Aggregation Points Research Articles

Evaluation of the effects of gyratory and field compaction on asphalt mix internal structure

This study investigates the effect of gyratory and field compaction on the internal structure of asphalt mixtures. For this purpose, three new full-scale pavement test sections with different HMA mixes were selected for sampling loose material and field cores. Loose material was compacted using the gyratory compactor and adjusting several parameters, namely the gyration angle, compaction temperature and specimen geometry. Internal structure of the gyratory and field compacted specimens was quantified in terms of the aggregate contact points, orientation and segregation by means of 2-D image analysis. From the laboratory investigation it was demonstrated that the gyration angle and specimen geometry significantly affected the internal structure. The results also indicated that the field compaction produced similar internal structure in asphalt pavements and, especially, compaction with gyration angle of 1.45o best simulated the internal structure of field cores.

The Measurement and Behavior of Uncertainty: Evidence from the ECB Survey of Professional Forecasters

Summary We examine matched point and density forecasts of output growth, inflation and unemployment from the ECB Survey of Professional Forecasters. We construct measures of uncertainty from individual histograms, and find that the measures display countercyclical behavior and have increased across all forecast horizons since 2007. We also derive measures of forecast dispersion and forecast accuracy, and find that they are not reliable proxies for uncertainty. There is, however, evidence of a meaningful co-movement between uncertainty and aggregate point predictions for output growth and unemployment. These results are robust to changes in the composition of the survey respondents over time. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

New age spirituality and cultural logic of late capitalism

Starting with the interrelated notions of globalization, postmodernism and neoliberalism, relying on their theoretical overlap, we suggest possible directions of inquiry that would clarify some aspects of the specific and today omnipresent 'New Age' spirituality. Individualistic and eclectic, New Age spirituality arose in the context of countercultural movements of the sixties. It includes various kinds of metaphysical syncretisms combined with elements of modern science and humanistic psychology. We will try to show how this type of spirituality corresponds with the dominant cultural logic of the late capitalism (which we understand as global, postmodern, neoliberal, multicultural, multinational, etc). We proceed from the assumption that there is a number of points of correspondence and that it is possible to create a New Age genealogy that would clarify them. That would create prerequisites for the analysis of transposition of countercultural legacy in the neo-liberal narratives, and enable us to address the role of spirituality as a mediator in this process and as a specific mechanism of interpellation. In this way, we will deal with the reproduction and social functions of specific ideological forms in the dominant motifs of contemporary spirituality. Distributed across the growing market of the mind-body-spirit literature, the New Age worldview appears as a specific technology of the self and as an ideological aggregation point. In this point, the boundaries between market ideology and conception of reality as a hidden order/conscious self-organizing equilibrium disappear. The deification of being as 'a market ontology' results in theodicy and produces self-accusing subjectivity. This opens the door to engaging in political neoliberalism theology within an already wideranging discussion that replaces the secularization theory with the idea of history of political societies as a succession of different forms of sacralization.

The New Full-Time Employment Taxes

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) introduces or expands taxes on incomes and full-time employment, beginning in 2014. The purpose of this paper is to characterize the new full-time employment taxes from the perspective of a household budget constraint, measure their magnitude, and assess their likely consequences for employee work schedules. When the ACA is fully implemented, full-time employment taxes will be prevalent and often as large as what workers can earn in five hours of work per week, 52 weeks per year. The economic significance of the ACA’s full-time employment taxes varies by demographic group: they are nonmonotonic in age, increasing with family size, and negatively correlated with schooling.A full-time employment tax is a tax or penalty owed by, or subsidy withheld from, a person as a consequence of his full-time employment status. For the first time in 2014, millions of people face such taxes on their full-time work. More workers will face full-time employment taxes in 2015 when assessable employers owe penalties on the basis of the number of full-time employees on their payroll. Both of these taxes are provisions of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (hereafter, ACA), on top of the longstanding taxes on incomes and payroll. This paper assesses the magnitude, direction, and economic characteristics of the full-time employment tax wedges created by the ACA.By definition, part-time employed and nonemployed persons are exempt from a full-time employment tax. I follow the usual steps of public finance analysis and first look at the tax wedge—the gap between supply and demand prices created by a tax or subsidy—before attempting to draw conclusions about the tax’s behavioral effects and ultimate incidence. For simplicity, I assume that employees are legally liable for all marginal taxes and penalties and are legally entitled to all marginal subsidies, even when the actual liability falls on the employer. As long as prices can fully adjust to reflect supply and demand, and ignoring enforcement issues, my legal liability assumption is just a normalization and does not imply that employees ultimately bear the burden of taxes. However, proper tax measurement requires an assessment of the treatment of the ACA’s full-time employment taxes by other parts of the tax system, for example, whether a full-time employment tax is deductible from employer business income taxes. The last step in the analysis is to begin to consider the equilibrium consequences of the new tax wedges.The prevalence and size of the new full-time employment tax (hereafter, FTET) wedges are economically important. Almost half of the working population is directly affected by at least one of the new FTETs. The ACA’s FTET wedges vary substantially across groups: they are most significant for young and uneducated workers and least significant for the elderly. From an aggregate point of view the employer penalty by itself is historically significant, but nonetheless the wedges that they create are matched, if not exceeded, by the ACA’s implicit FTET. My results account for the facts that a variety of longstanding tax and subsidy rules also affect work incentives (in both directions) and that many people will not participate in programs for which they are eligible.1Although this paper does not even attempt to discuss all of the parts of the ACA that relate to the labor market or to taxation, its Section I begins with an overview of the ACA’s main components related to insurance coverage. Section II explains how two of those components contain taxes on full-time employment and represents the taxes in terms of household budget constraints. Section III discusses determinants of the magnitude of those taxes. Section IV has the main results on the distribution of the ACA’s FTET across workers. Section V discusses some of the behavioral effects of FTETs, and Section VI concludes

