Restricted Circumstances Research Articles

Feasible operation region for dynamic economic dispatch and reserve monitoring

SUMMARYA large amount of renewable energy penetration will cause serious problem in load dispatch in the future power system, where the percentage of controllable generators will decrease, while disturbances will become large, rapid and uncertain. The role of economic dispatch is changing in order to make best use of the ramp‐rate capability of generating units. This paper proposes a concept of feasible operation region (FOR) for dynamic economic dispatch (DED) problem. FOR is defined as the region within that the committed generating units are able to operate while matching the predicted load profile. The computation of FOR can detect possible power imbalance and also can provide accurately the spinning reserves with respect to time. Therefore, the monitoring of FOR with the reserve management on line is quite effective. Then, the paper suggests two step computation method as a new approach for DED. The first step is the computation of FOR for each generator using the most recent real‐time prediction for load as well as renewable energy generation, while preserving adequate reserves. The second step is to determine generation schedule inside FOR, where any conventional real‐time load dispatch method is useful. The method can specify the amount of reserve required to be called into operation to guarantee reliable load dispatch under restricted circumstances in the future. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A matching method for improving covariate balance in cost‐effectiveness analyses

In cost-effectiveness analyses (CEA) that use randomized controlled trials (RCTs), covariates of prognostic importance may be imbalanced and warrant adjustment. In CEA that use non-randomized studies (NRS), the selection on observables assumption must hold for regression and matching methods to be unbiased. Even in restricted circumstances when this assumption is plausible, a key concern is how to adjust for imbalances in observed confounders. If the propensity score is misspecified, the covariates in the matched sample will be imbalanced, which can lead to conditional bias. To address covariate imbalance in CEA based on RCTs and NRS, this paper considers Genetic Matching. This matching method uses a search algorithm to directly maximize covariate balance. We compare Genetic and propensity score matching in Monte Carlo simulations and two case studies, CEA of pulmonary artery catheterization, based on an RCT and an NRS. The simulations show that Genetic Matching reduces the conditional bias and root mean squared error compared with propensity score matching. Genetic Matching achieves better covariate balance than the unadjusted analyses of the RCT data. In the NRS, Genetic Matching improves on the balance obtained from propensity score matching and gives substantively different estimates of incremental cost-effectiveness. We conclude that Genetic Matching can improve balance on measured covariates in CEA that use RCTs and NRS, but with NRS, this will be insufficient to reduce bias; the selection on observables assumption must also hold.

Mechanical Oil Spill Recovery in Ice; Finnish Approach

ABSTRACT Finland, being one of the Baltic Sea States, is strongly dependent of marine transport. About 80 % of Finnish exports and imports are carried by maritime transport. Since one of the main routes of Russian oil export goes along the southern coastline of Finland (155 million metric ton year 2010) (SYKE 2010) and Finland is the only country in the world, where all harbors can freeze in the winter, it has been essential to develop adequate ability to respond oil spills also in ice. The national oil spill response authority, Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) has, for over 20 years worked with together with private companies and research institutes both in Finland and abroad to develop mechanical recovery methods to combat oil in icy conditions. Mechanical recovery is preferred due to recommendations of the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM), where chemical agents and in situ burning can be used only in special, restricted circumstances. (HELCOM recommendations) The methods and...

Mixed feelings: towards a continuum of inclusive pedagogies

This paper presents approaches to inclusion taken by primary teachers and discusses the institutional contexts in which these are located. Focusing on the development of enabling practices for the inclusion of children accredited with ‘special educational needs’ (SEN), a continuum of approaches is identified, ranging from inclusive to integrationist and exclusionary orientated stances. Here we draw on data gathered through interviews with teachers in seven primary schools in the North of England. The implications of schools' and teachers' understanding of inclusion and attitudes towards its implementation are explored with reference to wider Local Education Authority policies. A range of strategies towards inclusive school cultures are highlighted. A number of barriers are identified and we explore the potential impacts of more restricted practices and circumstances. The paper concludes by highlighting the need for schools to establish cultures which minimise assumptions of difference and which give rise to genuinely inclusive teacher practices.

