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Essential Characteristics (essential + characteristic)
Selected AbstractsThe inclusion of exogenous variables in functional autoregressive ozone forecastingENVIRONMETRICS, Issue 7 2002Julien Damon Abstract In this article, we propose a new technique for ozone forecasting. The approach is functional, that is we consider stochastic processes with values in function spaces. We make use of the essential characteristic of this type of phenomenon by taking into account theoretically and practically the continuous time evolution of pollution. One main methodological enhancement of this article is the incorporation of exogenous variables (wind speed and temperature) in those models. The application is carried out on a six-year data set of hourly ozone concentrations and meteorological measurements from Béthune (France). The study examines the summer periods because of the higher values observed. We explain the non-parametric estimation procedure for autoregressive Hilbertian models with or without exogenous variables (considering two alternative versions in this case) as well as for the functional kernel model. The comparison of all the latter models is based on up-to-24 hour-ahead predictions of hourly ozone concentrations. We analyzed daily forecast curves upon several criteria of two kinds: functional ones, and aggregated ones where attention is put on the daily maximum. It appears that autoregressive Hilbertian models with exogenous variables show the best predictive power. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Divide and conquer: the importance of cell division in regulating B-cell responsesIMMUNOLOGY, Issue 4 2004Stuart G. Tangye Summary Proliferation is an essential characteristic of clonal selection and is required for the expansion of antigen reactive clones leading to the development of antibody of different isotypes and memory cells. New data for mouse and human B cells point to an important role for division in regulating isotype class and in optimizing development of protective immunity by the regulated entry of cells to the plasma cell lineage. [source] An investigation into the swelling properties, dimensional changes, and gel layer evolution in chitosan tablets undergoing hydrationADVANCES IN POLYMER TECHNOLOGY, Issue 1 2009Manuel Efentakis Abstract The purpose of this research is to determine several characteristics of chitosan lactate in tablet form such as dimensional changes, gel evolution, swelling (liquid uptake), and erosion using an image analysis method. The examination of these characteristics will be helpful in the design of oral drug delivery systems with this polymer. It has been demonstrated that image analysis is a valuable technique, allowing the study of quantitative measurements of dimensional and core changes and gel evolution. The dimensional expansion changes of the chitosan lactate tablets were greater in water, and the crushing strength and the stirring effect affected these attributes to a limited extent. The fastest and greatest liquid uptake was observed in water, whereas the greatest erosion was observed in HCl. The thickness of the gel layer increased considerably with time up to the eighth hour, indicating the formation and development of a thick and durable gel, particularly in water. This is an essential characteristic for potential sustained drug release delivery. Consequently, this polymer appears to be a versatile material and a promising vehicle for the preparation of various oral sustained release medications and relevant devices. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Techn 28:32,39, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/adv.20147 [source] White between the Lines: Ethnic Positioning in Lakhota DiscourseJOURNAL OF LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 1 2001Sara Trechter By examining constructed dialogues with whiteness in everyday conversations, this article demonstrates how one group of Native Americans, the Lakhota, mark whiteness as rampant individualism. As such, whiteness is not an essential characteristic of white people, but shifts to different participants as it is negotiated in Lakhota discourse. In this context, the Lakhota values of community responsibility and service are juxtaposed to individualism associated with whiteness. [source] Patients diagnosed with Kawasaki disease before the fifth day of illness have a higher risk of coronary artery aneurysmPEDIATRICS INTERNATIONAL, Issue 4 2002Yuichi Nomura Abstract Background: A fever lasting for at least 5 days is an essential characteristic of the original diagnostic criteria ofKawasaki disease (KD). However, it is not difficult for an experienced physician to confirm the diagnosis of KD before the fifth day offever. