pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Probabilistic pharmaceutical modelling: A comparison between synchronous and asynchronous cellular automata

The field of pharmaceutical modelling has, in recent years, benefited from using probabilistic methods based on cellular automata, which seek to overcome some of the limitations of differential equation based models. By modelling discrete structural element interactions instead, these are able to provide data quality adequate for the early design phases in drug modelling. In relevant literature, both synchronous (CA) and asynchronous (ACA) types of automata have been used, without analysing their comparative impact on the model outputs. In this paper, we compare several variations of probabilistic CA and ACA update algorithms for building models of complex systems used in controlled drug delivery, analysing the advantages and disadvantages related to different modelling scenarios. Choosing the appropriate update mechanism, besides having an impact on the perceived realism of the simulation, also has practical benefits on the applicability of different model parallelisation algorithms and their performance when used in large-scale simulation contexts. © 2014 Springer-Verlag
Mentor mother support for mothers experiencing intimate partner violence in family practice: A qualitative study of three different perspectives on the facilitators and barriers of implementation

Contains fulltext :
                  167603.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is highly prevalent and associated with physical and mental health problems. Mentor mother support is a low threshold intervention in family practice consisting of support by non-professionals trained to support mothers experiencing IPV. A mentor mother support study showed reduced exposure to IPV and decreased symptoms of depression.Objectives: Identify factors determining implementation success of mentor mother support in family practice. Methods: Individual interviews were conducted with 12 family physicians, 16 abused mothers and three mentor mothers. Four mentor mothers participated in a focus group. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: The identification and discussion of abuse is hindered by family physicians' attitudes because they considered mothers experiencing IPV as a difficult target group with a responsibility of their own to break out of their violent situation. Some family physicians doubted the partner's violence because he was known as a patient as well. Acceptance of mentor mother support is related to the readiness for change of mothers experiencing IPV. Mentor mothers facilitate acceptance and completion of their support by connecting as a friend who is equal and less threatening than professionals. Conclusion: To improve successful implementation of mentor mother support in primary care, we should focus on family physicians' attitudes towards IPV. To change these attitudes, we recommend continuous training of family physicians. By being paraprofessional friends, mentor mothers offer low threshold support that is complementary to professional support and should be embedded more widely in primary care.KEY MESSAGES: We need to focus on family physicians' attitudes towards IPV to improve the support for mothers experiencing IPV. As 'paraprofessional friends', mentor mothers offer low-threshold support that is complementary to professional support.8 p
Interactive object-based retrieval using relevance feedback

In this paper we present an interactive, object-based video retrieval system which features a novel query formulation method that is used to iteratively refine an underlying model of the search object. As the user continues query composition and browsing of retrieval results, the system’s object modeling process, based on Gaussian probability distributions, becomes incrementally more accurate, leading to better search results. To make the interactive process understandable and easy to use, a custom user-interface has been designed and implemented that allows the user to interact with segmented objects in formulating a query, in browsing a search result, and in re-formulating a query by selecting an object in the search result
Nonuniform current and spin accumulation in a 1 μm thick n-GaAs channel

The spin accumulation in a n-GaAs channel produced by spin extraction into a (Ga,Mn)As contact is measured by cross-sectional imaging of the spin polarization in GaAs. The spin polarization is observed in a 1 μm thick n-GaAs channel with the maximum polarization near the contact edge opposite to the maximum current density. The one-dimensional model of electron drift and spin diffusion, frequently used, cannot explain this observation. It also leads to incorrect spin lifetimes from Hanle curves with a strong bias and distance dependence. Numerical simulations based on a two-dimensional drift-diffusion model, however, reproduce the observed spin distribution quite well and lead to realistic spin lifetimes
Degradation mechanism analysis in temperature stress tests on III-V ultra-high concentrator solar cells using a 3D distributed model

A temperature stress test was carried out on GaAs single-junction solar cells to analyze the degradation suffered when working at ultra-high concentrations. The acceleration of the degradation was realized at two different temperatures: 130 °C and 150 °C. In both cases, the degradation trend was the same, and only gradual failures were observed. A fit of the dark I–V curve at 25 °C with a 3D distributed model before and after the test was done. The fit with the 3D distributed model revealed degradation at the perimeter because the recombination current in the depletion region of the perimeter increased by about fourfold after the temperature stress test. Therefore, this test did not cause any morphological change in the devices, and although the devices were isolated with silicone, the perimeter region was revealed as the most fragile component of the solar cell. Consequently, the current flowing beneath the busbar favors the progression of defects in the device in the perimeter region
Energy Dependence of the Nernst-Ettingshausen Effect Induced By Pulsed Laser Light in Bismuth Films

