Generic Description Research Articles

A model for one-dimensional deposition and consolidation of shrinking mine fills

The consolidation of a cemented mine fill is controlled by the rate of backfilling in regard to its permeability as well as the companion chemical shrinkage due to hydration reaction. A unified equation is derived in the study to delineate the one-dimensional (1D) deposition and consolidation of shrinking mine fills based on a generic description of the entangled chemo–hygro–mechanical processes. The proposed equation has taken into account the compressibility of each phase and the refinement of pore space due to phase exchange of water during hydration, which are lacking in other 1D formulations. The resulting equation would thus allow for more rational and convenient analyses of mine-fill consolidation during accretion and after deposition with a unified model. The improvement is practically at the mere expense of introducing only one additional parameter (the stiffness of solid grains) compared with existing benchmark equations. Parametric analyses performed with the proposed equation have revealed the limitations of the original Gibson and other 1D solutions in realistic assessment of mine-fill consolidation due to the lack of considerations for internal couplings. The proposed equation could also provide more reliable benchmark solutions for verification of complex numerical tools that incorporate coupled modelling of mine-fill behaviours.

<b>Taxonomic revision of the genus <I>Atmetonychus</I> (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae) from the Indian subcontinent</b>

Genus Atmetonychus Schoenherr (1840) known from India and Bangladesh is revised. The generic and species description has been updated through addition of measurements, description of elytral vestiture and genitalic characters. These are supported by 28 illustrations including 21 line diagrams.

Notes on the Morphology and Taxonomy ofChenopodiastrum(Chenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceaes. lato), with Two New Combinations,C. erosumfrom Australia andC. gracilispicumfrom China

An emended description of Chenopodiastrum S. Fuentes, Uotila & Borsch, a small segregate genus of the heterogeneous Linnaean genus Chenopodium, is provided and morphological characters used in the generic description are evaluated. Two species are transferred from Chenopodium to Chenopodiastrum for which two new combinations, Chenopodiastrum erosum (R. Br.) Uotila and C. gracilispicum (H.W. Kung) Uotila, are made. The descriptions of these species are emended and their relationships within the genus discussed.

Advancing the taxonomy of economically important red seaweeds (Rhodophyta)

ABSTRACTThe cultivation of red seaweeds for food (nori), agar and carrageenans is the basis of a valuable industry. However, taxonomic knowledge of these cultivated seaweeds and their wild relatives has not kept pace with advances in molecular systematics despite the fundamental importance of being able to identify commercially important species and strains, discover cryptic and endemic taxa and recognize non-native species with potentially damaging diseases and epiphytes. This review focuses on molecular taxonomic advances in the cultivated red algae with the highest commercial value globally: Eucheuma and Kappaphycus, Porphyra sensu lato and Gracilaria. All three groups are similarly taxonomically challenging: speciose, morphologically plastic, with poorly resolved species boundaries. Eucheuma and Kappaphycus are frequently misidentified and the molecular markers cox2-3 spacer, cox1 and RuBisCO spacer have helped in understanding phylogenetic relationships and identifying new species and haplotypes. In Porphyra sensu lato (Bangiales) species identification and phylogenetic relationships were highly problematic until a taxonomic revision based on a two-gene phylogeny (18S and rbcL) resulted in nine genera of bladed species. Pyropia, with at least 89 species, three in nori cultivation, has potential for new commercial evaluation. In Gracilaria sensu lato, earlier efforts to resolve species-level taxonomy and generic descriptions were superseded by application of molecular tools, including DNA sequences of the RuBisCO spacer, rbcL gene, 18S and the ITS region. Studies of these cultivated red algal genera highlight the need for a robust taxonomy, a more standardized approach to the molecular markers used and a comprehensive dataset for each representative species. Current work on DNA-based species delimitation, the emergence of high throughput sequencing, multi-gene phylogenies, publication of whole genomes (e.g. Porphyra umbilicalis) and genomes in the pipeline (e.g. Gracilaria) are increasingly improving our understanding of phylogenomic relationships and species relationships. This knowledge, in turn, can then be applied to improving red seaweed aquaculture.