Optimal Waist Circumference Cut-Off Point for Multiple Risk Factor Aggregation: Results from the Maracaibo City Metabolic Syndrome Prevalence Study

Context and Objective. The purpose of this study was to determine optimal waist circumference (WC) cut-off values for the detection of multiple risk factor aggregation in individuals from Maracaibo, Venezuela.Participants and Methods. A total of 1,902 adult individuals of both genders belonging to MMSPS were included. Complete physical, laboratory, and anthropometric examination were done to evaluate Metabolic Syndrome (MS) components and insulin resistance. ROC curves were plotted for risk factor aggregation in order to assess WC cut-off point. Logistic regression models were constructed to assess risk factors associated with the WC.Results. There were 52.2% females and 47.8% males, with WC of90.7±13.7 cm and98.2±15.9 cm, respectively. ROC curves exhibited a WC cut-off point for women of 90.25 cm (68.4% sensitivity, 65.8% specificity) and 95.15 cm (71.1% sensitivity, 67.4% specificity) for men. HOMA2-IR and high blood pressure were associated with a WC over these cut-off points, as well as 2.5-fold risk increase for multiple risk factor aggregation (OR 2.56; CI 95%: 2.05–3.20;P<0.01).Conclusions. These population-specific WC cut-offs are readily applicable tools for detection of risk factor aggregation. Insulin resistance is closely associated with this definition of abdominal obesity, which may serve as a surrogate for its assessment.

ASSA14-03-39 Identification of Aspirin response related gene profiles in the elderly population with coronary artery disease

Aims Aspirin is widely used in the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases. Nevertheless, the responses to aspirin administration vary from one patient to another. A small proportion of patients experience thrombo-embolic events during their daily aspirin therapy, defined as clinical aspirin resistance (AR). Recent studies showed that aspirin exposure might have an influence on the expression of various genes, thus responsible for the variability in aspirin effects. The aim of our studywas to identify aspirin responses related gene profiles, and investigate the correlation between target genes expression and clinical outcomes in the elderly population with coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods A total of 152 aged patients with CAD treated with low-dose aspirin (100 mg/d) were enrolled in this study. All enrolled patients were distributed according to quartile of 0.5 mmol/l AA-induced platelet aggregation, and AR was defined as the upper quartile of AA-induced platelet aggregation. Total blood RNA were extracted within 4 h and reversely transcribed immediately. Expression of fourteen genes (CLU, CMTM5, CTTN, MPL, TMEM64, SELP, HLA-DQA1, HLA-DRB4, ITGA2B, ITGB3, THBS1, CXCL5, PPBP, and SPARC) was measuredusing real-time quantitative PCR method. Clinical outcomes were defined as the occurrence of cardiovascular events and death during regular aspirin administration. Results The quartile cut points of AA-induced platelet aggregation for the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of the enrolled population were 9.7%, 12.0%, and 14.3%, respectively. AR was defined as AA-induced platelet aggregation ≥14.3%. Expressions of six genes (CTTN CXCL5 HLA-DQA1 HLA-DRB4 THBS1 SPARC)were significantly higher in AR group than no-AR group (p Conclusion Six genes (CTTN CXCL5 HLA-DQA1 HLA-DRB4 THBS1 SPARC) were up-regulated in AR group than no-AR group (p