The behavior with the irradiation energy and with the magnetic field of the thermomagnetic response induced by laser pulses in 5.5-μm Bi films at room temperature is reported in this paper. The Nernst-Ettingshausen coefficient at an applied magnetic field of 1 T is estimated: QNE≃1.0×10-5 V/T K. A good agreement is found when these results are compared with those reported earlier in polycrystalline bulk samples obtained by a conventional method. This supports the reliability of the pulsed laser technique in the measurement of weak transport effects and indicates that the optically pumped carriers hardly influence the transport properties of bismuth
The Sociology of Work and the work of sociologists in Portugal

A propose for this article is to present information on the emergence of the knowledge field of sociology of work and labor studies in Portugal. The period of 1974-1984 produced an interesting bibliography in the fields of social stratification, labor conflicts and social history. However, and since the mid-1980s, significant changes have emerged. There took place an increased theoretical diversity and also there was a major preoccupation with the development of a more professional teaching of the discipline. At this time, the first graduated specialists in Sociology appeared in the labor market since 1980, working in municipalities, industrial firms, public health institutions, schools, or even in research and development (R&D) units. The Portuguese association in this field (APSIOT) organized many scientific meetings, debates with unionists, managers and politicians, beside the regular publication of review “Organizações e Trabalho” (Organization and Work) since 1989. It started the diffusion of a professional culture of sociologists who associate science and their occupation concerning themselves not only with scientific quality, but also with technical competence and social responsibility. At the same time, one could assist to the participation of sociologists in the social and organizational molding of new technologies in order to promote alternative production systems.
Thought and Behavior Contagion in Capital Markets

Prevailing models of capital markets capture a limited form of
social influence and information transmission, in which the beliefs
and behavior of an investor affects others only through market
price, information transmission and processing is simple (without
thoughts and feelings), and there is no localization in the
influence of an investor on others. In reality, individuals often
process verbal arguments obtained in conversation or from media
presentations, and observe the behavior of others. We review here evidence
concerning how these activities cause beliefs and behaviors to
spread, affect financial decisions, and affect market prices; and
theoretical models of social influence and its effects on capital
markets. Social influence is central to how information and investor
sentiment are transmitted, so thought and behavior contagion should
be incorporated into the theory of capital markets.
Splitting Up Value: A Critical Review of Residual Income Theories

This paper deals with the notion of residual income, which may be defined as the surplus profit that residues after a capital charge (opportunity cost) has been covered. While the origins of the notion trace back to the 19th century, in-depth theoretical investigations and widespread real-life
applications are relatively recent and concern an interdisciplinary field connecting management accounting, corporate finance and financial mathematics (Peasnell, 1981, 1982; Peccati, 1987, 1989, 1991; Stewart, 1991; Ohlson, 1995; Arnold and Davies, 2000; Young and O'Byrne, 2001; Martin, Petty and Rich, 2003). This paper presents both a historical outline of its birth and development
and an overview of the main recent contributions regarding capital budgeting decisions, production and sales decisions, implementation of optimal portfolios, forecasts of asset prices and calculation of intrinsic values. A most recent theory, the systemic-value-added approach (also named lost-capital paradigm), provides a dierent denition of residual income, consistent with arbitrage theory. En-
folded in Keynes's (1936) notion of user cost and forerun by Pressacco and Stucchi (1997), the theory has been formally introduced in Magni (2000a,b,c; 2001a,b; 2003), where its properties are thoroughly investigated as well as its relations with the standard theory; two different lost-capital metrics have been considered, for value-based management purposes, by Drukarczyk and Schueler (2000) and
Young and O'Byrne (2001). This work illustrates the main properties of the two theories and their relations, and provides a minimal guide to construction of performance metrics in the two approaches.
Endogenous Labor Force Participation and Firing Costs

I construct a matching model to explain the labor market transition between employment, unemployment and nonparticipation, and evaluate the quantitative effects of firing costs. The model has several features that are distinguished from previous studies: endogenous labor force participation, different job-search decisions and imperfect insurance markets. I find that the model is able to account for the U.S. labor market, especially the gross labor-force transition rates. I also find that firing costs as a type of firing tax have a negative effect on the layoff rate, the job-finding probability and the participation rate. In particular, the effect of a decrease in the job-finding probability is greater than the effect of a decrease in the layoff rate, and this results in an increase in the unemployment-to-population ratio. Finally, firing costs make individuals' job tenures longer and skew the asset distribution to the right.
Microdata imputations and macrodata implications: evidence from the Ifo Business Survey

