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System Able (system + able)
Selected AbstractsExpected loss-based alarm threshold set for earthquake early warning systemsEARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS, Issue 9 2007Iunio Iervolino Abstract Earthquake early warning systems (EEWS) seem to have potential as tools for real-time seismic risk management and mitigation. In fact, although the evacuation of buildings requires warning time not available in many urbanized areas threatened by seismic hazard, they may still be used for the real-time protection of critical facilities using automatic systems in order to reduce the losses subsequent to a catastrophic event. This is possible due to the real-time seismology, which consists of methods and procedures for the rapid estimation of earthquake features, as magnitude and location, based on measurements made on the first seconds of the P -waves. An earthquake engineering application of earthquake early warning (EEW) may be intended as a system able to issue the alarm, if some recorded parameter exceeds a given threshold, to activate risk mitigation actions before the quake strikes at a site of interest. Feasibility analysis and design of such EEWS require the assessment of the expected loss reduction due to the security action and set of the alarm threshold. In this paper a procedure to carry out these tasks in the performance-based earthquake engineering probabilistic framework is proposed. A merely illustrative example refers to a simple structure assumed to be a classroom. Structural damage and non-structural collapses are considered; the security action is to shelter occupants below the desks. The cost due to a false alarm is assumed to be related to the interruption of didactic activities. Results show how the comparison of the expected losses, for the alarm-issuance and non-issuance cases, allows setting the alarm threshold on a quantitative and consistent basis, and how it may be a tool for the design of engineering applications of EEW. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Face tracking for model-based coding and face animationINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMAGING SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 1 2003Jörgen Ahlberg Abstract We present a face and facial feature tracking system able to extract animation parameters describing the motion and articulation of a human face in real-time on consumer hardware. The system is based on a statistical model of face appearance and a search algorithm for adapting the model to an image. Speed and robustness is discussed, and the system evaluated in terms of accuracy. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol 13: 8,22, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ima.10042 [source] Top to bottom reengineering: University System of Maryland enhances productivity, improves accountability, and maintains qualityNEW DIRECTIONS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION, Issue 140 2007William E. Kirwan This chapter examines how the University System of Maryland repositioned itself as a state system able to thrive in an era of permanently diminished resources and perpetually escalating demands. [source] Molybdenum cofactor amounts in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii depend on the Nit5 gene function related to molybdate transportPLANT CELL & ENVIRONMENT, Issue 11 2000A. Llamas ABSTRACT Strain 21gr from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a cryptic mutant defective in the Nit5 gene related to the biosynthesis of molybdenum cofactor (MoCo). In spite of this mutation, this strain has active MoCo and can grow on nitrate media. In genetic crosses, the Nit5 mutation cosegregated with a phenotype of resistance to high concentrations of molybdate and tungstate. Molybdate/tungstate toxicity was much higher in nitrate than in ammonium media. Strain 21gr showed lower amounts of MoCo activity than the wild type both when grown in nitrate and after growth in ammonium and nitrate induction. However, nitrate reductase (NR) specific activity was similar in wild type and 21gr cells. Tungstate, either at nanomolar concentrations in nitrate media or at micromolar concentrations during growth in ammonium and nitrate induction, strongly decreased MoCo and NR amounts in wild-type cells but had a slight effect in 21gr cells. Molybdate uptake activity of ammonium-grown cells from both the wild-type and 21gr strains was small and blocked by sulphate 0·3 mM. However, cells from nitrate medium showed a molybdate uptake activity insensitive to sulphate. This uptake activity was much higher and more sensitive to inhibition by tungstate in the wild type than in strain 21gr. These results suggest that strain 21gr has a high affinity and low capacity molybdate transport system able to discriminate efficiently tungstate, and lacks a high capacity molybdate/tungstate transport system, which operates in wild-type cells upon nitrate induction. This high capacity molybdate transport system would account for both the stimulating effect of molybdate on MoCo amounts and the toxic effects of tungstate and molybdate when present at high concentrations. [source] Influence of oxidation and crosslinking on oxygen binding properties of mouse erythrocytesCELL BIOCHEMISTRY AND FUNCTION, Issue 2 2001L. A. Lotero Abstract Different chemical treatments for mouse erythrocyte modification has been used. Oxidation treatments with Ascorbate/Fe3+, a system able to react with intracellular proteins, produced a displacement of the O2 binding equilibrium curve to a higher affinity behaviour with loss of the haemoglobin cooperativity for oxygen binding. Incubation of mouse erythrocytes with diamide showed that at low reagent concentration (0.8,mM) no modification on oxygen binding equilibrium curves was observed. At higher reagent concentration (2.0,mM), an increased affinity and a disappearance of the cooperative behaviour can be observed. Additionally, crosslinking reactions on mouse erythrocytes with band 3 crosslinkers seemed to affect oxygen binding properties when used at a crosslinker concentration of 5,mM. Oxyhaemoglobin levels in crosslinked and diamide-treated erythrocytes are similar to those found in control cells. In contrast, ascorbate/Fe3+ treatments produced an increment in the proportion of methaemoglobin, decreasing the oxyhaemoglobin levels in these oxidized erythrocytes. