Definition Of Instruments Research Articles

Utility functions for the multi criteria assessment of energy conversion systems

In recent times, decisions concerning energy systems were mainly based on economic analyses, paying minor attention to the Laws of Thermodynamics. The uncertainties related to the growth of energy prices and the attention to pollutant emission control has given new emphasis to the considerations of the links among energy, economy and natural environment. It requires the reconsideration of energy efficient and low emission technologies but also the definition of new instruments of analysis. After an overview of the methods available in the literature dealing with multi-dimensional analysis of energy systems, the authors propose an approach based on the use of a composite utility function. Some examples of utilisation of the proposed function are given in the paper.

The state of the NeXus data format

NeXus is an effort by an international group of scientists to define a common data exchange format for neutron, muon and X-ray scattering. NeXus has six levels: a physical file format, a file structure, rules for storing individual data items in a file, a dictionary of names, instrument definitions and an application programming interface (API) to NeXus files. The authors will present the large steps forward which have been made both with instrument definitions and the NeXus-API.

A Thermodynamic Based Approach for the Multicriteria Assessment of Energy Conversion Systems

The paper analyzes the links among energy, economy, and the natural environment. This matter requires the reconsideration of energy efficient and low emission technologies and the definition of new instruments for the analysis of energy systems as well as for the definition of energy policies. After an overview of the methods available in the literature, dealing with a multidimensional analysis of energy system, the authors propose a quantitative approach based on the use of two different thermodynamic based utility functions. The utilization of those functions permits to join thermodynamic and environmental performance of the energy system, to analyze the effects of their interaction and to obtain a more logical comparison among different energy systems, accepting the multidimensional nature of the problem but maintaining a system analysis in the way engineers are accustomed to. Two cases are discussed and analyzed.

Assessing Instrument Mixes through Program‐ and Agency‐Level Data: Methodological Issues in Contemporary Implementation Research

AbstractTheories of policy instrument choice have gone through several “generations” as theorists have moved from the analysis of individual instruments to comparative studies of instrument selection and the development of theories of instrument choice within implementation “mixes” or “governance strategies.” Current “next generation” theory on policy instruments centers on the question of the optimality of instrument choices. However, empirically assessing the nature of instrument mixes is quite a complex affair, involving considerable methodological difficulties and conceptual ambiguities related to the definition and measurement of policy sector and instruments and their interrelationships. Using materials generated by Canadian governments, this article examines the practical utility and drawbacks of three techniques used in the literature to inventory instruments and identify instrument ecologies and mixes: the conventional “policy domain” approach suggested by Burstein (1991); the “program” approach developed by Rose (1988a); and the “legislative” approach used by Hosseus and Pal (1997). This article suggests that all three approaches must be used in order to develop even a modest inventory of policy instruments, but that additional problems exist with availability and accessibility of data, both in general and in terms of reconciling materials developed using these different approaches, which makes the analysis of instrument mixes a time‐consuming and expensive affair.

Teaching concepts of help in social work: the working relationshipUcenje konceptov pomoči v socialnem delu: delovni odnos

The aim of this paper is to present my concept of the working relationship in social work, to plead for its use in social work practice and to reflect experiences while teaching this concept to students. This paper elaborates the specificity of the relationship between client and social worker in the helping process. The concept of the working relationship is explored as a relevant frame for defining concepts of help in social work. The elements defining the concept are explained: agreement, instrumental definition of the problem, personal leading, the strength perspective, the ethics of participation, co-presence and actionable knowledge are related to practical use and to teaching. The working relationship is a model that social workers can use and share with clients to make co-creating of solutions possible.

Manejo de estresse ocupacional na perspectiva da área de avaliação de programas

O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar procedimentos para implementar e avaliar programas de manejo de estresse ocupacional focados no indivíduo, fundamentando-se na literatura das áreas de psicologia da saúde ocupacional e de avaliação de programas. São abordados o planejamento da intervenção, sua implementação e avaliação, com base no ciclo da pesquisa em ciências sociais, cujas etapas compreendem a avaliação de necessidades, busca de base teórica, definição de objetivos, variáveis, instrumentos, delineamento, participantes, procedimentos, implementação do programa e coleta de dados, análise e interpretação de resultados, divulgação dos resultados e formulação de novas questões. São discutidas perspectivas futuras para a área de avaliação de programas e possíveis ganhos resultantes de alianças entre este campo e o campo de intervenções em manejo de estresse ocupacional.