A widespread method for now- and forecasting economic macro level parameters such as GDP growth rates are survey-based indicators which contain early information in contrast to official data. But surveys are commonly affected by nonresponding units which can produce biases if these missing values can not be regarded as missing at random. As many papers examined the effect of nonresponse in individual or household surveys, only less is known in the case of business surveys. So, literature leaves a gap on this issue. For this reason, we analyse and impute the missing observations in the Ifo Business Survey, a large business survey in Germany. The most prominent result of this survey is the Ifo Business Climate Index, a leading indicator for the German business cycle. To reflect the underlying latent data generating process, we compare different imputation approaches for longitudinal data. After this, the microdata are aggregated and the results are compared with the original indicators to evaluate their implications on the macro level. Finally, we show that the bias is minimal and ignorable.
Optimising age-replacement and extended non-renewing warranty policies in
lifecycle costing

This paper analyses the life cycle cost of equipment protected by both base and
extended warranty policies from a consumer's perspective. We assume that the
equipment has two types of failure: minor and catastrophic. A minor failure can
be corrected with minimal repair whereas a catastrophic failure can only be
removed by a replacement. It is assumed that equipment is maintained at no
charge to the consumer during the warranty period, whereas the consumer is fully
charged for any maintenance on failures after the extended warranty expires. We
formulate the expected life cycle cost of the equipment under a general failure
time distribution, and then for special cases we prove that the optimal
replacement and extended warranty policies exists where the expected life cycle
cost per unit time is minimised. This is examined with numerical examples. &
2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
The influence of constitutive material models on accumulated plastic strain in finite element weld analyses

Recent studies in computational weld mechanics have revealed the importance of the material plasticity model when predicting weld residual stresses. The present work seeks to extend this level of understanding to include the effects of the assumed material annealing behaviour, particularly when modelling multi-pass welds that comprise several thermo-mechanical loading cycles. A series of numerical analyses are performed to examine the variability in predicted residual stress profiles for different material models, using a validated finite element model for a three-pass slot weld in AISI 316LN austenitic steel. The material models consider both the work hardening and annealing assumptions for the chosen material. Model sensitivity is established not only from a weld residual stress perspective, but also from an assessment of the post-weld plastic strain accumulated in the weldment. Predictions are compared with indirect measurements acquired using cross-weld micro-hardness maps taken from benchmark specimens. Sensitivity studies reveal that the choice of annealing behaviour will have a significant impact on plastic flow predictions, which is dependent on the annealing temperature specified. Annealing assumptions will have a varying impact on the weld residual stress predictions, such that the extent of sensitivity is dependent on the plasticity model chosen. In contrast, the choice of plasticity model will have a significant effect on the predicted weld residual stresses, but relatively little effect on predictions of equivalent plastic strain
Using ISO/IEC 12207 to analyze open source software development processes: an E-learning case study

To date, there is no comprehensive study of open source software development process (OSSDP) carried out for open source (OS) e-learning systems. This paper presents the work which objectively analyzes the open source software development (OSSD) practices carried out by e-learning systems development communities and their results are represented using DEMO models. These results are compared using ISO/IEC 12207:2008. The comparison of DEMO models with ISO/IEC 12207 is a useful contribution; as it provides deeper understanding to-wards the OS e-learning system development
An Algebraic Analysis of Conchoids to Algebraic Curves

We study the conchoid to an algebraic affine plane curve C from the perspective of algebraic geometry, analyzing their main algebraic properties. Beside C, the notion of conchoid involves a point A in the affine plane (the focus) and a nonzero field element d (the distance).We introduce the formal definition of conchoid by means of incidence diagrams.We prove that the conchoid is a 1-dimensional algebraic set having atmost two irreducible components. Moreover, with the exception of circles centered at the focus A and taking d as its radius, all components of the corresponding conchoid have dimension 1. In addition, we introduce the notions of special and simple components of a conchoid. Furthermore we state that, with the exception of lines passing through A, the conchoid always has at least one simple component and that, for almost every distance, all the components of the conchoid are simple. We state that, in the reducible case, simple conchoid components are birationally equivalent to C, and we show how special components can be used to decide whether a given algebraic curve is the conchoid of another curve
Determination of soluble toxic arsenic species in alga samples by microwave-assisted extraction and high performance liquid chromatography-hydride generation-inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy

A microwave-based procedure for arsenic species extraction in alga samples (Sargassum fulvellum, Chlorella vulgaris, Hizikia fusiformis and Laminaria digitata) is described. Extraction time and temperature were tested in order to evaluate the extraction efficiency of the process. Arsenic compounds were extracted in 8 ml of deionised water at 90 °C for 5 min. The process was repeated three times. Soluble arsenic compounds extracted accounted for about 78–98% of total arsenic. The results were compared with those obtained in a previous work, where the extraction process was carried out by ultrasonic focussed probe for 30 s. Speciation studies were carried out by high performance liquid chromatography–hydride generation–inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (HPLC-HG-ICP-AES). The chromatographic method allowed us to separate As(III), As(V), monomethylarsonic acid and dimethylarsinic acid in less than 13 min. The chromatographic analysis of the samples allowed us to identify and quantify As(V) in Hizikia sample and Sargasso material, while the four arsenic species studied were found in Chlorella sample. In the case of Laminaria sample, none of these species was identified by HPLC-HG-ICP-AES. However, in the chromatographic analysis of this alga by HPLC-ICP-AES, an unknown arsenic species was detected
How to increase technology transfers to developing countries: a synthesis of the evidence

The existing United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has failed to deliver the rate of low-carbon technology transfer (TT) required to curb GHG emissions in developing countries. This failure has exposed the limitations of universalism and renewed interest in bilateral approaches to TT. Gaps are identified in the UNFCCC approach to climate change TT: missing links between international institutions and the national enabling environments that encourage private investment; a non-differentiated approach for (developing) country and technology characteristics; and a lack of clear measurements of the volume and effectiveness of TTs. Evidence from econometric literature and business experience on climate change TT is reviewed, so as to address the identified pitfalls of the UNFCCC process. Strengths and weaknesses of different methodological approaches are highlighted. International policy recommendations are offered aimed at improving the level of emission reductions achieved through TT
Laser Shock Microforming of Thin Metal Sheets

Continuous and long-pulse lasers have been used for the forming of metal sheets in macroscopic mechanical applications. However, for the manufacturing of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), the applicability of such type of lasers is limited by the long-relaxation-time of the thermal fields responsible for the forming phenomena. As a consequence of such slow relaxation, the final sheet deformation state is attained only after a certain time, what makes the generated internal residual stress fields more dependent on ambient conditions and might make difficult the subsequent assembly process from the point of view of residual stresses due to adjustment.  The use of ns laser pulses provides a suitable parameter matching for the laser forming of an important range of sheet components used in MEMS that, preserving the short interaction time scale required for the predominantly mechanic (shock) induction of deformation residual stresses, allows for the successful processing of components in a medium range of miniaturization, particularly important according to its frequent use in such systems.  In the present paper, a discussion is presented on the physics of laser shock microforming and the influence of the different effects on the net bending angle. The experimental setup used for the experiments, sample fabrication and experimental results of influence of number of laser pulses on the net bending angle are also presented
Validation of the SenseWear armband in circuit resistance training with different loads

The use of the SenseWear™ armband (SWA), an objective monitor of physical activity, is a relatively new device used by researchers to measure energy expenditure. These monitors are practical, relatively inexpensive and easy-to-use. The aim of the present study was to assess the validity of SWAs for the measurement of energy expenditure (EE) in circuit resistance training (CRT) at three different intensities in moderately active, healthy subjects. The study subjects (17 females, 12 males) undertook CRT at 30, 50 and 70% of the 15 repetition maximum for each exercise component wearing an SWA as well as an Oxycon Mobile (OM) portable metabolic system (a gold standard method for measuring EE). The EE rose as exercise intensity increased, but was underestimated by the SWAs. For women, Bland-Altman plots showed a bias of 1.13 ± 1.48 METs and 32.1 ± 34.0 kcal in favour of the OM system, while for men values of 2.33 ± 1.82 METs and 75.8 ± 50.8 kcal were recorded
Absorption coefficient for the intraband transitions in quantum dot materials

In this paper, we present calculations of the absorption coefficient for transitions between the bound states of quantum dots grown within a semiconductor and the extended states of the conduction band. For completeness, transitions among bound states are also presented. In the separation of variables, single band k·p model is used in which most elements may be expressed analytically. The analytical formulae are collected in the appendix of this paper. It is concluded that the transitions are strong enough to provide a quick path to the conduction band for electrons pumped from the valence to the intermediate ban