A Conditional Entropy Minimization Criterion for Dimensionality Reduction and Multiple Kernel Learning

Reducing the dimensionality of high-dimensional data without losing its essential information is an important task in information processing. When class labels of training data are available, Fisher discriminant analysis (FDA) has been widely used. However, the optimality of FDA is guaranteed only in a very restricted ideal circumstance, and it is often observed that FDA does not provide a good classification surface for many real problems. This letter treats the problem of supervised dimensionality reduction from the viewpoint of information theory and proposes a framework of dimensionality reduction based on class-conditional entropy minimization. The proposed linear dimensionality-reduction technique is validated both theoretically and experimentally. Then, through kernel Fisher discriminant analysis (KFDA), the multiple kernel learning problem is treated in the proposed framework, and a novel algorithm, which iteratively optimizes the parameters of the classification function and kernel combination coefficients, is proposed. The algorithm is experimentally shown to be comparable to or outperforms KFDA for large-scale benchmark data sets, and comparable to other multiple kernel learning techniques on the yeast protein function annotation task.

Landscape scale conservation: resources, behaviour, the matrix and opportunities

Landscape scale conservation efforts are becoming more commonplace in conservation, with a move from single species to multi-species initiatives. These initiatives are reliant on modelling processes, largely underpinned by metapopulation models. We argue that generic models developed for individual species in particular landscapes over selected time periods may only be applicable to alternative landscapes and time periods in restricted circumstances. Variability in species responses to landscapes and environmental conditions is dependent on a range of species-specific intrinsic characteristics, dependent on their responses to resources, (including weather) and also individual states. We propose that the behavioural component of how species respond to resources needs to be taken into account in modelling species responses to landscape, and therefore how limited resources for conservation are deployed. Species behaviours are inherently complex. We argue that because of this complexity the conservation of the majority of species, especially of the least rare, may be best served if conservation effort is additionally focused on increasing landscape heterogeneity and disturbance. This may also facilitate persistence in the face of climate change. We suggest that heterogeneity should be promoted through agri-environment schemes.

Protecting research participants with impaired decision-making capacity

Protecting research participants with impaired decision-making capacity

What makes recognition without awareness appear to be elusive? Strategic factors that influence the accuracy of guesses

Various factors could conceivably promote the accuracy of guesses during a recognition test. Two that we identified in previous studies are forced-choice testing format and high perceptual similarity between the repeat target and novel foil. In restricted circumstances, the relative perceptual fluency of the target can be compared with that of the foil and used as a reliable cue to guide accurate responses that occur without explicit retrieval--a phenomenon we referred to as "implicit recognition." In this issue, Jeneson and colleagues report a failure to replicate accurate guesses and also a tendency on the part of subjects to hazard guesses infrequently, even though testing circumstances were very similar to those that we used. To resolve this discrepancy, we developed a simple manipulation to encourage either guessing or confident responding. Encouraging guessing increased both the prevalence of guesses and the accuracy of guesses in a recognition test, relative to when confident responding was encouraged. When guessing was encouraged, guesses were highly accurate (as in our previous demonstrations of implicit recognition), whereas when confident responding was encouraged, guesses were at chance levels (as in Jeneson and colleagues' data). In light of a substantial literature showing high accuracy despite low confidence in certain circumstances, we infer that both the prevalence and accuracy of guessing can be influenced by whether subjects adopt guessing-friendly strategies. Our findings thus help to further characterize conditions likely to promote implicit recognition based on perceptual fluency.

Who’s Afraid of Municipal Liability? The Supreme Court’s Strange Exclusion of §1983 Respondeat Superior Municipal Liability

Pursuant to §5 of the 14th Amendment, Congress passed 42 USC §1983, which gives individuals a remedy for constitutional violations. This statute was largely ignored for almost a century, until it was resurrected during the civil rights era. Though the statute is broadly worded, and the legislative history suggests that the statute was intended to be broadly applied, the Supreme Court has construed it narrowly. In Monroe v. Pape, the case that resurrected §1983, the Supreme Court excluded municipal liability from §1983. Seventeen years later, the Supreme Court acknowledged its mistake in Monroe, and held that municipalities are in fact liable under §1983, but only under very restrictive circumstances. This paper argues that the Supreme Court in Monell v. New York Department of Social Services made a mistake with regards to §1983’s history, its purpose, and the economic effects of application.