MiCADO—Microservice-based Cloud Application-level Dynamic Orchestrator

Various scientific and commercial applications require automated scalability and orchestration on cloud computing resources. However, extending applications with such automated scalability on an individual basis is not feasible. This paper investigates how such automated orchestration can be added to cloud applications without major reengineering of the application code. We suggest a generic architecture for an application level cloud orchestration framework, called MiCADO that supports various application scenarios on multiple heterogeneous federated clouds. Besides the generic architecture description, the paper also presents the first MiCADO reference implementation, and explains how the scalability of the Data Avenue service that is applied for data transfer in WS-PGRADE/gUSE based science gateways, can be improved. Performance evaluation of the implemented scalability based on up and downscaling experiments is presented.

Implementing evidence-based smoking cessation treatment in psychosocial care units (CAPS) in Brazil.

The prevalence of smoking among mental health and addiction (MHA) patients is 3 times higher than it is in the general population, yet this patient population has received little help to combat smoking. Considering this, psychosocial care centers (CAPS - Centros de Atenção Psicossocial) are strategic locations for integrating tobacco dependence treatment (TDT) into existing treatment activities. Our team provided an 8-hour training package to the staff of CAPS that have not been providing specialized TDT for smokers. Our curriculum included the following topics focused on the implementation of treatment for MHA smokers: management, epidemiology, medications, psychotherapy, and smoking/mental health assessment instruments. Our team trained the staff of 17 CAPS units within 10 cities - which included more than 186 health professionals. There were many barriers encountered as we provided this training. A summary of problems we faced were as follows: resistance to incorporating TDT in addiction/mental health-care units, resistance to the implementation of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) (psychodynamic therapy and harm reduction were preferred) and treatment for smoking is already implemented in primary care network; resistance to the use of medication in addiction treatment (a preference for psychotherapy and psychosocial approach). We learned a number of important lessons as we worked to improve the delivery of TDT to MHA patients in Brazil: provide clinicians an opportunity to explore how they feel/think about providing TDT to their clients at the very outset of the training, rather than focusing on a specific type of behavioral therapy for TDT (such as CBT), which some may find objectionable; use more generic descriptions of behavioral therapy such as 'supportive counseling'; include training professionals who are open to other forms of behavioral therapy in addition to psychoanalysis and discuss the important impact that MHA units can have in improving the quality of life for their patients who smoke.

On the use of deep learning for blind image quality assessment

In this work we investigate the use of deep learning for distortion-generic blind image quality assessment. We report on different design choices, ranging from the use of features extracted from pre-trained Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) as a generic image description, to the use of features extracted from a CNN fine-tuned for the image quality task. Our best proposal, named DeepBIQ, estimates the image quality by average pooling the scores predicted on multiple sub-regions of the original image. The score of each sub-region is computed using a Support Vector Regression (SVR) machine taking as input features extracted using a CNN fine-tuned for category-based image quality assessment. Experimental results on the LIVE In the Wild Image Quality Challenge Database and on the LIVE Image Quality Assessment Database show that DeepBIQ outperforms the state-of-the-art methods compared, having a Linear Correlation Coefficient (LCC) with human subjective scores of almost 0.91 and 0.98 respectively. Furthermore, in most of the cases, the quality score predictions of DeepBIQ are closer to the average observer than those of a generic human observer.

‘As One Does’: Understanding Heidegger's Account of das Man

Abstract: Heidegger describes Dasein as subject to a constant pressure to bring its intentional performances into agreement with those of its peers and thence with a generic description of ‘what one [das Man] does’, called Dasein's conformism. I argue that extant accounts of this pressure, which appeal to the essential social embeddedness of intentional performance, fail to account for both the scope and modal force of the demand to act as one does. I propose that we can better understand the role of das Man in Heidegger's account of intentional agency by exploiting a structural similarity between ‘Dasein’ and the familiar notion of epistemic capacity, or a power of knowledge. The result is an account that locates the source of das Man's authority not in our social nature but in our shared aspiration to ontological understanding.

