Measure Of Compatibility Research Articles

Instrumental Reason as a Third Subjectivity in the Self–Other System

The article examines the challenge of achieving sustainable mediational equilibrium within the Self–Other relationship. It argues that the mere pursuit of mutual understanding among dialogue participants is insufficient to guarantee productive communication, particularly in contexts where interactions are driven by competition for scarce resources and opportunities. Under such conditions, subjects risk becoming dependent on instrumental reason – the logic of control and suppression – which transforms both the Self and the Other from fully-fledged personalities into functions of reified rationality. The analysis introduces a distinction between two roles of the individual: the person as a bearer of unique values and meanings, and the individual as a subject of social relations, an actor immersed in practical interactions. It is demonstrated that the capacity of the former to exert control over the latter is limited, and that interactions are shaped not only by the personal qualities of the participants but also by the impersonal logic of instrumental reason. This logic is conceptualized as a kind of third subjectivity that mediates the dialogue between the Self and the Other. Achieving mediational equilibrium becomes possible through the development of autonomy among the parties, through their transformation, mutual recognition, and the search for a measure of compatibility. This approach is traced through examples from A.S. Akhiezer’s theory of sociocultural mediation, A.P. Davydov’s concept of inter-subjective dialogue, and R. Bush and J. Folger’s theory of transformative mediation. Key concepts in the latter include empowerment (strengthening participants’ ability to clearly recognize their goals and make responsible decisions) and recognition (willingness to hear and understand the Other’s perspective). The essence of transformative mediation lies in the transition from imposing one party’s position to a collaborative search for new possibilities, allowing the realization of both Self and Other’s interests through dialogue. In conclusion, the article asserts the importance of overcoming the logic of mutual accusations by shifting the focus from the opponent’s personality to the impersonal structures limiting the self-determination of all parties.

Analytical investigation of a grain boundary model that accounts for slip system coupling in gradient crystal plasticity frameworks

In this work, a physically based dislocation theory of plasticity is derived within an extended continuum mechanical context. An orientation-dependent grain boundary flow rule is introduced for the modelling of dislocation pile-up at grain boundaries and dislocation transmission through grain boundaries. With the conventional grain boundary modelling approach according to Gurtin (Gurtin. 2008 J. Mech. Phys. Solids 56 , 640–662. ( doi:10.1016/j.jmps.2007.05. 002 )) the single-crystal consistency check for the limit case of adjacent grains that hold no misorientation is not satisfied. In order to overcome this modelling shortcoming, a slip system coupling based on a geometric measure of slip system compatibility is introduced. In order to investigate the grain boundary modelling approaches, the analytical solution of a three-phase periodic laminate is used to study the interactions of dislocations and grain boundaries within the gradient crystal plasticity framework. With the developed grain boundary model two grain boundary states, i.e. microhard and microcontrolled, are observed for misaligned grains. This allows the modelling of slip activation at grain boundaries based on the dislocation pile-up stress.

A dynamic approach to relative taxonomy and robust measures of central tendency

Aggregate measures play an important role in the analysis of socio-economic phenomena. Various concepts for the construction of aggregate measures have been developed in the source literature. The relative taxonomy method proposed by Wydymus and its modification for the dynamic approach is the subject of interest in the presented article. Measures of central tendency are used in the construction of relative taxonomy method: in the classical version—the arithmetic mean, and in the positional version—the median. It was proposed to apply three robust measures of central tendency: trimmed mean, Winsorized mean, biweight mean. Robust location measures reduce the impact of extreme variable values on the aggregate measure values. The purpose of the article is to examine the usability of the measures of central tendency in ranking a set of objects based on the dynamic relative taxonomy. For this purpose, the degree of compatibility of the rankings of objects in terms of individual variables with the ranking based on the aggregate measure was assess. The rationale for this criterion is that the overall ranking is a resultant of rankings obtained for the individual variables. Kendall’s tau correlation coefficient was applied as the measure of rankings compatibility. The empirical data on social cohesion and simulation data were used in the comparative analysis. For both the empirical data and all simulations, the findings collected with robust measures of central tendency are better than the ones obtained using the arithmetic mean. For the simulation data generated from the normal distribution, the highest degree of compatibility of the rankings of objects were achieved for the trimmed mean and the biweight mean. In turn, for the simulation data generated from three distributions (normal, lognormal, and Weibull), significantly better results in assessing the degree of compatibility of the rankings of objects were recorded for the median and the biweight mean.

