In this process one has to contend with varying point-spread function (PSF) and small brightness variations in many sources, as well as artefacts resulting from saturated stars and, in general, matching errors. Very often the differencing is done with a reference image that is deeper than individual images and the attendant difference in noise characteristics can also lead to artefacts. We present here a deep-learning approach to transient detection that encapsulates all the steps of a traditional image-subtraction pipeline - image registration, background subtraction, noise removal, PSF matching and subtraction - in a single real-time convolutional network. Once trained, the method works lightening-fast and, given that it performs multiple steps in one go, the time saved and false positives eliminated for multi-CCD surveys like Zwicky Transient Facility and Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will be immense, as millions of subtractions will be needed per night.

  7. Improved Steganographic Method Preserving Pixel-Value Differencing Histogram with Modulus Function

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heung-Kyu Lee

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available We herein advance a secure steganographic algorithm that uses a turnover policy and a novel adjusting process. Although the method of Wang et al. uses Pixel-Value Differencing (PVD and their modulus function provides high capacity and good image quality, the embedding process causes a number of artifacts, such as abnormal increases and fluctuations in the PVD histogram, which may reveal the existence of the hidden message. In order to enhance the security of the algorithm, a turnover policy is used that prevents abnormal increases in the histogram values and a novel adjusting process is devised to remove the fluctuations at the border of the subrange in the PVD histogram. The proposed method therefore eliminates all the weaknesses of the PVD steganographic methods thus far proposed and guarantees secure communication. In the experiments described herein, the proposed algorithm is compared with other PVD steganographic algorithms by using well-known steganalysis techniques, such as RS-analysis, steganalysis for LSB matching, and histogram-based attacks. The results support our contention that the proposed method enhances security by keeping the PVD histogram similar to the cover, while also providing high embedding capacity and good imperceptibility to the naked eye.

  8. Kinematic behaviour of a large earthflow defined by surface displacement monitoring, DEM differencing, and ERT imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prokešová, Roberta; Kardoš, Miroslav; Tábořík, Petr; Medveďová, Alžbeta; Stacke, Václav; Chudý, František

    2014-11-01

    Large earthflow-type landslides are destructive mass movement phenomena with highly unpredictable behaviour. Knowledge of earthflow kinematics is essential for understanding the mechanisms that control its movements. The present paper characterises the kinematic behaviour of a large earthflow near the village of Ľubietová in Central Slovakia over a period of 35 years following its most recent reactivation in 1977. For this purpose, multi-temporal spatial data acquired by point-based in-situ monitoring and optical remote sensing methods have been used. Quantitative data analyses including strain modelling and DEM differencing techniques have enabled us to: (i) calculate the annual landslide movement rates; (ii) detect the trend of surface displacements; (iii) characterise spatial variability of movement rates; (iv) measure changes in the surface topography on a decadal scale; and (v) define areas with distinct kinematic behaviour. The results also integrate the qualitative characteristics of surface topography, in particular the distribution of surface structures as defined by a high-resolution DEM, and the landslide subsurface structure, as revealed by 2D resistivity imaging. Then, the ground surface kinematics of the landslide is evaluated with respect to the specific conditions encountered in the study area including slope morphology, landslide subsurface structure, and local geological and hydrometeorological conditions. Finally, the broader implications of the presented research are discussed with particular focus on the role that strain-related structures play in landslide kinematic behaviour.

  9. Best-Practice Criteria for Practical Security of Self-Differencing Avalanche Photodiode Detectors in Quantum Key Distribution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koehler-Sidki, A.; Dynes, J. F.; Lucamarini, M.; Roberts, G. L.; Sharpe, A. W.; Yuan, Z. L.; Shields, A. J.

    2018-04-01

    Fast-gated avalanche photodiodes (APDs) are the most commonly used single photon detectors for high-bit-rate quantum key distribution (QKD). Their robustness against external attacks is crucial to the overall security of a QKD system, or even an entire QKD network. We investigate the behavior of a gigahertz-gated, self-differencing (In,Ga)As APD under strong illumination, a tactic Eve often uses to bring detectors under her control. Our experiment and modeling reveal that the negative feedback by the photocurrent safeguards the detector from being blinded through reducing its avalanche probability and/or strengthening the capacitive response. Based on this finding, we propose a set of best-practice criteria for designing and operating fast-gated APD detectors to ensure their practical security in QKD.

  10. Improved Steganographic Method Preserving Pixel-Value Differencing Histogram with Modulus Function

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lee Hae-Yeoun

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract We herein advance a secure steganographic algorithm that uses a turnover policy and a novel adjusting process. Although the method of Wang et al. uses Pixel-Value Differencing (PVD and their modulus function provides high capacity and good image quality, the embedding process causes a number of artifacts, such as abnormal increases and fluctuations in the PVD histogram, which may reveal the existence of the hidden message. In order to enhance the security of the algorithm, a turnover policy is used that prevents abnormal increases in the histogram values and a novel adjusting process is devised to remove the fluctuations at the border of the subrange in the PVD histogram. The proposed method therefore eliminates all the weaknesses of the PVD steganographic methods thus far proposed and guarantees secure communication. In the experiments described herein, the proposed algorithm is compared with other PVD steganographic algorithms by using well-known steganalysis techniques, such as RS-analysis, steganalysis for LSB matching, and histogram-based attacks. The results support our contention that the proposed method enhances security by keeping the PVD histogram similar to the cover, while also providing high embedding capacity and good imperceptibility to the naked eye.

  11. Robust estimation and moment selection in dynamic fixed-effects panel data models

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cizek, Pavel; Aquaro, Michele

    Considering linear dynamic panel data models with fixed effects, existing outlier–robust estimators based on the median ratio of two consecutive pairs of first-differenced data are extended to higher-order differencing. The estimation procedure is thus based on many pairwise differences and their

  12. A Secure and Robust Compressed Domain Video Steganography for Intra- and Inter-Frames Using Embedding-Based Byte Differencing (EBBD) Scheme.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Idbeaa, Tarik; Abdul Samad, Salina; Husain, Hafizah

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents a novel secure and robust steganographic technique in the compressed video domain namely embedding-based byte differencing (EBBD). Unlike most of the current video steganographic techniques which take into account only the intra frames for data embedding, the proposed EBBD technique aims to hide information in both intra and inter frames. The information is embedded into a compressed video by simultaneously manipulating the quantized AC coefficients (AC-QTCs) of luminance components of the frames during MPEG-2 encoding process. Later, during the decoding process, the embedded information can be detected and extracted completely. Furthermore, the EBBD basically deals with two security concepts: data encryption and data concealing. Hence, during the embedding process, secret data is encrypted using the simplified data encryption standard (S-DES) algorithm to provide better security to the implemented system. The security of the method lies in selecting candidate AC-QTCs within each non-overlapping 8 × 8 sub-block using a pseudo random key. Basic performance of this steganographic technique verified through experiments on various existing MPEG-2 encoded videos over a wide range of embedded payload rates. Overall, the experimental results verify the excellent performance of the proposed EBBD with a better trade-off in terms of imperceptibility and payload, as compared with previous techniques while at the same time ensuring minimal bitrate increase and negligible degradation of PSNR values.

  13. A Secure and Robust Compressed Domain Video Steganography for Intra- and Inter-Frames Using Embedding-Based Byte Differencing (EBBD Scheme.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tarik Idbeaa

    Full Text Available This paper presents a novel secure and robust steganographic technique in the compressed video domain namely embedding-based byte differencing (EBBD. Unlike most of the current video steganographic techniques which take into account only the intra frames for data embedding, the proposed EBBD technique aims to hide information in both intra and inter frames. The information is embedded into a compressed video by simultaneously manipulating the quantized AC coefficients (AC-QTCs of luminance components of the frames during MPEG-2 encoding process. Later, during the decoding process, the embedded information can be detected and extracted completely. Furthermore, the EBBD basically deals with two security concepts: data encryption and data concealing. Hence, during the embedding process, secret data is encrypted using the simplified data encryption standard (S-DES algorithm to provide better security to the implemented system. The security of the method lies in selecting candidate AC-QTCs within each non-overlapping 8 × 8 sub-block using a pseudo random key. Basic performance of this steganographic technique verified through experiments on various existing MPEG-2 encoded videos over a wide range of embedded payload rates. Overall, the experimental results verify the excellent performance of the proposed EBBD with a better trade-off in terms of imperceptibility and payload, as compared with previous techniques while at the same time ensuring minimal bitrate increase and negligible degradation of PSNR values.

  14. Intrinsic imperfection of self-differencing single-photon detectors harms the security of high-speed quantum cryptography systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Mu-Sheng; Sun, Shi-Hai; Tang, Guang-Zhao; Ma, Xiang-Chun; Li, Chun-Yan; Liang, Lin-Mei

    2013-12-01

    Thanks to the high-speed self-differencing single-photon detector (SD-SPD), the secret key rate of quantum key distribution (QKD), which can, in principle, offer unconditionally secure private communications between two users (Alice and Bob), can exceed 1 Mbit/s. However, the SD-SPD may contain loopholes, which can be exploited by an eavesdropper (Eve) to hack into the unconditional security of the high-speed QKD systems. In this paper, we analyze the fact that the SD-SPD can be remotely controlled by Eve in order to spy on full information without being discovered, then proof-of-principle experiments are demonstrated. Here, we point out that this loophole is introduced directly by the operating principle of the SD-SPD, thus, it cannot be removed, except for the fact that some active countermeasures are applied by the legitimate parties.

  15. Solving the Sea-Level Equation in an Explicit Time Differencing Scheme

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klemann, V.; Hagedoorn, J. M.; Thomas, M.

    2016-12-01

    In preparation of coupling the solid-earth to an ice-sheet compartment in an earth-system model, the dependency of initial topography on the ice-sheet history and viscosity structure has to be analysed. In this study, we discuss this dependency and how it influences the reconstruction of former sea level during a glacial cycle. The modelling is based on the VILMA code in which the field equations are solved in the time domain applying an explicit time-differencing scheme. The sea-level equation is solved simultaneously in the same explicit scheme as the viscoleastic field equations (Hagedoorn et al., 2007). With the assumption of only small changes, we neglect the iterative solution at each time step as suggested by e.g. Kendall et al. (2005). Nevertheless, the prediction of the initial paleo topography in case of moving coastlines remains to be iterated by repeated integration of the whole load history. The sensitivity study sketched at the beginning is accordingly motivated by the question if the iteration of the paleo topography can be replaced by a predefined one. This study is part of the German paleoclimate modelling initiative PalMod. Lit:Hagedoorn JM, Wolf D, Martinec Z, 2007. An estimate of global mean sea-level rise inferred from tide-gauge measurements using glacial-isostatic models consistent with the relative sea-level record. Pure appl. Geophys. 164: 791-818, doi:10.1007/s00024-007-0186-7Kendall RA, Mitrovica JX, Milne GA, 2005. On post-glacial sea level - II. Numerical formulation and comparative reesults on spherically symmetric models. Geophys. J. Int., 161: 679-706, doi:10.1111/j.365-246.X.2005.02553.x

  16. Selection Component Analysis of Natural Polymorphisms using Population Samples Including Mother-Offspring Combinations, II

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jarmer, Hanne Østergaard; Christiansen, Freddy Bugge

    1981-01-01

    Population samples including mother-offspring combinations provide information on the selection components: zygotic selection, sexual selection, gametic seletion and fecundity selection, on the mating pattern, and on the deviation from linkage equilibrium among the loci studied. The theory...

  17. Performance Analysis of Several GPS/Galileo Precise Point Positioning Models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Afifi, Akram; El-Rabbany, Ahmed

    2015-06-19

    This paper examines the performance of several precise point positioning (PPP) models, which combine dual-frequency GPS/Galileo observations in the un-differenced and between-satellite single-difference (BSSD) modes. These include the traditional un-differenced model, the decoupled clock model, the semi-decoupled clock model, and the between-satellite single-difference model. We take advantage of the IGS-MGEX network products to correct for the satellite differential code biases and the orbital and satellite clock errors. Natural Resources Canada's GPSPace PPP software is modified to handle the various GPS/Galileo PPP models. A total of six data sets of GPS and Galileo observations at six IGS stations are processed to examine the performance of the various PPP models. It is shown that the traditional un-differenced GPS/Galileo PPP model, the GPS decoupled clock model, and the semi-decoupled clock GPS/Galileo PPP model improve the convergence time by about 25% in comparison with the un-differenced GPS-only model. In addition, the semi-decoupled GPS/Galileo PPP model improves the solution precision by about 25% compared to the traditional un-differenced GPS/Galileo PPP model. Moreover, the BSSD GPS/Galileo PPP model improves the solution convergence time by about 50%, in comparison with the un-differenced GPS PPP model, regardless of the type of BSSD combination used. As well, the BSSD model improves the precision of the estimated parameters by about 50% and 25% when the loose and the tight combinations are used, respectively, in comparison with the un-differenced GPS-only model. Comparable results are obtained through the tight combination when either a GPS or a Galileo satellite is selected as a reference.

  18. Higher-order differencing method with a multigrid approach for the solution of the incompressible flow equations at high Reynolds numbers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tzanos, C.P.

    1992-01-01

    A higher-order differencing method was recently proposed for the convection-diffusion equation, which even with a coarse mesh gives oscillation-free solutions that are far more accurate than those of the upwind scheme. In this paper, the performance of this method is investigated in conjunction with the performance of different iterative solvers for the solution of the Navier-Stokes equations in the vorticity-streamfunction formulation for incompressible flow at high Reynolds numbers. Flow in a square cavity with a moving lid was chosen as a model problem. Solvers that performed well at low Re numbers either failed to converge or had a computationally prohibitive convergence rate at high Re numbers. The additive correction method of Settari and Aziz and an iterative incomplete lower and upper (ILU) solver were used in a multigrid approach that performed well in the whole range of Re numbers considered (from 1000 to 10,000) and for uniform as well as nonuniform grids. At high Re numbers, point or line Gauss-Seidel solvers converged with uniform grids, but failed to converge with nonuniform grids

  19. Simulated selection responses for breeding programs including resistance and resilience to parasites in Creole goats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gunia, M; Phocas, F; Gourdine, J-L; Bijma, P; Mandonnet, N

    2013-02-01

    The Creole goat is a local breed used for meat production in Guadeloupe (French West Indies). As in other tropical countries, improvement of parasite resistance is needed. In this study, we compared predicted selection responses for alternative breeding programs with or without parasite resistance and resilience traits. The overall breeding goal included traits for production, reproduction, and parasite resilience and resistance to ensure a balanced selection outcome. The production traits were BW and dressing percentage (DP). The reproduction trait was fertility (FER), which was the number of doe kiddings per mating. The resistance trait was worm fecal egg count (FEC), which is a measurement of the number of gastro-intestinal parasite eggs found in the feces. The resilience trait was the packed cell volume (PCV), which is a measurement of the volume of red blood cells in the blood. Dressing percentage, BW, and FEC were measured at 11 mo of age, which is the mating or selling age. Fertility and PCV were measured on females at each kidding period. The breeding program accounting for the overall breeding goal and a selection index including all traits gave annual selection responses of 800 g for BW, 3.75% for FER, 0.08% for DP, -0.005 ln(eggs/g) for FEC, and 0.28% for PCV. The expected selection responses for BW and DP in this breeding program were reduced by 2% and 6%, respectively, compared with a breeding program not accounting for FEC and PCV. The overall breeding program, proposed for the Creole breed, offers the best breeding strategy in terms of expected selection responses, making it possible to improve all traits together. It offers a good balance between production and adaptation traits and may present some interest for the selection of other goat breeds in the tropics.

  20. Satellite- and Epoch Differenced Precise Point Positioning Based on a Regional Augmentation Network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bin Wu

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Precise Point Positioning (PPP has been demonstrated as a simple and effective approach for user positioning. The key issue in PPP is how to shorten convergence time and improve positioning efficiency. Recent researches mainly focus on the ambiguity resolution by correcting residual phase errors at a single station. The success of this approach (referred to hereafter as NORM-PPP is subject to how rapidly one can fix wide-lane and narrow-lane ambiguities to achieve the first ambiguity-fixed solution. The convergence time of NORM-PPP is receiver type dependent, and normally takes 15–20 min. Different from the general algorithm and theory by which the float ambiguities are estimated and the integer ambiguities are fixed, we concentrate on a differential PPP approach: the satellite- and epoch differenced (SDED approach. In general, the SDED approach eliminates receiver clocks and ambiguity parameters and thus avoids the complicated residual phase modeling procedure. As a further development of the SDED approach, we use a regional augmentation network to derive tropospheric delay and remaining un-modeled errors at user sites. By adding these corrections and applying the Robust estimation, the weak mathematic properties due to the ED operation is much improved. Implementing this new approach, we need only two epochs of data to achieve PPP positioning converging to centimeter-positioning accuracy. Using seven days of GPS data at six CORS stations in Shanghai, we demonstrate the success rate, defined as the case when three directions converging to desired positioning accuracy of 10 cm, reaches 100% when the interval between the two epochs is longer than 15 min. Comparing the results of 15 min’ interval to that of 10 min’, it is observed that the position RMS improves from 2.47, 3.95, 5.78 cm to 2.21, 3.93, 4.90 cm in the North, East and Up directions, respectively. Combining the SDED coordinates at the starting point and the ED relative

  1. Variability-based active galactic nucleus selection using image subtraction in the SDSS and LSST era

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Choi, Yumi; Gibson, Robert R.; Becker, Andrew C.; Ivezić, Željko; Connolly, Andrew J.; Ruan, John J.; Anderson, Scott F. [Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); MacLeod, Chelsea L., E-mail: ymchoi@astro.washington.edu [Physics Department, U.S. Naval Academy, 572 Holloway Road, Annapolis, MD 21402 (United States)

    2014-02-10

    With upcoming all-sky surveys such as LSST poised to generate a deep digital movie of the optical sky, variability-based active galactic nucleus (AGN) selection will enable the construction of highly complete catalogs with minimum contamination. In this study, we generate g-band difference images and construct light curves (LCs) for QSO/AGN candidates listed in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82 public catalogs compiled from different methods, including spectroscopy, optical colors, variability, and X-ray detection. Image differencing excels at identifying variable sources embedded in complex or blended emission regions such as Type II AGNs and other low-luminosity AGNs that may be omitted from traditional photometric or spectroscopic catalogs. To separate QSOs/AGNs from other sources using our difference image LCs, we explore several LC statistics and parameterize optical variability by the characteristic damping timescale (τ) and variability amplitude. By virtue of distinguishable variability parameters of AGNs, we are able to select them with high completeness of 93.4% and efficiency (i.e., purity) of 71.3%. Based on optical variability, we also select highly variable blazar candidates, whose infrared colors are consistent with known blazars. One-third of them are also radio detected. With the X-ray selected AGN candidates, we probe the optical variability of X-ray detected optically extended sources using their difference image LCs for the first time. A combination of optical variability and X-ray detection enables us to select various types of host-dominated AGNs. Contrary to the AGN unification model prediction, two Type II AGN candidates (out of six) show detectable variability on long-term timescales like typical Type I AGNs. This study will provide a baseline for future optical variability studies of extended sources.

  2. Robust Estimation and Moment Selection in Dynamic Fixed-effects Panel Data Models

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cizek, P.; Aquaro, M.

    2015-01-01

    This paper extends an existing outlier-robust estimator of linear dynamic panel data models with fixed effects, which is based on the median ratio of two consecutive pairs of first-differenced data. To improve its precision and robust properties, a general procedure based on many pairwise

  3. Numerical study of nonspherical black hole accretion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hawley, J.F.

    1984-01-01

    This thesis describes in detail a two-dimensional, axisymmetric computer code for calculating fully relativistic ideal gas hydrodynamics around a Kerr black hole. The aim is to study fully dynamic inviscid fluid accretion onto black holes, as well as to study the evolution and development of nonlinear instabilities in pressure supported accretion disks. In order to fully calibrate and document the code, certain analytic solutions for shock tubes and special accretion flows are derived; these solutions form the basis for code testing. The numerical techniques used are developed and discussed. A variety of alternate differencing schemes are compared on an analytic test bed. Some discussion is devoted to general issues in finite differencing. The working code is calibrated using analytically solvable accretion problems, including the radial accretion of dust and of fluid with pressure (Bondi accretion). Two dimensional test problems include the spiraling infall of low angular momentum fluid, the formation of a pressure supported torus, and the stable evolution of a torus. A series of numerical models are discussed and illustrated with selected plots

  4. Why Include Impacts on Biodiversity from Land Use in LCIA and How to Select Useful Indicators?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ottar Michelsen

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Loss of biodiversity is one of the most severe threats to sustainability, and land use and land use changes are still the single most important factor. Still, there is no sign of any consensus on how to include impacts on biodiversity from land use and land use changes in LCIA. In this paper, different characteristics of biodiversity are discussed and related to proposals on how to include land use and land use changes in LCIA. We identify the question of why we should care about biodiversity as a key question, since different motivations will result in different choices for the indicators, and we call for more openness in the motivation for indicator selection. We find a promising trend in combining pressure indicators with geographic weighting and regard this as a promising way ahead. More knowledge on the consequences of different choices, such as the selection of a reference state, is still needed.

  5. A Study on Site Selecting for National Project including High Level Radioactive Waste Disposal

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Kilyoo [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-10-15

    Many national projects are stopped since sites for the projects are not determined. The sites selections are hold by NIMBY for unpleasant facilities or by PYMFY for preferable facilities among local governments. The followings are the typical ones; NIMBY projects: high level radioactive waste disposal, THAAD, Nuclear power plant(NPP), etc. PIMFY projects: South-east new airport, KTX station, Research center for NPP decommission, etc. The site selection for high level radioactive waste disposal is more difficult problem, and thus government did not decide and postpone to a dead end street. Since it seems that there is no solution for site selection for high level radioactive waste disposal due to NIMBY among local governments, a solution method is proposed in this paper. To decide a high level radioactive waste disposal, the first step is to invite a bid by suggesting a package deal including PIMFY projects such as Research Center for NPP decommission. Maybe potential host local governments are asked to submit sealed bids indicating the minimum compensation sum that they would accept the high level radioactive waste disposal site. If there are more than one local government put in a bid, then decide an adequate site by considering both the accumulated PESS point and technical evaluation results. By considering how fairly preferable national projects and unpleasant national projects are distributed among local government, sites selection for NIMBY or PIMFY facilities is suggested. For NIMBY national projects, risk, cost benefit analysis is useful and required since it generates cost value to be used in the PESS. For many cases, the suggested method may be not adequate. However, similar one should be prepared, and be basis to decide sites for NIMBY or PIMFY national projects.

  6. Mathematics and computational methods development in U.S. department of energy-sponsored research (nuclear energy research initiative and nuclear engineering education research). 4. Development of an Expert System for Generation of an Effective Mesh Distribution for the SN Method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Patchimpattapong, Apisit; Haghighat, Alireza

    2001-01-01

    The discrete ordinates (S N ) method is widely used to obtain numerical solutions of the transport equation. The method calls for discretization of spatial, energy, and angular variables. To generate an 'effective' spatial mesh distribution, one has to consider various factors including particle mean free path (mfp), material and source discontinuities, and problem objectives. This becomes more complicated if we consider the effect of numerics such as differencing schemes, parallel processing strategies, and computation resources. As a result, one may often over/under-mesh depending upon limitations on accuracy, computing resources, and time allotted. To overcome the foregoing issues, we are developing an expert system for input preparation of the discrete ordinates (S N ) method. This project is a part of an ongoing project sponsored by Nuclear Engineering Education Research. Our expert system consists of two parts: (a) an algorithm for generation of a mesh distribution for a serial calculation and (b) an algorithm for extension to parallel computing, which accounts for parallelization parameters including granularity, load balancing, parallel algorithms, and possible architectural issues. Thus far, we have developed a stand-alone algorithm for generation of an 'effective' mesh distribution for a serial calculation. The algorithm has been successfully tested with the Parallel Environment Neutral-Particle Transport (PENTRAN) code system. In this paper, we discuss the structure of our algorithm and present its use for simulating the VENUS-3 experimental facility. To date, we have developed and tested part 1 of this system. This part comprises of four steps: creation of a geometric model and coarse meshes, calculation of un-collided flux, selection of differencing schemes, and generation of fine-mesh distribution. For the un-collided flux calculation, we have developed a parallel code called PENFC. It is capable of calculating un-collided and first-collision fluxes

  7. Cleanup and treatment of radioactively contaminated land including areas near nuclear facilities. A selected bibliography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fore, C.S.; Faust, R.A.; Brewster, R.H.

    1982-09-01

    This annotated bibliography of 337 references summarizes the literature published on the cleanup and treatment of radioactively contaminated land. Specifically, this bibliography focuses on literature concerned with the methods of cleanup and treatment being applied - chemical, physical, or vegetative stabilization; the types of equipment being used; and the influence of climatic conditions on the method selected for use. The emphasis in such literature is placed on hazardous site cleanup efforts that have been completed as well as those that are in progress and are being planned. Appendix A includes 135 additional references to literature identified but not included in the bibliography because of time and funding constraints. Appendix B consists of a table that identifies the cleanup and treatment research conducted at specific sites. All of the information included in this bibliography is stored in a computerized form that is readily available upon request

  8. DANTSYS: A diffusion accelerated neutral particle transport code system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alcouffe, R.E.; Baker, R.S.; Brinkley, F.W.; Marr, D.R.; O`Dell, R.D.; Walters, W.F.

    1995-06-01

    The DANTSYS code package includes the following transport codes: ONEDANT, TWODANT, TWODANT/GQ, TWOHEX, and THREEDANT. The DANTSYS code package is a modular computer program package designed to solve the time-independent, multigroup discrete ordinates form of the boltzmann transport equation in several different geometries. The modular construction of the package separates the input processing, the transport equation solving, and the post processing (or edit) functions into distinct code modules: the Input Module, one or more Solver Modules, and the Edit Module, respectively. The Input and Edit Modules are very general in nature and are common to all the Solver Modules. The ONEDANT Solver Module contains a one-dimensional (slab, cylinder, and sphere), time-independent transport equation solver using the standard diamond-differencing method for space/angle discretization. Also included in the package are solver Modules named TWODANT, TWODANT/GQ, THREEDANT, and TWOHEX. The TWODANT Solver Module solves the time-independent two-dimensional transport equation using the diamond-differencing method for space/angle discretization. The authors have also introduced an adaptive weighted diamond differencing (AWDD) method for the spatial and angular discretization into TWODANT as an option. The TWOHEX Solver Module solves the time-independent two-dimensional transport equation on an equilateral triangle spatial mesh. The THREEDANT Solver Module solves the time independent, three-dimensional transport equation for XYZ and RZ{Theta} symmetries using both diamond differencing with set-to-zero fixup and the AWDD method. The TWODANT/GQ Solver Module solves the 2-D transport equation in XY and RZ symmetries using a spatial mesh of arbitrary quadrilaterals. The spatial differencing method is based upon the diamond differencing method with set-to-zero fixup with changes to accommodate the generalized spatial meshing.

  9. DANTSYS: A diffusion accelerated neutral particle transport code system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alcouffe, R.E.; Baker, R.S.; Brinkley, F.W.; Marr, D.R.; O'Dell, R.D.; Walters, W.F.

    1995-06-01

    The DANTSYS code package includes the following transport codes: ONEDANT, TWODANT, TWODANT/GQ, TWOHEX, and THREEDANT. The DANTSYS code package is a modular computer program package designed to solve the time-independent, multigroup discrete ordinates form of the boltzmann transport equation in several different geometries. The modular construction of the package separates the input processing, the transport equation solving, and the post processing (or edit) functions into distinct code modules: the Input Module, one or more Solver Modules, and the Edit Module, respectively. The Input and Edit Modules are very general in nature and are common to all the Solver Modules. The ONEDANT Solver Module contains a one-dimensional (slab, cylinder, and sphere), time-independent transport equation solver using the standard diamond-differencing method for space/angle discretization. Also included in the package are solver Modules named TWODANT, TWODANT/GQ, THREEDANT, and TWOHEX. The TWODANT Solver Module solves the time-independent two-dimensional transport equation using the diamond-differencing method for space/angle discretization. The authors have also introduced an adaptive weighted diamond differencing (AWDD) method for the spatial and angular discretization into TWODANT as an option. The TWOHEX Solver Module solves the time-independent two-dimensional transport equation on an equilateral triangle spatial mesh. The THREEDANT Solver Module solves the time independent, three-dimensional transport equation for XYZ and RZΘ symmetries using both diamond differencing with set-to-zero fixup and the AWDD method. The TWODANT/GQ Solver Module solves the 2-D transport equation in XY and RZ symmetries using a spatial mesh of arbitrary quadrilaterals. The spatial differencing method is based upon the diamond differencing method with set-to-zero fixup with changes to accommodate the generalized spatial meshing

  10. Estimation of Genetic Variance Components Including Mutation and Epistasis using Bayesian Approach in a Selection Experiment on Body Weight in Mice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Widyas, Nuzul; Jensen, Just; Nielsen, Vivi Hunnicke

    Selection experiment was performed for weight gain in 13 generations of outbred mice. A total of 18 lines were included in the experiment. Nine lines were allotted to each of the two treatment diets (19.3 and 5.1 % protein). Within each diet three lines were selected upwards, three lines were...... selected downwards and three lines were kept as controls. Bayesian statistical methods are used to estimate the genetic variance components. Mixed model analysis is modified including mutation effect following the methods by Wray (1990). DIC was used to compare the model. Models including mutation effect...... have better fit compared to the model with only additive effect. Mutation as direct effect contributes 3.18% of the total phenotypic variance. While in the model with interactions between additive and mutation, it contributes 1.43% as direct effect and 1.36% as interaction effect of the total variance...

  11. Including Children with Selective Mutism in Mainstream Schools and Kindergartens: Problems and Possibilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Omdal, Heidi

    2008-01-01

    There is little research on inclusion of children with selective mutism in school/kindergarten. Moreover, few studies have tried to understand selectively mute children's interactions in the natural surroundings of their home and school/kindergarten. Five children meeting the DSM-IV criteria for selective mutism were video-observed in social…

  12. Genetic gain and economic values of selection strategies including semen traits in three- and four-way crossbreeding systems for swine production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    González-Peña, D; Knox, R V; MacNeil, M D; Rodriguez-Zas, S L

    2015-03-01

    Four semen traits: volume (VOL), concentration (CON), progressive motility of spermatozoa (MOT), and abnormal spermatozoa (ABN) provide complementary information on boar fertility. Assessment of the impact of selection for semen traits is hindered by limited information on economic parameters. Objectives of this study were to estimate economic values for semen traits and to evaluate the genetic gain when these traits are incorporated into traditional selection strategies in a 3-tier system of swine production. Three-way (maternal nucleus lines A and B and paternal nucleus line C) and 4-way (additional paternal nucleus line D) crossbreeding schemes were compared. A novel population structure that accommodated selection for semen traits was developed. Three selection strategies were simulated. Selection Strategy I (baseline) encompassed selection for maternal traits: number of pigs born alive (NBA), litter birth weight (LBW), adjusted 21-d litter weight (A21), and number of pigs at 21 d (N21); and paternal traits: number of days to 113.5 kg (D113), backfat (BF), ADG, feed efficiency (FE), and carcass lean % (LEAN). Selection Strategy II included Strategy I and the number of usable semen doses per collection (DOSES), a function of the 4 semen traits. Selection Strategy III included Strategy I and the 4 semen traits individually. The estimated economic values of VOL, CON, MOT, ABN, and DOSES for 7 to 1 collections/wk ranged from $0.21 to $1.44/mL, $0.12 to $0.83/10 spermatozoa/mm, $0.61 to $12.66/%, -$0.53 to -$10.88/%, and $2.01 to $41.43/%, respectively. The decrease in the relative economic values of semen traits and DOSES with higher number of collections per wk was sharper between 1 and 2.33 collections/wk than between 2.33 and 7 collections/wk. The higher economic value of MOT and ABN relative to VOL and CON could be linked to the genetic variances and covariances of these traits. Average genetic gains for the maternal traits were comparable across strategies

  13. Finite difference methods for reducing numerical diffusion in TEACH-type calculations. [Teaching Elliptic Axisymmetric Characteristics Heuristically

    Science.gov (United States)

    Syed, S. A.; Chiappetta, L. M.

    1985-01-01

    A methodological evaluation for two-finite differencing schemes for computer-aided gas turbine design is presented. The two computational schemes include; a Bounded Skewed Finite Differencing Scheme (BSUDS); and a Quadratic Upwind Differencing Scheme (QSDS). In the evaluation, the derivations of the schemes were incorporated into two-dimensional and three-dimensional versions of the Teaching Axisymmetric Characteristics Heuristically (TEACH) computer code. Assessments were made according to performance criteria for the solution of problems of turbulent, laminar, and coannular turbulent flow. The specific performance criteria used in the evaluation were simplicity, accuracy, and computational economy. It is found that the BSUDS scheme performed better with respect to the criteria than the QUDS. Some of the reasons for the more successful performance BSUDS are discussed.

  14. Stochastic model stationarization by eliminating the periodic term and its effect on time series prediction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moeeni, Hamid; Bonakdari, Hossein; Fatemi, Seyed Ehsan

    2017-04-01

    Because time series stationarization has a key role in stochastic modeling results, three methods are analyzed in this study. The methods are seasonal differencing, seasonal standardization and spectral analysis to eliminate the periodic effect on time series stationarity. First, six time series including 4 streamflow series and 2 water temperature series are stationarized. The stochastic term for these series obtained with ARIMA is subsequently modeled. For the analysis, 9228 models are introduced. It is observed that seasonal standardization and spectral analysis eliminate the periodic term completely, while seasonal differencing maintains seasonal correlation structures. The obtained results indicate that all three methods present acceptable performance overall. However, model accuracy in monthly streamflow prediction is higher with seasonal differencing than with the other two methods. Another advantage of seasonal differencing over the other methods is that the monthly streamflow is never estimated as negative. Standardization is the best method for predicting monthly water temperature although it is quite similar to seasonal differencing, while spectral analysis performed the weakest in all cases. It is concluded that for each monthly seasonal series, seasonal differencing is the best stationarization method in terms of periodic effect elimination. Moreover, the monthly water temperature is predicted with more accuracy than monthly streamflow. The criteria of the average stochastic term divided by the amplitude of the periodic term obtained for monthly streamflow and monthly water temperature were 0.19 and 0.30, 0.21 and 0.13, and 0.07 and 0.04 respectively. As a result, the periodic term is more dominant than the stochastic term for water temperature in the monthly water temperature series compared to streamflow series.

  15. Closed-form solutions for linear regulator-design of mechanical systems including optimal weighting matrix selection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanks, Brantley R.; Skelton, Robert E.

    1991-01-01

    This paper addresses the restriction of Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) solutions to the algebraic Riccati Equation to design spaces which can be implemented as passive structural members and/or dampers. A general closed-form solution to the optimal free-decay control problem is presented which is tailored for structural-mechanical systems. The solution includes, as subsets, special cases such as the Rayleigh Dissipation Function and total energy. Weighting matrix selection is a constrained choice among several parameters to obtain desired physical relationships. The closed-form solution is also applicable to active control design for systems where perfect, collocated actuator-sensor pairs exist. Some examples of simple spring mass systems are shown to illustrate key points.

  16. A Geometry-Based Cycle Slip Detection and Repair Method with Time-Differenced Carrier Phase (TDCP for a Single Frequency Global Position System (GPS + BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS Receiver

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chuang Qian

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available As the field of high-precision applications based on carriers continues to expand, the development of low-cost, small, modular receivers and their application in diverse scenarios and situations with complex data quality has increased the requirements of carrier-phase data preprocessing. A new geometry-based cycle slip detection and repair method based on Global Position System (GPS + BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS is proposed. The method uses a Time-differenced Carrier Phase (TDCP model, which eliminates the Inner-System Bias (ISB between GPS and BDS, and it is conducive to the effective combination of GPS and BDS. It avoids the interference of the noise of the pseudo-range with cycle slip detection, while the cycle slips are preserved as integers. This method does not limit the receiver frequency number, and it is applicable to single-frequency data. The process is divided into two steps to detect and repair cycle slip. The first step is cycle slip detection, using the Improved Local Analysis Method (ILAM to find satellites that have cycle slips; The second step is to repair the cycle slips, including estimating the float solution of changes in ambiguities at the satellites that have cycle slips with the least squares method and the integer solution of the cycle slips by rounding. In the process of rounding, in addition to the success probability, a decimal test is carried out to validate the result. Finally, experiments with filed test data are carried out to prove the effectiveness of this method. The results show that the detectable cycle slips number with GPS + BDS is much greater than that with GPS. The method can also detect the non-integer outliers while fixing the cycle slip. The maximum decimal bias in repair is less than that with GPS. It implies that this method takes full advantages of multi-system.

  17. Gender-related asymmetric brain vasomotor response to color stimulation: a functional transcranial Doppler spectroscopy study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Njemanze, Philip C

    2010-11-30

    The present study was designed to examine the effects of color stimulation on cerebral blood mean flow velocity (MFV) in men and women. The study included 16 (8 men and 8 women) right-handed healthy subjects. The MFV was recorded simultaneously in both right and left middle cerebral arteries in Dark and white Light conditions, and during color (Blue, Yellow and Red) stimulations, and was analyzed using functional transcranial Doppler spectroscopy (fTCDS) technique. Color processing occurred within cortico-subcortical circuits. In men, wavelength-differencing of Yellow/Blue pairs occurred within the right hemisphere by processes of cortical long-term depression (CLTD) and subcortical long-term potentiation (SLTP). Conversely, in women, frequency-differencing of Blue/Yellow pairs occurred within the left hemisphere by processes of cortical long-term potentiation (CLTP) and subcortical long-term depression (SLTD). In both genders, there was luminance effect in the left hemisphere, while in men it was along an axis opposite (orthogonal) to that of chromatic effect, in women, it was parallel. Gender-related differences in color processing demonstrated a right hemisphere cognitive style for wavelength-differencing in men, and a left hemisphere cognitive style for frequency-differencing in women. There are potential applications of fTCDS technique, for stroke rehabilitation and monitoring of drug effects.

  18. Integrated Circuits for Analog Signal Processing

    CERN Document Server

    2013-01-01

      This book presents theory, design methods and novel applications for integrated circuits for analog signal processing.  The discussion covers a wide variety of active devices, active elements and amplifiers, working in voltage mode, current mode and mixed mode.  This includes voltage operational amplifiers, current operational amplifiers, operational transconductance amplifiers, operational transresistance amplifiers, current conveyors, current differencing transconductance amplifiers, etc.  Design methods and challenges posed by nanometer technology are discussed and applications described, including signal amplification, filtering, data acquisition systems such as neural recording, sensor conditioning such as biomedical implants, actuator conditioning, noise generators, oscillators, mixers, etc.   Presents analysis and synthesis methods to generate all circuit topologies from which the designer can select the best one for the desired application; Includes design guidelines for active devices/elements...

  19. Comparing the utility of image algebra operations for characterizing landscape changes: the case of the Mediterranean coast.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alphan, Hakan

    2011-11-01

    The aim of this study is to compare various image algebra procedures for their efficiency in locating and identifying different types of landscape changes on the margin of a Mediterranean coastal plain, Cukurova, Turkey. Image differencing and ratioing were applied to the reflective bands of Landsat TM datasets acquired in 1984 and 2006. Normalized Difference Vegetation index (NDVI) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) differencing were also applied. The resulting images were tested for their capacity to detect nine change phenomena, which were a priori defined in a three-level classification scheme. These change phenomena included agricultural encroachment, sand dune afforestation, coastline changes and removal/expansion of reed beds. The percentage overall accuracies of different algebra products for each phenomenon were calculated and compared. The results showed that some of the changes such as sand dune afforestation and reed bed expansion were detected with accuracies varying between 85 and 97% by the majority of the algebra operations, while some other changes such as logging could only be detected by mid-infrared (MIR) ratioing. For optimizing change detection in similar coastal landscapes, underlying causes of these changes were discussed and the guidelines for selecting band and algebra operations were provided. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. [Selective mutism].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ytzhak, A; Doron, Y; Lahat, E; Livne, A

    2012-10-01

    Selective mutism is an uncommon disorder in young children, in which they selectively don't speak in certain social situations, while being capable of speaking easily in other social situations. Many etiologies were proposed for selective mutism including psychodynamic, behavioral and familial etc. A developmental etiology that includes insights from all the above is gaining support. Accordingly, mild language impairment in a child with an anxiety trait may be at the root of developing selective mutism. The behavior will be reinforced by an avoidant pattern in the family. Early treatment and followup for children with selective mutism is important. The treatment includes non-pharmacological therapy (psychodynamic, behavioral and familial) and pharmacologic therapy--mainly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI).

  1. Closed-form solutions for linear regulator design of mechanical systems including optimal weighting matrix selection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanks, Brantley R.; Skelton, Robert E.

    1991-01-01

    Vibration in modern structural and mechanical systems can be reduced in amplitude by increasing stiffness, redistributing stiffness and mass, and/or adding damping if design techniques are available to do so. Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) theory in modern multivariable control design, attacks the general dissipative elastic system design problem in a global formulation. The optimal design, however, allows electronic connections and phase relations which are not physically practical or possible in passive structural-mechanical devices. The restriction of LQR solutions (to the Algebraic Riccati Equation) to design spaces which can be implemented as passive structural members and/or dampers is addressed. A general closed-form solution to the optimal free-decay control problem is presented which is tailored for structural-mechanical system. The solution includes, as subsets, special cases such as the Rayleigh Dissipation Function and total energy. Weighting matrix selection is a constrained choice among several parameters to obtain desired physical relationships. The closed-form solution is also applicable to active control design for systems where perfect, collocated actuator-sensor pairs exist.

  2. Applicability of bioanalysis of multiple analytes in drug discovery and development: review of select case studies including assay development considerations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Srinivas, Nuggehally R

    2006-05-01

    The development of sound bioanalytical method(s) is of paramount importance during the process of drug discovery and development culminating in a marketing approval. Although the bioanalytical procedure(s) originally developed during the discovery stage may not necessarily be fit to support the drug development scenario, they may be suitably modified and validated, as deemed necessary. Several reviews have appeared over the years describing analytical approaches including various techniques, detection systems, automation tools that are available for an effective separation, enhanced selectivity and sensitivity for quantitation of many analytes. The intention of this review is to cover various key areas where analytical method development becomes necessary during different stages of drug discovery research and development process. The key areas covered in this article with relevant case studies include: (a) simultaneous assay for parent compound and metabolites that are purported to display pharmacological activity; (b) bioanalytical procedures for determination of multiple drugs in combating a disease; (c) analytical measurement of chirality aspects in the pharmacokinetics, metabolism and biotransformation investigations; (d) drug monitoring for therapeutic benefits and/or occupational hazard; (e) analysis of drugs from complex and/or less frequently used matrices; (f) analytical determination during in vitro experiments (metabolism and permeability related) and in situ intestinal perfusion experiments; (g) determination of a major metabolite as a surrogate for the parent molecule; (h) analytical approaches for universal determination of CYP450 probe substrates and metabolites; (i) analytical applicability to prodrug evaluations-simultaneous determination of prodrug, parent and metabolites; (j) quantitative determination of parent compound and/or phase II metabolite(s) via direct or indirect approaches; (k) applicability in analysis of multiple compounds in select

  3. PSpectRe: a pseudo-spectral code for (P)reheating

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Easther, Richard; Finkel, Hal; Roth, Nathaniel

    2010-01-01

    PSpectRe is a C++ program that uses Fourier-space pseudo-spectral methods to evolve interacting scalar fields in an expanding universe. PSpectRe is optimized for the analysis of parametric resonance in the post-inflationary universe and provides an alternative to finite differencing codes, such as Defrost and LatticeEasy. PSpectRe has both second- (Velocity-Verlet) and fourth-order (Runge-Kutta) time integrators. Given the same number of spatial points and/or momentum modes, PSpectRe is not significantly slower than finite differencing codes, despite the need for multiple Fourier transforms at each timestep, and exhibits excellent energy conservation. Further, by computing the post-resonance equation of state, we show that in some circumstances PSpectRe obtains reliable results while using substantially fewer points than a finite differencing code. PSpectRe is designed to be easily extended to other problems in early-universe cosmology, including the generation of gravitational waves during phase transitions and pre-inflationary bubble collisions. Specific applications of this code will be described in future work

  4. Image differencing using masked CCD

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rushbrooke, J.G.; Ansorge, R.E.; Webber, C.J. St. J.

    1987-01-01

    A charge coupled device has some of its ''pixels'' masked by a material which is opaque to the radiation to which the device is to be exposed, each masked region being employed as a storage zone into which the charge pattern from the unmasked pixels can be transferred to enable a subsequent charge pattern to be established on further exposure of the unmasked pixels. The components of the resulting video signal corresponding to the respective charge patterns read-out from the CCD are subtracted to produce a video signal corresponding to the difference between the two images which formed the respective charge patterns. Alternate rows of pixels may be masked, or chequer-board pattern masking may be employed. In an X-ray imaging system the CCD is coupled to image intensifying and converting means. (author)

  5. Special Edition on Geohazards - Editorial

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Chiedza.Musekiwa

    photographs. Image differencing, tasseled cap transformations, vegetation index differencing and post-classification change detection techniques were performed on the Landsat imagery. The aerial photographs were assessed using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS), which determines statistical differences in ...

  6. Model Selection and Evaluation Based on Emerging Infectious Disease Data Sets including A/H1N1 and Ebola

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wendi Liu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the present study is to apply simple ODE models in the area of modeling the spread of emerging infectious diseases and show the importance of model selection in estimating parameters, the basic reproduction number, turning point, and final size. To quantify the plausibility of each model, given the data and the set of four models including Logistic, Gompertz, Rosenzweg, and Richards models, the Bayes factors are calculated and the precise estimates of the best fitted model parameters and key epidemic characteristics have been obtained. In particular, for Ebola the basic reproduction numbers are 1.3522 (95% CI (1.3506, 1.3537, 1.2101 (95% CI (1.2084, 1.2119, 3.0234 (95% CI (2.6063, 3.4881, and 1.9018 (95% CI (1.8565, 1.9478, the turning points are November 7,November 17, October 2, and November 3, 2014, and the final sizes until December 2015 are 25794 (95% CI (25630, 25958, 3916 (95% CI (3865, 3967, 9886 (95% CI (9740, 10031, and 12633 (95% CI (12515, 12750 for West Africa, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, respectively. The main results confirm that model selection is crucial in evaluating and predicting the important quantities describing the emerging infectious diseases, and arbitrarily picking a model without any consideration of alternatives is problematic.

  7. Electrolyte solutions including a phosphoranimine compound, and energy storage devices including same

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klaehn, John R.; Dufek, Eric J.; Rollins, Harry W.; Harrup, Mason K.; Gering, Kevin L.

    2017-09-12

    An electrolyte solution comprising at least one phosphoranimine compound and a metal salt. The at least one phosphoranimine compound comprises a compound of the chemical structure ##STR00001## where X is an organosilyl group or a tert-butyl group and each of R.sup.1, R.sup.2, and R.sup.3 is independently selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group, an aryl group, an alkoxy group, or an aryloxy group. An energy storage device including the electrolyte solution is also disclosed.

  8. Lichen ecology and diversity of a sagebrush steppe in Oregon: 1977 to the present

    Science.gov (United States)

    A lichen checklist is presented of 141 species from the Lawrence Memorial Grassland Preserve and nearby lands in Wasco County, Oregon, based on collections made in the 1970s and 1990s. Collections include epiphytic, lignicolous, saxicolous, muscicolous and terricolous species. To evaluate differenc...

  9. Simulated selection responses for breeding programs including resistance and resilience to parasites in Creole goats

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gunia, M.; Phocas, F.; Gourdine, J.L.; Bijma, P.; Mandonnet, N.

    2013-01-01

    The Creole goat is a local breed used for meat production in Guadeloupe (French West Indies). As in other tropical countries, improvement of parasite resistance is needed. In this study, we compared predicted selection responses for alternative breeding programs with or without parasites resistance

  10. Variations in Carabidae assemblages across the farmland habitats in relation to selected environmental variables including soil properties

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beáta Baranová

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The variations in ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae assemblages across the three types of farmland habitats, arable land, meadows and woody vegetation were studied in relation to vegetation cover structure, intensity of agrotechnical interventions and selected soil properties. Material was pitfall trapped in 2010 and 2011 on twelve sites of the agricultural landscape in the Prešov town and its near vicinity, Eastern Slovakia. A total of 14,763 ground beetle individuals were entrapped. Material collection resulted into 92 Carabidae species, with the following six species dominating: Poecilus cupreus, Pterostichus melanarius, Pseudoophonus rufipes, Brachinus crepitans, Anchomenus dorsalis and Poecilus versicolor. Studied habitats differed significantly in the number of entrapped individuals, activity abundance as well as representation of the carabids according to their habitat preferences and ability to fly. However, no significant distinction was observed in the diversity, evenness neither dominance. The most significant environmental variables affecting Carabidae assemblages species variability were soil moisture and herb layer 0-20 cm. Another best variables selected by the forward selection were intensity of agrotechnical interventions, humus content and shrub vegetation. The other from selected soil properties seem to have just secondary meaning for the adult carabids. Environmental variables have the strongest effect on the habitat specialists, whereas ground beetles without special requirements to the habitat quality seem to be affected by the studied environmental variables just little.

  11. A point-centered diffusion differencing for unstructured meshes in 3-D

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Palmer, T.S.

    1994-01-01

    We describe a point-centered diffusion discretization for 3-D unstructured meshes of polyhedra. The method has several attractive qualities, including second-order accuracy and preservation of linear solutions. A potential drawback to the scheme is that the diffusion matrix is asymmetric, in general. Results of numerical test problems illustrate the behavior of the scheme

  12. Preface to the April 2018 Issue including selected works from CIbSE 2017 and LACLO 2016

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Héctor Cancela

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available This issue of the CLEIej consists of three main parts: i a review paper on the state of the art of how contextual information extracted from a user task can help to improve searches for contents relevant to this task; ii extended and revised versions of Selected Papers (which correspond to the second and third best paper from each track presented at the XX Ibero-American Conference on Software Engineering (CIbSE 2017, which took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in May 2017; and, iii extended and revised versions of selected papers from LACLO 2016, the XI Latin American Conference on Learning Objects and Technology, which took place in San José, Costa Rica, in October 2016.

  13. Fully implicit kinetic modelling of collisional plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mousseau, V.A.

    1996-05-01

    This dissertation describes a numerical technique, Matrix-Free Newton Krylov, for solving a simplified Vlasov-Fokker-Planck equation. This method is both deterministic and fully implicit, and may not have been a viable option before current developments in numerical methods. Results are presented that indicate the efficiency of the Matrix-Free Newton Krylov method for these fully-coupled, nonlinear integro-differential equations. The use and requirement for advanced differencing is also shown. To this end, implementations of Chang-Cooper differencing and flux limited Quadratic Upstream Interpolation for Convective Kinematics (QUICK) are presented. Results are given for a fully kinetic ion-electron problem with a self consistent electric field calculated from the ion and electron distribution functions. This numerical method, including advanced differencing, provides accurate solutions, which quickly converge on workstation class machines. It is demonstrated that efficient steady-state solutions can be achieved to the non-linear integro-differential equation, obtaining quadratic convergence, without incurring the large memory requirements of an integral operator. Model problems are presented which simulate plasma impinging on a plate with both high and low neutral particle recycling typical of a divertor in a Tokamak device. These model problems demonstrate the performance of the new solution method

  14. Asymptotic solutions of numerical transport problems in optically thick, diffusive regimes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Larsen, E.W.; Morel, J.E.; Miller, W.F. Jr.

    1987-01-01

    We present an asymptotic analysis of spatial differencing schemes for the discrete-ordinates equations, for diffusive media with spatial cells that are not optically thin. Our theoretical tool is an asymptotic expansion that has previously been used to describe the transform from analytic transport to analytic diffusion theory for such media. To introduce this expansion and its physical rationale, we first describe it for the analytic discrete-ordinates equations. Then, we apply the expansion to the spatially discretized discrete-ordinates equations, with the spatial mesh scaled in either of two physically relevant ways such that the optical thickness of the spatial cells is not small. If the result of either expansion is a legitimate diffusion description for either the cell-averaged or cell-edge fluxes, then we say that the approximate flux has the appropriate diffusion limit; otherwise, we say it does not. We consider several transport differencing schemes that are applicable in neutron transport and thermal radiation applications. We also include numerical results which demonstrate the validity of our theory and show that differencing schemes that do have a particular diffusion limit are substantially more accurate, in the regime described by the limit, than those that do not. copyright 1987 Academic Press, Inc

  15. The DANTE Boltzmann transport solver: An unstructured mesh, 3-D, spherical harmonics algorithm compatible with parallel computer architectures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McGhee, J.M.; Roberts, R.M.; Morel, J.E.