Institutional arrangements for articulating land and water management in peri-urban catchment: example of the metropolitan region of Sao Paulo, Brazil

The development of mega-cities exerts an increasing pressure on water resources in their peri-urban areas. Rapid changes in land use in these areas, characterised by the specific hydrologic functions they provide for the city, has resulted in increased pressures on water availability and quality. In the past, the traditional dual (urban/rural) focus of the institutions, their preference for sectorial legislation, and end-to-pipe technological responses have not been able to deal with these tensions in the metropolitan region of Sao Paulo, in the context of high social inequalities, uncoordinated metropolitan sectorial policies, and insufficient monitoring and control. New institutional arrangements based on democratic and territorial management of water resources are promoting a new vision on planning, and better integration on land and water management. Their efficient implementation may require a better definition of specific instruments to sustain economical compatible activities, facilitate metropolitan coordination and support the participation of the marginalised communities living on the edge of the city.

In search of “personal care”: Challenges to identity support in residential care for elders with cognitive illness

In addition to meeting medical and bodily needs, personal(ized) care aims to address the biographical and social identity of the recipient. The term “personal care” contrasts most starkly with “impersonal care,” which connotes bureaucratic and instrumental treatment. Care work always requires some adaptation to individual preferences and responses. However, typically, this is either an implicit or a secondary feature of care. With cognitive illnesses, such as Alzheimer's disease, however, the very capacity for maintaining a self (via language and memory ) is threatened; thus, the extent to which care addresses the person qua person becomes especially significant: for the afflicted, personal care is identity care. This article is based on paid work and field research in a residential care setting; proponents claim that these quasi-institutional settings are conducive to the provision of personal care, and to collaboration between formal (paid) and informal (family) caregivers. Our research suggests that these goals are elusive, even in settings ostensibly organized to advance them. This partly reflects the ambiguous, contextual meanings of personal care. Despite its commonsense meaning, there is no simple or consensual definition of personal care. We develop a conceptual and empirically grounded typology and discuss the practical implications of various definitions for the fulfillment of the ideal. Barriers to personal-as-identity care are not confined to large, custodial institutions. Among those we find in residential care are instrumental definitions of care, which govern both the practice and public regulation of paid care; a functionally diffuse (familial) division of labor, which intensifies care work; and emotional demands of the care, which undercut family members' role in helping to translate individual meanings and practices of personal care. Even when all concerned are committed to supportive of personal-as-identity care, there is ambiguity regarding whether to treat identity as object(ive) or as a process.

A transition logic for schemata conflicts

Conflict detection and analysis are of high importance, e.g., when integrating conceptual schemata, such as UML-Specifications, or analysing goal-fulfilment of sets of autonomous agents. In general, models for this introduce unnecessarily complicated frameworks with several disadvantages regarding semantics as well as complexity. This paper demonstrates that an important set of static and dynamic conflicts between specifications can be diagnosed using ordinary first-order modal logic. Furthermore, we show how the framework can be extended for handling situations when there are convex sets of probability measures over a state-space. Thus, representing specifications as conceptual schemata and using standard Kripke models of modal logic, augmented with an interval-valued probability measure, we propose instrumental definitions and procedures for conflict detection.

Music 4C, a multi-voiced synthesis program with instruments defined in C

Music 4C is a program which runs under Unix (including Linux) and provides a means for the synthesis of arbitrary signals as defined by the C code. The program is actually a loose translation of an earlier program, Music 4BF [H. S. Howe, Jr., Electronic Music Synthesis (Norton, 1975)]. A set of instrument definitions are driven by a numerical score which consists of a series of ‘‘events.’’ Each event gives an instrument name, start time and duration, and a number of parameters (e.g., pitch) which describe the event. Each instrument definition consists of event parameters, performance variables, initializations, and a synthesis algorithmic code. Thus, the synthetic signal, no matter how complex, is precisely defined. Moreover, the resulting sounds can be overlaid in any arbitrary pattern. The program serves as a mixer of algorithmically produced sounds or recorded sounds taken from sample files or synthesized from spectrum files. A score file can be entered by hand, generated from a program, translated from a MIDI file, or generated from an alpha-numeric score using an auxiliary program, Notepro. Output sample files are in wav, snd, or aiff format. The program is provided in the C source code for download.