A synopsis of the Afro-Malagasy species previously included in Schefflera (Araliaceae): resurrection of the genera Astropanax and Neocussonia

Abstract Lowry, P.P., II, G.M. Plunkett, M.R. Gostel & D.G. Frodin (2017). A synopsis of the Afro-Malagasy species previously included in Schefflera (Araliaceae): resurrection of the genera Astropanax and Neocussonia. Candollea 72: 265–282. In English, English abstract. Phylogenetic studies have shown that Schefflera J.R. Forst. & G. Forst., the largest genus of Araliaceae, is grossly polyphyletic, representing five distinct clades within the family, and that one of these clades, comprising species from continental Africa, Madagascar, the Comoro Islands and the Seychelles, contains two morphologically distinct subclades. In an effort to establish monophyletic genera among the elements that have been treated in Schefflera over the last several decades, we resurrect the genera Astropanax Seem. (15 species) and Neocussonia (Harms) Hutch. (16 species) to encompass the members of the two “Afro-Malagasy” subclades. In this synoptical revision, we provide updated generic descriptions along with a key to the gene...

Morphological and phylogenetic relationships of the threatened geophyte Wurmbea novae-zelandiae (Colchicaceae) from New Zealand, with notes on typification

The new combination Wurmbea novae-zelandiae was recently made based on published phylogenetic studies, but little information was provided on its relationships based on morphology. This species was originally described as Anguillaria novae-zelandiae, for which a lectotype is designated. Morphological characters of W. novae-zelandiae are re-evaluated and shown to be characteristic of Wurmbea, thereby supporting the revised generic placement. However, W. novae-zelandiae differs from all other Wurmbea species in its diminutive stature, fewer tepals and stamens, and variable floral morphology, with 1–3 carpels, often leaf-like tepals, and aberrant tepal shape and number. DNA sequence data places W. novae-zelandiae as the sister species of W. uniflora, a species not included in earlier phylogenetic studies. These two species share mostly solitary flowers with white tepals, nectaries two per tepal and similar in form and position, small yellow anthers, and styles that are relatively short and recurve as flowering proceeds, with the inner style surface stigmatic for up to half of its length. A revised generic description of Wurmbea is provided to take account of the recently widened concept.

Flabelleforma, the correct name for Precambrian Mucorites Herman non Lindau

The fossil generic name Flabelleforma Herman 1989 is resurrected to replace the later homonym, Mucorites Herman 1979, used for unique Precambrian hyphal fungi-like microorganisms (Bacillariobiota), which is preoccupied by Mucorites Meschinelli ex Lindau 1900. The generic name Mucorites Meschinelli 1898, proposed for putative mycelial remains from the Lower Carboniferous (Visean) deposits of Esnost (France), was not validly published due to the lack of a separate generic description; the name was validated by Lindau in 1900.

Elimination Method of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA): A Simple Methodological Approach for Assessing Agricultural Sustainability

In the present world context, there is a need to assess the sustainability of agricultural systems. Various methods have been proposed to assess agricultural sustainability. Like in many other fields, Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) has recently been used as a methodological approach for the assessment of agricultural sustainability. In this paper, an attempt is made to apply Elimination, a MCDA method, to an agricultural sustainability assessment, and to investigate its benefits and drawbacks. This article starts by explaining the importance of agricultural sustainability. Common MCDA types are discussed, with a description of the state-of-the-art method for incorporating multi-criteria and reference values for agricultural sustainability assessment. Then, a generic description of the Elimination Method is provided, and its modeling approach is applied to a case study in coastal Bangladesh. An assessment of the results is provided, and the issues that need consideration before applying Elimination to agricultural sustainability, are examined. Whilst having some limitations, the case study shows that it is applicable for agricultural sustainability assessments and for ranking the sustainability of agricultural systems. The assessment is quick compared to other assessment methods and is shown to be helpful for agricultural sustainability assessment. It is a relatively simple and straightforward analytical tool that could be widely and easily applied. However, it is suggested that appropriate care must be taken to ensure the successful use of the Elimination Method during the assessment process.