Ranking Micro-Influencers: A Multimedia Framework with Multi-Task and Interpretable Architectures

With the rise in use of social media to promote branded products, the demand for effective influencer marketing has increased. Brands are looking for improved ways to identify valuable influencers among a vast catalogue; this is even more challenging with micro-influencers, which are more affordable than mainstream ones but difficult to discover. In this paper, we propose a novel multi-task learning framework to improve the state of the art in micro-influencer ranking based on multimedia content. Moreover, since the visual congruence between a brand and influencer has been shown to be a good measure of compatibility, we provide an effective visual method for interpreting our model’s decisions, which can also be used to inform brands’ media strategies. We compare with the current state of the art on a recently constructed public dataset and we show significant improvement both in terms of accuracy and model complexity. We also introduce a methodology for tuning the image and text contribution to the final ranking score. The techniques for ranking and interpretation presented in this work can be generalized to arbitrary multimedia ranking tasks that have datasets with a similar structure.

Evaluation of the compatibility of waste plastics and bitumen using micromechanical modeling

Introducing waste plastics in bituminous composites can increase the composites’ durability, provided that the waste plastics are compatibilized with bitumen to avoid phase separation. To enhance the compatibility of plastic particles with bitumen, various treatment methods were used to alter their physical and chemical characteristics. Considering the complex nature of bitumen, knowing the properties of isolated particles is not sufficient to indicate their performance in a bituminous composite. Therefore, there is a need to quantify the efficacy of each treatment method directly. While the plastic-bitumen interface can be examined via advanced characterization instruments such as atomic force microscopy, those methods are often relatively complicated and time consuming for formulators and designers. Here, we use a heterogeneous micromechanical model to calculate compatibility indicators; the model is tailored for viscoelastic bituminous composites containing waste-plastic particles. With experiments using a dynamic shear rheometer and a bending beam rheometer, data were generated on the bitumen with and without waste plastics having various surface treatments. The model was then used to calculate the Effective Volume Filling (EVF) ratio to indicate the interaction between plastics and bitumen as a measure of compatibility. A higher EVF ratio indicates greater compatibility. The corresponding EVF ratio was found to be higher for the oil-treated plastics compared to non-treated plastics, demonstrating higher compatibility of the oil-treated plastics with bitumen. This study promotes sustainability in construction by facilitating the use of waste plastics and enhancing the cracking resistance of bitumen.

Bayesian Augmented Clinical Trials in TB Therapeutic Vaccination.

We propose a Bayesian hierarchical method for combining in silico and in vivo data onto an augmented clinical trial with binary end points. The joint posterior distribution from the in silico experiment is treated as a prior, weighted by a measure of compatibility of the shared characteristics with the in vivo data. We also formalise the contribution and impact of in silico information in the augmented trial. We illustrate our approach to inference with in silico data from the UISS-TB simulator, a bespoke simulator of virtual patients with tuberculosis infection, and synthetic physical patients from a clinical trial.

