Dynamic Toolkit Research Articles

A tale of two tool(kit)s: from canonical antonymy to non-canonical opposition in the Qur’anic discourse

Abstract A number of discourse functions of canonical antonyms have been quantified and classified in English and across languages, each of which is associated with typical syntactic frames. Taking such a classification of canonical antonymy as an analytical toolkit, (Davies, Matt. 2012. A new approach to oppositions in discourse: the role of syntactic frames in the triggering of noncanonical oppositions. Journal of English Linguistics 40(1). 41–73) quantified and qualified the role of these frames in triggering non-canonical oppositions in English news discourse. Synergizing the provisional typologies of canonical antonymy (Hassanein, Hamada. 2018. Discourse functions of opposition in Classical Arabic: The case in ḥadīth genre. Lingua 201. 18–44; Jones, Steven. 2002. Antonymy: A corpus-based perspective. London and New York: Routledge.) and non-canonical opposition (Davies, Matt. 2012. A new approach to oppositions in discourse: the role of syntactic frames in the triggering of noncanonical oppositions. Journal of English Linguistics 40(1). 41–73), this study has sought to develop a dynamic toolkit for the quantitative and qualitative analyses of non-canonical opposition across Arabic varieties and potentially other languages. The toolkit was tested quantitatively and qualitatively against a dataset of 2125 non-canonical oppositional pairs collected from the Qur’an with reference to the Qur’anic Arabic Corpus. Results showed that the syntactic frames which house a wide range of co-occurring canonical antonyms also house a wider range of non-canonical oppositions in binary and trinary representations of abstract and concrete entities. The role of syntactic frames in the triggering of non-canonical oppositions is quantitatively and qualitatively significant for locating and explicating the ideological repercussions of oppositions towards Qur’an interpretation. It is concluded that a synergy of typologies results in a replicable pathway for analysis.

OVERVIEW OF THE CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES FOR BUDGET PLANNING IN ENTERPRISES IN THE BULGARIAN SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE

In the conditions of a rapidly changing and uncertain dynamic environment, increasing competition, and limited resources, the global economic crisis brought planning and control to the fore as the leading functions of management. Modern practice is characterized by a significant variety of tools, approaches and methods in the implementation of planning in enterprises. The purpose of this publication is to review the concepts and tools for budget planning in the enterprise, which are known in the Bulgarian scientific literature, indexed in the scientific database Google Scholar at the end of March 2023. Methodologically, the review used a systematic approach. The review was conducted in three stages: developing a search protocol, conducting the search and reporting the results. The literature sample of review sources covers eleven scientific publications corresponding to the researched topic. The results of the review show that many Bulgarian authors recommend the application of quantitative methods and approaches for enterprise budget planning. As such, the balanced scorecard and tools of fuzzy set theory are indicated. A number of authors emphasize the need for the application of a flexible and dynamic toolkit for budget planning, which enables the assessment and successful management of internal and external risk. For crisis conditions, the authors most often recommend scenario planning and heuristic models. Some authors highlight the kaizen concept and controlling as attractive and successful planning concepts. Other authors point to expert systems based on artificial intelligence as a particularly valuable tool for planning. In the "discussion" part of the present study, some recommendations for future research are given. In the opinion of the author, this development has the character of a landmark for the state of the Bulgarian scientific literature about the concepts and tools for budget planning in the enterprise. Despite the theoretical nature of the study, it can be used by both researchers and management practice.

Comparative Study of Potential Flow and CFD in the Assessment of Seakeeping and Added Resistance of Ships

