Changes In Relative Position Research Articles

Exploring efficiency differences over time in the Spanish banking industry

Over the last 15 years the competitive conditions under which Spanish banking firms operate have become much tighter. Deregulation has affected both banks and savings banks, allowing them to expand geographically and to choose less regulation-conditioned output mixes. This paper analyzes how, in these circumstances, banking efficiency has been affected considering two specifications of output and analyzing the dynamics of the entire distribution, not only mean and standard deviation. Results differ depending on the output definition, but they show that, in general, efficiency scores exhibit dynamic patterns that only two moments of the distribution hardly capture. In particular, regardless of the output definition considered, efficiency scores were more dispersed in 1985 and more concentrated in 1995, and there were substantial changes in firms' efficiency relative positions, as measured by transition probability matrices. In addition, the multi-modality of the distributions has almost disappeared at the end of the period.

Effect of body position on the 6-lead ECG of dogs.

ECGs recorded from dogs show characteristic morphology and changes in morphology with various disease states. These changes are determined by comparing individual recordings to reference ranges established from recordings obtained from normal dogs in right lateral (RL) recumbency. Using these reference ranges for ECGs recorded from dogs in other positions may not be valid. We compared ECG complexes from 39 normal dogs obtained in RL, left lateral (LL), and standing (ST) body positions. ECGs from dogs in ST position showed increased Q-wave and R-wave amplitudes in leads I and II, increased R-wave and S-wave amplitudes in leads aVR and aVL, and decreased R-wave and S-wave amplitudes in lead III when compared with recordings obtained in RL position. ECGs from dogs in LL position showed increased R-wave amplitude in leads II, III, and aVF and S-wave amplitude in lead aVL but decreased R-wave amplitude in lead aVR when compared with recordings obtained in RL position. The mean electrical axis (MEA) shifted to the left in ST position but remained within the normal range in LL position. We determined that both a change in the relative position of the recording electrodes with respect to the heart as well as a change in intrathoracic cardiac position contributed to these changes. P-wave amplitude, P-R and S-T intervals, and QRS complex durations remained unaltered by changes in body position. Our findings indicate that ECGs of dogs recorded in RL, LL, and ST positions yield dramatically different results, and investigators should use position-specific reference ranges to minimize potential misinterpretation of ECG results.

Magnetic levitation fluid dynamics

This work is concerned with the accurate computation of flow in a rapidly deforming liquid metal droplet, suspended in an AC field. Intense flow motion due to the induced electromagnetic force distorts dynamically the droplet envelope, which is initially spherical. The relative positional change between the liquid metal surface and the surrounding coil means that fluid flow and field computations need to be closely coupled. A spectral technique is used to solve this problem, which is assumed axisymmetric. The computed results are compared against a physical experiment and ideal sphere analytic solutions. A comparison between the magnetic pressure approximation and the full electromagnetic force solutions, shows fundamental differences; the full electromagnetic force solution is necessary for accurate results in most practical applications of this technique. The physical reason for the fundamental discrepancy is the difference in the electromagnetic force representation: only the gradient part of the full force is accounted for in the magnetic pressure approximation. Figs 9, Refs 13.

Restoration of the superficial facial musculature in nimravids

The size, shape and position of the mouth and sensory features such as the nose, eyes and ears in the nimravid barbourofelins are reconstructed. The earliest barbourofelin studied, Sansanosmilus, is the most similar to both pantherine and nonpantherine felids in sensory structure morphology. Through time, the species of the barbourofelin lineage diverge from felids with regard to facial features. Evolutionary trends include expansion of the nasal region, a more lateral orientation of the eyes and lowered position for the ears. Increased width and shortening of the muzzle accommodates the large oral opening required by the large gape of Barbourofelis, culminating in B. fricki with eyes oriented laterally enough to reduce stereoscopic vision. The ear position in this species is also significantly lower than in the earlier barbourofelins or felids. This may reflect an anatomic compromise between sensory structure position and changes in relative size, shape and position of other skull features. These changes correlate with increased canine tooth length and increased gape, exemplified byBarbourofelis fricki . Cranial soft tissue structures are restored through scars of attachment on the fossil bones, and the proportions of these features to one another determined. New observations provide criteria for reconstructing soft tissue anatomy in extinct animals.