    1997-01-01

    A spherical harmonics research code (DANTE) has been developed which is compatible with parallel computer architectures. DANTE provides 3-D, multi-material, deterministic, transport capabilities using an arbitrary finite element mesh. The linearized Boltzmann transport equation is solved in a second order self-adjoint form utilizing a Galerkin finite element spatial differencing scheme. The core solver utilizes a preconditioned conjugate gradient algorithm. Other distinguishing features of the code include options for discrete-ordinates and simplified spherical harmonics angular differencing, an exact Marshak boundary treatment for arbitrarily oriented boundary faces, in-line matrix construction techniques to minimize memory consumption, and an effective diffusion based preconditioner for scattering dominated problems. Algorithm efficiency is demonstrated for a massively parallel SIMD architecture (CM-5), and compatibility with MPP multiprocessor platforms or workstation clusters is anticipated

  16. Differencing and Merging of Architectural Views

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Abi-Antoun, Marwan; Aldrich, Jonathan; Nahas, Nagi; Schmerl, Bradley; Garlan, David

    2005-01-01

    .... To that effect, they generalize a published polynomial-time, tree-to-tree correction algorithm that detects, inserts, renames, and deletes into a novel algorithm that also identifies restricted moves...

  17. SINDA, Systems Improved Numerical Differencing Analyzer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fink, L. C.; Pan, H. M. Y.; Ishimoto, T.

    1972-01-01

    Computer program has been written to analyze group of 100-node areas and then provide for summation of any number of 100-node areas to obtain temperature profile. SINDA program options offer user variety of methods for solution of thermal analog modes presented in network format.

  18. An improved model for the Earth's gravity field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tapley, B. D.; Shum, C. K.; Yuan, D. N.; Ries, J. C.; Schutz, B. E.

    1989-01-01

    An improved model for the Earth's gravity field, TEG-1, was determined using data sets from fourteen satellites, spanning the inclination ranges from 15 to 115 deg, and global surface gravity anomaly data. The satellite measurements include laser ranging data, Doppler range-rate data, and satellite-to-ocean radar altimeter data measurements, which include the direct height measurement and the differenced measurements at ground track crossings (crossover measurements). Also determined was another gravity field model, TEG-1S, which included all the data sets in TEG-1 with the exception of direct altimeter data. The effort has included an intense scrutiny of the gravity field solution methodology. The estimated parameters included geopotential coefficients complete to degree and order 50 with selected higher order coefficients, ocean and solid Earth tide parameters, Doppler tracking station coordinates and the quasi-stationary sea surface topography. Extensive error analysis and calibration of the formal covariance matrix indicate that the gravity field model is a significant improvement over previous models and can be used for general applications in geodesy.

  19. Air Emissions of Selected Substances from Particular Sectors Including Metallurgy in Poland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kargulewicz I.

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available This article presents data on the anthropogenic air emissions of selected substances (CO2, SO2, total suspended particles (TSP, dioxins and furans (PCDD/F, Pb and Cd subject to reporting under the Climate Convention (UNFCCC or the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (UNECE CLRTAP. It also presents the national emissions of these substances in 2014 by the major source categories and defines the share of metal production in these emissions. Analysis is based on national emission inventory reports. Most important source of air emission in case of CO2 and SO2 is 1.A.1 Energy industries category. TSP and PCDD/F are emitted mainly from fuel combustion in small sources (i.a. households. Emission of heavy metals (Pb and Cd is connected mostly with 1.A.2. Manufacturing industries and construction category. Metallurgy is significant source of emission only for lead and cadmium from among all considered substances. The shares of particular sectors in the national emissions of given pollutants are important, in view of the possible reduction measures and the determination in which industries they could bring about tangible results.

  20. Selective, electrochemical etching of a semiconductor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dahal, Rajendra P.; Bhat, Ishwara B.; Chow, Tat-Sing

    2018-03-20

    Methods for facilitating fabricating semiconductor structures are provided which include: providing a multilayer structure including a semiconductor layer, the semiconductor layer including a dopant and having an increased conductivity; selectively increasing, using electrochemical processing, porosity of the semiconductor layer, at least in part, the selectively increasing porosity utilizing the increased conductivity of the semiconductor layer; and removing, at least in part, the semiconductor layer with the selectively increased porosity from the multilayer structure. By way of example, the selectively increasing porosity may include selectively, anodically oxidizing, at least in part, the semiconductor layer of the multilayer structure.

  1. SCISEAL: A CFD Code for Analysis of Fluid Dynamic Forces in Seals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Althavale, Mahesh M.; Ho, Yin-Hsing; Przekwas, Andre J.

    1996-01-01

    A 3D CFD code, SCISEAL, has been developed and validated. Its capabilities include cylindrical seals, and it is employed on labyrinth seals, rim seals, and disc cavities. State-of-the-art numerical methods include colocated grids, high-order differencing, and turbulence models which account for wall roughness. SCISEAL computes efficient solutions for complicated flow geometries and seal-specific capabilities (rotor loads, torques, etc.).

  2. Vegetation, topography and daily weather influenced burn severity in central Idaho and western Montana forests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donovan S. Birch; Penelope Morgan; Crystal A. Kolden; John T. Abatzoglou; Gregory K. Dillon; Andrew T. Hudak; Alistair M. S. Smith

    2015-01-01

    Burn severity as inferred from satellite-derived differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) is useful for evaluating fire impacts on ecosystems but the environmental controls on burn severity across large forest fires are both poorly understood and likely to be different than those influencing fire extent. We related dNBR to environmental variables including vegetation,...

  3. Institutions and Development: Are some more critical than others? – A Panel Study of 50 countries from 2002 to 2011

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bertram C.I. Okpokwasili

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Strong institutions are often viewed as part answers to Africa’s development dilemma. But given the resource constraints of many African countries, one would need to be selective as to which institution or institutions to commit scarce resources. An attempt to strengthen all institutions at the same time could be rather daunting. And many questions would remain. First, what is the relative importance of one institution to another? Second, whether all institutions exert an equal impact on comprehensive development as they do on economic growth. This paper on Institutions and Development, first published in 2007   tries to answer these questions. It has been modified (in the 2016 version for three reasons- 1, to bring the data up to date, 2, to use a different and possibly more accurate econometric model (fixed effect for the analysis and 3, to assess if the same institutions remain more critical than others, as observed in 2007. Even though the rule of law institution would seem, in this revised version, to have a slightly better impact on GDP/Capita, government effectiveness is still dominant in both non-differenced and differenced models, especially when comprehensive development is considered.

  4. Unconditionally stable diffusion-acceleration of the transport equation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Larsen, E.W.

    1982-01-01

    The standard iterative procedure for solving fixed-source discrete-ordinates problems converges very slowly for problems in optically large regions with scattering ratios c near unity. The diffusion-synthetic acceleration method has been proposed to make use of the fact that for this class of problems the diffusion equation is often an accurate approximation to the transport equation. However, stability difficulties have historically hampered the implementation of this method for general transport differencing schemes. In this article we discuss a recently developed procedure for obtaining unconditionally stable diffusion-synthetic acceleration methods for various transport differencing schemes. We motivate the analysis by first discussing the exact transport equation; then we illustrate the procedure by deriving a new stable acceleration method for the linear discontinuous transport differencing scheme. We also provide some numerical results

  5. SWIFT, 3-D Fluid Flow, Heat Transfer, Decay Chain Transport in Geological Media

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cranwell, R.M.; Reeves, M.

    2003-01-01

    1 - Description of problem or function: SWIFT solves the coupled or individual equations governing fluid flow, heat transport, brine displacement, and radionuclide displacement in geologic media. Fluid flow may be transient or steady-state. One, two, or three dimensions are available and transport of radionuclides chains is possible. 4. Method of solution: Finite differencing is used to discretize the partial differential equations in space and time. The user may choose centered or backward spatial differencing, coupled with either central or backward temporal differencing. The matrix equations may be solved iteratively (two line successive-over-relaxation) or directly (special matrix banding and Gaussian elimination). 5. Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: On the CDC7600 in direct solution mode, the maximum number of grid blocks allowed is approximately 1400

  6. Unconditionally stable diffusion-acceleration of the transport equation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Larson, E.W.

    1982-01-01

    The standard iterative procedure for solving fixed-source discrete-ordinates problems converges very slowly for problems in optically thick regions with scattering ratios c near unity. The diffusion-synthetic acceleration method has been proposed to make use of the fact that for this class of problems, the diffusion equation is often an accurate approximation to the transport equation. However, stability difficulties have historically hampered the implementation of this method for general transport differencing schemes. In this article we discuss a recently developed procedure for obtaining unconditionally stable diffusion-synthetic acceleration methods for various transport differencing schemes. We motivate the analysis by first discussing the exact transport equation; then we illustrate the procedure by deriving a new stable acceleration method for the linear discontinuous transport differencing scheme. We also provide some numerical results

  7. Numerical shoves and countershoves in electron transport calculations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Filippone, W.L.

    1986-01-01

    The justification for applying the relatively complex (compared to S/sub n/) streaming ray (SR) algorithm to electron transport problems is its potential for doing rapid and accurate calculations. Because of the Lagrangian treatment of the cell-uncollided electrons, the only significant sources of error are the numerical treatment of the scattering kernel and the spatial differencing scheme used for the cell-collided electrons. Considerable progress has been made in reducing the former source of error. If one is willing to pay the price, the latter source of error can be reduced to any desired level by refining the mesh size or by using high-order differencing schemes. Here the method of numerical shoves and countershoves is introduced, which reduces spatial differencing errors using relatively little additional computational effort

  8. Systems and strippable coatings for decontaminating structures that include porous material

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fox, Robert V [Idaho Falls, ID; Avci, Recep [Bozeman, MT; Groenewold, Gary S [Idaho Falls, ID

    2011-12-06

    Methods of removing contaminant matter from porous materials include applying a polymer material to a contaminated surface, irradiating the contaminated surface to cause redistribution of contaminant matter, and removing at least a portion of the polymer material from the surface. Systems for decontaminating a contaminated structure comprising porous material include a radiation device configured to emit electromagnetic radiation toward a surface of a structure, and at least one spray device configured to apply a capture material onto the surface of the structure. Polymer materials that can be used in such methods and systems include polyphosphazine-based polymer materials having polyphosphazine backbone segments and side chain groups that include selected functional groups. The selected functional groups may include iminos, oximes, carboxylates, sulfonates, .beta.-diketones, phosphine sulfides, phosphates, phosphites, phosphonates, phosphinates, phosphine oxides, monothio phosphinic acids, and dithio phosphinic acids.

  9. Corruption of accuracy and efficiency of Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation by inaccurate numerical implementation of conceptual hydrologic models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schoups, G.; Vrugt, J. A.; Fenicia, F.; van de Giesen, N. C.

    2010-10-01

    Conceptual rainfall-runoff models have traditionally been applied without paying much attention to numerical errors induced by temporal integration of water balance dynamics. Reliance on first-order, explicit, fixed-step integration methods leads to computationally cheap simulation models that are easy to implement. Computational speed is especially desirable for estimating parameter and predictive uncertainty using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. Confirming earlier work of Kavetski et al. (2003), we show here that the computational speed of first-order, explicit, fixed-step integration methods comes at a cost: for a case study with a spatially lumped conceptual rainfall-runoff model, it introduces artificial bimodality in the marginal posterior parameter distributions, which is not present in numerically accurate implementations of the same model. The resulting effects on MCMC simulation include (1) inconsistent estimates of posterior parameter and predictive distributions, (2) poor performance and slow convergence of the MCMC algorithm, and (3) unreliable convergence diagnosis using the Gelman-Rubin statistic. We studied several alternative numerical implementations to remedy these problems, including various adaptive-step finite difference schemes and an operator splitting method. Our results show that adaptive-step, second-order methods, based on either explicit finite differencing or operator splitting with analytical integration, provide the best alternative for accurate and efficient MCMC simulation. Fixed-step or adaptive-step implicit methods may also be used for increased accuracy, but they cannot match the efficiency of adaptive-step explicit finite differencing or operator splitting. Of the latter two, explicit finite differencing is more generally applicable and is preferred if the individual hydrologic flux laws cannot be integrated analytically, as the splitting method then loses its advantage.

  10. GNSS global real-time augmentation positioning: Real-time precise satellite clock estimation, prototype system construction and performance analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Liang; Zhao, Qile; Hu, Zhigang; Jiang, Xinyuan; Geng, Changjiang; Ge, Maorong; Shi, Chuang

    2018-01-01

    Lots of ambiguities in un-differenced (UD) model lead to lower calculation efficiency, which isn't appropriate for the high-frequency real-time GNSS clock estimation, like 1 Hz. Mixed differenced model fusing UD pseudo-range and epoch-differenced (ED) phase observations has been introduced into real-time clock estimation. In this contribution, we extend the mixed differenced model for realizing multi-GNSS real-time clock high-frequency updating and a rigorous comparison and analysis on same conditions are performed to achieve the best real-time clock estimation performance taking the efficiency, accuracy, consistency and reliability into consideration. Based on the multi-GNSS real-time data streams provided by multi-GNSS Experiment (MGEX) and Wuhan University, GPS + BeiDou + Galileo global real-time augmentation positioning prototype system is designed and constructed, including real-time precise orbit determination, real-time precise clock estimation, real-time Precise Point Positioning (RT-PPP) and real-time Standard Point Positioning (RT-SPP). The statistical analysis of the 6 h-predicted real-time orbits shows that the root mean square (RMS) in radial direction is about 1-5 cm for GPS, Beidou MEO and Galileo satellites and about 10 cm for Beidou GEO and IGSO satellites. Using the mixed differenced estimation model, the prototype system can realize high-efficient real-time satellite absolute clock estimation with no constant clock-bias and can be used for high-frequency augmentation message updating (such as 1 Hz). The real-time augmentation message signal-in-space ranging error (SISRE), a comprehensive accuracy of orbit and clock and effecting the users' actual positioning performance, is introduced to evaluate and analyze the performance of GPS + BeiDou + Galileo global real-time augmentation positioning system. The statistical analysis of real-time augmentation message SISRE is about 4-7 cm for GPS, whlile 10 cm for Beidou IGSO/MEO, Galileo and about 30 cm

  11. Improvement of prediction ability for genomic selection of dairy cattle by including dominance effects.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chuanyu Sun

    Full Text Available Dominance may be an important source of non-additive genetic variance for many traits of dairy cattle. However, nearly all prediction models for dairy cattle have included only additive effects because of the limited number of cows with both genotypes and phenotypes. The role of dominance in the Holstein and Jersey breeds was investigated for eight traits: milk, fat, and protein yields; productive life; daughter pregnancy rate; somatic cell score; fat percent and protein percent. Additive and dominance variance components were estimated and then used to estimate additive and dominance effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs. The predictive abilities of three models with both additive and dominance effects and a model with additive effects only were assessed using ten-fold cross-validation. One procedure estimated dominance values, and another estimated dominance deviations; calculation of the dominance relationship matrix was different for the two methods. The third approach enlarged the dataset by including cows with genotype probabilities derived using genotyped ancestors. For yield traits, dominance variance accounted for 5 and 7% of total variance for Holsteins and Jerseys, respectively; using dominance deviations resulted in smaller dominance and larger additive variance estimates. For non-yield traits, dominance variances were very small for both breeds. For yield traits, including additive and dominance effects fit the data better than including only additive effects; average correlations between estimated genetic effects and phenotypes showed that prediction accuracy increased when both effects rather than just additive effects were included. No corresponding gains in prediction ability were found for non-yield traits. Including cows with derived genotype probabilities from genotyped ancestors did not improve prediction accuracy. The largest additive effects were located on chromosome 14 near DGAT1 for yield traits for both

  12. MIS-based sensors with hydrogen selectivity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li,; Dongmei, [Boulder, CO; Medlin, J William [Boulder, CO; McDaniel, Anthony H [Livermore, CA; Bastasz, Robert J [Livermore, CA

    2008-03-11

    The invention provides hydrogen selective metal-insulator-semiconductor sensors which include a layer of hydrogen selective material. The hydrogen selective material can be polyimide layer having a thickness between 200 and 800 nm. Suitable polyimide materials include reaction products of benzophenone tetracarboxylic dianhydride 4,4-oxydianiline m-phenylene diamine and other structurally similar materials.

  13. Classical mechanics including an introduction to the theory of elasticity

    CERN Document Server

    Hentschke, Reinhard

    2017-01-01

    This textbook teaches classical mechanics as one of the foundations of physics. It describes the mechanical stability and motion in physical systems ranging from the molecular to the galactic scale. Aside from the standard topics of mechanics in the physics curriculum, this book includes an introduction to the theory of elasticity and its use in selected modern engineering applications, e.g. dynamic mechanical analysis of viscoelastic materials. The text also covers many aspects of numerical mechanics, ranging from the solution of ordinary differential equations, including molecular dynamics simulation of many particle systems, to the finite element method. Attendant Mathematica programs or parts thereof are provided in conjunction with selected examples. Numerous links allow the reader to connect to related subjects and research topics. Among others this includes statistical mechanics (separate chapter), quantum mechanics, space flight, galactic dynamics, friction, and vibration spectroscopy. An introductory...

  14. A Permutation Approach for Selecting the Penalty Parameter in Penalized Model Selection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabourin, Jeremy A; Valdar, William; Nobel, Andrew B

    2015-01-01

    Summary We describe a simple, computationally effcient, permutation-based procedure for selecting the penalty parameter in LASSO penalized regression. The procedure, permutation selection, is intended for applications where variable selection is the primary focus, and can be applied in a variety of structural settings, including that of generalized linear models. We briefly discuss connections between permutation selection and existing theory for the LASSO. In addition, we present a simulation study and an analysis of real biomedical data sets in which permutation selection is compared with selection based on the following: cross-validation (CV), the Bayesian information criterion (BIC), Scaled Sparse Linear Regression, and a selection method based on recently developed testing procedures for the LASSO. PMID:26243050

  15. An investigation into the accuracy, stability and parallel performance of a highly stable explicit technique for stiff reaction-transport PDEs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Franz, A., LLNL

    1998-02-17

    The numerical simulation of chemically reacting flows is a topic, that has attracted a great deal of current research At the heart of numerical reactive flow simulations are large sets of coupled, nonlinear Partial Differential Equations (PDES). Due to the stiffness that is usually present, explicit time differencing schemes are not used despite their inherent simplicity and efficiency on parallel and vector machines, since these schemes require prohibitively small numerical stepsizes. Implicit time differencing schemes, although possessing good stability characteristics, introduce a great deal of computational overhead necessary to solve the simultaneous algebraic system at each timestep. This thesis examines an algorithm based on a preconditioned time differencing scheme. The algorithm is explicit and permits a large stable time step. An investigation of the algorithm`s accuracy, stability and performance on a parallel architecture is presented

  16. An Explicit Upwind Algorithm for Solving the Parabolized Navier-Stokes Equations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korte, John J.

    1991-01-01

    An explicit, upwind algorithm was developed for the direct (noniterative) integration of the 3-D Parabolized Navier-Stokes (PNS) equations in a generalized coordinate system. The new algorithm uses upwind approximations of the numerical fluxes for the pressure and convection terms obtained by combining flux difference splittings (FDS) formed from the solution of an approximate Riemann (RP). The approximate RP is solved using an extension of the method developed by Roe for steady supersonic flow of an ideal gas. Roe's method is extended for use with the 3-D PNS equations expressed in generalized coordinates and to include Vigneron's technique of splitting the streamwise pressure gradient. The difficulty associated with applying Roe's scheme in the subsonic region is overcome. The second-order upwind differencing of the flux derivatives are obtained by adding FDS to either an original forward or backward differencing of the flux derivative. This approach is used to modify an explicit MacCormack differencing scheme into an upwind differencing scheme. The second order upwind flux approximations, applied with flux limiters, provide a method for numerically capturing shocks without the need for additional artificial damping terms which require adjustment by the user. In addition, a cubic equation is derived for determining Vegneron's pressure splitting coefficient using the updated streamwise flux vector. Decoding the streamwise flux vector with the updated value of Vigneron's pressure splitting improves the stability of the scheme. The new algorithm is applied to 2-D and 3-D supersonic and hypersonic laminar flow test cases. Results are presented for the experimental studies of Holden and of Tracy. In addition, a flow field solution is presented for a generic hypersonic aircraft at a Mach number of 24.5 and angle of attack of 1 degree. The computed results compare well to both experimental data and numerical results from other algorithms. Computational times required

  17. Ion-selective electrode reviews

    CERN Document Server

    Thomas, J D R

    1985-01-01

    Ion-Selective Electrode Reviews, Volume 7 is a collection of papers that covers the applications of electrochemical sensors, along with the versatility of ion-selective electrodes. The coverage of the text includes solid contact in membrane ion-selective electrodes; immobilized enzyme probes for determining inhibitors; potentiometric titrations based on ion-pair formation; and application of ion-selective electrodes in soil science, kinetics, and kinetic analysis. The text will be of great use to chemists and chemical engineers.

  18. Solar Energy Education. Reader, Part II. Sun story. [Includes glossary

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1981-05-01

    Magazine articles which focus on the subject of solar energy are presented. The booklet prepared is the second of a four part series of the Solar Energy Reader. Excerpts from the magazines include the history of solar energy, mythology and tales, and selected poetry on the sun. A glossary of energy related terms is included. (BCS)

  19. Ball Screw Actuator Including an Axial Soft Stop

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wingett, Paul T. (Inventor); Forrest, Steven Talbert (Inventor); Abel, Steve (Inventor); Woessner, George (Inventor); Hanlon, Casey (Inventor)

    2016-01-01

    An actuator includes an actuator housing, a ball screw, and an axial soft stop assembly. The ball screw extends through the actuator housing and has a first end and a second end. The ball screw is coupled to receive a drive force and is configured, upon receipt of the drive force, to selectively move in a retract direction and an extend direction. The axial soft stop assembly is disposed within the actuator housing. The axial soft stop assembly is configured to be selectively engaged by the ball screw and, upon being engaged thereby, to translate, with compliance, a predetermined distance in the extend direction, and to prevent further movement of the ball screw upon translating the predetermined distance.

  20. Calibration and validation of the relative differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (RdNBR) to three measures of fire severity in the Sierra Nevada and Klamath Mountains, California, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, J.D.; Knapp, E.E.; Key, C.H.; Skinner, C.N.; Isbell, C.J.; Creasy, R.M.; Sherlock, J.W.

    2009-01-01

    Multispectral satellite data have become a common tool used in the mapping of wildland fire effects. Fire severity, defined as the degree to which a site has been altered, is often the variable mapped. The Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) used in an absolute difference change detection protocol (dNBR), has become the remote sensing method of choice for US Federal land management agencies to map fire severity due to wildland fire. However, absolute differenced vegetation indices are correlated to the pre-fire chlorophyll content of the vegetation occurring within the fire perimeter. Normalizing dNBR to produce a relativized dNBR (RdNBR) removes the biasing effect of the pre-fire condition. Employing RdNBR hypothetically allows creating categorical classifications using the same thresholds for fires occurring in similar vegetation types without acquiring additional calibration field data on each fire. In this paper we tested this hypothesis by developing thresholds on random training datasets, and then comparing accuracies for (1) fires that occurred within the same geographic region as the training dataset and in similar vegetation, and (2) fires from a different geographic region that is climatically and floristically similar to the training dataset region but supports more complex vegetation structure. We additionally compared map accuracies for three measures of fire severity: the composite burn index (CBI), percent change in tree canopy cover, and percent change in tree basal area. User's and producer's accuracies were highest for the most severe categories, ranging from 70.7% to 89.1%. Accuracies of the moderate fire severity category for measures describing effects only to trees (percent change in canopy cover and basal area) indicated that the classifications were generally not much better than random. Accuracies of the moderate category for the CBI classifications were somewhat better, averaging in the 50%-60% range. These results underscore the difficulty in

  1. Variable selection in near-infrared spectroscopy: Benchmarking of feature selection methods on biodiesel data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Balabin, Roman M.; Smirnov, Sergey V.

    2011-01-01

    During the past several years, near-infrared (near-IR/NIR) spectroscopy has increasingly been adopted as an analytical tool in various fields from petroleum to biomedical sectors. The NIR spectrum (above 4000 cm -1 ) of a sample is typically measured by modern instruments at a few hundred of wavelengths. Recently, considerable effort has been directed towards developing procedures to identify variables (wavelengths) that contribute useful information. Variable selection (VS) or feature selection, also called frequency selection or wavelength selection, is a critical step in data analysis for vibrational spectroscopy (infrared, Raman, or NIRS). In this paper, we compare the performance of 16 different feature selection methods for the prediction of properties of biodiesel fuel, including density, viscosity, methanol content, and water concentration. The feature selection algorithms tested include stepwise multiple linear regression (MLR-step), interval partial least squares regression (iPLS), backward iPLS (BiPLS), forward iPLS (FiPLS), moving window partial least squares regression (MWPLS), (modified) changeable size moving window partial least squares (CSMWPLS/MCSMWPLSR), searching combination moving window partial least squares (SCMWPLS), successive projections algorithm (SPA), uninformative variable elimination (UVE, including UVE-SPA), simulated annealing (SA), back-propagation artificial neural networks (BP-ANN), Kohonen artificial neural network (K-ANN), and genetic algorithms (GAs, including GA-iPLS). Two linear techniques for calibration model building, namely multiple linear regression (MLR) and partial least squares regression/projection to latent structures (PLS/PLSR), are used for the evaluation of biofuel properties. A comparison with a non-linear calibration model, artificial neural networks (ANN-MLP), is also provided. Discussion of gasoline, ethanol-gasoline (bioethanol), and diesel fuel data is presented. The results of other spectroscopic

  2. A Bayesian random effects discrete-choice model for resource selection: Population-level selection inference

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, D.L.; Johnson, D.; Griffith, B.

    2006-01-01

    Modeling the probability of use of land units characterized by discrete and continuous measures, we present a Bayesian random-effects model to assess resource selection. This model provides simultaneous estimation of both individual- and population-level selection. Deviance information criterion (DIC), a Bayesian alternative to AIC that is sample-size specific, is used for model selection. Aerial radiolocation data from 76 adult female caribou (Rangifer tarandus) and calf pairs during 1 year on an Arctic coastal plain calving ground were used to illustrate models and assess population-level selection of landscape attributes, as well as individual heterogeneity of selection. Landscape attributes included elevation, NDVI (a measure of forage greenness), and land cover-type classification. Results from the first of a 2-stage model-selection procedure indicated that there is substantial heterogeneity among cow-calf pairs with respect to selection of the landscape attributes. In the second stage, selection of models with heterogeneity included indicated that at the population-level, NDVI and land cover class were significant attributes for selection of different landscapes by pairs on the calving ground. Population-level selection coefficients indicate that the pairs generally select landscapes with higher levels of NDVI, but the relationship is quadratic. The highest rate of selection occurs at values of NDVI less than the maximum observed. Results for land cover-class selections coefficients indicate that wet sedge, moist sedge, herbaceous tussock tundra, and shrub tussock tundra are selected at approximately the same rate, while alpine and sparsely vegetated landscapes are selected at a lower rate. Furthermore, the variability in selection by individual caribou for moist sedge and sparsely vegetated landscapes is large relative to the variability in selection of other land cover types. The example analysis illustrates that, while sometimes computationally intense, a

  3. Finite differences versus finite elements in slab geometry, even-parity transport theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, W.F. Jr.; Noh, T.

    1993-01-01

    There continues to be considerable interest in the application of the even-parity transport equation to problems of radiation transfer and neutron transport. The motivation for this interest arises from several potential advantages of this equation when compared with the more traditional first-order form of the equation. First, assuming that the scalar flux is of primary interest, the angular domain under consideration is one-half of that required for the first-order equation. Thus, for the same degree of accuracy, one would hopefully require substantiably fewer unknown values of the dependent variable to be determined. Secondly, the elliptic-like nature of the set of even-parity equations should allow certain parallel computer architectures to be used more readily. In a recent paper, it was shown that for neutron transport applications in slab geometry, finite differencing the even-parity equation on the cell edges yields algebraic equations with numerical properties that are superior to the traditional diamond difference approach. Specifically, a positive, second-order method with a rapidly convergent iteration approach emerged from cell-edge differencing. Additionally, for radiation transfer problems that are optically thick, it was shown that cell-edge differencing demonstrates better behavior than does diamond-differencing. However, some problems in accuracy could occur due to vacuum boundaries as well as at interfaces between very different types of material regions. These problems emerge from a boundary-layer analysis of the so called open-quotes thickclose quotes diffusion limit. For neutronics calculations, which are the subject of this paper, however, the open-quotes thickclose quotes diffusion limit analysis has little applicability, and the cell-edge differencing derived previously seems to have considerable promise. 13 refs., 2 figs., 3 tabs

  4. Photoactive devices including porphyrinoids with coordinating additives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forrest, Stephen R; Zimmerman, Jeramy; Yu, Eric K; Thompson, Mark E; Trinh, Cong; Whited, Matthew; Diev, Vlacheslav

    2015-05-12

    Coordinating additives are included in porphyrinoid-based materials to promote intermolecular organization and improve one or more photoelectric characteristics of the materials. The coordinating additives are selected from fullerene compounds and organic compounds having free electron pairs. Combinations of different coordinating additives can be used to tailor the characteristic properties of such porphyrinoid-based materials, including porphyrin oligomers. Bidentate ligands are one type of coordinating additive that can form coordination bonds with a central metal ion of two different porphyrinoid compounds to promote porphyrinoid alignment and/or pi-stacking. The coordinating additives can shift the absorption spectrum of a photoactive material toward higher wavelengths, increase the external quantum efficiency of the material, or both.

  5. Genomic selection in plant breeding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newell, Mark A; Jannink, Jean-Luc

    2014-01-01

    Genomic selection (GS) is a method to predict the genetic value of selection candidates based on the genomic estimated breeding value (GEBV) predicted from high-density markers positioned throughout the genome. Unlike marker-assisted selection, the GEBV is based on all markers including both minor and major marker effects. Thus, the GEBV may capture more of the genetic variation for the particular trait under selection.

  6. Women: A Select Bibliography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kusnerz, Peggy A., Comp.; Pollack, Ann M., Comp.

    This select bibliography lists books, monographs, journals and newsletters which relate to feminism, women's studies, and other perspectives on women. Selections are organized by topic: general, bibliographies, art and literature, biography/autobiography, economics, education, family and marriage, history, politics and sex roles. Also included is…

  7. ZP Domain Proteins in the Abalone Egg Coat Include a Paralog of VERL under Positive Selection That Binds Lysin and 18-kDa Sperm Proteins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aagaard, Jan E.; Vacquier, Victor D.; MacCoss, Michael J.; Swanson, Willie J.

    2010-01-01

    Identifying fertilization molecules is key to our understanding of reproductive biology, yet only a few examples of interacting sperm and egg proteins are known. One of the best characterized comes from the invertebrate archeogastropod abalone (Haliotis spp.), where sperm lysin mediates passage through the protective egg vitelline envelope (VE) by binding to the VE protein vitelline envelope receptor for lysin (VERL). Rapid adaptive divergence of abalone lysin and VERL are an example of positive selection on interacting fertilization proteins contributing to reproductive isolation. Previously, we characterized a subset of the abalone VE proteins that share a structural feature, the zona pellucida (ZP) domain, which is common to VERL and the egg envelopes of vertebrates. Here, we use additional expressed sequence tag sequencing and shotgun proteomics to characterize this family of proteins in the abalone egg VE. We expand 3-fold the number of known ZP domain proteins present within the VE (now 30 in total) and identify a paralog of VERL (vitelline envelope zona pellucida domain protein [VEZP] 14) that contains a putative lysin-binding motif. We find that, like VERL, the divergence of VEZP14 among abalone species is driven by positive selection on the lysin-binding motif alone and that these paralogous egg VE proteins bind a similar set of sperm proteins including a rapidly evolving 18-kDa paralog of lysin, which may mediate sperm–egg fusion. This work identifies an egg coat paralog of VERL under positive selection and the candidate sperm proteins with which it may interact during abalone fertilization. PMID:19767347

  8. Selection and Participation in Higher Education: University Selection in Support of Student Success and Diversity of Participation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palmer, Nigel; Bexley, Emmaline; James, Richard

    2011-01-01

    A range of imperatives underpin university selection practices. These include demonstrating merit based on prior academic achievement and supporting successful graduate outcomes in the professions and in broader fields of endeavour. They also include improving diversity of participation and equality of educational opportunity. Selection for…

  9. Ion-selective electrode reviews

    CERN Document Server

    Thomas, J D R

    1982-01-01

    Ion-Selective Electrode Reviews, Volume 3, provides a review of articles on ion-selective electrodes (ISEs). The volume begins with an article on methods based on titration procedures for surfactant analysis, which have been developed for discrete batch operation and for continuous AutoAnalyser use. Separate chapters deal with detection limits of ion-selective electrodes; the possibility of using inorganic ion-exchange materials as ion-sensors; and the effect of solvent on potentials of cells with ion-selective electrodes. Also included is a chapter on advances in calibration procedures, the d

  10. Selective Audiovisual Semantic Integration Enabled by Feature-Selective Attention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yuanqing; Long, Jinyi; Huang, Biao; Yu, Tianyou; Wu, Wei; Li, Peijun; Fang, Fang; Sun, Pei

    2016-01-13

    An audiovisual object may contain multiple semantic features, such as the gender and emotional features of the speaker. Feature-selective attention and audiovisual semantic integration are two brain functions involved in the recognition of audiovisual objects. Humans often selectively attend to one or several features while ignoring the other features of an audiovisual object. Meanwhile, the human brain integrates semantic information from the visual and auditory modalities. However, how these two brain functions correlate with each other remains to be elucidated. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we explored the neural mechanism by which feature-selective attention modulates audiovisual semantic integration. During the fMRI experiment, the subjects were presented with visual-only, auditory-only, or audiovisual dynamical facial stimuli and performed several feature-selective attention tasks. Our results revealed that a distribution of areas, including heteromodal areas and brain areas encoding attended features, may be involved in audiovisual semantic integration. Through feature-selective attention, the human brain may selectively integrate audiovisual semantic information from attended features by enhancing functional connectivity and thus regulating information flows from heteromodal areas to brain areas encoding the attended features.

  11. Analysis of the waste selective collection at drop-off systems: Case study including the income level and the seasonal variation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gallardo, A; Carlos, M; Colomer, F J; Edo-Alcón, N

    2018-01-01

    There are several factors which have an influence in the selective collection of the municipal waste. To define a selective collection system, the waste generation pattern should be firstly determined and these factors should be analyzed in depth. This paper tries to analyze the economic income level and the seasonal variation on the collection and the purity of light-packaging waste to determine actions to improve the waste management plan of a town. In the first stage of the work, waste samples of the light-packaging containers were collected in two zones of the town with different economic characteristics in different seasons during one year. In the second stage, the samples were characterized to analyze the composition and purity of the waste. They were firstly separated into four fractions: metals; plastic; beverage cartons; and misplaced materials. The misplaced fraction was in its turn separated into cardboard, rubber and leather, inert waste, organic matter, paper, hazardous waste, clothes and shoes, glass and others. The plastic fraction was separated into five types of plastics and the metal fraction into three. In the third stage, the data have been analyzed and conclusions have been extracted. The main result is that the quality of the light-packaging fraction collected in these zones during both seasons were similar. This methodology can be extrapolated to towns with similar characteristics. It will be useful when implementing a system to collect the waste selectively and to develop actions to achieve a good participation in the selective collection of the waste.

  12. Drug product selection: legal issues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christensen, T P; Kirking, D M; Ascione, F J; Welage, L S; Gaither, C A

    2001-01-01

    To review the potential legal liability of the pharmacist in the drug product selection process. Published articles identified through MEDLINE, published law reviews identified through InfoTrac, and appellate court decisions. Search terms used included pharmacist liability, drug product selection, and generic substitution. Additional articles, books, and appellate court decisions were identified from the bibliographies of retrieved articles and citations in appellate court decisions. Pharmacists engaging in drug product selection are civilly liable under three legal theories: negligence, express or implied warranties, and strict product liability. Potential criminal liability includes prosecution for insurance fraud, deceptive business practices, and violation of state drug product selection laws and regulation. Pharmacists increase their liability when engaging in drug product selection, but the increase is small. Still, the law continues to evolve as pharmacists seek expanded roles and responsibilities. When courts give closer examination to pharmacists' expanded role, it is likely that pharmacists' liability will increase.

  13. Compressors selection and sizing

    CERN Document Server

    Brown, Royce N

    2005-01-01

    This practical reference provides in-depth information required to understand and properly estimate compressor capabilities and to select the proper designs. Engineers and students will gain a thorough understanding of compression principles, equipment, applications, selection, sizing, installation, and maintenance. The many examples clearly illustrate key aspects to help readers understand the ""real world"" of compressor technology.Compressors: Selection and Sizing, third edition is completely updated with new API standards. Additions requested by readers include a new section on di

  14. Selective mutism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hua, Alexandra; Major, Nili

    2016-02-01

    Selective mutism is a disorder in which an individual fails to speak in certain social situations though speaks normally in other settings. Most commonly, this disorder initially manifests when children fail to speak in school. Selective mutism results in significant social and academic impairment in those affected by it. This review will summarize the current understanding of selective mutism with regard to diagnosis, epidemiology, cause, prognosis, and treatment. Studies over the past 20 years have consistently demonstrated a strong relationship between selective mutism and anxiety, most notably social phobia. These findings have led to the recent reclassification of selective mutism as an anxiety disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition. In addition to anxiety, several other factors have been implicated in the development of selective mutism, including communication delays and immigration/bilingualism, adding to the complexity of the disorder. In the past few years, several randomized studies have supported the efficacy of psychosocial interventions based on a graduated exposure to situations requiring verbal communication. Less data are available regarding the use of pharmacologic treatment, though there are some studies that suggest a potential benefit. Selective mutism is a disorder that typically emerges in early childhood and is currently conceptualized as an anxiety disorder. The development of selective mutism appears to result from the interplay of a variety of genetic, temperamental, environmental, and developmental factors. Although little has been published about selective mutism in the general pediatric literature, pediatric clinicians are in a position to play an important role in the early diagnosis and treatment of this debilitating condition.

  15. SP mountain data analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rawson, R. F.; Hamilton, R. E.; Liskow, C. L.; Dias, A. R.; Jackson, P. L.

    1981-01-01

    An analysis of synthetic aperture radar data of SP Mountain was undertaken to demonstrate the use of digital image processing techniques to aid in geologic interpretation of SAR data. These data were collected with the ERIM X- and L-band airborne SAR using like- and cross-polarizations. The resulting signal films were used to produce computer compatible tapes, from which four-channel imagery was generated. Slant range-to-ground range and range-azimuth-scale corrections were made in order to facilitate image registration; intensity corrections were also made. Manual interpretation of the imagery showed that L-band represented the geology of the area better than X-band. Several differences between the various images were also noted. Further digital analysis of the corrected data was done for enhancement purposes. This analysis included application of an MSS differencing routine and development of a routine for removal of relief displacement. It was found that accurate registration of the SAR channels is critical to the effectiveness of the differencing routine. Use of the relief displacement algorithm on the SP Mountain data demonstrated the feasibility of the technique.

  16. A selective review of selective attention research from the past century.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Driver, J

    2001-02-01

    Research on attention is concerned with selective processing of incoming sensory information. To some extent, our awareness of the world depends on what we choose to attend, not merely on the stimulation entering our senses. British psychologists have made substantial contributions to this topic in the past century. Celebrated examples include Donald Broadbent's filter theory of attention, which set the agenda for most subsequent work; and Anne Treisman's revisions of this account, and her later feature-integration theory. More recent contributions include Alan Allport's prescient emphasis on the relevance of neuroscience data, and John Duncan's integration of such data with psychological theory. An idiosyncratic but roughly chronological review of developments is presented, some practical and clinical implications are briefly sketched, and future directions suggested. One of the biggest changes in the field has been the increasing interplay between psychology and neuroscience, which promises much for the future. A related change has been the realization that selection attention is best thought of as a broad topic, encompassing a range of selective issues, rather than as a single explanatory process.

  17. Tensor viscosity method for convection in numerical fluid dynamics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dukowicz, J.K.; Ramshaw, J.D.

    1979-01-01

    A new method, called the tensor viscosity method, is described for differencing the convective terms in multidimensional numerical fluid dynamics. The method is the proper generalization to two or three dimensions of interpolated donor cell differencing in one dimension, and is designed to achieve numerical stability with minimal numerical damping. It is a single-step method that is distinguished by simplicity and case of implementation, even in the case of an arbitrary non-rectangular mesh. It should therefore be useful in finite-element as well as finite-difference formulations

  18. Contemporary views on selective mutism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dimoski Sanja

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to review contemporary literature on selective mutism (SM, available in our language. The paper includes a contemporary definition of the disorder, previous studies of selective mutism, theories about its origin, and treatment. SM is a disorder that occurs in childhood, when a child's speech is selectively lacking in certain social situations. School is the context in which the disorder is typically manifested, which is why SM is often diagnosed only after children start school. The paper gives a historical account of changes in views on this disorder. Modern conceptions emphasize selective inability of children to spontaneously and successfully express themselves verbally. In researching SM, case studies on children who have selective mutism are most commonly published. Etiological factors are not precisely defined, and different conceptions give their interpretations depending on various theoretical frameworks. Some studies consistently indicate a relation between SM and social anxiety, and some with opposing behavior and delays in language development. Based on theoretical explanations of SM, psychological interventions (behavioral and cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic and projective techniques, counseling and family therapy are created. Modern treatment of selective mutism includes an eclectic approach and emphasizes the role of teachers and school in general. Future studies should deepen the knowledge about selective mutism, specify the methodological procedure and stimulate the individualized treatment of children with SM.

  19. MOS modeling hierarchy including radiation effects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alexander, D.R.; Turfler, R.M.

    1975-01-01

    A hierarchy of modeling procedures has been developed for MOS transistors, circuit blocks, and integrated circuits which include the effects of total dose radiation and photocurrent response. The models were developed for use with the SCEPTRE circuit analysis program, but the techniques are suitable for other modern computer aided analysis programs. The modeling hierarchy permits the designer or analyst to select the level of modeling complexity consistent with circuit size, parametric information, and accuracy requirements. Improvements have been made in the implementation of important second order effects in the transistor MOS model, in the definition of MOS building block models, and in the development of composite terminal models for MOS integrated circuits

  20. Diligence in determining the appropriate form of stationarity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    André Heymans

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Orientation: One of the most vexing problems of modelling time series data is determining the appropriate form of stationarity, as it can have a significant influence on the model’s explanatory properties, which makes interpreting the results problematic. Research purpose: This article challenged the assumption that most financial time series are first differenced stationary. The common difference first, ask questions later approach was revisited by taking a more systematic approach when analysing the statistical properties of financial time series data. Motivation for the study: Since Nelson and Plosser’s (1982 argued that many macroeconomic time series are difference stationary, many econometricians simply differenced data in order to achieve stationarity. However, the inherent properties of time series data have changed over the past 30 years. This necessitates a proper evaluation of the properties of data before deciding on the appropriate course of action, in order to avoid over-differencing which causes variables to lose their explanatory ability that leads to spurious results. Research approach, design and method: This article introduced a rigorous process that enables econometricians to determine the most appropriate form of stationarity, which is led by the underlying statistical properties of several financial and economic variables. Main findings: The results highlighted the importance of consulting the d parameter to makea more informed decision, rather than only assuming that the data are I(1. Evidence also suggested that the appropriate form of stationarity can vary, but emphasises the importance to consider a series to be fractionally differenced. Practical/managerial implications: Only when data are correctly classified and transformed accordingly will the data be neither under- nor over-differenced, thus enhancing the validity of the results generated by statistical models. Contribution/value-add: By utilising this rigorous

  1. Sexual selection in marine plankton

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sichlau, Mie Hylstofte

    Copepods are among the most abundant metazoans on the planet and play an important role in the marine food web. Many aspects of their ecology have consequently been studied, including details of their reproductive biology and mating behaviour. Sexual selection, the part of evolution which selects...

  2. Recently developed methods in neutral-particle transport calculations: overview

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alcouffe, R.E.

    1982-01-01

    It has become increasingly apparent that successful, general methods for the solution of the neutral particle transport equation involve a close connection between the spatial-discretization method used and the source-acceleration method chosen. The first form of the transport equation, angular discretization which is discrete ordinates is considered as well as spatial discretization based upon a mesh arrangement. Characteristic methods are considered briefly in the context of future, desirable developments. The ideal spatial-discretization method is described as having the following attributes: (1) positive-positive boundary data yields a positive angular flux within the mesh including its boundaries; (2) satisfies the particle balance equation over the mesh, that is, the method is conservative; (3) possesses the diffusion limit independent of spatial mesh size, that is, for a linearly isotropic flux assumption, the transport differencing reduces to a suitable diffusion equation differencing; (4) the method is unconditionally acceleratable, i.e., for each mesh size, the method is unconditionally convergent with a source iteration acceleration. It is doubtful that a single method possesses all these attributes for a general problem. Some commonly used methods are outlined and their computational performance and usefulness are compared; recommendations for future development are detailed, which include practical computational considerations

  3. Key Principles of Superfund Remedy Selection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guidance on the primary considerations of remedy selection which are universally applicable at Superfund sites. Key guidance here include: Rules of Thumb for Superfund Remedy Selection and Role of the Baseline Risk Assessment.

  4. Microbiological quality of selected spices and herbs including the presence of Cronobacter spp.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garbowska, M; Berthold-Pluta, A; Stasiak-Różańska, L

    2015-08-01

    The cultivation of spices and herbs in parts of the world characterized by warm climate and high humidity provides excellent conditions for the development of microorganisms, including the undesirable ones. The aim of this study was to determine the microbiological quality of spices and herbs available on the Polish market, considering the occurrence of Cronobacter species bacteria. Analyses covered 60 samples of commercial spices and herbs, including 38 samples of dried herbs (basil, bay leaves, thyme, oregano, tarragon, marjoram, dill, parsley, rosemary, lovage) and 16 samples of seasoning blends as well as 6 samples of spices seeds and fruits (pimento, black pepper, coriander). All samples were tested for the total count of aerobic mesophilic bacteria (TAMB) and for the presence of Cronobacter spp. In most of the samples of spices and herbs (60.0%), the TAMB did not exceed 10(4) CFU/g, and the level regarded as unacceptable (>10(6) CFU/g) was not identified in any of the samples. The presence of Cronobacter spp. was demonstrated in 10 (16.7%) samples of the analyzed products, however these were mainly samples of herbs (basil, tarragon, parsley) and one sample of a seasoning blend (Provence herbs). The highest microbiological contamination (TAMB) was found in samples of herbs (oregano, tarragon, basil) and in ready seasoning blends, in 21.1% and 25.0% of which the total count of aerobic mesophiles was in the range of 10(5)-10(6) CFU/g. In all samples of spices seeds and fruits (coriander, black pepper and pimento), the total count of aerobic bacteria reached spices and herbs available on the Polish market. The study demonstrated also that dried spices and herbs may be carriers of Cronobacter species bacteria, though their presence in not often detected in products of this type. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Site selection handbook: Workshop on site selection for low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1987-10-01

    The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985 (LLRWPAA) requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to provide technical assistance to ''...those compact regions, host States and nonmember States determined by the Secretary to require assistance.'' Technical assistance has been defined to include, but not be limited to, ''technical guidelines for site selection.'' This site selection workshop was developed to assist States and Compacts in developing new low-level radioactive waste (LLW) disposal sites in accordance with the requirements of the LLRWPAA. The workshop comprises a series of lectures, discussion topics, and exercises, supported by this Site Selection Workshop Handbook, designed to examine various aspects of a comprehensive site selection program. It is not an exhaustive treatment of all aspects of site selection, nor is it prescriptive. The workshop focuses on the major elements of site selection and the tools that can be used to implement the site selection program

  6. Opportunistic relaying in multipath and slow fading channel: Relay selection and optimal relay selection period

    KAUST Repository

    Sungjoon Park,

    2011-11-01

    In this paper we present opportunistic relay communication strategies of decode and forward relaying. The channel that we are considering includes pathloss, shadowing, and fast fading effects. We find a simple outage probability formula for opportunistic relaying in the channel, and validate the results by comparing it with the exact outage probability. Also, we suggest a new relay selection algorithm that incorporates shadowing. We consider a protocol of broadcasting the channel gain of the previously selected relay. This saves resources in slow fading channel by reducing collisions in relay selection. We further investigate the optimal relay selection period to maximize the throughput while avoiding selection overhead. © 2011 IEEE.

  7. Selection - factors and influences on training

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bruno, R.J.; Mascitti, A.P.

    1987-01-01

    Personnel performance is certainly the goal of training programs and the impact of personnel performance on plant performance indicators is well known. This presentation discusses the selection of personnel prior to training and emphasizes the need for selection criteria to include aptitude intelligence, mechanical ability, work ethic, and emotional stability. Selected data is presented from Point Beach that support a rigorous selection and screening program to ensure training successfully prepared these personnel for job assignments

  8. Signatures of positive selection: from selective sweeps at individual loci to subtle allele frequency changes in polygenic adaptation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stephan, Wolfgang

    2016-01-01

    In the past 15 years, numerous methods have been developed to detect selective sweeps underlying adaptations. These methods are based on relatively simple population genetic models, including one or two loci at which positive directional selection occurs, and one or two marker loci at which the impact of selection on linked neutral variation is quantified. Information about the phenotype under selection is not included in these models (except for fitness). In contrast, in the quantitative genetic models of adaptation, selection acts on one or more phenotypic traits, such that a genotype-phenotype map is required to bridge the gap to population genetics theory. Here I describe the range of population genetic models from selective sweeps in a panmictic population of constant size to evolutionary traffic when simultaneous sweeps at multiple loci interfere, and I also consider the case of polygenic selection characterized by subtle allele frequency shifts at many loci. Furthermore, I present an overview of the statistical tests that have been proposed based on these population genetics models to detect evidence for positive selection in the genome. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  9. Epidemiology of childhood conduct problems in Brazil: systematic review and meta-analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Murray, Joseph; Anselmi, Luciana; Gallo, Erika Alejandra Giraldo; Fleitlich-Bilyk, Bacy; Bordin, Isabel A.

    2013-01-01

    Purpose This study aimed to review evidence on the prevalence of and risk factors for conduct problems in Brazil. Methods We searched electronic databases and contacted Brazilian researchers up to 05/2012. Studies were included in the review if they reported the prevalence of or risk factors for conduct problems, conduct disorder, or oppositional defiant disorder for 100?+?Brazilian children aged ?18?years, systematically sampled in schools or the community. Prevalence rates and sex differenc...

  10. Recruitment and selection of employees

    OpenAIRE

    Čermochová, Barbora

    2017-01-01

    The Bachelor's thesis focuses on the process of recruitment and selection of employees. The thesis is divided into theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part includes concepts that are important for understanding of issues of the process of recruitment and selection of employees. The practical part is divided into three chapters. The first chapter briefly describes the company xxx. Next two chapters deal with the process of recruitment and selection of employees in the company. The ...

  11. A Procedure for Identification of Appropriate State Space and ARIMA Models Based on Time-Series Cross-Validation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patrícia Ramos

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available In this work, a cross-validation procedure is used to identify an appropriate Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average model and an appropriate state space model for a time series. A minimum size for the training set is specified. The procedure is based on one-step forecasts and uses different training sets, each containing one more observation than the previous one. All possible state space models and all ARIMA models where the orders are allowed to range reasonably are fitted considering raw data and log-transformed data with regular differencing (up to second order differences and, if the time series is seasonal, seasonal differencing (up to first order differences. The value of root mean squared error for each model is calculated averaging the one-step forecasts obtained. The model which has the lowest root mean squared error value and passes the Ljung–Box test using all of the available data with a reasonable significance level is selected among all the ARIMA and state space models considered. The procedure is exemplified in this paper with a case study of retail sales of different categories of women’s footwear from a Portuguese retailer, and its accuracy is compared with three reliable forecasting approaches. The results show that our procedure consistently forecasts more accurately than the other approaches and the improvements in the accuracy are significant.

  12. Study of structural change in volcanic and geothermal areas using seismic tomography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mhana, Najwa; Foulger, Gillian; Julian, Bruce; peirce, Christine

    2014-05-01

    Long Valley caldera is a large silicic volcano. It has been in a state of volcanic and seismic unrest since 1978. Farther escalation of this unrest could pose a threat to the 5,000 residents and the tens of thousands of tourists who visit the area. We have studied the crustal structure beneath 28 km X 16 km area using seismic tomography. We performed tomographic inversions for the years 2009 and 2010 with a view to differencing it with the 1997 result to look for structural changes with time and whether repeat tomography is a capable of determining the changes in structure in volcanic and geothermal reservoirs. Thus, it might provide a useful tool to monitoring physical changes in volcanoes and exploited geothermal reservoirs. Up to 600 earthquakes, selected from the best-quality events, were used for the inversion. The inversions were performed using program simulps12 [Thurber, 1983]. Our initial results show that changes in both V p and V s were consistent with the migration of CO2 into the upper 2 km or so. Our ongoing work will also invert pairs of years simultaneously using a new program, tomo4d [Julian and Foulger, 2010]. This program inverts for the differences in structure between two epochs so it can provide a more reliable measure of structural change than simply differencing the results of individual years.