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of intravenous gamma globulin therapy (IVGG) in KD initiated before the fifth day of illness. Methods: A total of 125 patients treated with IVGG were divided into group A (IVGG was initiated before the fifth dayof illness, n= 46) and group B (IVGG was initiated at the fifth day or after, n= 79). Patients' characteristics,laboratory findings, treatments and outcomes were compared between the groups. Results: White blood cell count value, C-reactive protein and Harada's score showed no difference between thegroups. A significantly higher average value of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was observed in group A. Although the treatments were identicalin both groups, the average duration of fever from the initial day of IVGG in group A was significantly longer than in group B. Theincidence of aneurysm in group A was significantly higher than that in group B. Stepwise regression analysis using aneurysm as a dependentvariable revealed that group A and ALT were significant. Conclusions: Patients diagnosed with KD before the fifth day of illness showed a poor response to IVGG. This observationmight be related to high ALT values. Further examination concerning the modification of treatment in such patients is necessary. [source] A description of the structural determination procedures of a gap junction channel at 3.5,Å resolutionACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 8 2009Michihiro Suga Intercellular signalling is an essential characteristic of multicellular organisms. Gap junctions, which consist of arrays of intercellular channels, permit the exchange of ions and small molecules between adjacent cells. Here, the structural determination of a gap junction channel composed of connexin 26 (Cx26) at 3.5,Å resolution is described. During each step of the purification process, the protein was examined using electron microscopy and/or dynamic light scattering. Dehydration of the crystals improved the resolution limits. Phase refinement using multi-crystal averaging in conjunction with noncrystallographic symmetry averaging based on strictly determined noncrystallographic symmetry operators resulted in an electron-density map for model building. The amino-acid sequence of a protomer structure consisting of the amino-terminal helix, four transmembrane helices and two extracellular loops was assigned to the electron-density map. The amino-acid assignment was confirmed using six selenomethionine (SeMet) sites in the difference Fourier map of the SeMet derivative and three intramolecular disulfide bonds in the anomalous difference Fourier map of the native crystal. [source] The German sustainable development strategy: facing policy, management and political strategy assessmentsENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 3 2007Ralf Tils Abstract The Germans' conviction of being an international frontrunner in environmental policy stands in contrast to the unwillingness of the German national governments of the 1990s to undertake a commitment for a nationwide sustainable development strategy. Using five core strategy categories, namely horizontal and vertical integration, participation, implementation mechanism, monitoring and evaluation, this article provides an overview of the German sustainable development strategy preparation and implementation process. While the strategy is an ambitious concept, it also exhibits important shortcomings when viewed with different analytical perspectives such as policy, management and political strategy. Only with all of these perspectives combined can we arrive at specific conclusions about the assessment of the strategy process and make the essential characteristics of political strategy apparent. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Functional plasticity and robustness are essential characteristics of biological systems: Lessons learned from KLRG1-deficient miceEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 5 2010Stipan Jonjic Abstract Killer cell lectin-like receptor G1 (KLRG1) receptor is considered to be a marker of terminally differentiated NK and T cells and is strongly induced by viral and other infections. KLRG1 is a C-type lectin-like inhibitory receptor, which interacts with members of the cadherin family of molecules leading to the inhibition of T- and NK-cell function. A study in this issue of the European Journal of Immunology addresses the role of KLRG1 in the maturation and differentiation of NK and T cells in vivo. Using KLRG1-deficient mice generated by homologous recombination, the study reveals that KLRG1 is dispensable for NK- and CD8+ T-cell differentiation and function in vivo. This interesting finding is discussed in this Commentary in light of the plasticity and robustness of immune response mechanisms. [source] Soft magnetic materials for electrical engineering: state of the art and recent advancesEUROPEAN TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL POWER, Issue 6 2005F. Alves Abstract This article gives a brief description of the essential characteristics and principal applications of amorphous, crystalline and nanostructured soft magnetic materials in electrical engineering. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Evidence for episodic memory in a pavlovian conditioning procedure in ratsHIPPOCAMPUS, Issue 12 2007Jamus O'Brien Abstract In an effort to evaluate episodic memory processes in the rat, we developed a novel Pavlovian conditioning procedure. Rats explored two distinctive contexts, one in the morning and the other in the evening. Subsequently, either in the morning or the evening, they received a foot shock immediately upon entry into a third context that equally resembled the two explored contexts. When conditioned freezing was measured at an intermediate time of day, rats showed significantly more fear of the context congruent with the time of day of the foot shock. Thus, rats automatically form an integrated time,place memory that can be flexibly updated by future events, essential characteristics of episodic memory. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Effects of cooperative and competitive incentives on agility, quality, and speed in an experimental settingHUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS IN MANUFACTURING & SERVICE INDUSTRIES, Issue 4 2004Charlene A. Yauch Inter- and intraorganizational cooperation have been identified as essential characteristics of agile manufacturing. For this research, agility was compared using two experimental treatments: cooperative versus competitive. Student teams performed a task and were confronted with random changes to simulate a dynamic environment. Although differences were not statistically significant, the results show that cooperative incentives do not result in greater agility. Speed also decreased with cooperative incentives but quality improved. The experiment provides a preliminary understanding of how competition, cooperation, and agility interrelate and suggest that intra-organizational cooperation may not be the best means of achieving manufacturing agility. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 14: 403,413, 2004. [source] Resurgent Metropolis: Economy, Society and Urbanization in an Interconnected WorldINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 3 2008ALLEN J. SCOTT Abstract An urban problematic is identified by reference to the essential characteristics of cities as spatially polarized ensembles of human activity marked by high levels of internal symbiosis. The roots of the crisis of the classical industrial metropolis of the twentieth century are pinpointed, and the emergence of a new kind of urban economic dynamic over the 1980s and 1990s is discussed. I argue that this new dynamic is based in high degree upon the growth and spread of cognitive-cultural production systems. Along with these developments have come radical transformations of urban space and social life, as well as major efforts on the part of many cities to assert a role for themselves as national and international cultural centers. This argument is the basis of what we might call the resurgent metropolis hypothesis. The effects of globalization are shown to play a critical role in the genesis and geography of urban resurgence. Three major policy dilemmas of resurgent cities are highlighted, namely, their internal institutional fragmentation, their increasing character as economic agents on the world stage and the concomitant importance of collective approaches to the construction of localized competitive advantage, and their deepening social disintegration and segmentation. Résumé Une problématique urbaine est dégagée à propos des caractéristiques essentielles des villes définies comme des ensembles d'activité humaine polarisés dans l'espace et marqués par une symbiose interne poussée. Les racines de la crise qu'a subie la métropole industrielle classique au xxe siècle sont mises en évidence. Est aussi étudié un nouveau type de dynamique économique urbaine apparu au cours des années 1980-1990, cette dynamique étant largement fondée sur la croissance et la diffusion des systèmes de production cognitifs culturels. Parallèlement à ces évolutions, l'espace urbain et la vie sociale ont connu des transformations radicales, et nombre de villes ont entrepris de revendiquer un rôle de centre culturel national et international. Cet argument est à la base de ce qu'on pourrait appeler l'hypothèse d'une résurgence des métropoles. Il est montré que les effets de la mondialisation ont compté de façon cruciale dans la genèse et la géographie de la résurgence urbaine. Trois grands dilemmes politiques des ,villes résurgentes' sont soulignés: leur fragmentation institutionnelle interne; l'accentuation de leur place d'agents économiques sur la scène mondiale et l'importance concomitante des approches collectives pour construire des avantages concurrentiels localisés; ainsi que l'intensification de leur désintégration et de leur segmentation sociales. [source] Taking stock of naturalistic decision makingJOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DECISION MAKING, Issue 5 2001Raanan Lipshitz Abstract We review the progress of naturalistic decision making (NDM) in the decade since the first conference on the subject in 1989. After setting out a brief history of NDM we identify its essential characteristics and consider five of its main contributions: recognition-primed decisions, coping with uncertainty, team decision making, decision errors, and methodology. NDM helped identify important areas of inquiry previously neglected (e.g. the use of expertise in sizing up situations and generating options), it introduced new models, conceptualizations, and methods, and recruited applied investigators into the field. Above all, NDM contributed a new perspective on how decisions (broadly defined as committing oneself to a certain course of action) are made. NDM still faces significant challenges, including improvement of the quantity and rigor of its empirical research, and confirming the validity of its prescriptive models. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Essentialism and attribution of monstrosity in racist discourse: Right-wing internet postings about Africans and JewsJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2009Peter Holtz Abstract We investigated a total of 4997 postings on an extreme right-wing Internet discussion board with regard to the groups and themes mentioned. The most frequently mentioned target groups were Africans, Jews, Muslims, Poles, and Turks; the most prominent themes and contexts were conspiracy, criminality, exploitation, threats to German identity, infiltration, mind control and harassment, procreation, rape, and sex. We analysed in detail postings about Africans/Blacks and Jews, that is target groups that were the most clearly connected to particular themes. The analysis reveals that extreme right-wing discourse essentializes the target groups of Jews and Africans/Blacks and ascribes them immutable group-specific attributes that effectively make them ,natural kinds'. The group of Jews appears as a kind of their own with super-human powers and influence. Africans and Blacks are despised, firstly because their essential characteristics prohibit them to be categorically mixed with Germans (i.e. to become German by nationality) due to their incompatible essence, and secondly when they procreate with Whites. Such procreation produces ,bastards' that are met with disgust. We argue that essentialist thinking about social and ethnic groups explains a good part of their rejection by right-wing followers. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Seven characteristics of medical evidenceJOURNAL OF EVALUATION IN CLINICAL PRACTICE, Issue 2 2000FRCPC, Ross E. G. Upshur BA (Hons) Abstract This paper outlines seven essential characteristics of medical evidence and describes the implications of these for both the theory of evidence-based medicine and clinical practice. The seven characteristics are: (1) Provisional; (2) Defeasible; (3) Emergent; (4) Incomplete; (5) Constrained; (6) Collective and (7) Asymmetric. It is argued that the epistemological theory that best fits medical evidence is that of fallibilism. [source] Precipitation dynamics of zinc sulfide multiscale agglomeratesAICHE JOURNAL, Issue 10 2009Gruy Frédéric Abstract Homogeneous precipitation of zinc sulfide from thioacetamide decomposition in presence of zinc sulfate in acid solution results in the formation of four-scale agglomerates. We present here experimental results relative to the monitoring of several physicochemical (pH, electrical conductivity, concentration in sulfide ions, turbidity) and morphological (agglomerate shape and size) parameters throughout the precipitation process. From these parameters essential characteristics of the precipitation process can be determined, especially the supersaturation level and the precipitated product mass. From this information and with the help of microphotographs of samples withdrawn at different stages of the precipitation, it is possible to formulate a new mechanism of zinc sulfide precipitation. In particular, the nature of the different agglomeration scales is elucidated as well their succession in time. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009 [source] In Defence of ,Non,Expansive' Character EducationJOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION, Issue 2 2002Kristján Kristjánsson I first put the notion of non,expansive character education in context by locating its place within recent trends in values education and, in particular, by distinguishing it from more expansive accounts such as civic education and critical postmodernism. I argue that the essential characteristics of non,expansive character education are, on the one hand, moral cosmopolitanism and, on the other, methodological substantivism. In the second part of the essay, I defend this sort of character education against various common criticisms, with special reference to two canonical works of the movement, by Lickona and Kilpatrick. Non,expansive character education stands out, in the end, as a reasonable middle,ground proposal with neither too little nor too much meat on its bones. [source] Can massively multiplayer online gaming environments support team training?PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2008Debra L. O'Connor Instructional games are created when training is deliberately added to a gaming environment or when gaming aspects are deliberately incorporated into training. One type of game that is currently attracting the attention of the education and training field is the massively multiplayer online game (MMOG). Because evidence about learning outcomes from MMOGs is scant, this effort focuses on instructional games, particularly MMOGs, and the links between learning theory and the use of games and game elements for team training. Here, we address two questions: What is known about learning from games in general and MMOGs in particular? Can essential characteristics of MMOGs be designed to promote team learning and transfer? [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||