Abstract: In two studies we tested the hypothesis that the
appropriate linguistic formulation of a deontic rule – i.e. the
formulation which clarifies the monadic nature of deontic operators
- should produce more correct responses than the conditional
formulation in Wason selection task. We tested this assumption by
presenting a prescription rule and a prohibition rule in conditional
vs. proper deontic formulation. We contrasted this hypothesis with
two other hypotheses derived from social contract theory and
relevance theory. According to the first theory, a deontic rule
expressed in terms of cost-benefit should elicit a cheater detection
module, sensible to mental states attributions and thus able to
discriminate intentional rule violations from accidental rule
violations. We tested this prevision by distinguishing the two types
of violations. According to relevance theory, performance in
selection task should improve by increasing cognitive effect and
decreasing cognitive effort. We tested this prevision by focusing
experimental instructions on the rule vs. the action covered by the
rule. In study 1, in which 480 undergraduates participated, we
tested these predictions through a 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 (type of the rule x
rule formulation x type of violation x experimental instructions)
between-subjects design. In study 2 – carried out by means of a 2 x
2 (rule formulation x type of violation) between-subjects design -
we retested the hypothesis of rule formulation vs. the cheaterdetection
hypothesis through a new version of selection task in
which intentional vs. accidental rule violations were better
discriminated. 240 undergraduates participated in this study.
Results corroborate our hypothesis and challenge the contrasting
assumptions. However, they show that the conditional formulation
of deontic rules produces a lower performance than what is
reported in literature.
Abstract: Nowadays, the earth is countered with serious problem
of air pollution. This problem has been started from the industrial
revolution and has been faster in recent years, so that leads the earth
to ecological and environmental disaster. One of its results is the
global warming problem and its related increase in global
temperature. The most important factors in air pollution especially in
urban environments are Automobiles and residential buildings that are
the biggest consumers of the fossil energies, so that if the residential
buildings as a big part of the consumers of such energies reduce their
consumption rate, the air pollution will be decreased. Since
Metropolises are the main centers of air pollution in the world,
assessment and analysis of efficient strategies in decreasing air
pollution in such cities, can lead to the desirable and suitable results
and can solve the problem at least in critical level. Tabriz city is one
of the most important metropolises in North west of Iran that about
two million people are living there. for its situation in cold dry
climate, has a high rate of fossil energies consumption that make air
pollution in its urban environment. These two factors, being both
metropolis and in cold dry climate, make this article try to analyze the
strategies of climatic design in old districts of the city and use them in
new districts of the future. These strategies can be used in this city
and other similar cities and pave the way to reduce energy
consumption and related air pollution to save whole world.
Abstract: This paper proposes a novel solution for optimizing
the size and communication overhead of a distributed multiagent
system without compromising the performance. The proposed approach
addresses the challenges of scalability especially when the
multiagent system is large. A modified spectral clustering technique
is used to partition a large network into logically related clusters.
Agents are assigned to monitor dedicated clusters rather than monitor
each device or node. The proposed scalable multiagent system is
implemented using JADE (Java Agent Development Environment)
for a large power system. The performance of the proposed topologyindependent
decentralized multiagent system and the scalable multiagent
system is compared by comprehensively simulating different
fault scenarios. The time taken for reconfiguration, the overall computational
complexity, and the communication overhead incurred are
computed. The results of these simulations show that the proposed
scalable multiagent system uses fewer agents efficiently, makes faster
decisions to reconfigure when a fault occurs, and incurs significantly
less communication overhead.
Abstract: This paper presents a new spread-spectrum
watermarking algorithm for digital images in discrete wavelet
transform (DWT) domain. The algorithm is applied for embedding
watermarks like patient identification /source identification or
doctors signature in binary image format into host digital
radiological image for potential telemedicine applications.
Performance of the algorithm is analysed by varying the gain factor,
subband decomposition levels, and size of watermark. Simulation
results show that the proposed method achieves higher watermarking
capacity.