Evaluation of the performance of a new OptiScanner™ 5000 system for an intermittent glucose monitoring

BackgroundMid-infrared spectral technology has shown a high degree of promise in detecting glucose in plasma. OptiScan Biomedical has developed a glucose monitor based on mid-infrared spectroscopy that withdraws blood samples and measures plasma glucose. The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and performance of the OptiScanner™ 5000 system on different pools of blood. MethodsThis study was performed to validate the blood glucose measurements obtained with the OptiScanner™ 5000 by comparing them to Central Laboratory glucose measurements (VITROS® 5600 Integrated System) as a comparative method across a broad range of glucose values over a three day period to obtain 80–90 paired measurements. ResultsA total of 81 paired measurements, distributed between 33 and 320mg/100mL of glucose, were performed. The aggregate data points were within International Organization for Standardization standards, with 100% of the glucose values within ±15%. ConclusionsThe current study suggests that a mid-IR fixed-wavelength system (OptiScanner) can measure glucose accurately across a wide range of glucose values in plasma of ICU patients.

Hybrid Spread Spectrum based Smart Meter Network using Fast Frequency Hopping

Smart metes used in electric grids need a dedicated network that should be highly reliable & cost effective. Various techniques like 3G cellular have been proposed to improve efficiency of this smart grid electric meter network. For distribution of proper information in smart grid system Hybrid Spread Spectrum using slow frequency technology is also better choice. To improve the performance of this network in the terms of throughput and number of smart meter per data aggregation point (DAP), we have proposed HSS-FFH (to implement AMI) method. These techniques give better result in terms of coverage high density population area & interference immunity.

Industrial Applications of Selected JFS Articles

Industrial Applications of Selected <i>JFS</i> Articles

Selection of Telecommunication Access Networks

Abstract: The development of Internet technology and computer networks leads to the convergence of traditional systems voice, video and data into a unique IP-based TriplePlay system. Differences in implementing TriplePlay service basically come down to the choice of technology of data transmission from the last aggregation point (node) to a subscriber (Last Mile). Analyzing Internet market, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) made trend in increasing demand for bandwidth during the period from 2007 to 2017. The analysis is based on SmartHome concept which includes broadband internet as well as multimedia services such as IPTV, cell phones and so on. The results of the analysis to a great extent confirm increasing trend of the consumers’ demand for bandwidth defined by Jakob Nielsen. His theory is based on the previous period and predicts that the need for bandwidth will rise by 50% every year. Nielsen’s diagram resembles that of Moore which predicts that CPU power will double every 18 months, that is 67% a year. The constant alterations in market and technology causes dilemma to operators in terms of investment. It is quite difficult to answer the question about the choice of technology of connecting the subscribers from the aspect of both technological and economic justification. Finding the answer to this question is the main goal of this paper.

The influence of different processing stages on particle size, microstructure, and appearance of dark chocolate.

The effect of different process stages on microstructural and visual properties of dark chocolate was studied. Samples were obtained at each phase of the manufacture process: mixing, prerefining, refining, conching, and tempering. A laser light diffraction technique and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) were used to study the particle size distribution (PSD) and to analyze modifications in the network structure. Moreover, colorimetric analyses (L*, h°, and C*) were performed on all samples. Each stage influenced in stronger way the microstructural characteristic of products and above all the PSD. Sauter diameter (D [3.2]) decreased from 5.44 μm of mixed chocolate sample to 3.83 μm, of the refined one. ESEM analysis also revealed wide variations in the network structure of samples during the process, with an increase of the aggregation and contact point between particles from mixing to refining stage. Samples obtained from the conching and tempering were characterized by small PS, and a less dense aggregate structure. From color results, samples with the finest particles, having larger specific surface area and the smallest diameter, appeared lighter and more saturated than those with coarse particles. Final quality of food dispersions is affected by network and particles characteristics. The deep knowledge of the influence of single processing stage on chocolate microstructural properties is useful in order to improve or modify final product characteristics. ESEM and laser diffraction are suitable techniques to study changes in chocolate microstructure.