The need for maritime freight transport of various goods has never been greater. Consequently, ships are designed with ever-increasing dimensions, with the emphasis, of course, on length. One of the many challenges in the design of large ships is the prediction of their behavior in waves, i.e., motions, and consequently, added resistance. In this paper, a comparative study of two numerical tools for estimating ship motions and added resistance is presented. The first tool is the well-established DNV’s commercial seakeeping code Wasim, a weakly nonlinear potential flow (PF) solver based on a Rankine panel method. The other is the increasingly recognized open-source Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) toolkit OpenFOAM®, a viscous flow solver with a turbulence model; it is based on the finite volume method (FVM) combined with a volume-of-fluid (VOF) technique for sea-surface evolution. The study is carried out for two ship seakeeping cases in head-sea regular waves, respectively, without and with ship forward speed. The first case refers to a 6750 TEU containership scale model developed at the LHEEA laboratory in Nantes for a benchmark study, providing experimental data for all test cases. Pitch and heave response is calculated and compared with the experimental values. The second case refers to a KRISO container ship, an extensively researched hull model in ship hydrodynamics. In addition to the pitch and heave, added resistance is also calculated and compared with the experimental values. Hence, it provides a comprehensive basis for a comparative analysis between the selected solvers. The results are systematically analyzed and discussed in detail. For both cases, deterioration of the PF solution with increasing wave steepness is observed, thus suggesting limitations in the modeled nonlinear effects as a possible reason. The accuracy of the CFD solver greatly depends on the spatial discretization characteristics, thus suggesting the need for grid independence studies, as such tools are crucial for accurate results of the examined wave–body interaction scenarios.

Development of a Robust BH3 Profiling Toolkit for Precision Medicine in Hematologic Malignancies

INTRODUCTION. BCL2 homology 3 (BH3) mimetics represent a novel class of pro-apoptotic anti Hematologic malignancies (HM) drugs directly targeting apoptosis, even in chemoresistant cells. Each disease is heterogenous which makes it hard to provide standardized treatment for each patient and highlight the need for new diagnosis tools to deliver precision medicine. In the other hand, a technic called BH3 profiling has been developed, allowing to measure the apoptosis priming of the cells as well as their dependencies on specific anti-apoptotic proteins. Using specific BH3 peptides, this assay measures the percentage of cytochrome c release for each anti-apoptotic protein, mainly Bcl2, Mcl1 and Bcl-xl. BH3 toolkit, a variation of this technic, was developed using BH3 mimetics instead of BH3 peptides. Those small molecules mimic the effect of BH3 sensitizer protein by competing for anti-apoptotic protein catalytic pocket. Using these drugs allows to avoid cell permeabilization and thus reduce variability in the assay. A dynamic BH3 toolkit is also possible, measuring early drug-induced changes in net proapoptotic signaling, to identify modification of antiapoptotic dependencies. The aim of the present work is to develop a standardize and reproducible BH3 toolkit (baseline and dynamic), with internal control, to allow an absolute measurement of specific anti-apoptotic dependencies in HM cell lines or primary tumor cells, as well as identifying optimal therapeutic combination. MATERIAL AND METHODS. We used different HM cell lines as well as primary cells from patients with CLL. Cells were seeded right after thawing at the concentration of 200,000 cells/mL in a 96 well plate, using a robotic liquid handler. Primary cells were cocultured with stromal cells (Resto-6 cell line). Cells are then incubated for 20h in a 5% CO2 and 37°C incubator. Next, we treated them with BH3 mimetics (or vehicle): Venetoclax (VEN, Bcl2 inhibitor), Navitoclax (Bcl2 and Bcl-xl inhibitor), AZD-5991 (AZD, Mcl1 inhibitor), A-1155463 (Bcl-xl inhibitor) for 4h. Then, cells were stained using Annexin V and 7AAD and analyzed by flow cytometry. Our gating strategy focuses on live cells to measure annexin V flipflop as an apoptotic marker. This assay is paired with a cell viability measurement at 24h, using CellTiterGlo assay. For dynamic BH3 toolkit, the influence of the tested drug on antiapoptotic dependencies is measured by adding this drug (or vehicle) at the same time as cells of interest. RESULTS. First, we wanted to optimize the protocol on cell lines with known anti-apoptotic dependencies. We used OCI-Ly1 and LP1 cell lines which are known for their exclusive Bcl2 and Mcl1 dependencies, respectively. As expected, OCI-Ly1 cells showed a significant increase in annexin V staining (reaching 48.2% (P=0.0003) at maximum concentration) upon VEN treatment, whereas it does not change significantly with Mcl1 or Bcl-xl inhibitors (Figure A). Likewise, we detected an increase of 15.35% (P=0.005) in Annexin V staining only upon AZD in LP1 cells, but no significant modification with other inhibitors. Consistent with these data, we saw a significant and specific decrease in cell viability (CTG) with VEN and AZD on OCI-Ly1 and LP1 respectively (data no shown). These 2 cell lines are used as internal controls for the other analyses. Next, we optimized the assay on CLL primary cells. Figure A shows that VEN induces an increase in Annexin V staining by 62.7 % (P=0.0003), demonstrating a significant Bcl2 dependency. Finally, we optimized the dynamic part of the assay (Figure B). We used ironomycin, a lysosomal iron-targeting small molecule that has been studied by our team in HM (Devin et al. 2022). We found that ironomycin increased significantly Bcl2 dependency in OCI-Ly1 cells by 8.55% (P=0.02) with VEN. Interestingly, we observed the induction of a MCL1 dependency in those cells, with an annexin V staining increase by 8.21% (P=0.02). CONCLUSION. We were therefore able to measure the baseline dependencies using a BH3 toolkit that avoid cell permeabilization. We were also able to measure changes in dependencies induced by an innovative therapy. We believe that our results show the robustness of the BH3 toolkit and its ability to detect potential new therapeutic strategies in HM cell lines and primary cells. Detailed results will be presented at the meeting, as well as data on primary lymphoma and myeloma cells. Figure 1View largeDownload PPTFigure 1View largeDownload PPT Close modal