  13. The research progress of genomic selection in livestock.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Hong-wei; Wang, Rui-jun; Wang, Zhi-ying; Li, Xue-wu; Wang, Zhen-yu; Yanjun, Zhang; Rui, Su; Zhihong, Liu; Jinquan, Li

    2017-05-20

    With the development of gene chip and breeding technology, genomic selection in plants and animals has become research hotspots in recent years. Genomic selection has been extensively applied to all kinds of economic livestock, due to its high accuracy, short generation intervals and low breeding costs. In this review, we summarize genotyping technology and the methods for genomic breeding value estimation, the latter including the least square method, RR-BLUP, GBLUP, ssGBLUP, BayesA and BayesB. We also cover basic principles of genomic selection and compare their genetic marker ranges, genomic selection accuracy and operational speed. In addition, we list common indicators, methods and influencing factors that are related to genomic selection accuracy. Lastly, we discuss latest applications and the current problems of genomic selection at home and abroad. Importantly, we envision future status of genomic selection research, including multi-trait and multi-population genomic selection, as well as impact of whole genome sequencing and dominant effects on genomic selection. This review will provide some venues for other breeders to further understand genome selection.

  14. Spectrally selective glazings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-08-01

    Spectrally selective glazing is window glass that permits some portions of the solar spectrum to enter a building while blocking others. This high-performance glazing admits as much daylight as possible while preventing transmission of as much solar heat as possible. By controlling solar heat gains in summer, preventing loss of interior heat in winter, and allowing occupants to reduce electric lighting use by making maximum use of daylight, spectrally selective glazing significantly reduces building energy consumption and peak demand. Because new spectrally selective glazings can have a virtually clear appearance, they admit more daylight and permit much brighter, more open views to the outside while still providing the solar control of the dark, reflective energy-efficient glass of the past. This Federal Technology Alert provides detailed information and procedures for Federal energy managers to consider spectrally selective glazings. The principle of spectrally selective glazings is explained. Benefits related to energy efficiency and other architectural criteria are delineated. Guidelines are provided for appropriate application of spectrally selective glazing, and step-by-step instructions are given for estimating energy savings. Case studies are also presented to illustrate actual costs and energy savings. Current manufacturers, technology users, and references for further reading are included for users who have questions not fully addressed here.

  15. Maximizing Crossbred Performance through Purebred Genomic Selection

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Esfandyari, Hadi; Sørensen, Anders Christian; Bijma, Pieter

    Genomic selection (GS) can be used to select purebreds for crossbred performance (CP). As dominance is the likely genetic basis of heterosis, explicitly including dominance in the GS model may be beneficial for selection of purebreds for CP, when estimating allelic effects from pure line data. Th...

  16. Ion-selective electrodes

    CERN Document Server

    Mikhelson, Konstantin N

    2013-01-01

    Ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) have a wide range of applications in clinical, environmental, food and pharmaceutical analysis as well as further uses in chemistry and life sciences. Based on his profound experience as a researcher in ISEs and a course instructor, the author summarizes current knowledge for advanced teaching and training purposes with a particular focus on ionophore-based ISEs. Coverage includes the basics of measuring with ISEs, essential membrane potential theory and a comprehensive overview of the various classes of ion-selective electrodes. The principles of constructing I

  17. Biological dosimetry in patients with differenced thyroid carcinoma treated with Iodine-131

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vallerga, M.; Taja, Maria R.; Radl, A.; Rojo, Ana M.; Deluca, G.; Di Giogio, Marina; Fadel, A.; Chebel, G.; Oneto, A.; Cabrejas, Mariana

    2007-01-01

    The differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC), constitutes the 90 % of the thyroid gland cancers. 80% of patients are cured after the initial therapy and 12% remained disease-free after successive treatments. The 24 patients included in this study represent a sample of the aforementioned 12% and 8%, with recurrence in the first decade post-treatment (local disease and/or recurrence at distance). The internal radiotherapy with 131 I in patients with DTC is used within the therapeutic schema as a step post-thyroidectomy. The success of the therapy is to get a lethal dose in the tumor tissue, which depends on the therapeutic activity and the retention of 131 I, without exceeding the dose of tolerance in healthy tissues. The most widespread way of administration is the empirical prescription which considers the clinical and laboratory parameters for its determination. In this work, the treatment protocol applied incorporates assessment by biological (DB) and internal (DI) dosimetry for estimating absorbed dose to the whole body and bone marrow to manage a personalized therapeutic dose for each patient. The biological dose estimation is based on the quantification of chromosomal aberrations, which is often referred to a dose-response curve in which lymphocytes are irradiated in vitro with 131 I, allowing to determine the dose in vivo of circulating lymphocytes patients [es

  18. Discretization of convection-diffusion equations with finite-difference scheme derived from simplified analytical solutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kriventsev, Vladimir

    2000-09-01

    Most of thermal hydraulic processes in nuclear engineering can be described by general convection-diffusion equations that are often can be simulated numerically with finite-difference method (FDM). An effective scheme for finite-difference discretization of such equations is presented in this report. The derivation of this scheme is based on analytical solutions of a simplified one-dimensional equation written for every control volume of the finite-difference mesh. These analytical solutions are constructed using linearized representations of both diffusion coefficient and source term. As a result, the Efficient Finite-Differencing (EFD) scheme makes it possible to significantly improve the accuracy of numerical method even using mesh systems with fewer grid nodes that, in turn, allows to speed-up numerical simulation. EFD has been carefully verified on the series of sample problems for which either analytical or very precise numerical solutions can be found. EFD has been compared with other popular FDM schemes including novel, accurate (as well as sophisticated) methods. Among the methods compared were well-known central difference scheme, upwind scheme, exponential differencing and hybrid schemes of Spalding. Also, newly developed finite-difference schemes, such as the the quadratic upstream (QUICK) scheme of Leonard, the locally analytic differencing (LOAD) scheme of Wong and Raithby, the flux-spline scheme proposed by Varejago and Patankar as well as the latest LENS discretization of Sakai have been compared. Detailed results of this comparison are given in this report. These tests have shown a high efficiency of the EFD scheme. For most of sample problems considered EFD has demonstrated the numerical error that appeared to be in orders of magnitude lower than that of other discretization methods. Or, in other words, EFD has predicted numerical solution with the same given numerical error but using much fewer grid nodes. In this report, the detailed

  19. Process, including PSA and membrane separation, for separating hydrogen from hydrocarbons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Richard W.; Lokhandwala, Kaaeid A.; He, Zhenjie; Pinnau, Ingo

    2001-01-01

    An improved process for separating hydrogen from hydrocarbons. The process includes a pressure swing adsorption step, a compression/cooling step and a membrane separation step. The membrane step relies on achieving a methane/hydrogen selectivity of at least about 2.5 under the conditions of the process.

  20. Assembly For Moving a Robotic Device Along Selected Axes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nowlin, Brentley Craig (Inventor); Koch, Lisa Danielle (Inventor)

    2001-01-01

    An assembly for moving a robotic device along selected axes includes a programmable logic controller (PLC) for controlling movement of the device along selected axes to effect movement of the device to a selected disposition. The PLC includes a plurality of single axis motion control modules, and a central processing unit (CPU) in communication with the motion control modules. A human-machine interface is provided for operator selection of configurations of device movements and is in communication with the CPU. A motor drive is in communication with each of the motion control modules and is operable to effect movement of the device along the selected axes to obtain movement of the device to the selected disposition.

  1. Reserve selection with land market feedbacks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butsic, Van; Lewis, David J; Radeloff, Volker C

    2013-01-15

    How to best site reserves is a leading question for conservation biologists. Recently, reserve selection has emphasized efficient conservation: maximizing conservation goals given the reality of limited conservation budgets, and this work indicates that land market can potentially undermine the conservation benefits of reserves by increasing property values and development probabilities near reserves. Here we propose a reserve selection methodology which optimizes conservation given both a budget constraint and land market feedbacks by using a combination of econometric models along with stochastic dynamic programming. We show that amenity based feedbacks can be accounted for in optimal reserve selection by choosing property price and land development models which exogenously estimate the effects of reserve establishment. In our empirical example, we use previously estimated models of land development and property prices to select parcels to maximize coarse woody debris along 16 lakes in Vilas County, WI, USA. Using each lake as an independent experiment, we find that including land market feedbacks in the reserve selection algorithm has only small effects on conservation efficacy. Likewise, we find that in our setting heuristic (minloss and maxgain) algorithms perform nearly as well as the optimal selection strategy. We emphasize that land market feedbacks can be included in optimal reserve selection; the extent to which this improves reserve placement will likely vary across landscapes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. FBST for Cointegration Problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diniz, M.; Pereira, C. A. B.; Stern, J. M.

    2008-11-01

    In order to estimate causal relations, the time series econometrics has to be aware of spurious correlation, a problem first mentioned by Yule [21]. To solve the problem, one can work with differenced series or use multivariate models like VAR or VEC models. In this case, the analysed series are going to present a long run relation i.e. a cointegration relation. Even though the Bayesian literature about inference on VAR/VEC models is quite advanced, Bauwens et al. [2] highlight that "the topic of selecting the cointegrating rank has not yet given very useful and convincing results." This paper presents the Full Bayesian Significance Test applied to cointegration rank selection tests in multivariate (VAR/VEC) time series models and shows how to implement it using available in the literature and simulated data sets. A standard non-informative prior is assumed.

  3. A Selection Method for COTS Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hedman, Jonas

    new skills and methods supporting the process of evaluating and selecting information systems. This paper presents a method for selecting COTS systems. The method includes the following phases: problem framing, requirements and appraisal, and selection of systems. The idea and distinguishing feature...... behind the method is that improved understanding of organizational' ends' or goals should govern the selection of a COTS system. This can also be expressed as a match or fit between ‘ends' (e.g. improved organizational effectiveness) and ‘means' (e.g. implementing COTS systems). This way of approaching...

  4. Ion-selective electrodes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mikhelson, Konstantin N. [St. Petersburg State Univ. (Russian Federation). Ion-Selective Electrode Laboratory

    2013-06-01

    Ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) have a wide range of applications in clinical, environmental, food and pharmaceutical analysis as well as further uses in chemistry and life sciences. Based on his profound experience as a researcher in ISEs and a course instructor, the author summarizes current knowledge for advanced teaching and training purposes with a particular focus on ionophore-based ISEs. Coverage includes the basics of measuring with ISEs, essential membrane potential theory and a comprehensive overview of the various classes of ion-selective electrodes. The principles of constructing ISEs are outlined, and the transfer of methods into routine analysis is considered.

  5. Elastic and inelastic scattering of the 14C + 18O nuclei

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. T. Rudchik

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available New angular-distribution data of 14С + 18О elastic and inelastic scattering at the energy Elab(18O = 105 MeV were obtained firstly. The data were analysed within the optical model and coupled-reaction-channels methods including contributions from most simple transfer reactions. The 14С + 18О potential parameters were deduced. Isotopic differenc-es of the 12, 13, 14С + 18О and 14С + 16, 18О potentials were investigated.

  6. Stock selection using a hybrid MCDM approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tea Poklepović

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The problem of selecting the right stocks to invest in is of immense interest for investors on both emerging and developed capital markets. Moreover, an investor should take into account all available data regarding stocks on the particular market. This includes fundamental and stock market indicators. The decision making process includes several stocks to invest in and more than one criterion. Therefore, the task of selecting the stocks to invest in can be viewed as a multiple criteria decision making (MCDM problem. Using several MCDM methods often leads to divergent rankings. The goal of this paper is to resolve these possible divergent results obtained from different MCDM methods using a hybrid MCDM approach based on Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. Five MCDM methods are selected: COPRAS, linear assignment, PROMETHEE, SAW and TOPSIS. The weights for all criteria are obtained by using the AHP method. Data for this study includes information on stock returns and traded volumes from March 2012 to March 2014 for 19 stocks on the Croatian capital market. It also includes the most important fundamental and stock market indicators for selected stocks. Rankings using five selected MCDM methods in the stock selection problem yield divergent results. However, after applying the proposed approach the final hybrid rankings are obtained. The results show that the worse stocks to invest in happen to be the same when the industry is taken into consideration or when not. However, when the industry is taken into account, the best stocks to invest in are slightly different, because some industries are more profitable than the others.

  7. Identification of recently selected mutations driven by artificial selection in hanwoo (korean cattle).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lim, Dajeong; Gondro, Cedric; Park, Hye Sun; Cho, Yong Min; Chai, Han Ha; Seong, Hwan Hoo; Yang, Bo Suk; Hong, Seong Koo; Chang, Won Kyung; Lee, Seung Hwan

    2013-05-01

    Hanwoo have been subjected over the last seventy years to intensive artificial selection with the aim of improving meat production traits such as marbling and carcass weight. In this study, we performed a signature of selection analysis to identify recent positive selected regions driven by a long-term artificial selection process called a breeding program using whole genome SNP data. In order to investigate homozygous regions across the genome, we estimated iES (integrated Extended Haplotype Homozygosity SNP) for the each SNPs. As a result, we identified two highly homozygous regions that seem to be strong and/or recent positive selection. Five genes (DPH5, OLFM3, S1PR1, LRRN1 and CRBN) were included in this region. To go further in the interpretation of the observed signatures of selection, we subsequently concentrated on the annotation of differentiated genes defined according to the iES value of SNPs localized close or within them. We also described the detection of the adaptive evolution at the molecular level for the genes of interest. As a result, this analysis also led to the identification of OLFM3 as having a strong signal of selection in bovine lineage. The results of this study indicate that artificial selection which might have targeted most of these genes was mainly oriented towards improvement of meat production.

  8. Identification of Recently Selected Mutations Driven by Artificial Selection in Hanwoo (Korean Cattle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dajeong Lim

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Hanwoo have been subjected over the last seventy years to intensive artificial selection with the aim of improving meat production traits such as marbling and carcass weight. In this study, we performed a signature of selection analysis to identify recent positive selected regions driven by a long-term artificial selection process called a breeding program using whole genome SNP data. In order to investigate homozygous regions across the genome, we estimated iES (integrated Extended Haplotype Homozygosity SNP for the each SNPs. As a result, we identified two highly homozygous regions that seem to be strong and/or recent positive selection. Five genes (DPH5, OLFM3, S1PR1, LRRN1 and CRBN were included in this region. To go further in the interpretation of the observed signatures of selection, we subsequently concentrated on the annotation of differentiated genes defined according to the iES value of SNPs localized close or within them. We also described the detection of the adaptive evolution at the molecular level for the genes of interest. As a result, this analysis also led to the identification of OLFM3 as having a strong signal of selection in bovine lineage. The results of this study indicate that artificial selection which might have targeted most of these genes was mainly oriented towards improvement of meat production.

  9. Single-Receiver GPS Phase Bias Resolution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bertiger, William I.; Haines, Bruce J.; Weiss, Jan P.; Harvey, Nathaniel E.

    2010-01-01

    Existing software has been modified to yield the benefits of integer fixed double-differenced GPS-phased ambiguities when processing data from a single GPS receiver with no access to any other GPS receiver data. When the double-differenced combination of phase biases can be fixed reliably, a significant improvement in solution accuracy is obtained. This innovation uses a large global set of GPS receivers (40 to 80 receivers) to solve for the GPS satellite orbits and clocks (along with any other parameters). In this process, integer ambiguities are fixed and information on the ambiguity constraints is saved. For each GPS transmitter/receiver pair, the process saves the arc start and stop times, the wide-lane average value for the arc, the standard deviation of the wide lane, and the dual-frequency phase bias after bias fixing for the arc. The second step of the process uses the orbit and clock information, the bias information from the global solution, and only data from the single receiver to resolve double-differenced phase combinations. It is called "resolved" instead of "fixed" because constraints are introduced into the problem with a finite data weight to better account for possible errors. A receiver in orbit has much shorter continuous passes of data than a receiver fixed to the Earth. The method has parameters to account for this. In particular, differences in drifting wide-lane values must be handled differently. The first step of the process is automated, using two JPL software sets, Longarc and Gipsy-Oasis. The resulting orbit/clock and bias information files are posted on anonymous ftp for use by any licensed Gipsy-Oasis user. The second step is implemented in the Gipsy-Oasis executable, gd2p.pl, which automates the entire process, including fetching the information from anonymous ftp

  10. Approximate Riemann solvers and flux vector splitting schemes for two-phase flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Toumi, I.; Kumbaro, A.; Paillere, H.

    1999-01-01

    These course notes, presented at the 30. Von Karman Institute Lecture Series in Computational Fluid Dynamics, give a detailed and through review of upwind differencing methods for two-phase flow models. After recalling some fundamental aspects of two-phase flow modelling, from mixture model to two-fluid models, the mathematical properties of the general 6-equation model are analysed by examining the Eigen-structure of the system, and deriving conditions under which the model can be made hyperbolic. The following chapters are devoted to extensions of state-of-the-art upwind differencing schemes such as Roe's Approximate Riemann Solver or the Characteristic Flux Splitting method to two-phase flow. Non-trivial steps in the construction of such solvers include the linearization, the treatment of non-conservative terms and the construction of a Roe-type matrix on which the numerical dissipation of the schemes is based. Extension of the 1-D models to multi-dimensions in an unstructured finite volume formulation is also described; Finally, numerical results for a variety of test-cases are shown to illustrate the accuracy and robustness of the methods. (authors)

  11. Approximate Riemann solvers and flux vector splitting schemes for two-phase flow; Solveurs de Riemann approches et schemas de decentrement de flux pour les ecoulements diphasiques

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Toumi, I.; Kumbaro, A.; Paillere, H

    1999-07-01

    These course notes, presented at the 30. Von Karman Institute Lecture Series in Computational Fluid Dynamics, give a detailed and through review of upwind differencing methods for two-phase flow models. After recalling some fundamental aspects of two-phase flow modelling, from mixture model to two-fluid models, the mathematical properties of the general 6-equation model are analysed by examining the Eigen-structure of the system, and deriving conditions under which the model can be made hyperbolic. The following chapters are devoted to extensions of state-of-the-art upwind differencing schemes such as Roe's Approximate Riemann Solver or the Characteristic Flux Splitting method to two-phase flow. Non-trivial steps in the construction of such solvers include the linearization, the treatment of non-conservative terms and the construction of a Roe-type matrix on which the numerical dissipation of the schemes is based. Extension of the 1-D models to multi-dimensions in an unstructured finite volume formulation is also described; Finally, numerical results for a variety of test-cases are shown to illustrate the accuracy and robustness of the methods. (authors)

  12. A Dual-Stage Two-Phase Model of Selective Attention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hubner, Ronald; Steinhauser, Marco; Lehle, Carola

    2010-01-01

    The dual-stage two-phase (DSTP) model is introduced as a formal and general model of selective attention that includes both an early and a late stage of stimulus selection. Whereas at the early stage information is selected by perceptual filters whose selectivity is relatively limited, at the late stage stimuli are selected more efficiently on a…

  13. Mathematics and computational methods development in U.S. department of energy-sponsored research (nuclear energy research initiative and nuclear engineering education research). 5. Analysis of Angular V-Cycle Multigrid Formulation for Three-Dimensional Discrete Ordinates Shielding Problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kucukboyaci, Vefa; Haghighat, Alireza

    2001-01-01

    We have developed new angular multigrid formulations, including the Simplified Angular Multigrid (SAM), Nested Iteration (NI), and V-Cycle schemes, that are compatible with the parallel environment and the adaptive differencing strategy of the PENTRAN three-dimensional parallel S N code. Using the Fourier analysis method for an infinite, homogenous medium, we have investigated the effectiveness of the V-Cycle scheme for different problem parameters including scattering ratio, spatial differencing weights, quadrature order, and mesh size. We have further investigated the effectiveness of the new schemes for practical shielding applications such as the Kobayashi benchmark problem and the boiling water reactor core shroud problem. In this paper, we summarize the angular V-Cycle scheme implemented in the PENTRAN code, the Fourier Analysis of the V-Cycle scheme, and results of convergence analysis of the V-Cycle scheme using different problem parameters. The theoretical analysis reveals that the V-Cycle scheme is effective for a large range of scattering ratios and is insensitive to mesh size. Besides the theoretical analysis, we have applied the new angular multigrid schemes to shielding problems. In comparison to the standard PCR formulation, combinations of the new angular multigrid schemes and PCR (e.g., SAM+V-Cycle+PCR) have proved to be very effective for scattering ratios in a range of 0.6 to 0.9. (authors)

  14. Statistical model selection with “Big Data”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jurgen A. Doornik

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Big Data offer potential benefits for statistical modelling, but confront problems including an excess of false positives, mistaking correlations for causes, ignoring sampling biases and selecting by inappropriate methods. We consider the many important requirements when searching for a data-based relationship using Big Data, and the possible role of Autometrics in that context. Paramount considerations include embedding relationships in general initial models, possibly restricting the number of variables to be selected over by non-statistical criteria (the formulation problem, using good quality data on all variables, analyzed with tight significance levels by a powerful selection procedure, retaining available theory insights (the selection problem while testing for relationships being well specified and invariant to shifts in explanatory variables (the evaluation problem, using a viable approach that resolves the computational problem of immense numbers of possible models.

  15. Genes under positive selection in Escherichia coli

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Lise; Bollback, Jonathan P; Dimmic, Matt

    2007-01-01

    We used a comparative genomics approach to identify genes that are under positive selection in six strains of Escherichia coli and Shigella flexneri, including five strains that are human pathogens. We find that positive selection targets a wide range of different functions in the E. coli genome......, including cell surface proteins such as beta barrel porins, presumably because of the involvement of these genes in evolutionary arms races with other bacteria, phages, and/or the host immune system. Structural mapping of positively selected sites on trans-membrane beta barrel porins reveals...... that the residues under positive selection occur almost exclusively in the extracellular region of the proteins that are enriched with sites known to be targets of phages, colicins, or the host immune system. More surprisingly, we also find a number of other categories of genes that show very strong evidence...

  16. Trend time-series modeling and forecasting with neural networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qi, Min; Zhang, G Peter

    2008-05-01

    Despite its great importance, there has been no general consensus on how to model the trends in time-series data. Compared to traditional approaches, neural networks (NNs) have shown some promise in time-series forecasting. This paper investigates how to best model trend time series using NNs. Four different strategies (raw data, raw data with time index, detrending, and differencing) are used to model various trend patterns (linear, nonlinear, deterministic, stochastic, and breaking trend). We find that with NNs differencing often gives meritorious results regardless of the underlying data generating processes (DGPs). This finding is also confirmed by the real gross national product (GNP) series.

  17. Galerkin algorithm for multidimensional plasma simulation codes. Informal report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Godfrey, B.B.

    1979-03-01

    A Galerkin finite element differencing scheme has been developed for a computer simulation of plasmas. The new difference equations identically satisfy an equation of continuity. Thus, the usual current correction procedure, involving inversion of Poisson's equation, is unnecessary. The algorithm is free of many numerical Cherenkov instabilities. This differencing scheme has been implemented in CCUBE, an already existing relativistic, electromagnetic, two-dimensional PIC code in arbitrary separable, orthogonal coordinates. The separability constraint is eliminated by the new algorithm. The new version of CCUBE exhibits good stability and accuracy with reduced computer memory and time requirements. Details of the algorithm and its implementation are presented

  18. Object-Based Change Detection in Urban Areas from High Spatial Resolution Images Based on Multiple Features and Ensemble Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xin Wang

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available To improve the accuracy of change detection in urban areas using bi-temporal high-resolution remote sensing images, a novel object-based change detection scheme combining multiple features and ensemble learning is proposed in this paper. Image segmentation is conducted to determine the objects in bi-temporal images separately. Subsequently, three kinds of object features, i.e., spectral, shape and texture, are extracted. Using the image differencing process, a difference image is generated and used as the input for nonlinear supervised classifiers, including k-nearest neighbor, support vector machine, extreme learning machine and random forest. Finally, the results of multiple classifiers are integrated using an ensemble rule called weighted voting to generate the final change detection result. Experimental results of two pairs of real high-resolution remote sensing datasets demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms the traditional methods in terms of overall accuracy and generates change detection maps with a higher number of homogeneous regions in urban areas. Moreover, the influences of segmentation scale and the feature selection strategy on the change detection performance are also analyzed and discussed.

  19. Supplier Selection by Coupling-Attribute Combinatorial Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xinyu Sun

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Increasing reliance on outsourcing has made supplier selection a critical success factor for a supply chain/network. In addition to cost, the synergy among product components and supplier selection criteria should be considered holistically during the supplier selection process. This paper shows this synergy using coupled-attribute analysis. The key coupling attributes, including total cost, quality, delivery reliability, and delivery lead time of the final product, are identified and formulated. A max-max model is designed to assist the selection of the optional combination of suppliers. The results are compared with the individual supplier selection. Management insights are also discussed.

  20. Comparison of behavioral profiles for anxiety-related comorbidities including ADHD and selective mutism in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levin-Decanini, Tal; Connolly, Sucheta D; Simpson, David; Suarez, Liza; Jacob, Suma

    2013-09-01

    Elucidating differences in social-behavioral profiles of children with comorbid presentations, utilizing caregiver as well as teacher reports, will refine our understanding of how contextual symptoms vary across anxiety-related disorders. In our pediatric anxiety clinic, the most frequent diagnoses and comorbidities were mixed anxiety (MA; ≥ 1 anxiety disorder; N = 155), anxiety with comorbid attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (MA/ADHD, N = 47) and selective mutism (SM, N = 48). Behavioral measures (CPRS, CTRS) were analyzed using multiple one-way multivariate analyses of covariance tests. Differences between the three diagnostic groups were examined using completed parent and teacher reports (N = 135, 46, and 48 for MA, MA/ADHD, and SM groups, respectively). Comparisons across the MA, MA/ADHD, and SM groups indicate a significant multivariate main effect of group for caregiver and teacher responses (P < 0.01). Caregivers reported that children with SM are similar in profile to those with MA, and both groups were significantly different from the MA/ADHD group. Teachers reported that children with SM had more problems with social behaviors than with the MA or MA/ADHD groups. Further comparison indicates a significant main effect of group (P < 0.001), such that children with SM have the greatest differences in behavior observed by teachers versus caregivers. Clinical profiles between MA/ADHD, MA, and SM groups varied, illustrating the importance of multi-rater assessment scales to capture subtle distinctions and to inform treatment planning given that comorbidities occur frequently in children who present with anxiety. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  1. Vortical flows over delta wings and numerical prediction of vortex breakdown

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ekaterinaris, J. A.; Schiff, Lewis B.

    1990-01-01

    Navier-Stokes solutions of subsonic vortical flow over a 75 deg sweep delta wing with a sharp leading edge are presented. The sensitivity of the solution to the numerical scheme is examined using both a partially upwind scheme and a scheme with central differencing in all directions. At moderate angles of attack, no vortex breakdown is observed, whereas the higher angle-of-attack cases exhibit breakdown. The effect of numerical grid density is investigated, and solutions that are obtained with various grid densities are compared with experimental data. An embedded grid approach is implemented to enable higher resolution in selected isolated flow regions, such as the leeward-side surface, the leading-edge vortical flow, and the vortex breakdown region.

  2. Selective catalyst reduction light-off strategy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonze, Eugene V [Pinckney, MI

    2011-10-18

    An emissions control system includes a temperature determination module and an emissions control module. The temperature determination module determines a first temperature of a heater element of a diesel particulate filter (DPF) assembly in an exhaust system and determines a second temperature of a catalyst of the DPF assembly. The emissions control module selectively activates the heater element, selectively initiates a predefined combustion process in an engine based upon the first temperature, and selectively starts a reductant injection process based upon the second temperature.

  3. Quality improvement in Vignoles through clonal selection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Our goal is to select an improved, loose-clustered clone of Vignoles that will contribute to an integrated approach to disease control. Clonal selection has historically proven useful in reducing cluster compactness through a variety of mechanisms, including decreased berry size, lengthening of the ...

  4. Including investment risk in large-scale power market models

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lemming, Jørgen Kjærgaard; Meibom, P.

    2003-01-01

    Long-term energy market models can be used to examine investments in production technologies, however, with market liberalisation it is crucial that such models include investment risks and investor behaviour. This paper analyses how the effect of investment risk on production technology selection...... can be included in large-scale partial equilibrium models of the power market. The analyses are divided into a part about risk measures appropriate for power market investors and a more technical part about the combination of a risk-adjustment model and a partial-equilibrium model. To illustrate...... the analyses quantitatively, a framework based on an iterative interaction between the equilibrium model and a separate risk-adjustment module was constructed. To illustrate the features of the proposed modelling approach we examined how uncertainty in demand and variable costs affects the optimal choice...

  5. Selective mutism: a review of etiology, comorbidities, and treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Priscilla

    2010-03-01

    Selective mutism is a rare and multidimensional childhood disorder that typically affects children entering school age. It is characterized by the persistent failure to speak in select social settings despite possessing the ability to speak and speak comfortably in more familiar settings. Many theories attempt to explain the etiology of selective mutism.Comorbidities and treatment. Selective mutism can present a variety of comorbidities including enuresis, encopresis, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, premorbid speech and language abnormalities, developmental delay, and Asperger's disorders. The specific manifestations and severity of these comorbidities vary based on the individual. Given the multidimensional manifestations of selective mutism, treatment options are similarly diverse. They include individual behavioral therapy, family therapy, and psychotherapy with antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications.Future directions. While studies have helped to elucidate the phenomenology of selective mutism, limitations and gaps in knowledge still persist. In particular, the literature on selective mutism consists primarily of small sample populations and case reports. Future research aims to develop an increasingly integrated, multidimensional framework for evaluating and treating children with selective mutism.

  6. Sexual Selection and Adaptation to Novel Environments

    OpenAIRE

    Martinossi-Allibert, Ivain

    2017-01-01

    The work included in this thesis aims at exploring the environmental sensitivity of benefits and costs of sexual selection through a combined empirical and theoretical effort, to increase our understanding of the impact of environmental change on sexually reproducing populations.Can sexual selection promote adaptation to novel environments? Sexual selection for good genes should accelerate adaptation by granting higher reproductive success to individuals of high genetic quality. However, sexu...

  7. Spectrally-Selective Photonic Structures for PV Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benedikt Bläsi

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available We review several examples of how spectrally-selective photonic structures may be used to improve solar cell systems. Firstly, we introduce different spectrally-selective structures that are based on interference effects. Examples shown include Rugate filter, edge filter and 3D photonic crystals such as artificial opals. In the second part, we discuss several examples of photovoltaic (PV concepts that utilize spectral selectivity such as fluorescence collectors, upconversion systems, spectrum splitting concepts and the intermediate reflector concept. The potential of spectrally selective filters in the context of solar cells is discussed.

  8. Glufosinate ammonium selection of transformed Arabidopsis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weigel, Detlef; Glazebrook, Jane

    2006-12-01

    INTRODUCTIONOne of the most commonly used markers for the selection of transgenic Arabidopsis is resistance to glufosinate ammonium, an herbicide that is sold under a variety of trade names including Basta and Finale. Resistance to glufosinate ammonium is conferred by the bacterial bialophos resistance gene (BAR) encoding the enzyme phosphinotricin acetyl transferase (PAT). This protocol describes the use of glufosinate ammonium to select transformed Arabidopsis plants. The major advantage of glufosinate ammonium selection is that it can be performed on plants growing in soil and does not require the use of sterile techniques.

  9. The effects of predictor method factors on selection outcomes: A modular approach to personnel selection procedures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lievens, Filip; Sackett, Paul R

    2017-01-01

    Past reviews and meta-analyses typically conceptualized and examined selection procedures as holistic entities. We draw on the product design literature to propose a modular approach as a complementary perspective to conceptualizing selection procedures. A modular approach means that a product is broken down into its key underlying components. Therefore, we start by presenting a modular framework that identifies the important measurement components of selection procedures. Next, we adopt this modular lens for reviewing the available evidence regarding each of these components in terms of affecting validity, subgroup differences, and applicant perceptions, as well as for identifying new research directions. As a complement to the historical focus on holistic selection procedures, we posit that the theoretical contributions of a modular approach include improved insight into the isolated workings of the different components underlying selection procedures and greater theoretical connectivity among different selection procedures and their literatures. We also outline how organizations can put a modular approach into operation to increase the variety in selection procedures and to enhance the flexibility in designing them. Overall, we believe that a modular perspective on selection procedures will provide the impetus for programmatic and theory-driven research on the different measurement components of selection procedures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  10. Operator psychological selection system for nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    He Xuhong; Huang Xiangrui

    2004-01-01

    Based on a detailed job analysis of nuclear power plant operator including operation procedures analysis, interview with personnel familiar with operator job, and 9 events happened in the past in the plant involved operator error analysis, several operator work characteristics and performance influence factors are obtained. According to these specific characteristics and factors, referring to the psychological selection research results in the other related critical occupational fields, a full psychological selection system of nuclear power plant operator is forwarded in this paper, including 21 dimensions in 3 facets as general psychological ability, personality and psychological healthy. Practical measurement methods for the proposed selection dimensions are discussed in the end

  11. High-precision coseismic displacement estimation with a single-frequency GPS receiver

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Bofeng; Zhang, Xiaohong; Ren, Xiaodong; Li, Xingxing

    2015-07-01

    To improve the performance of Global Positioning System (GPS) in the earthquake/tsunami early warning and rapid response applications, minimizing the blind zone and increasing the stability and accuracy of both the rapid source and rupture inversion, the density of existing GPS networks must be increased in the areas at risk. For economic reasons, low-cost single-frequency receivers would be preferable to make the sparse dual-frequency GPS networks denser. When using single-frequency GPS receivers, the main problem that must be solved is the ionospheric delay, which is a critical factor when determining accurate coseismic displacements. In this study, we introduce a modified Satellite-specific Epoch-differenced Ionospheric Delay (MSEID) model to compensate for the effect of ionospheric error on single-frequency GPS receivers. In the MSEID model, the time-differenced ionospheric delays observed from a regional dual-frequency GPS network to a common satellite are fitted to a plane rather than part of a sphere, and the parameters of this plane are determined by using the coordinates of the stations. When the parameters are known, time-differenced ionospheric delays for a single-frequency GPS receiver could be derived from the observations of those dual-frequency receivers. Using these ionospheric delay corrections, coseismic displacements of a single-frequency GPS receiver can be accurately calculated based on time-differenced carrier-phase measurements in real time. The performance of the proposed approach is validated using 5 Hz GPS data collected during the 2012 Nicoya Peninsula Earthquake (Mw 7.6, 2012 September 5) in Costa Rica. This shows that the proposed approach improves the accuracy of the displacement of a single-frequency GPS station, and coseismic displacements with an accuracy of a few centimetres are achieved over a 10-min interval.

  12. Bias expansion of spatial statistics and approximation of differenced ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Investigations of spatial statistics, computed from lattice data in the plane, can lead to a special lattice point counting problem. The statistical goal is to expand the asymptotic expectation or large-sample bias of certain spatial covariance estimators, where this bias typically depends on the shape of a spatial sampling region.

  13. Bias expansion of spatial statistics and approximation of differenced ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Our goal here is to describe and illustrate the general counting problem of inter- .... A great amount of literature exists in number theory and enumerative ..... series setting, similar consideration has been given to determine bias and mean ...

  14. Short-term change detection for UAV video

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saur, Günter; Krüger, Wolfgang

    2012-11-01

    In the last years, there has been an increased use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for video reconnaissance and surveillance. An important application in this context is change detection in UAV video data. Here we address short-term change detection, in which the time between observations ranges from several minutes to a few hours. We distinguish this task from video motion detection (shorter time scale) and from long-term change detection, based on time series of still images taken between several days, weeks, or even years. Examples for relevant changes we are looking for are recently parked or moved vehicles. As a pre-requisite, a precise image-to-image registration is needed. Images are selected on the basis of the geo-coordinates of the sensor's footprint and with respect to a certain minimal overlap. The automatic imagebased fine-registration adjusts the image pair to a common geometry by using a robust matching approach to handle outliers. The change detection algorithm has to distinguish between relevant and non-relevant changes. Examples for non-relevant changes are stereo disparity at 3D structures of the scene, changed length of shadows, and compression or transmission artifacts. To detect changes in image pairs we analyzed image differencing, local image correlation, and a transformation-based approach (multivariate alteration detection). As input we used color and gradient magnitude images. To cope with local misalignment of image structures we extended the approaches by a local neighborhood search. The algorithms are applied to several examples covering both urban and rural scenes. The local neighborhood search in combination with intensity and gradient magnitude differencing clearly improved the results. Extended image differencing performed better than both the correlation based approach and the multivariate alternation detection. The algorithms are adapted to be used in semi-automatic workflows for the ABUL video exploitation system of Fraunhofer

  15. Sighting optics including an optical element having a first focal length and a second focal length

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crandall, David Lynn [Idaho Falls, ID

    2011-08-01

    One embodiment of sighting optics according to the teachings provided herein may include a front sight and a rear sight positioned in spaced-apart relation. The rear sight includes an optical element having a first focal length and a second focal length. The first focal length is selected so that it is about equal to a distance separating the optical element and the front sight and the second focal length is selected so that it is about equal to a target distance. The optical element thus brings into simultaneous focus, for a user, images of the front sight and the target.

  16. Ball Screw Actuator Including a Stop with an Integral Guide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wingett, Paul T. (Inventor); Perek, John (Inventor); Geck, Kellan (Inventor)

    2015-01-01

    An actuator includes a housing assembly, a ball nut, a ball screw, and a ball screw stop. The ball nut is rotationally mounted in the housing assembly, is adapted to receive an input torque, and is configured, upon receipt thereof, to rotate and supply a drive force. The ball screw is mounted within the housing assembly and extends through the ball nut. The ball screw has a first end and a second end, and is coupled to receive the drive force from the ball nut. The ball screw is configured, upon receipt of the drive force, to selectively translate between a stow position and a deploy position. The ball screw stop is mounted on the ball screw to translate therewith and is configured to at selectively engage the housing assembly while the ball screw is translating, and engage the ball nut when the ball screw is in the deploy position.

  17. Defense Health Care: DOD Lacks Assurance That Selected Reserve Members Are Informed about TRICARE Reserve Select

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-01

    percentages include members of the Selected Reserve and their dependents. Selected Reserve members living overseas, in unknown locations, and in Puerto Rico ...8 Diabetes mellitush 1.7 Asthmai 1.8 9 Adjustment reaction 1.7 Acute upper respiratory infections of multiple or unspecified sites 1.6 10 Special...heterogeneous disorders that have an increase in blood glucose concentrations. The current classifications for diabetes mellitus Types 1 through 4

  18. Selection of suitable sites for NPP in Slovenia (stage 3)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grgic, M.; Fabjan, L.; Premru, U.

    1977-01-01

    Selection of suitable sites for nuclear power plants in Slovenia is considered. This includes the studies of available data on regional and local characteristics specified in general site suitability criteria for NPP. The most suitable selected sites will be included into land use urbanistic planning of Slovenia

  19. Strong signatures of selection in the domestic pig genome

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rubin, Carl-Johan; Megens, Hendrik-Jan; Barrio, Alvaro Martinez

    2012-01-01

    Domestication of wild boar (Sus scrofa) and subsequent selection have resulted in dramatic phenotypic changes in domestic pigs for a number of traits, including behavior, body composition, reproduction, and coat color. Here we have used whole-genome resequencing to reveal some of the loci that un...... to strong directional selection.......Domestication of wild boar (Sus scrofa) and subsequent selection have resulted in dramatic phenotypic changes in domestic pigs for a number of traits, including behavior, body composition, reproduction, and coat color. Here we have used whole-genome resequencing to reveal some of the loci...... that underlie phenotypic evolution in European domestic pigs. Selective sweep analyses revealed strong signatures of selection at three loci harboring quantitative trait loci that explain a considerable part of one of the most characteristic morphological changes in the domestic pig—the elongation of the back...

  20. Designing monitoring programs for chemicals of emerging concern in potable reuse--what to include and what not to include?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drewes, J E; Anderson, P; Denslow, N; Olivieri, A; Schlenk, D; Snyder, S A; Maruya, K A

    2013-01-01

    This study discussed a proposed process to prioritize chemicals for reclaimed water monitoring programs, selection of analytical methods required for their quantification, toxicological relevance of chemicals of emerging concern regarding human health, and related issues. Given that thousands of chemicals are potentially present in reclaimed water and that information about those chemicals is rapidly evolving, a transparent, science-based framework was developed to guide prioritization of which compounds of emerging concern (CECs) should be included in reclaimed water monitoring programs. The recommended framework includes four steps: (1) compile environmental concentrations (e.g., measured environmental concentration or MEC) of CECs in the source water for reuse projects; (2) develop a monitoring trigger level (MTL) for each of these compounds (or groups thereof) based on toxicological relevance; (3) compare the environmental concentration (e.g., MEC) to the MTL; CECs with a MEC/MTL ratio greater than 1 should be prioritized for monitoring, compounds with a ratio less than '1' should only be considered if they represent viable treatment process performance indicators; and (4) screen the priority list to ensure that a commercially available robust analytical method is available for that compound.

  1. Response functions of free mass gravitational wave antennas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Estabrook, F. B.

    1985-01-01

    The work of Gursel, Linsay, Spero, Saulson, Whitcomb and Weiss (1984) on the response of a free-mass interferometric antenna is extended. Starting from first principles, the earlier work derived the response of a 2-arm gravitational wave antenna to plane polarized gravitational waves. Equivalent formulas (generalized slightly to allow for arbitrary elliptical polarization) are obtained by a simple differencing of the '3-pulse' Doppler response functions of two 1-arm antennas. A '4-pulse' response function is found, with quite complicated angular dependences for arbitrary incident polarization. The differencing method can as readily be used to write exact response functions ('3n+1 pulse') for antennas having multiple passes or more arms.

  2. Population Genetics and Natural Selection in Rheumatic Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramos, Paula S

    2017-08-01

    Human genetic diversity is the result of population genetic forces. This genetic variation influences disease risk and contributes to health disparities. Natural selection is an important influence on human genetic variation. Because immune and inflammatory function genes are enriched for signals of positive selection, the prevalence of rheumatic disease-risk alleles seen in different populations is partially the result of differing selective pressures (eg, due to pathogens). This review summarizes the genetic regions associated with susceptibility to different rheumatic diseases and concomitant evidence for natural selection, including known agents of selection exerting selective pressure in these regions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. The spatial patterns of directional phenotypic selection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siepielski, Adam M; Gotanda, Kiyoko M; Morrissey, Michael B; Diamond, Sarah E; DiBattista, Joseph D; Carlson, Stephanie M

    2013-11-01

    Local adaptation, adaptive population divergence and speciation are often expected to result from populations evolving in response to spatial variation in selection. Yet, we lack a comprehensive understanding of the major features that characterise the spatial patterns of selection, namely the extent of variation among populations in the strength and direction of selection. Here, we analyse a data set of spatially replicated studies of directional phenotypic selection from natural populations. The data set includes 60 studies, consisting of 3937 estimates of selection across an average of five populations. We performed meta-analyses to explore features characterising spatial variation in directional selection. We found that selection tends to vary mainly in strength and less in direction among populations. Although differences in the direction of selection occur among populations they do so where selection is often weakest, which may limit the potential for ongoing adaptive population divergence. Overall, we also found that spatial variation in selection appears comparable to temporal (annual) variation in selection within populations; however, several deficiencies in available data currently complicate this comparison. We discuss future research needs to further advance our understanding of spatial variation in selection. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

  4. The spatial patterns of directional phenotypic selection

    KAUST Repository

    Siepielski, Adam M.

    2013-09-12

    Local adaptation, adaptive population divergence and speciation are often expected to result from populations evolving in response to spatial variation in selection. Yet, we lack a comprehensive understanding of the major features that characterise the spatial patterns of selection, namely the extent of variation among populations in the strength and direction of selection. Here, we analyse a data set of spatially replicated studies of directional phenotypic selection from natural populations. The data set includes 60 studies, consisting of 3937 estimates of selection across an average of five populations. We performed meta-analyses to explore features characterising spatial variation in directional selection. We found that selection tends to vary mainly in strength and less in direction among populations. Although differences in the direction of selection occur among populations they do so where selection is often weakest, which may limit the potential for ongoing adaptive population divergence. Overall, we also found that spatial variation in selection appears comparable to temporal (annual) variation in selection within populations; however, several deficiencies in available data currently complicate this comparison. We discuss future research needs to further advance our understanding of spatial variation in selection. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

  5. Identifying artificial selection signals in the chicken genome.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yunlong Ma

    Full Text Available Identifying the signals of artificial selection can contribute to further shaping economically important traits. Here, a chicken 600k SNP-array was employed to detect the signals of artificial selection using 331 individuals from 9 breeds, including Jingfen (JF, Jinghong (JH, Araucanas (AR, White Leghorn (WL, Pekin-Bantam (PB, Shamo (SH, Gallus-Gallus-Spadiceus (GA, Rheinlander (RH and Vorwerkhuhn (VO. Per the population genetic structure, 9 breeds were combined into 5 breed-pools, and a 'two-step' strategy was used to reveal the signals of artificial selection. GA, which has little artificial selection, was defined as the reference population, and a total of 204, 155, 305 and 323 potential artificial selection signals were identified in AR_VO, PB, RH_WL and JH_JF, respectively. We also found signals derived from standing and de-novo genetic variations have contributed to adaptive evolution during artificial selection. Further enrichment analysis suggests that the genomic regions of artificial selection signals harbour genes, including THSR, PTHLH and PMCH, responsible for economic traits, such as fertility, growth and immunization. Overall, this study found a series of genes that contribute to the improvement of chicken breeds and revealed the genetic mechanisms of adaptive evolution, which can be used as fundamental information in future chicken functional genomics study.

  6. Selecting the Right Software.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shearn, Joseph

    1987-01-01

    Selection of administrative software requires analyzing present needs and, to meet future needs, choosing software that will function with a more powerful computer system. Other important factors to include are a professional system demonstration, maintenance and training, and financial considerations that allow leasing or renting alternatives.…

  7. Selecting a digital camera for telemedicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patricoski, Chris; Ferguson, A Stewart

    2009-06-01

    The digital camera is an essential component of store-and-forward telemedicine (electronic consultation). There are numerous makes and models of digital cameras on the market, and selecting a suitable consumer-grade camera can be complicated. Evaluation of digital cameras includes investigating the features and analyzing image quality. Important features include the camera settings, ease of use, macro capabilities, method of image transfer, and power recharging. Consideration needs to be given to image quality, especially as it relates to color (skin tones) and detail. It is important to know the level of the photographer and the intended application. The goal is to match the characteristics of the camera with the telemedicine program requirements. In the end, selecting a digital camera is a combination of qualitative (subjective) and quantitative (objective) analysis. For the telemedicine program in Alaska in 2008, the camera evaluation and decision process resulted in a specific selection based on the criteria developed for our environment.

  8. Selection of the Mars Science Laboratory landing site

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golombek, M.; Grant, J.; Kipp, D.; Vasavada, A.; Kirk, Randolph L.; Fergason, Robin L.; Bellutta, P.; Calef, F.; Larsen, K.; Katayama, Y.; Huertas, A.; Beyer, R.; Chen, A.; Parker, T.; Pollard, B.; Lee, S.; Hoover, R.; Sladek, H.; Grotzinger, J.; Welch, R.; Dobrea, E. Noe; Michalski, J.; Watkins, M.

    2012-01-01

    The selection of Gale crater as the Mars Science Laboratory landing site took over five years, involved broad participation of the science community via five open workshops, and narrowed an initial >50 sites (25 by 20 km) to four finalists (Eberswalde, Gale, Holden and Mawrth) based on science and safety. Engineering constraints important to the selection included: (1) latitude (±30°) for thermal management of the rover and instruments, (2) elevation (surface that is safe for landing and roving and not dominated by fine-grained dust. Science criteria important for the selection include the ability to assess past habitable environments, which include diversity, context, and biosignature (including organics) preservation. Sites were evaluated in detail using targeted data from instruments on all active orbiters, and especially Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. All of the final four sites have layered sedimentary rocks with spectral evidence for phyllosilicates that clearly address the science objectives of the mission. Sophisticated entry, descent and landing simulations that include detailed information on all of the engineering constraints indicate all of the final four sites are safe for landing. Evaluation of the traversabilty of the landing sites and target “go to” areas outside of the ellipse using slope and material properties information indicates that all are trafficable and “go to” sites can be accessed within the lifetime of the mission. In the final selection, Gale crater was favored over Eberswalde based on its greater diversity and potential habitability.

  9. Selecting and Buying Educational Software.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahl, David H.

    1983-01-01

    Guidelines for selecting/buying educational software are discussed under the following headings: educational soundness; appropriateness; challenge and progress; motivation and reward; correctness; compatibility with systems; instructions and handlings. Includes several sources of software reviews. (JN)

  10. A computational model for viscous fluid flow, heat transfer, and melting in in situ vitrification melt pools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McHugh, P.R.; Ramshaw, J.D.

    1991-11-01

    MAGMA is a FORTRAN computer code designed to viscous flow in in situ vitrification melt pools. It models three-dimensional, incompressible, viscous flow and heat transfer. The momentum equation is coupled to the temperature field through the buoyancy force terms arising from the Boussinesq approximation. All fluid properties, except density, are assumed variable. Density is assumed constant except in the buoyancy force terms in the momentum equation. A simple melting model based on the enthalpy method allows the study of the melt front progression and latent heat effects. An indirect addressing scheme used in the numerical solution of the momentum equation voids unnecessary calculations in cells devoid of liquid. Two-dimensional calculations can be performed using either rectangular or cylindrical coordinates, while three-dimensional calculations use rectangular coordinates. All derivatives are approximated by finite differences. The incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved using a new fully implicit iterative technique, while the energy equation is differenced explicitly in time. Spatial derivatives are written in conservative form using a uniform, rectangular, staggered mesh based on the marker and cell placement of variables. Convective terms are differenced using a weighted average of centered and donor cell differencing to ensure numerical stability. Complete descriptions of MAGMA governing equations, numerics, code structure, and code verification are provided. 14 refs

  11. A computational model for viscous fluid flow, heat transfer, and melting in in situ vitrification melt pools

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McHugh, P.R.; Ramshaw, J.D.

    1991-11-01

    MAGMA is a FORTRAN computer code designed to viscous flow in in situ vitrification melt pools. It models three-dimensional, incompressible, viscous flow and heat transfer. The momentum equation is coupled to the temperature field through the buoyancy force terms arising from the Boussinesq approximation. All fluid properties, except density, are assumed variable. Density is assumed constant except in the buoyancy force terms in the momentum equation. A simple melting model based on the enthalpy method allows the study of the melt front progression and latent heat effects. An indirect addressing scheme used in the numerical solution of the momentum equation voids unnecessary calculations in cells devoid of liquid. Two-dimensional calculations can be performed using either rectangular or cylindrical coordinates, while three-dimensional calculations use rectangular coordinates. All derivatives are approximated by finite differences. The incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved using a new fully implicit iterative technique, while the energy equation is differenced explicitly in time. Spatial derivatives are written in conservative form using a uniform, rectangular, staggered mesh based on the marker and cell placement of variables. Convective terms are differenced using a weighted average of centered and donor cell differencing to ensure numerical stability. Complete descriptions of MAGMA governing equations, numerics, code structure, and code verification are provided. 14 refs.

  12. Renewable energy recovery through selected industrial wastes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Pengchong

    Typically, industrial waste treatment costs a large amount of capital, and creates environmental concerns as well. A sound alternative for treating these industrial wastes is anaerobic digestion. This technique reduces environmental pollution, and recovers renewable energy from the organic fraction of those selected industrial wastes, mostly in the form of biogas (methane). By applying anaerobic technique, selected industrial wastes could be converted from cash negative materials into economic energy feed stocks. In this study, three kinds of industrial wastes (paper mill wastes, brown grease, and corn-ethanol thin stillage) were selected, their performance in the anaerobic digestion system was studied and their applicability was investigated as well. A pilot-scale system, including anaerobic section (homogenization, pre-digestion, and anaerobic digestion) and aerobic section (activated sludge) was applied to the selected waste streams. The investigation of selected waste streams was in a gradually progressive order. For paper mill effluents, since those effluents contain a large amount of recalcitrant or toxic compounds, the anaerobic-aerobic system was used to check its treatability, including organic removal efficiency, substrate utilization rate, and methane yield. The results showed the selected effluents were anaerobically treatable. For brown grease, as it is already well known as a treatable substrate, a high rate anaerobic digester were applied to check the economic effect of this substrate, including methane yield and substrate utilization rate. These data from pilot-scale experiment have the potential to be applied to full-scale plant. For thin stillage, anaerobic digestion system has been incorporated to the traditional ethanol making process as a gate-to-gate process. The performance of anaerobic digester was applied to the gate-to-gate life-cycle analysis to estimate the energy saving and industrial cost saving in a typical ethanol plant.

