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Selected AbstractsCONTEXTUALIZING LEARNING OBJECTS USING ONTOLOGIESCOMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, Issue 3 2007Phaedra Mohammed Educational research over the past three years has intensified such that the context of learning resources needs to be properly modeled. Many researchers have described and even mandated the use of ontologies in the research being conducted, yet the process of actually connecting one or more ontologies to a learning object has not been extensively discussed. This paper describes a practical model for associating multiple ontologies with learning objects while making full use of the IEEE LOM specification. The model categorizes these ontologies according to five major categories of context based on the most popular fields of study actively being pursued by the educational research community: Thematic context, Pedagogical context, Learner context, Organizational context, and Historical/Statistical context. [source] Deployable Truss Operation by ETS-VII Robot Arm Using Force Accommodation ControlCOMPUTER-AIDED CIVIL AND INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING, Issue 3 2001Masahiro Nohmi An experiment for teleoperating a truss structure has been performed as part of a space robotics mission on Engineering Test Satellite No. 7 (ETS-VII). This article reports the results from truss experiments conducted by means of the ETS-VII robot arm using force accommodation control, which is a specific control law developed for the ETS-VII robot arm. With this control function, the robot arm moves toward the point where the external force becomes the command value, which is sent from the ground. This control technique is useful especially in the case of teleoperation with time delay, since excessive force and torque can be avoided, and in addition, no a priori trajectory information is required. However, the robot arm cannot attain the desired configuration for itself. These characteristics can be used for deployable and assembly truss operation, making full use of merits and avoiding demerits. The effectiveness is confirmed through an ETS-VII onboard experiment. [source] Semantic confusion regarding the development of multisensory integration: a practical solutionEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 10 2010Barry E. Stein Abstract There is now a good deal of data from neurophysiological studies in animals and behavioral studies in human infants regarding the development of multisensory processing capabilities. Although the conclusions drawn from these different datasets sometimes appear to conflict, many of the differences are due to the use of different terms to mean the same thing and, more problematic, the use of similar terms to mean different things. Semantic issues are pervasive in the field and complicate communication among groups using different methods to study similar issues. Achieving clarity of communication among different investigative groups is essential for each to make full use of the findings of others, and an important step in this direction is to identify areas of semantic confusion. In this way investigators can be encouraged to use terms whose meaning and underlying assumptions are unambiguous because they are commonly accepted. Although this issue is of obvious importance to the large and very rapidly growing number of researchers working on multisensory processes, it is perhaps even more important to the non-cognoscenti. Those who wish to benefit from the scholarship in this field but are unfamiliar with the issues identified here are most likely to be confused by semantic inconsistencies. The current discussion attempts to document some of the more problematic of these, begin a discussion about the nature of the confusion and suggest some possible solutions. [source] Surface-Protected Etching of Mesoporous Oxide Shells for the Stabilization of Metal NanocatalystsADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 14 2010Qiao Zhang Abstract Nanoparticles of transition metals, particularly noble metals, are widely used in catalysis. However, enhancing their stability during catalytic reactions has been a challenge that has limited the full use of the benefits associated with their small size. In this Feature Article, a general "encapsulation and etching" strategy for the fabrication of nanocatalyst systems is introduced in which catalyst nanoparticles are protected within porous shells. The novelty of this approach lies in the use of chemical etching to assist the creation of mesopores in a protective oxide shell to promote efficient mass transfer to encapsulated metal nanoparticles. The etching process allows for the direct transformation of dense silica coatings into porous shells so that chemical species can reach the catalyst surface to participate in reactions while the shells act as physical barriers against aggregation of the catalyst particles. By using the surface-protected etching process, both yolk,shell and core,satellite type nanoreactors are synthesized and their utilization in liquid- and gas-phase catalysis is demonstrated. The thermal and chemical stability of the metallic cores during catalytic reactions is also investigated, and further work is carried out to enhance recyclability via the introduction of superparamagnetic components into the nanoreactor framework. [source] Factors influencing the scope and quality of science and management decisionsFISH AND FISHERIES, Issue 1 2002(The good, the bad, the ugly) Abstract The lecture traces the historical path to overfishing of the world's fish and shellfish stocks, and provides an assessment of marine fish resources in the later half of the 1990s. The basis of overfishing as noted by various fishery scientists is reviewed. Four factors, including institutional paralysis, the rapidity of technological developments, uncertainty of science, and the inability to monitor and enforce regulations are identified as the major problems leading to overfishing. The failure of the world community to deal with extensive