IHVI: AN OPEN-SOURCE TOOLKIT FOR CONSTRUCTING INTEGRATED HEAT VULNERABILITY INDEX IN AUSTRALIA

Abstract. To tackle the increasing issue of heat risk in Australia and pressure of population growth, this project aimed to establish a first nationwide dynamic and interactive heat vulnerability assessment toolkit. The toolkit integrated multiple data sources, cloud computing, and Web GIS technologies to deliver cool intelligence for more heat resilient Australian cities and suburbs. A cloud-based open-source tool, iGEE, was first developed to derive land surface temperature (LST), NDBI (normalized difference built-up index) and NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) from multiple satellite imagery on Google Earth Engine (GEE), a no-code web application allowing users to retrieve satellite data for a large area at fine scales. Following that, a python-based desktop app was then developed to calculate an integrated Heat Vulnerability Index (iHVI) for any cities and area at a fine scale of Statistical Area 1 (SA1). The iHVI toolkit allows users to construct heat sensitivity, heat adaptive capability indicators, and composite heat vulnerability index, which enables modelling of the relationships between heat, environmental and socioeconomic factors.

Neural Network Based Model Predictive Control for a Quadrotor UAV

A dynamic model that considers both linear and complex nonlinear effects extensively benefits the model-based controller development. However, predicting a detailed aerodynamic model with good accuracy for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is challenging due to their irregular shape and low Reynolds number behavior. This work proposes an approach to model the full translational dynamics of a quadrotor UAV by a feedforward neural network, which is adopted as the prediction model in a model predictive controller (MPC) for precise position control. The raw flight data are collected by tracking various pre-designed trajectories with PX4 autopilot. The neural network model is trained to predict the linear accelerations from the flight log. The neural network-based model predictive controller is then implemented with the automatic control and dynamic optimization toolkit (ACADO) to achieve real-time online optimization. Software in the loop (SITL) simulation and indoor flight experiments are conducted to verify the controller performance. The results indicate that the proposed controller leads to a 40% reduction in the average trajectory tracking error compared to the traditional PID controller.

A design framework for technology prioritisation in the context of through-life engineering services

Lack of methods on standardising the prioritisation of technologies within the context of Through-life Engineering Services (TES) has been identified. Inspired by the TES value streams and support activity assets, existing within a common TES framework, a new design framework for technologies prioritisation is proposed. A dynamic toolkit to identify the most suitable technology is also developed, using a Quality Function Deployment method, Analytic Hierarchy Process and ROI analysis. A real case study from the defence sector is employed to validate the developed design framework and toolkit; the results show a well-structured guide that can effectively simplify the decision-making process.

Evaluation of Dea-Model Dinamic Efficiency of Siberian Regions Innovation Development

Urgency of research is determined by the problem of Russia’s lagging behind in innovative development from the world’s leading countries. The testing of the DEA-model dynamic efficiency toolkit was carried out to assess the innovative development of the SFD regions. The following results were obtained: the DEA-efficiency indicators of the regions based on the aggregate of resource indicators and the results of the 2-stage model «Ge­neration – Knowledge Commercialization»; the simulation space of the regions was built in the coordinates of the indicators of resources and results; the heterogeneity of static and dynamic indicators of the efficiency of regions was revealed.