Abstract: Proteins levels produced by bacteria may be increased
in stressful surroundings, such as in the presence of antibiotics. It
appears that many antimicrobial agents or antibiotics, when used at
low concentrations, have in common the ability to activate or repress
gene transcription, which is distinct from their inhibitory effect.
There have been comparatively few studies on the potential of
antibiotics or natural compounds in nature as a specific chemical
signal that can trigger a variety of biological functions. Therefore,
this study was focusing on the effect of essential oils from
Cymbopogon flexuosus and C. nardus in regulating proteins
production by Bacillus subtilis ATCC 21332. The Minimum
Inhibition Concentrations (MICs) of both essential oils on B. subtilis
were determined by using microdilution assay, resulting 0.2% and
1.56% for each C. flexuosus and C. nardus subsequently. The
bacteria were further exposed to each essential oils at concentration
of 0.01XMIC for 2 days. The proteins were then isolated and
analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel
electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Protein profile showed that a band
with approximate size of 250 kD was appeared for the treated
bacteria with essential oils. Thus, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 21332 in
stressful condition with the presence of essential oils at low
concentration could induce the protein production.
Abstract: This paper presents an integrated knowledge-based
approach to multi-scale modeling of aquatic systems, with a view to
enhancing predictive power and aiding environmental management
and policy-making. The basic phases of this approach have been
exemplified in the case of a bay in Saronicos Gulf (Attiki, Greece).
The results showed a significant problem with rising phytoplankton
blooms linked to excessive microbial growth, arisen mostly due to
increased nitrogen inflows; therefore, the nitrification/denitrification
processes of the benthic and water column sub-systems have
provided the quality variables to be monitored for assessing
environmental status. It is thereby demonstrated that the proposed
approach facilitates modeling choices and implementation option
decisions, while it provides substantial support for knowledge and
experience capitalization in long-term water management.
Abstract: Rockfall is a kind of irregular geological disaster. Its
destruction time, space and movements are highly random. The impact
force is determined by the way and velocity rocks move. The
movement velocity of a rockfall depends on slope gradient of its
moving paths, height, slope surface roughness and rock shapes. For
effectively mitigate and prevent disasters brought by rockfalls, it is
required to precisely calculate the moving paths of a rockfall so as to
provide the best protective design. This paper applies Colorado
Rockfall Simulation Program (CRSP) as our study tool to discuss the
impact of slope shape and surface roughness on the moving paths of a
single rockfall. The analytical results showed that the slope, m=1:1,
acted as the threshold for rockfall bounce height on a monoclinal slight
slope. When JRC ´╝£ 1.2, movement velocity reduced and bounce
height increased as JCR increased. If slope fixed and JRC increased,
the bounce height of rocks increased gradually with reducing
movement velocity. Therefore, the analysis on the moving paths of
rockfalls with CRSP could simulate bouncing of falling rocks. By
analyzing moving paths, velocity, and bounce height of falling rocks,
we could effectively locate impact points of falling rocks on a slope.
Such analysis can be served as a reference for future disaster
prevention and control.
Abstract: In ubiqutious healthcare environment, user's health data are transfered to the remote healthcare server by the user's wearable system or mobile phone. These collected user's health data should be managed and analyzed in the healthcare server, so that care giver or user can monitor user's physiological state. In this paper, we designed and developed the intelligent Healthcare Server to manage the user's health data using CDSS and ontology. Our system can analyze user's health data semantically using CDSS and ontology, and report the result of user's physiological raw data to the user and care giver.
Abstract: Lurking behavior is common in information-seeking oriented communities. Transferring users with lurking behavior to be contributors can assist virtual communities to obtain competitive advantages. Based on the ecological cognition framework, this study proposes a model to examine the antecedents of lurking behavior in information-seeking oriented virtual communities. This study argues desire for emotional support, desire for information support, desire for performance-approach, desire for performance -avoidance, desire for mastery-approach, desire for mastery-avoidance, desire for ability trust, desire for benevolence trust, and desire for integrity trust effect on lurking behavior. This study offers an approach to understanding the determinants of lurking behavior in online contexts.
