Straightforward Way (straightforward + way)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Strong Evidence for an Unprecedented Borderline Case of Dissociation and Cycloaddition in Open-Shell 1,3-Dipole Chemistry: Transient Nitrilium Phosphane-Ylide Complex Radical Cations

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 22 2009
Holger Helten
Abstract The reaction of 3-ferrocenyl-substituted 2H -azaphosphirene complexes 1a,c in the presence of substoichiometric amounts of ferrocenium hexafluorophosphate yields 3,5-diferrocenyl-substituted 2H -1,4,2-diazaphosphole complexes 3a,c and difluoro(organo)phosphane complexes 4a,c. The reaction of 1a,c and [FcH]PF6 with cyanoferrocene yields 3a,c in a straightforward way. The molecular structures of 3a,c were unambiguously identified by multinuclear NMR spectroscopic experiments, mass spectrometry, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. DFT calculations on model complexes 1d,m and 3d,m reveal a close similarity of Mo and W complexes (vs. Cr) and a strong influence of the ferrocenyl substituent on the geometry, spin, and charge distribution of reactive intermediates and the reaction course. Strong support for the assumption of a dissociation,cycloaddition reaction sequence leading to 3 and thus a surprising "cannibalistic" reaction was obtained.(© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2009) [source]


A middle surface concept (MSC) model for saturated sands in general stress space

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 5 2006
Y. Yang
Abstract An elastoplastic constitutive model is proposed for saturated sands in general stress space using the middle surface concept (MSC). In MSC, different features of stress,strain response of a material are divided into different pseudo-yield surfaces. The true-yield surface representing the true response is established by using various links between the yield surfaces. In this MSC sand model, several well-known features of sand response are represented by three different pseudo-yield surfaces, which are developed in a simple and straightforward way. These features include the critical state behaviour, the effects of state parameter, unloading and reloading plastic deformation, the influence of fabric anisotropy, and phase transformation line related behaviour. Finally, the model predictions and test results are compared for two different types of sands under a variety of loading conditions and good comparisons are obtained. The application of MSC to saturated sand modelling shows the versatility of MSC as a general concept for modelling stress,strain response of materials. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Exploring complex interactions in designed data using GEMANOVA.

JOURNAL OF CHEMOMETRICS, Issue 6 2002
Color changes in fresh beef during storage
Abstract Data from a severely reduced experimental design are investigated in order to obtain detailed information on important factors affecting the changes in quality of meat during storage under different conditions. It is possible to model the response, meat color, using traditional ANOVA (analysis of variance) techniques, but the exploratory and explanatory value of this model is somewhat restricted owing to the number of factors and the fact that several interactions exist. For those reasons, it is not possible to visualize the model in a simple way and therefore not possible to have a clear overview of the total variation in the data. Using a recently suggested alternative to traditional analysis of variance, GEMANOVA (generalized multiplicative ANOVA), it is possible to analyze the data effectively and obtain a more interpretable solution that enables a simple overview of the whole sampling domain. Whereas traditional analysis of variance typically seeks a model with main effects and as few and simple interactions and cross-products as possible, the GEMANOVA model seeks to describe the data primarily by means of higher-order interactions, albeit in a straightforward way. The two approaches are thus complementary. It is shown that the GEMANOVA model is simple to interpret, primarily because the GEMANOVA structure is in agreement with the nature of the data. It is shown that the GEMANOVA model used is mathematically unique, which leads to attractive simplified ways of interpreting the model. The results presented are the first published results where the GEMANOVA model is not simply equivalent to an ordinary PARAFAC model, thus taking full advantage of the additional structural power of GEMANOVA. A new algorithm for fitting the GEMANOVA model is developed and is available from the authors. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


A new Bayesian formulation for Holt's exponential smoothing

JOURNAL OF FORECASTING, Issue 3 2009
Robert R. Andrawis
Abstract In this paper we propose a Bayesian forecasting approach for Holt's additive exponential smoothing method. Starting from the state space formulation, a formula for the forecast is derived and reduced to a two-dimensional integration that can be computed numerically in a straightforward way. In contrast to much of the work for exponential smoothing, this method produces the forecast density and, in addition, it considers the initial level and initial trend as part of the parameters to be evaluated. Another contribution of this paper is that we have derived a way to reduce the computation of the maximum likelihood parameter estimation procedure to that of evaluating a two-dimensional grid, rather than applying a five-variable optimization procedure. Simulation experiments confirm that both proposed methods give favorable performance compared to other approaches. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


What are the Bounds of Critical Rationality in Education?

JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION, Issue 3 2004
Christiane Thompson
Since Dilthey we have become used to thinking of reason as having a cultural and historical setting. If we take this insight seriously, then critical rationality or critical thinking can no longer be conceived of as context-free skills. This paper takes up the line of thought that is elaborated by Christopher Winch in his ,Developing Critical Rationality as a Pedagogical Aim' and seeks to explicate it by drawing on Ludwig Wittgenstein's concept of ,language games' and on the re-evaluation of ,thinking' by Theodor Ballauff (a German philosopher of education who was influenced by Martin Heidegger). The overcoming of a solipsistic and idealistic conception of thinking raises questions regarding the pedagogical settings and aims, as well as the problems over the limits of critique in education. A comparison of Ballauff's and Winch's positions reinforces the sense of the significance of critique: although the role of critical rationality within education is ambiguous and precarious, the investigation of autonomy (as an educational goal) shows that critique cannot be limited in any straightforward way. [source]


Compressed sensing MRI with multichannel data using multicore processors

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IN MEDICINE, Issue 4 2010
Ching-Hua Chang
Abstract Compressed sensing (CS) is a promising method to speed up MRI. Because most clinical MRI scanners are equipped with multichannel receive systems, integrating CS with multichannel systems may not only shorten the scan time but also provide improved image quality. However, significant computation time is required to perform CS reconstruction, whose complexity is scaled by the number of channels. In this article, we propose a reconstruction procedure that uses ubiquitously available multicore central processing unit to accelerate CS reconstruction from multiple channel data. The experimental results show that the reconstruction efficiency benefits significantly from parallelizing the CS reconstructions and pipelining multichannel data into multicore processors. In our experiments, an additional speedup factor of 1.6,2.0 was achieved using the proposed method on a quad-core central processing unit. The proposed method provides a straightforward way to accelerate CS reconstruction with multichannel data for parallel computation. Magn Reson Med, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry in archaeometric research

MASS SPECTROMETRY REVIEWS, Issue 1 2010
Martín Resano
Abstract Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) is a solid sampling technique in continuous expansion in all types of research fields in which direct multi-elemental or isotopic analysis is required. In particular, this technique shows unique characteristics that made its use recommended in many archaeometric applications, where valuable solid artifacts are often the target samples, because it offers flexibility to achieve spatially resolved information with high detection power and a wide linear range, in a fast and straightforward way, and with minimal sample damage. The current review provides a systematic survey of publications that reported the use of LA-ICPMS in an archaeological context, highlights its main capabilities and limitations and discusses the most relevant parameters that influence the performance of this technique for this type of application. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Mass Spec Rev 29:55,78, 2010 [source]


Diffraction line profiles from polydisperse crystalline systems

ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION A, Issue 5 2001
Paolo Scardi
Diffraction patterns for polydisperse systems of crystalline grains of cubic materials were calculated considering some common grain shapes: sphere, cube, tetrahedron and octahedron. Analytical expressions for the Fourier transforms and corresponding column-length distributions were calculated for the various crystal shapes considering two representative examples of size-distribution functions: lognormal and Poisson. Results are illustrated by means of pattern simulations for a f.c.c. material. Line-broadening anisotropy owing to the different crystal shapes is discussed. The proposed approach is quite general and can be used for any given crystallite shape and different distribution functions; moreover, the Fourier transform formalism allows the introduction in the line-profile expression of other contributions to line broadening in a relatively easy and straightforward way. [source]


Sexual selection research on spiders: progress and biases

BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS, Issue 3 2005
Bernhard A. Huber
ABSTRACT The renaissance of interest in sexual selection during the last decades has fuelled an extraordinary increase of scientific papers on the subject in spiders. Research has focused both on the process of sexual selection itself, for example on the signals and various modalities involved, and on the patterns, that is the outcome of mate choice and competition depending on certain parameters. Sexual selection has most clearly been demonstrated in cases involving visual and acoustical signals but most spiders are myopic and mute, relying rather on vibrations, chemical and tactile stimuli. This review argues that research has been biased towards modalities that are relatively easily accessible to the human observer. Circumstantial and comparative evidence indicates that sexual selection working via substrate-borne vibrations and tactile as well as chemical stimuli may be common and widespread in spiders. Pattern-oriented research has focused on several phenomena for which spiders offer excellent model objects, like sexual size dimorphism, nuptial feeding, sexual cannibalism, and sperm competition. The accumulating evidence argues for a highly complex set of explanations for seemingly uniform patterns like size dimorphism and sexual cannibalism. Sexual selection appears involved as well as natural selection and mechanisms that are adaptive in other contexts only. Sperm competition has resulted in a plethora of morphological and behavioural adaptations, and simplistic models like those linking reproductive morphology with behaviour and sperm priority patterns in a straightforward way are being replaced by complex models involving an array of parameters. Male mating costs are increasingly being documented in spiders, and sexual selection by male mate choice is discussed as a potential result. Research on sexual selection in spiders has come a long way since Darwin, whose spider examples are reanalysed in the context of contemporary knowledge, but the same biases and methodological constraints have persisted almost unchanged through the current boom of research. [source]


Statistical models of syntax learning and use

COGNITIVE SCIENCE - A MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL, Issue 3 2002
Mark Johnson
Abstract This paper shows how to define probability distributions over linguistically realistic syntactic structures in a way that permits us to define language learning and language comprehension as statistical problems. We demonstrate our approach using lexical-functional grammar (LFG), but our approach generalizes to virtually any linguistic theory. Our probabilistic models are maximum entropy models. In this paper we concentrate on statistical inference procedures for learning the parameters that define these probability distributions. We point out some of the practical problems that make straightforward ways of estimating these distributions infeasible, and develop a "pseudo-likelihood" estimation procedure that overcomes some of these problems. This method raises interesting questions concerning the nature of the data available to a language learner and the modularity of language learning and processing. [source]