overfishing, appears to have motivated managers and scientists to promote a new fishery management paradigm that focuses on a broader set of problems resulting from fishing, and establishes a more conservative decision-making process founded on precautionary principle and uncertainty. The author feels that the evolving paradigm will result in the rebuilding of a number of stocks in the United States, but is less certain of its adoption on a global scale, and whether or not science will play a more useful role in fisheries management. It is noted that the support for fisheries science and the status of fisheries have followed opposite courses. Over the past half century marine science has boomed, diversified and become intellectually and materially enriched, while the number of overfished stocks and ecological disasters has increased. Looking ahead it is expected that fisheries management will move into a more conservative era. The focus of fisheries has moved from full use of ocean resources to establishing yields that take into account the impacts of fisheries on target and non-target species and the ecosystem in general. Although there has been wide-spread abuse in the use of the world's fishery resources and condemnation of the fishing industries, the author feels that the government institutions must bear the primary responsibility for the historical course of fishery management and its failure. [source] The design of an optimal filter for monthly GRACE gravity modelsGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2008R. Klees SUMMARY Most applications of the publicly released Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment monthly gravity field models require the application of a spatial filter to help suppressing noise and other systematic errors present in the data. The most common approach makes use of a simple Gaussian averaging process, which is often combined with a ,destriping' technique in which coefficient correlations within a given degree are removed. As brute force methods, neither of these techniques takes into consideration the statistical information from the gravity solution itself and, while they perform well overall, they can often end up removing more signal than necessary. Other optimal filters have been proposed in the literature; however, none have attempted to make full use of all information available from the monthly solutions. By examining the underlying principles of filter design, a filter has been developed that incorporates the noise and full signal variance,covariance matrix to tailor the filter to the error characteristics of a particular monthly solution. The filter is both anisotropic and non-symmetric, meaning it can accommodate noise of an arbitrary shape, such as the characteristic stripes. The filter minimizes the mean-square error and, in this sense, can be considered as the most optimal filter possible. Through both simulated and real data scenarios, this improved filter will be shown to preserve the highest amount of gravity signal when compared to other standard techniques, while simultaneously minimizing leakage effects and producing smooth solutions in areas of low signal. [source] Enhanced Light-Harvesting and Photocatalytic Properties in Morph -TiO2 from Green-Leaf BiotemplatesADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 1 2009Xufan Li Abstract The unique structure of green leaves endows them with an extremely high light-harvesting efficiency. In this work, green leaves are applied as biotemplates to synthesize morph -TiO2. The structural features favorable for light harvesting from the macro- to the nanoscale are replicated in morph -TiO2 through a two-step infiltration process and the N contained in the original leaves is self-doped into the resulting samples. The absorbance intensities within the visible-light range of morph -TiO2 derived from different leaves increase by 103,258% and the band-gap-absorption onsets at the edge of the UV and visible-light range show a red-shift of 25,100,nm compared to those in TiO2 without the template. The photocatalytic activity of morph -TiO2 is also improved, as proven by an electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) study and degradation of rhodamine dye under irradiation with UV and visible light. The present work, as a new strategy, is of far-reaching significance in learning from nature, driving us to make full use of the most-abundant resources and structure-introduced functions endowed by nature, opening up possibilities for extensive study of the physical and chemical properties of morph -structured oxides and extending their potential for use in applications such as solar cells, photocatalysts, photoelectrical devices, and photoinduced sensors. [source] Hydrology as a policy-relevant scienceHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 16 2004Kuniyoshi Takeuchi Abstract Water is now a global political agenda and water science is part of it. The United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, the 3rd World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference in Kyoto in 2003 and the G8 Summit in Evian in 2003 were all concerned about urgent global water issues and call for international scientific research collaboration. Hydrology is responding to such political commitments with various scientific initiatives that include the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) Predictions in Ungauged Basins (PUB), the Global Energy and Water Circulation Experiments (GEWEX) Coordinated Enhanced Observation Period (CEOP), and the Global Water Systems Project (GWSP). These initiatives will play key roles in the implementation of the new intergovernmental project, Global Earth Observing System of Systems, under preparation by Global Observation Summits from 2003 to 2005. In order to achieve the MDGs, hydrological science has to play a major role supporting policy makers by overcoming methodological obstacles and providing the necessary information. This paper emphasizes that: the availability of ground measurements is a limiting factor that prevents the full use of scientific knowledge; hydrology has to integrate and downscale the various global information into local-scale information useful for river basin management; as the availability of professional personnel is in critical short supply, in addition to funds needed, to achieve the MDGs any scientific research should always accompany capacity-building programmes to close the science divide between developed and developing nations. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Male reproductive health research needs and research agenda: Asian and Pacific perspectiveINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ANDROLOGY, Issue S2 2000Yi-Fei Wang Enhancing male reproductive health, and increasing men's participation in it, involves encouraging a range of positive reproductive health and social behaviour by men to help ensure women's and children's well-being. More intellectual work,including research programmes,is urgently needed to clarify the conceptual framework for male reproductive health. At the Asia and the Pacific Symposium ,Intra-regional Cooperation in Reproductive Health Research' (Shanghai, China, 12,13 October 1998) the Symposium participants identified regional research needs and recommended a regional reproductive health research agenda, which addresses six key issues related to male reproductive health: (i) male contraceptive technology; (ii) reproductive tract infections/sexually transmitted diseases and male infertility; (iii) male involvement in reproductive health; (iv) male adolescent reproductive health; (v) male reproductive ageing; and (vi) environment and male reproductive health. One of the major challenges now facing us is the elaboration of a comprehensive, yet realistic, male reproductive health research agenda that reflects the needs and demands of Asian developing countries. Making full use of an interdisciplinary approach is of strategic importance to achieve this. [source] Improving methods of assessing natural killer cell cytotoxicityINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF METHODS IN PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH, Issue 1 2006Sandra E. Sephton Abstract Natural killer (NK) cells are a class of lymphocytes important in immune resistance to viral and other serious diseases. The cytotoxic function, or ,killing activity' of NK cells has become important in studies of the effects of stress and other psychosocial factors on physical health. Unfortunately, research on NK cell function has been plagued by discrepancies in the methods of interpreting NK cytotoxicity data. We briefly review some of the variations in measuring NK cell activity and present a new model for interpreting these results, introducing maximal target cell lysis (A) and the slope of the cytolytic curve (k) as parameters that attempt to make full use of the information and the statistical power in NK cell cytotoxicity data. Examples of these interpretation methods are presented using NK cytotoxicity data from a group of metastatic breast cancer patients. This approach will be useful in applications of NK cell measurement in psychoneuroimmunology research. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Observer-based adaptive robust control of a class of nonlinear systems with dynamic uncertainties,INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ROBUST AND NONLINEAR CONTROL, Issue 4 2001Bin Yao Abstract In this paper, a discontinuous projection-based adaptive robust control (ARC) scheme is constructed for a class of nonlinear systems in an extended semi-strict feedback form by incorporating a nonlinear observer and a dynamic normalization signal. The form allows for parametric uncertainties, uncertain nonlinearities, and dynamic uncertainties. The unmeasured states associated with the dynamic uncertainties are assumed to enter the system equations in an affine fashion. A novel nonlinear observer is first constructed to estimate the unmeasured states for a less conservative design. Estimation errors of dynamic uncertainties, as well as other model uncertainties, are dealt with effectively via certain robust feedback control terms for a guaranteed robust performance. In contrast with existing conservative robust adaptive control schemes, the proposed ARC method makes full use of the available structural information on the unmeasured state dynamics and the prior knowledge on the bounds of parameter variations for high performance. The resulting ARC controller achieves a prescribed output tracking transient performance and final tracking accuracy in the sense that the upper bound on the absolute value of the output tracking error over entire time-history is given and related to certain controller design parameters in a known form. Furthermore, in the absence of uncertain nonlinearities, asymptotic output tracking is also achieved. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Improvement of SAXS measurements on Kratky slit systems by Göbel mirrors and imaging-plate detectorsJOURNAL OF APPLIED CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, Issue 3-2 2000Alexander Bergmann Laboratory X-ray sources emit a highly divergent beam. The Kratky compact camera is constructed to maximize the intensity in the sample using a slit collimation system. The performance of this camera can be further increased if the primary beam is collimated from a divergent into a parallel beam. A recently developed device for this purpose is the so-called `Göbel mirror'. This mirror is made of parabolically bent multilayers, designed to collimate divergent X-rays from laboratory X-ray sources into a parallel and monochromatic beam of high brilliance. Modification of the block collimation system in combination with a Göbel mirror leads to a different beam geometry, resulting in an intensity increase by a factor of about 10. The gain in intensity implicates the use of imaging-plate detectors, which have a wide linear range in intensity and allow the full use of the increased intensity. Hence the quality of the SAXS data is improved by the higher intensity primary beam, the much