Abstract: Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) is a measure of
the oxygen used in bacteria mediated oxidation of organic substances
in water and wastewater. Theoretically an infinite time is required for
complete biochemical oxidation of organic matter, but the
measurement is made over 5-days at 20 0C or 3-days at 27 0C test
period with or without dilution. Researchers have worked to further
reduce the time of measurement.
The objective of this paper is to review advancement made in
BOD measurement primarily to minimize the time and negate the
measurement difficulties. Survey of literature review in four such
techniques namely BOD-BARTTM, Biosensors, Ferricyanidemediated
approach, luminous bacterial immobilized chip method.
Basic principle, method of determination, data validation and their
advantage and disadvantages have been incorporated of each of the
methods.
In the BOD-BARTTM method the time lag is calculated for the
system to change from oxidative to reductive state. BIOSENSORS
are the biological sensing element with a transducer which produces
a signal proportional to the analyte concentration. Microbial species
has its metabolic deficiencies. Co-immobilization of bacteria using
sol-gel biosensor increases the range of substrate. In ferricyanidemediated
approach, ferricyanide has been used as e-acceptor instead
of oxygen. In Luminous bacterial cells-immobilized chip method,
bacterial bioluminescence which is caused by lux genes was
observed. Physiological responses is measured and correlated to
BOD due to reduction or emission.
There is a scope to further probe into the rapid estimation of BOD.
Abstract: Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are attractive because of
their excellent chemical durability mechanical strength and electrical
properties. Therefore there is interest in CNTs for not only electrical
and mechanical application, but also biological and medical
application.
In this study, the dispersion power of surfactant-treated multiwalled
carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and their effect on the antibacterial
activity were examined. Surfactant was used sodium
dodecyl-benzenesulfonate (SDBS). UV-vis absorbance and
transmission electron microscopy(TEM) were used to characterize the
dispersion of MWCNTs in the aqueous phase, showing that the
surfactant molecules had been adsorbed onto the MWCNTs surface.
The surfactant-treated MWCNTs exhibited antimicrobial activities
to streptococcus mutans. The optical density growth curves and viable
cell number determined by the plating method suggested that the
antimicrobial activity of surfactant-treated MWCNTs was both
concentration and treatment time-dependent.
Abstract: To simulate heating systems in buildings, a research oriented computer code has been developed in Sharif University of Technology in Iran where the climate, existing heating equipment in buildings, consumer behavior and their interactions are considered for simulating energy consumption in conventional systems such as heaters, radiators and fan-coils. In order to validate the computer code, the available data of five buildings was used and the computed consumed energy was compared with the estimated energy extracted from monthly bills. The initial heating system was replaced by the alternative system and the effect of this change was observed on the energy consumption. As a result, the effect of changing heating equipment on energy consumption was investigated in different climates. Changing heater to radiator renders energy conservation up to 50% in all climates and changing radiator to fan-coil decreases energy consumption in climates with cold and dry winter.
Abstract: The experiment was performed to evaluate the effect
of GA3, 2,4-D on fruit growth and fruit quality of wax apple. The
experiment consisted of Red A, Monulla, Atu, Red B cultivars. GA3
and 2,4-D were applied at the small bud and petal fall stage.