Definition and Implementation of a Method for Uncertainty Aggregation in Component-Based System Simulation Models

Component-based system simulation models are used throughout all development phases for design and verification of both physical systems and control software, not least in the aeronautical industry. However, the application of structured methods for uncertainty quantification (UQ) of system simulation models is rarely seen. To enable dimensionality reduction of a UQ problem and to thereby make UQ more feasible for industry-grade system simulation models, this paper describes a pragmatic method for uncertainty aggregation. The central idea of the proposed aggregation method is to integrate information obtained during common practice component-level validation directly into the components, and to utilize this information in model-level UQ. A generic component output uncertainty description has been defined and implemented in a Modelica library for modeling and simulation (M&S) of aircraft vehicle systems. An example is provided on how to characterize and quantify a component's aggregated output uncertainty based on the component-level bench test measurement data. Furthermore, the industrial applicability of the uncertainty aggregation method is demonstrated in an approximate UQ of an aircraft liquid cooling system simulation model. For cases when the concept of thorough UQ resulting in probability boxes is not feasible, the demonstrated approximate UQ using aggregated uncertainties is considered to be a pragmatic alternative fairly in reach for the common M&S practitioner within the area of system simulation.

Fokker-Planck quantum master equation for mixed quantum-semiclassical dynamics.

We revisit Caldeira-Leggett's quantum master equation representing mixed quantum-classical theory, but with limited applications. Proposed is a Fokker-Planck quantum master equation theory, with a generic bi-exponential correlation function description on semiclassical Brownian oscillators' environments. The new theory has caustic terms that bridge between the quantum description on primary systems and the semiclassical or quasi-classical description on environments. Various parametrization schemes, both analytical and numerical, for the generic bi-exponential environment bath correlation functions are proposed and scrutinized. The Fokker-Planck quantum master equation theory is of the same numerical cost as the original Caldeira-Leggett's approach but acquires a significantly broadened validity and accuracy range, as illustrated against the exact dynamics on model systems in quantum Brownian oscillators' environments, at moderately low temperatures.

OP132 How A Shared Management Of Home Infusion Can Control Expenditure

INTRODUCTION:In France, medical devices (MDs) for home-based infusion used to be covered by the health insurance system if included on the list of products and services qualifying for reimbursement under a generic description corresponding to a class of products with the same indications. This coverage modality offered no resistance to unnecessary or wasteful spending. Besides, between 2010 and 2015 the expenditure related to these MDs have increased from EUR192million to EUR289million (+50 percent).METHODS:The French National Authority for Health (HAS) has assessed the actual benefit of these MDs which have the same indications as the drugs infused at home. This work led to standardize the infusion types (gravity, elastomeric pump or active system requiring an energy source) and the quantities of MDs needed to carry out the different cares (installation, connection, withdrawal) according to the infusion route. At this step, considering that the priority was to redefine the MDs required at home for each care type, no economical assessment had been conducted.RESULTS:Based on this medical assessment, the Ministry of Health has distinguished three types of infusion and three types of services (home installation, monitoring and consumables) since 2016. In total, twenty-four packages have been set up for reimbursement with non-cumulative rules. Doctors are in charge to prescribe the appropriate packages; providers and nurses determine together the optimal devices needed for each patient according to his environment.CONCLUSIONS:These HAS recommendations on practice standardization have been the keystone for cost negotiations. The new coverage modalities aim to motivate liberal nurses to choose the best fitted products and providers to deliver the right quantities to patients. The expected benefits are an adjusted evaluation of the necessary equipment and a control of health expenditure due to the fixed costs of each infusion package.

Disability Weights for Chronic Mercury Intoxication Resulting from Gold Mining Activities: Results from an Online Pairwise Comparisons Survey

In artisanal small-scale gold mining, mercury is used for gold-extraction, putting miners and nearby residents at risk of chronic metallic mercury vapor intoxication (CMMVI). Burden of disease (BoD) analyses allow the estimation of the public health relevance of CMMVI, but until now there have been no specific CMMVI disability weights (DWs). The objective is to derive DWs for moderate and severe CMMVI. Disease-specific and generic health state descriptions of 18 diseases were used in a pairwise comparison survey. Mercury and BoD experts were invited to participate in an online survey. Data were analyzed using probit regression. Local regression was used to make the DWs comparable to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. Alternative survey (visual analogue scale) and data analyses approaches (linear interpolation) were evaluated in scenario analyses. A total of 105 participants completed the questionnaire. DWs for moderate and severe CMMVI were 0.368 (0.261–0.484) and 0.588 (0.193–0.907), respectively. Scenario analyses resulted in higher mean values. The results are limited by the sample size, group of interviewees, questionnaire extent, and lack of generally accepted health state descriptions. DWs were derived to improve the data basis of mercury-related BoD estimates, providing useful information for policy-making. Integration of the results into the GBD DWs enhances comparability.