lower background due to the exclusive use of Cu K, radiation, and a detection unit which is linear in the measured intensity regime. All these advantages, such as intensity gain, lower background, better quality of the data, are demonstrated with some selected experimental results. [source] Model population analysis for variable selectionJOURNAL OF CHEMOMETRICS, Issue 7-8 2010Hong-Dong Li Abstract To build a credible model for given chemical or biological or clinical data, it may be helpful to first get somewhat better insight into the data itself before modeling and then to present the statistically stable results derived from a large number of sub-models established only on one dataset with the aid of Monte Carlo Sampling (MCS). In the present work, a concept model population analysis (MPA) is developed. Briefly, MPA could be considered as a general framework for developing new methods by statistically analyzing some interesting parameters (regression coefficients, prediction errors, etc.) of a number of sub-models. New methods are expected to be developed by making full use of the interesting parameter in a novel manner. In this work, the elements of MPA are first considered and described. Then, the applications for variable selection and model assessment are emphasized with the help of MPA. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Deterministic fallacies and model validationJOURNAL OF CHEMOMETRICS, Issue 3-4 2010Douglas M. Hawkins Abstract Stochastic settings differ from deterministic ones in many subtle ways, making it easy to slip into errors through applying deterministic thinking inappropriately. We suspect this is the cause of much of the disagreement about model validation. A further technical issue is a common misapplication of cross-validation, in which it is applied only partially, leading to incorrect results. Statistical theory and empirical investigation verify the efficacy of cross-validation when it is applied correctly. In settings where data are relatively scarce, cross-validation is attractive in that it makes the maximum possible use of all available information, at the cost of potentially substantial computation. The bootstrap is another method that makes full use of all available data for both model fitting and model validation, at a cost of substantially increased computation, and it shares many of the broad philosophical background of cross-validation. Increasingly, the computational cost of these methods is not a major concern, leading to the recommendation, in most circumstances, to use cross-validation or bootstrapping rather than the earlier standard method of splitting the available data into a learning and a testing portion. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Parallel Fock matrix construction with distributed shared memory model for the FMO-MO methodJOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY, Issue 13 2010Hiroaki Umeda Abstract A parallel Fock matrix construction program for FMO-MO method has been developed with the distributed shared memory model. To construct a large-sized Fock matrix during FMO-MO calculations, a distributed parallel algorithm was designed to make full use of local memory to reduce communication, and was implemented on the Global Array toolkit. A benchmark calculation for a small system indicates that the parallelization efficiency of the matrix construction portion is as high as 93% at 1,024 processors. A large FMO-MO application on the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) protein (17,246 atoms and 96,234 basis functions) was also carried out at the HF/6-31G level of theory, with the frontier orbitals being extracted by a Sakurai-Sugiura eigensolver. It takes 11.3 h for the FMO calculation, 49.1 h for the Fock matrix construction, and 10 min to extract 94 eigen-components on a PC cluster system using 256 processors. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010 [source] Accurate long-range distance measurements in a doubly spin-labeled protein by a four-pulse, double electron,electron resonance methodMAGNETIC RESONANCE IN CHEMISTRY, Issue 12 2008Michela G. Finiguerra Abstract Distance determination in disordered systems by a four-pulse double electron,electron resonance method (DEER or PELDOR) is becoming increasingly popular because long distances (several nanometers) and their distributions can be measured. From the distance distributions eventual heterogeneities and dynamics can be deduced. To make full use of the method, typical distance distributions for structurally well-defined systems are needed. Here, the structurally well-characterized protein azurin is investigated by attaching two (1-oxyl-2,2,5,5-tetramethylpyrroline-3-methyl) methanethiosulfonate spin labels (MTSL) by site-directed mutagenesis. Mutations at the surface sites of the protein Q12, K27, and N42 are combined in the double mutants Q12C/K27C and K27C/N42C. A distance of 4.3 nm is found for Q12C/K27C and 4.6 nm for K27C/N42C. For Q12C/K27C the width of the distribution (0.24 nm) is smaller than for the K27C/N42C mutant (0.36 nm). The shapes of the distributions are close to Gaussian. These distance distributions agree well with those derived from a model to determine the maximally accessible conformational space of the spin-label linker. Additionally, the expected distribution for the shorter distance variant Q12C/N42C was modeled. The width is larger than the calculated one for Q12C/K27C by 21%, revealing the effect of the different orientation and shorter distance. The widths and the shapes of the distributions are suited as a reference for two unperturbed MTSL labels at structurally well-defined sites. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] INFERRING PROCESSES DURING INTRODUCTION AND RANGE EXPANSION: Detecting strong positive selection in the genomeMOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES, Issue 5 2010WOLFGANG STEPHAN Abstract New statistical tests have been developed in the past decade that enable us to infer evidence of recent strong positive selection from genome-wide data on single-nucleotide polymorphism and to localize the targets of selection in the genome. Based on these tests, past demographic events that led to distortions of the site-frequency spectrum of variation can be distinguished from selection, in particular if linkage disequilibrium is taken into account. These methods have been successfully applied to species from which complete sequence information and polymorphism data are available, including Drosophila melanogaster, humans, and several plant species. To make full use of the available data, however, the tests that were primarily designed for panmictic populations need to be extended to spatially structured populations. [source] Normal and abnormal fetal cardiac anatomyPRENATAL DIAGNOSIS, Issue 13 2004Andrew C. Cook Abstract The heart is often perceived as a difficult organ to understand by ultrasound during fetal life. This is undoubtedly reflected in the low detection rate of cardiac abnormalities as compared to those of most other organ systems in the fetus. In this article we start by updating classical concepts of cardiac embryology, many of which were previously difficult to understand since they were overly simplistic or purely observational. We then lead on to the structure and growth of the fully formed fetal heart where we review the anatomy and ultrasound appearances in detail and provide comparisons with major abnormalities. We emphasise the fact that a solid understanding of cardiac anatomy can enable those involved in fetal medicine to make full use of the views of the heart that are obtained by ultrasound and which are often only transient. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Refined Rank Regression Method with CensorsQUALITY AND RELIABILITY ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL, Issue 7 2004Wendai Wang Abstract Reliability engineers often face failure data with suspensions. The rank regression method with an approach introduced by Johnson has been commonly used to handle data with suspensions in engineering practice and commercial software. However, the Johnson method makes partial use of suspension information only,the positions of suspensions, not the exact times to suspensions. A new approach for rank regression with censored data is proposed in this paper, which makes full use of suspension information. Taking advantage of the parametric approach, the refined rank regression obtains the ,exact' mean order number for each failure point in the sample. With the ,exact' mean order number, the proposed method gives the ,best' fit to sample data for an assumed times-to-failure distribution. This refined rank regression is simple to implement and appears to have good statistical and convergence properties. An example is provided to illustrate the proposed method. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] On the development and application of a self,organizing feature map,based patent mapR & D MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2002Byung, Un Yoon Recently, the range of R&D management has expanded to include management of technological assets such as technology information, product/process data, and patents. Among others, patent map (PM) has been paid increasing attention by both practitioners and researchers alike in R&D management. However, the limitation of conventional PM has been recognized, as the size of patent database becomes voluminous and the relationship among attributes becomes complex. Thus, more sophisticated data,mining tools are required to make full use of potential information from patent databases. In this paper, we propose an exploratory process of developing a self,organizing feature map (SOFM),based PM that visualizes the complex relationship among patents and the dynamic pattern of technological advancement. The utility of SOFM, vis,ŕ,vis other tools, is highlighted as the size and complexity of the database increase since it can reduce the amount of data by clustering and visualize the reduced data onto a lower,dimensional display simultaneously. Specifically, three types of PM, technology vacuum map, claim point map, technology portfolio map, are suggested. The proposed maps may be used in monitoring technological change, developing new products, and managing intellectual property. [source] State feedback control synthesis for networked control systems with packet dropout,ASIAN JOURNAL OF CONTROL, Issue 1 2009Yu-Long Wang Abstract This paper is concerned with the problem of H, controller design for networked control systems (NCSs) with time delay and packet dropout. A combined switching and parameter uncertainty-based method is proposed to deal with time-varying delay. The proposed method can avoid the high computational complexity of the delay switching-based method and introduce less conservatism than the parameter uncertainty-based method. An active varying sampling period method is proposed to make full use of network bandwidth, and a multi-objective optimization methodology in terms of linear matrix inequalities is used to deal with H, controller design for NCSs with active varying sampling period. The simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed active varying sampling period method and the less conservatism of the combined switching and parameter uncertainty-based method. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society [source] The paediatrician , past, present and future , a conversation with Nils Rosén von RosensteinACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 9 2009Ingemar Kjellmer Abstract An imagined conversation takes place with the author of the first textbook of Paediatrics, Nils Rosén von Rosenstein. Enormous progress in the prevention and treatment of diseases of children is demonstrated. But a different spectrum of diseases has replaced the old one. And in spite of unprecedented material well-being a substantial minority of our children cannot make full use of their capabilities. Conclusion:, We must resume the full responsibility for our children and act as their advocates in society. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||