A method for measuring quality of life through subjective weighting of functional status

Stineman MG, Wechsler B, Ross R, Maislin G. A method for measuring quality of life through subjective weighting of functional status. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2003;84 Suppl 2:S15-22. Objective: To apply a new tool to understand the quality of life (QOL) implications of patients[apos ] functional status. Design: Results from the Features-Resource Trade-Off Game were used to form utility weights by ranking functional activities by the relative value of achieving independence in each activity compared with all other component activities. The utility weights were combined with patients[apos ] actual levels of performance across the same activities to produce QOL-weighted functional status scores and to form [ldquo ]value rulers[rdquo ] to order activities by perceived importance. Setting: Persons with severe disabilities living in the community and clinicians practicing in various rehabilitation disciplines. Participants: Two panels of 5 consumers with disabilities and 2 panels of 5 rehabilitation clinicians. Interventions: The 4 panels played the Features Resource Trade-Off Game by using the FIMTTM instrument definitions. Main Outcome Measures: Utility weights for each of the 18 FIM items, QOL-weighted FIM scores, and value rulers. Results: All 4 panels valued the achievement of independence in cognitive and communication activities more than independence in physical activities. Consequently, the unweighted FIM scores of patients who have severe physical disabilities but relatively intact cognitive skills will underestimate QOL, while inflating QOL in those with low levels of independence in cognition and communication but higher physical function. Conclusion: Independence in some activities is more valued than in others; thus, 2 people with the same numeric functional status score could experience very different QOL. QOL-weighted functional status scores translate objectively measured functional status into its subjective meaning. This new technology for measuring subjective function-related QOL has a variety of applications to clinical, educational, and research practices.

TRAFFIC SYSTEM MANAGEMENT BY MEANS OF TRAFFIC POLICY IMPLEMENTATION

As an active relation of the government towards the trafficsystem the traffic policy represents a correction measure of marketregulation of the relations within the traffic system and therelation of the traffic system with the environment due to theimperfection of the traffic market. Consistent traffic policy, aspart of the economic policy, assumes a clear definition of thetraffic policy goals, measures, and instruments as well as taskmanagers to realise the set goals. These are the preconditionsfor successful implementation of the traffic policy.

Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility: A New Sustainability Paradigm?

Summary: In this article, an important and troublesome trend of the EC's environmental and social policy is discussed. This trend is best described as a new governance model. In this new model, the government and private sector work together to make new laws (the co-operative approach), and, conversely, corporations are required to assume social responsibilities. Thus, there are two sides to this trend: public government is privatised and corporate government is publicised. The first part of this article discusses the co-operative approach, which has become popular in the environmental area. The main reason for this approach's popularity is that it is believed to avoid the pitfalls of the adversarial approach. The second part analyses the European Commission's ideas about corporate social responsibility (CSR) as set forth in a green paper on this topic. The definition and scope of CSR, the objectives and instruments proposed by the Commission, the CSR stake-holder model, and the management structure and tools required to implement CSR are discussed. The merits of the co-operative approach and CSR are discussed in the third section. The fourth section focuses specifically on the stakeholder model on which CSR is founded. In the next section, some issues that the CSR debate has neglected are brought to the forefront. A final assessment of the co-operative approach and the CSR model is set forth in the final section.