Biopolymers for biopriming of Brassica rapa seeds: A study on coating efficacy, bioagent viability and seed germination

The coating agent is critical in ensuring the success of seed biopriming. In this study, various biopolymers (sodium alginate, carboxymethylcellulose, gum arabic, xanthan gum) were tested for their efficacy as a coating agent for bioagent (Trichoderma asperellum) bioprimed to Brassica rapa (pak choy) seeds. Seeds and bioagent were first treated separately in biopolymer solutions, and examined for seed germination and spore viability, respectively, as a measure of compatibility. The suitable biopolymers and concentrations were then used to coat T. asperellum to the seeds, and the percentage of spore entrapped, and viable spore count were determined to reflect coating efficacy. The biopolymer with efficient coating efficacy was selected and employed as coating agent with various spore concentrations on seeds, and seed germination and radicle length were determined. Results revealed that coating with biopolymers benefited seeds. Spore viability was higher when treated with all biopolymers (89–100%) than without (84%). Higher coating efficacy was achieved with sodium alginate (1.5% w:v) which entrapped more spores during biopriming (83.63 ± 0.86%) and retained more viable spores (4.01 ± 0.01 log spore seed-1) after 24 h post-priming. Biopolymers have no adverse effect on radicle length and seed germination, although increasing spore concentrations inhibited radicle elongation. In short, biopriming using sodium alginate (1.5% w:v) with 102 spores/mL of T. asperellum is therefore recommended for Brassica seeds as higher seed germination (90.67 ± 2.88%) and overall benefits can be achieved.

Improved inference in mediation analysis: Introducing the model-based constrained optimization procedure.

Mediation analysis is an important approach for investigating causal pathways. One approach used in mediation analysis is the test of an indirect effect, which seeks to measure how the effect of an independent variable impacts an outcome variable through 1 or more mediators. However, in many situations the proposed tests of indirect effects, including popular confidence interval-based methods, tend to produce poor Type I error rates when mediation does not occur and, more generally, only allow dichotomous decisions of "not significant" or "significant" with regards to the statistical conclusion. To remedy these issues, we propose a new method, a likelihood ratio test (LRT), that uses nonlinear constraints in what we term the model-based constrained optimization (MBCO) procedure. The MBCO procedure (a) offers a more robust Type I error rate than existing methods; (b) provides a p value, which serves as a continuous measure of compatibility of data with the hypothesized null model (not just a dichotomous reject or fail-to-reject decision rule); (c) allows simple and complex hypotheses about mediation (i.e., 1 or more mediators; different mediational pathways); and (d) allows the mediation model to use observed or latent variables. The MBCO procedure is based on a structural equation modeling framework (even if latent variables are not specified) with specialized fitting routines, namely with the use of nonlinear constraints. We advocate using the MBCO procedure to test hypotheses about an indirect effect in addition to reporting a confidence interval to capture uncertainty about the indirect effect because this combination transcends existing methods. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Characterization of compatibility between aged and unaged binders in bituminous mixtures through an extended HSP model of solubility

Asphalt binders in bituminous mixtures with reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) comprise fractions of both aged and unaged binders, existing as a single entity. The degree of blending between the aged and virgin binders dictates the extent of homogeneity of the binder in the mix and consequently its mixture performance. However, their mechanism of interaction has not been well understood yet. In this study, a fundamental measure of compatibility between aged binders and unaged binders was evaluated exercising an extension of the Hansen Solubility Parameter (HSP) model of solubility. Nine binders consisting of unaged binder, field aged binders and artificially aged binders were tested using a method of turbidimetric titrations, to identify the internal stability of the binders and relative extents of different intermolecular interactions in terms of dispersive forces, hydrogen bonding and polar interactions. The results show that some aged and unaged binders noticeably differ in terms of polar interactions, which may lead to low dispersibility of molecules and increased molecular associations. These findings were further corroborated by chemical composition analysis based on saturates, aromatics, resins and asphaltene (SARA) fractionation which verified that the content of the highest polar fraction, i.e., asphaltene, was considerably higher in the aged binders. Overall, the study indicated that there are noteworthy differences in internal stability and composition between aged and unaged binders. Consequently, mixing of certain virgin-aged binder pairs could be more compatible than others depending on their solubility parameters. To attain a homogenous blend while incorporating RAP, a more careful and detail-oriented approach that considers chemistries and inter-solubility of these components is recommended.