Time-location sampling with capture-recapture to assess specialised recreational fisheries

Specialisation in recreational fisheries has led to increasing diversification and segmentation of fishers into small ‘hard-to-reach’ populations that are inherently difficult and costly to sample using traditional methods. In this paper, we quantitatively assess, and expand upon, time-location sampling (TLS) for a specialised recreational sport fishery off eastern Australia using stratified random sampling of fishing tackle stores as aggregation points for fishers. Multiple TLS survey events facilitated the use of capture-recapture models to provide a minimum population size estimate of 3185 (SE 1338) fishers in the study region in 2010. Adopting a questionnaire with a long recall period (e.g. 12 months) may introduce biases in estimates of effort and catch from TLS. Therefore, these biases were corrected for using a ‘benchmark’ on-site survey, providing minimum estimates of effort and catch of 172,438 (SE 8440) angler hours and 4.7–31.4 (SE 2.6–6.8)t for six pelagic species, respectively, in the study region during 2010. TLS with capture-recapture is an efficient method for sampling hard-to-reach specialised fishers and may yield annual estimates of population size, effort and catch. Further research is needed to refine methods and develop systematic protocols that may be applied to a wide range of hard-to-reach populations, including recreational, artisanal and illegal fisheries.

Optimal Income Taxation with Social Preferences

This paper characterizes optimal nonlinear income taxation of individuals who exhibit social preferences. If individuals exhibit equity concerns, above and beyond the government's social welfare criterion, how is the shape of the marginal tax schedule impacted? In particular, I consider individuals who are concerned not only with their own consumption and labor supply, but also care positively or negatively about some aggregate consumption reference point. In addition, I allow for individuals to differ with respect to their attitudes towards this reference point. This framework flexibly allows for the specification of preferences that may be concerned with baseline altruism, inequality aversion, or social efficiency. A generalization of the optimal tax rate formula is derived in terms of the distribution of skills, the elasticity of labor supply, the government's distributional objectives, and new in this setting, the distribution of other-concerning preferences across the population.

Theoretical interruption model for reliability assessment of power supply systems

This study introduces a new theoretical interruption model for assessing more accurately the moment in time when interruptions of electricity customers are likely to occur. Recordings of short and long interruptions from two power supply systems are analysed and the similarity between their patterns is identified and then used to introduce a general interruption probability distribution model, defined in stages as multi-zone theoretical curves. The effectiveness of the proposed theoretical interruption model is firstly verified for a basic test system supplying an aggregate load point whose power profiles (residential, commercial, industrial and mixed load) are engaged in assessing the energy not supplied, and afterwards for a typical UK power supply system consisting of about 15 000 electricity customers. The results show that a correct representation of the moment of interruption performed with the proposed model leads to completely different results than those obtained based on the conventional assumption that the time when interruption occurs is given by a known probability distribution. Moreover, comparisons against reported figures of reliability indices determine the most suitable probability distribution that shall be used to model the initial conditions of the Monte Carlo simulation and accompany the proposed theoretical model throughout the simulation process.

Optimal Design of Social Comparison Effects: Setting Reference Groups and Reference Points

In this paper, we study how social planners should exploit social comparisons to pursue their objectives. We consider two modes of social comparison, referred to as behind-averse and ahead-seeking behaviors, depending on whether individuals experience a utility loss from underperforming or a utility gain from overperforming relative to their peers. Modeling social comparison as a game between players, we find that ahead-seeking behavior leads to output polarization, whereas behind-averse behavior leads to output clustering. A social planner can mitigate these effects in two ways: (i) by providing the full reference distribution of outputs instead of an aggregate reference point based on the average output and (ii) by assigning players into uniform rather than diverse reference groups. Social planners may thus need to tailor the reference structure to the predominant mode of social comparison and their objective. A performance-focused social planner may set the reference structure so as to maximize the output of either the top or the bottom player depending on whether she puts greater marginal weight to larger or smaller outputs. When the social planner also cares about utility, she faces a dilemma because performance optimization may not be aligned with utility maximization. Inevitably, the social planner will have to confront equity issues because better performance may not reflect greater effort or greater ability. This paper was accepted by Serguei Netessine, operations management.

Autonomous management of a recursive area hierarchy for large scale wireless sensor networks using multiple parents

Large scale, duty-cycled, wireless sensor networks provide support for applications ranging from anomaly detection to vehicle tracking. In order meet the requirements of these applications an autonomous configuration and maintenance method that is efficient and effective is required. When selecting a management solution it is important to consider both the direct and indirect costs associated with the different solution. For example, the overhead associated with communication synchronization and scheduling is an example of an indirect cost that can significantly impact the network lifetime. Further, an effective solution needs to recognize that in-network data aggregation and analysis presents significant benefits and should configure the network with a structure that benefits application layer functions. NOA, the proposed network management protocol, utilizes a multi-parent hierarchical logical structure. The multi-parent structure provides application layer functions with significant inherent benefits such as, but not limited to: elimination of the single-parent network divisions, data resolution guarantees when comparisons are performed at data aggregation points, and redundancies for communication as well as in-network data aggregation, analysis and storage.