Restoration of the superficial facial musculature in nimravids

The size, shape and position of the mouth and sensory features such as the nose, eyes and ears in the nimravid barbourofelins are reconstructed. The earliest barbourofelin studied, Sansanosmilus, is the most similar to both pantherine and nonpantherine felids in sensory structure morphology. Through time, the species of the barbourofelin lineage diverge from felids with regard to facial features. Evolutionary trends include expansion of the nasal region, a more lateral orientation of the eyes and lowered position for the ears. Increased width and shortening of the muzzle accommodates the large oral opening required by the large gape of Barbourofelis, culminating in B. fricki with eyes oriented laterally enough to reduce stereoscopic vision. The ear position in this species is also significantly lower than in the earlier barbourofelins or felids. This may reflect an anatomic compromise between sensory structure position and changes in relative size, shape and position of other skull features. These changes correlate with increased canine tooth length and increased gape, exemplified by Barbourofelis fricki. Cranial soft tissue structures are restored through scars of attachment on the fossil bones, and the proportions of these features to one another determined. New observations provide criteria for reconstructing soft tissue anatomy in extinct animals.

Range-data Based Position Localization and Refinement for a Mobile Robot

The central task for mobile robot operations is to compute the accurate position of the robot in the environment. The paper presents robust and efficient approach to refinement of a robot position focused on compensation of cumulative positioning errors. The system introduces a lidar range finder to improve the basic dead-reckoning system based on standard wheel encoders. As the lidar measurements are reliable the refinement procedure is based on comparison of two succeeding range measurements or comparison of the new measurement with the world map. The obtained data are pre-processed and the fusion algorithm is performed. The fusion provides primitives - line approximations of obstacle contours. The next step incorporates solving of occlusions on determined line segments and conducts search for line pairs in two consequent frames. Therefore in the end a segment-to-segment correspondence is used to determine a relative position change within two consequent frames. These methods of construction of the point pairs ensures good robustness of the approach. Achieved results have been experimentally tested in indoor office environments.

Stability of Tringo's hierarchy of preference toward disability groups: 30 years later.

The hierarchy of preference toward disability groups was measured for 171 subjects on 16 disabilities. Results indicated that the hierarchy of preference reported by Tringo (1970) exists today despite many efforts by society to remove such stereotypes. Further, the rank-order of the hierarchy appears to be quite stable in that only individuals with cancer show an appreciable change in relative position.

Stability of Tringo's Hierarchy of Preference toward Disability Groups: 30 Years Later

The hierarchy of preference toward disability groups was measured for 171 subjects on 16 disabilities. Results indicated that the hierarchy of preference reported by Tringo (1970) exists today despite many efforts by society to remove such stereotypes. Further, the rank-order of the hierarchy appears to be quite stable in that only individuals with cancer show an appreciable change in relative position.

Crystal Versus Solution Structures of Thiamine Diphosphate-dependent Enzymes

The quaternary structures of the thiamine diphosphate-dependent enzymes transketolase (EC 2.2.1.1; from Saccharomyces cerevisiae), pyruvate oxidase (EC 1.2.3.3; from Lactobacillus plantarum), and pyruvate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.1; from Zymomonas mobilis and brewers' yeast, the latter in the native and pyruvamide-activated forms) were examined by synchrotron x-ray solution scattering. The experimental scattering data were compared with the curves calculated from the crystallographic models of these multisubunit enzymes. For all enzymes noted above, except the very compact pyruvate decarboxylase from Z. mobilis, there were significant differences between the experimental and calculated profiles. The changes in relative positions of the subunits in solution were determined by rigid body refinement. For pyruvate oxidase and transketolase, which have tight intersubunit contacts in the crystal, relatively small modifications of the quaternary structure (root mean square displacements of 0.23 and 0.27 nm, respectively) sufficed to fit the experimental data. For the enzymes with looser contacts (the native and activated forms of yeast pyruvate decarboxylase), large modifications of the crystallographic models (root mean square displacements of 0.58 and 1.53 nm, respectively) were required. A clear correlation was observed between the magnitude of the distortions induced by the crystal environment and the interfacial area between subunits.