Rod drop transient at VR-1 reactor – Experiment and Serpent transient calculation analysis

The rod drop experiment is an important transient in reactor operation. This study focuses on a comparison between experimental reactor physics data and respective calculation. The rod drop experiment was performed at the VR-1 reactor. A full core 3D model was used to calculate this transient using Serpent2. Additionally, a point kinetic solution is presented. The Serpent results were compared with the experiment and with the point kinetic calculation. Two different nuclear data libraries (ENDF/B-VIII.0, JEFF3.3) were used in the data sensitivity analysis. The Serpent 3D kinetics results were almost identical to the point kinetic equation solution. Experimental data differed in the rod worth. This study shows that the new Serpent dynamic toolkit provides an accurate description of the reactor behavior during this transient. The 3D calculation proved that the detector position during the transient has a direct impact on the measured control rod worth.

Dialogic Discourse Analysis: A methodology for dealing with the classroom as a text

Bakhtin is a source of theoretical inspiration for educational research. This article will be an attempt to activate also Bakhtin’s analytical practice and his methodology. I will explore and elaborate the typology of discursive relations which are suggested in Bakhtin’s book on Problems of Dostoevsky’ Poetics (Bakhtin ,1984), and the potential application of it in the study of discourse in the classroom. In order to do so properly it will be necessary to activate Bakhtin’s understanding of the utterance as a meaningful unity, and thus also the problem of authorship and the relationship between author and hero.Bakhtin’s analytical practice can be considered a consistent methodology for the study of literature in schools as well as in the scholarly study of literature (cf. Skaftun, 2009; 2010), and I have called it dialogic discourse analysis (DDA). The first main part of the article elaborates key features of DDA in dialogue with Bakhtin’s work. In the other main part, DDA is applied to educational settings in order to enter the educational dialogue on how to make sense of authorship and the adhering conception of the classroom as a text. My ambition here is primarily to elaborate DDA as a powerful and dynamic toolkit also for educational research. In doing so I also hope to contribute to the ongoing work of transferring Bakhtin’s dialogism as a whole from the study of literature to the study of education. Examples will in part be drawn from literature, but for the most part from educational settings.

Single- and multi-objective optimisation for a combined cooling and antisolvent semi-batch crystallisation process with an ACADO toolkit

ABSTRACT Crystallisation from the solution is a widely practised slow precipitation process for the production and purification of solid particles. Combining cooling and antisolvent crystallisation can enhance the productivity and gives a better control over process, as well. In the current investigation, the model describing the crystallisation behaviour has been optimised (Single-/Multi-objective) for cooling, antisolvent and finally for a combined antisolvent and cooling crystallisation process of Acetyl Salicylic Acid (ASA) from ethanol–water solutions. The appropriate optimal profile of additives to generate supersaturation for a combined crystallisation process is explored properly. In addition to the above, the parametric effect on the final product has also been investigated. The process is modelled by the population balance approach and the method of moments is used to solve the population balance model equation. A simulation programme is developed in MATLAB environment and the optimisation problems are solved by using Automatic Control and Dynamic Optimisation toolkit. Finally the outputs of the optimised conditions are qualitatively and quantitatively compared with the literature and they clearly reveal close agreement for the advanced study. This optimisation study improves the quality as well as the effectiveness of the various objective function related in the production process of ASA.

The role of non-governmental organisations in controlling rabies: the Global Alliance for Rabies Control, Partners for Rabies Prevention and the Blueprint for Rabies Prevention and Control.