  13. Including granulometric sediment coastal data composition into the Black Sea GIS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhuk, Elena; Khaliulin, Alexey; Krylenko, Marina; Krylenko, Viacheslav; Zodiatis, George; Nikolaidis, Marios; Nikolaidis, Andreas

    2017-09-01

    The module structure of the Black Sea GIS allows the increasing of its functionality, including new data types and defining new procedures accessing them, their visualization and integration with existing data by their conjoint processing and representation. The Black Sea GIS is released as free software; Mapserver is used as a mapping service; MySQL DBMS works with relational data. A new additional feature provided, is the ability of including coastal data obtained in SB SIO RAS. The data represent granulometric composition of the Anapa bay-bar sediments. The Anapa bay-bar is an accumulative sand form (about 50 km long) located on the northwest Russian Black Sea coast. The entire bay-bar and especially its southern part with sand beaches 50-200 m wide is intensively used in recreation. This work is based on the results of field studies of 2010-2014 in the southern part of the Anapa bay-bar researched by scientists of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology RAS. Since the shore under consideration has no clearly pronounced reference points, "virtual" points located within 1 km distance from each other were selected. Transversal profiles cross these points. The granulometric composition was studied along with 45 profiles. The samples taken in every profile were from the most characteristic morphological parts of the beach. In this study we used shoreline zone samples. Twenty one granule fractions (mm) were separated in the laboratory. The module which processes coastal data allows to select coastal data based on territory/region and granulometric sediment composition. Also, it allows to visualize coastal maps with user-selected features combined with other GIS data.

  14. Phenomenology and treatment of selective mutism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumpulainen, Kirsti

    2002-01-01

    Selective mutism is a multidimensional childhood disorder in which, according to the most recent studies, biologically mediated temperament and anxiety components seem to play a major role. Several psychotherapy methods have been reported in case studies to be useful, but the disorder is commonly seen to be resistant to change, particularly in cases of long duration. Currently, behaviour modification and other cognitive methods, together with cooperation with the family and the school personnel, are recommended in the treatment of selective mutism. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and selective monoamine oxidase inhibitors have also been reported to be helpful when treating children with selective mutism. At the moment, pharmacotherapy cannot be recommended as the treatment of first choice but if other methods of treatment are not helpful, medication can be included in the treatment scheme. Comprehensive evaluation and treatment of possible primary and comorbid problems that require treatment are also essential.

  15. Surgical patient selection and counseling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziegelmann, Matt; Köhler, Tobias S; Bailey, George C; Miest, Tanner; Alom, Manaf; Trost, Landon

    2017-08-01

    The objectives of patient selection and counseling are ultimately to enhance successful outcomes. However, the definition for success is often narrowly defined in published literature (ability to complete surgery, complications, satisfaction) and fails to account for patient desires and expectations, temporal changes, natural history of underlying diseases, or independent validation. Factors associated with satisfaction and dissatisfaction are often surgery-specific, although correlation with pre-operative expectations, revisions, and complications are common with most procedures. The process of appropriate patient selection is determined by the integration of patient and surgeon factors, including psychological capacity to handle unsatisfactory results, baseline expectations, complexity of case, and surgeon volume and experience. Using this model, a high-risk scenario includes one in which a low-volume surgeon performs a complex case in a patient with limited psychological capacity and high expectations. In contrast, a high-volume surgeon performing a routine case in a male with low expectations and abundant psychiatric reserve is more likely to achieve a successful outcome. To further help identify patients who are at high risk for dissatisfaction, a previously published mnemonic is recommended: CURSED Patient (compulsive/obsessive, unrealistic, revision, surgeon shopping, entitled, denial, and psychiatric). Appropriate patient counseling includes setting appropriate expectations, reviewing the potential and anticipated risks of surgery, post-operative instruction to limit complications, and long-term follow-up. As thorough counseling is often a time-consuming endeavor, busy practices may elect to utilize various resources including educational materials, advanced practice providers, or group visits, among others. The consequences for poor patient selection and counseling may range from poor surgical outcomes and patient dissatisfaction to lawsuits, loss of

  16. Variable Selection via Partial Correlation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Runze; Liu, Jingyuan; Lou, Lejia

    2017-07-01

    Partial correlation based variable selection method was proposed for normal linear regression models by Bühlmann, Kalisch and Maathuis (2010) as a comparable alternative method to regularization methods for variable selection. This paper addresses two important issues related to partial correlation based variable selection method: (a) whether this method is sensitive to normality assumption, and (b) whether this method is valid when the dimension of predictor increases in an exponential rate of the sample size. To address issue (a), we systematically study this method for elliptical linear regression models. Our finding indicates that the original proposal may lead to inferior performance when the marginal kurtosis of predictor is not close to that of normal distribution. Our simulation results further confirm this finding. To ensure the superior performance of partial correlation based variable selection procedure, we propose a thresholded partial correlation (TPC) approach to select significant variables in linear regression models. We establish the selection consistency of the TPC in the presence of ultrahigh dimensional predictors. Since the TPC procedure includes the original proposal as a special case, our theoretical results address the issue (b) directly. As a by-product, the sure screening property of the first step of TPC was obtained. The numerical examples also illustrate that the TPC is competitively comparable to the commonly-used regularization methods for variable selection.

  17. 77 FR 3499 - Sony Electronics, Inc., Including On-Site Leased Workers From Selectremedy Park Ridge, NJ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-24

    ... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-71,501M] Sony Electronics, Inc... Electronics, Inc., SEL Headquarters, including on-site leased workers of SelectRemedy, StaffMark, and Payrolling.com , San Diego, California (TA-W-71,501); Sony Electronics, Inc., including on-site leased...

  18. Selective Mutism: Phenomenological Characteristics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ford, Mary Ann; Sladeczek, Ingrid E.; Carlson, John; Kratochwill, Thomas R.

    1998-01-01

    To explore factors related to selective mutism (SM), a survey of persons (N=153, including 135 children) with SM was undertaken. Three theoretical assumptions are supported: (1) variant talking behaviors prior to identification of SM; (2) link between SM and social anxiety; (3) potential link between temperament and SM. (EMK)

  19. Natural Selection in the Great Apes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cagan, Alexander; Theunert, Christoph; Laayouni, Hafid; Santpere, Gabriel; Pybus, Marc; Casals, Ferran; Prüfer, Kay; Navarro, Arcadi; Marques-Bonet, Tomas; Bertranpetit, Jaume; Andrés, Aida M

    2016-12-01

    Natural selection is crucial for the adaptation of populations to their environments. Here, we present the first global study of natural selection in the Hominidae (humans and great apes) based on genome-wide information from population samples representing all extant species (including most subspecies). Combining several neutrality tests we create a multi-species map of signatures of natural selection covering all major types of natural selection. We find that the estimated efficiency of both purifying and positive selection varies between species and is significantly correlated with their long-term effective population size. Thus, even the modest differences in population size among the closely related Hominidae lineages have resulted in differences in their ability to remove deleterious alleles and to adapt to changing environments. Most signatures of balancing and positive selection are species-specific, with signatures of balancing selection more often being shared among species. We also identify loci with evidence of positive selection across several lineages. Notably, we detect signatures of positive selection in several genes related to brain function, anatomy, diet and immune processes. Our results contribute to a better understanding of human evolution by putting the evidence of natural selection in humans within its larger evolutionary context. The global map of natural selection in our closest living relatives is available as an interactive browser at http://tinyurl.com/nf8qmzh. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

  20. Molecular Components of Catalytic Selectivity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Somorjai, Gabor A.; Park, Jeong Y.

    2008-07-02

    Selectivity, that is, to produce one molecule out of many other thermodynamically feasible product molecules, is the key concept to develop 'clean manufacturing' processes that do not produce byproducts (green chemistry). Small differences in potential energy barriers for elementary reaction steps control which reaction channel is more likely to yield the desired product molecule (selectivity), instead of the overall activation energy for the reaction that controls turnover rates (activity). Recent studies have demonstrated the atomic- or molecular-level tailoring of parameters such as the surface structures of active sites that give rise to nanoparticle size and shape dependence of turnover rates and reaction selectivities. Here, we highlight seven molecular components that influence reaction selectivities. These include: surface structure, adsorbate-induced restructuring, adsorbate mobility, reaction intermediates, surface composition, charge transport, and oxidation states for model metal single crystal and colloid nanoparticle catalysts. We show examples of their functioning and describe in-situ instruments that permit us to investigate their roles in surface reactions.

  1. RADIO-SELECTED QUASARS IN THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McGreer, Ian D.; Helfand, David J.; White, Richard L.

    2009-01-01

    We have conducted a pilot survey for z > 3.5 quasars by combining the FIRST radio survey with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). While SDSS already targets FIRST sources for spectroscopy as quasar candidates, our survey includes fainter quasars and greatly improves the discovery rate by using strict astrometric criteria for matching the radio and optical positions. Our method allows for selection of high-redshift quasars with less color bias than with optical selection, as using radio selection essentially eliminates stellar contamination. We report the results of spectroscopy for 45 candidates, including 29 quasars in the range 0.37 3.5. We compare quasars selected using radio and optical criteria, and find that radio-selected quasars have a much higher fraction of moderately reddened objects. We derive a radio-loud quasar luminosity function at 3.5 < z < 4.0, and find that it is in good agreement with expectations from prior SDSS results.

  2. Eco-Material Selection for Auto Bodies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mayyas, Ahmad T [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Omar, Mohammed [Masdar Institute of Science & Technology; Hayajneh, Mohammed T. [Jordan University of Science and Technology

    2017-09-25

    In the last decades, majority of automakers started to include lightweight materials in their vehicles to meet hard environmental regulations and to improve fuel efficiency of their vehicles. As a result, eco-material selection for vehicles emerged as a new discipline under design for environment. This chapter will summarize methods of eco-material selections for automotive applications with more emphasis into auto-bodies. A set of metrics for eco-material selection that takes into account all economic, environmental and social factors will be developed using numerical and qualitative methods. These metrics cover products' environmental impact, functionality and manufacturability, in addition to the economic and societal factors.

  3. Treatment of Selective Mutism: A Best-Evidence Synthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stone, Beth Pionek; Kratochwill, Thomas R.; Sladezcek, Ingrid; Serlin, Ronald C.

    2002-01-01

    Presents systematic analysis of the major treatment approaches used for selective mutism. Based on nonparametric statistical tests of effect sizes, major findings include the following: treatment of selective mutism is more effective than no treatment; behaviorally oriented treatment approaches are more effective than no treatment; and no…

  4. Designing monitoring programs for chemicals of emerging concern in potable reuse ⋯ What to include and what not to include?

    KAUST Repository

    Drewes, Jorg; Anderson, Paul D.; Denslow, Nancy D.; Olivieri, Adam W.; Schlenk, Daniel K.; Snyder, Shane A.; Maruya, Keith

    2012-01-01

    This study discussed a proposed process to prioritize chemicals for reclaimed water monitoring programs, selection of analytical methods required for their quantification, toxicological relevance of chemicals of emerging concern regarding human health, and related issues. Given that thousands of chemicals are potentially present in reclaimed water and that information about those chemicals is rapidly evolving, a transparent, science-based framework was developed to guide prioritization of which compounds of emerging concern (CECs) should be included in reclaimed water monitoring programs. The recommended framework includes four steps: (1) compile environmental concentrations (e.g., measured environmental concentration or MEC) of CECs in the source water for reuse projects; (2) develop a monitoring trigger level (MTL) for each of these compounds (or groups thereof) based on toxicological relevance; (3) compare the environmental concentration (e.g., MEC) to the MTL; CECs with a MEC/MTL ratio greater than 1 should be prioritized for monitoring, compounds with a ratio less than '1' should only be considered if they represent viable treatment process performance indicators; and (4) screen the priority list to ensure that a commercially available robust analytical method is available for that compound. © IWA Publishing 2013.

  5. Designing monitoring programs for chemicals of emerging concern in potable reuse ⋯ What to include and what not to include?

    KAUST Repository

    Drewes, Jorg

    2012-11-01

    This study discussed a proposed process to prioritize chemicals for reclaimed water monitoring programs, selection of analytical methods required for their quantification, toxicological relevance of chemicals of emerging concern regarding human health, and related issues. Given that thousands of chemicals are potentially present in reclaimed water and that information about those chemicals is rapidly evolving, a transparent, science-based framework was developed to guide prioritization of which compounds of emerging concern (CECs) should be included in reclaimed water monitoring programs. The recommended framework includes four steps: (1) compile environmental concentrations (e.g., measured environmental concentration or MEC) of CECs in the source water for reuse projects; (2) develop a monitoring trigger level (MTL) for each of these compounds (or groups thereof) based on toxicological relevance; (3) compare the environmental concentration (e.g., MEC) to the MTL; CECs with a MEC/MTL ratio greater than 1 should be prioritized for monitoring, compounds with a ratio less than \\'1\\' should only be considered if they represent viable treatment process performance indicators; and (4) screen the priority list to ensure that a commercially available robust analytical method is available for that compound. © IWA Publishing 2013.

  6. Novel quench detection methods for the superconducting magnets in ITER and TPX

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schultz, J.H.; Pourrahimi, S.; Diatchenko, N.; Guss, W.; Chaniotakis, E.; Pillsbury, R.D. Jr.; Smith, S.; Wang, P.W.; Citrolo, J.; Chaplin, M.; Zbasnik, J.

    1995-01-01

    The US is providing novel sensors to Japan to be used in the conductor for QUELL, the ITER Quench Experiment on Long-Lengths to be performed in the SULTAN magnet in 1995. These include cowound voltage sensors, fiber optic thermometers, cowound and conventional pressure sensors, and flow meters. TPX has a redundant quench detection system using cowound voltage sensors, fiber-optic temperaure sensors, conventional voltage taps, and flow meters. Sensors are extracted only at joint regions, but are terminated every two pancakes, providing high signal-noise ratios through differencing techniques. (orig.)

  7. Use of moving heat conductor mesh to perform reflood calculations with RELAP4/MOD6

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fischer, S.R.; Ellis, L.V.; Chen, Y.S.

    1979-01-01

    RELAP4 is a computer code which can be used for the transient thermal hydraulic analysis of light water reactors and related systems. RELAP4/MOD6 includes many new analytical models which were developed primarily for the analysis of the reflood phase of a PWR loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) transient. The key feature forming the basis for the MOD6 reflood calculation is a unique moving finite differenced heat conductor. The development and application of the moving heat conductor mesh for use in reflood analysis are described

  8. Quality Control Of Selected Pesticides With GC

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Karasali, H. [Benaki Phytopathological Institute Laboratory of Physical and Chemical Analysis of Pesticides, Ekalis (Greece)

    2009-07-15

    The practical quality control of selected pesticides with GC is treated. Detailed descriptions are given on materials and methods used, including sample preparation and GC operating conditions. The systematic validation of multi methods is described, comprising performance characteristics in routine analysis, like selectivity, specificity etc. This is illustrated by chromatograms, calibration curves and tables derived from real laboratory data. (author)

  9. Selective attention without a neocortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krauzlis, Richard J; Bogadhi, Amarender R; Herman, James P; Bollimunta, Anil

    2018-05-01

    Selective attention refers to the ability to restrict neural processing and behavioral responses to a relevant subset of available stimuli, while simultaneously excluding other valid stimuli from consideration. In primates and other mammals, descriptions of this ability typically emphasize the neural processing that takes place in the cerebral neocortex. However, non-mammals such as birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish, which completely lack a neocortex, also have the ability to selectively attend. In this article, we survey the behavioral evidence for selective attention in non-mammals, and review the midbrain and forebrain structures that are responsible. The ancestral forms of selective attention are presumably selective orienting behaviors, such as prey-catching and predator avoidance. These behaviors depend critically on a set of subcortical structures, including the optic tectum (OT), thalamus and striatum, that are highly conserved across vertebrate evolution. In contrast, the contributions of different pallial regions in the forebrain to selective attention have been subject to more substantial changes and reorganization. This evolutionary perspective makes plain that selective attention is not a function achieved de novo with the emergence of the neocortex, but instead is implemented by circuits accrued and modified over hundreds of millions of years, beginning well before the forebrain contained a neocortex. Determining how older subcortical circuits interact with the more recently evolved components in the neocortex will likely be crucial for understanding the complex properties of selective attention in primates and other mammals, and for identifying the etiology of attention disorders. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  10. Phenotypic selection in natural populations: what limits directional selection?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kingsolver, Joel G; Diamond, Sarah E

    2011-03-01

    Studies of phenotypic selection document directional selection in many natural populations. What factors reduce total directional selection and the cumulative evolutionary responses to selection? We combine two data sets for phenotypic selection, representing more than 4,600 distinct estimates of selection from 143 studies, to evaluate the potential roles of fitness trade-offs, indirect (correlated) selection, temporally varying selection, and stabilizing selection for reducing net directional selection and cumulative responses to selection. We detected little evidence that trade-offs among different fitness components reduced total directional selection in most study systems. Comparisons of selection gradients and selection differentials suggest that correlated selection frequently reduced total selection on size but not on other types of traits. The direction of selection on a trait often changes over time in many temporally replicated studies, but these fluctuations have limited impact in reducing cumulative directional selection in most study systems. Analyses of quadratic selection gradients indicated stabilizing selection on body size in at least some studies but provided little evidence that stabilizing selection is more common than disruptive selection for most traits or study systems. Our analyses provide little evidence that fitness trade-offs, correlated selection, or stabilizing selection strongly constrains the directional selection reported for most quantitative traits.

  11. Predicting lift-off of major self-heating releases under the influence of a building

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benodekar, R.W.; Goddard, A.J.H.; Gosman, A.D.

    1985-01-01

    Turbulent flow around a bluff body poses many problems with respect to both numerical and turbulence modelling. The review of numerical studies made indicates the need for refined numerical treatment such as use of higher order differencing schemes. The 2-D predictions made in the present study represent preparatory work aimed in this direction. The 2-D solution procedure described employs a differencing scheme which simultaneously satisfies the requirements of low numerical diffusion and positivity of coefficients. The effects of turbulence are modelled by a variant of the k-epsilon turbulence model incorporating curvature corrections. The governing equations are solved by an efficient pressure-implicit split-operator algorithm known as PISO. Predictions have been compared with experimental data and previous calculations

  12. Selective Mutism: Causes and Interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hultquist, Alan M.

    1995-01-01

    This article reviews the literature regarding the diagnostic criteria, causes, assessment, and treatment of selective mutism in school-age children. The most successful treatments have included various forms or combinations of behavior modification, though these may not address the underlying problem. (Author/DB)

  13. Production Systems and Supplier Selection

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedraza-Acosta, Isabel; Pilkington, Alan; Barnes, David

    2016-01-01

    strategic stamping suppliers. Findings: Our contribution is the multi-phased production and product innovation process. This is an advance from traditional supplier selection and also an extension of ideas of supplier-located product development as it includes production system development, and complements...

  14. Some factors including radiation affecting the productivity of proteinase enzymes by mucor lamprosporus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El-Kabbany, H.M.I.

    1996-01-01

    In the present time, great attention has been focused on the production of milk clotting enzymes from microbial source for use as remain substitute due to the increasing demands on rennin for cheese making and the prohibition of the slaughter of small calves. The present investigation included the isolation and identification of remin-like enzyme fungal producers from different egyptian food and soil samples. Different factors including gamma radiation affecting the capability of selected isolate to produce the enzyme was also included. Special attention has also given to study the effect of different purification methods of the produced enzyme. The properties of the purified enzyme were also investigated

  15. Systematic wavelength selection for improved multivariate spectral analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Edward V.; Robinson, Mark R.; Haaland, David M.

    1995-01-01

    Methods and apparatus for determining in a biological material one or more unknown values of at least one known characteristic (e.g. the concentration of an analyte such as glucose in blood or the concentration of one or more blood gas parameters) with a model based on a set of samples with known values of the known characteristics and a multivariate algorithm using several wavelength subsets. The method includes selecting multiple wavelength subsets, from the electromagnetic spectral region appropriate for determining the known characteristic, for use by an algorithm wherein the selection of wavelength subsets improves the model's fitness of the determination for the unknown values of the known characteristic. The selection process utilizes multivariate search methods that select both predictive and synergistic wavelengths within the range of wavelengths utilized. The fitness of the wavelength subsets is determined by the fitness function F=.function.(cost, performance). The method includes the steps of: (1) using one or more applications of a genetic algorithm to produce one or more count spectra, with multiple count spectra then combined to produce a combined count spectrum; (2) smoothing the count spectrum; (3) selecting a threshold count from a count spectrum to select these wavelength subsets which optimize the fitness function; and (4) eliminating a portion of the selected wavelength subsets. The determination of the unknown values can be made: (1) noninvasively and in vivo; (2) invasively and in vivo; or (3) in vitro.

  16. Selection, competency development and assessment of nuclear power plant managers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1998-06-01

    This publication provides information on proven methods and good practices with respect to the selection, development and assessment of nuclear power plant (NPP) managers. The report is organized into four sections, a glossary, two appendices, and several annexes. The Introduction (Section 1) provides the framework for the report. Section 2 describes how appropriate management competencies can be used for the selection, development and assessment of NPP managers, including: -Selection which includes recruitment, promotion and succession management. -Management development programmes including formal training, job rotation, on the job training, mentoring, and outside assignments. -Assessment of individual performance. Section 3 describes a systematic process for identifying the competencies needed by NPP managers. This section culminates in a set of suggested core competencies for NPP managers which are further expanded in Appendix A. The annexes included provide specific examples of competency-based management selection, development, and assessment programmes in several Member States. -Annex A is one method to organize and display competencies. -Annex B is an example of using competencies for selection of first line managers. -Annex C is an example of using management competencies for succession management. -Annexes -H are examples of management development programmes. -Annexes I and J are examples of management assessment programmes. A glossary of terms is provided at the end of the report to explain the use of some key terms explain the use of some key terms

  17. Substitution rate and natural selection in parvovirus B19

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stamenković, Gorana G.; Ćirković, Valentina S.; Šiljić, Marina M.; Blagojević, Jelena V.; Knežević, Aleksandra M.; Joksić, Ivana D.; Stanojević, Maja P.

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study was to estimate substitution rate and imprints of natural selection on parvovirus B19 genotype 1. Studied datasets included 137 near complete coding B19 genomes (positions 665 to 4851) for phylogenetic and substitution rate analysis and 146 and 214 partial genomes for selection analyses in open reading frames ORF1 and ORF2, respectively, collected 1973–2012 and including 9 newly sequenced isolates from Serbia. Phylogenetic clustering assigned majority of studied isolates to G1A. Nucleotide substitution rate for total coding DNA was 1.03 (0.6–1.27) x 10−4 substitutions/site/year, with higher values for analyzed genome partitions. In spite of the highest evolutionary rate, VP2 codons were found to be under purifying selection with rare episodic positive selection, whereas codons under diversifying selection were found in the unique part of VP1, known to contain B19 immune epitopes important in persistent infection. Analyses of overlapping gene regions identified nucleotide positions under opposite selective pressure in different ORFs, suggesting complex evolutionary mechanisms of nucleotide changes in B19 viral genomes. PMID:27775080

  18. Collagenase Santyl ointment: a selective agent for wound debridement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Lei; Carson, Dennis

    2009-01-01

    Enzymatic debridement is a frequently used technique for removal of necrotic tissue from wounds. Proteases with specificity to break down the collagenous materials in necrotic tissues can achieve selective debridement, digesting denatured collagen in eschar while sparing nonnecrotic tissues. This article provides information about the selectivity of a collagenase-based debriding agent, including evidence of its safe and efficacious uses. Recent research has been conducted, investigating the chemical and biological properties of collagenase ointment, including healing in animal models, digestion power on different collagen types, cell migration activity from collagen degradation products, and compatibility with various wound dressings and metal ions. Evidence presented demonstrates that collagenase ointment is an effective, selective, and safe wound debriding agent.

  19. Online feature selection with streaming features.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Xindong; Yu, Kui; Ding, Wei; Wang, Hao; Zhu, Xingquan

    2013-05-01

    We propose a new online feature selection framework for applications with streaming features where the knowledge of the full feature space is unknown in advance. We define streaming features as features that flow in one by one over time whereas the number of training examples remains fixed. This is in contrast with traditional online learning methods that only deal with sequentially added observations, with little attention being paid to streaming features. The critical challenges for Online Streaming Feature Selection (OSFS) include 1) the continuous growth of feature volumes over time, 2) a large feature space, possibly of unknown or infinite size, and 3) the unavailability of the entire feature set before learning starts. In the paper, we present a novel Online Streaming Feature Selection method to select strongly relevant and nonredundant features on the fly. An efficient Fast-OSFS algorithm is proposed to improve feature selection performance. The proposed algorithms are evaluated extensively on high-dimensional datasets and also with a real-world case study on impact crater detection. Experimental results demonstrate that the algorithms achieve better compactness and higher prediction accuracy than existing streaming feature selection algorithms.

  20. Selective amygdalohippocampectomy via trans-superior temporal gyrus keyhole approach

    OpenAIRE

    Mathon , Bertrand; Clemenceau , Stéphane

    2016-01-01

    International audience; BackgroundHippocampal sclerosis is the most common cause of drug-resistant epilepsy amenable for surgical treatment and seizure control. The rationale of the selective amygdalohippocampectomy is to spare cerebral tissue not included in the seizure generator.MethodDescribe the selective amygdalohippocampectomy through the trans-superior temporal gyrus keyhole approach.ConclusionSelective amygdalohippocampectomy for temporal lobe epilepsy is performed when the data (semi...

  1. Selection of equipment for equipment qualification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Torr, K.G.

    1989-01-01

    This report describes the methodology applied in selecting equipment in the special safety systems for equipment qualification in the CANDU 600 MW nuclear generating stations at Gentilly 2 and Point Lepreau. Included is an explanation of the selection procedure adopted and the rationale behind the criteria used in identifying the equipment. The equipment items on the list have been grouped into three priority categories as a planning aid to AECB staff for a review of the qualification status of the special safety systems

  2. Methods for model selection in applied science and engineering.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Field, Richard V., Jr.

    2004-10-01

    Mathematical models are developed and used to study the properties of complex systems and/or modify these systems to satisfy some performance requirements in just about every area of applied science and engineering. A particular reason for developing a model, e.g., performance assessment or design, is referred to as the model use. Our objective is the development of a methodology for selecting a model that is sufficiently accurate for an intended use. Information on the system being modeled is, in general, incomplete, so that there may be two or more models consistent with the available information. The collection of these models is called the class of candidate models. Methods are developed for selecting the optimal member from a class of candidate models for the system. The optimal model depends on the available information, the selected class of candidate models, and the model use. Classical methods for model selection, including the method of maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods, as well as a method employing a decision-theoretic approach, are formulated to select the optimal model for numerous applications. There is no requirement that the candidate models be random. Classical methods for model selection ignore model use and require data to be available. Examples are used to show that these methods can be unreliable when data is limited. The decision-theoretic approach to model selection does not have these limitations, and model use is included through an appropriate utility function. This is especially important when modeling high risk systems, where the consequences of using an inappropriate model for the system can be disastrous. The decision-theoretic method for model selection is developed and applied for a series of complex and diverse applications. These include the selection of the: (1) optimal order of the polynomial chaos approximation for non-Gaussian random variables and stationary stochastic processes, (2) optimal pressure load model to be

  3. New course “Selecting the best person for CERN”

    CERN Multimedia

    2013-01-01

    The success of every team and organisation depends on its people: selecting the “right” people for CERN is therefore a crucial step in the recruitment process. The interview and selection process is costly both in terms of time and resources, particularly if the wrong decision is reached. It is therefore critical that the “right” candidate is appointed the first time.   This new training course will provide new and experienced members of selection boards for Limited Duration or Indefinite Contracts with the skills and techniques essential to conducting a successful interview and selection process according to best practices. For this course, an original approach of blended learning has been adopted. It includes individual pre-course work (webinar, online quiz, video interview); a 1-day training session with plenty of opportunities to practise, including running a full panel interview; finally, it provides an opportunity to devise your own ...

  4. Including climate change in energy investment decisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ybema, J.R.; Boonekamp, P.G.M.; Smit, J.T.J.

    1995-08-01

    To properly take climate change into account in the analysis of energy investment decisions, it is required to apply decision analysis methods that are capable of considering the specific characteristics of climate change (large uncertainties, long term horizon). Such decision analysis methods do exist. They can explicitly include evolving uncertainties, multi-stage decisions, cumulative effects and risk averse attitudes. Various methods are considered in this report and two of these methods have been selected: hedging calculations and sensitivity analysis. These methods are applied to illustrative examples, and its limitations are discussed. The examples are (1a) space heating and hot water for new houses from a private investor perspective and (1b) as example (1a) but from a government perspective, (2) electricity production with an integrated coal gasification combined cycle (ICGCC) with or without CO 2 removal, and (3) national energy strategy to hedge for climate change. 9 figs., 21 tabs., 42 refs., 1 appendix

  5. Toward a New Theory for Selecting Instructional Visuals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Croft, Richard S.; Burton, John K.

    This paper provides a rationale for the selection of illustrations and visual aids for the classroom. The theories that describe the processing of visuals are dual coding theory and cue summation theory. Concept attainment theory offers a basis for selecting which cues are relevant for any learning task which includes a component of identification…

  6. Evaluation of genomic selection for replacement strategies using selection index theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calus, M P L; Bijma, P; Veerkamp, R F

    2015-09-01

    Our objective was to investigate the economic effect of prioritizing heifers for replacement at the herd level based on genomic estimated breeding values, and to compute break-even genotyping costs across a wide range of scenarios. Specifically, we aimed to determine the optimal proportion of preselection based on parent average information for all scenarios considered. Considered replacement strategies include a range of different selection intensities by considering different numbers of heifers available for replacement (15-45 in a herd with 100 dairy cows) as well as different replacement rates (15-40%). Use of conventional versus sexed semen was considered, where the latter resulted in having twice as many heifers available for replacement. The baseline scenario relies on prioritization of replacement heifers based on parent average. The first alternative scenario involved genomic selection of heifers, considering that all heifers were genotyped. The benefits of genomic selection in this scenario were computed using a simple formula that only requires the number of lactating animals, the difference in accuracy between parent average and genomic selection (GS), and the selection intensity as input. When all heifers were genotyped, using GS for replacement of heifers was beneficial in most scenarios for current genotyping prices, provided some room exists for selection, in the sense that at least 2 more heifers are available than needed for replacement. In those scenarios, minimum break-even genotyping costs were equal to half the economic value of a standard deviation of the breeding goal. The second alternative scenario involved a preselection based on parent average, followed by GS among all the preselected heifers. It was in almost all cases beneficial to genotype all heifers when conventional semen was used (i.e., to do no preselection). The optimal proportion of preselection based on parent average was at least 0.63 when sexed semen was used. Use of sexed

  7. Materials Selection for Aerospace Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnold, Steven M.; Cebon, David; Ashby, Mike

    2012-01-01

    A systematic design-oriented, five-step approach to material selection is described: 1) establishing design requirements, 2) material screening, 3) ranking, 4) researching specific candidates and 5) applying specific cultural constraints to the selection process. At the core of this approach is the definition performance indices (i.e., particular combinations of material properties that embody the performance of a given component) in conjunction with material property charts. These material selection charts, which plot one property against another, are introduced and shown to provide a powerful graphical environment wherein one can apply and analyze quantitative selection criteria, such as those captured in performance indices, and make trade-offs between conflicting objectives. Finding a material with a high value of these indices maximizes the performance of the component. Two specific examples pertaining to aerospace (engine blades and pressure vessels) are examined, both at room temperature and elevated temperature (where time-dependent effects are important) to demonstrate the methodology. The discussion then turns to engineered/hybrid materials and how these can be effectively tailored to fill in holes in the material property space, so as to enable innovation and increases in performance as compared to monolithic materials. Finally, a brief discussion is presented on managing the data needed for materials selection, including collection, analysis, deployment, and maintenance issues.

  8. Validity of a questionnaire measuring motives for choosing foods including sustainable concerns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sautron, Valérie; Péneau, Sandrine; Camilleri, Géraldine M; Muller, Laurent; Ruffieux, Bernard; Hercberg, Serge; Méjean, Caroline

    2015-04-01

    Since the 1990s, sustainability of diet has become an increasingly important concern for consumers. However, there is no validated multidimensional measurement of motivation in the choice of foods including a concern for sustainability currently available. In the present study, we developed a questionnaire that measures food choice motives during purchasing, and we tested its psychometric properties. The questionnaire included 104 items divided into four predefined dimensions (environmental, health and well-being, economic and miscellaneous). It was administered to 1000 randomly selected subjects participating in the Nutrinet-Santé cohort study. Among 637 responders, one-third found the questionnaire complex or too long, while one-quarter found it difficult to fill in. Its underlying structure was determined by exploratory factor analysis and then internally validated by confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability was also assessed by internal consistency of selected dimensions and test-retest repeatability. After selecting the most relevant items, first-order analysis highlighted nine main dimensions: labeled ethics and environment, local and traditional production, taste, price, environmental limitations, health, convenience, innovation and absence of contaminants. The model demonstrated excellent internal validity (adjusted goodness of fit index = 0.97; standardized root mean square residuals = 0.07) and satisfactory reliability (internal consistency = 0.96, test-retest repeatability coefficient ranged between 0.31 and 0.68 over a mean 4-week period). This study enabled precise identification of the various dimensions in food choice motives and proposed an original, internally valid tool applicable to large populations for assessing consumer food motivation during purchasing, particularly in terms of sustainability. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Selective population rate coding: a possible computational role of gamma oscillations in selective attention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masuda, Naoki

    2009-12-01

    Selective attention is often accompanied by gamma oscillations in local field potentials and spike field coherence in brain areas related to visual, motor, and cognitive information processing. Gamma oscillations are implicated to play an important role in, for example, visual tasks including object search, shape perception, and speed detection. However, the mechanism by which gamma oscillations enhance cognitive and behavioral performance of attentive subjects is still elusive. Using feedforward fan-in networks composed of spiking neurons, we examine a possible role for gamma oscillations in selective attention and population rate coding of external stimuli. We implement the concept proposed by Fries ( 2005 ) that under dynamic stimuli, neural populations effectively communicate with each other only when there is a good phase relationship among associated gamma oscillations. We show that the downstream neural population selects a specific dynamic stimulus received by an upstream population and represents it by population rate coding. The encoded stimulus is the one for which gamma rhythm in the corresponding upstream population is resonant with the downstream gamma rhythm. The proposed role for gamma oscillations in stimulus selection is to enable top-down control, a neural version of time division multiple access used in communication engineering.

  10. Selective laser etching or ablation for fabrication of devices

    KAUST Repository

    Buttner, Ulrich; Salama, Khaled N.; Sapsanis, Christos

    2017-01-01

    Methods of fabricating devices vial selective laser etching are provided. The methods can include selective laser etching of a portion of a metal layer, e.g. using a laser light source having a wavelength of 1,000 nm to 1,500 nm. The methods can

  11. Real-time flavor tagging selection in ATLAS

    CERN Document Server

    Madaffari, D

    2016-01-01

    In high-energy physics experiments the online selection is crucial to reject the overwhelming uninteresting collisions. In particular the ATLAS experiment includes b-jet selections in its trigger, in order to select final states with significant heavy-flavor content. Dedicated selections are developed to timely identifying fully hadronic final states containing b-jets and maintaining affordable trigger rates. ATLAS successfully operated b-jet trigger selections during both 2011 and 2012 Large Hadron Collider data-taking campaigns. Work is on-going now to improve the performance of online tagging algorithms to be deployed in Run 2 in 2015. An overview of the Run 1 ATLAS b-jet trigger strategy along with future prospects is presented in this paper. Data-driven techniques to extract the online b-tagging performance, a key ingredient for all analysis relying on such triggers, are also discussed and preliminary results presented.

  12. On beam propagation methods for modelling in integrated optics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hoekstra, Hugo

    1997-01-01

    In this paper the main features of the Fourier transform and finite difference beam propagation methods are summarized. Limitations and improvements, related to the paraxial approximation, finite differencing and tilted structures are discussed.

  13. Properties of selected superconductive materials, 1978 supplement. Technical note

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roberts, B.W.

    1978-10-01

    This report includes data on additional superconductive materials extracted from the world literature up to fall 1977 and is an addendum to the data set published in J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data 5, no. 3, 581-821 (1976) (Reprint no. 84). The data presented are new values and have not been selected or compared to values (except for selected values of the elements) previously assembled by the Superconductive Materials Data Center. The properties included are composition, critical temperature, critical magnetic field, crystal structure and the results of negative experiments. Special tabulations of high magnetic field materials with Type II behavior and materials with organic components are included. All entries are keyed to the literature. A list of recent reviews centered on superconductive materials is included

  14. Open Education. Introduction to selected papers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Inés Gil-Jaurena

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available This issue of Open Praxis compiles selected papers presented at the Open Education Consortium Global Conference, held in Cape Town (South Africa on March 8-10, 2017. Additionaly, the Innovative Practice section includes three papers.

  15. Comparative Analysis of GPS Clock Performance Using Both Code-Phase and Carrier-Derived Pseudorange Observations

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Oaks, Jay; Largay, Marie M; Reid, Wilson G; Buisson, James A

    2004-01-01

    The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has, for many years, determined the GPS space vehicle clock offsets by differencing the pseudorange observations and the post-fit orbit provided by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA...

  16. Normal movement selectivity in autism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dinstein, Ilan; Thomas, Cibu; Humphreys, Kate; Minshew, Nancy; Behrmann, Marlene; Heeger, David J

    2010-05-13

    It has been proposed that individuals with autism have difficulties understanding the goals and intentions of others because of a fundamental dysfunction in the mirror neuron system. Here, however, we show that individuals with autism exhibited not only normal fMRI responses in mirror system areas during observation and execution of hand movements but also exhibited typical movement-selective adaptation (repetition suppression) when observing or executing the same movement repeatedly. Movement selectivity is a defining characteristic of neurons involved in movement perception, including mirror neurons, and, as such, these findings argue against a mirror system dysfunction in autism. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Analysis of general and specific combining abilities of popcorn populations, including selfed parents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Marcelo Soriano Viana

    2003-12-01

    Full Text Available Estimation of general and specific combining ability effects in a diallel analysis of cross-pollinating populations, including the selfed parents, is presented in this work. The restrictions considered satisfy the parametric values of the GCA and SCA effects. The method is extended to self-pollinating populations (suitable for other species, without the selfed parents. The analysis of changes in population means due to inbreeding (sensitivity to inbreeding also permits to assess the predominant direction of dominance deviations and the relative genetic variability in each parent population. The methodology was used to select popcorn populations for intra- and inter-population breeding programs and for hybrid production, developed at the Federal University of Viçosa, MG, Brazil. Two yellow pearl grain popcorn populations were selected.

  18. A technique of including the effect of aging of passive components in probabilistic risk assessments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Phillips, J.H.; Weidenhamer, G.H.

    1992-01-01

    The probabilistic risk assessments (PRAS) being developed at most nuclear power plants to calculate the risk of core damage generally focus on the possible failure of active components. The possible failure of passive components is given little consideration. We are developing methods for selecting risk-significant passive components and including them in PRAS. These methods provide effective ways to prioritize passive components for inspection, and where inspection reveals aging damage, mitigation or repair can be employed to reduce the likelihood of component failure. We demonstrated a method by selecting a weld in the auxiliary feedwater (AFW) system, basing our selection on expert judgement of the likelihood of failure and on an estimate of the consequence of component failure to plant safety. We then modified and used the Piping Reliability Analysis Including Seismic Events (PRAISE) computer code to perform a probabilistic structural analysis to calculate the probability that crack growth due to aging would cause the weld to fail. The PRAISE code was modified to include the effects of changing design material properties with age and changing stress cycles. The calculation included the effects of mechanical loads and thermal transients typical of the service loads for this piping design and the effects of thermal cycling caused by a leaking check valve. However, this particular calculation showed little change in low component failure probability and plant risk for 48 years of service. However, sensitivity studies showed that if the probability of component failure is high, the effect on plant risk is significant. The success of this demonstration shows that this method could be applied to nuclear power plants. The demonstration showed the method is too involved (PRAISE takes a long time to perform the calculation and the input information is extensive) for handling a large number of passive components and therefore simpler methods are needed

  19. The university faculty's selection in Europe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ángel Luis Sánchez Marín

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Based on the systems of the faculty selection discussed in this paper, the conclusion that there are two types of systems in Europe can be reached: centralized systems depending on the central government, where the government regulates and dictates the rules for the selection process, including France, Italy and Spain, with their own features. Then, non-centralized systems not depending on the country central government, where each university dictates and manages its own system, such is the case of Germany, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, and the Netherlands.

  20. Real-time flavor tagging selection in ATLAS

    CERN Document Server

    Madaffari, D; The ATLAS collaboration

    2014-01-01

    In high-energy physics experiments on hadron colliders, online selection is crucial to reject most uninteresting collisions. In particular, the ATLAS experiment includes b-jet selections in its trigger strategy, in order to select final states with heavy-flavor content and enlarge its physics potentials. Dedicated selections are developed to quickly identify fully hadronic final states containing b-jets, while rejecting light QCD jets, and maintain affordable trigger rates without raising jet energy thresholds. ATLAS successfully operated b-jet trigger selections during both 2011 and 2012 data-taking campaigns and hard work is on-going now to improve the performance of tagging algorithms for coming Run2 in 2015. An overview of the ATLAS b-jet trigger strategy and its performance on real data is presented in this contribution, along with future prospects. Data-driven techniques to extract the online b-tagging performance, a key ingredient for all analyses relying on such triggers, are also discussed and result...

  1. Gradient SiNO anti-reflective layers in solar selective coatings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Zhifeng; Cao, Feng; Sun, Tianyi; Chen, Gang

    2017-08-01

    A solar selective coating includes a substrate, a cermet layer having nanoparticles therein deposited on the substrate, and an anti-reflection layer deposited on the cermet layer. The cermet layer and the anti-reflection layer may each be formed of intermediate layers. A method for constructing a solar-selective coating is disclosed and includes preparing a substrate, depositing a cermet layer on the substrate, and depositing an anti-reflection layer on the cermet layer.

  2. Procreative liberty: the case for preconception sex selection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dahl, Edgar

    2003-01-01

    Preconception sex selection for non-medical reasons raises serious moral, legal and social issues. The main concerns include the threat of a sex ratio distortion due to a common preference for boys over girls, the charge of sexism, the danger of reinforcing gender stereotypical behaviour in sex selected children, and the fear of a slippery slope towards creating designer babies. This paper endeavours to show that none of the objections to preconception sex selection is conclusive and that there is no justification for denying parents the right to choose the sex of their prospective children.

  3. Selectively reflective transparent sheets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waché, Rémi; Florescu, Marian; Sweeney, Stephen J.; Clowes, Steven K.

    2015-08-01

    We investigate the possibility to selectively reflect certain wavelengths while maintaining the optical properties on other spectral ranges. This is of particular interest for transparent materials, which for specific applications may require high reflectivity at pre-determined frequencies. Although there exist currently techniques such as coatings to produce selective reflection, this work focuses on new approaches for mass production of polyethylene sheets which incorporate either additives or surface patterning for selective reflection between 8 to 13 μ m. Typical additives used to produce a greenhouse effect in plastics include particles such as clays, silica or hydroxide materials. However, the absorption of thermal radiation is less efficient than the decrease of emissivity as it can be compared with the inclusion of Lambertian materials. Photonic band gap engineering by the periodic structuring of metamaterials is known in nature for producing the vivid bright colors in certain organisms via strong wavelength-selective reflection. Research to artificially engineer such structures has mainly focused on wavelengths in the visible and near infrared. However few studies to date have been carried out to investigate the properties of metastructures in the mid infrared range even though the patterning of microstructure is easier to achieve. We present preliminary results on the diffuse reflectivity using FDTD simulations and analyze the technical feasibility of these approaches.

  4. Inequalities in selected health-related Millennium Development ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Inequalities in selected health-related Millennium Development Goals ... and interventions (including health promotion, primary and secondary prevention, ... and ensuring environmental sustainability (through reduction in the use of solid fuels ...

  5. Addressing Stillbirth in India Must Include Men.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, Lisa; Montgomery, Susanne; Ganesh, Gayatri; Kaur, Harinder Pal; Singh, Ratan

    2017-07-01

    Millennium Development Goal 4, to reduce child mortality, can only be achieved by reducing stillbirths globally. A confluence of medical and sociocultural factors contribute to the high stillbirth rates in India. The psychosocial aftermath of stillbirth is a well-documented public health problem, though less is known of the experience for men, particularly outside of the Western context. Therefore, men's perceptions and knowledge regarding reproductive health, as well as maternal-child health are important. Key informant interviews (n = 5) were analyzed and 28 structured interviews were conducted using a survey based on qualitative themes. Qualitative themes included men's dual burden and right to medical and reproductive decision making power. Wives were discouraged from expressing grief and pushed to conceive again. If not successful, particularly if a son was not conceived, a second wife was considered a solution. Quantitative data revealed that men with a history of stillbirths had greater anxiety and depression, perceived less social support, but had more egalitarian views towards women than men without stillbirth experience. At the same time fathers of stillbirths were more likely to be emotionally or physically abusive. Predictors of mental health, attitudes towards women, and perceived support are discussed. Patriarchal societal values, son preference, deficient women's autonomy, and sex-selective abortion perpetuate the risk for future poor infant outcomes, including stillbirth, and compounds the already higher risk of stillbirth for males. Grief interventions should explore and take into account men's perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors towards reproductive decision making.

  6. Site selection for nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ehjchkholz, D.

    1980-01-01

    Problem of NPP site selection in the USA including engineering factors, radiation and environmental protection factors is stated in detail. Floating and underground sites are considered especially. The attention in paid to waste storage and risk criterium in siting [ru

  7. Variability of photosynthetic pigments in the Colombian Pacific ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    R. Narasimhan (Krishtel eMaging) 1461 1996 Oct 15 13:05:22

    Picture series of surface chlorophyll,. SST, wind ... photosynthetic pigments during the time of inten- sification of ... calculation of Ekman pumping (We) using finite- differencing to ..... Legeckis R 1986 A satellite time series sea surface tempera-.

  8. REAL-TIME FLAVOUR TAGGING SELECTION IN ATLAS

    CERN Document Server

    Bokan, Petar; The ATLAS collaboration

    2016-01-01

    The ATLAS experiment includes a well-developed trigger system that allows a selection of events which are thought to be of interest, while achieving a high overall rejection against less interesting processes. An important part of the online event selection is the ability to distinguish between jets arising from heavy-flavour quarks (b- and c-jets) and light jets (jets from u-, d-, s- and gluon jets) in real-time. This is essential for many physics analysis that include processes with large jet multiplicity and b-quarks in the final state. Many changes were implemented to the ATLAS online b-jet selection for the Run-2 of the LHC. An overview of the b-jet trigger strategy and performance during 2015 data taking is presented. The ability to use complex offline Multivariate (MV2) b-tagging algorithms directly at High Level Trigger (HLT) was tested in this period. Details on online tagging algorithms are given together with the plans on how to adapt to the new high-luminosity and increased pileup conditions by ex...

  9. Structure-Based Prediction of Subtype Selectivity of Histamine H3 Receptor Selective Antagonists in Clinical Trials

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kim, Soo-Kyung; Fristrup, Peter; Abrol, Ravinder

    2011-01-01

    applications, including treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), epilepsy, and obesity.(1) However, many of these drug candidates cause undesired side effects through the cross-reactivity with other histamine receptor subtypes. In order to develop improved selectivity...... and antagonists. We find that E2065.46 contributes most in binding H3 selective agonists (5, 6, 7) in agreement with experimental mutation studies. We also find that conserved E5.46/S5.43 in both of hH3HR and hH4HR are involved in H3/ H4 subtype selectivity. In addition, we find that M3786.55 in hH3HR provides...... additional hydrophobic interactions different from hH4HR (the corresponding amino acid of T3236.55 in hH4HR) to provide additional subtype bias. From these studies, we developed a pharmacophore model based on our predictions for known hH3HR selective antagonists in clinical study [ABT-239 1, GSK-189,254 2...

  10. DRAGON solutions to the 3D transport benchmark over a range in parameter space

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martin, Nicolas; Hebert, Alain; Marleau, Guy

    2010-01-01

    DRAGON solutions to the 'NEA suite of benchmarks for 3D transport methods and codes over a range in parameter space' are discussed in this paper. A description of the benchmark is first provided, followed by a detailed review of the different computational models used in the lattice code DRAGON. Two numerical methods were selected for generating the required quantities for the 729 configurations of this benchmark. First, S N calculations were performed using fully symmetric angular quadratures and high-order diamond differencing for spatial discretization. To compare S N results with those of another deterministic method, the method of characteristics (MoC) was also considered for this benchmark. Comparisons between reference solutions, S N and MoC results illustrate the advantages and drawbacks of each methods for this 3-D transport problem.

  11. Economy system and operation of a selected retail chain

    OpenAIRE

    KALUSOVÁ, Monika

    2011-01-01

    The goal of the thesis Economy system and operation of a selected retail chain is to explore and analyze the sphere in which the retailer chain operates, and evaluate their financial situation. At the same time, the selected retail chain will compare with the selected sectoral competition. The first part of thesis covers the theoretical information about issues, in particular the definition of basic terms of trade and retail. The second part of thesis includes application theoretical knowledg...

  12. Supplier selection problem: A fuzzy multicriteria approach

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    kirstam

    simultaneously: maximising the total value of purchases, minimising ... Keywords: Supplier selection, multi-criteria decision-making, fuzzy logic, satisfaction ... includes both qualitative and quantitative factors, and it is necessary to make a.

  13. Selected bibliography of agroforestry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Majisu, L.; Labelle, R.

    1982-01-01

    A successor to a preliminary bibliography by Teemba, L. and containing some of the same references. References (1953-1982) were selected from the 3000 reprints in the agroforestry collection in the ICRAF library, and from approximately 1500 monographs, reports etc. They are grouped in 7 main sections: Agroforestry general, including subsections on agroforestry in arid and semi-arid lands, in lowlands - humid tropics, and in highlands; Agroforestry land-use systems, including concepts from agriculture and forestry land-use systems, and agroforestry systems (cropping with trees, silvopastoral and agrosilvopastoral systems); Plants and plant management, including multipurpose trees and shrubs; Physical and ecological aspects, (desertification and deforestation, agricultural meteorology, soils and soil management); social and economic aspects, including rural development and human ecology; Training and education; and Information sources and management. A list of information centres relevant to agroforestry is given, and there are subject, species and geographical indexes. 437 references

  14. Natural Selection in Large Populations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Desai, Michael

    2011-03-01

    I will discuss theoretical and experimental approaches to the evolutionary dynamics and population genetics of natural selection in large populations. In these populations, many mutations are often present simultaneously, and because recombination is limited, selection cannot act on them all independently. Rather, it can only affect whole combinations of mutations linked together on the same chromosome. Methods common in theoretical population genetics have been of limited utility in analyzing this coupling between the fates of different mutations. In the past few years it has become increasingly clear that this is a crucial gap in our understanding, as sequence data has begun to show that selection appears to act pervasively on many linked sites in a wide range of populations, including viruses, microbes, Drosophila, and humans. I will describe approaches that combine analytical tools drawn from statistical physics and dynamical systems with traditional methods in theoretical population genetics to address this problem, and describe how experiments in budding yeast can help us directly observe these evolutionary dynamics.

  15. Generalized Selectivity Description for Polymeric Ion-Selective Electrodes Based on the Phase Boundary Potential Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bakker, Eric

    2010-02-15

    A generalized description of the response behavior of potentiometric polymer membrane ion-selective electrodes is presented on the basis of ion-exchange equilibrium considerations at the sample-membrane interface. This paper includes and extends on previously reported theoretical advances in a more compact yet more comprehensive form. Specifically, the phase boundary potential model is used to derive the origin of the Nernstian response behavior in a single expression, which is valid for a membrane containing any charge type and complex stoichiometry of ionophore and ion-exchanger. This forms the basis for a generalized expression of the selectivity coefficient, which may be used for the selectivity optimization of ion-selective membranes containing electrically charged and neutral ionophores of any desired stoichiometry. It is shown to reduce to expressions published previously for specialized cases, and may be effectively applied to problems relevant in modern potentiometry. The treatment is extended to mixed ion solutions, offering a comprehensive yet formally compact derivation of the response behavior of ion-selective electrodes to a mixture of ions of any desired charge. It is compared to predictions by the less accurate Nicolsky-Eisenman equation. The influence of ion fluxes or any form of electrochemical excitation is not considered here, but may be readily incorporated if an ion-exchange equilibrium at the interface may be assumed in these cases.

  16. Elective Mutism Associated with Selective Inactivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, Linda; Scull, John

    1985-01-01

    Effective treatment procedures for a nine-year-old boy with elective mutism and selective inactivity included increasing the frequency of situations in which he could already speak and decreasing the frequency of those in which he seldom spoke (specifically coercive situations). (CL)

  17. Impact of Systematic Sampling on Causality in the presence of Unit Roots

    OpenAIRE

    Rajaguru GULASEKARAN

    2002-01-01

    Quite contrary to the stationary case where systematic sampling preserves the direction of Granger causality, this paper shows that systematic sampling of integrated series may induce spurious causality, even if they are used in differenced form.