The mechanism of delayed selfing in Collinsia verna (Scrophulariaceae)

Collinsia verna, blue-eyed Mary, has floral attributes of an outcrossing species, yet most flowers readily self-pollinate under greenhouse conditions. Here we describe the mechanism of self-pollination in C. verna via changes in relative positions of the stigma and anthers and late timing of receptivity, resulting in delayed selfing. Each flower contains four anthers that dehisce sequentially over ∼1 wk. Pollen that is not collected by pollinators accumulates in the keel petal and retains high viability (>80% pollen germination) up to the time of corolla abscission. The stigmatic surface does not become receptive until after the third anther dehisces. This overlap in the sexual phases is concurrent with a change in herkogamy during floral development. In most flowers (70%), the stigma has moved to the front of the keel and is positioned near the anthers when the third anther dehisces. Under field conditions, fruiting success of plants within pollinator exclosures was ∼75% of the fruiting success in open-pollinated plants (33% fruiting success via autogamy vs. 44% fruiting success, respectively). Collinsia verna plants in pollinator exclosures exhibit variation in autogamy rates within natural populations (range 0-80%). In addition, only half of naturally pollinated, receptive flowers examined had pollen tubes growing in their styles. In contrast, shortly after corolla abscission, nearly all flowers examined (96%) had pollen tubes in their styles. Thus we find that in C. verna, autogamy occurs late in floral development, which has the potential to provide substantial reproductive assurance, and that individuals vary in their ability to set fruit through this mechanism. We suggest that delayed selfing mechanisms may be overlooked in other species and that variable pollinator availability may play a significant role in the maintenance of mixed mating in species with delayed selfing, such as C. verna.

Effect of contrast on detection of motion of chromatic and luminance targets: retina-relative and object-relative movement

It is now clear, contrary to previous conclusions, that motion may be conveyed by purely chromatic stimuli. The question considered here is how the mechanisms for assessing motion of luminance and chromatic stimuli differ. The dependence on contrast of amplitude thresholds for the perception of oscillatory motion was measured. The targets were Gabor patches modulated either chromatically along the L–M isoluminant axis or in luminance. When single targets were presented, the slope of the function relating log threshold amplitude to log contrast was approximately −0.50 for chromatic targets and 0.00 for luminance targets. When a reference target was present the slopes were approximately −0.50 for both types of target. The results imply that perception of motion of chromatic targets is based on the assessment of changes in relative position of target elements while motion of luminance targets may be signalled either by relative motion of target elements or by local motion of an image relative to the retina.

高分解能６自由度運動測定器の開発

The pursuit of ideal occlusal contact is one of the fundamental objectives of the dental prosthesis. To attain this objective, the study on micro tooth movement is significant as well as the study on jaw movement. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a newly-developed extraordinary accurate motion detector that measures tooth movement in six-degree-of-freedom. The principle of the measurement is to detect magnetic field changes induced by Helmholtz coils. A right maxillary first premolar of an adult male volunteer was selected for the measurement. The tooth movement during buccal and palatal cusps loading was measured as the relative position changes to the opposite side maxillary first premolar. The results were as follows:1. An extraordinary accurate motion detector that can evaluate tooth movement in six-degree-offreedom was developed. The resolution of the measuring system is 4 μm for translation and 0.0004°for rotation.2. Under 23 kgf buccal cusp loading, the tooth was moved in the buccomedioapical direction. This movement ranged from 143 to 366 μm. Under palatal cusp loading, the tooth was moved in the palatoapical direction, ranging from 71 to 231 μm.