CONDITIONS AND CAUSES IN THE EVOLUTION OF AGRICULTURE IN THE GIURGEU DEPRESSION

The climatic factors and the configuration of the topography in the Giurgeu - Ciuc intramontane basin, situated at the contact between the Mesozoic crystalline and the Neogene-Quaternary volcanic rocks cause variables on the medium and long-term practice of agriculture in the hearth of Giurgeu basin. Continuous adaptation of the population to restrictive circumstances imposed by natural factors have created the preconditions for preserving some traditions that fall within the specifics of ecological farming, based on application / implementation of the basic principles of sustainable development, long before their consecration, at theoretical and conceptual level, on a global scale. The cold climate specific to high mountains which last over 6 months per year, the persistence of temperature inversions as factors of natural risk have determined a passive adaptation of the inhabitants to these environmental conditions. The rural society from this basin ,on the whole, has some specific features based on its seniority and traditions and, most often, the relationship being sustainable, reinforced by habits and interests of the community. Traditions, with reference to the way the land is parceled and used, to the organization and improvement of the agricultural land, are reflected in all daily activities and also in the spiritual life. Continuous adaptation of the population to restrictive circumstances imposed by natural factors have created the preconditions for preserving some traditions that fall within the specifics of ecological farming, based on application / implementation of the basic principles of sustainable development, long before their consecration ,at theoretical and conceptual level, on a global scale. Functional analysis of the medium and long term development of rural communities in Giurgeu Depression has as main target the strengthening of agricultural traditions and the superior development of characteristic values of the local landscape by the development of eco-tourism. We tried to identify how the factitive, as a principle of research in geographical sciences, determines certain facts, while the conditional ensures the permanent habitation and maintenance of local traditions. From a factitive and conditional point of view, we sought to identify the features that characterize best the rural landscape of Giurgeu basin, which, in its most part, is profitable to a satisfactory level. We consider that the analysis of the way in which every local community fits into the announced policies of The National Strategy for the Sustainable Development by 2030 and in The National Strategy for the Development of Ecotourism - in project, but with deadline till the end of 2009 - will make all the factors of decision more responsible on the immediate priority, and will determine the rethinking of the strategic goals of local development in the spirit of the community values.

Hilbert Space Embeddings and Metrics on Probability Measures

A Hilbert space embedding for probability measures has recently been proposed, with applications including dimensionality reduction, homogeneity testing, and independence testing. This embedding represents any probability measure as a mean element in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS). A pseudometric on the space of probability measures can be defined as the distance between distribution embeddings: we denote this as γk, indexed by the kernel function k that defines the inner product in the RKHS. We present three theoretical properties of γk. First, we consider the question of determining the conditions on the kernel k for which γk is a metric: such k are denoted characteristic kernels. Unlike pseudometrics, a metric is zero only when two distributions coincide, thus ensuring the RKHS embedding maps all distributions uniquely (i.e., the embedding is injective). While previously published conditions may apply only in restricted circumstances (e.g., on compact domains), and are difficult to check, our conditions are straightforward and intuitive: integrally strictly positive definite kernels are characteristic. Alternatively, if a bounded continuous kernel is translation-invariant on ℜd, then it is characteristic if and only if the support of its Fourier transform is the entire ℜd. Second, we show that the distance between distributions under γk results from an interplay between the properties of the kernel and the distributions, by demonstrating that distributions are close in the embedding space when their differences occur at higher frequencies. Third, to understand the nature of the topology induced by γk, we relate γk to other popular metrics on probability measures, and present conditions on the kernel k under which γk metrizes the weak topology.

The state of the art of predicting noise-induced sleep disturbance in field settings

Several relationships between intruding noises (largely aircraft) and sleep disturbance have been inferred from the findings of a handful of field studies. Comparisons of sleep disturbance rates predicted by the various relationships are complicated by inconsistent data collection methods and definitions of predictor variables and predicted quantities. None of the relationships is grounded in theory-based understanding, and some depend on questionable statistical assumptions and analysis procedures. The credibility, generalizability, and utility of sleep disturbance predictions are also limited by small and nonrepresentative samples of test participants, and by restricted (airport-specific and relatively short duration) circumstances of exposure. Although expedient relationships may be the best available, their predictions are of only limited utility for policy analysis and regulatory purposes, because they account for very little variance in the association between environmental noise and sleep disturbance, have characteristically shallow slopes, have not been well validated in field settings, are highly context-dependent, and do not squarely address the roles and relative importance of nonacoustic factors in sleep disturbance. Such relationships offer the appearance more than the substance of precision and objectivity. Truly useful, population-level prediction and genuine understanding of noise-induced sleep disturbance will remain beyond reach for the foreseeable future, until the findings of field studies of broader scope and more sophisticated design become available.