  18. Thermoelectric material including a multiple transition metal-doped type I clathrate crystal structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Jihui [Lakeshore, CA; Shi, Xun [Troy, MI; Bai, Shengqiang [Shanghai, CN; Zhang, Wenqing [Shanghai, CN; Chen, Lidong [Shanghai, CN; Yang, Jiong [Shanghai, CN

    2012-01-17

    A thermoelectric material includes a multiple transition metal-doped type I clathrate crystal structure having the formula A.sub.8TM.sub.y.sub.1.sup.1TM.sub.y.sub.2.sup.2 . . . TM.sub.y.sub.n.sup.nM.sub.zX.sub.46-y.sub.1.sub.-y.sub.2.sub.- . . . -y.sub.n.sub.-z. In the formula, A is selected from the group consisting of barium, strontium, and europium; X is selected from the group consisting of silicon, germanium, and tin; M is selected from the group consisting of aluminum, gallium, and indium; TM.sup.1, TM.sup.2, and TM.sup.n are independently selected from the group consisting of 3d, 4d, and 5d transition metals; and y.sub.1, y.sub.2, y.sub.n and Z are actual compositions of TM.sup.1, TM.sup.2, TM.sup.n, and M, respectively. The actual compositions are based upon nominal compositions derived from the following equation: z=8q.sub.A-|.DELTA.q.sub.1|y.sub.1-|.DELTA.q.sub.2|y.sub.2- . . . -|.DELTA.q.sub.n|y.sub.n, wherein q.sub.A is a charge state of A, and wherein .DELTA.q.sub.1, .DELTA.q.sub.2, .DELTA.q.sub.n are, respectively, the nominal charge state of the first, second, and n-th TM.

  19. Frequency selective bolometers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kowitt, M.S.; Fixsen, D.J.; Goldin, A.

    1996-01-01

    We propose a concept for radiometry in the millimeter, the submillimeter, and the far-IR spectral regions, the frequency selective bolometer (FSB). This system uses a bolometer as a coupled element of a tuned quasi-optical interference filter in which the absorption, the transmission......-dimensional transmission-line model. Instruments based on FSB technology should have several advantages over current multiband bolometric radiometers including smaller and more compact cryogenic optics; reduced demands on cryostat size and weight, high coupling efficiency, minimum constraints on the geometry in the focal...

  20. Niche construction, sources of selection and trait coevolution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laland, Kevin; Odling-Smee, John; Endler, John

    2017-10-06

    Organisms modify and choose components of their local environments. This 'niche construction' can alter ecological processes, modify natural selection and contribute to inheritance through ecological legacies. Here, we propose that niche construction initiates and modifies the selection directly affecting the constructor, and on other species, in an orderly, directed and sustained manner. By dependably generating specific environmental states, niche construction co-directs adaptive evolution by imposing a consistent statistical bias on selection. We illustrate how niche construction can generate this evolutionary bias by comparing it with artificial selection. We suggest that it occupies the middle ground between artificial and natural selection. We show how the perspective leads to testable predictions related to: (i) reduced variance in measures of responses to natural selection in the wild; (ii) multiple trait coevolution, including the evolution of sequences of traits and patterns of parallel evolution; and (iii) a positive association between niche construction and biodiversity. More generally, we submit that evolutionary biology would benefit from greater attention to the diverse properties of all sources of selection.

  1. Multiattribute Supplier Selection Using Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Serhat Aydin

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Supplier selection is a multiattribute decision making (MADM problem which contains both qualitative and quantitative factors. Supplier selection has vital importance for most companies. The aim of this paper is to provide an AHP based analytical tool for decision support enabling an effective multicriteria supplier selection process in an air conditioner seller firm under fuzziness. In this article, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP under fuzziness is employed for its permissiveness to use an evaluation scale including linguistic expressions, crisp numerical values, fuzzy numbers and range numerical values. This scale provides a more flexible evaluation compared with the other fuzzy AHP methods. In this study, the modified AHP was used in supplier selection in an air conditioner firm. Three experts evaluated the suppliers according to the proposed model and the most appropriate supplier was selected. The proposed model enables decision makers select the best supplier among supplier firms effectively. We confirm that the modified fuzzy AHP is appropriate for group decision making in supplier selection problems.

  2. Louis Boutet de Monvel, selected works

    CERN Document Server

    Sjöstrand, Johannes

    2017-01-01

    This book features a selection of articles by Louis Boutet de Monvel and presents his contributions to the theory of partial differential equations and analysis. The works selected here reveal his central role in the development of his field, including three cornerstones: firstly, analytic pseudodifferential operators, which have become a fundamental aspect of analytic microlocal analysis, and secondly the Boutet de Monvel calculus for boundary problems for elliptic partial differential operators, which is still an important tool also in index theory. Thirdly, Boutet de Monvel was one of the first people to recognize the importance of the existence of generalized functions, whose singularities are concentrated on a single ray in phase space, which led him to make essential contributions to hypoelliptic operators and to a very successful and influential calculus of Toeplitz operators with applications to spectral and index theory. Other topics treated here include microlocal analysis, star products and deforma...

  3. Time-varying volatility in Malaysian stock exchange: An empirical study using multiple-volatility-shift fractionally integrated model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheong, Chin Wen

    2008-02-01

    This article investigated the influences of structural breaks on the fractionally integrated time-varying volatility model in the Malaysian stock markets which included the Kuala Lumpur composite index and four major sectoral indices. A fractionally integrated time-varying volatility model combined with sudden changes is developed to study the possibility of structural change in the empirical data sets. Our empirical results showed substantial reduction in fractional differencing parameters after the inclusion of structural change during the Asian financial and currency crises. Moreover, the fractionally integrated model with sudden change in volatility performed better in the estimation and specification evaluations.

  4. Opportunistic Relay Selection with Cooperative Macro Diversity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu Chia-Hao

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available We apply a fully opportunistic relay selection scheme to study cooperative diversity in a semianalytical manner. In our framework, idle Mobile Stations (MSs are capable of being used as Relay Stations (RSs and no relaying is required if the direct path is strong. Our relay selection scheme is fully selection based: either the direct path or one of the relaying paths is selected. Macro diversity, which is often ignored in analytical works, is taken into account together with micro diversity by using a complete channel model that includes both shadow fading and fast fading effects. The stochastic geometry of the network is taken into account by having a random number of randomly located MSs. The outage probability analysis of the selection differs from the case where only fast fading is considered. Under our framework, distribution of the received power is formulated using different Channel State Information (CSI assumptions to simulate both optimistic and practical environments. The results show that the relay selection gain can be significant given a suitable amount of candidate RSs. Also, while relay selection according to incomplete CSI is diversity suboptimal compared to relay selection based on full CSI, the loss in average throughput is not too significant. This is a consequence of the dominance of geometry over fast fading.

  5. Application of random effects to the study of resource selection by animals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gillies, Cameron S; Hebblewhite, Mark; Nielsen, Scott E; Krawchuk, Meg A; Aldridge, Cameron L; Frair, Jacqueline L; Saher, D Joanne; Stevens, Cameron E; Jerde, Christopher L

    2006-07-01

    1. Resource selection estimated by logistic regression is used increasingly in studies to identify critical resources for animal populations and to predict species occurrence. 2. Most frequently, individual animals are monitored and pooled to estimate population-level effects without regard to group or individual-level variation. Pooling assumes that both observations and their errors are independent, and resource selection is constant given individual variation in resource availability. 3. Although researchers have identified ways to minimize autocorrelation, variation between individuals caused by differences in selection or available resources, including functional responses in resource selection, have not been well addressed. 4. Here we review random-effects models and their application to resource selection modelling to overcome these common limitations. We present a simple case study of an analysis of resource selection by grizzly bears in the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains with and without random effects. 5. Both categorical and continuous variables in the grizzly bear model differed in interpretation, both in statistical significance and coefficient sign, depending on how a random effect was included. We used a simulation approach to clarify the application of random effects under three common situations for telemetry studies: (a) discrepancies in sample sizes among individuals; (b) differences among individuals in selection where availability is constant; and (c) differences in availability with and without a functional response in resource selection. 6. We found that random intercepts accounted for unbalanced sample designs, and models with random intercepts and coefficients improved model fit given the variation in selection among individuals and functional responses in selection. Our empirical example and simulations demonstrate how including random effects in resource selection models can aid interpretation and address difficult assumptions

  6. Heterozygote advantage: the effect of artificial selection in livestock and pets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hedrick, Philip W

    2015-01-01

    There are a number of mutants in livestock and pets that have a heterozygote advantage because of artificial selection for these mutants in heterozygotes and strong detrimental effects from natural selection in homozygotes. In livestock, these mutants include ones that influence milk yield in dairy cattle, fecundity in sheep, litter size in pigs, muscling in beef cattle, color in horses, lean meat content in pigs, and comb morphology in chickens. In pets, these mutants include ones that influence tail length in cats and hairlessness, muscling, color, or ridgeback hair in dogs. A large variety of mutants are responsible, including small or large deletions or insertions and single base-pair nonsynonymous changes. Many of the mutants cause loss of function for the genes involved, a change that results in the pleiotropic effects of a desired phenotype in heterozygotes and low fitness or an undesirable phenotype in mutant homozygotes. I examine how selection changes the frequency of these mutants and provide an approach to estimate the amount of artificial selection that is necessary to maintain these mutants at the high frequencies often observed. The amount of artificial selection ranges from low selection favoring heterozygotes for double muscling in whippet dogs to very strong selection favoring the "flash" (part white, part solid) heterozygote in boxer dogs and the rose comb in chickens. In several examples (rose comb in Wyandotte chickens and the hair ridge in Rhodesian ridgeback dogs), there is actually stronger selection for the mutant than against it, making the frequency of the mutant greater than 50%. © The American Genetic Association 2014. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  7. Animal Rights: Selected Resources and Suggestions for Further Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davidoff, Donald J.

    1989-01-01

    Presents an annotated list of selected resources intended to serve as a guide to the growing amount of material on animal rights. Suggestions to aid in additional research include subject headings used to find books, indexes used to locate periodical articles, sources for locating organizations, and a selected list of animal rights organizations.…

  8. Differences in exam performance between pupils attending selective and non-selective schools mirror the genetic differences between them

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith-Woolley, Emily; Pingault, Jean-Baptiste; Selzam, Saskia; Rimfeld, Kaili; Krapohl, Eva; von Stumm, Sophie; Asbury, Kathryn; Dale, Philip S.; Young, Toby; Allen, Rebecca; Kovas, Yulia; Plomin, Robert

    2018-03-01

    On average, students attending selective schools outperform their non-selective counterparts in national exams. These differences are often attributed to value added by the school, as well as factors schools use to select pupils, including ability, achievement and, in cases where schools charge tuition fees or are located in affluent areas, socioeconomic status. However, the possible role of DNA differences between students of different schools types has not yet been considered. We used a UK-representative sample of 4814 genotyped students to investigate exam performance at age 16 and genetic differences between students in three school types: state-funded, non-selective schools (`non-selective'), state-funded, selective schools (`grammar') and private schools, which are selective (`private'). We created a genome-wide polygenic score (GPS) derived from a genome-wide association study of years of education (EduYears). We found substantial mean genetic differences between students of different school types: students in non-selective schools had lower EduYears GPS compared to those in grammar (d = 0.41) and private schools (d = 0.37). Three times as many students in the top EduYears GPS decile went to a selective school compared to the bottom decile. These results were mirrored in the exam differences between school types. However, once we controlled for factors involved in pupil selection, there were no significant genetic differences between school types, and the variance in exam scores at age 16 explained by school type dropped from 7% to <1%. These results show that genetic and exam differences between school types are primarily due to the heritable characteristics involved in pupil admission.

  9. Practical Approaches for Detecting Selection in Microbial Genomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hedge, Jessica; Wilson, Daniel J

    2016-02-01

    Microbial genome evolution is shaped by a variety of selective pressures. Understanding how these processes occur can help to address important problems in microbiology by explaining observed differences in phenotypes, including virulence and resistance to antibiotics. Greater access to whole-genome sequencing provides microbiologists with the opportunity to perform large-scale analyses of selection in novel settings, such as within individual hosts. This tutorial aims to guide researchers through the fundamentals underpinning popular methods for measuring selection in pathogens. These methods are transferable to a wide variety of organisms, and the exercises provided are designed for researchers with any level of programming experience.

  10. Silent Suffering: Children with Selective Mutism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Camposano, Lisa

    2011-01-01

    Despite increasing awareness, the childhood disorder of selective mutism is under-researched and commonly misdiagnosed. The purpose of this article is to highlight current issues related to this disorder as well as describe various treatment approaches including behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, family, and pharmacological…

  11. Sighting optics including an optical element having a first focal length and a second focal length and methods for sighting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crandall, David Lynn

    2011-08-16

    Sighting optics include a front sight and a rear sight positioned in a spaced-apart relation. The rear sight includes an optical element having a first focal length and a second focal length. The first focal length is selected so that it is about equal to a distance separating the optical element and the front sight and the second focal length is selected so that it is about equal to a target distance. The optical element thus brings into simultaneous focus for a user images of the front sight and the target.

  12. Mathematics++ selected topics beyond the basic courses

    CERN Document Server

    Kantor, Ida; Šámal, Robert

    2015-01-01

    Mathematics++ is a concise introduction to six selected areas of 20th century mathematics providing numerous modern mathematical tools used in contemporary research in computer science, engineering, and other fields. The areas are: measure theory, high-dimensional geometry, Fourier analysis, representations of groups, multivariate polynomials, and topology. For each of the areas, the authors introduce basic notions, examples, and results. The presentation is clear and accessible, stressing intuitive understanding, and it includes carefully selected exercises as an integral part. Theory is comp

  13. 5-HT7 Receptor Antagonists with an Unprecedented Selectivity Profile.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ates, Ali; Burssens, Pierre; Lorthioir, Olivier; Lo Brutto, Patrick; Dehon, Gwenael; Keyaerts, Jean; Coloretti, Francis; Lallemand, Bénédicte; Verbois, Valérie; Gillard, Michel; Vermeiren, Céline

    2018-04-23

    Selective leads: In this study, we generated a new series of serotonin 5-HT 7 receptor antagonists. Their synthesis, structure-activity relationships, and selectivity profiles are reported. This series includes 5-HT 7 antagonists with unprecedented high selectivity for the 5-HT 7 receptor, setting the stage for lead optimization of drugs acting on a range of neurological targets. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  14. Social Selection and Religiously Selective Faith Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pettinger, Paul

    2014-01-01

    This article reviews recent research looking at the socio-economic profile of pupils at faith schools and the contribution religiously selective admission arrangements make. It finds that selection by faith leads to greater social segregation and is open to manipulation. It urges that such selection should end, making the state-funded school…

  15. Copper-catalysed selective hydroamination reactions of alkynes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Shi-Liang; Buchwald, Stephen L.

    2015-01-01

    The development of selective reactions that utilize easily available and abundant precursors for the efficient synthesis of amines is a long-standing goal of chemical research. Despite the centrality of amines in a number of important research areas, including medicinal chemistry, total synthesis and materials science, a general, selective and step-efficient synthesis of amines is still needed. Here, we describe a set of mild catalytic conditions utilizing a single copper-based catalyst that enables the direct preparation of three distinct and important amine classes (enamines, α-chiral branched alkylamines and linear alkylamines) from readily available alkyne starting materials with high levels of chemo-, regio- and stereoselectivity. This methodology was applied to the asymmetric synthesis of rivastigmine and the formal synthesis of several other pharmaceutical agents, including duloxetine, atomoxetine, fluoxetine and tolterodine.

  16. Copper-catalyzed selective hydroamination reactions of alkynes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Shi-Liang; Buchwald, Stephen L.

    2014-01-01

    The development of selective reactions that utilize easily available and abundant precursors for the efficient synthesis of amines is a longstanding goal of chemical research. Despite the centrality of amines in a number of important research areas, including medicinal chemistry, total synthesis and materials science, a general, selective, and step-efficient synthesis of amines is still needed. In this work we describe a set of mild catalytic conditions utilizing a single copper-based catalyst that enables the direct preparation of three distinct and important amine classes (enamines, α-chiral branched alkylamines, and linear alkylamines) from readily available alkyne starting materials with high levels of chemo-, regio-, and stereoselectivity. This methodology was applied to the asymmetric synthesis of rivastigmine and the formal synthesis of several other pharmaceutical agents, including duloxetine, atomoxetine, fluoxetine, and tolterodine. PMID:25515888

  17. Electrode assemblies, plasma apparatuses and systems including electrode assemblies, and methods for generating plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kong, Peter C; Grandy, Jon D; Detering, Brent A; Zuck, Larry D

    2013-09-17

    Electrode assemblies for plasma reactors include a structure or device for constraining an arc endpoint to a selected area or region on an electrode. In some embodiments, the structure or device may comprise one or more insulating members covering a portion of an electrode. In additional embodiments, the structure or device may provide a magnetic field configured to control a location of an arc endpoint on the electrode. Plasma generating modules, apparatus, and systems include such electrode assemblies. Methods for generating a plasma include covering at least a portion of a surface of an electrode with an electrically insulating member to constrain a location of an arc endpoint on the electrode. Additional methods for generating a plasma include generating a magnetic field to constrain a location of an arc endpoint on an electrode.

  18. Orientation-Selective Retinal Circuits in Vertebrates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antinucci, Paride; Hindges, Robert

    2018-01-01

    Visual information is already processed in the retina before it is transmitted to higher visual centers in the brain. This includes the extraction of salient features from visual scenes, such as motion directionality or contrast, through neurons belonging to distinct neural circuits. Some retinal neurons are tuned to the orientation of elongated visual stimuli. Such 'orientation-selective' neurons are present in the retinae of most, if not all, vertebrate species analyzed to date, with species-specific differences in frequency and degree of tuning. In some cases, orientation-selective neurons have very stereotyped functional and morphological properties suggesting that they represent distinct cell types. In this review, we describe the retinal cell types underlying orientation selectivity found in various vertebrate species, and highlight their commonalities and differences. In addition, we discuss recent studies that revealed the cellular, synaptic and circuit mechanisms at the basis of retinal orientation selectivity. Finally, we outline the significance of these findings in shaping our current understanding of how this fundamental neural computation is implemented in the visual systems of vertebrates.

  19. Precise Point Positioning Using Triple GNSS Constellations in Various Modes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akram Afifi

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper introduces a new dual-frequency precise point positioning (PPP model, which combines the observations from three different global navigation satellite system (GNSS constellations, namely GPS, Galileo, and BeiDou. Combining measurements from different GNSS systems introduces additional biases, including inter-system bias and hardware delays, which require rigorous modelling. Our model is based on the un-differenced and between-satellite single-difference (BSSD linear combinations. BSSD linear combination cancels out some receiver-related biases, including receiver clock error and non-zero initial phase bias of the receiver oscillator. Forming the BSSD linear combination requires a reference satellite, which can be selected from any of the GPS, Galileo, and BeiDou systems. In this paper three BSSD scenarios are tested; each considers a reference satellite from a different GNSS constellation. Natural Resources Canada’s GPSPace PPP software is modified to enable a combined GPS, Galileo, and BeiDou PPP solution and to handle the newly introduced biases. A total of four data sets collected at four different IGS stations are processed to verify the developed PPP model. Precise satellite orbit and clock products from the International GNSS Service Multi-GNSS Experiment (IGS-MGEX network are used to correct the GPS, Galileo, and BeiDou measurements in the post-processing PPP mode. A real-time PPP solution is also obtained, which is referred to as RT-PPP in the sequel, through the use of the IGS real-time service (RTS for satellite orbit and clock corrections. However, only GPS and Galileo observations are used for the RT-PPP solution, as the RTS-IGS satellite products are not presently available for BeiDou system. All post-processed and real-time PPP solutions are compared with the traditional un-differenced GPS-only counterparts. It is shown that combining the GPS, Galileo, and BeiDou observations in the post-processing mode improves the

  20. Genomic Selection Using Extreme Phenotypes and Pre-Selection of SNPs in Large Yellow Croaker (Larimichthys crocea).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Linsong; Xiao, Shijun; Chen, Junwei; Wan, Liang; Wang, Zhiyong

    2016-10-01

    Genomic selection (GS) is an effective method to improve predictive accuracies of genetic values. However, high cost in genotyping will limit the application of this technology in some species. Therefore, it is necessary to find some methods to reduce the genotyping costs in genomic selection. Large yellow croaker is one of the most commercially important marine fish species in southeast China and Eastern Asia. In this study, genotyping-by-sequencing was used to construct the libraries for the NGS sequencing and find 29,748 SNPs in the genome. Two traits, eviscerated weight (EW) and the ratio between eviscerated weight and whole body weight (REW), were chosen to study. Two strategies to reduce the costs were proposed as follows: selecting extreme phenotypes (EP) for genotyping in reference population or pre-selecting SNPs to construct low-density marker panels in candidates. Three methods of pre-selection of SNPs, i.e., pre-selecting SNPs by absolute effects (SE), by single marker analysis (SMA), and by fixed intervals of sequence number (EL), were studied. The results showed that using EP was a feasible method to save the genotyping costs in reference population. Heritability did not seem to have obvious influences on the predictive abilities estimated by EP. Using SMA was the most feasible method to save the genotyping costs in candidates. In addition, the combination of EP and SMA in genomic selection also showed good results, especially for trait of REW. We also described how to apply the new methods in genomic selection and compared the genotyping costs before and after using the new methods. Our study may not only offer a reference for aquatic genomic breeding but also offer a reference for genomic prediction in other species including livestock and plants, etc.

  1. Practical Approaches for Detecting Selection in Microbial Genomes

    OpenAIRE

    Hedge, Jessica; Wilson, Daniel J.

    2016-01-01

    Microbial genome evolution is shaped by a variety of selective pressures. Understanding how these processes occur can help to address important problems in microbiology by explaining observed differences in phenotypes, including virulence and resistance to antibiotics. Greater access to whole-genome sequencing provides microbiologists with the opportunity to perform large-scale analyses of selection in novel settings, such as within individual hosts. This tutorial aims to guide researchers th...

  2. A genome-wide scan for signatures of directional selection in domesticated pigs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moon, Sunjin; Kim, Tae-Hun; Lee, Kyung-Tai; Kwak, Woori; Lee, Taeheon; Lee, Si-Woo; Kim, Myung-Jick; Cho, Kyuho; Kim, Namshin; Chung, Won-Hyong; Sung, Samsun; Park, Taesung; Cho, Seoae; Groenen, Martien Am; Nielsen, Rasmus; Kim, Yuseob; Kim, Heebal

    2015-02-25

    Animal domestication involved drastic phenotypic changes driven by strong artificial selection and also resulted in new populations of breeds, established by humans. This study aims to identify genes that show evidence of recent artificial selection during pig domestication. Whole-genome resequencing of 30 individual pigs from domesticated breeds, Landrace and Yorkshire, and 10 Asian wild boars at ~16-fold coverage was performed resulting in over 4.3 million SNPs for 19,990 genes. We constructed a comprehensive genome map of directional selection by detecting selective sweeps using an F ST-based approach that detects directional selection in lineages leading to the domesticated breeds and using a haplotype-based test that detects ongoing selective sweeps within the breeds. We show that candidate genes under selection are significantly enriched for loci implicated in quantitative traits important to pig reproduction and production. The candidate gene with the strongest signals of directional selection belongs to group III of the metabolomics glutamate receptors, known to affect brain functions associated with eating behavior, suggesting that loci under strong selection include loci involved in behaviorial traits in domesticated pigs including tameness. We show that a significant proportion of selection signatures coincide with loci that were previously inferred to affect phenotypic variation in pigs. We further identify functional enrichment related to behavior, such as signal transduction and neuronal activities, for those targets of selection during domestication in pigs.

  3. Selective cesium and strontium removal for TRU-liquid waste including fission products and concentrated nitric acids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mimori, T.; Miyajima, K.; Kozeki, M.; Kubota, T.; Tusa, E.; Keskinen, A.

    1996-01-01

    A nuclide removal system was designed for treatment of liquid radioactive waste at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) Tokai site. Total system will include removal of plutonium, cesium and strontium. Removal of plutonium will be carried out by a method developed by JAERI. Removal of cesium and strontium will be carried out by the methods developed in Finland. The whole project will be implemented for JAERI in cooperation between Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding and IVO International. This project has been carried out under the Science and Technology Agency (STA) of Japan. The liquid to be treated includes 7.4x10 9 Bq/L of cesium and 7.4x10 9 Bq/L of strontium. The amount of alpha nuclides is 3.7x10 6 Bq/L. Nitric acid concentration is 1.74 mol/L. The volume of 11,000 liters had to be treated in 200 batches of operation. Removal of cesium and strontium is based on the use of new ion exchange materials developed in Finland. These inorganic ion exchange materials have extremely good properties to separate cesium and strontium from even very difficult liquids. Ion exchange material will be used in columns, where there are materials both for cesium and strontium. According to column tests with simulated waste, one 2 liter column will effectively reach the required DF during 10 batches of operation. Purified liquid can be led to further liquid treatment at the site. After treatment of liquids, both used particle filters and used ion exchange columns will be drained and stored to wait for final treatment and disposal. The designed treatment system has a special beneficial feature as it does not produce secondary waste. Final waste is in the form of particle filters or ion exchange columns with material. Used ion exchange columns and filters will be replaced with new ones by means of remote handling. Construction of the treatment system will be scheduled to commence in FY1995 and assemblying at the site in FY1996. (J.P.N.)

  4. Selection for Surgical Training: An Evidence-Based Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaverien, Mark V

    2016-01-01

    The predictive relationship between candidate selection criteria for surgical training programs and future performance during and at the completion of training has been investigated for several surgical specialties, however there is no interspecialty agreement regarding which selection criteria should be used. Better understanding the predictive reliability between factors at selection and future performance may help to optimize the process and lead to greater standardization of the surgical selection process. PubMed and Ovid MEDLINE databases were searched. Over 560 potentially relevant publications were identified using the search strategy and screened using the Cochrane Collaboration Data Extraction and Assessment Template. 57 studies met the inclusion criteria. Several selection criteria used in the traditional selection demonstrated inconsistent correlation with subsequent performance during and at the end of surgical training. The following selection criteria, however, demonstrated good predictive relationships with subsequent resident performance: USMLE examination scores, Letters of Recommendation (LOR) including the Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE), academic performance during clinical clerkships, the interview process, displaying excellence in extracurricular activities, and the use of unadjusted rank lists. This systematic review supports that the current selection process needs to be further evaluated and improved. Multicenter studies using standardized outcome measures of success are now required to improve the reliability of the selection process to select the best trainees. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  5. Measure Guideline: Energy-Efficient Window Performance and Selection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carmody, J.; Haglund, K.

    2012-11-01

    This document provides guidelines for the selection of energy-efficient windows in new and existing residential construction in all US climate zones. It includes information on window products, their attributes and performance. It provides cost/benefit information on window energy savings as well as information on non-energy benefits such as thermal comfort and reduced HVAC demands. The document also provides information on energy impacts of design decisions such as window orientation, total glazing area and shading devices and conditions. Information on resources for proper window installation is included as well. This document is for builders, homeowners, designers and anyone making decisions about selecting energy efficient window. It is intended to complement other Building America information and efforts.

  6. Getting to Darwin: Obstacles to Accepting Evolution by Natural Selection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thagard, Paul; Findlay, Scott

    2010-01-01

    Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection is central to modern biology, but is resisted by many people. This paper discusses the major psychological obstacles to accepting Darwin's theory. Cognitive obstacles to adopting evolution by natural selection include conceptual difficulties, methodological issues, and coherence problems that…

  7. Directional Darwinian Selection in proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McClellan, David A

    2013-01-01

    Molecular evolution is a very active field of research, with several complementary approaches, including dN/dS, HON90, MM01, and others. Each has documented strengths and weaknesses, and no one approach provides a clear picture of how natural selection works at the molecular level. The purpose of this work is to present a simple new method that uses quantitative amino acid properties to identify and characterize directional selection in proteins. Inferred amino acid replacements are viewed through the prism of a single physicochemical property to determine the amount and direction of change caused by each replacement. This allows the calculation of the probability that the mean change in the single property associated with the amino acid replacements is equal to zero (H0: μ = 0; i.e., no net change) using a simple two-tailed t-test. Example data from calanoid and cyclopoid copepod cytochrome oxidase subunit I sequence pairs are presented to demonstrate how directional selection may be linked to major shifts in adaptive zones, and that convergent evolution at the whole organism level may be the result of convergent protein adaptations. Rather than replace previous methods, this new method further complements existing methods to provide a holistic glimpse of how natural selection shapes protein structure and function over evolutionary time.

  8. Feature-selective attention in healthy old age: a selective decline in selective attention?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quigley, Cliodhna; Müller, Matthias M

    2014-02-12

    Deficient selection against irrelevant information has been proposed to underlie age-related cognitive decline. We recently reported evidence for maintained early sensory selection when older and younger adults used spatial selective attention to perform a challenging task. Here we explored age-related differences when spatial selection is not possible and feature-selective attention must be deployed. We additionally compared the integrity of feedforward processing by exploiting the well established phenomenon of suppression of visual cortical responses attributable to interstimulus competition. Electroencephalogram was measured while older and younger human adults responded to brief occurrences of coherent motion in an attended stimulus composed of randomly moving, orientation-defined, flickering bars. Attention was directed to horizontal or vertical bars by a pretrial cue, after which two orthogonally oriented, overlapping stimuli or a single stimulus were presented. Horizontal and vertical bars flickered at different frequencies and thereby elicited separable steady-state visual-evoked potentials, which were used to examine the effect of feature-based selection and the competitive influence of a second stimulus on ongoing visual processing. Age differences were found in feature-selective attentional modulation of visual responses: older adults did not show consistent modulation of magnitude or phase. In contrast, the suppressive effect of a second stimulus was robust and comparable in magnitude across age groups, suggesting that bottom-up processing of the current stimuli is essentially unchanged in healthy old age. Thus, it seems that visual processing per se is unchanged, but top-down attentional control is compromised in older adults when space cannot be used to guide selection.

  9. The stock selection problem: Is the stock selection approach more important than the optimization method? Evidence from the Danish stock market

    OpenAIRE

    Grobys, Klaus

    2011-01-01

    Passive investment strategies basically aim to replicate an underlying benchmark. Thereby, the management usually selects a subset of stocks being employed in the optimization procedure. Apart from the optimization procedure, the stock selection approach determines the stock portfolios' out-of-sample performance. The empirical study here takes into account the Danish stock market from 2000-2010 and gives evidence that stock portfolios including small companies' stocks being estimated via coin...

  10. National HIV prevalence estimates for sub-Saharan Africa: controlling selection bias with Heckman-type selection models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hogan, Daniel R; Salomon, Joshua A; Canning, David; Hammitt, James K; Zaslavsky, Alan M; Bärnighausen, Till

    2012-01-01

    Objectives Population-based HIV testing surveys have become central to deriving estimates of national HIV prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa. However, limited participation in these surveys can lead to selection bias. We control for selection bias in national HIV prevalence estimates using a novel approach, which unlike conventional imputation can account for selection on unobserved factors. Methods For 12 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted from 2001 to 2009 (N=138 300), we predict HIV status among those missing a valid HIV test with Heckman-type selection models, which allow for correlation between infection status and participation in survey HIV testing. We compare these estimates with conventional ones and introduce a simulation procedure that incorporates regression model parameter uncertainty into confidence intervals. Results Selection model point estimates of national HIV prevalence were greater than unadjusted estimates for 10 of 12 surveys for men and 11 of 12 surveys for women, and were also greater than the majority of estimates obtained from conventional imputation, with significantly higher HIV prevalence estimates for men in Cote d'Ivoire 2005, Mali 2006 and Zambia 2007. Accounting for selective non-participation yielded 95% confidence intervals around HIV prevalence estimates that are wider than those obtained with conventional imputation by an average factor of 4.5. Conclusions Our analysis indicates that national HIV prevalence estimates for many countries in sub-Saharan African are more uncertain than previously thought, and may be underestimated in several cases, underscoring the need for increasing participation in HIV surveys. Heckman-type selection models should be included in the set of tools used for routine estimation of HIV prevalence. PMID:23172342

  11. Internet interventions for chronic pain including headache: A systematic review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monica Buhrman

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Chronic pain is a major health problem and behavioral based treatments have been shown to be effective. However, the availability of these kinds of treatments is scarce and internet-based treatments have been shown to be promising in this area. The objective of the present systematic review is to evaluate internet-based interventions for persons with chronic pain. The specific aims are to do an updated review with a broad inclusion of different chronic pain diagnoses and to assess disability and pain and also measures of catastrophizing, depression and anxiety. A systematic search identified 891 studies and 22 trials were selected as eligible for review. Two of the selected trials included children/youth and five included individuals with chronic headache and/or migraine. The most frequently measured domain reflected in the primary outcomes was interference/disability, followed by catastrophizing. Result across the studies showed a number of beneficial effects. Twelve trials reported significant effects on disability/interference outcomes and pain intensity. Positive effects were also found on psychological variable such as catastrophizing, depression and anxiety. Several studies (n = 12 were assessed to have an unclear level of risk bias. The attrition levels ranged from 4% to 54% where the headache trials had the highest drop-out levels. However, findings suggest that internet-based treatments based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT are efficacious measured with different outcome variables. Results are in line with trials in clinical settings. Meta-analytic statistics were calculated for interference/disability, pain intensity, catastrophizing and mood ratings. Results showed that the effect size for interference/disability was Hedge's g = −0.39, for pain intensity Hedge's g = −0.33, for catastrophizing Hedge's g = −0.49 and for mood variables (depression Hedge's g = −0.26.

  12. Generalized Fractional Processes with Long Memory and Time Dependent Volatility Revisited

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Shelton Peiris

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, fractionally-differenced processes have received a great deal of attention due to their flexibility in financial applications with long-memory. This paper revisits the class of generalized fractionally-differenced processes generated by Gegenbauer polynomials and the ARMA structure (GARMA with both the long-memory and time-dependent innovation variance. We establish the existence and uniqueness of second-order solutions. We also extend this family with innovations to follow GARCH and stochastic volatility (SV. Under certain regularity conditions, we give asymptotic results for the approximate maximum likelihood estimator for the GARMA-GARCH model. We discuss a Monte Carlo likelihood method for the GARMA-SV model and investigate finite sample properties via Monte Carlo experiments. Finally, we illustrate the usefulness of this approach using monthly inflation rates for France, Japan and the United States.

  13. Implicit particle simulation of electromagnetic plasma phenomena

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kamimura, T.; Montalvo, E.; Barnes, D.C.; Leboeuf, J.N.; Tajima, T.

    1986-11-01

    A direct method for the implicit particle simulation of electromagnetic phenomena in magnetized, multi-dimensional plasmas is developed. The method is second-order accurate for ωΔt < 1, with ω a characteristic frequency and time step Δt. Direct time integration of the implicit equations with simplified space differencing allows the consistent inclusion of finite particle size. Decentered time differencing of the Lorentz force permits the efficient simulation of strongly magnetized plasmas. A Fourier-space iterative technique for solving the implicit field corrector equation, based on the separation of plasma responses perpendicular and parallel to the magnetic field and longitudinal and transverse to the wavevector, is described. Wave propagation properties in a uniform plasma are in excellent agreement with theoretical expectations. Applications to collisionless tearing and coalescence instabilities further demonstrate the usefulness of the algorithm. (author)

  14. Improving Genetic Gain with Genomic Selection in Autotetraploid Potato

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anthony T. Slater

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Potato ( L. breeders consider a large number of traits during cultivar development and progress in conventional breeding can be slow. There is accumulating evidence that some of these traits, such as yield, are affected by a large number of genes with small individual effects. Recently, significant efforts have been applied to the development of genomic resources to improve potato breeding, culminating in a draft genome sequence and the identification of a large number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs. The availability of these genome-wide SNPs is a prerequisite for implementing genomic selection for improvement of polygenic traits such as yield. In this review, we investigate opportunities for the application of genomic selection to potato, including novel breeding program designs. We have considered a number of factors that will influence this process, including the autotetraploid and heterozygous genetic nature of potato, the rate of decay of linkage disequilibrium, the number of required markers, the design of a reference population, and trait heritability. Based on estimates of the effective population size derived from a potato breeding program, we have calculated the expected accuracy of genomic selection for four key traits of varying heritability and propose that it will be reasonably accurate. We compared the expected genetic gain from genomic selection with the expected gain from phenotypic and pedigree selection, and found that genetic gain can be substantially improved by using genomic selection.

  15. Microwave technology for waste management applications including disposition of electronic circuitry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wicks, G.G.; Clark, D.E.; Schulz, R.L.; Folz, D.C.

    1995-01-01

    Microwave technology is being developed nationally and internationally for a variety of environmental remediation purposes. These efforts include treatment and destruction of a vast array of gaseous, liquid and solid hazardous wastes as well as subsequent immobilization of selected components. Microwave technology provides an important contribution to an arsenal of existing remediation methods that are designed to protect the public and environment from undesirable consequences of hazardous materials. Applications of microwave energy for environmental remediation will be discussed. Emphasized will be a newly developed microwave process designed to treat discarded electronic circuitry and reclaim the precious metals within for reuse

  16. SAR Subsets for Selected Field Sites, 2007-2010

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This data set provides Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images for 42 selected sites from various terrestrial ecology and meteorological monitoring networks including...

  17. Sage-grouse habitat selection during winter in Alberta

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carpenter, Jennifer L.; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Boyce, Mark S.

    2010-01-01

    Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) are dependent on sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) for food and shelter during winter, yet few studies have assessed winter habitat selection, particularly at scales applicable to conservation planning. Small changes to availability of winter habitats have caused drastic reductions in some sage-grouse populations. We modeled winter habitat selection by sage-grouse in Alberta, Canada, by using a resource selection function. Our purpose was to 1) generate a robust winter habitat-selection model for Alberta sage-grouse; 2) spatially depict habitat suitability in a Geographic Information System to identify areas with a high probability of selection and thus, conservation importance; and 3) assess the relative influence of human development, including oil and gas wells, in landscape models of winter habitat selection. Terrain and vegetation characteristics, sagebrush cover, anthropogenic landscape features, and energy development were important in top Akaike's Information Criterionselected models. During winter, sage-grouse selected dense sagebrush cover and homogenous less rugged areas, and avoided energy development and 2-track truck trails. Sage-grouse avoidance of energy development highlights the need for comprehensive management strategies that maintain suitable habitats across all seasons. ?? 2010 The Wildlife Society.

  18. Unidentified Flying Objects, A Selected Bibliography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodgers, Kay, Comp.

    This bibliography, intended for the general reader, provides selective coverage of the unidentified flying object (UFO) literature that has appeared since 1969. The coverage is limited to English language works, but does include translations and materials published abroad. Other bibliographies are listed, as are books, congressional and other…

  19. Selective amygdalohippocampectomy via trans-superior temporal gyrus keyhole approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mathon, Bertrand; Clemenceau, Stéphane

    2016-04-01

    Hippocampal sclerosis is the most common cause of drug-resistant epilepsy amenable for surgical treatment and seizure control. The rationale of the selective amygdalohippocampectomy is to spare cerebral tissue not included in the seizure generator. Describe the selective amygdalohippocampectomy through the trans-superior temporal gyrus keyhole approach. Selective amygdalohippocampectomy for temporal lobe epilepsy is performed when the data (semiology, neuroimaging, electroencephalography) point to the mesial temporal structures. The trans-superior temporal gyrus keyhole approach is a minimally invasive and safe technique that allows disconnection of the temporal stem and resection of temporomesial structures.

  20. Teaching Methods in Biology Education and Sustainability Education Including Outdoor Education for Promoting Sustainability—A Literature Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eila Jeronen

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available There are very few studies concerning the importance of teaching methods in biology education and environmental education including outdoor education for promoting sustainability at the levels of primary and secondary schools and pre-service teacher education. The material was selected using special keywords from biology and sustainable education in several scientific databases. The article provides an overview of 24 selected articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals from 2006–2016. The data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Altogether, 16 journals were selected and 24 articles were analyzed in detail. The foci of the analyses were teaching methods, learning environments, knowledge and thinking skills, psychomotor skills, emotions and attitudes, and evaluation methods. Additionally, features of good methods were investigated and their implications for teaching were emphasized. In total, 22 different teaching methods were found to improve sustainability education in different ways. The most emphasized teaching methods were those in which students worked in groups and participated actively in learning processes. Research points toward the value of teaching methods that provide a good introduction and supportive guidelines and include active participation and interactivity.

  1. Practical Approaches for Detecting Selection in Microbial Genomes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jessica Hedge

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Microbial genome evolution is shaped by a variety of selective pressures. Understanding how these processes occur can help to address important problems in microbiology by explaining observed differences in phenotypes, including virulence and resistance to antibiotics. Greater access to whole-genome sequencing provides microbiologists with the opportunity to perform large-scale analyses of selection in novel settings, such as within individual hosts. This tutorial aims to guide researchers through the fundamentals underpinning popular methods for measuring selection in pathogens. These methods are transferable to a wide variety of organisms, and the exercises provided are designed for researchers with any level of programming experience.

  2. Integrating resource selection information with spatial capture--recapture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Royle, J. Andrew; Chandler, Richard B.; Sun, Catherine C.; Fuller, Angela K.

    2013-01-01

    1. Understanding space usage and resource selection is a primary focus of many studies of animal populations. Usually, such studies are based on location data obtained from telemetry, and resource selection functions (RSFs) are used for inference. Another important focus of wildlife research is estimation and modeling population size and density. Recently developed spatial capture–recapture (SCR) models accomplish this objective using individual encounter history data with auxiliary spatial information on location of capture. SCR models include encounter probability functions that are intuitively related to RSFs, but to date, no one has extended SCR models to allow for explicit inference about space usage and resource selection.

  3. Selection of relevant dietary indicators for health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steingrímsdóttir, L; Ovesen, L; Moreiras, O; Jacob, S

    2002-05-01

    To define a set of dietary components that are relevant determinants for health in Europe. The selected components are intended to serve as nutrition indicators for health in the European Health Monitoring Programme and, as such, must be limited in number, relevant to health in Europe and practical for all involved countries with respect to data gathering and comparability of data. Major nutrition factors were determined by reviewing relevant epidemiological and clinical literature in nutrition and health as well as referring to reports from international expert groups, including the report from the project Nutrition and Diet for Healthy Lifestyles in Europe. The selection of factors was also based on the relative ease and cost involved for participating countries to obtain comparable and valid data. The selected factors include foods or food groups as well as individual nutrients. Biomarkers are suggested for selected nutrients that pose the greatest difficulty in obtaining valid and comparable data from dietary studies. The following list of diet indicators for health monitoring in Europe was agreed upon by the EFCOSUM group in 2001, in order of priority: vegetables, fruit, bread, fish, saturated fatty acids as percentage of energy (%E), total fat as %E, and ethanol in grams per day. Biomarkers were suggested for the following nutrients: folate, vitamin D, iron, iodine and sodium. Energy has to be assessed in order to calculate %E from total fat and saturated fatty acids.

  4. Real-time flavour tagging selection in ATLAS

    CERN Document Server

    Zivkovic, Lidija; The ATLAS collaboration

    2015-01-01

    In high-energy physics experiments, online selection is crucial to select interesting collisions from the large data volume. ATLAS b-jet triggers are designed to identify heavy-flavour content in real-time and provide the only option to efficiently record events with fully hadronic final states containing b-jets. In doing so, two different, but related, challenges are faced. The physics goal is to optimise as far as possible the rejection of light jets, while retaining a high efficiency on selecting b-jets and maintaining affordable trigger rates without raising jet energy thresholds. This maps into a challenging computing task, as tracks and their corresponding vertexes must be reconstructed and analysed for each jet above the desired threshold, regardless of the increasingly harsh pile-up conditions. We present an overview of the ATLAS strategy for online b-jet selection for the LHC Run 2, including the use of novel methods and sophisticated algorithms designed to face the above mentioned challenges. A firs...

  5. Real-time flavour tagging selection in ATLAS

    CERN Document Server

    \\v{Z}ivkovi{c}, Lidija; The ATLAS collaboration

    2015-01-01

    In high-energy physics experiments, online selection is crucial to select interesting collisions from the large data volume. ATLAS b-jet triggers are designed to identify heavy-flavour content in real-time and provide the only option to efficiently record events with fully hadronic final states containing b-jets. In doing so, two different, but related, challenges are faced. The physics goal is to optimise as far as possible the rejection of light jets, while retaining a high efficiency on selecting b-jets and maintaining affordable trigger rates without raising jet energy thresholds. This maps into a challenging computing task, as tracks and their corresponding vertices must be reconstructed and analysed for each jet above the desired threshold, regardless of the increasingly harsh pile-up conditions. We present an overview of the ATLAS strategy for online b-jet selection for the LHC Run 2, including the use of novel methods and sophisticated algorithms designed to face the above mentioned challenges. A firs...

  6. Process, including membrane separation, for separating hydrogen from hydrocarbons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Richard W.; Lokhandwala, Kaaeid A.; He, Zhenjie; Pinnau, Ingo

    2001-01-01

    Processes for providing improved methane removal and hydrogen reuse in reactors, particularly in refineries and petrochemical plants. The improved methane removal is achieved by selective purging, by passing gases in the reactor recycle loop across membranes selective in favor of methane over hydrogen, and capable of exhibiting a methane/hydrogen selectivity of at least about 2.5 under the process conditions.

  7. Growth hormone and selective attention : A review

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Quik, Elise H.; van Dam, P. Sytze; Kenemans, J. Leon

    Introduction: The relation between growth hormone (GH) secretion and general cognitive function has been established. General cognitive functioning depends on core functions including selective attention, which have not been addressed specifically in relation to GH. The present review addresses

  8. The development of flux-split algorithms for flows with non-equilibrium thermodynamics and chemical reactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grossman, B.; Cinella, P.

    1988-01-01

    A finite-volume method for the numerical computation of flows with nonequilibrium thermodynamics and chemistry is presented. A thermodynamic model is described which simplifies the coupling between the chemistry and thermodynamics and also results in the retention of the homogeneity property of the Euler equations (including all the species continuity and vibrational energy conservation equations). Flux-splitting procedures are developed for the fully coupled equations involving fluid dynamics, chemical production and thermodynamic relaxation processes. New forms of flux-vector split and flux-difference split algorithms are embodied in a fully coupled, implicit, large-block structure, including all the species conservation and energy production equations. Several numerical examples are presented, including high-temperature shock tube and nozzle flows. The methodology is compared to other existing techniques, including spectral and central-differenced procedures, and favorable comparisons are shown regarding accuracy, shock-capturing and convergence rates.

  9. 32 CFR 644.22 - Site selection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... and site boards should be informed of any available lands, including marginal lands in civil works... HANDBOOK Project Planning Military (army and Air Force) and Other Federal Agencies § 644.22 Site selection... Engineer to prepare a Real Estate Planning Report or Real Estate Summary, making reference to the prior...

  10. Preparation of reserve and player selection for the national basketball team

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bezmylov Nikolay

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The model of selecting athletes to the national basketball team was substantiated taking into consideration the specific features of competitive activity and the age of athletes. The issue of the selection and training of basketball reserve for the national team of the country is discussed. The need was demonstrated for the use of multi-stage model of the selection of elite players for the national team, which includes: 1 preliminary selection; 2 intermediate selection; and 3 main selection. To evaluate athlete’s performance, the system of informative criteria and indicators was proposed. The features of the selection of the players of different age groups to club and national teams were described. The necessity for continuous and gradual upgrade of team roster was justified.

  11. The influence of sterilization on nitrogen-included ultrananocrystalline diamond for biomedical applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tong, Wei; Tran, Phong A.; Turnley, Ann M.; Aramesh, Morteza; Prawer, Steven; Brandt, Milan; Fox, Kate

    2016-01-01

    Diamond has shown great potential in different biomedical applications, but the effects of sterilization on its properties have not been investigated. Here, we studied the influence of five sterilization techniques (solvent cleaning, oxygen plasma, UV irradiation, autoclave and hydrogen peroxide) on nitrogen-included ultrananocrystalline diamond. The chemical modification of the diamond surface was evaluated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and water contact angle measurements. Different degrees of surface oxidation and selective sp 2 bonded carbon etching were found following all sterilization techniques, resulting in an increase of hydrophilicity. Higher viabilities of in vitro mouse 3T3 fibroblasts and rat cortical neuron cells were observed on oxygen plasma, autoclave and hydrogen peroxide sterilized diamond, which correlated with their higher hydrophilicity. By examination of apatite formation in simulated body fluid, in vivo bioactivity was predicted to be best on those surfaces which have been oxygen plasma treated and lowest on those which have been exposed to UV irradiation. The charge injection properties were also altered by the sterilization process and there appears to be a correlation between these changes and the degree of oxygen termination of the surface. We find that the modification brought by autoclave, oxygen plasma and hydrogen peroxide were most consistent with the use of N-UNCD in biological applications as compared to samples sterilized by solvent cleaning or UV exposure or indeed non-sterilized. A two-step process of sterilization by hydrogen peroxide following oxygen plasma treatment was then suggested. However, the final choice of sterilization technique will depend on the intended end application. - Highlights: • We test for the first time the effect of 5 sterilization techniques on nitrogen included ultrananocrystalline diamond. • Different degrees of surface oxidation and selective sp 2 bonded carbon etching were found to

  12. The influence of sterilization on nitrogen-included ultrananocrystalline diamond for biomedical applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tong, Wei [School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria (Australia); Tran, Phong A. [Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria (Australia); Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Queensland (Australia); Turnley, Ann M. [Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria (Australia); Aramesh, Morteza [School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria (Australia); School of Chemistry, Physics, and Mechanical Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland (Australia); Prawer, Steven [School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria (Australia); Brandt, Milan [Centre for Additive Manufacturing, School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia); Fox, Kate, E-mail: kate.fox@rmit.edu.au [Centre for Additive Manufacturing, School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia)

    2016-04-01

    Diamond has shown great potential in different biomedical applications, but the effects of sterilization on its properties have not been investigated. Here, we studied the influence of five sterilization techniques (solvent cleaning, oxygen plasma, UV irradiation, autoclave and hydrogen peroxide) on nitrogen-included ultrananocrystalline diamond. The chemical modification of the diamond surface was evaluated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and water contact angle measurements. Different degrees of surface oxidation and selective sp{sup 2} bonded carbon etching were found following all sterilization techniques, resulting in an increase of hydrophilicity. Higher viabilities of in vitro mouse 3T3 fibroblasts and rat cortical neuron cells were observed on oxygen plasma, autoclave and hydrogen peroxide sterilized diamond, which correlated with their higher hydrophilicity. By examination of apatite formation in simulated body fluid, in vivo bioactivity was predicted to be best on those surfaces which have been oxygen plasma treated and lowest on those which have been exposed to UV irradiation. The charge injection properties were also altered by the sterilization process and there appears to be a correlation between these changes and the degree of oxygen termination of the surface. We find that the modification brought by autoclave, oxygen plasma and hydrogen peroxide were most consistent with the use of N-UNCD in biological applications as compared to samples sterilized by solvent cleaning or UV exposure or indeed non-sterilized. A two-step process of sterilization by hydrogen peroxide following oxygen plasma treatment was then suggested. However, the final choice of sterilization technique will depend on the intended end application. - Highlights: • We test for the first time the effect of 5 sterilization techniques on nitrogen included ultrananocrystalline diamond. • Different degrees of surface oxidation and selective sp{sup 2} bonded carbon etching were

  13. Thermophysical properties of selected wear-resistant alloys

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farwick, D.G.; Johnson, R.N.

    1980-06-01

    Thermophysical properties of 13 selected wear-resistant materials, including specific heat, thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and thermal expansion (instantaneous, mean, and linear) are provided. The Center for Information and Numerical Data Analysis and Synthesis (CINDAS) at Purdue University supplied properties data

  14. The Impact of Water Shortages on Educational Delivery in Selected ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The goal of the study was to investigate the impact of water shortages on educational delivery in selected schools in Harare East District. The population included school heads, teachers and pupils all drawn from selected schools of Harare East District. The sample consisted of five school heads, fifty teachers and one ...

  15. Optimizing drilling performance using a selected drilling fluid

    Science.gov (United States)

    Judzis, Arnis [Salt Lake City, UT; Black, Alan D [Coral Springs, FL; Green, Sidney J [Salt Lake City, UT; Robertson, Homer A [West Jordan, UT; Bland, Ronald G [Houston, TX; Curry, David Alexander [The Woodlands, TX; Ledgerwood, III, Leroy W.

    2011-04-19

    To improve drilling performance, a drilling fluid is selected based on one or more criteria and to have at least one target characteristic. Drilling equipment is used to drill a wellbore, and the selected drilling fluid is provided into the wellbore during drilling with the drilling equipment. The at least one target characteristic of the drilling fluid includes an ability of the drilling fluid to penetrate into formation cuttings during drilling to weaken the formation cuttings.

  16. Ball Screw Actuator Including a Compliant Ball Screw Stop

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wingett, Paul T. (Inventor); Hanlon, Casey (Inventor)

    2017-01-01

    An actuator includes a ball nut, a ball screw, and a ball screw stop. The ball nut is adapted to receive an input torque and in response rotates and supplies a drive force. The ball screw extends through the ball nut and has a first end and a second end. The ball screw receives the drive force from the ball nut and in response selectively translates between a retract position and a extend position. The ball screw stop is mounted on the ball screw proximate the first end to translate therewith. The ball screw stop engages the ball nut when the ball screw is in the extend position, translates, with compliance, a predetermined distance toward the first end upon engaging the ball nut, and prevents further rotation of the ball screw upon translating the predetermined distance.