The Relationship of Facial Animation to Smile Aesthetics

The aesthetics of a smile have been shown to be related to the symmetry of the smile, the curvature of the upper lip, and the arc of curvature of the lower lip to the incisal edges of the upper teeth. The present study quantitatively compares the magnitude of facial animation (as determined by the Johnson Maximal Static Response Assay) to the aesthetics of a smile in 25 subjects. The assay (software) calculates two-dimensional facial movement changes from the frontal view, as measured by the relative change in position of seven facial landmarks. Smile shape and lip fullness were also categorized. Lip fullness was the only variable found to correlate with the aesthetics of a smile. The magnitude of facial movement, smile shape, and gender did not correlate with aesthetic ratings.

Long-Term Stability of Protein Secondary Structure in Dry Seeds

Abstract Changes in protein secondary structure during seed aging were studied by in situ Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy. Seeds of onion, white cabbage and radish, harvested in 1969, were stored at 15–20°C and 30% relative humidity. Fresh control seeds were harvested in 1994 and stored under the same conditions. In 1995, the germination capacity of seeds was >90% for the 1994 harvest and zero for the 1969 harvest. Inspection of the amide-I bands in Fourier self-deconvolved infrared spectra of thin slices of embryo axes of the various seeds did not reveal major changes in relative peak height and band position of the different protein secondary structures with aging. No protein aggregation and denaturation were found after long-term storage. Heating of dry viable radish seeds up to 145°C did not cause appreciable protein denaturation. In contrast, boiling hydrated radish seeds for 5 min led to decoiling of the α-helical structure and the appearance of a band at 1627 cm−1. This band is characteristic of intermolecular extended β-sheet structures. We conclude that, despite the loss of viability and the long postmortem storage period, secondary structure of proteins in desiccation tolerant dry seed is very stable and conserved during several decades of open storage.

Changes in Tunneled Catheter Tip Position when a Patient Is Upright

To determine the relative changes in position of tunneled catheters from supine to upright patient position and factors affecting catheter tip migration. One hundred forty-six different tunneled catheters were placed through the subclavian or jugular veins radiologically, and catheter positions were documented with use of cine radiography at the time of placement. Follow-up chest radiographs were obtained with the patient in the upright position within 48 hours after placement. Catheter tip positions were numbered from 1 to 8, with 1 representing the innominate/superior vena cava junction and 8, the lower right atrium. Patient sex and weight, the site of catheter entry, and the size and type of catheter were correlated with the relative change in position on the follow-up chest radiogrpahs. There was a statistically significant (P < .0001) change in catheter position on the follow-up chest radiographs, with a mean difference of 1.5 catheter positions (usually mid-right atrium initially to low superior vena cava on follow-up). Catheter tip migration was greater for catheters in the subclavian veins, in females, and in obese patients. The catheter tip migrates significantly from the initial position at the time of placement as compared to when the patient assumes the upright position. This knowledge is important in achieving the desired final catheter position.

Globalização, tecnologia e relações de trabalho

Definindo a globalização como a aceleração intensa dos processos de internacionalização e mundialização, inerentes ao capitalismo desde sua fase original nos séculos XV e XVI, o autor destaca os efeitos da terceira revolução tecnológica, centrada na informática e nas telecomunicações, com influência dominante a partir da década dos 70 do século XX. Focaliza, em especial, as empresas multinacionais como agentes privilegiados da globalização, bem como suas relações com os Estados-nação e as mudanças na atuação destes últimos. Merecem igualmente atenção as alterações na posição relativa da indústria e do setor de serviços na sociedade contemporânea. Focalizando o processos concretos da globalização no âmbito empírico da indústria automobilística, o estudo se detém nas questões referentes ao fordismo e ao chamado modelo japonês de produção flexível, daí se aprofundando no tema das relações de trabalho. A esse respeito, a análise salienta a questão do desemprego estrutural e examina suas possíveis causas principais. O autor apresenta um painel detalhado e atualizado da indústria automobilística no Brasil, enriquecido por um anexo estatístico, enfatizando as relações entre montadoras e fabricantes de autopeças e entre empresas e trabalhadores. O contraponto com a situação da indústria automobilística na Argentina e no México permite estabelecer comparações e refletir sobre perspectivas futuras.