Physiological, biochemical characters of fruit were recoded. The
result showed application of GA3, 2,4-D greatly response in
increasing fruit set for all treatment as compared to control. Fruit
weight, fruit size were increased at 10 ppm 2,4-D in ‘Red A’, ‘Red
B’, however it was also enhancing at 10 ppm GA3 in ‘Monulla’,
‘Atu’. For ‘Monulla’, ‘Atu’ fruit crack reduced by 10 ppm 2,4-D
application, but ‘Red B’, ‘Red A’ gave least fruit crack at 10 and 30
ppm GA3, respectively. ‘Monulla’, ‘Atu’ and ‘Red B’ resulted in
response well to 10 ppm GA3 on improving TSS, whereas
application of 30 ppm GA3 greatly enhancing TSS in ‘Red A’. For
‘Atu’ titratable acidity markedly reduced by 10 ppm GA3
application, but spraying with 30 ppm GA3 greatly response in
reducing titratable acidity in ‘Red A’, ‘Red B’ and ‘Monulla’. It was
concluded that GA3, 2,4-D can be an effective tool to enhancing fruit
set, fruit growth as well as improving fruit quality of wax apple.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to revisit the concept of
rape as represented by professionals in the literature as well as its
perception (beliefs and attitudes) in the population at large and to
propose methodological improvements to its measurement tool. Rape
is a serious crime threatening its victim-s physical and mental health
and integrity; and as such is legally prosecuted in all modern
societies. The problem is not in accepting or rejecting rape as a
criminal act, but rather in the vagueness of its interpretations and
“justifications" maintained in the mentality of modern societies -
known in the literature as the phenomenon of "rape-myth". The rapemyth
can be studied from different perspectives: criminology,
sociology, ethics, medicine and psychology. Its investigation requires
rigorous scientific objectivity, free of passion (victims of rape are at
risk of emotional bias), free of activism (social activists, even if wellintentioned
are also biased), free of any pre-emptive assumptions or
prejudices. To apply a rigorous scientific procedure, we need a solid,
valid and reliable measurement. Rape is a form of heterosexual or
homosexual aggression, violently forcing the victim to give-in in the
sexual activity of the aggressor against her/his will. Human beings
always try to “understand" or find a reason justifying their acts.
Psychological literature provides multiple clinical and experimental
examples of it; just to mention the famous studies by Milgram on the
level of electroshock delivered by the “teacher" towards the “learner"
if “scientifically justifiable" or the studies on the behavior of
“prisoners" and the “guards" and many other experiments and field
observations. Sigmund Freud presented the phenomenon of
unconscious justification and called it rationalization. The multiple
justifications, rationalizations and repeated opinions about sexual
behavior contribute to a myth maintained in the society. What kind of
“rationale" our societies apply to “understand" the non-consensual
sexual behavior? There are many, just to mention few:
• Sex is a ludistic activity for both participants, therefore –
even if not consented – it should bring pleasure to both.
• Everybody wants sex, but only men are allowed to manifest
it openly while women have to pretend the opposite, thus men have
to initiate sexual behavior and women would follow.
• A person who strongly needs sex is free to manifest it and
struggle to get it; the person who doesn-t want it must not reveal
her/his sexual attraction and avoid risky situations; otherwise she/he
is perceived as a promiscuous seducer.
• A person who doesn-t fight against the sexual initiator
unconsciously accepts the rape (does it explain why homosexual
rapes are reported less frequently than rapes against women?).
• Women who are raped deserve it because their wardrobe is
very revealing and seducing and they ''willingly'' go to highly risky
places (alleys, dark roads, etc.).
• Men need to ventilate their sexual energy and if they are
deprived of a partner their urge to have sex is difficult to control.
• Men are supposed to initiate and insist even by force to have
sex (their testosterone makes them both sexual and aggressive).
The paper overviews numerous cultural beliefs about masculine
versus feminine behavior and their impact on the “rape myth".
Abstract: Many measures have been proposed for machine
translation evaluation (MTE) while little research has been done on
the performance of MTE methods. This paper is an effort for MTE
performance analysis. A general frame is proposed for the description
of the MTE measure and the test suite, including whether the
automatic measure is consistent with human evaluation, whether
different results from various measures or test suites are consistent,
whether the content of the test suite is suitable for performance
evaluation, the degree of difficulty of the test suite and its influence
on the MTE, the relationship of MTE result significance and the size
of the test suite, etc. For a better clarification of the frame, several
experiment results are analyzed relating human evaluation, BLEU
evaluation, and typological MTE. A visualization method is
introduced for better presentation of the results. The study aims for
aid in construction of test suite and method selection in MTE
practice.