  17. Evolution of conditional cooperation under multilevel selection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Huanren; Perc, Matjaž

    2016-03-11

    We study the emergence of conditional cooperation in the presence of both intra-group and inter-group selection. Individuals play public goods games within their groups using conditional strategies, which are represented as piecewise linear response functions. Accordingly, groups engage in conflicts with a certain probability. In contrast to previous studies, we consider continuous contribution levels and a rich set of conditional strategies, allowing for a wide range of possible interactions between strategies. We find that the existence of conditional strategies enables the stabilization of cooperation even under strong intra-group selection. The strategy that eventually dominates in the population has two key properties: (i) It is unexploitable with strong intra-group selection; (ii) It can achieve full contribution to outperform other strategies in the inter-group selection. The success of this strategy is robust to initial conditions as well as changes to important parameters. We also investigate the influence of different factors on cooperation levels, including group conflicts, group size, and migration rate. Their effect on cooperation can be attributed to and explained by their influence on the relative strength of intra-group and inter-group selection.

  18. Theoretical rationale for music selection in oncology intervention research: an integrative review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burns, Debra S

    2012-01-01

    Music-based interventions have helped patients with cancer improve their quality of life, decrease treatment related distress, and manage pain. However, quantitative findings from music intervention studies are inconsistent. The purpose of this review was to explore the theoretical underpinnings for the selection of the music stimuli used to influence targeted outcomes. It was hypothesized that disparate findings were due in part to the atheoretical nature of music selection and the resulting diversity in music stimuli between and within studies. A systematic research synthesis including a comprehensive database and reference list search resulted in 22 studies. Included studies were compiled into two tables cataloging intervention theory, intervention content, and outcomes. A majority of studies did not provide a rationale or intervention theory for the delivery of music or choice of outcomes. Recorded music was the most common delivery method, but the specific music was rarely included within the report. Only two studies that included a theoretical framework reported null results on at least some of the outcomes. Null results are partially explained by an incomplete or mismatch in intervention theory and music selection and delivery. While the inclusion of an intervention theory does not guarantee positive results, including a theoretical rationale for the use of music, particular therapeutic processes or mechanisms, and the specifics of how music is selected and delivered increases scientific rigor and the probability of clinical translation.

  19. Selection of 3013 Containers for Field Surveillance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Larry Peppers; Elizabeth Kelly; James McClard; Gary Friday; Theodore Venetz; Jerry Stakebade

    2007-01-01

    This report revises and combines three earlier reports dealing with the binning, statistical sampling, and sample selection of 3013 containers for field surveillance. It includes changes to the binning specification resulting from completion of the Savannah River Site packaging campaign and new information from the shelf-life program and field surveillance activities. The revised bin assignments result in changes to the random sample specification. These changes are necessary to meet the statistical requirements of the surveillance program. This report will be reviewed regularly and revised as needed. Section 1 of this report summarizes the results of an extensive effort to assign all of the current and projected 3013 containers in the Department of Energy (DOE) inventory to one of three bins (Innocuous, Pressure and Corrosion, or Pressure) based on potential failure mechanisms. Grouping containers into bins provides a framework to make a statistical selection of individual containers from the entire population for destructive and nondestructive field surveillance. The binning process consisted of three main steps. First, the packaged containers were binned using information in the Integrated Surveillance Program database and a decision tree. The second task was to assign those containers that could not be binned using the decision tree to a specific bin using container-by-container engineering review. The final task was to evaluate containers not yet packaged and assign them to bins using process knowledge. The technical basis for the decisions made during the binning process is included in Section 1. A composite decision tree and a summary table show all of the containers projected to be in the DOE inventory at the conclusion of packaging at all sites. Decision trees that provide an overview of the binning process and logic are included for each site. Section 2 of this report describes the approach to the statistical selection of containers for surveillance and

  20. Selectivity in Genetic Association with Sub-classified Migraine in Women

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chasman, Daniel I.; Anttila, Verneri; Buring, Julie E.; Ridker, Paul M.; Schürks, Markus; Kurth, Tobias

    2014-01-01

    Migraine can be sub-classified not only according to presence of migraine aura (MA) or absence of migraine aura (MO), but also by additional features accompanying migraine attacks, e.g. photophobia, phonophobia, nausea, etc. all of which are formally recognized by the International Classification of Headache Disorders. It remains unclear how aura status and the other migraine features may be related to underlying migraine pathophysiology. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified 12 independent loci at which single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are associated with migraine. Using a likelihood framework, we explored the selective association of these SNPs with migraine, sub-classified according to aura status and the other features in a large population-based cohort of women including 3,003 active migraineurs and 18,108 free of migraine. Five loci met stringent significance for association with migraine, among which four were selective for sub-classified migraine, including rs11172113 (LRP1) for MO. The number of loci associated with migraine increased to 11 at suggestive significance thresholds, including five additional selective associations for MO but none for MA. No two SNPs showed similar patterns of selective association with migraine characteristics. At one extreme, SNPs rs6790925 (near TGFBR2) and rs2274316 (MEF2D) were not associated with migraine overall, MA, or MO but were selective for migraine sub-classified by the presence of one or more of the additional migraine features. In contrast, SNP rs7577262 (TRPM8) was associated with migraine overall and showed little or no selectivity for any of the migraine characteristics. The results emphasize the multivalent nature of migraine pathophysiology and suggest that a complete understanding of the genetic influence on migraine may benefit from analyses that stratify migraine according to both aura status and the additional diagnostic features used for clinical characterization of

  1. A note on mate allocation for dominance handling in genomic selection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toro Miguel A

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Estimation of non-additive genetic effects in animal breeding is important because it increases the accuracy of breeding value prediction and the value of mate allocation procedures. With the advent of genomic selection these ideas should be revisited. The objective of this study was to quantify the efficiency of including dominance effects and practising mating allocation under a whole-genome evaluation scenario. Four strategies of selection, carried out during five generations, were compared by simulation techniques. In the first scenario (MS, individuals were selected based on their own phenotypic information. In the second (GSA, they were selected based on the prediction generated by the Bayes A method of whole-genome evaluation under an additive model. In the third (GSD, the model was expanded to include dominance effects. These three scenarios used random mating to construct future generations, whereas in the fourth one (GSD + MA, matings were optimized by simulated annealing. The advantage of GSD over GSA ranges from 9 to 14% of the expected response and, in addition, using mate allocation (GSD + MA provides an additional response ranging from 6% to 22%. However, mate selection can improve the expected genetic response over random mating only in the first generation of selection. Furthermore, the efficiency of genomic selection is eroded after a few generations of selection, thus, a continued collection of phenotypic data and re-evaluation will be required.

  2. Selection for components of complex characteristics - indirect selection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haensel, H.

    1984-01-01

    A hierarchy of complexity exists in plant characteristics. The efficiency of indirect selection for a complex characteristic by a sub-trait depends on the heritability of the complex characteristic (hsub(c)), the heritability of the sub-trait (hsub(s)), and the genotypic correlation between sub-trait and complex characteristic (rsub(s.c)). In 1961 hsub(s)Xrsub(s.c)>hsub(c) was postulated, when indirect selection becomes more efficient than direct selection. Numerical examples for this relationship are given and a table for indirect selection for yield in wheat is elaborated. Efficiency ranking of sub-traits in indirect selection may change with climate, conditions of cultivation, the level of other sub-traits, the level of the complex characteristic already reached by breeding, and the breeding material. An example shows that regression analysis for different sub-traits on the same complex characteristic, and an estimation of the differences of the within - and the between - variety slopes, may help to select the more efficient sub-trait. In another example, where simultaneous selection was made for two polygenic characteristics, one directly and the other indirectly by two sub-traits, less than half the F 5 -lines had to be continued, when using the more efficient sub-trait. (author)

  3. Quantified, Interactive Simulation of AMCW ToF Camera Including Multipath Effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bulczak, David; Lambers, Martin; Kolb, Andreas

    2017-12-22

    In the last decade, Time-of-Flight (ToF) range cameras have gained increasing popularity in robotics, automotive industry, and home entertainment. Despite technological developments, ToF cameras still suffer from error sources such as multipath interference or motion artifacts. Thus, simulation of ToF cameras, including these artifacts, is important to improve camera and algorithm development. This paper presents a physically-based, interactive simulation technique for amplitude modulated continuous wave (AMCW) ToF cameras, which, among other error sources, includes single bounce indirect multipath interference based on an enhanced image-space approach. The simulation accounts for physical units down to the charge level accumulated in sensor pixels. Furthermore, we present the first quantified comparison for ToF camera simulators. We present bidirectional reference distribution function (BRDF) measurements for selected, purchasable materials in the near-infrared (NIR) range, craft real and synthetic scenes out of these materials and quantitatively compare the range sensor data.

  4. Quantified, Interactive Simulation of AMCW ToF Camera Including Multipath Effects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Bulczak

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available In the last decade, Time-of-Flight (ToF range cameras have gained increasing popularity in robotics, automotive industry, and home entertainment. Despite technological developments, ToF cameras still suffer from error sources such as multipath interference or motion artifacts. Thus, simulation of ToF cameras, including these artifacts, is important to improve camera and algorithm development. This paper presents a physically-based, interactive simulation technique for amplitude modulated continuous wave (AMCW ToF cameras, which, among other error sources, includes single bounce indirect multipath interference based on an enhanced image-space approach. The simulation accounts for physical units down to the charge level accumulated in sensor pixels. Furthermore, we present the first quantified comparison for ToF camera simulators. We present bidirectional reference distribution function (BRDF measurements for selected, purchasable materials in the near-infrared (NIR range, craft real and synthetic scenes out of these materials and quantitatively compare the range sensor data.

  5. Tunnel-Site Selection by Remote Sensing Techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    A study of the role of remote sensing for geologic reconnaissance for tunnel-site selection was commenced. For this study, remote sensing was defined...conventional remote sensing . Future research directions are suggested, and the extension of remote sensing to include airborne passive microwave

  6. Subset selection in regression

    CERN Document Server

    Miller, Alan

    2002-01-01

    Originally published in 1990, the first edition of Subset Selection in Regression filled a significant gap in the literature, and its critical and popular success has continued for more than a decade. Thoroughly revised to reflect progress in theory, methods, and computing power, the second edition promises to continue that tradition. The author has thoroughly updated each chapter, incorporated new material on recent developments, and included more examples and references. New in the Second Edition:A separate chapter on Bayesian methodsComplete revision of the chapter on estimationA major example from the field of near infrared spectroscopyMore emphasis on cross-validationGreater focus on bootstrappingStochastic algorithms for finding good subsets from large numbers of predictors when an exhaustive search is not feasible Software available on the Internet for implementing many of the algorithms presentedMore examplesSubset Selection in Regression, Second Edition remains dedicated to the techniques for fitting...

  7. Directional and balancing selection in human beta-defensins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hollox, Edward J; Armour, John A L

    2008-04-16

    In primates, infection is an important force driving gene evolution, and this is reflected in the importance of infectious disease in human morbidity today. The beta-defensins are key components of the innate immune system, with antimicrobial and cell signalling roles, but also reproductive functions. Here we examine evolution of beta-defensins in catarrhine primates and variation within different human populations. We show that five beta-defensin genes that do not show copy number variation in humans show evidence of positive selection in catarrhine primates, and identify specific codons that have been under selective pressure. Direct haplotyping of DEFB127 in humans suggests long-term balancing selection: there are two highly diverged haplotype clades carrying different variants of a codon that, in primates, is positively selected. For DEFB132, we show that extensive diversity, including a four-state amino acid polymorphism (valine, isoleucine, alanine and threonine at position 93), is present in hunter-gatherer populations, both African and non-African, but not found in samples from agricultural populations. Some, but not all, beta-defensin genes show positive selection in catarrhine primates. There is suggestive evidence of different selective pressures on these genes in humans, but the nature of the selective pressure remains unclear and is likely to differ between populations.

  8. [Outpatient treatment of selective mutism: long-standing selective mutism in a 17-year-old male].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herdener-Pinnekamp, Katharina; Gundelfinger, Ronnie; Steinhausen, Hans-Christoph

    2010-01-01

    The present case report describes the successful treatment of a 17 year old male adolescent suffering for 10 years from selective mutism. Following a summary review of recent publications on therapy approaches, the report describes the treatment concept in the present case, including detailed assessment of co-morbid disorders, motivation for change, behaviour therapy with supporting drug intervention, and intensive co-operation with parents and other caretakers.

  9. Human Classification Based on Gestural Motions by Using Components of PCA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aziz, Azri A; Wan, Khairunizam; Za'aba, S K; Shahriman A B; Asyekin H; Zuradzman M R; Adnan, Nazrul H

    2013-01-01

    Lately, a study of human capabilities with the aim to be integrated into machine is the famous topic to be discussed. Moreover, human are bless with special abilities that they can hear, see, sense, speak, think and understand each other. Giving such abilities to machine for improvement of human life is researcher's aim for better quality of life in the future. This research was concentrating on human gesture, specifically arm motions for differencing the individuality which lead to the development of the hand gesture database. We try to differentiate the human physical characteristic based on hand gesture represented by arm trajectories. Subjects are selected from different type of the body sizes, and then acquired data undergo resampling process. The results discuss the classification of human based on arm trajectories by using Principle Component Analysis (PCA)

  10. Application of SARIMA model to forecasting monthly flows in Waterval River, South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tadesse Kassahun Birhanu

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Knowledge of future river flow information is fundamental for development and management of a river system. In this study, Waterval River flow was forecasted by SARIMA model using GRETL statistical software. Mean monthly flows from 1960 to 2016 were used for modelling and forecasting. Different unit root and Mann–Kendall trend analysis proved the stationarity of the observed flow time series. Based on seasonally differenced correlogram characteristics, different SARIMA models were evaluated; their parameters were optimized, and diagnostic check up of forecasts was made using white noise and heteroscedasticity tests. Finally, based on minimum Akaike Information (AI and Hannan–Quinn (HQ criteria, SARIMA (3, 0, 2 x (3, 1, 312 model was selected for Waterval River flow forecasting. Comparison of forecast performance of SARIMA models with that of computational intelligent forecasting techniques was recommended for future study.

  11. QUANTUM CHEMISTRY STUDY ON SYSTEM OF KAOLNITE-GOLD%高岭石-金系列的量子化学计算研究

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    闵新民; 路以瑾; 洪汉烈; 安继明

    2000-01-01

    The correlation among structure,chemical bond and stability of system of kaolnit e-gold is studied by using density function and discrete variation method (DET -DVM).Ten models are selected without Au and with Au in different directions an d sites.The results show that the models with Au in the side of kaolnite layers are more stable than those with Au above or bellow the layer where the differenc e of Au-O covalent bond strength is the main effect.In the models with Au in th e side,the models with Au near to Al are more stable than those with Au near to the vacancy without Al,to which the differences of the charge distribution for a ll atoms in the models,Au-O ionic bond and Si-O covalent bond strength are all the important effecte.

  12. Energy efficiency and exporting: Evidence from firm-level data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roy, Jayjit; Yasar, Mahmut

    2015-01-01

    While exporting firms and non-exporters have been compared across several dimensions, empirical comparisons on the basis of environmental performance are relatively few. Moreover, analyzing the environmental implications of firm-level exports is not trivial due to non-random selection into exporting. In this light, we examine the impact of exporting on firms' energy efficiency by resorting to an instrumental variables strategy based on a differencing approach (Pitt and Rosenzweig, 1990). Utilizing data from Indonesia, we find (i) exporting to reduce the use of fuels (relative to electricity) and (ii) concerns over endogeneity of exporting status to be relevant. - Highlights: • We examine the impact of exporting on firms' energy efficiency. • We employ cost share equations, firm-level data from Indonesia, and an instrumental variables strategy. • Exporting is found to reduce the use of fuels (relative to electricity).

  13. Bayesian Model Selection under Time Constraints

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoege, M.; Nowak, W.; Illman, W. A.

    2017-12-01

    Bayesian model selection (BMS) provides a consistent framework for rating and comparing models in multi-model inference. In cases where models of vastly different complexity compete with each other, we also face vastly different computational runtimes of such models. For instance, time series of a quantity of interest can be simulated by an autoregressive process model that takes even less than a second for one run, or by a partial differential equations-based model with runtimes up to several hours or even days. The classical BMS is based on a quantity called Bayesian model evidence (BME). It determines the model weights in the selection process and resembles a trade-off between bias of a model and its complexity. However, in practice, the runtime of models is another weight relevant factor for model selection. Hence, we believe that it should be included, leading to an overall trade-off problem between bias, variance and computing effort. We approach this triple trade-off from the viewpoint of our ability to generate realizations of the models under a given computational budget. One way to obtain BME values is through sampling-based integration techniques. We argue with the fact that more expensive models can be sampled much less under time constraints than faster models (in straight proportion to their runtime). The computed evidence in favor of a more expensive model is statistically less significant than the evidence computed in favor of a faster model, since sampling-based strategies are always subject to statistical sampling error. We present a straightforward way to include this misbalance into the model weights that are the basis for model selection. Our approach follows directly from the idea of insufficient significance. It is based on a computationally cheap bootstrapping error estimate of model evidence and is easy to implement. The approach is illustrated in a small synthetic modeling study.

  14. Factor analysis improves the selection of prescribing indicators

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Hanne Marie Skyggedal; Søndergaard, Jens; Sokolowski, Ineta

    2006-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To test a method for improving the selection of indicators of general practitioners' prescribing. METHODS: We conducted a prescription database study including all 180 general practices in the County of Funen, Denmark, approximately 472,000 inhabitants. Principal factor analysis was us...... appropriate and inappropriate prescribing, as revealed by the correlation of the indicators in the first factor. CONCLUSION: Correlation and factor analysis is a feasible method that assists the selection of indicators and gives better insight into prescribing patterns....

  15. Detection and identification of six Monilinia spp. causing brown rot using TaqMan real-time PCR from pure cultures and infected apple fruit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown rot is a severe disease affecting stone and pome fruits. This disease was recently confirmed to be caused by the following six closely related species: Monilinia fructicola, Monilinia laxa, Monilinia fructigena, Monilia polystroma, Monilia mumecola and Monilia yunnanensis. Because of differenc...

  16. Using Passive and Active Acoustics to Examine Relationships of Cetacean and Prey Densities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-09-30

    target position can be used to classify individual targets. Frequency-dependent backscattering, allowing for dB differencing analysis , can be used to...Enright JT, Hamner WM (1967) Vertical Diurnal Migration and Endogenous Rhythmicity . Science 157:937-941 Greenlaw CF, Johnson RK (1983) Multiple

  17. Estimating and Forecasting Generalized Fractional Long Memory Stochastic Volatility Models

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    S. Peiris (Shelton); M. Asai (Manabu); M.J. McAleer (Michael)

    2016-01-01

    textabstractIn recent years fractionally differenced processes have received a great deal of attention due to its flexibility in financial applications with long memory. This paper considers a class of models generated by Gegenbauer polynomials, incorporating the long memory in stochastic volatility

  18. Differences in cortical and pituitary activity in response to hypoglycaemia and cognitive testing in healthy men with different basal activity of the renin-angiotensin system

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bie-Olsen, Lise G; Pedersen-Bjergaard, Ulrik; Kjaer, Troels W

    2010-01-01

    INTRODUCTION: High renin-angiotensin system (RAS) activity has been associated with a high risk of severe hypoglycaemia in patients with type 1 diabetes and with cognitive deterioration during experimental hypoglycaemia in healthy subjects. The aim of this study was to describe possible differenc...

  19. Testing periodically integrated autoregressive models

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ph.H.B.F. Franses (Philip Hans); M.J. McAleer (Michael)

    1997-01-01

    textabstractPeriodically integrated time series require a periodic differencing filter to remove the stochastic trend. A non-periodic integrated time series needs the first-difference filter for similar reasons. When the changing seasonal fluctuations for the non-periodic integrated series can be

  20. On a Robust MaxEnt Process Regression Model with Sample-Selection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hea-Jung Kim

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available In a regression analysis, a sample-selection bias arises when a dependent variable is partially observed as a result of the sample selection. This study introduces a Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt process regression model that assumes a MaxEnt prior distribution for its nonparametric regression function and finds that the MaxEnt process regression model includes the well-known Gaussian process regression (GPR model as a special case. Then, this special MaxEnt process regression model, i.e., the GPR model, is generalized to obtain a robust sample-selection Gaussian process regression (RSGPR model that deals with non-normal data in the sample selection. Various properties of the RSGPR model are established, including the stochastic representation, distributional hierarchy, and magnitude of the sample-selection bias. These properties are used in the paper to develop a hierarchical Bayesian methodology to estimate the model. This involves a simple and computationally feasible Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm that avoids analytical or numerical derivatives of the log-likelihood function of the model. The performance of the RSGPR model in terms of the sample-selection bias correction, robustness to non-normality, and prediction, is demonstrated through results in simulations that attest to its good finite-sample performance.

  1. Designing a fuzzy expert system for selecting knowledge management strategy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ameneh Khadivar

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available knowledge management strategy is mentioned as one of the most important success factors for implementing knowledge management. The KM strategy selection is a complex decision that requires consideration of several factors. For evaluation and selection of an appropriate knowledge management strategy in organizations, many factors must be considered. The identified factors and their impact on knowledge management strategy are inherently ambiguous. In this study, an overview of theoretical foundations of research regarding the different knowledge management strategies has been done And factors influencing the knowledge management strategy selection have been extracted from conceptual frameworks and models. How these factors influence the knowledge management strategy selection is extracted through the fuzzy Delphi. Next a fuzzy expert system for the selection of appropriate knowledge management strategy is designed with respect to factors that have an impact on knowledge management strategy. The factors which influence the selection of knowledge management strategy include: general business strategy, organizational structure, cultural factors, IT strategy, strategic human resource management, social level, the types of knowledge creation processes and release it. The factors which influence the knowledge management strategy selection include: business strategy general, organizational structure, cultural factors, IT strategy, human resource management strategies, socialization level, knowledge types and its creation and diffusion processes. According to identified factors which affect the knowledge management strategy, the final strategy is recommended based on the range of human-oriented and system-oriented by keep the balance of explicit and implicit knowledge. The Designed system performance is tested and evaluated by the information related to three Iranian organization.

  2. Signatures of selection in tilapia revealed by whole genome resequencing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xia, Jun Hong; Bai, Zhiyi; Meng, Zining; Zhang, Yong; Wang, Le; Liu, Feng; Jing, Wu; Wan, Zi Yi; Li, Jiale; Lin, Haoran; Yue, Gen Hua

    2015-09-16

    Natural selection and selective breeding for genetic improvement have left detectable signatures within the genome of a species. Identification of selection signatures is important in evolutionary biology and for detecting genes that facilitate to accelerate genetic improvement. However, selection signatures, including artificial selection and natural selection, have only been identified at the whole genome level in several genetically improved fish species. Tilapia is one of the most important genetically improved fish species in the world. Using next-generation sequencing, we sequenced the genomes of 47 tilapia individuals. We identified a total of 1.43 million high-quality SNPs and found that the LD block sizes ranged from 10-100 kb in tilapia. We detected over a hundred putative selective sweep regions in each line of tilapia. Most selection signatures were located in non-coding regions of the tilapia genome. The Wnt signaling, gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor and integrin signaling pathways were under positive selection in all improved tilapia lines. Our study provides a genome-wide map of genetic variation and selection footprints in tilapia, which could be important for genetic studies and accelerating genetic improvement of tilapia.

  3. Phenotypes in defined genotypes including siblings with Usher syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malm, Eva; Ponjavic, Vesna; Möller, Claes; Kimberling, William J; Andréasson, Sten

    2011-06-01

    To characterize visual function in defined genotypes including siblings with Usher syndrome. Thirteen patients with phenotypically different subtypes of Usher syndrome, including 3 families with affected siblings, were selected. Genetic analysis and ophthalmological examinations including visual fields, full-field electroretinography (ERG), multifocal electroretinography (mf ERG), and optical coherence tomography (OCT) were assessed. The patients' degree of visual handicap was evaluated by a questionnaire (ADL). Twelve of thirteen patients were genotyped as Usher 1B, 1D, 1F, 2A, 2C or 3A. In 12 of 13 patients examined with ERG the 30 Hz flickering light response revealed remaining cone function. In 3 of the patients with Usher type 1 mf ERG demonstrated a specific pattern, with a sharp distinction between the area with reduced function and the central area with remaining macular function and normal peak time. OCT demonstrated loss of foveal depression with distortion of the foveal architecture in the macula in all patients. The foveal thickness ranged from 159 to 384 µm and was not correlated to retinal function. Three siblings shared the same mutation for Usher 2C but in contrast to previous reports regarding this genotype, 1 of them diverged in phenotype with substantially normal visual fields, almost normal OCT and mf ERG findings, and only moderately reduced rod and cone function according to ERG. Evaluation of visual function comprising both the severity of the rod cone degeneration and the function in the macular region confirm phenotypical heterogeneity within siblings and between different genotypes of Usher syndrome.

  4. Selecting public relations personnel of hospitals by analytic network process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Sen-Kuei; Chang, Kuei-Lun

    2009-01-01

    This study describes the use of analytic network process (ANP) in the Taiwanese hospital public relations personnel selection process. Starting with interviewing 48 practitioners and executives in north Taiwan, we collected selection criteria. Then, we retained the 12 critical criteria that were mentioned above 40 times by theses respondents, including: interpersonal skill, experience, negotiation, language, ability to follow orders, cognitive ability, adaptation to environment, adaptation to company, emotion, loyalty, attitude, and Response. Finally, we discussed with the 20 executives to take these important criteria into three perspectives to structure the hierarchy for hospital public relations personnel selection. After discussing with practitioners and executives, we find that selecting criteria are interrelated. The ANP, which incorporates interdependence relationships, is a new approach for multi-criteria decision-making. Thus, we apply ANP to select the most optimal public relations personnel of hospitals. An empirical study of public relations personnel selection problems in Taiwan hospitals is conducted to illustrate how the selection procedure works.

  5. Targets of balancing selection in the human genome

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andrés, Aida M; Hubisz, Melissa J; Indap, Amit

    2009-01-01

    Balancing selection is potentially an important biological force for maintaining advantageous genetic diversity in populations, including variation that is responsible for long-term adaptation to the environment. By serving as a means to maintain genetic variation, it may be particularly relevant...... to maintaining phenotypic variation in natural populations. Nevertheless, its prevalence and specific targets in the human genome remain largely unknown. We have analyzed the patterns of diversity and divergence of 13,400 genes in two human populations using an unbiased single-nucleotide polymorphism data set......, a genome-wide approach, and a method that incorporates demography in neutrality tests. We identified an unbiased catalog of genes with signatures of long-term balancing selection, which includes immunity genes as well as genes encoding keratins and membrane channels; the catalog also shows enrichment...

  6. Software for Library Management: Selection and Evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Notowitz, Carol I.

    1987-01-01

    This discussion of library software packages includes guidelines for library automation with microcomputers; criteria to aid in software selection; comparison of some features of available acquisitions, circulation and overdues software; references for software reviews; additional information on microsoftware; and a directory of producers and…

  7. Characteristic evolutions in numerical relativity using six angular patches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reisswig, Christian; Bishop, Nigel T; Lai, Chi Wai; Thornburg, Jonathan; Szilagyi, Bela

    2007-01-01

    The characteristic approach to numerical relativity is a useful tool in evolving gravitational systems. In the past this has been implemented using two patches of stereographic angular coordinates. In other applications, a six-patch angular coordinate system has proved effective. Here we investigate the use of a six-patch system in characteristic numerical relativity, by comparing an existing two-patch implementation (using second-order finite differencing throughout) with a new six-patch implementation (using either second- or fourth-order finite differencing for the angular derivatives). We compare these different codes by monitoring the Einstein constraint equations, numerically evaluated independently from the evolution. We find that, compared to the (second-order) two-patch code at equivalent resolutions, the errors of the second-order six-patch code are smaller by a factor of about 2, and the errors of the fourth-order six-patch code are smaller by a factor of nearly 50

  8. Finite Sample Comparison of Parametric, Semiparametric, and Wavelet Estimators of Fractional Integration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Morten Ø.; Frederiksen, Per Houmann

    2005-01-01

    In this paper we compare through Monte Carlo simulations the finite sample properties of estimators of the fractional differencing parameter, d. This involves frequency domain, time domain, and wavelet based approaches, and we consider both parametric and semiparametric estimation methods. The es...... the time domain parametric methods, and (4) without sufficient trimming of scales the wavelet-based estimators are heavily biased.......In this paper we compare through Monte Carlo simulations the finite sample properties of estimators of the fractional differencing parameter, d. This involves frequency domain, time domain, and wavelet based approaches, and we consider both parametric and semiparametric estimation methods....... The estimators are briefly introduced and compared, and the criteria adopted for measuring finite sample performance are bias and root mean squared error. Most importantly, the simulations reveal that (1) the frequency domain maximum likelihood procedure is superior to the time domain parametric methods, (2) all...

  9. Comparison of L- and H-mode plasma edge fluctuations in MAST

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dudson, B D; Dendy, R O; Kirk, A; Meyer, H; Counsell, G F

    2005-01-01

    Edge turbulence measurements from a reciprocating Langmuir probe in MAST are presented. A comparison of the range/standard deviation (R/S), growth of range, first moment and differencing and rescaling methods for calculating the Hurst exponent is made. The differencing and rescaling method is found to be the most useful for identifying scaling over long time-periods. A comparison is made between L-mode, dithering H-mode and H-mode plasma edge turbulence and evidence for self-similarity is found. Tests are performed and it is demonstrated that the results are due to properties of the data, and are not artefacts of the methods. A comparison of Hurst exponent methods with the autocorrelation function and power spectrum is used to demonstrate the presence of long-time correlation in L-mode data, and the absence of long-time correlation in the case of dithering H-mode

  10. Characteristic evolutions in numerical relativity using six angular patches

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reisswig, Christian [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik, Albert-Einstein-Institut, Am Muehlenberg 1, D-14476 Golm (Germany); Bishop, Nigel T [Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of South Africa, PO Box 392, Unisa 0003, South Africa (South Africa); Lai, Chi Wai [Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of South Africa, PO Box 392, Unisa 0003, South Africa (South Africa); Thornburg, Jonathan [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik, Albert-Einstein-Institut, Am Muehlenberg 1, D-14476 Golm (Germany); Szilagyi, Bela [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik, Albert-Einstein-Institut, Am Muehlenberg 1, D-14476 Golm (Germany)

    2007-06-21

    The characteristic approach to numerical relativity is a useful tool in evolving gravitational systems. In the past this has been implemented using two patches of stereographic angular coordinates. In other applications, a six-patch angular coordinate system has proved effective. Here we investigate the use of a six-patch system in characteristic numerical relativity, by comparing an existing two-patch implementation (using second-order finite differencing throughout) with a new six-patch implementation (using either second- or fourth-order finite differencing for the angular derivatives). We compare these different codes by monitoring the Einstein constraint equations, numerically evaluated independently from the evolution. We find that, compared to the (second-order) two-patch code at equivalent resolutions, the errors of the second-order six-patch code are smaller by a factor of about 2, and the errors of the fourth-order six-patch code are smaller by a factor of nearly 50.

  11. Transcriptome profiling in imipenem-selected Acinetobacter baumannii.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Kai-Chih; Kuo, Han-Yueh; Tang, Chuan Yi; Chang, Cheng-Wei; Lu, Chia-Wei; Liu, Chih-Chin; Lin, Huei-Ru; Chen, Kuan-Hsueh; Liou, Ming-Li

    2014-09-26

    Carbapenem-resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii has gradually become a global challenge. To identify the genes involved in carbapenem resistance in A. baumannii, the transcriptomic responses of the completely sequenced strain ATCC 17978 selected with 0.5 mg/L (IPM-2 m) and 2 mg/L (IPM-8 m) imipenem were investigated using RNA-sequencing to identify differences in the gene expression patterns. A total of 88 and 68 genes were differentially expressed in response to IPM-2 m and IPM-8 m selection, respectively. Among the expressed genes, 50 genes were highly expressed in IPM-2 m, 30 genes were highly expressed in IPM-8 m, and 38 genes were expressed common in both strains. Six groups of genes were simultaneously expressed in IPM-2 m and IPM-8 m mutants. The three gene groups involved in DNA recombination were up-regulated, including recombinase, transposase and DNA repair, and beta-lactamase OXA-95 and homologous recombination. The remaining gene groups involved in biofilm formation were down-regulated, including quorum sensing, secretion systems, and the csu operon. The antibiotic resistance determinants, including RND efflux transporters and multidrug resistance pumps, were over-expressed in response to IPM-2 m selection, followed by a decrease in response to IPM-8 m selection. Among the genes over-expressed in both strains, blaOXA-95, previously clustered with the blaOXA-51-like family, showed 14-fold (IPM-2 m) to 330-fold (IPM-8 m) over-expression. The expression of blaOXA-95 in IPM-2 m and IPM-8 m cells was positively correlated with the rate of imipenem hydrolysis, as demonstrated through Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry/Mass Spectrometry, suggesting that blaOXA-95 plays a critical role in conferring carbapenem resistance. In addition, A. baumannii shows an inverse relationship between carbapenem resistance and biofilm production. Gene recombination and blaOXA-95 play critical roles in carbapenem resistance in A. baumannii. Taken together, the results of

  12. Selective lateral laser thyroarytenoid myotomy for adductor spasmodic dysphonia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hussain, A; Shakeel, M

    2010-08-01

    Selective lateral laser thyroarytenoid myotomy is a conceptually sound, simple, minimally invasive, repeatable and predictable new surgical procedure for treating adductor spasmodic dysphonia. This paper aims to introduce and describe the surgical technique, and to present a clinical case series and its outcomes. A prospective, clinical case series treated with selective lateral laser thyroarytenoid myotomy, with follow up of 2.5 years. Pre- and post-operative data were collected prospectively for patients undergoing selective lateral laser thyroarytenoid myotomy. These data included patient demographics, previous interventions for adductor spasmodic dysphonia, technical aspects of surgery and clinical outcome. Outcome data included clinical assessment, voice handicap index, need for further intervention, and patient satisfaction assessed by subjective improvement (detailed subjectively by the patients themselves and objectively using the Glasgow benefit inventory). Four patients (two men and two women; mean age 65 years; age range 41-80 years) were included. The mean duration of adductor spasmodic dysphonia was 11 years. All patients had previously been treated with botulinum toxin A. All patients reported improvement in voice quality, fluency, sustainability and elimination of voice breaks over 2.5 years' follow up. Clinical assessment revealed no alteration in mucosal wave, and complete relief of hyperadduction was observed on phonation. No patients required supplementary botulinum toxin treatment during follow up. Selective lateral laser thyroarytenoid myotomy seems to represent a curative procedure for adductor spasmodic dysphonia, a chronic, debilitating condition. This procedure is conceptually simple, minimally invasive and repeatable. It also seems to offer a safe and lasting alternative to botulinum toxin therapy.

  13. Selective effects of cholinergic modulation on task performance during selective attention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Furey, Maura L; Pietrini, Pietro; Haxby, James V; Drevets, Wayne C

    2008-03-01

    The cholinergic neurotransmitter system is critically linked to cognitive functions including attention. The current studies were designed to evaluate the effect of a cholinergic agonist and an antagonist on performance during a selective visual attention task where the inherent salience of attended/unattended stimuli was modulated. Two randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover studies were performed, one (n=9) with the anticholinesterase physostigmine (1.0 mg/h), and the other (n=30) with the anticholinergic scopolamine (0.4 mc/kg). During the task, two double-exposure pictures of faces and houses were presented side by side. Subjects were cued to attend to either the face or the house component of the stimuli, and were instructed to perform a matching task with the two exemplars from the attended category. The cue changed every 4-7 trials to instruct subjects to shift attention from one stimulus component to the other. During placebo in both studies, reaction time (RT) associated with the first trial following a cued shift in attention was longer than RT associated with later trials (pattention to houses condition (pattention to faces. Scopolamine increased RT relative to placebo selectively during trials greater than one (pattention to faces condition (pselective attention (ie trials greater than 1). Moreover, effects of cholinergic manipulation depend on the selective attention condition (ie faces vs houses), which may suggest that cholinergic activity interacts with stimulus salience. The findings are discussed within the context of the role of acetylcholine both in stimulus processing and stimulus salience, and in establishing attention biases through top-down and bottom-up mechanisms of attention.

  14. Demographically-Based Evaluation of Genomic Regions under Selection in Domestic Dogs.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adam H Freedman

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Controlling for background demographic effects is important for accurately identifying loci that have recently undergone positive selection. To date, the effects of demography have not yet been explicitly considered when identifying loci under selection during dog domestication. To investigate positive selection on the dog lineage early in the domestication, we examined patterns of polymorphism in six canid genomes that were previously used to infer a demographic model of dog domestication. Using an inferred demographic model, we computed false discovery rates (FDR and identified 349 outlier regions consistent with positive selection at a low FDR. The signals in the top 100 regions were frequently centered on candidate genes related to brain function and behavior, including LHFPL3, CADM2, GRIK3, SH3GL2, MBP, PDE7B, NTAN1, and GLRA1. These regions contained significant enrichments in behavioral ontology categories. The 3rd top hit, CCRN4L, plays a major role in lipid metabolism, that is supported by additional metabolism related candidates revealed in our scan, including SCP2D1 and PDXC1. Comparing our method to an empirical outlier approach that does not directly account for demography, we found only modest overlaps between the two methods, with 60% of empirical outliers having no overlap with our demography-based outlier detection approach. Demography-aware approaches have lower-rates of false discovery. Our top candidates for selection, in addition to expanding the set of neurobehavioral candidate genes, include genes related to lipid metabolism, suggesting a dietary target of selection that was important during the period when proto-dogs hunted and fed alongside hunter-gatherers.

  15. Analysis and control of supersonic vortex breakdown flows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kandil, Osama A.

    1990-01-01

    Analysis and computation of steady, compressible, quasi-axisymmetric flow of an isolated, slender vortex are considered. The compressible, Navier-Stokes equations are reduced to a simpler set by using the slenderness and quasi-axisymmetry assumptions. The resulting set along with a compatibility equation are transformed from the diverging physical domain to a rectangular computational domain. Solving for a compatible set of initial profiles and specifying a compatible set of boundary conditions, the equations are solved using a type-differencing scheme. Vortex breakdown locations are detected by the failure of the scheme to converge. Computational examples include isolated vortex flows at different Mach numbers, external axial-pressure gradients and swirl ratios.

  16. Criteria for Selecting Suitable Infectious Diseases for Phage Therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harper, David R

    2018-04-05

    One of the main issues with phage therapy from its earliest days has been the selection of appropriate disease targets. In early work, when the nature of bacteriophages was unknown, many inappropriate targets were selected, including some now known to have no bacterial involvement whatsoever. More recently, with greatly increased understanding of the highly specific nature of bacteriophages and of their mechanisms of action, it has been possible to select indications with an increased chance of a successful therapeutic outcome. The factors to be considered include the characteristics of the infection to be treated, the characteristics of the bacteria involved, and the characteristics of the bacteriophages themselves. At a later stage all of this information then informs trial design and regulatory considerations. Where the work is undertaken towards the development of a commercial product it is also necessary to consider the planned market, protection of intellectual property, and the sourcing of funding to support the work. It is clear that bacteriophages are not a "magic bullet". However, with careful and appropriate selection of a limited set of initial targets, it should be possible to obtain proof of concept for the many elements required for the success of phage therapy. In time, success with these initial targets could then support more widespread use.

  17. Efficient Multi-Label Feature Selection Using Entropy-Based Label Selection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaesung Lee

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Multi-label feature selection is designed to select a subset of features according to their importance to multiple labels. This task can be achieved by ranking the dependencies of features and selecting the features with the highest rankings. In a multi-label feature selection problem, the algorithm may be faced with a dataset containing a large number of labels. Because the computational cost of multi-label feature selection increases according to the number of labels, the algorithm may suffer from a degradation in performance when processing very large datasets. In this study, we propose an efficient multi-label feature selection method based on an information-theoretic label selection strategy. By identifying a subset of labels that significantly influence the importance of features, the proposed method efficiently outputs a feature subset. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can identify a feature subset much faster than conventional multi-label feature selection methods for large multi-label datasets.

  18. Sex-ratio control erodes sexual selection, revealing evolutionary feedback from adaptive plasticity

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fawcett, Tim W.; Kuijper, Bram; Weissing, Franz J.; Pen, Ido

    2011-01-01

    Female choice is a powerful selective force, driving the elaboration of conspicuous male ornaments. This process of sexual selection has profound implications for many life-history decisions, including sex allocation. For example, females with attractive partners should produce more sons, because

  19. Selection gradients, the opportunity for selection, and the coefficient of determination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moorad, Jacob A; Wade, Michael J

    2013-03-01

    Abstract We derive the relationship between R(2) (the coefficient of determination), selection gradients, and the opportunity for selection for univariate and multivariate cases. Our main result is to show that the portion of the opportunity for selection that is caused by variation for any trait is equal to the product of its selection gradient and its selection differential. This relationship is a corollary of the first and second fundamental theorems of natural selection, and it permits one to investigate the portions of the total opportunity for selection that are involved in directional selection, stabilizing (and diversifying) selection, and correlational selection, which is important to morphological integration. It also allows one to determine the fraction of fitness variation not explained by variation in measured phenotypes and therefore attributable to random (or, at least, unknown) influences. We apply our methods to a human data set to show how sex-specific mating success as a component of fitness variance can be decoupled from that owing to prereproductive mortality. By quantifying linear sources of sexual selection and quadratic sources of sexual selection, we illustrate that the former is stronger in males, while the latter is stronger in females.

  20. Learning context conditions for BDI plan selection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Singh, D.; Sardina, S.; Padgham, L.; Airiau, S.; van der Hoek, W.; Kaminka, G.A.; Lespérance, Y.; Luck, M.; Sen, S.

    2010-01-01

    An important drawback to the popular Belief, Desire, and Intentions (BDI) paradigm is that such systems include no element of learning from experience. In particular, the so-called context conditions of plans, on which the whole model relies for plan selection, are restricted to be boolean formulas

  1. Sexual selection studies: A NESCent catalyst meeting

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Roughgarden, J.; Adkins-Regan, E.; Akcay, E.; Hinde, C.A.; Hoquet, T.; O'Connor, C.; Prokop, Z.M.; Prum, R.O.; Shafir, S.; Snow, S.S.; Taylor, D.; Cleve, Van J.; Weisberg, M.

    2015-01-01

    A catalyst meeting on sexual selection studies was held in July 2013 at the facilities of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) in Durham, NC. This article by a subcommittee of the participants foregrounds some of the topics discussed at the meeting. Topics mentioned here include the

  2. Genome-wide scans between two honeybee populations reveal putative signatures of human-mediated selection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parejo, M; Wragg, D; Henriques, D; Vignal, A; Neuditschko, M

    2017-12-01

    Human-mediated selection has left signatures in the genomes of many domesticated animals, including the European dark honeybee, Apis mellifera mellifera, which has been selected by apiculturists for centuries. Using whole-genome sequence information, we investigated selection signatures in spatially separated honeybee subpopulations (Switzerland, n = 39 and France, n = 17). Three different test statistics were calculated in windows of 2 kb (fixation index, cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity and cross-population composite likelihood ratio) and combined into a recently developed composite selection score. Applying a stringent false discovery rate of 0.01, we identified six significant selective sweeps distributed across five chromosomes covering eight genes. These genes are associated with multiple molecular and biological functions, including regulation of transcription, receptor binding and signal transduction. Of particular interest is a selection signature on chromosome 1, which corresponds to the WNT4 gene, the family of which is conserved across the animal kingdom with a variety of functions. In Drosophila melanogaster, WNT4 alleles have been associated with differential wing, cross vein and abdominal phenotypes. Defining phenotypic characteristics of different Apis mellifera ssp., which are typically used as selection criteria, include colour and wing venation pattern. This signal is therefore likely to be a good candidate for human mediated-selection arising from different applied breeding practices in the two managed populations. © 2017 The Authors. Animal Genetics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Stichting International Foundation for Animal Genetics.

  3. Coke properties in relation to charge preparation techniques. [Selective crushing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morozov, O S

    1979-01-01

    Selective crushing is essential to obtain the required coke properties, so that in the coarse fractions there is a considerable reduction in the middlings and dirt normally difficult to crush. These are at the same time enriched with vitrinite so that there is an increase in the coal substance as such, reflected in improved caking capacity in the coarse size range. Various methods of selective crushing are employed, including air entrainment mills, fluidised bed systems. Other advantages claimed for selective crushing are the uniform pore distribution and air permeability and also the diminished breakage stress.

  4. Real-time flavour tagging selection in ATLAS

    CERN Document Server

    Varni, Carlo; The ATLAS collaboration

    2017-01-01

    The ATLAS experiment includes a well-developed trigger system that allows a selection of events which are thought to be of interest, while achieving a high overall rejection against less interesting processes. An important part of the online event selection is the ability to distinguish between jets arising from heavy-flavour quarks (b- and c-jets) and light jets (jets from u-, d-, s- and gluon jets) in real-time. This is essential for many physics analysis that include processes with large jet multiplicity and b-quarks in the final state. An overview of the b-jet triggers with a description of the application and performance of the offline Multivariate (MV2) b-tagging algorithms at High Level Trigger (HLT) in Run 2 will be presented. During 2016 b-jet trigger menu and algorithms were adapted to use The Fast Tracker (FTK) system which will be commissioned in 2017. We will show initial expected performance of newly designed triggers and compare it with the existing HLT chains.

  5. Online Feature Selection for Classifying Emphysema in HRCT Images

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Prasad

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available Feature subset selection, applied as a pre- processing step to machine learning, is valuable in dimensionality reduction, eliminating irrelevant data and improving classifier performance. In the classic formulation of the feature selection problem, it is assumed that all the features are available at the beginning. However, in many real world problems, there are scenarios where not all features are present initially and must be integrated as they become available. In such scenarios, online feature selection provides an efficient way to sort through a large space of features. It is in this context that we introduce online feature selection for the classification of emphysema, a smoking related disease that appears as low attenuation regions in High Resolution Computer Tomography (HRCT images. The technique was successfully evaluated on 61 HRCT scans and compared with different online feature selection approaches, including hill climbing, best first search, grafting, and correlation-based feature selection. The results were also compared against ldensity maskr, a standard approach used for emphysema detection in medical image analysis.

  6. Site Selection for Surplus Plutonium Disposition Facilities at the Savannah River Site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wike, L.D.

    2000-01-01

    A site selection study was conducted to evaluate locations for the proposed Surplus Plutonium Disposition Facilities. Facilities to be located include the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility, the Pit Disassembly and Conversion Facility (PDCF), and the Plutonium Immobilization Project (PIP) facility. Objectives of the study include: (1) Confirm that the Department of Energy (DOE) selected locations for the MOX and PDCF were suitable based on selected siting criteria, (2) Recommend a site in the vicinity of F Area that is suitable for the PIP, and (3) Identify alternative suitable sites for one or more of these facilities in the event that further geotechnical characterization or other considerations result in disqualification of a currently proposed site

  7. Application Of Database Program in selecting Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L) Mutant Lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    H, Soeranto

    2000-01-01

    Computer database software namely MSTAT and paradox have been exercised in the field of mutation breeding especially in the process of selecting plant mutant lines of sorghum. In MSTAT, selecting mutant lines can be done by activating the SELECTION function and then followed by entering mathematical formulas for the selection criterion. Another alternative is by defining the desired selection intensity to the analysis results of subprogram SORT. Including the selected plant mutant lines in BRSERIES program, it will make their progenies be easier to be traced in subsequent generations. In paradox, an application program for selecting mutant lines can be made by combining facilities of Table, form and report. Selecting mutant lines with defined selection criterion can easily be done through filtering data. As a relation database, paradox ensures that the application program for selecting mutant lines and progeny trachings, can be made easier, efficient and interactive

  8. Signatures of natural selection among lineages and habitats in Oncorhynchus mykiss

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Limborg, Morten; Blankenship, S.; Young, S.

    2012-01-01

    lineage. Overall patterns of variation affirmed clear distinctions between lineages and in most instances, isolation by distance within them. Evidence for divergent selection at eight candidate loci included significant landscape correlations, particularly with temperature. High diversity of two...... nonsynonymous mutations within the peptide-binding region of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II (DAB) gene provided signatures of balancing selection. Weak signals for potential selection between sympatric resident and anadromous populations were revealed from genome scans and allele frequency...

  9. Directional and balancing selection in human beta-defensins

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Armour John AL

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In primates, infection is an important force driving gene evolution, and this is reflected in the importance of infectious disease in human morbidity today. The beta-defensins are key components of the innate immune system, with antimicrobial and cell signalling roles, but also reproductive functions. Here we examine evolution of beta-defensins in catarrhine primates and variation within different human populations. Results We show that five beta-defensin genes that do not show copy number variation in humans show evidence of positive selection in catarrhine primates, and identify specific codons that have been under selective pressure. Direct haplotyping of DEFB127 in humans suggests long-term balancing selection: there are two highly diverged haplotype clades carrying different variants of a codon that, in primates, is positively selected. For DEFB132, we show that extensive diversity, including a four-state amino acid polymorphism (valine, isoleucine, alanine and threonine at position 93, is present in hunter-gatherer populations, both African and non-African, but not found in samples from agricultural populations. Conclusion Some, but not all, beta-defensin genes show positive selection in catarrhine primates. There is suggestive evidence of different selective pressures on these genes in humans, but the nature of the selective pressure remains unclear and is likely to differ between populations.

  10. A Lagrange multiplier-type test for idiosyncratic unit roots in the exact factor model under misspecification

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zhou, X.; Solberger, M.

    2013-01-01

    We consider an exact factor model and derive a Lagrange multiplier-type test for unit roots in the idiosyncratic components. The asymptotic distribution of the statistic is derived under the misspecification that the differenced factors are white noise. We prove that the asymptotic distribution is

  11. Fossil energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, including soil carbon effects, of producing agriculture and forestry feedstocks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christina E. Canter; Zhangcai Qin; Hao Cai; Jennifer B. Dunn; Michael Wang; D. Andrew Scott

    2017-01-01

    The GHG emissions and fossil energy consumption associated with producing potential biomass sup­ply in the select BT16 scenarios include emissions and energy consumption from biomass production, harvest/collection, transport, and pre-processing activities to the reactor throat. Emissions associated with energy, fertilizers, and...

  12. Republic of Lithuania; Selected Issues

    OpenAIRE

    International Monetary Fund

    2010-01-01

    This Selected Issues paper reviews public expenditure in Lithuania with a view to identify areas for which deeper reforms may be warranted to improve spending efficiency and contain future spending pressures. The paper benchmarks spending levels and spending composition in Lithuania against those in other European countries. The 31 European countries covered in the benchmarking exercise include the EU-28 plus Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland. Reflecting the tendency for public spending to inc...

  13. Evaluation of selection methods for toxicological impacts in LCA. Recommendations for OMNIITOX

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Henrik Fred; Birkved, Morten; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

    2004-01-01

    selection methods. Conclusion and Recommendations. For the development of SMs it is recommended that the general principles for CRS systems as applied to SMs are taken into account. Furthermore, special attention should be paid to some specific issues, i.e. the emitted amount should be included, data......Goal, Scope and Background. The aim of this study has been to come up with recommendations on how to develop a selection method (SM) within the method development research of the OMNIITOX project. An SM is a method for prioritization of chemical emissions to be included in a Life Cycle Impact...... categories, and when they do there are typically many gaps. This study covers the only existing methods explicitly designed as SMs (EDIP-selection, Priofactor and CPM-selection), the dominating Chemical Ranking and Scoring (CRS) method in Europe (EURAM) and in USA (WMPT) that can be adapted for this purpose...

  14. Selection of oleaginous yeasts for fatty acid production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lamers, Dennis; van Biezen, Nick; Martens, Dirk; Peters, Linda; van de Zilver, Eric; Jacobs-van Dreumel, Nicole; Wijffels, René H; Lokman, Christien

    2016-05-27

    Oleaginous yeast species are an alternative for the production of lipids or triacylglycerides (TAGs). These yeasts are usually non-pathogenic and able to store TAGs ranging from 20 % to 70 % of their cell mass depending on culture conditions. TAGs originating from oleaginous yeasts can be used as the so-called second generation biofuels, which are based on non-food competing "waste carbon sources". In this study the selection of potentially new interesting oleaginous yeast strains is described. Important selection criteria were: a broad maximum temperature and pH range for growth (robustness of the strain), a broad spectrum of carbon sources that can be metabolized (preferably including C-5 sugars), a high total fatty acid content in combination with a low glycogen content and genetic accessibility. Based on these selection criteria, among 24 screened species, Schwanniomyces occidentalis (Debaromyces occidentalis) CBS2864 was selected as a promising strain for the production of high amounts of lipids.