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Parallel heterogeneous CBIR system for efficient hyperspectral image retrieval using spectral mixture analysisCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 9 2010Antonio J. Plaza Abstract The purpose of content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is to retrieve, from real data stored in a database, information that is relevant to a query. In remote sensing applications, the wealth of spectral information provided by latest-generation (hyperspectral) instruments has quickly introduced the need for parallel CBIR systems able to effectively retrieve features of interest from ever-growing data archives. To address this need, this paper develops a new parallel CBIR system that has been specifically designed to be run on heterogeneous networks of computers (HNOCs). These platforms have soon become a standard computing architecture in remote sensing missions due to the distributed nature of data repositories. The proposed heterogeneous system first extracts an image feature vector able to characterize image content with sub-pixel precision using spectral mixture analysis concepts, and then uses the obtained feature as a search reference. The system is validated using a complex hyperspectral image database, and implemented on several networks of workstations and a Beowulf cluster at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Our experimental results indicate that the proposed parallel system can efficiently retrieve hyperspectral images from complex image databases by efficiently adapting to the underlying parallel platform on which it is run, regardless of the heterogeneity in the compute nodes and communication links that form such parallel platform. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The need for adaptability in EU environmental policy design and implementationENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 5 2001Matthieu Glachant Is the application of the EU environmentally policy satisfying in the field? In particular, are the environmental objectives set in the directives met? This paper explores the issue of the effectiveness of the European environmental policy. It is based on the results of a recent study, which has consisted in evaluating the implementation of three pieces of EU environmental legislation in France, Germany, Netherlands and United Kingdom. The legislation studied was Directive 89/429 regulating atmospheric emissions from domestic waste incinerators, Directive 88/609 dealing with SO2 and NOx emissions from large combustion plants (LCPs) and Council Regulation 1836/93 concerning the voluntary participation of industrial companies in an EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). The result of the study suggests that simply posing the problem in terms of ,implementation deficit' is not sufficient. In fact, over-compliance with directive goals is even observed in certain cases. By contrast, the evaluation suggests the prevalence of interactions between the considered implementation process and other parallel policy processes at the implementation stage. The study shows that this interplay between policies has a huge impact on implementation environmental results, which can be either positive or negative. Based on this statement, an important question for EU policy is how implementation can efficiently cope with such interactions, which means finding ways to maximize potential synergies, or alternatively to reduce inconsistencies, with the other policy components. Given that policy interactions are difficult to predict at the policy formulation stage of the policy, adjustments necessarily occur at the implementation stage. In this context, implementing EU environmental policy requires policy systems able to adjust at low costs. In this paper, this property is called adaptability and is given a precise content. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment [source] The winnerless competition paradigm in cellular nonlinear networks: Models and applicationsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CIRCUIT THEORY AND APPLICATIONS, Issue 4 2009Paolo Arena Abstract Starting from the biological background on the olfactory architecture of both insects and mammalians, different nonlinear systems able to respond to spatial-distributed external stimuli with spatial,temporal dynamics have been investigated in the last decade. Among these, there is a class of neural networks that produces quasi-periodic trajectories that pass near heteroclinic contours and prove to be global attractors for the system. For this reason, these networks are called winnerless competition (WLC) networks. The sequence of saddle points crossed by each trajectory depends on the spatial input presented to the network and can be used as a ,code' representing a specific class of stimuli. Thanks to the intrinsic discrimination, WLC networks are often used for classification. In this paper, this capability is exploited within a framework for action-oriented perception. WLC networks are here used as bio-inspired architectures for the association between stimuli and ,percepts'. After presenting the theoretical basis of the WLC network in the classic Lotka,Volterra system, we investigate how WLC networks can be formalized in terms of cellular nonlinear networks (CNNs) hosting different kinds of cells: the FitzHugh,Nagumo neuron, the Izhikevich neuron and the single layer CNN standard cell. In order to find efficient ways to code environmental stimuli for action generation, we analyze and compare these WLC-based CNNs in terms of number of generated classes and robustness against the initial conditions. Based on the simulation results, we apply the best-performing system to solve a perceptual task involving navigation and obstacle avoidance. We demonstrate how the large memory capacity shown by the WLC,CNN is able to contribute to the new perceptual framework for autonomous artificial agents, where the association between stimuli and sequences is learned through the experience. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Unprecedent Chemo- and Stereoselective Palladium-Catalysed Methoxycarbonylation of NorborneneADVANCED SYNTHESIS & CATALYSIS (PREVIOUSLY: JOURNAL FUER PRAKTISCHE CHEMIE), Issue 11-12 2009Carolina Blanco Abstract Catalytic systems able to control chemo- and stereoselectivity have been tested in the palladium-catalysed methoxycarbonylation of norbornene. An enantioselectivity of up to 40% was obtained. [source] DartBoards and Clovers as new tools in sustainability planning and controlBUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 7 2007Massimiliano Bonacchi Abstract Among organizations that recognize that a multidimensional perspective is necessary to integrate stakeholder needs into a long term value creation process, only in a few cases are performance measurement systems able to integrate financial indicators with social and environmental metrics. This paper first discusses the sustainability concept for management accounting purposes. After reviewing the literature addressing performance measurement system issues, the paper offers a view as to how implementation of management accounting for sustainability could progress. We suggest a performance measurement system based on two managerial instruments that organize a set of primary and secondary measures, connected with stakeholder satisfaction, and are able to detect and articulate both win,win and trade-off situations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] | ||||||||||||||||