Authenticity in horizontal marketing partnerships: A better measure of brand compatibility

Given the marketplace prominence of sponsorship, celebrity endorsement, co-branding and similar arrangements involving the pairing of brands in communications, valid methods to evaluate their effectiveness are of importance to both managers and researchers. While these relationships have traditionally been judged based on comparisons of the attributes of each brand (e.g. fit, congruity, similarity), we argue for the importance of evaluating the perceived authenticity of the relationship itself. To this end, this research adapts a perceived brand authenticity scale developed by Morhart et al. (2015) to a measure of horizontal marketing partnership authenticity (HMP-Authenticity). In three studies, the reliability, validity and nomological network of the adapted scale is shown. In a fourth study, diagnosticity of individual dimensions is explored. In a fifth study, a brief, 4-item scale is introduced and shown to give predictions consistent with those of the full scale.

Efficient training image selection for multiple-point geostatistics via analysis of contours

Multiple-point statistics (MPS) methods have emerged as efficient tools for environmental modelling, however their efficiency highly depends on the availability of appropriate training images (TIs). We introduce an efficient method for selecting one compatible TI among a proposed set, based on a measure of compatibility with available conditioning data. While existing approaches to do this consider all available data-events in the simulation grid, we concentrate on a limited number of data-events around the contours and edges of the image. The proposed method is evaluated with different sampling rates, based on hundreds of sample sets extracted from binary, categorical and continuous images, and compared with exhaustive data-event extraction. Our experiments show that the proposed method improves the required CPU-time by up to two orders of magnitude and at the same time leads to a slight improvement in the recognition accuracy.

Quantifying and interpreting network effects: ‘Own-network’ is not the same as ‘firm-level’

This note revisits existing research on network effects in the mobile telephony industry. It highlights that – defined correctly – own-network and firm-level network externalities are two different concepts, and that mixing them up leads to inaccurate interpretations. In particular, I demonstrate that the ratio of cross- to own-network effects is an imprecise measure of compatibility because it does not accurately isolate network effects that convey market power from effects that do not. As an alternative, I propose the ratio of industry- to firm-level network effects.

Double lap shear test on steel fabric reinforced cementitious matrix (SFRCM)

The present work deals with the experimental characterization of the mechanical bond behaviour of a galvanized steel fabric reinforced cementitious matrix (SFRCM) laminated on concrete support. The specimens, made of two low strength concrete blocks connected with a galvanized steel fabric embedded in a geo-polymeric mortar layer, have been tested according to double lap test (DLT) set-up. Six different groups of specimens have been tested varying both the lamination length and the steel fabric density. In order to reproduce the load-slip or bond-slip curves, a tri-linear bond slip model together with its parameters identification has been proposed.For some specimens, the slip profile and the slip distribution have been analysed and split into the substrate laminate slip and inner laminate layers slip. This distinction has been used as a measure of the fabric-matrix compatibility. In addition, the effect induced by the rigid blocks rotation occurred during the DLT has been argued. The DIC optical system monitoring has been used to asses both the force-slip distribution and the crack opening displacement (COD).

Community readiness assessment for obesity research: pilot implementation of the Healthier Families programme

BackgroundThis article reports on the development of a systematic approach to assess for community readiness prior to implementation of a behavioural intervention for childhood obesity. Using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), we developed research tools to evaluate local community centres’ organisational readiness and their capacity to implement the intervention.MethodsFour community Parks and Recreation centres from different states expressed interest in piloting an approach for dissemination and implementation of an evidence-based obesity prevention program for families with young children (Healthier Families). We conducted a mixed methods pre-implementation evaluation using the CFIR to evaluate the alignment of organisational priorities with the Healthier Families programme. Written surveys assessed organisational readiness for change amongst organisational leaders, recreation programmers, and staff (N = 25). Key informant interviews were conducted among staff to assess organisational readiness and with community members to assess community readiness (N = 64). Surveys were analysed with univariate statistics. Interviews were transcribed, coded and analysed using inductive and deductive methods of analysis.ResultsMixed-methods analysis led to the identification of three key domains on which to assess the organisational readiness to adopt a childhood obesity intervention, namely the physical infrastructure, the knowledge infrastructure, and the social infrastructure. The most critical measure of compatibility was the social infrastructure, since obstacles in the knowledge and physical infrastructures could be overcome by the strength of social resources, including the staff’s ingenuity and commitment to a healthier community. This approach guided an assessment of organisational readiness prior to community organisations adopting and preparing to disseminate an obesity prevention community-based program in a wide-range of social and environmental contexts.ConclusionsUsing a comprehensive pre-implementation assessment of the knowledge, physical and social infrastructures in a community is an essential step in effective dissemination for community-based behavioural interventions. Our research found that, when evaluating readiness and alignment, a responsive social infrastructure could provide the capacity to overcome potential barriers to implementation in either the knowledge or physical infrastructures.