Relative Position of Coded Wire Tags in Paddlefish Rostrums

Paddlefish Polyodon spathula were tagged with 2-mm-long coded wire tags (CWTs) inserted 2 mm into the distal end of the rostrum to determine if the relative position of CWTs changed as the rostrum grew. Thirty fish were randomly selected weekly for measurements of body length (anterior edge of eye to tail fork), rostrum length (anterior eye to distal end of the rostrum), and relative position of the tag (determined from X rays). Mean body length of tagged paddlefish increased from 79 mm on 30 June 1995 to 183 mm on 10 August 1995. Mean relative position of the tag (length from tag to tip of rostrum/rostrum length) varied from 9.7% of total rostrum length on 30 June 1995 to 18.6% on 3 August 1995. We believe that the change in relative position of CWTs is a function of rostrum growth rate, and the change would probably be highest in age-0 paddlefish and decline as age increases.

Genetic basis for different host use in Epilachna pustulosa, a herbivorous ladybird beetle

The genetic basis for different host plant use was studied in a herbivorous ladybird beetle, Epilachna pustulosa, that exhibits interpopulational variation in host plant utilization. It usually depends on thistle, but one of the local forms occurs on both thistle and blue cohosh, which differ at the infraclass taxonomic level. In this local population, genetic association between the developmental performance on the two plants was neutral, suggesting genetic independence across the host plants. The form of reaction norms indicated some changes in relative rank position. Genetic variation among individuals on each host plant was detected. These results suggest that different genotypes are selected on different host plants and that a substantial proportion of the overall phenotypic plasticity is contributed by genotype-dependent environmental effects.

Modeling of lateral force-displacement hysteresis caused by local flux pinning

The permanent magnet and high- T c superconductor levitation system has a large variety of setups for positioning and scaling. The flux pinning effect of HTSC has the important role to support a permanent magnet as a flux source. As for the HTSC magnetic bearing which includes both linear and rotary systems, it positively applies the effect to guide the levitated body along the zero-gradient direction of the external field. On the other hand, the relation between force and displacement is well known to have hysteretic characteristics for the change of relative position of the permanent magnet and the superconductor. In this paper, the relation of the lateral force and the lateral displacement around the locally pinned flux on the surface of HTSC is investigated experimentally. Moreover a hysteresis model is proposed based on the experimental force and displacement relation.

Theoretical study on the strain dependence of the magnetic anisotropy of X/Co(X=Pt, Cu, Ag, and Au) metallic multilayers

A first-principles calculation of the magnetic anisotropy energies of X/Co (X=Pt, Cu, Ag and Au) metallic multilayers has been performed to investigate the effect of strain on the magnetic anisotropy. It is successfully predicted that Pt/Co and Au/Co multilayers exhibit perpendicular magnetic anisotropies in accordance with experiments. The strength of the hybridization of electronic states at the interface determines the relative position of the Fermi energy to the local density of states (LDOS) of ‖m‖=2 character of Co d electrons of minority spin. If the LDOS of ‖m‖=2 character is large at the Fermi energy, a system shows a perpendicular anisotropy. The anisotropy energies of all the systems increase as a function of interatomic distance in the in-plane direction. The magneto-elastic constants are more than twice the value of pure Co. The origin of this large value is explained in terms of the change of relative position of the Fermi level to that of the LDOS of ‖m‖=2 character as the value of strain increases.