  15. The relationship between sexual selection and sexual conflict.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kokko, Hanna; Jennions, Michael D

    2014-07-18

    Evolutionary conflicts of interest arise whenever genetically different individuals interact and their routes to fitness maximization differ. Sexual selection favors traits that increase an individual's competitiveness to acquire mates and fertilizations. Sexual conflict occurs if an individual of sex A's relative fitness would increase if it had a "tool" that could alter what an individual of sex B does (including the parental genes transferred), at a cost to B's fitness. This definition clarifies several issues: Conflict is very common and, although it extends outside traits under sexual selection, sexual selection is a ready source of sexual conflict. Sexual conflict and sexual selection should not be presented as alternative explanations for trait evolution. Conflict is closely linked to the concept of a lag load, which is context-dependent and sex-specific. This makes it possible to ask if one sex can "win." We expect higher population fitness if females win. Copyright © 2014 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; all rights reserved.

  16. Scope selection and control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guglielmi, F.

    2011-01-01

    OPG is preparing for a 4-unit refurbishment program at Darlington later in this decade. Key efforts underway include the selection of the right refurbishment scope that will allow Darlington to achieve top-decile performance post-refurbishment. For this to be possible, it is imperative that (1) plant/equipment condition be well understood, (2) post-refurbishment performance objectives be clearly defined, and (3) regulatory and other risks be carefully assessed and mitigated. Significant engineering, operations and maintenance support is required to complete this phase of the project cycle.

  17. Selected cerium phase diagrams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gschneidner, K.A. Jr.; Verkade, M.E.

    1974-09-01

    A compilation of cerium alloy phase equilibria data based on the most reliable information available is presented. The binary systems selected are those of cerium with each of the following twenty nine elements which might be commonly found in steels: Al, Sb, As, Bi, Ca, C, Cr, Co, Nb, Cu, Fe, Pb, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, N, O, P, Se, Si, Ag, S, Te, Sn, Ti, W, and Zn. A brief discussion, a summary of crystal lattice parameters where applicable, and a list of references is included for each element surveyed. (U.S.)

  18. New developments in file-based infrastructure for ATLAS event selection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gemmeren, P van; Malon, D M [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States); Nowak, M, E-mail: gemmeren@anl.go [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973-5000 (United States)

    2010-04-01

    In ATLAS software, TAGs are event metadata records that can be stored in various technologies, including ROOT files and relational databases. TAGs are used to identify and extract events that satisfy certain selection predicates, which can be coded as SQL-style queries. TAG collection files support in-file metadata to store information describing all events in the collection. Event Selector functionality has been augmented to provide such collection-level metadata to subsequent algorithms. The ATLAS I/O framework has been extended to allow computational processing of TAG attributes to select or reject events without reading the event data. This capability enables physicists to use more detailed selection criteria than are feasible in an SQL query. For example, the TAGs contain enough information not only to check the number of electrons, but also to calculate their distance to the closest jet-a calculation that would be difficult to express in SQL. Another new development allows ATLAS to write TAGs directly into event data files. This feature can improve performance by supporting advanced event selection capabilities, including computational processing of TAG information, without the need for external TAG file or database access.

  19. Selection of Technical Solutions for the Management of Radioactive Waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2017-07-01

    The objectives of this publication are to identify and critically review the criteria to be considered while selecting waste management technologies; summarize, evaluate, rank and compare the different technical solutions; and offer a systematic approach for selecting the best matching solution. This publication covers the management of radioactive waste from all nuclear operations, including waste generated from research reactors, power reactors, and nuclear fuel cycle activities including high level waste (HLW) arising from reprocessing and spent nuclear fuel declared as waste (SFW), as well as low level waste (LLW) and intermediate level waste (ILW) arising from the production and use of radionuclides in industry, agriculture, medicine, education and research.

  20. Selective reminding of prospective memory in Multiple Sclerosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKeever, Joshua D; Schultheis, Maria T; Sim, Tiffanie; Goykhman, Jessica; Patrick, Kristina; Ehde, Dawn M; Woods, Steven Paul

    2017-04-19

    Multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with prospective memory (PM) deficits, which may increase the risk of poor functional/health outcomes such as medication non-adherence. This study examined the potential benefits of selective reminding to enhance PM functioning in persons with MS. Twenty-one participants with MS and 22 healthy adults (HA) underwent a neuropsychological battery including a Selective Reminding PM (SRPM) experimental procedure. Participants were randomly assigned to either: (1) a selective reminding condition in which participants learn (to criterion) eight prospective memory tasks in a Selective Reminding format; or (2) a single trial encoding condition (1T). A significant interaction was demonstrated, with MS participants receiving greater benefit than HAs from the SR procedure in terms of PM performance. Across diagnostic groups, participants in the SR conditions (vs. 1T conditions) demonstrated significantly better PM performance. Individuals with MS were impaired relative to HAs in the 1T condition, but performance was statistically comparable in the SR condition. This preliminary study suggests that selective reminding can be used to enhance PM cue detection and retrieval in MS. The extent to which selective reminding of PM is effective in naturalistic settings and for health-related behaviours in MS remains to be determined.

  1. Application of Bayesian Model Selection for Metal Yield Models using ALEGRA and Dakota.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Portone, Teresa; Niederhaus, John Henry; Sanchez, Jason James; Swiler, Laura Painton

    2018-02-01

    This report introduces the concepts of Bayesian model selection, which provides a systematic means of calibrating and selecting an optimal model to represent a phenomenon. This has many potential applications, including for comparing constitutive models. The ideas described herein are applied to a model selection problem between different yield models for hardened steel under extreme loading conditions.

  2. Sexual selection and hermaphroditic organisms: Testing theory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janet L. LEONARD

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Sexual selection is widespread if not ubiquitous in hermaphroditic organisms. Although many phenomena that have been described as sexual selection in gonochores, (e.g. harem polygamy, multiple mating, elaborate courtship, even secondary sexual characters can be found in some hermaphrodites, what is more interesting is the ways in which sexual selection in hermaphrodites may differ from dioecious taxa. In hermaphrodites, an individual’s mating success includes its success from both sexual roles. Secondly, in many simultaneously hermaphroditic taxa there is strong evidence of sexual selection and yet the ope­rational sex ratio is 1:1, by definition. Many simultaneous hermaphrodites have elaborate courtship and genital anatomy, suggesting sexual selection plays an important role in reproductive success. Sperm competition and cryptic female choice mean that the number of mates acquired is not necessarily a predictor of reproductive success. Even in simultaneous hermaphrodites with reciprocal mating, variance in reproductive success through the male role and through the female role may differ in a population. Moreover hermaphrodites may choose to emphasize one sexual role over the other. Data suggest that the preferred role varies in hermaphrodites, which creates an opportunity to test fundamental predictions and assumptions of sexual selection theory. Hermaphrodites may vary their emphasis on one sexual role over the other either developmentally or behaviorally in response to environmental or social parameters. How they use this capability in acquiring more or higher quality mates still requires study [Current Zoology 59 (4: 579–588, 2013].

  3. Selecting automation for the clinical chemistry laboratory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melanson, Stacy E F; Lindeman, Neal I; Jarolim, Petr

    2007-07-01

    Laboratory automation proposes to improve the quality and efficiency of laboratory operations, and may provide a solution to the quality demands and staff shortages faced by today's clinical laboratories. Several vendors offer automation systems in the United States, with both subtle and obvious differences. Arriving at a decision to automate, and the ensuing evaluation of available products, can be time-consuming and challenging. Although considerable discussion concerning the decision to automate has been published, relatively little attention has been paid to the process of evaluating and selecting automation systems. To outline a process for evaluating and selecting automation systems as a reference for laboratories contemplating laboratory automation. Our Clinical Chemistry Laboratory staff recently evaluated all major laboratory automation systems in the United States, with their respective chemistry and immunochemistry analyzers. Our experience is described and organized according to the selection process, the important considerations in clinical chemistry automation, decisions and implementation, and we give conclusions pertaining to this experience. Including the formation of a committee, workflow analysis, submitting a request for proposal, site visits, and making a final decision, the process of selecting chemistry automation took approximately 14 months. We outline important considerations in automation design, preanalytical processing, analyzer selection, postanalytical storage, and data management. Selecting clinical chemistry laboratory automation is a complex, time-consuming process. Laboratories considering laboratory automation may benefit from the concise overview and narrative and tabular suggestions provided.

  4. Selective Electrochemical Detection of Epinephrine Using Gold Nanoporous Film

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dina M. Fouad

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Epinephrine (EP is one of the important catecholamine neurotransmitters that play an important role in the mammalian central nervous system. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the change of its concentrations. Nanoporous materials have wide applications that include catalysis, energy storages, environmental pollution control, wastewater treatment, and sensing applications. These unique properties could be attributable to their high surface area, a large pore volume, and uniform pore sizes. A gold nanoporous layer modified gold electrode was prepared and applied for the selective determination of epinephrine neurotransmitter at low concentration in the presence of several other substances including ascorbic acid (AA and uric acid (UA. The constructed electrode was characterized using scanning electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The resulting electrode showed a selective detection of epinephrine with the interferences of dopamine and uric acid over a wide linear range (from 50 μM to 1 mM. The coverage of gold nanoporous on the surface of gold electrode represents a promising electrochemical sensor with high selectivity and sensitivity.

  5. Radiography by selective detection of scatter field velocity components

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacobs, Alan M. (Inventor); Dugan, Edward T. (Inventor); Shedlock, Daniel (Inventor)

    2007-01-01

    A reconfigurable collimated radiation detector, system and related method includes at least one collimated radiation detector. The detector has an adjustable collimator assembly including at least one feature, such as a fin, optically coupled thereto. Adjustments to the adjustable collimator selects particular directions of travel of scattered radiation emitted from an irradiated object which reach the detector. The collimated detector is preferably a collimated detector array, where the collimators are independently adjustable. The independent motion capability provides the capability to focus the image by selection of the desired scatter field components. When an array of reconfigurable collimated detectors is provided, separate image data can be obtained from each of the detectors and the respective images cross-correlated and combined to form an enhanced image.

  6. Low-rank coal research annual report, July 1, 1989--June 30, 1990 including quarterly report, April--June 1990

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1990-11-01

    Research programs in the following areas are presented: control technology and coal preparation; advance research and technology development; combustion; liquefaction; and gasification. Sixteen projects are included. Selected items have been processed separately for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology Database.

  7. Selection/licensing of nuclear power plant operators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saari, L.M.

    1983-07-01

    An important aspect of nuclear power plant (NPP) safety is the reactor operator in the control room. The operators are the first individuals to deal with an emergency situation, and thus, effective performance on their part is essential for safe plant operations. Important issues pertaining to NPP reactor operators would fall within the personnel subsystem of our safety system analysis. While there are many potential aspects of the personnel subsystem, a key first step in this focus is the selection of individuals - attempting to choose individuals for the job of reactor operator who will safely perform the job. This requires a valid (job-related) selection process. Some background information on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing process used for selecting NPP reactor operators is briefly presented and a description of a research endeavor now underway at Battelle for developing a valid reactor operator licensing examination is included

  8. Motivation of medical students: selection by motivation or motivation by selection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wouters, Anouk; Croiset, Gerda; Galindo-Garre, Francisca; Kusurkar, Rashmi A

    2016-01-29

    Medical schools try to implement selection procedures that will allow them to select the most motivated students for their programs. Though there is a general feeling that selection stimulates student motivation, conclusive evidence for this is lacking. The current study aims to use the perspective of Self-determination Theory (SDT) of motivation as a lens to examine how medical students' motivation differs in relation to different selection procedures. The hypotheses were that 1) selected students report higher strength and autonomous motivation than non-selected students, and 2) recently selected students report higher strength and autonomous motivation than non-selected students and students who were selected longer ago. First- (Y1) and fourth-year (Y4) medical students in the six-year regular programme and first-year students in the four-year graduate entry programme (GE) completed questionnaires measuring motivation strength and type (autonomous-AM, controlled-CM). Scores were compared between students admitted based on selection, lottery or top pre-university GPA (top GPA) using ANCOVAs. Selected students' answers on open-ended questions were analysed using inductive thematic analysis to identify reasons for changes in motivation. The response rate was 61.4 % (n = 357). Selected students (Y1, Y4 and GE) reported a significantly higher strength of motivation than non-selected students (Y1 and Y4 lottery and top GPA) (p motivation as they felt autonomous, competent and that they belonged to a special group. These reported reasons are in alignment with the basic psychological needs described by Self-Determination Theory as important in enhancing autonomous motivation. A comprehensive selection procedure, compared to less demanding admission procedures, does not seem to yield a student population which stands out in terms of autonomous motivation. The current findings indicate that selection might temporarily enhance students' motivation. The mechanism

  9. Portfolio selection theory and wildlife management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    JW Hearne

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available With a strong commercial incentive driving the increase in game ranching in Southern Africa the need has come for more advanced management tools. In this paper the potential of Portfolio Selection Theory to determine the optimal mix of species on game ranches is explored. Land, or the food it produces, is a resource available to invest. We consider species as investment choices. Each species has its own return and risk profile. The question arises as to what proportion of the resource available should be invested in each species. We show that if the objective is to minimise risk for a given return, then the problem is analogous to the Portfolio Selection Problem. The method is then implemented for a typical game ranch. We show that besides risk and return objectives, it is necessary to include an additional objective so as to ensure sufficient species to maintain the character of a game ranch. Some other points of difference from the classical Portfolio Selection problem are also highlighted and discussed.

  10. Probing contextuality with pre- and post-selection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tollaksen, Jeff

    2007-01-01

    By analyzing the concept of contextuality (Bell-Kochen-Specker) in terms of pre-and-post-selection (PPS), it is possible to assign definite values to observables in a new way. Physical reasons are presented for restrictions on these assignments. When measurements are performed which do not disturb the pre- and post-selection (i.e. weak measurements), then novel experimental aspects of contextuality can be demonstrated including a proof that every PPS-paradox with definite predictions implies contextuality. Certain results of these measurements (eccentric weak values with e.g. negative values outside the spectrum), however, cannot be explained by a 'classical-like' hidden variable theory. Surprising theoretical implications are discussed

  11. Selecting Advanced Software Technology in Two Small Manufacturing Enterprises

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Anderson, Bill; Estrin, Len; Buhman, Charles

    2004-01-01

    .... These challenges may include the lack of awareness of the specific technologies and commercial products available, the lack of ability to select the appropriate product, and the lack of skill sets...

  12. Pediatric pancreas transplantation, including total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bondoc, Alexander J; Abu-El-Haija, Maisam; Nathan, Jaimie D

    2017-08-01

    Unlike other solid-organ transplants, whole pancreas transplantation in children is relatively rare, and it occurs more frequently in the context of multivisceral or composite organ transplantation. Because children only infrequently suffer severe sequelae of type 1 diabetes mellitus, pancreas transplantation is rarely indicated in the pediatric population. More commonly, pediatric pancreas transplant occurs in the setting of incapacitating acute recurrent or chronic pancreatitis, specifically islet autotransplantation after total pancreatectomy. In this clinical scenario, total pancreatectomy removes the nidus of chronic pain and debilitation, while autologous islet transplantation aims to preserve endocrine function. The published experiences with pediatric total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation (TPIAT) in children has demonstrated excellent outcomes including liberation from chronic opioid use, as well as improved mental and physical quality of life with good glycemic control. Given the complexity of the operation, risk of postoperative complication, and long-term physiologic changes, appropriate patient selection and comprehensive multidisciplinary care teams are critical to ensuring optimal outcomes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Teaching Methods in Biology Education and Sustainability Education Including Outdoor Education for Promoting Sustainability--A Literature Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeronen, Eila; Palmberg, Irmeli; Yli-Panula, Eija

    2017-01-01

    There are very few studies concerning the importance of teaching methods in biology education and environmental education including outdoor education for promoting sustainability at the levels of primary and secondary schools and pre-service teacher education. The material was selected using special keywords from biology and sustainable education…

  14. Discovery and therapeutic promise of selective androgen receptor modulators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Jiyun; Kim, Juhyun; Dalton, James T

    2005-06-01

    Androgens are essential for male development and the maintenance of male secondary characteristics, such as bone mass, muscle mass, body composition, and spermatogenesis. The main disadvantages of steroidal androgens are their undesirable physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties. The recent discovery of nonsteroidal selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) provides a promising alternative for testosterone replacement therapies with advantages including oral bioavailability, flexibility of structural modification, androgen receptor specificity, tissue selectivity, and the lack of steroid-related side effects.

  15. International perspectives on the legal environment for selection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Myors, B.; Lievens, F.; Schollaert, E.; van Hoye, G.; Cronshaw, S.F.; Mladinic, A.; Rodríguez, V.; Aguinis, H.; Steiner, D.D.; Rolland, F.; Schuler, H.; Frintrup, A.; Nikolaou, I.; Tomprou, M.; Subramony, S.; Raj, S.B.; Tzafrir, S.; Bamberger, P.; Bertolino, M.; Mariani, M.; Fraccaroli, F.; Sekiguchi, T.; Onyura, B.; Yang, H.; Anderson, N.; Evers, A.; Chernyshenko, O.; Englert, P.; Kriek, H.J.; Joubert, T.; Salgado, J.F.; König, C.J.; Thommen, L.A.; Chuang, A.; Sinangil, H.K.; Bayazit, M.; Cook, M.; Shen, W.; Sackett, P.R.

    2008-01-01

    Perspectives from 22 countries on aspects of the legal environment for selection are presented in this article. Issues addressed include (a) whether there are racial/ethnic/religious subgroups viewed as "disadvantaged," (b) whether research documents mean differences between groups on individual

  16. Heterogeneous returns to U.S. college selectivity and the value of graduate degree attainment

    OpenAIRE

    Seki, Mai

    2013-01-01

    Existing studies on the returns to college selectivity have mixed results, mainly due to the difficulty of controlling for selection into more-selective colleges based on unobserved ability. Moreover, researchers have not considered graduate degree attainment in the analysis of labour market returns to college selectivity. In this paper, I estimate the effect of a U.S. four-year undergraduate program’s selectivity on wages, including graduate degree attainment. I control for both observed a...

  17. Learning to Select Supplier Portfolios for Service Supply Chain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Rui; Li, Jingfei; Wu, Shaoyu; Meng, Dabin

    2016-01-01

    The research on service supply chain has attracted more and more focus from both academia and industrial community. In a service supply chain, the selection of supplier portfolio is an important and difficult problem due to the fact that a supplier portfolio may include multiple suppliers from a variety of fields. To address this problem, we propose a novel supplier portfolio selection method based on a well known machine learning approach, i.e., Ranking Neural Network (RankNet). In the proposed method, we regard the problem of supplier portfolio selection as a ranking problem, which integrates a large scale of decision making features into a ranking neural network. Extensive simulation experiments are conducted, which demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. The proposed supplier portfolio selection model can be applied in a real corporation easily in the future.

  18. Molecular classification of pesticides including persistent organic pollutants, phenylurea and sulphonylurea herbicides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torrens, Francisco; Castellano, Gloria

    2014-06-05

    Pesticide residues in wine were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Retentions are modelled by structure-property relationships. Bioplastic evolution is an evolutionary perspective conjugating effect of acquired characters and evolutionary indeterminacy-morphological determination-natural selection principles; its application to design co-ordination index barely improves correlations. Fractal dimensions and partition coefficient differentiate pesticides. Classification algorithms are based on information entropy and its production. Pesticides allow a structural classification by nonplanarity, and number of O, S, N and Cl atoms and cycles; different behaviours depend on number of cycles. The novelty of the approach is that the structural parameters are related to retentions. Classification algorithms are based on information entropy. When applying procedures to moderate-sized sets, excessive results appear compatible with data suffering a combinatorial explosion. However, equipartition conjecture selects criterion resulting from classification between hierarchical trees. Information entropy permits classifying compounds agreeing with principal component analyses. Periodic classification shows that pesticides in the same group present similar properties; those also in equal period, maximum resemblance. The advantage of the classification is to predict the retentions for molecules not included in the categorization. Classification extends to phenyl/sulphonylureas and the application will be to predict their retentions.

  19. Genome-wide analysis of positively selected genes in seasonal and non-seasonal breeding species.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuhuan Meng

    Full Text Available Some mammals breed throughout the year, while others breed only at certain times of year. These differences in reproductive behavior can be explained by evolution. We identified positively-selected genes in two sets of species with different degrees of relatedness including seasonal and non-seasonal breeding species, using branch-site models. After stringent filtering by sum of pairs scoring, we revealed that more genes underwent positive selection in seasonal compared with non-seasonal breeding species. Positively-selected genes were verified by cDNA mapping of the positive sites with the corresponding cDNA sequences. The design of the evolutionary analysis can effectively lower the false-positive rate and thus identify valid positive genes. Validated, positively-selected genes, including CGA, DNAH1, INVS, and CD151, were related to reproductive behaviors such as spermatogenesis and cell proliferation in non-seasonal breeding species. Genes in seasonal breeding species, including THRAP3, TH1L, and CMTM6, may be related to the evolution of sperm and the circadian rhythm system. Identification of these positively-selected genes might help to identify the molecular mechanisms underlying seasonal and non-seasonal reproductive behaviors.

  20. A Meta-Assembly of Selection Signatures in Cattle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Randhawa, Imtiaz A. S.; Khatkar, Mehar S.; Thomson, Peter C.; Raadsma, Herman W.

    2016-01-01

    Since domestication, significant genetic improvement has been achieved for many traits of commercial importance in cattle, including adaptation, appearance and production. In response to such intense selection pressures, the bovine genome has undergone changes at the underlying regions of functional genetic variants, which are termed “selection signatures”. This article reviews 64 recent (2009–2015) investigations testing genomic diversity for departure from neutrality in worldwide cattle populations. In particular, we constructed a meta-assembly of 16,158 selection signatures for individual breeds and their archetype groups (European, African, Zebu and composite) from 56 genome-wide scans representing 70,743 animals of 90 pure and crossbred cattle breeds. Meta-selection-scores (MSS) were computed by combining published results at every given locus, within a sliding window span. MSS were adjusted for common samples across studies and were weighted for significance thresholds across and within studies. Published selection signatures show extensive coverage across the bovine genome, however, the meta-assembly provides a consensus profile of 263 genomic regions of which 141 were unique (113 were breed-specific) and 122 were shared across cattle archetypes. The most prominent peaks of MSS represent regions under selection across multiple populations and harboured genes of known major effects (coat color, polledness and muscle hypertrophy) and genes known to influence polygenic traits (stature, adaptation, feed efficiency, immunity, behaviour, reproduction, beef and dairy production). As the first meta-assembly of selection signatures, it offers novel insights about the hotspots of selective sweeps in the bovine genome, and this method could equally be applied to other species. PMID:27045296

  1. OPRA capacity bounds for selection diversity over generalized fading channels

    KAUST Repository

    Hanif, Muhammad Fainan

    2014-05-01

    Channel side information at the transmitter can increase the average capacity by enabling optimal power and rate adaptation. The resulting optimal power and rate adaptation (OPRA) capacity rarely has a closed-form analytic expression. In this paper, lower and upper bounds on OPRA capacity for selection diversity scheme are presented. These bounds hold for variety of fading channels including log-normal and generalized Gamma distributed models and have very simple analytic expressions for easy evaluation even for kth best path selection. Some selected numerical results show that the newly proposed bounds closely approximate the actual OPRA capacity. © 2014 IEEE.

  2. Mapping farmland abandonment and recultivation across Europe using MODIS NDVI time series

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Estel, Stephan; Kuemmerle, Tobias; Alcántara, Camilo

    2015-01-01

    for recultivation hinges on incomplete knowledge about the spatial patterns of fallow and abandoned farmland, especially at broad geographic scales. Our goals were to develop a methodology to map active and fallow land using MODIS Normalized Differenced Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series and to provide the first...

  3. WP/073 Is the Clean Development Mechanism Effective for Emission Reductions?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Huang, Yongfu; He, Jingjing; Tarp, Finn

    makes use of the newly-developed econometric methods for dynamic panel data models associated with X-differencing procedure. It provides evidence in support of a decline in CO2 emissions in the CDM host countries. It has important policy implications that encourage the international community to support...

  4. A non-Gaussian generalisation of the Airline model for robust Seasonal Adjustment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aston, J.; Koopman, S.J.

    2006-01-01

    In their seminal book Time Series Analysis: Forecasting and Control, Box and Jenkins (1976) introduce the Airline model, which is still routinely used for the modelling of economic seasonal time series. The Airline model is for a differenced time series (in levels and seasons) and constitutes a

  5. The Origin of Mutants Under Selection: How Natural Selection Mimics Mutagenesis (Adaptive Mutation)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maisnier-Patin, Sophie; Roth, John R.

    2015-01-01

    Selection detects mutants but does not cause mutations. Contrary to this dictum, Cairns and Foster plated a leaky lac mutant of Escherichia coli on lactose medium and saw revertant (Lac+) colonies accumulate with time above a nongrowing lawn. This result suggested that bacteria might mutagenize their own genome when growth is blocked. However, this conclusion is suspect in the light of recent evidence that revertant colonies are initiated by preexisting cells with multiple copies the conjugative F′lac plasmid, which carries the lac mutation. Some plated cells have multiple copies of the simple F′lac plasmid. This provides sufficient LacZ activity to support plasmid replication but not cell division. In nongrowing cells, repeated plasmid replication increases the likelihood of a reversion event. Reversion to lac+ triggers exponential cell growth leading to a stable Lac+ revertant colony. In 10% of these plated cells, the high-copy plasmid includes an internal tandem lac duplication, which provides even more LacZ activity—sufficient to support slow growth and formation of an unstable Lac+ colony. Cells with multiple copies of the F′lac plasmid have an increased mutation rate, because the plasmid encodes the error-prone (mutagenic) DNA polymerase, DinB. Without DinB, unstable and stable Lac+ revertant types form in equal numbers and both types arise with no mutagenesis. Amplification and selection are central to behavior of the Cairns–Foster system, whereas mutagenesis is a system-specific side effect or artifact caused by coamplification of dinB with lac. Study of this system has revealed several broadly applicable principles. In all populations, gene duplications are frequent stable genetic polymorphisms, common near-neutral mutant alleles can gain a positive phenotype when amplified under selection, and natural selection can operate without cell division when variability is generated by overreplication of local genome subregions. PMID:26134316

  6. Influence of probiotics, included in peanut butter, on the fate of selected Salmonella and Listeria strains under simulated gastrointestinal conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klu, Y A K; Chen, J

    2016-04-01

    This study observed the behaviour of probiotics and selected bacterial pathogens co-inoculated into peanut butter during gastrointestinal simulation. Peanut butter homogenates co-inoculated with Salmonella/Listeria strains (5 log CFU ml(-1) ) and lyophilized or cultured probiotics (9 log CFU ml(-1) ) were exposed to simulated gastrointestinal conditions for 24 h at 37°C. Sample pH, titratable acidity and pathogen populations were determined. Agar diffusion assay was performed to assess the inhibitory effect of probiotic culture supernatants with either natural (3·80 (Lactobacillus), 3·78 (Bifidobacteirum) and 5·17 (Streptococcus/Lactococcus)) or neutralized (6·0) pH. Antibacterial effect of crude bacteriocin extracts were also evaluated against the pathogens. After 24 h, samples with probiotics had lower pH and higher titratable acidity than those without probiotics. The presence of probiotics caused a significant reduction (P Probiotics in 'peanut butter' survived simulated gastrointestinal conditions and inhibited the growth of Salmonella/Listeria. Peanut butter is a plausible carrier to deliver probiotics to improve the gastrointestinal health of children in developing countries. © 2016 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

  7. Criteria for Selecting Suitable Infectious Diseases for Phage Therapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David R. Harper

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available One of the main issues with phage therapy from its earliest days has been the selection of appropriate disease targets. In early work, when the nature of bacteriophages was unknown, many inappropriate targets were selected, including some now known to have no bacterial involvement whatsoever. More recently, with greatly increased understanding of the highly specific nature of bacteriophages and of their mechanisms of action, it has been possible to select indications with an increased chance of a successful therapeutic outcome. The factors to be considered include the characteristics of the infection to be treated, the characteristics of the bacteria involved, and the characteristics of the bacteriophages themselves. At a later stage all of this information then informs trial design and regulatory considerations. Where the work is undertaken towards the development of a commercial product it is also necessary to consider the planned market, protection of intellectual property, and the sourcing of funding to support the work. It is clear that bacteriophages are not a “magic bullet”. However, with careful and appropriate selection of a limited set of initial targets, it should be possible to obtain proof of concept for the many elements required for the success of phage therapy. In time, success with these initial targets could then support more widespread use.

  8. Material and process selection using product examples

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lenau, Torben Anker

    2001-01-01

    The objective of the paper is to suggest a different procedure for selecting materials and processes within the product development work. The procedure includes using product examples in order to increase the number of alternative materials and processes that is considered. Product examples can c...... a search engine, and through hyperlinks can relevant materials and processes be explored. Realising that designers are very sensitive to user interfaces do all descriptions of materials, processes and products include graphical descriptions, i.e. pictures or computer graphics....

  9. Material and process selection using product examples

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lenau, Torben Anker

    2002-01-01

    The objective of the paper is to suggest a different procedure for selecting materials and processes within the product development work. The procedure includes using product examples in order to increase the number of alternative materials and processes that is considered. Product examples can c...... a search engine, and through hyperlinks can relevant materials and processes be explored. Realising that designers are very sensitive to user interfaces do all descriptions of materials, processes and products include graphical descriptions, i.e. pictures or computer graphics....

  10. The selection criteria for Slovenian bibliography: with special emphasis on the articles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marjeta Šušteričič

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Selection principles are an important stage in the creation of a national bibliography.The article outlines the selection of the national output to be included in Slovenian bibliography. It also presents theoretical basis for selection in general, with the emphasis on international guidelines and on the development of national principles and professional outlines. Statistical data and examples give more detailed analysis of selection criteria of articles regarding different types of serial publications. Results of the study show that selection criteria for Slovenian bibliography are to be constantly verified due to the dynamics of the national publishing industry. Nevertheless, the main features of selection criteria remain unchanged: lasting value of subject matter with the emphasis on scientific research and expert knowledge.

  11. Answers to selected problems in multivariable calculus with linear algebra and series

    CERN Document Server

    Trench, William F

    1972-01-01

    Answers to Selected Problems in Multivariable Calculus with Linear Algebra and Series contains the answers to selected problems in linear algebra, the calculus of several variables, and series. Topics covered range from vectors and vector spaces to linear matrices and analytic geometry, as well as differential calculus of real-valued functions. Theorems and definitions are included, most of which are followed by worked-out illustrative examples.The problems and corresponding solutions deal with linear equations and matrices, including determinants; vector spaces and linear transformations; eig

  12. Selective nanoscale growth of lattice mismatched materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Seung-Chang; Brueck, Steven R. J.

    2017-06-20

    Exemplary embodiments provide materials and methods of forming high-quality semiconductor devices using lattice-mismatched materials. In one embodiment, a composite film including one or more substantially-single-particle-thick nanoparticle layers can be deposited over a substrate as a nanoscale selective growth mask for epitaxially growing lattice-mismatched materials over the substrate.

  13. Use of a preconditioned Bi-conjugate gradient method for hybrid plasma stability analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mikic, Z.; Morse, E.C.

    1985-01-01

    The numerical stability analysis of compact toroidal plasmas using implicit time differencing requires the solution of a set of coupled, 2-dimensional, elliptic partial differential equations for the field quantities at every timestep. When the equations are spatially finite-differenced and written in matrix form, the resulting matrix is large, sparse, complex, non-Hermitian, and indefinite. The use of the preconditioned bi-conjugate gradient method for solving these equations is discussed. The effect of block-diagonal preconditioning and incomplete block-LU preconditionig on the convergence of the method is investigated. For typical matrices arising in our studies, the eigenvalue spectra of the original and preconditioned matrices are calculated as an illustration of the effectiveness of the preconditioning. We show that the preconditioned bi-conjugate gradient method coverages more rapidly than the conjugate gradient method applied to the normal equations, and that it is an effective iterative method for the class of non-Hermitian, indefinite problems of interest

  14. Assessment of microbial profile of selected proprietary broiler ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Bacterial and fungal isolates recovered include Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus albus, Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus spp, Pseudomonas spp, Aspergillus fumigatus, A. flavus, A. niger, Fusarium spp, Mucor spp, and Penicillium notatum. Total microbial counts were significantly different (P<0.05) among the selected feed ...

  15. Habitat Use and Selection by Giant Pandas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hull, Vanessa; Zhang, Jindong; Huang, Jinyan; Zhou, Shiqiang; Viña, Andrés; Shortridge, Ashton; Li, Rengui; Liu, Dian; Xu, Weihua; Ouyang, Zhiyun; Zhang, Hemin; Liu, Jianguo

    2016-01-01

    Animals make choices about where to spend their time in complex and dynamic landscapes, choices that reveal information about their biology that in turn can be used to guide their conservation. Using GPS collars, we conducted a novel individual-based analysis of habitat use and selection by the elusive and endangered giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). We constructed spatial autoregressive resource utilization functions (RUF) to model the relationship between the pandas' utilization distributions and various habitat characteristics over a continuous space across seasons. Results reveal several new insights, including use of a broader range of habitat characteristics than previously understood for the species, particularly steep slopes and non-forest areas. We also used compositional analysis to analyze habitat selection (use with respect to availability of habitat types) at two selection levels. Pandas selected against low terrain position and against the highest clumped forest at the at-home range level, but no significant factors were identified at the within-home range level. Our results have implications for modeling and managing the habitat of this endangered species by illustrating how individual pandas relate to habitat and make choices that differ from assumptions made in broad scale models. Our study also highlights the value of using a spatial autoregressive RUF approach on animal species for which a complete picture of individual-level habitat use and selection across space is otherwise lacking. PMID:27627805

  16. Purposeful selection of variables in logistic regression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Williams David Keith

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The main problem in many model-building situations is to choose from a large set of covariates those that should be included in the "best" model. A decision to keep a variable in the model might be based on the clinical or statistical significance. There are several variable selection algorithms in existence. Those methods are mechanical and as such carry some limitations. Hosmer and Lemeshow describe a purposeful selection of covariates within which an analyst makes a variable selection decision at each step of the modeling process. Methods In this paper we introduce an algorithm which automates that process. We conduct a simulation study to compare the performance of this algorithm with three well documented variable selection procedures in SAS PROC LOGISTIC: FORWARD, BACKWARD, and STEPWISE. Results We show that the advantage of this approach is when the analyst is interested in risk factor modeling and not just prediction. In addition to significant covariates, this variable selection procedure has the capability of retaining important confounding variables, resulting potentially in a slightly richer model. Application of the macro is further illustrated with the Hosmer and Lemeshow Worchester Heart Attack Study (WHAS data. Conclusion If an analyst is in need of an algorithm that will help guide the retention of significant covariates as well as confounding ones they should consider this macro as an alternative tool.

  17. Habitat Use and Selection by Giant Pandas.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vanessa Hull

    Full Text Available Animals make choices about where to spend their time in complex and dynamic landscapes, choices that reveal information about their biology that in turn can be used to guide their conservation. Using GPS collars, we conducted a novel individual-based analysis of habitat use and selection by the elusive and endangered giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca. We constructed spatial autoregressive resource utilization functions (RUF to model the relationship between the pandas' utilization distributions and various habitat characteristics over a continuous space across seasons. Results reveal several new insights, including use of a broader range of habitat characteristics than previously understood for the species, particularly steep slopes and non-forest areas. We also used compositional analysis to analyze habitat selection (use with respect to availability of habitat types at two selection levels. Pandas selected against low terrain position and against the highest clumped forest at the at-home range level, but no significant factors were identified at the within-home range level. Our results have implications for modeling and managing the habitat of this endangered species by illustrating how individual pandas relate to habitat and make choices that differ from assumptions made in broad scale models. Our study also highlights the value of using a spatial autoregressive RUF approach on animal species for which a complete picture of individual-level habitat use and selection across space is otherwise lacking.

  18. Genome-wide selection signatures in Pinzgau cattle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Radovan Kasarda

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to identify the evidence of recent selection based on estimation of the integrated Haplotype Score (iHS, population differentiation index (FST and characterize affected regions near QTL associated with traits under strong selection in Pinzgau cattle. In total 21 Austrian and 19 Slovak purebreed bulls genotyped with Illumina bovineHD and  bovineSNP50 BeadChip were used to identify genomic regions under selection. Only autosomal loci with call rate higher than 90%, minor allele frequency higher than 0.01 and Hardy-Weinberg equlibrium limit of 0.001 were included in the subsequent analyses of selection sweeps presence. The final dataset was consisted from 30538 SNPs with 81.86 kb average adjacent SNPs spacing. The iHS score were averaged into non-overlapping 500 kb segments across the genome. The FST values were also plotted against genome position based on sliding windows approach and averaged over 8 consecutive SNPs. Based on integrated Haplotype Score evaluation only 7 regions with iHS score higher than 1.7 was found. The average iHS score observed for each adjacent syntenic regions indicated slight effect of recent selection in analysed group of Pinzgau bulls. The level of genetic differentiation between Austrian and Slovak bulls estimated based on FST index was low. Only 24% of FST values calculated for each SNP was greather than 0.01. By using sliding windows approach was found that 5% of analysed windows had higher value than 0.01. Our results indicated use of similar selection scheme in breeding programs of Slovak and Austrian Pinzgau bulls. The evidence for genome-wide association between signatures of selection and regions affecting complex traits such as milk production was insignificant, because the loci in segments identified as affected by selection were very distant from each other. Identification of genomic regions that may be under pressure of selection for phenotypic traits to better understanding of the

  19. Site selection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olsen, C.W.

    1983-07-01

    The conditions and criteria for selecting a site for a nuclear weapons test at the Nevada Test Site are summarized. Factors considered are: (1) scheduling of drill rigs, (2) scheduling of site preparation (dirt work, auger hole, surface casing, cementing), (3) schedule of event (when are drill hole data needed), (4) depth range of proposed W.P., (5) geologic structure (faults, Pz contact, etc.), (6) stratigraphy (alluvium, location of Grouse Canyon Tuff, etc.), (7) material properties (particularly montmorillonite and CO 2 content), (8) water table depth, (9) potential drilling problems (caving), (10) adjacent collapse craters and chimneys, (11) adjacent expended but uncollapsed sites, (12) adjacent post-shot or other small diameter holes, (13) adjacent stockpile emplacement holes, (14) adjacent planned events (including LANL), (15) projected needs of Test Program for various DOB's and operational separations, and (16) optimal use of NTS real estate

  20. Sexual Selection Revisited ? Towards a Gender-Neutral Theory and Practice

    OpenAIRE

    2007-01-01

    Abstract In a recent issue of this journal, Vandermassen suggested that feminists should include sexual selection theory and evolutionary psychology in a unifying theory of human nature. In response, this article aims to offer some insight into the development of sexual selection theory, to caution against Vandermassen's unreserved assimilation and to promote the opposite ongoing integration ? an inclusion of gender perspectives into evolutionary biology. In society today, opinions...

  1. Selecting sex: the effect of preferring sons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hesketh, Therese

    2011-11-01

    Son preference remains common in countries from East Asia through South Asia to the Middle East and North Africa. Where sex selective technology and abortion are readily available, such as in China, South Korea and India, this has led to a marked excess in male births. Worst excesses are seen in parts of rural China where there are 140 male births for every 100 female. This leads to large numbers of unmarriageable men. Concerns about the consequences centre around the propensity to aggression and violence of these men with increased levels of crime and antisocial behaviour, threatening societal stability and security. But recent studies do not support these assumptions, but rather suggest that these men are marginalised, lonely, withdrawn and prone to psychological problems. Measures to reduce sex selection should include enforcement of existing legislation on sex-selection, and public awareness campaigns about the dangers of late abortion and gender imbalance. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Tokamak Physics EXperiment (TPX): Toroidal field magnet design, development and manufacture. SDRL 21, Materials and processes selection. Volume 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, B.R.

    1995-01-01

    This document identifies the candidate materials and manufacturing processes selected for development of the TPX Toroidal Field (TF) Magnet. Supporting rationale and selection criteria are provided for justification and the materials properties database report is included for completeness. Specific properties for each material selection are included in this document

  3. Selective laser etching or ablation for fabrication of devices

    KAUST Repository

    Buttner, Ulrich

    2017-01-12

    Methods of fabricating devices vial selective laser etching are provided. The methods can include selective laser etching of a portion of a metal layer, e.g. using a laser light source having a wavelength of 1,000 nm to 1,500 nm. The methods can be used to fabricate a variety of features, including an electrode, an interconnect, a channel, a reservoir, a contact hole, a trench, a pad, or a combination thereof. A variety of devices fabricated according to the methods are also provided. In some aspects, capacitive humidity sensors are provided that can be fabricated according to the provided methods. The capacitive humidity sensors can be fabricated with intricate electrodes, e.g. having a fractal pattern such as a Peano curve, a Hilbert curve, a Moore curve, or a combination thereof.

  4. Selected Bibliography of Egyptian Educational Materials, Vol. 2, No. 3, 1976.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Ahram Center for Scientific Translations, Cairo (Egypt).

    The selective annotated bibliography of Egyptian educational publications contains 109 entries on 42 topics. Included are journal articles, books, and government documents published during 1976. Content includes the following topics: adult education, art education, audiovisual aids, care for distinguished students, educational planning,…

  5. Phenotypic selection varies with pollination intensity across populations of Sabatia angularis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emel, Sarah L; Franks, Steven J; Spigler, Rachel B

    2017-07-01

    Pollinators are considered primary selective agents acting on plant traits, and thus variation in the strength of the plant-pollinator interaction might drive variation in the opportunity for selection and selection intensity across plant populations. Here, we examine whether these critical evolutionary parameters covary with pollination intensity across wild populations of the biennial Sabatia angularis. We quantified pollination intensity in each of nine S. angularis populations as mean stigmatic pollen load per population. For female fitness and three components, fruit number, fruit set (proportion of flowers setting fruit) and number of seeds per fruit, we evaluated whether the opportunity for selection varied with pollination intensity. We used phenotypic selection analyses to test for interactions between pollination intensity and selection gradients for five floral traits, including flowering phenology. The opportunity for selection via fruit set and seeds per fruit declined significantly with increasing pollen receipt, as expected. We demonstrated significant directional selection on multiple traits across populations. We also found that selection intensity for all traits depended on pollination intensity. Consistent with general theory about the relationship between biotic interaction strength and the intensity of selection, our study suggests that variation in pollination intensity drives variation in selection across S. angularis populations. © 2017 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.

  6. Selection of Military Personnel for Foreign Language Training.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neumann, Idell; And Others

    A recently initiated research program, designed to develop tests and other procedures for improving the selection of military personnel for language training, has attempted to amplify the traditional language aptitude requirement to include systematic non-cognitive measures of the prospective trainee's motivation. (Author/AF)

  7. Towards evenly distributed grazing patterns: including social context in sheep management strategies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agustina di Virgilio

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Background. A large proportion of natural grasslands around the world is exposed to overgrazing resulting in land degradation and biodiversity loss. Although there is an increasing effort in the promotion of sustainable livestock management, rangeland degradation still occurs because animals’ foraging behaviour is highly selective at different spatial scales. The assessment of the ecological mechanisms modulating the spatial distribution of grazing and how to control it has critical implications for long term conservation of resources and the sustainability of livestock production. Considering the relevance of social interactions on animals’ space use patterns, our aim was to explore the potential effects of including animals’ social context into management strategies using domestic sheep grazing in rangelands as case study. Methods. We used GPS data from 19 Merino sheep (approximately 10% of the flock grazing on three different paddocks (with sizes from 80 to 1000 Ha during a year, to estimate resource selection functions of sheep grazing in flocks of different levels of heterogeneity. We assessed the effects of sheep class (i.e., ewes, wethers, and hoggets, age, body condition and time since release on habitat selection patterns. Results. We found that social rank was reflected on sheep habitat use, where dominant individuals (i.e., reproductive females used more intensively the most preferred areas and low-ranked (i.e., yearlings used less preferred areas. Our results showed that when sheep grazed on more heterogeneous flocks, grazing patterns were more evenly distributed at all the paddocks considered in this study. On the other hand, when high-ranked individuals were removed from the flock, low-ranked sheep shifted their selection patterns by increasing the use of the most preferred areas and strongly avoided to use less preferred sites (i.e., a highly selective grazing behaviour. Discussion. Although homogenization and segregation of

  8. Towards evenly distributed grazing patterns: including social context in sheep management strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    di Virgilio, Agustina; Morales, Juan Manuel

    2016-01-01

    Background. A large proportion of natural grasslands around the world is exposed to overgrazing resulting in land degradation and biodiversity loss. Although there is an increasing effort in the promotion of sustainable livestock management, rangeland degradation still occurs because animals' foraging behaviour is highly selective at different spatial scales. The assessment of the ecological mechanisms modulating the spatial distribution of grazing and how to control it has critical implications for long term conservation of resources and the sustainability of livestock production. Considering the relevance of social interactions on animals' space use patterns, our aim was to explore the potential effects of including animals' social context into management strategies using domestic sheep grazing in rangelands as case study. Methods. We used GPS data from 19 Merino sheep (approximately 10% of the flock) grazing on three different paddocks (with sizes from 80 to 1000 Ha) during a year, to estimate resource selection functions of sheep grazing in flocks of different levels of heterogeneity. We assessed the effects of sheep class (i.e., ewes, wethers, and hoggets), age, body condition and time since release on habitat selection patterns. Results. We found that social rank was reflected on sheep habitat use, where dominant individuals (i.e., reproductive females) used more intensively the most preferred areas and low-ranked (i.e., yearlings) used less preferred areas. Our results showed that when sheep grazed on more heterogeneous flocks, grazing patterns were more evenly distributed at all the paddocks considered in this study. On the other hand, when high-ranked individuals were removed from the flock, low-ranked sheep shifted their selection patterns by increasing the use of the most preferred areas and strongly avoided to use less preferred sites (i.e., a highly selective grazing behaviour). Discussion. Although homogenization and segregation of flocks by classes

  9. Selective laser sintering: A qualitative and objective approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Sanjay

    2003-10-01

    This article presents an overview of selective laser sintering (SLS) work as reported in various journals and proceedings. Selective laser sintering was first done mainly on polymers and nylon to create prototypes for audio-visual help and fit-to-form tests. Gradually it was expanded to include metals and alloys to manufacture functional prototypes and develop rapid tooling. The growth gained momentum with the entry of commercial entities such as DTM Corporation and EOS GmbH Electro Optical Systems. Computational modeling has been used to understand the SLS process, optimize the process parameters, and enhance the efficiency of the sintering machine.

  10. Microhydrodynamics principles and selected applications

    CERN Document Server

    Kim, Sangtae; Brenner, Howard

    1991-01-01

    Microhydrodynamics: Principles and Selected Applications presents analytical and numerical methods for describing motion of small particles suspended in viscous fluids. The text first covers the fundamental principles of low-Reynolds-number flow, including the governing equations and fundamental theorems; the dynamics of a single particle in a flow field; and hydrodynamic interactions between suspended particles. Next, the book deals with the advances in the mathematical and computational aspects of viscous particulate flows that point to innovations for large-scale simulations on parallel co

  11. Economic Selection Theory

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knudsen, Thorbjørn

    2003-01-01

    principles of variation, continuity and selection, it is argued that economic selection theory should mimic the causal structure of neo-Darwinian theory. Two of the most influential explanations of economic evolution, Alchian's and Nelson and Winter's, are used to illustrate how this could be achieved.......The present article provides a minimal description of the causal structure of economic selection theory and outlines how the internal selection dynamics of business organisations can be reconciled with selection in competitive markets. In addition to generic similarity in terms of the Darwinian...

  12. Selection of nursing teaching strategies in mainland China: A questionnaire survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, HouXiu; Liu, MengJie; Zeng, Jing; Zhu, JingCi

    2016-04-01

    In nursing education, the traditional lecture and direct demonstration teaching method cannot cultivate the various skills that nursing students need. How to choose a more scientific and rational teaching method is a common concern for nursing educators worldwide. To investigate the basis for selecting teaching methods among nursing teachers in mainland China, the factors affecting the selection of different teaching methods, and the application of different teaching methods in theoretical and skill-based nursing courses. Questionnaire survey. Seventy one nursing colleges from 28 provincial-level administrative regions in mainland China. Following the principle of voluntary informed consent, 262 nursing teachers were randomly selected through a nursing education network platform and a conference platform. The questionnaire contents included the basis for and the factors influencing the selection of nursing teaching methods, the participants' common teaching methods, and the teaching experience of the surveyed nursing teachers. The questionnaires were distributed through the network or conference platform, and the data were analyzed by SPSS 17.0 software. The surveyed nursing teachers selected teaching methods mainly based on the characteristics of the teaching content, the characteristics of the students, and their previous teaching experiences. The factors affecting the selection of teaching methods mainly included large class sizes, limited class time, and limited examination formats. The surveyed nursing teachers primarily used lectures to teach theory courses and the direct demonstration method to teach skills courses, and the application frequencies of these two teaching methods were significantly higher than those of other teaching methods (P=0.000). More attention should be paid to the selection of nursing teaching methods. Every teacher should strategically choose teaching methods before each lesson, and nursing education training focused on selecting

  13. Positron emission tomography probe to monitor selected sugar metabolism in vivo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Witte, Owen; Clark, Peter M.; Castillo, Blanca Graciela Flores; Jung, Michael E.; Evdokimov, Nikolai M.

    2017-03-14

    The invention disclosed herein discloses selected ribose isomers that are useful as PET probes (e.g. [18F]-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-arabinose). These PET probes are useful, for example, in methods designed to monitor physiological processes including ribose metabolism and/or to selectively observe certain tissue/organs in vivo. The invention disclosed herein further provides methods for making and using such probes.

  14. The research of characteristic difference of selected frequency luminescence for desert sand

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Chao; Wei Mingjian; Li Huhou

    2011-01-01

    The characters of selected frequency luminescence of four groups of samples from Badain Jaran desert are measured by BG2003 luminescence spectrograph. The measurement subjects include selected frequency optical stimulate luminescence spectrum, selected frequency thermoluminescence spectrum and the dose response curve. A double-peak map is obtained by the result from all groups of data and spectrum. The difference is emerged between each group. The optical stimulate luminescence and thermoluminescence is applied in the measurement process. The dispersion of photon count on every response wavelength is analyzed. Based on the analysis, a better result can be gained by selected frequency thermoluminescence. (authors)

  15. Positive Selection on Loci Associated with Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brooke Sadler

    Full Text Available Much of the evolution of human behavior remains a mystery, including how certain disadvantageous behaviors are so prevalent. Nicotine addiction is one such phenotype. Several loci have been implicated in nicotine related phenotypes including the nicotinic receptor gene clusters (CHRNs on chromosomes 8 and 15. Here we use 1000 Genomes sequence data from 3 populations (Africans, Asians and Europeans to examine whether natural selection has occurred at these loci. We used Tajima's D and the integrated haplotype score (iHS to test for evidence of natural selection. Our results provide evidence for strong selection in the nicotinic receptor gene cluster on chromosome 8, previously found to be significantly associated with both nicotine and cocaine dependence, as well as evidence selection acting on the region containing the CHRNA5 nicotinic receptor gene on chromosome 15, that is genome wide significant for risk for nicotine dependence. To examine the possibility that this selection is related to memory and learning, we utilized genetic data from the Collaborative Studies on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA to test variants within these regions with three tests of memory and learning, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS Block Design, WAIS Digit Symbol and WAIS Information tests. Of the 17 SNPs genotyped in COGA in this region, we find one significantly associated with WAIS digit symbol test results. This test captures aspects of reaction time and memory, suggesting that a phenotype relating to memory and learning may have been the driving force behind selection at these loci. This study could begin to explain why these seemingly deleterious SNPs are present at their current frequencies.

  16. Model Specifications for Estimating Labor Market Returns to Associate Degrees: How Robust Are Fixed Effects Estimates? A CAPSEE Working Paper

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belfield, Clive; Bailey, Thomas

    2017-01-01

    Recently, studies have adopted fixed effects modeling to identify the returns to college. This method has the advantage over ordinary least squares estimates in that unobservable, individual-level characteristics that may bias the estimated returns are differenced out. But the method requires extensive longitudinal data and involves complex…

  17. Interdependence of PRECIS Role Operators: A Quantitative Analysis of Their Associations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahapatra, Manoranjan; Biswas, Subal Chandra

    1986-01-01

    Analyzes associations among different role operators quantitatively by taking input strings from 200 abstracts, each related to subject fields of taxation, genetic psychology, and Shakespearean drama, and subjecting them to the Chi-square test. Significant associations by other differencing operators and connectives are discussed. A schema of role…

  18. Fulltext PDF

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    user1

    Bias expansion of spatial statistics and approximation of differenced lattice point counts. 229. Automorphism. Test rank of an abelian product of a free. Lie algebra and a free abelian Lie algebra. 291. Automorphism group. Semisimple metacyclic group algebras. 379. Banach g-frames. Fusion frames and G-frames in Banach.