A robust non-rigid point set registration method based on inhomogeneous Gaussian mixture models

In this paper, we propose a novel robust non-rigid point set registration method adopting a new probability model called inhomogeneous Gaussian mixture models (IGMM), where we regard one point set as the centroids of a Gaussian mixture model and the other point set as the data. The IGMM is defined by applying local features and Gaussian mixture models. Considering the local relationship among neighboring points is stable, a neighborhood structural descriptor, named as local shape context, is first presented. On the basis of local descriptors, we can obtain a measure of compatibility between local features in the point sets. Then, the similarity of the local structure of point neighborhoods can be calculated on the basis of the matching scores. Each Gaussian mixture component is assigned a different weight depending on the feature similarity, which differs from the traditional Gaussian mixture model where each Gaussian mixture component has the same weight. The proposed IGMM makes point pairs with more similar features have bigger probability to formulate a match, while in algorithms based on GMMs, all point pairs have the same probability to construct correspondence points. Finally, we support our claims through regularization theory and formulate registration as a likelihood maximization problem, which is solved by updating transformation parameters and outlier ratios using the expectation maximization algorithm. Extensive comparison and evaluation experiments on synthetic point-sets datasets demonstrate that the proposed approach is robust and achieves superior performance in the presence of non-rigid deformation, noise, outliers and occlusion. In addition, a number of experiments on real images reveal that our proposed algorithm is more applicable than state-of-the-art algorithms.

COMPUTER SIMULATION OF PLATELET ACTIVATION IN A PULSATILE VENTRICULAR ASSIST DEVICE, THROUGH FINITE ELEMENTS AND A SIMPLIFIED GEOMETRY

Ventricular assist devices are a technological solution for patients who suffer from cardiac insufficiency and await a transplant. In this work, a new design of an implantable pulsatile blood pump is analyzed in terms of blood damage, by means of finite elements on a simplified geometry. It is a double effect volumetric pump, which has a noncontact driven piston and four active valves. The analysis is done by means of blood flow simulation into the pump and the prediction of platelets activation. The last is a measure of the pump compatibility with human life. The platelet activation state is evaluated by an equivalent or representative shear stress and compared with bibliographic data corresponding to other VAD kinds and cardiac prosthetic valves. The results show that, for the complementary blood flow rate supplied by the simulated VAD, the predicted platelet damage is in the same levels of current cardiac devices, particularly other VADs.

A Sense of Harassment and its Relationship to the Level of Professional Educational Adjustment among a Sample of Employees in the Directorate of Education in Damascus

The study aimed to identify the level of a sense of harassment among a sample of workers and institutional sector of government education. It defines the professional level of compatibility among a sample of workers in farming Damascus Directorate. And the study of the relationship between the sense of harassment and professional compatibility among a sample of workers in farming Damascus Directorate. And to identify the level of significance of differences in the answers to the study sample the sense of harassment and scale professional compatibility scale according to the variables of the study: (sex, and marital status), and has been relying on the descriptive and analytical approach, and used two tools of the study: a sense of harassment measure, and the measure of professional compatibility, and amounted to a sample study (144) factor and running in working in the farming Damascus Directorate. Among the most important findings of the study were: The level of the sense of harassment among workers in the Directorate of Education in Damascus was moderate; the professional level of compatibility among workers in the Directorate of Education in Damascus was moderate; a statistically significant negative correlation between the sense of harassment and the professional compatibility; the presence of statistically significant difference between males and females on the sense of harassment and in favor of male workers; a statistically significant difference between the average of married and non-married on harassment and in favor of non-married employees; a statistically significant difference between the average of males and females on the compatibility and in favor of female workers. There was no statistically significant difference between the average married and non-married on the compatibility scal