Capability-based Task Allocation in Human-robot Collaboration

Close and safe interaction of humans and robots in joint production environments is technically feasible, however should not be implemented as an end in itself but to deliver improvement in any of a production system's target dimensions. Firstly, this paper shows that an essential challenge for system integrators during the design of HRC applications is to identify a suitable distribution of available tasks between a robotic and a human resource. Secondly, it proposes an approach to determine task allocation by considering the actual capabilities of both human and robot in order to improve work quality. It matches those capabilities with given requirements of a certain task in order to identify the maximum congruence as the basis for the allocation decision. The approach is based on a study and subsequent generic description of human and robotic capabilities as well as a heuristic procedure that facilities the decision making process.

Logical Semantics and Norms: A Kantian Perspective

It’s widely accepted that normativity is not subject to truth values. The underlying reasoning is that truth values can only be predicated of descriptive statements; normative statements are prescriptive, not descriptive; thus truth value predicates cannot be assigned to normative statements. Hence, deonticity lacks logical semantics. This semantic monism has been challenged over the last decades from a series of perspectives that open the way for legal logics with imperative semantics. In the present paper I will go back to Kant and review his understanding of practical judgments, presenting it as supported by a pluralistic semantics. From this perspective a norm of Law is a logical expression that includes as content a generic description of a possible behavior by a generality of juridical agents, and assigns to that content the assertion of its obligatory character, accompanied by a disincentive for non-compliance. From this perspective legal norms can be syntactically formalized and assigned appropriate semantic values in such terms that they can be incorporated into valid inferential schemes. The consequence is that we can put together legal logics that handle both the phenomenal and the deontic dimensions of legality.

Phylogeny of pleasing lacewings (Neuroptera: Dilaridae) with a revised generic classification and description of a new subfamily

AbstractThe phylogeny of pleasing lacewings (Neuroptera: Dilaridae) is reconstructed for the first time based on morphological data using all fossil and extant genera. Accordingly, a revised generic classification of Dilaridae is proposed, with a new subfamily (i.e. Berothellinae subfam.n.) erected based on its remarkably different morphological features from the other dilarid subfamilies. A revision of all dilarid genera is presented, including descriptions of some little‐known species from Asia and Mid‐Cretaceous Burmese amber. New genera and species herein described include Berothella holzschuhi U. Aspöck, Liu & H. Aspöck, sp.n., Cretodilar burmanus Liu & Zhang, gen. et sp.n., Dilar cretaceus Liu & Zhang, sp.n., Neonallachius orientalis Liu, U. Aspöck & H. Aspöck, sp.n. and Neonallachius thailandicus Liu & Winterton, sp.n. Two new combinations, i.e. Neonallachius krooni (Minter, 1986), comb.n. and Neonallachius ponomarenkoi (Zakharenko, 1991), comb.n., are proposed. Evolutionary patterns of some important characters and the historical biogeography of Dilaridae are also discussed.This published work has been registered in ZooBank, http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:68836312‐FBDC‐4F9F‐8516‐2365F44596BF.

Adapting technological pedagogical content knowledge framework to teach mathematics

The technological pedagogical content knowledge framework is increasingly in use by educational technology researcher as a generic description of the knowledge requirements for teachers using technology in all subjects. This study describes the development of a mathematics specific variety of the technological pedagogical content knowledge framework. The paper showed how a particular conception of the knowledge required to teach mathematics can be integrated with the technological pedagogical content knowledge framework as the basis for understanding technology integrated mathematics teaching. The resulting framework provides a sharper lens than the generic technological pedagogical content knowledge framework alone and a better understanding of the knowledge required for teachers of mathematics to use technology in their teaching. The study illustrated how the framework may be useful for analysing the knowledge demands of particular mathematics teaching tasks, and for planning appropriate professional development for integrating technology in the teaching of mathematics.