Rabies control worldwide has been inadequate and neglected for many decades, and the disease continues to predominantly affect poor communities in Africa and Asia. As a zoonosis for which the main reservoir and vector, the domestic dog (Canis familiaris), is an economically non-viable species, the absence of cross-sectoral cooperation has been a major factor in the lack of effective control efforts. A shift in global focus is required to concentrate on the fact that rabies has the highest case fatality ratio of all infectious human diseases and that it still affects human health more significantly than many other infectious diseases that are perceived to pose more significant risks. Equally necessary is an acknowledgement that rabies control is complex and that the task of creating and executing a strategic plan for the disease can be overwhelming for those governments in the developing world where dog rabies is most problematic. Nonprofit organisations operate independently of governments and intergovernmental organisations and can play a dynamic role in inter-sectoral collaboration and the creation of approaches and strategies for the control of complex diseases such as rabies. In 2008, the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) established Partners for Rabies Prevention (PRP), a widely representative group of rabies stakeholders and experts, which endeavours to support public-private rabies control activities throughout the world. After a landscape analysis, the PRP proceeded to develop and launch the Blueprint for Rabies Prevention and Control (comprising the Blueprint for Canine Rabies Prevention and Control; the Blueprint for Fox Rabies Prevention and Control and the Rabies Surveillance Blueprint). Subsequently, the Stepwise Approach towards Rabies Elimination (SARE) was embedded into the Canine Rabies Blueprint. The SARE is a planning and self-assessment tool that countries can use to develop activities and monitor progress towards a national programme and strategy for sustainable rabies control and elimination. Each of the elements needed to execute the SARE-derived strategy is cross-linked to the Canine Rabies Blueprint, which provides the specific methods and tools required, supported by references and examples. Together, the Canine Rabies Blueprint and the SARE should be regarded as a novel and dynamic operational toolkit, and a resource that provides comprehensive information for the development and implementation of rabies control strategies, built entirely on the principles of 'One Health'.

ShinyGPA: An interactive visualization toolkit for investigating pleiotropic architecture using GWAS datasets.

In spite of accumulating evidence suggesting that different complex traits share a common risk basis, namely pleiotropy, effective investigation of pleiotropic architecture still remains challenging. In order to address this challenge, we developed ShinyGPA, an interactive and dynamic visualization toolkit to investigate pleiotropic structure. ShinyGPA requires only the summary statistics from genome-wide association studies (GWAS), which reduces the burden on researchers using this tool. ShinyGPA allows users to effectively investigate genetic relationships among phenotypes using a flexible low-dimensional visualization and an intuitive user interface. In addition, ShinyGPA provides joint association mapping functionality that can facilitate biological understanding of the pleiotropic architecture. We analyzed GWAS summary statistics for 12 phenotypes using ShinyGPA and obtained visualization results and joint association mapping results that are well supported by the literature. The visualization produced by ShinyGPA can also be used as a hypothesis generating tool for relationships between phenotypes, which might also be used to improve the design of future genetic studies. ShinyGPA is currently available at https://dongjunchung.github.io/GPA/.

Human niche, human behaviour, human nature.

The concept of a 'human nature' or 'human natures' retains a central role in theorizing about the human experience. In Homo sapiens it is clear that we have a suite of capacities generated via our evolutionary past, and present, and a flexible capacity to create and sustain particular kinds of cultures and to be shaped by them. Regardless of whether we label these capacities 'human natures' or not, humans occupy a distinctive niche and an evolutionary approach to examining it is critical. At present we are faced with a few different narratives as to exactly what such an evolutionary approach entails. There is a need for a robust and dynamic theoretical toolkit in order to develop a richer, and more nuanced, understanding of the cognitively sophisticated genus Homo and the diverse sorts of niches humans constructed and occupied across the Pleistocene, Holocene, and into the Anthropocene. Here I review current evolutionary approaches to 'human nature', arguing that we benefit from re-framing our investigations via the concept of the human niche and in the context of the extended evolutionary synthesis (EES). While not a replacement of standard evolutionary approaches, this is an expansion and enhancement of our toolkit. I offer brief examples from human evolution in support of these assertions.

Facing Darwin: A Reply to William Flesch

Against the idea that there is one true form of tragedy that can anchor a universal human ethics, Darwinism suggests that life is filled with endless kinds of tragic circumstance. But even as this biological view of tragedy spells the end of moral idealism, it opens up an inclusive practical ethics in which literature can function as a dynamic cognitive toolkit for helping us adapt to the ever-changing tides of life.