A Sense of Harassment and its Relationship to the Level of Professional Educational Adjustment among a Sample of Employees in the Directorate of Education in Damascus

The study aimed to identify the level of a sense of harassment among a sample of workers and institutional sector of government education. It defines the professional level of compatibility among a sample of workers in farming Damascus Directorate. And the study of the relationship between the sense of harassment and professional compatibility among a sample of workers in farming Damascus Directorate. And to identify the level of significance of differences in the answers to the study sample the sense of harassment and scale professional compatibility scale according to the variables of the study: (sex, and marital status), and has been relying on the descriptive and analytical approach, and used two tools of the study: a sense of harassment measure, and the measure of professional compatibility, and amounted to a sample study (144) factor and running in working in the farming Damascus Directorate. Among the most important findings of the study were: The level of the sense of harassment among workers in the Directorate of Education in Damascus was moderate; the professional level of compatibility among workers in the Directorate of Education in Damascus was moderate; a statistically significant negative correlation between the sense of harassment and the professional compatibility; the presence of statistically significant difference between males and females on the sense of harassment and in favor of male workers; a statistically significant difference between the average of married and non-married on harassment and in favor of non-married employees; a statistically significant difference between the average of males and females on the compatibility and in favor of female workers. There was no statistically significant difference between the average married and non-married on the compatibility scal

The role of negative selection in protein evolution revealed through the energetics of the native state ensemble.

Knowing the determinants of conformational specificity is essential for understanding protein structure, stability, and fold evolution. To address this issue, a novel statistical measure of energetic compatibility between sequence and structure was developed using an experimentally validated model of the energetics of the native state ensemble. This approach successfully matched sequences from a diverse subset of the human proteome to their respective folds. Unexpectedly, significant energetic compatibility between ostensibly unrelated sequences and structures was also observed. Interrogation of these matches revealed a general framework for understanding the origins of conformational specificity within a proteome: specificity is a complex function of both the ability of a sequence to adopt folds other than the native, and ability of a fold to accommodate sequences other than the native. The regional variation in energetic compatibility indicates that the compatibility is dominated by incompatibility of sequence for alternative fold segments, suggesting that evolution of protein sequences has involved substantial negative selection, with certain segments serving as "gatekeepers" that presumably prevent alternative structures. Beyond these global trends, a size dependence exists in the degree to which the energetic compatibility is determined from negative selection, with smaller proteins displaying more negative selection. This partially explains how short sequences can adopt unique folds, despite the higher probability in shorter proteins for small numbers of mutations to increase compatibility with other folds. In providing evolutionary ground rules for the thermodynamic relationship between sequence and fold, this framework imparts valuable insight for rational design of unique folds or fold switches.

Study of magnetorheological fluids towards smart energy absorption of composite structures for crashworthiness

ABSTRACTA study of magnetorheological fluids energy absorption capability towards development of composite retrofit technologies for aged helicopters is presented in this article. Design parameters that influence the performance of magnetorheological dampers were identified and evaluated based on the damping force as a measure of compatibility to energy absorption. Tensile, compression, and cyclic loading tests were also conducted experimentally to validate the numerical investigation. An extensive parametric study conveyed that the piston head radius plays a major role in achieving higher damping force. The fundamental behaviors and results of the damping force in the numerical studies were also in a good agreement with the experimental results. The novel parametric numerical analysis framework validated in this article will allow for efficient design and optimization of future dampers.Received 2 August 2013 Accepted 9 January 2015