A microfluidic device for platelet aggregation assay

In order to achieve a fast, high-efficiency analysis of platelet aggregation, a novel microfluidic chip was designed and fabricated based on the traditional measurement principle and method. The chip had a main channel and six branch channels, which were connected with their own inlets (outlets). The master of this chip was fabricated using the traditional photolithography methods. Polydimethylsiloxane chip was replica molded on the master. In the platelet aggregation assay, blood sample and coagulant were loaded from separate inlets on both sides of the chip. Due to the diffusion of analytes in the laminar flow, two analytes diffused and mixed with each other within the main channel and gradually aggregated. The distance from the mixing point to the aggregation point denoted the aggregation capacity of the blood sample. Compared with traditional measurement methods based on glass tubes, this microfluidic chip–based method is simple, highly efficient, rapid, low consuming, inexpensive, and has high repeatability. Furthermore, it may be made as a portable device for wide application in clinical analysis.

Spatial distribution of Spodoptera frugiperda in the wasteland of southern Pernambuco state, Brazil

The fall armyworm ( Spodoptera frugiperda) causes damage and reduction in maize production and is considered a pest difficult to control, thus determining its spatial distribution pattern contributes to the development of suitable sampling and control strategies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the spatial distribution of Spodoptera frugiperda in maize culture under the conditions of the wasteland of southern Pernambuco state. The experiment was conducted at the Experimental Station of Brejao - ‘Instituto Agronomico do Pernambuco’ (IPA) from April to May 2012. The study area consisted of 100 plots of 60 m2, where 10 plants per plot were weekly sampled at random. In each plant, the number of small and large larvae of S. frugiperda was counted on the leaves and the husk of ears. According to the data observed, the aggregation indices (variance/mean ratio, Morisita’s index, Green’s Index, and Exponential k of a negative binomial distribution) indicated aggregate distribution for both small and large caterpillars, and the negative binomial distribution was the most appropriate model to represent the distribution pattern of small larvae of this pest in the field. In maize crop in the wasteland of southern Pernambuco state, S. frugiperda presents aggregate pattern of distribution and tends to spread from the points of aggregation and colonize form the border into the center of cultures.

Revisiting Access and Aggregation Network Architecture

Optical technologies allow the end-user to take advantage of a very high bitrate access. This in turn modifies traffic patterns to be supported by access and aggregation (metro) networks. The present paper first proposes tentative traffic scenarios to assess future capacity requirements for these networks. It is shown that the current aggregation architecture based on primary and secondary aggregation rings should be reconsidered to limit potential bottlenecks and to take account of both infrastructure costs and potential energy savings. The paper then presents alternative architectures to revise and move the boundaries existing today between access and aggregation networks. A first alternative architecture is fully centralized and performs traffic aggregation in a central location. The second alternative architecture proposes to locate the first aggregation points (called Next Generation Points of Presence) on the primary aggregation ring and to centralize control functions.

Intranuclear Aggregation of Mutant FUS/TLS as a Molecular Pathomechanism of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Dominant mutations in FUS/TLS cause a familial form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (fALS), where abnormal accumulation of mutant FUS proteins in cytoplasm has been observed as a major pathological change. Many of pathogenic mutations have been shown to deteriorate the nuclear localization signal in FUS and thereby facilitate cytoplasmic mislocalization of mutant proteins. Several other mutations, however, exhibit no effects on the nuclear localization of FUS in cultured cells, and their roles in the pathomechanism of fALS remain obscure. Here, we show that a pathogenic mutation, G156E, significantly increases the propensities for aggregation of FUS in vitro and in vivo. Spontaneous in vitro formation of amyloid-like fibrillar aggregates was observed in mutant but not wild-type FUS, and notably, those fibrils functioned as efficient seeds to trigger the aggregation of wild-type protein. In addition, the G156E mutation did not disturb the nuclear localization of FUS but facilitated the formation of intranuclear inclusions in rat hippocampal neurons with significant cytotoxicity. We thus propose that intranuclear aggregation of FUS triggered by a subset of pathogenic mutations is an alternative pathomechanism of FUS-related fALS diseases.