From unified local government to decentred local governance: The `institutional turn' in Glasgow

In the transition to an internationalised world, globalisation and the widespread acceptance of market forces as the dominant motor for economic growth, have re-problematised the governing of metropolitan areas. The turn towards entrepreneurial governance (Harvey, 1989) as cities respond to the challenges posed by globalisation has typically become linked to the (re)fragmentation of the institutional structures through which the processes of governing of cities is mediated. Most contemporary cities are governed through a complex mosaic of institutions, public and private, often within different geographies, city (and possibly metropolitan)-wide through to local neighbourhood, lending a new twist to what Yates (1977) nearly a generation ago had termed the ungovernability of cities. By its nature the city is, if not necessarily ungovernable, a contested political terrain. Its scale, the plurality of political demands arising from a diversity of interests, the role of opposing normative idea(l)s as to the role of urban local government and the objectives of local political processes all pose challenges even to the instrumental definition of governability of cities offered by Yates, the production of coherent decisions and the ability to develop and implement effective policies within a metropolitan-wide area. Yet globalisation and its local institutional response, the rise of entrepreneurial urban governance, may have not resulted in 'new' problems for the governing of cities so much as they have, in a number of cases, given a new twist to old ones. Thus the 'old' debate between consolidation and

Toward an Ethics of Technologies as Prostheses

This paper discusses critically the historical bond that exists between contemporary culture and the instrumental definition of technology, according to which technology is a means, a complex of instruments that serve particular human ends. It argues and illustrates that technologies not only serve human ends but also have ends in themselves. Ancient and modern technologies have always had intrinsic ends, they are highly effective achieving those ends and these have ethical importance. As cultural entities with intrinsic ends, technologies are not necessarily congruous with our ends and have generally transformed our ways of life in very unconscious ways.

A Groundwater Information System For RecifeMetropolitan Region

Pernambuco State is one of the Brazilian federative units to have a water Resources Politics, with definition of objectives and legal instruments for the establishment of a Water Resources Integrated Management System. Pernambuco also has a specific law to control exploitation and use of groundwater. However, currently, the state water company has condition to supply only 75% of Recife Metropolitan Region (RMR) demand. Moreover, RMR now suffer the worst crisis of water supplying in this century, due to scarcity of rain and lack of investment for construction of new dams. Consequently, people has intensified groundwater use. To apply legislation, to make in situ checking and to grant exploitation license, water authorities need to improve scientific knowledge of RMR hydrogeologic condition, including volumes, recharge mechanisms and an overall systemization of available information in a user friendly way. This work presents a Groundwater Information System developed by Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) and detaches its potential as a tool for RMR aquifers management.

Review of Quality of Life instrumentation in the oncology population.

Quality of Life (QOL) is a term that has become important in the past decade as a way to measure patient life satisfaction. Most clinical trials and oncology research studies now include some form of QOL assessment. If the oncology clinical nurse specialist is to assess QOL successfully, clarification of a definition and selection of appropriate instruments are necessary. The focus of this article is to provide the specifics of QOL instruments. A brief review of QOL's inception is followed by a review of definitions. Specifics of instrument selection are identified.

Getting a Grip on Alternate Controllers: Addressing the Variability of Gestural Expression in Musical Instrument Design

Existing musical instrument designs require the performer to adapt to the instrument rather than stretching the parameters of the instrument to make it adaptable to the needs or preferences of the performer. The author proposes a new approach to musical instrument design that addresses the variability and extent of gestural expression and movement capabilities of individual performers. The role of representation of musical performance in optimizing performer-instrument compatibility is discussed. The author then focuses on musical performance involving use of the human hand. Forms of hand movements are examined and separated into two types. This analysis leads to the definition of GRIP instruments, which allow a performer to reconfigure the instrument to accommodate his or her gestural preferences and/or capabilities.