Abstract: This paper focuses on a technique for identifying the geological boundary of the ground strata in front of a tunnel excavation site using the first order adjoint method based on the optimal control theory. The geological boundary is defined as the boundary which is different layers of elastic modulus. At tunnel excavations, it is important to presume the ground situation ahead of the cutting face beforehand. Excavating into weak strata or fault fracture zones may cause extension of the construction work and human suffering. A theory for determining the geological boundary of the ground in a numerical manner is investigated, employing excavating blasts and its vibration waves as the observation references. According to the optimal control theory, the performance function described by the square sum of the residuals between computed and observed velocities is minimized. The boundary layer is determined by minimizing the performance function. The elastic analysis governed by the Navier equation is carried out, assuming the ground as an elastic body with linear viscous damping. To identify the boundary, the gradient of the performance function with respect to the geological boundary can be calculated using the adjoint equation. The weighed gradient method is effectively applied to the minimization algorithm. To solve the governing and adjoint equations, the Galerkin finite element method and the average acceleration method are employed for the spatial and temporal discretizations, respectively. Based on the method presented in this paper, the different boundary of three strata can be identified. For the numerical studies, the Suemune tunnel excavation site is employed. At first, the blasting force is identified in order to perform the accuracy improvement of analysis. We identify the geological boundary after the estimation of blasting force. With this identification procedure, the numerical analysis results which almost correspond with the observation data were provided.
Abstract: The paper attempts to elucidate the columnar structure
of the cortex by answering the following questions. (1) Why the
cortical neurons with similar interests tend to be vertically arrayed
forming what is known as cortical columns? (2) How to describe the
cortex as a whole in concise mathematical terms? (3) How to design
efficient digital models of the cortex?
Abstract: Remarkable changes, like the progress in the ability to understand others' minds, can be identified in several socio-cognitive dimensions between age four and seven. Recently, the parenting attitudes have been considerate as one of the potential extrinsic modifiers of these important developmental aspects. The aim of present study is to explore the relationship among authoritarian parenting attitudes and individual differences in Theory of Mind performance. The study included ninety-two Costarrican preschoolers. Six False-belief tasks, an Advanced Theory of Mind test and the Parenting Attitudes Inventory were used. The results demonstrate that participants with high and low Authoritarian Parenting Received differ in their performance on First and Second Order False-belief tasks, but not in Advanced Theory of Mind tasks. Theoretical considerations about possible explanations regarding these results are discussed and methodological limitations are considered to shed light over future directions.
Abstract: The scientific achievements coming from molecular
biology depend greatly on the capability of computational
applications to analyze the laboratorial results. A comprehensive
analysis of an experiment requires typically the simultaneous study
of the obtained dataset with data that is available in several distinct
public databases. Nevertheless, developing a centralized access to
these distributed databases rises up a set of challenges such as: what
is the best integration strategy, how to solve nomenclature clashes,
how to solve database overlapping data and how to deal with huge
datasets. In this paper we present GeNS, a system that uses a simple and yet innovative approach to address several biological data integration issues. Compared with existing systems, the main
advantages of GeNS are related to its maintenance simplicity and to its coverage and scalability, in terms of number of supported
databases and data types. To support our claims we present the current use of GeNS in two concrete applications. GeNS currently contains more than 140 million of biological relations and it can be
publicly downloaded or remotely access through SOAP web services.
Abstract: Pollution emission levels of aircraft engines are a
nowadays high concern. Any technological advance that could reduce
emission levels is always welcome. In what concerns aircraft engines,
a possible solution for this problem could be the use of regenerators
and intercoolers. These components might reduce the specific fuel
consumption, increase efficiency and specific thrust and consequently
reduce the pollution levels of the engine. This is not a novel solution.
These heat exchangers are already is use in stationary engines. For
aircraft engines, the extra weight of the needed hardware could
overcome the fuel saved. This work compares a conventional engine
with configurations that use intercoolers and regenerators.