  19. A checkerboard selective absorber with excellent spectral selectivity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Liu, E-mail: optyang@zju.edu.cn [Centre for Optical and Electromagnetic Research, State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058 (China); School of Electrical, Computer, and Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287 (United States); Mo, Lei; Chen, Tuo [Centre for Optical and Electromagnetic Research, State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058 (China); Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China); Forsberg, Erik [Centre for Optical and Electromagnetic Research, State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058 (China); He, Sailing [Centre for Optical and Electromagnetic Research, State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058 (China); Department of Electromagnetic Engineering, JORCEP, Roy Institute of Technology (KTH), S-100 44 Stockholm (Sweden)

    2015-11-14

    A selective absorber with excellent spectral selectivity is proposed and analyzed. The absorber is based on a germanium (Ge) checkerboard on top of a tantalum (Ta) substrate. At wavelengths shorter than the 1.2 μm cutoff, a very high absorption is achieved due to strong cavity resonances in the Ge nanosquares, and their interactions with adjacent nanocavities and the bottom Ta substrate. At longer wavelengths, absorption is greatly suppressed due to destructive interference between the transparent checkerboard layer and the highly reflective Ta substrate. To better describe the superior selectivity of our configuration, a new figure of merit (FOM) is introduced. We observe a FOM value of 0.88 compared to 0.69 for its planar counterpart. We also conduct a thermal analysis to verify the excellent selectivity of our absorber. A high temperature can be achieved and maintained, promising good potential for applications in solar thermophotovoltaic systems.

  20. Metabolomic analysis of the selection response of Drosophila melanogaster to environmental stress

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Malmendal, Anders; Sørensen, Jesper Givskov; Overgaard, Johannes

    2013-01-01

    -regulated in response to selection for some of the stresses in this study. Overall, the results illustrate that selection markedly alters the metabolite profile and that the coupling between different levels of biological organization indeed is present though not very strong for stress selection at this level......We investigated the global metabolite response to artificial selection for tolerance to stressful conditions such as cold, heat, starvation, and desiccation, and for longevity in Drosophila melanogaster. Our findings were compared to data from other levels of biological organization, including gene...... expression, physiological traits, and organismal stress tolerance phenotype. Overall, we found that selection for environmental stress tolerance changes the metabolomic (1)H NMR fingerprint largely in a similar manner independent of the trait selected for, indicating that experimental evolution led...

  1. EDITORIAL: Nanotechnological selection Nanotechnological selection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demming, Anna

    2013-01-01

    At the nanoscale measures can move from a mass-scale analogue calibration to counters of discrete units. The shift redefines the possible levels of control that can be achieved in a system if adequate selectivity can be imposed. As an example as ionic substances pass through nanoscale pores, the quantity of ions is low enough that the pore can contain either negative or positive ions. Yet precise control over this selectivity still raises difficulties. In this issue researchers address the challenge of how to regulate the ionic selectivity of negative and positive charges with the use of an external charge. The approach may be useful for controlling the behaviour, properties and chemical composition of liquids and has possible technical applications for nanofluidic field effect transistors [1]. Selectivity is a critical advantage in the administration of drugs. Nanoparticles functionalized with targeting moieties can allow delivery of anti-cancer drugs to tumour cells, whilst avoiding healthy cells and hence reducing some of the debilitating side effects of cancer treatments [2]. Researchers in Belarus and the US developed a new theranostic approach—combining therapy and diagnosis—to support the evident benefits of cellular selectivity that can be achieved when nanoparticles are applied in medicine [3]. Their process uses nanobubbles of photothermal vapour, referred to as plasmonic nanobubbles, generated by plasmonic excitations in gold nanoparticles conjugated to diagnosis-specific antibodies. The intracellular plasmonic nanobubbles are controlled by laser fluence so that the response can be tuned in individual living cells. Lower fluence allows non-invasive high-sensitive imaging for diagnosis and higher fluence can disrupt the cellular membrane for treatments. The selective response of carbon nanotubes to different gases has leant them to be used within various different types of sensors, as summarized in a review by researchers at the University of

  2. Selected Bibliography of Egyptian Educational Materials, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1976.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Ahram Center for Scientific Translations, Cairo (Egypt).

    One hundred fourteen entries on 58 topics are contained in the selective annotated bibliography of Egyptian publications on education. Included are journal articles, books, and government documents published during 1976. Content includes the following topics: adult education, Arabic language, audiovisual aids, child upbringing, civics, economics…

  3. Selected Bibliography of Egyptian Educational Materials, Vol. 2, No. 4, 1976.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Ahram Center for Scientific Translations, Cairo (Egypt).

    One hundred seventy entries on 69 topics are contained in the selective annotated bibliography of Egyptian publications on education. Included are journal articles, books, and government documents published during 1976. Content includes the following topics: Arabic language, art education, civics, commercial schools, comparative education,…

  4. Personnel Selection Influences on Remotely Piloted Aircraft Human-System Integration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carretta, Thomas R; King, Raymond E

    2015-08-01

    Human-system integration (HSI) is a complex process used to design and develop systems that integrate human capabilities and limitations in an effective and affordable manner. Effective HSI incorporates several domains, including manpower, personnel and training, human factors, environment, safety, occupational health, habitability, survivability, logistics, intelligence, mobility, and command and control. To achieve effective HSI, the relationships among these domains must be considered. Although this integrated approach is well documented, there are many instances where it is not followed. Human factors engineers typically focus on system design with little attention to the skills, abilities, and other characteristics needed by human operators. When problems with fielded systems occur, additional training of personnel is developed and conducted. Personnel selection is seldom considered during the HSI process. Complex systems such as aviation require careful selection of the individuals who will interact with the system. Personnel selection is a two-stage process involving select-in and select-out procedures. Select-in procedures determine which candidates have the aptitude to profit from training and represent the best investment. Select-out procedures focus on medical qualification and determine who should not enter training for medical reasons. The current paper discusses the role of personnel selection in the HSI process in the context of remotely piloted aircraft systems.

  5. Bitropic D3 Dopamine Receptor Selective Compounds as Potential Antipsychotics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luedtke, Robert R; Rangel-Barajas, Claudia; Malik, Mahinder; Reichert, David E; Mach, R H

    2015-01-01

    Neuropsychiatric disorders represent a substantial social and health care issue. The National Institutes of Health estimates that greater than 2 million adults suffer from neuropsychiatric disorders in the USA. These individuals experience symptoms that can include auditory hallucinations, delusions, unrealistic beliefs and cognitive dysfunction. Although antipsychotic medications are available, suboptimal therapeutic responses are observed for approximately one-third of patients. Therefore, there is still a need to explore new pharmacotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders. Many of the medications that are used clinically to treat neuropsychiatric disorders have a pharmacological profile that includes being an antagonist at D2-like (D2, D3 and D4) dopamine receptor subtypes. However, dopamine receptor subtypes are involved in a variety of neuronal circuits that include movement coordination, cognition, emotion, affect, memory and the regulation of prolactin. Consequently, antagonism at D2-like receptors can also contribute to some of the adverse side effects associated with the long-term use of antipsychotics including the a) adverse extrapyramidal symptoms associated with the use of typical antipsychotics and b) metabolic side effects (weight gain, hyperglycemia, increased risk of diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and gynecomastia) associated with atypical antipsychotic use. Preclinical studies suggest that D3 versus D2 dopamine receptor selective compounds might represent an alternative strategy for the treatment of the symptoms of schizophrenia. In this review we discuss a) how bitropic Nphenylpiperazine D3 dopamine receptor selective compounds have been developed by modification of the primary (orthosteric) and secondary (allosteric or modulatory) pharmacophores to optimize D3 receptor affinity and D2/D3 binding selectivity ratios and b) the functional selectivity of these compounds. Examples of how these compounds might be

  6. Process for selected gas oxide removal by radiofrequency catalysts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cha, Chang Y.

    1993-01-01

    This process to remove gas oxides from flue gas utilizes adsorption on a char bed subsequently followed by radiofrequency catalysis enhancing such removal through selected reactions. Common gas oxides include SO.sub.2 and NO.sub.x.

  7. Adversarial Feature Selection Against Evasion Attacks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Fei; Chan, Patrick P K; Biggio, Battista; Yeung, Daniel S; Roli, Fabio

    2016-03-01

    Pattern recognition and machine learning techniques have been increasingly adopted in adversarial settings such as spam, intrusion, and malware detection, although their security against well-crafted attacks that aim to evade detection by manipulating data at test time has not yet been thoroughly assessed. While previous work has been mainly focused on devising adversary-aware classification algorithms to counter evasion attempts, only few authors have considered the impact of using reduced feature sets on classifier security against the same attacks. An interesting, preliminary result is that classifier security to evasion may be even worsened by the application of feature selection. In this paper, we provide a more detailed investigation of this aspect, shedding some light on the security properties of feature selection against evasion attacks. Inspired by previous work on adversary-aware classifiers, we propose a novel adversary-aware feature selection model that can improve classifier security against evasion attacks, by incorporating specific assumptions on the adversary's data manipulation strategy. We focus on an efficient, wrapper-based implementation of our approach, and experimentally validate its soundness on different application examples, including spam and malware detection.

  8. Selective Impairment of Auditory Selective Attention under Concurrent Cognitive Load

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dittrich, Kerstin; Stahl, Christoph

    2012-01-01

    Load theory predicts that concurrent cognitive load impairs selective attention. For visual stimuli, it has been shown that this impairment can be selective: Distraction was specifically increased when the stimulus material used in the cognitive load task matches that of the selective attention task. Here, we report four experiments that…

  9. Antiherbivore defenses alter natural selection on plant reproductive traits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Ken A; Johnson, Marc T J

    2016-04-01

    While many studies demonstrate that herbivores alter selection on plant reproductive traits, little is known about whether antiherbivore defenses affect selection on these traits. We hypothesized that antiherbivore defenses could alter selection on reproductive traits by altering trait expression through allocation trade-offs, or by altering interactions with mutualists and/or antagonists. To test our hypothesis, we used white clover, Trifolium repens, which has a Mendelian polymorphism for the production of hydrogen cyanide-a potent antiherbivore defense. We conducted a common garden experiment with 185 clonal families of T. repens that included cyanogenic and acyanogenic genotypes. We quantified resistance to herbivores, and selection on six floral traits and phenology via male and female fitness. Cyanogenesis reduced herbivory but did not alter the expression of reproductive traits through allocation trade-offs. However, the presence of cyanogenic defenses altered natural selection on petal morphology and the number of flowers within inflorescences via female fitness. Herbivory influenced selection on flowers and phenology via female fitness independently of cyanogenesis. Our results demonstrate that both herbivory and antiherbivore defenses alter natural selection on plant reproductive traits. We discuss the significance of these results for understanding how antiherbivore defenses interact with herbivores and pollinators to shape floral evolution. © 2016 The Author(s). Evolution © 2016 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

  10. New ion selective materials. Application to the selective extraction of caesium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Favre-Reguillon, Alain

    1996-01-01

    This research thesis addresses the synthesis and assessment of ion selective materials. The first part reports the development of a general method of assessment of ion selective materials. In the second part, the author describes different methods used to insolubilize macro-cycles on hydrophilic polymers. The obtained polyurethanes are synthesised. These hydrophilic polymers display interesting complexing properties and selectivities with respect to cations of alkali metals. Then the author addresses the improvement of selectivity with respect to caesium of ion exchange resorcinol-formaldehyde resins. Different factors affecting selectivity are identified, and the concept of molecular print is used to study the improvement of selectivity. The effect of macro-cyclic structures on phenolic resins with respect to caesium is highlighted [fr

  11. Selective Nonoperative Management of Penetrating Abdominal Solid Organ Injuries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demetriades, Demetrios; Hadjizacharia, Pantelis; Constantinou, Costas; Brown, Carlos; Inaba, Kenji; Rhee, Peter; Salim, Ali

    2006-01-01

    Objective: To assess the feasibility and safety of selective nonoperative management in penetrating abdominal solid organ injuries. Background: Nonoperative management of blunt abdominal solid organ injuries has become the standard of care. However, routine surgical exploration remains the standard practice for all penetrating solid organ injuries. The present study examines the role of nonoperative management in selected patients with penetrating injuries to abdominal solid organs. Patients and Methods: Prospective, protocol-driven study, which included all penetrating abdominal solid organ (liver, spleen, kidney) injuries admitted to a level I trauma center, over a 20-month period. Patients with hemodynamic instability, peritonitis, or an unevaluable abdomen underwent an immediate laparotomy. Patients who were hemodynamically stable and had no signs of peritonitis were selected for further CT scan evaluation. In the absence of CT scan findings suggestive of hollow viscus injury, the patients were observed with serial clinical examinations, hemoglobin levels, and white cell counts. Patients with left thoracoabdominal injuries underwent elective laparoscopy to rule out diaphragmatic injury. Outcome parameters included survival, complications, need for delayed laparotomy in observed patients, and length of hospital stay. Results: During the study period, there were 152 patients with 185 penetrating solid organ injuries. Gunshot wounds accounted for 70.4% and stab wounds for 29.6% of injuries. Ninety-one patients (59.9%) met the criteria for immediate operation. The remaining 61 (40.1%) patients were selected for CT scan evaluation. Forty-three patients (28.3% of all patients) with 47 solid organ injuries who had no CT scan findings suspicious of hollow viscus injury were selected for clinical observation and additional laparoscopy in 2. Four patients with a “blush” on CT scan underwent angiographic embolization of the liver. Overall, 41 patients (27

  12. Thermodynamics of aqueous carbonate solutions including mixtures of sodium carbonate, bicarbonate, and chloride

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peiper, J.C.; Pitzer, K.S.

    1982-01-01

    Recently the authors examined electrochemical-cell data leading to values of the activity coefficient for aqueous sodium bicarbonate. Since that preliminary analysis, new experimental measurements have been published which contribute significantly to the overall thermodynamic understanding of (sodium carbonate + sodium bicarbonate + carbonic acid). In this more extensive examination we consider a wide variety of measurements leading to activity coefficients of Na/sub 2/CO/sub 3/ and NaHCO/sub 3/ from 273 to 323 K and to relative molar enthalpies and heat capacities at 298.15 K. Tables of thermodynamic quantities at selected temperatures are included. 47 references, 2 figures, 6 tables.

  13. Tips for Teachers Selecting Toys to Facilitate Social Interaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vail, Cynthia O.; Elmore, Shannon Renee

    2011-01-01

    Toy selection is an important role for early childhood teachers. This research-to-practice article describes what research tells us about how toys can affect the social interactions and communication of young children including those with developmental delays.

  14. Mining method selection by integrated AHP and PROMETHEE method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bogdanovic, Dejan; Nikolic, Djordje; Ilic, Ivana

    2012-03-01

    Selecting the best mining method among many alternatives is a multicriteria decision making problem. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the implementation of an integrated approach that employs AHP and PROMETHEE together for selecting the most suitable mining method for the "Coka Marin" underground mine in Serbia. The related problem includes five possible mining methods and eleven criteria to evaluate them. Criteria are accurately chosen in order to cover the most important parameters that impact on the mining method selection, such as geological and geotechnical properties, economic parameters and geographical factors. The AHP is used to analyze the structure of the mining method selection problem and to determine weights of the criteria, and PROMETHEE method is used to obtain the final ranking and to make a sensitivity analysis by changing the weights. The results have shown that the proposed integrated method can be successfully used in solving mining engineering problems.

  15. Covariance-Based Measurement Selection Criterion for Gaussian-Based Algorithms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernando A. Auat Cheein

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Process modeling by means of Gaussian-based algorithms often suffers from redundant information which usually increases the estimation computational complexity without significantly improving the estimation performance. In this article, a non-arbitrary measurement selection criterion for Gaussian-based algorithms is proposed. The measurement selection criterion is based on the determination of the most significant measurement from both an estimation convergence perspective and the covariance matrix associated with the measurement. The selection criterion is independent from the nature of the measured variable. This criterion is used in conjunction with three Gaussian-based algorithms: the EIF (Extended Information Filter, the EKF (Extended Kalman Filter and the UKF (Unscented Kalman Filter. Nevertheless, the measurement selection criterion shown herein can also be applied to other Gaussian-based algorithms. Although this work is focused on environment modeling, the results shown herein can be applied to other Gaussian-based algorithm implementations. Mathematical descriptions and implementation results that validate the proposal are also included in this work.

  16. The TAL effector PthA4 interacts with nuclear factors involved in RNA-dependent processes including a HMG protein that selectively binds poly(U RNA.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tiago Antonio de Souza

    Full Text Available Plant pathogenic bacteria utilize an array of effector proteins to cause disease. Among them, transcriptional activator-like (TAL effectors are unusual in the sense that they modulate transcription in the host. Although target genes and DNA specificity of TAL effectors have been elucidated, how TAL proteins control host transcription is poorly understood. Previously, we showed that the Xanthomonas citri TAL effectors, PthAs 2 and 3, preferentially targeted a citrus protein complex associated with transcription control and DNA repair. To extend our knowledge on the mode of action of PthAs, we have identified new protein targets of the PthA4 variant, required to elicit canker on citrus. Here we show that all the PthA4-interacting proteins are DNA and/or RNA-binding factors implicated in chromatin remodeling and repair, gene regulation and mRNA stabilization/modification. The majority of these proteins, including a structural maintenance of chromosomes protein (CsSMC, a translin-associated factor X (CsTRAX, a VirE2-interacting protein (CsVIP2, a high mobility group (CsHMG and two poly(A-binding proteins (CsPABP1 and 2, interacted with each other, suggesting that they assemble into a multiprotein complex. CsHMG was shown to bind DNA and to interact with the invariable leucine-rich repeat region of PthAs. Surprisingly, both CsHMG and PthA4 interacted with PABP1 and 2 and showed selective binding to poly(U RNA, a property that is novel among HMGs and TAL effectors. Given that homologs of CsHMG, CsPABP1, CsPABP2, CsSMC and CsTRAX in other organisms assemble into protein complexes to regulate mRNA stability and translation, we suggest a novel role of TAL effectors in mRNA processing and translational control.

  17. Selected Topics in MicroNano-robotics for Biomedical Applications

    CERN Document Server

    2013-01-01

    Selected Topics in Micro/Nano-robotics for Biomedical Applications features a system approach and incorporates modern methodologies in autonomous mobile robots for programmable and controllable micro/nano-robots aiming at biomedical applications. The book provides chapters of instructional materials and cutting-edge research results in micro/nanorobotics for biomedical applications. The book presents new sensing technology on nanofibers, new power supply techniques including miniature fuel cells and energy harvesting devices, and manipulation techniques including AFM-based nano-robotic manipulation, robot-aided optical tweezers, and robot-assisted catheter surgery systems. It also contains case studies on using micro/nano-robots in biomedical environments and in biomedicine, as well as a design example to conceptually develop a Vitamin-pill sized robot to enter human’s gastrointestinal tract. Each chapter covers a different topic of the highly interdisciplinary area. Bring together the selected topics into ...

  18. Selecting a Web Content Management System for an Academic Library Website

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elizabeth L. Black

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available This article describes the selection of a web content management system (CMS at the Ohio State University Libraries. The author outlines the need for a CMS, describes the system requirements to support a large distributed content model and shares the CMS trial method used, which directly included content provider feedback side-by-side with the technical experts. The selected CMS is briefly described.

  19. Statistical Redundancy Testing for Improved Gene Selection in Cancer Classification Using Microarray Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Sunil Rao

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available In gene selection for cancer classifi cation using microarray data, we define an eigenvalue-ratio statistic to measure a gene’s contribution to the joint discriminability when this gene is included into a set of genes. Based on this eigenvalueratio statistic, we define a novel hypothesis testing for gene statistical redundancy and propose two gene selection methods. Simulation studies illustrate the agreement between statistical redundancy testing and gene selection methods. Real data examples show the proposed gene selection methods can select a compact gene subset which can not only be used to build high quality cancer classifiers but also show biological relevance.

  20. IT Project Selection

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Keld

    2016-01-01

    for initiation. Most of the research on project selection is normative, suggesting new methods, but available empirical studies indicate that many methods are seldom used in practice. This paper addresses the issue by providing increased understanding of IT project selection practice, thereby facilitating...... the development of methods that better fit current practice. The study is based on naturalistic decision-making theory and interviews with experienced project portfolio managers who, when selecting projects, primarily rely on political skills, experience and personal networks rather than on formal IT project......-selection methods, and these findings point to new areas for developing new methodological support for IT project selection....

  1. The Einstein database of IPC x-ray observations of optically selected and radio-selected quasars, 1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilkes, Belinda J.; Tananbaum, Harvey; Worrall, D. M.; Avni, Yoram; Oey, M. S.; Flanagan, Joan

    1994-01-01

    We present the first volume of the Einstein quasar database. The database includes estimates of the X-ray count rates, fluxes, and luminosities for 514 quasars and Seyfert 1 galaxies observed with the Imaging Proportional Counter (IPC) aboard the Einstein Observatory. All were previously known optically selected or radio-selected objects, and most were the targets of the X-ray observations. The X-ray properties of the Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) have been derived by reanalyzing the IPC data in a systematic manner to provide a uniform database for general use by the astronomical community. We use the database to extend earlier quasar luminosity studies which were made using only a subset of the currently available data. The database can be accessed on internet via the SAO Einstein on-line system ('Einline') and is available in ASCII format on magnetic tape and DOS diskette.

  2. Comparison of Optimal Portfolios Selected by Multicriterial Model Using Absolute and Relative Criteria Values

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Branka Marasović

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we select an optimal portfolio on the Croatian capital market by using the multicriterial programming. In accordance with the modern portfolio theory maximisation of returns at minimal risk should be the investment goal of any successful investor. However, contrary to the expectations of the modern portfolio theory, the tests carried out on a number of financial markets reveal the existence of other indicators important in portfolio selection. Considering the importance of variables other than return and risk, selection of the optimal portfolio becomes a multicriterial problem which should be solved by using the appropriate techniques.In order to select an optimal portfolio, absolute values of criteria, like return, risk, price to earning value ratio (P/E, price to book value ratio (P/B and price to sale value ratio (P/S are included in our multicriterial model. However the problem might occur as the mean values of some criteria are significantly different for different sectors and because financial managers emphasize that comparison of the same criteria for different sectors could lead us to wrong conclusions. In the second part of the paper, relative values of previously stated criteria (in relation to mean value of sector are included in model for selecting optimal portfolio. Furthermore, the paper shows that if relative values of criteria are included in multicriterial model for selecting optimal portfolio, return in subsequent period is considerably higher than if absolute values of the same criteria were used.

  3. Natural selection of mitochondria during somatic lifetime promotes healthy aging

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rodell, Anders; Rasmussen, Lene J; Bergersen, Linda H

    2013-01-01

    Stimulation of mitochondrial biogenesis during life-time challenges both eliminates disadvantageous properties and drives adaptive selection of advantageous phenotypic variations. Intermittent fission and fusion of mitochondria provide specific targets for health promotion by brief temporal...... stressors, interspersed with periods of recovery and biogenesis. For mitochondria, the mechanisms of selection, variability, and heritability, are complicated by interaction of two independent genomes, including the multiple copies of DNA in each mitochondrion, as well as the shared nuclear genome of each...

  4. A Robust Service Selection Method Based on Uncertain QoS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanping Chen

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays, the number of Web services on the Internet is quickly increasing. Meanwhile, different service providers offer numerous services with the similar functions. Quality of Service (QoS has become an important factor used to select the most appropriate service for users. The most prominent QoS-based service selection models only take the certain attributes into account, which is an ideal assumption. In the real world, there are a large number of uncertain factors. In particular, at the runtime, QoS may become very poor or unacceptable. In order to solve the problem, a global service selection model based on uncertain QoS was proposed, including the corresponding normalization and aggregation functions, and then a robust optimization model adopted to transform the model. Experiment results show that the proposed method can effectively select services with high robustness and optimality.

  5. An introduction to selective surfaces for solar applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neal, W. E. J.

    1983-12-01

    The desired characteristics of spectrally selective surfaces for solar thermal applications include a high-level absorption of radiation in the solar region of the spectrum (from 0.3 to 2.5 microns) combined with a low value of emission in the IR region (greater than two microns). There are three energy collector temperature ranges for specific solar applications, taking into account a range from 25 to 40 C for swimming pools, a range from 40 to 150 C for space and water heating and air conditioning, and temperatures above 150 C for the production of steam and the generation of electricity. Flat plate and low concentrating collectors with suitable selective surfaces can be employed in connection with the first two temperature ranges. Various types of selective surfaces are presented in a table, giving attention to the absorptive properties for solar radiation and the emissive properties in the IR region.

  6. Attentional Requirements for the Selection of Words from Different Grammatical Categories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ayora, Pauline; Janssen, Niels; Dell'Acqua, Roberto; Alario, F.-Xavier

    2009-01-01

    Two grammatical classes are commonly distinguished in psycholinguistic research. The open-class includes content words such as nouns, whereas the closed-class includes function words such as determiners. A standing issue is to identify whether these words are retrieved through similar or distinct selection mechanisms. We report a comparative…

  7. Supplier selection for strategic supplier development

    OpenAIRE

    Calvi , R.; Le Dain , Marie-Anne; Fendt , T.C.; Herrmann , C.J.

    2010-01-01

    Cahier de recherche n° 2010-11 E4; This article describes the application of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to the supplier selection decision for the strategic development of lean suppliers at a large German industrial company. In a literature survey and from explorative interviews, relevant criteria including supplier improvement potential through buyer involvement, strategic factors of the supplier development program as well as project success factors in supplier development were el...

  8. Selected topics in e+e- physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sau Lan Wu

    1981-01-01

    Selected topics of recent experimental results from the high-energy electron-positron storage rings are presented. The topics include some of the tau and charm physics from SPEAR, the upsilon physics from DORIS and CESR, and the γγ physics and quark and gluon physics from the PLUTO and TASSO Collaborations at PETRA. Related data from the JADE and MARK J Collaborations at PETRA are discussed in separated papers at this school. (orig.)

  9. Selection of individual features of a speech signal using genetic algorithms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kamil Kamiński

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents an automatic speaker’s recognition system, implemented in the Matlab environment, and demonstrates how to achieve and optimize various elements of the system. The main emphasis was put on features selection of a speech signal using a genetic algorithm which takes into account synergy of features. The results of optimization of selected elements of a classifier have been also shown, including the number of Gaussian distributions used to model each of the voices. In addition, for creating voice models, a universal voice model has been used.[b]Keywords[/b]: biometrics, automatic speaker recognition, genetic algorithms, feature selection

  10. Induction and selection of mutants from in vitro cultured plant cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Yung Il; Kim, Jae Sung; Shin, In Chul; Lee, Sang Jae [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

    1994-07-01

    Mutant cell lines are useful for biochemical, physiological and genetical material for marker in various genetic manipulation experiments and for the direct use in crop plant improvement. Mutant selection may lead to the production of plants showing resistance or tolerance to specific environmental stress, such as solinity, drought, toxed metals, herbicides, pathogens and low temperature. In this review, these included the production of the somatic variation, the selection process itself and stability of the selected characters in cell culture and regenerated plant. Which would seem to be useful for improving plants and securring genetic resources. 45 refs. (Author).

  11. Induction and selection of mutants from in vitro cultured plant cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Yung Il; Kim, Jae Sung; Shin, In Chul; Lee, Sang Jae

    1994-07-01

    Mutant cell lines are useful for biochemical, physiological and genetical material for marker in various genetic manipulation experiments and for the direct use in crop plant improvement. Mutant selection may lead to the production of plants showing resistance or tolerance to specific environmental stress, such as solinity, drought, toxed metals, herbicides, pathogens and low temperature. In this review, these included the production of the somatic variation, the selection process itself and stability of the selected characters in cell culture and regenerated plant. Which would seem to be useful for improving plants and securring genetic resources. 45 refs. (Author)

  12. Automatic Peak Selection by a Benjamini-Hochberg-Based Algorithm

    KAUST Repository

    Abbas, Ahmed; Kong, Xin-Bing; Liu, Zhi; Jing, Bing-Yi; Gao, Xin

    2013-01-01

    A common issue in bioinformatics is that computational methods often generate a large number of predictions sorted according to certain confidence scores. A key problem is then determining how many predictions must be selected to include most of the true predictions while maintaining reasonably high precision. In nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based protein structure determination, for instance, computational peak picking methods are becoming more and more common, although expert-knowledge remains the method of choice to determine how many peaks among thousands of candidate peaks should be taken into consideration to capture the true peaks. Here, we propose a Benjamini-Hochberg (B-H)-based approach that automatically selects the number of peaks. We formulate the peak selection problem as a multiple testing problem. Given a candidate peak list sorted by either volumes or intensities, we first convert the peaks into p-values and then apply the B-H-based algorithm to automatically select the number of peaks. The proposed approach is tested on the state-of-the-art peak picking methods, including WaVPeak [1] and PICKY [2]. Compared with the traditional fixed number-based approach, our approach returns significantly more true peaks. For instance, by combining WaVPeak or PICKY with the proposed method, the missing peak rates are on average reduced by 20% and 26%, respectively, in a benchmark set of 32 spectra extracted from eight proteins. The consensus of the B-H-selected peaks from both WaVPeak and PICKY achieves 88% recall and 83% precision, which significantly outperforms each individual method and the consensus method without using the B-H algorithm. The proposed method can be used as a standard procedure for any peak picking method and straightforwardly applied to some other prediction selection problems in bioinformatics. The source code, documentation and example data of the proposed method is available at http://sfb.kaust.edu.sa/pages/software.aspx. © 2013

  13. Automatic Peak Selection by a Benjamini-Hochberg-Based Algorithm

    KAUST Repository

    Abbas, Ahmed

    2013-01-07

    A common issue in bioinformatics is that computational methods often generate a large number of predictions sorted according to certain confidence scores. A key problem is then determining how many predictions must be selected to include most of the true predictions while maintaining reasonably high precision. In nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based protein structure determination, for instance, computational peak picking methods are becoming more and more common, although expert-knowledge remains the method of choice to determine how many peaks among thousands of candidate peaks should be taken into consideration to capture the true peaks. Here, we propose a Benjamini-Hochberg (B-H)-based approach that automatically selects the number of peaks. We formulate the peak selection problem as a multiple testing problem. Given a candidate peak list sorted by either volumes or intensities, we first convert the peaks into p-values and then apply the B-H-based algorithm to automatically select the number of peaks. The proposed approach is tested on the state-of-the-art peak picking methods, including WaVPeak [1] and PICKY [2]. Compared with the traditional fixed number-based approach, our approach returns significantly more true peaks. For instance, by combining WaVPeak or PICKY with the proposed method, the missing peak rates are on average reduced by 20% and 26%, respectively, in a benchmark set of 32 spectra extracted from eight proteins. The consensus of the B-H-selected peaks from both WaVPeak and PICKY achieves 88% recall and 83% precision, which significantly outperforms each individual method and the consensus method without using the B-H algorithm. The proposed method can be used as a standard procedure for any peak picking method and straightforwardly applied to some other prediction selection problems in bioinformatics. The source code, documentation and example data of the proposed method is available at http://sfb.kaust.edu.sa/pages/software.aspx. © 2013

  14. Site selection for Canada's national repository for used nuclear fuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ben Belfadhel, M.; Watts, B.; Facella, J.

    2015-01-01

    In 2007, the Government of Canada selected Adaptive Phased Management as Canada's plan for the long-term management of Canada's used nuclear fuel. The approach provides for containment and isolation of the material in a deep geological repository at a safe site with an informed and willing host. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization is tasked through federal legislation with selecting the site and developing and managing all aspects of the plan. In May 2010, the organization published and initiated the site selection process that serves as a road map for decision making on the location for the deep geological repository. It continues to lead the site selection process for the repository and an associated Centre of Expertise. The screening process is advancing and, from an initial starting point of 22 communities expressing interest in learning about the project; as of September 2015, 9 communities are the focus of more detailed technical and community well-being studies. Preliminary Assessments, the third step in the 9-step site selection process are underway in these communities. The Assessments involve preliminary technical and social desktop and field assessments, engagement activities within and beyond each interested community, and involvement of Indigenous peoples and nearby municipalities in the planning and conduct of the work. This paper provides an update on the advancement of the site selection process. It describes the nature of the technical and social studies being conducted at this phase of work, including the progressively more detailed field studies that are the focus of technical work at the current stage, the approach to engagement and collaboration with communities to direct these studies, and the work underway to ensure the framework used for this assessment and engagement includes the range of priorities and perspectives of First Nations and Metis peoples and communities in the broader area. (author)

  15. Color selective photodetector and methods of making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Brian J.; Dorn, August; Bulovic, Vladimir; Bawendi, Moungi G.

    2013-03-19

    A photoelectric device, such as a photodetector, can include a semiconductor nanowire electrostatically associated with a J-aggregate. The J-aggregate can facilitate absorption of a desired wavelength of light, and the semiconductor nanowire can facilitate charge transport. The color of light detected by the device can be chosen by selecting a J-aggregate with a corresponding peak absorption wavelength.

  16. Selective Reproductive Technologies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gammeltoft, Tine; Wahlberg, Ayo

    2014-01-01

    From a historical perspective, selective reproduction is nothing new. Infanticide, abandonment, and selective neglect of children have a long history, and the widespread deployment of sterilization and forced abortion in the twentieth century has been well documented. Yet in recent decades select......, discussing how selective reproduction engages with issues of long-standing theoretical concern in anthropology, such as politics, kinship, gender, religion, globalization, and inequality....... (ARTs), what we term selective reproductive technologies (SRTs) are of a more specific nature: Rather than aiming to overcome infertility, they are used to prevent or allow the birth of certain kinds of children. This review highlights anthropological research into SRTs in different parts of the world...

  17. Review. Promises, pitfalls and challenges of genomic selection in breeding programs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ibanez-Escriche, N.; Gonzalez-Recio, O.

    2011-07-01

    The aim of this work was to review the main challenges and pitfalls of the implementation of genomic selection in the breeding programs of different livestock species. Genomic selection is now one of the main challenges in animal breeding and genetics. Its application could considerably increase the genetic gain in traits of interest. However, the success of its practical implementation depends on the selection scheme characteristics, and these must be studied for each particular case. In dairy cattle, especially in Holsteins, genomic selection is a reality. However, in other livestock species (beef cattle, small ruminants, monogastrics and fish) genomic selection has mainly been used experimentally. The main limitation for its implementation in the mentioned livestock species is the high geno typing costs compared to the low selection value of the candidate. Nevertheless, nowadays the possibility of using single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chips of low density to make genomic selection applications economically feasible is under study. Economic studies may optimize the benefits of genomic selection (GS) to include new traits in the breeding goals. It is evident that genomic selection offers great potential; however, a suitable geno typing strategy and recording system for each case is needed in order to properly exploit it. (Author) 50 refs.

  18. The temporal distribution of directional gradients under selection for an optimum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chevin, Luis-Miguel; Haller, Benjamin C

    2014-12-01

    Temporal variation in phenotypic selection is often attributed to environmental change causing movements of the adaptive surface relating traits to fitness, but this connection is rarely established empirically. Fluctuating phenotypic selection can be measured by the variance and autocorrelation of directional selection gradients through time. However, the dynamics of these gradients depend not only on environmental changes altering the fitness surface, but also on evolution of the phenotypic distribution. Therefore, it is unclear to what extent variability in selection gradients can inform us about the underlying drivers of their fluctuations. To investigate this question, we derive the temporal distribution of directional gradients under selection for a phenotypic optimum that is either constant or fluctuates randomly in various ways in a finite population. Our analytical results, combined with population- and individual-based simulations, show that although some characteristic patterns can be distinguished, very different types of change in the optimum (including a constant optimum) can generate similar temporal distributions of selection gradients, making it difficult to infer the processes underlying apparent fluctuating selection. Analyzing changes in phenotype distributions together with changes in selection gradients should prove more useful for inferring the mechanisms underlying estimated fluctuating selection. © 2014 The Author(s). Evolution © 2014 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

  19. Site selection

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN PhotoLab

    1968-01-01

    To help resolve the problem of site selection for the proposed 300 GeV machine, the Council selected "three wise men" (left to right, J H Bannier of the Netherlands, A Chavanne of Switzerland and L K Boggild of Denmark).

  20. Marker-assisted selection in forestry species

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Butcher, P.; Southerton, S.

    2007-01-01

    The primary goal of tree breeding is to increase the quantity and quality of wood products from plantations. Major gains have been achieved using recurrent selection in genetically diverse breeding populations to capture additive variation. However, the long generation times of trees, together with poor juvenile-mature trait correlations, have promoted interest in marker-assisted selection (MAS) to accelerate breeding through early selection. MAS relies on identifying DNA markers, which explain a high proportion of variation in phenotypic traits. Genetic linkage maps have been developed for most commercial tree species and these can be used to locate chromosomal regions where DNA markers co-segregate with quantitative traits (quantitative trait loci, QTL). MAS based on QTL is most likely to be used for within-family selection in a limited number of elite families that can be clonally propagated. Limitations of the approach include the low resolution of marker-trait associations, the small proportion of phenotypic variation explained by QTL and the low success rate in validating QTL in different genetic backgrounds and environments. This has led to a change in research focus towards association mapping to identify variation in the DNA sequence of genes directly controlling phenotypic variation (gene-assisted selection, GAS). The main advantages of GAS are the high resolution of marker-trait associations and the ability to transfer markers across families and even species. Association studies are being used to examine the adaptive significance of variation in genes controlling wood formation and quality, pathogen resistance, cold tolerance and drought tolerance. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in these gene sequences that are significantly associated with trait variation can then be used for early selection. Markers for SNPs can be transferred among individuals regardless of pedigree or family relationship, increasing opportunities for their application in

  1. Economics of selected water control technologies and their ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Using a production function, marginal productivity of farm inputs and benefit-cost analysis, we explore the economics of selected water control technologies. From the production function, all farm inputs, including irrigation water is found to have a significant and positive effect on yield. Marginal value products of farm inputs ...

  2. Corneal manifestations of selected systemic diseases: A review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wayne D.H. Gillan

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The corneal manifestations of several selected systemic diseases are reviewed. Metabolic, immunologic and inflammatory and infectious diseases are included. A brief overview of each disease and how it manifests in the cornea is discussed. The importance of conducting a slit-lamp examination on every patient is emphasised.

  3. Replacement Power Facility site selection report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wike, L.D.; Toole, G.L.; Specht, W.L.

    1992-06-01

    The Department of Energy (DOE) has proposed the construction and operation of a Replacement Power Facility (RPF) for supplementing and replacing existing sources of steam and possibly electricity at the Savannah River Site (SRS). DOE is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for this project As part of the impact analysis of the proposed action, the EIS will include a detailed description of the environment where the RPF will be constructed. This description must be specific to the recommended site at SRS, which contains more than 300 square miles of land including streams, lakes, impoundments, wetlands, and upland areas. A formal site-selection process was designed and implemented to identify the preferred RPF site.

  4. The Criteria for the Selection of Wells for Hydraulic Fracturing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O.V. Salimov

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Various methods of selection of wells for hydraulic fracturing are analyzed. It is established that all methods can be divided into three large groups: criteria in the table form of boundary values of parameters, statistical methods of pattern recognition, methods of engineering calculation. The complication or use of additional parameters only leads to a reduction in the number of wells at which hydraulic fracturing is possible. It is shown that the use of reservoir properties of rocks, which are already used by hydraulic fracturing simulators, is not practicable as selection criteria. It is required to include in the selection criteria only those additional factors on which the effectiveness of hydraulic fracturing depends directly.

  5. Optimisation of chromatographic resolution using objective functions including both time and spectral information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torres-Lapasió, J R; Pous-Torres, S; Ortiz-Bolsico, C; García-Alvarez-Coque, M C

    2015-01-16

    The optimisation of the resolution in high-performance liquid chromatography is traditionally performed attending only to the time information. However, even in the optimal conditions, some peak pairs may remain unresolved. Such incomplete resolution can be still accomplished by deconvolution, which can be carried out with more guarantees of success by including spectral information. In this work, two-way chromatographic objective functions (COFs) that incorporate both time and spectral information were tested, based on the peak purity (analyte peak fraction free of overlapping) and the multivariate selectivity (figure of merit derived from the net analyte signal) concepts. These COFs are sensitive to situations where the components that coelute in a mixture show some spectral differences. Therefore, they are useful to find out experimental conditions where the spectrochromatograms can be recovered by deconvolution. Two-way multivariate selectivity yielded the best performance and was applied to the separation using diode-array detection of a mixture of 25 phenolic compounds, which remained unresolved in the chromatographic order using linear and multi-linear gradients of acetonitrile-water. Peak deconvolution was carried out using the combination of orthogonal projection approach and alternating least squares. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Tracing the breeding farm of domesticated pig using feature selection (

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taehyung Kwon

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Objective Increasing food safety demands in the animal product market have created a need for a system to trace the food distribution process, from the manufacturer to the retailer, and genetic traceability is an effective method to trace the origin of animal products. In this study, we successfully achieved the farm tracing of 6,018 multi-breed pigs, using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP markers strictly selected through least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO feature selection. Methods We performed farm tracing of domesticated pig (Sus scrofa from SNP markers and selected the most relevant features for accurate prediction. Considering multi-breed composition of our data, we performed feature selection using LASSO penalization on 4,002 SNPs that are shared between breeds, which also includes 179 SNPs with small between-breed difference. The 100 highest-scored features were extracted from iterative simulations and then evaluated using machine-leaning based classifiers. Results We selected 1,341 SNPs from over 45,000 SNPs through iterative LASSO feature selection, to minimize between-breed differences. We subsequently selected 100 highest-scored SNPs from iterative scoring, and observed high statistical measures in classification of breeding farms by cross-validation only using these SNPs. Conclusion The study represents a successful application of LASSO feature selection on multi-breed pig SNP data to trace the farm information, which provides a valuable method and possibility for further researches on genetic traceability.

  7. Social phobia and selective mutism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keeton, Courtney P; Crosby Budinger, Meghan

    2012-07-01

    Social phobia (SOP) and selective mutism (SM) are related anxiety disorders characterized by distress and dysfunction in social situations. SOP typically onsets in adolescence and affects about 8% of the general population, whereas SM onsets before age 5 and is prevalent in up to 2% of youth. Prognosis includes a chronic course that confers risk for other disorders or ongoing social disability, but more favorable outcomes may be associated with young age and low symptom severity. SOP treatments are relatively more established, whereas dissemination of promising and innovative SM-treatment strategies is needed.

  8. Commodity profiles for selected metals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Svoboda, O.; Wilson, B.M.

    1985-01-01

    This report describes the basic characteristics of 35 metals and gives the prices and production of these metals for the period 1979 to 1983/4. The description of each metal includes the ore grades and reserves, the major minerals in which the metal occurs, and the discovery, selected physical properties, sources, uses, substitutes, and effects on the environment of the metal. Graphs showing price and production cover the period 1950 to 1984, and possible future developments in these areas are forecast for each metal until the year 2000

  9. EAC Working Group for Archaeological Archives, A European View of Selecting for Archaeological Archives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brown, Duncan H.

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the issues around selecting for archaeological archives, including the reasons for doing so, how selection fit into a project and the methodological framework. The context is ‘Making Choices’, a project of the Europae Archaeologiae Consilium that is looking at how all choices are made across archaeological practice, while the foundations are provided by existing standards for archiving and for selection.

  10. Natural selection and the distribution of identity-by-descent in the human genome

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Albrechtsen, Anders; Moltke, Ida; Nielsen, Rasmus

    2010-01-01

    There has recently been considerable interest in detecting natural selection in the human genome. Selection will usually tend to increase identity-by-descent (IBD) among individuals in a population, and many methods for detecting recent and ongoing positive selection indirectly take advantage...... of this. In this article we show that excess IBD sharing is a general property of natural selection and we show that this fact makes it possible to detect several types of selection including a type that is otherwise difficult to detect: selection acting on standing genetic variation. Motivated by this......, we use a recently developed method for identifying IBD sharing among individuals from genome-wide data to scan populations from the new HapMap phase 3 project for regions with excess IBD sharing in order to identify regions in the human genome that have been under strong, very recent selection...

  11. Medical student selection and society: Lessons we learned from sociological theories.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yaghmaei, Minoo; Yazdani, Shahram; Ahmady, Soleiman

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study was to show the interaction between the society, applicants and medical schools in terms of medical student selection. In this study, the trends to implement social factors in the selection process were highlighted. These social factors were explored through functionalism and conflict theories, each focusing on different categories of social factors. While functionalist theorists pay attention to diversity in the selection process, conflict theorists highlight the importance of socio-economic class. Although both theories believe in sorting, their different views are reflected in their sorting strategies. Both theories emphasize the importance of the person-society relationship in motivation to enter university. Furthermore, the impacts of social goals on the selection policies are derived from both theories. Theories in the sociology of education offer an approach to student selection that acknowledges and supports complexity, plurality of approaches and innovative means of selection. Medical student selection does not solely focus on the individual assessment and qualification, but it focuses on a social and collective process, which includes all the influences and interactions between the medical schools and the society. Sociological perspective of medical student selection proposes a model that envelops the individual and the society. In this model, the selection methods should meet the criteria of merit at the individual level, while the selection policies should aim at the society goals at the institutional level.

  12. Ion-selective electrode reviews

    CERN Document Server

    Thomas, J D R

    1983-01-01

    Ion-Selective Electrode Reviews, Volume 5 is a collection of articles that covers ion-speciation. The book aims to present the advancements of the range and capabilities of selective ion-sensors. The topics covered in the selection are neutral carrier based ion-selective electrodes; reference electrodes and liquid junction effects in ion-selective electrode potentiometry; ion transfer across water/organic phase boundaries and analytical; and carbon substrate ion-selective electrodes. The text will be of great use to chemists and chemical engineers.

  13. Selectivity of single, mixed, and modified pseudostationary phases in electrokinetic chromatography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fuguet, Elisabet; Ràfols, Clara; Bosch, Elisabeth; Abraham, Michael H; Rosés, Martí

    2006-05-01

    The selectivity of a compilation of single, mixed, and modified EKC pseudostationary phases, described in the literature and characterized through the solvation parameter model, is analyzed. Not only have micellar systems of different nature been included but also microemulsions, polymeric, and liposomial phases. In order to compare the systems, a principal component analysis of the coefficients of the solvation equation is performed. From this analysis, direct information of the system properties, differences in selectivity, as well as evidence of lack of accuracy in some system characterizations are obtained. These results become a very useful tool to perform separations with mixtures of surfactants, since it is possible to know which mixtures will provide a greater selectivity variation by changing only the composition of the pseudostationary phases. Furthermore, the variation of the selectivity of some mixtures, as well as the effect of the addition of organic solvents on selectivity, is also discussed.

  14. The NASA competitive placement plan for positions GS-15 and below (including trades and labor positions)

    Science.gov (United States)

    1993-01-01

    This plan provides the framework for selection based on merit from among the best qualified candidates available. Selections will be made without regard to political, religious, or labor organization affiliation or nonaffiliation, marital status, race, color, sex, national origin, nondisqualifying disability, or age. This plan does not guarantee promotion but rather ensures that all qualified available candidates receive fair and equitable consideration for positions filled under these competitive procedures. Announcing a vacancy under this plan is only one method of locating applicants for a position and can be used in conjunction with other methods. Subject to applicable law and regulation, selection of an individual to fill a position is the decision of management, as is the decision as to the method(s) to be used in identifying candidates. This plan is applicable to all NASA Installations. It covers all positions in the competitive service at (and below) the GS/GM-15 level (including all trades and labor positions), except positions in the Office of the Inspector General. The requirements herein are not intended to, nor should they be construed to limit in any way, the independent personnel authority of the Inspector General under the Inspector General Act, as Amended.

  15. Online Reference Service--How to Begin: A Selected Bibliography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shroder, Emelie J., Ed.

    1982-01-01

    Materials in this bibliography were selected and recommended by members of the Use of Machine-Assisted Reference in Public Libraries Committee, Reference and Adult Services Division, American Library Association. Topics include: financial aspects, equipment and communications considerations, comparing databases and database systems, advertising…

  16. [Egypt: Selected Readings, Egyptian Mummies, and the Egyptian Pyramid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC.

    This resource packet presents information and resources on ancient Egypt. The bibliography includes readings divided into five sections: (1) "General Information" (46 items); (2) "Religion" (8 items); (3) "Art" (8 items); (4) "Hieroglyphics" (6 items); and (5) selections "For Young Readers" (11…

  17. Unveiling of novel regio-selective fatty acid double bond hydratases from Lactobacillus acidophilus involved in the selective oxyfunctionalization of mono- and di-hydroxy fatty acids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Kyoung-Rok; Oh, Hye-Jin; Park, Chul-Soon; Hong, Seung-Hye; Park, Ji-Young; Oh, Deok-Kun

    2015-11-01

    The aim of this study is the first time demonstration of cis-12 regio-selective linoleate double-bond hydratase. Hydroxylation of fatty acids, abundant feedstock in nature, is an emerging alternative route for many petroleum replaceable products thorough hydroxy fatty acids, carboxylic acids, and lactones. However, chemical route for selective hydroxylation is still quite challenging owing to low selectivity and many environmental concerns. Hydroxylation of fatty acids by hydroxy fatty acid forming enzymes is an important route for selective biocatalytic oxyfunctionalization of fatty acids. Therefore, novel fatty acid hydroxylation enzymes should be discovered. The two hydratase genes of Lactobacillus acidophilus were identified by genomic analysis, and the expressed two recombinant hydratases were identified as cis-9 and cis-12 double-bond selective linoleate hydratases by in vitro functional validation, including the identification of products and the determination of regio-selectivity, substrate specificity, and kinetic parameters. The two different linoleate hydratases were the involved enzymes in the 10,13-dihydroxyoctadecanoic acid biosynthesis. Linoleate 13-hydratase (LHT-13) selectively converted 10 mM linoleic acid to 13S-hydroxy-9(Z)-octadecenoic acid with high titer (8.1 mM) and yield (81%). Our study will expand knowledge for microbial fatty acid-hydroxylation enzymes and facilitate the designed production of the regio-selective hydroxy fatty acids for useful chemicals from polyunsaturated fatty acid feedstocks. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Identification of contributing factors to pedestrian overpass selection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yao Wu

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available In order to improve the efficiency of overpass and the safety level of pedestrian, this paper aims to investigate the contributing factors for selective preference of overpass. Eight overpasses were investigated in Xi’an, and a questionnaire was conducted by the pedestrians near the overpass. Totally, 1131 valid samples (873 used of overpasses and 258 non-used of overpasses were collected. Based on the data, a binary logit (BL model was developed to identify what and how the factors affect the selective preference of overpass. The BL model was calibrated by the maximum likelihood method. Likelihood ratio test and McFadden-R2 were used to analyze the goodness-of-fit of the model. The results show that the BL model has a reasonable goodness-of-fit, and the prediction accuracy of the BL model can reach 81.9%. The BL model showed that the selective preference of overpass was significantly influenced by eight factors, including gender, age, career, education level, license, detour wishes, detour distance, and crossing time. Besides, the odds ratios of significant factors were also analyzed to explain the impacts of the factors on selective preference of overpass.

  19. Selected writings

    CERN Document Server

    Galilei, Galileo

    2012-01-01

    'Philosophy is written in this great book which is continually open before our eyes - I mean the universe...' Galileo's astronomical discoveries changed the way we look at the world, and our place in the universe. Threatened by the Inquisition for daring to contradict the literal truth of the Bible, Galileo ignited a scientific revolution when he asserted that the Earth moves. This generous selection from his writings contains all the essential texts for a reader to appreciate his lasting significance. Mark Davie's new translation renders Galileo's vigorous Italian prose into clear modern English, while William R. Shea's version of the Latin Sidereal Message makes accessible the book that created a sensation in 1610 with its account of Galileo's observations using the newly invented telescope. All Galileo's contributions to the debate on science and religion are included, as well as key documents from his trial before the Inquisition in 1633. A lively introduction and clear notes give an overview of Galileo's...

  20. Comparing Patterns of Natural Selection across Species Using Selective Signatures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shapiro, Jesse; Alm, Eric J.

    2007-12-01

    Comparing gene expression profiles over many different conditions has led to insights that were not obvious from single experiments. In the same way, comparing patterns of natural selection across a set of ecologically distinct species may extend what can be learned from individual genome-wide surveys. Toward this end, we show how variation in protein evolutionary rates, after correcting for genome-wide effects such as mutation rate and demographic factors, can be used to estimate the level and types of natural selection acting on genes across different species. We identify unusually rapidly and slowly evolving genes, relative to empirically derived genome-wide and gene family-specific background rates for 744 core protein families in 30 c-proteobacterial species. We describe the pattern of fast or slow evolution across species as the"selective signature" of a gene. Selective signatures represent aprofile of selection across species that is predictive of gene function: pairs of genes with correlated selective signatures are more likely to share the same cellular function, and genes in the same pathway can evolve in concert. For example,glycolysis and phenylalanine metabolism genes evolve rapidly in Idiomarina loihiensis, mirroring an ecological shift in carbon source from sugars to amino acids. In a broader context, our results suggest that the genomic landscape is organized into functional modules even at the level of natural selection, and thus it may be easier than expected to understand the complex evolutionary pressures on a cell.