STDP: spiking, timing, rates and beyond

STDP: spiking, timing, rates and beyond

Inverse shifting PCR based prenatal diagnosis of hemophilia‐causative inversions involving int22h and int1h hotspots from chorionic villus samples

., 2008). The use of this method will facilitate anal-ysis of both inversions, although side-by-side analysisof Inv22 and Inv1 from the fetus sample is restricted toexceptional circumstances (outlined below).The aim of this report is to analyze the ability ofthe method of IS-PCR for PND on DNA extractedfrom chorionic villus (CV) samples. Because humangenome sequences are openly available in the web,specific IS-PCR approaches can be easily designed forgenotyping virtually any full-defined structural variants,thus providing a powerful tool to investigate otherdisease causative rearrangements from CV samples.In 2002, a pregnant carrier of HA, mother of a severeHA patient, whose Inv22 mutation had been identifiedin our laboratory, came to our attention for PND. Duringher twelfth week of gestation, a CV sample was obtainedand gender analyzed by karyotyping, indicating that thefetus was a female. The direct mutation identificationwas then attempted by Southern blotting (Lakich

Judith D. de Jong: “Explaining medical practice variation–Social organization and institutional mechanisms,” Utrecht, 2007

Judith D. de Jong: “Explaining medical practice variation–Social organization and institutional mechanisms,” Utrecht, 2007

Two Patterns of Reduplication in Washo

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Constraints on modular inflation in supergravity and string theory

We perform a general algebraic analysis on the possibility of realising slow-roll inflation in the moduli sector of string models. This problem turns out to be very closely related to the characterisation of models admitting metastable vacua with non-negative cosmological constant. In fact, we show that the condition for the existence of viable inflationary trajectories is a deformation of the condition for the existence of metastable de Sitter vacua. This condition depends on the ratio between the scale of inflation and the gravitino mass and becomes stronger as this parameter grows. After performing a general study within arbitrary supergravity models, we analyse the implications of our results in several examples. More concretely, in the case of heterotic and orientifold string compactifications on a Calabi-Yau in the large volume limit we show that there may exist fully viable models, allowing both for inflation and stabilisation. Additionally, we show that subleading corrections breaking the no-scale property shared by these models always allow for slow-roll inflation but with an inflationary scale suppressed with respect to the gravitino scale. A scale of inflation larger than the gravitino scale can also be achieved under more restrictive circumstances and only for certain types of compactifications.

A framework for phylogenetic sequence alignment

A phylogenetic alignment differs from other forms of multiple sequence alignment because it must align homologous features. Therefore, the goal of the alignment procedure should be to identify the events associated with the homologies, so that the aligned sequences accurately reflect those events. That is, an alignment is a set of hypotheses about historical events rather than about residues, and any alignment algorithm must be designed to identify and align such events. Some events (e.g., substitution) involve single residues, and our current algorithms can successfully align those events when sequence similarity is great enough. However, the other common events (such as duplication, translocation, deletion, insertion and inversion) can create complex sequence patterns that defeat such algorithms. There is therefore currently no computerized algorithm that can successfully align molecular sequences for phylogenetic analysis, except under restricted circumstances. Manual re-alignment of a preliminary alignment is thus the only feasible contemporary methodology, although it should be possible to automate such a procedure.

The relative exploitation of annuals as larval host plants by European butterflies

Theoretically, Lepidoptera should be able to adapt to using annuals as larval host plants through increased development rates and migration capacity. Even so, we show that annuals are used less frequently as host plants than expected among British and continental European butterflies. In particular, no example has been found of a European butterfly monophagous on an annual plant over its entire range. Use of annuals is proportionately greater among species that exploit increasing numbers of host plants and among subsidiary host plants than among primary (main) host plants. Annuals as host plants change status as habitat components with changes in species' spatial dynamics. The statistical findings point to perennials as providing host plant refuges, whereas the few case examples of site monophagy suggest that annuals can become valuable complementary resources during range extensions such as those currently associated with climatic warming. Annuals are more likely to be used in highly restricted circumstances, when environmental conditions allow the plants to persist over prolonged periods (i.e. when they are behaving like biennials) or when their spatial predictability is high because of low seed dispersal.

Involuntary Retirement: The Role of Restrictive Circumstances, Timing, and Social Embeddedness

This study examined perceptions of involuntary retirement. We investigated the extent to which differences in how retirement is perceived stem from differences in (a) restrictive circumstances, (b) the older worker's preferences for retirement, (c) timing, and (d) social embeddedness. Using multiactor panel data from 778 Dutch older workers who experienced the transition into retirement, we estimated an ordered logistic model to explain perceptions of involuntary retirement. This study showed that the way in which a person experiences retirement from the labor force is not influenced solely by factors that diminish the older worker's amount of choice (health and organizational constraints) but also relates to the older worker's social environment (social timing and social network influences). The way he or she frames the retirement transition in social relationships within the family and at work affects the older worker's subjective experience of retirement.