Observations in the vicinity of substorm onset: Implications for the substorm process

Multi‐instrument data sets from the ground and satellites at both low and high altitude have provided new results concerning substorm onset and its source region in the magnetosphere. Twenty‐six out of 37 substorm onset events showed evidence of azimuthally spaced auroral forms (AAFs) prior to the explosive poleward motion associated with optical substorm onset. The azimuthal wavelengths associated with these onsets were found to range between 132 and 583 km with a mean value of 307±115 km. The occurrence rate increased with decreasing wavelength down to a cutoff wavelength near 130 km. AAFs can span 8 hours of local time prior to onset and generally propagate eastward in the morning sector. Onset itself is, however, more localized spanning only about 1 hour local time. The average location of the peak intensity for 80 onsets was 65.9±3.5 CGMlat, 22.9±1.2 Mlt, whereas the average location of the AAF onsets was at 63.8±3.3 CGMlat, 22.9±1.1 Mlt. AAF onsets occur during time periods when the solar wind pressure is relatively high. These low‐latitude wavelike onsets appear as precursors in the form of long‐period magnetic pulsations (Pc 5 band) and frequently occur on the equatorward portion of the double oval distribution. AAFs brighten in conjunction with substorm onset leading to the conclusion that they are a growth phase activity causally related to substorm onset. Precursor activity associated with these AAFs is also seen near geosynchronous orbit altitude and examples show the relationship between the various instrumental definitions of substorm onset. The implied mode number (30 to 135) derived from this work is inconsistent with cavity mode resonances but is consistent with a modified flute/ballooning instability which requires azimuthal pressure gradients. It is suggested that this instability exists in growth phase but that an additional factor exists in the premidnight sector which results in an explosive onset. The extended source region and the distance to the open‐closed field line region constrain reconnection theory and local mechanisms for substorm onset. It is demonstrated that multiple onset substorms can exist for which localized dipolarizations and the Pi 2 occur simultaneously with tail stretching existing elsewhere. Further, the tail can be less stretched at geosynchronous orbit during the optical auroral onset than during the precursor pseudobreakups. These pseudobreakups can be initiated by auroral streamers which originate at the most poleward set of arc systems and drift to the more equatorward main UV oval. Observations are presented of these AAFs in conjunction with low‐ and high‐altitude particle and magnetic field data. These place the activations at the interface between dipolar and taillike field lines probably near the peak in the cross‐tail current. These onsets are put in the context of a new scenario for substorm morphology which employs individual modules which operate independently or couple together. This allows particular substorm events to be more accurately described and investigated.

Globular cluster photometry with the Hubble Space Telescope. 3: Blue stragglers and variable stars in the core of M3

This paper describes Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Planetary Camera-I images of the core of the dense globular cluster M3 (NGC 5272). Stellar photometry in the F555W (V) and F785LP (I) bands, with a 1-sigma photometric accuracy of about 0.1 mag, has been used to construct color-magnitude diagrams of about 4700 stars above the main-sequence turnoff within r less than or approximately equal to 1 min of the cluster center. We have also analyzed archival HST F336W (U) images of M3 obtained by the Wide Field/Planetary Camera-I Instrument Definition Team. The UVI data are used to identify 28 blue straggler (BS) stars within the central 0.29 sq. arcmin. The specific frequency of BSs in this region of M3, N<SUB>BS</SUB>/N<SUB>V less than (V(HB</SUB>+2)) = 0.094 +/- 0.019, is about a factor of 2 - 3 higher than that found by Bolte et al. in a recent ground-based study of the same region, but comparable to that seen in the sparse outer parts of the same cluster and in HST observations of the core of the higher density cluster 47 Tuc. The BSs in M3 are slightly more centrally concentrated than red giant branch stars while horizontal branch stars are somewhat less concentrated red giants. The radial distribution of V-selected subgiant and turnoff stars is well fit by a King model with a core radius r<SUB>core</SUB> = 28 arcmin +/- 2 arcmin (90% confidence limits), which corresponds to 1.4 pc. Red giant and horizontal branch stars selected in the ultraviolet data (U less than 18) have a somewhat more compact distribution (r<SUB>core</SUB> = 22.5 arcmin). The HST U data consist of 17 exposures acquired over a span of three days. We have used these data to isolate 40 variable stars for which relative astrometry, brightnesses, colors, and light curves are presented. A Kolmogorov-Smirnov test indicates that, typically, the variability for each star is significant at the 95% level. We identify two variable BS candidates (probably of the SX Phe type), out of a sample of approximately 25 BSs in which variability could have been detected. Most of the variables are RR Lyrae stars on the horizontal branch. All of them have periods P greater than or approximately equal 8 h.