La Manipolazione Degli Indici Finanziari: Un Illecito in Cerca Di Identità (Manipulation of Financial Indices: A Wrongful Act in Search for Identity)

Since 2011, financial indices manipulation of Libor, Euribor and Tibor has beeen representing a very important subject in the media legal discourse. In particular, some of the more influent banks in the world have been concerned with heavy sanctions by U.S.A. and U.K. Financial Authorities in consequence of their involvement in price index fixing in the recent years. The article focuses on the charateristics of the wrongful act (Libor Fixing) and his causal link with economic losses suffered by whom entered in contracts (mortgages, derivative swaps, financial agreements) indexed to manipulated benchmarks. The prognosis of success on civil litigation should be more complex and critical than the one observed in criminal procecution procedures. The analysis underlines the potentially uncertain and amphibious nature of the case, between antitrust law and Securities Law. The most critical subjects are the evidence and tracks of a collusion, and also the role to be attached to the participants in the fraudolent scheme. This point includes an uncertain choice between primary violators and secondary actors as soon as the litigation constists in antifraud class actions lawsuit (ex Rule 10b-5 of the SEC Reg.). The case of Libor manipulation shows that one can be a primary violator without disclosing directly (or failing to disclose) any information to the marketplace, whereas a scheme to defraud can consist in a silent behavior (price fixing). Another point concerns the recent initiatives in U.K. and European Union in the field of financial benchmark manipulation and market abuse. The emerging trend, in particular in EU, is to introduce specific regulations on financial wrongful acts. As a result, EU and his member states policies could lack (or underestimate) actual civil remedies, antitrust policies/criminal sanctions. From a common law experience, the analysis detected a more responsive and dynamic toolkit.

Multi-objective optimal control of an air-to-water heat pump for residential heating

The current study investigates the optimal operation of an air-to-water heat pump system. To this end, the control problem is formulated as a classic optimal control or dynamic optimization problem. As conflicting objectives arise, namely, minimizing energy cost while maximizing thermal comfort, the optimization problem is tackled from a multi-objective optimization perspective. The adopted system model incorporates the building dynamics and the heat pump characteristics. Because of the state-dependency of the coefficient of performance (COP), the optimal control problem (OCP) is nonlinear. If the COP is approximated by a constant value, the OCP becomes convex, which is easier to solve. The current study investigates how this approximation affects the control performance. The optimal control problems are solved using the freely available Automatic Control And Dynamic Optimization toolkit ACADO. It is found that the lower the weighting factor for thermal discomfort is, the higher the discrepancy is between the nonlinear and convex OCP formulations. For a weighting factor resulting in a quadratic mean difference of 0.5°C between the zone temperature and its reference temperature, the difference in electricity cost amounts to 4% for a first scenario with fixed electricity price, and up to 6% for a second scenario with a day and night variation in electricity price.

Analysis of Wind Influence to Radio Astronomy Observations at Irbene Radio-telescope Complex

The results of modelling wind-related deformations in an RT-16 radio telescope (located at Irbene, Latvia) mirror system are presented. The Finite Volume method is used for the development of a Computational Fluid Dynamic model of turbulent airflow around the telescope. An open sourced Computational Fluid Dynamic toolkit OpenFOAM is used for the solution of Partial Different Equations. Notable model difficulties arise due to the open nature of the air flow leading to unknown far field turbulence parameters. Our future plans are to create a unified, coupled, liquid-solid interaction model for RT-32/RT-16 antennas.

Muslim patients and cross-gender interactions in medicine: an Islamic bioethical perspective

As physicians encounter an increasingly diverse patient population, socioeconomic circumstances, religious values and cultural practices may present barriers to the delivery of quality care. Increasing cultural competence is often cited...

Fast Pareto set generation for nonlinear optimal control problems with multiple objectives

Many practical engineering problems involve the determination of optimal control trajectories for given multiple and conflicting objectives. These conflicting objectives typically give rise to a set of Pareto optimal solutions. To enhance real-time decision making efficient approaches are required for determining the Pareto set in a fast and accurate way. Hereto, the current paper integrates efficient multiple objective scalarisation strategies (e.g., Normal Boundary Intersection and Normalised Normal Constraint) with fast deterministic approaches for dynamic optimisation (e.g., Single and Multiple Shooting). All techniques have been implemented as an easy-to-use add-on module of the automatic control and dynamic optimisation toolkit ACADO (both freely available at www.acadotoolkit.org). Several algorithmic synergies (e.g., hot-start initialisation strategies) are exploited for an additional speed-up. The features of ACADO Multi-Objective are discussed and its use is illustrated on different multiple objective optimal control problems arising in several engineering disciplines.