Shared Elements Research Articles

Memory and space in the autobiographical writings of Amos Oz and Ronit Matalon

ABSTRACT This article discusses the autobiographical writings of Amos Oz and Ronit Matalon and focuses on A Tale of Love and Darkness (2002) and The Sound of Our Steps (2008). Although the novels differ in terms of era, language, ethnic background, and the gender of the narrator/protagonist, the core plot of mother and child, the spatial concepts of home, garden, and land, and other shared structural elements invite comparison. This reading nevertheless pinpoints their disparity: whereas Oz’s own trajectory elicits empathy, redefines the notion of personal life stories and their ideological role in Israeli society, and eventually justifies the Zionist ideology, Matalon’s poetics of rupture creates unease that subverts the possibility to voice one’s personal story and challenges the national narrative and its validity.

Global Civil Procedure

A “global” civil procedure has emerged and has found its way into debates over procedural reform in both the international and domestic arenas. Global civil procedure includes the procedural rules, practices, and social understandings that govern transnational litigation and arbitration. A global civil procedure norm is a norm adopted across courts or arbitration providers with the purpose of making that jurisdiction or provider more competitive in attracting transnational litigation or arbitration. Global civil procedure norms are at stake in multiple present trends and debates, including model laws in commercial arbitration, the procedure of international tribunals, the debate over investment dispute resolution, the rise of courts oriented towards international litigation, and sprawling litigation the spans multiple jurisdictions and fora. This Article discusses emerging global civil procedure norms in three areas: tribunal independence, aggregation, and discovery. On a surface level, the values reflected in global civil procedure seem to be roughly the same across jurisdictions. A common language has emerged around competition for litigation business and procedure values such as efficiency, certainty, and impartiality. Yet different legal systems do not necessarily agree on the purpose of various shared elements of global civil procedure. For democracies, for instance, the purpose of procedural reforms might be to facilitate access to justice. Other countries may favor the same reforms because they facilitate top down administrative control of judges. Surface agreement can submerge these divergent logics, but they may ultimately lead to very different applications of harmonized rules.

Arte x Política: um debate sobre o cinema sul-americano e conservadorismo no tempo presente (2017-2019)

Resumo: o objetivo deste artigo é analisar produções cinematográficas sul-americanas entre os anos de 2017 e 2019, considerando sua repercussão na mídia, sobretudo a partir da atuação de grupos conservadores dos países dos filmes escolhidos. Para tal, utilizamos três longas-metragens e um média-metragem que tratam de temáticas relacionadas, como religião, família e gênero, questões centrais defendidas pelos conservadores no Paraguai, Chile e Brasil. Consideramos a relação cinema e política a partir da análise do contexto político dos países com as histórias desenvolvidas. Os filmes apresentados, apesar de serem distintos, possuem elementos em comum, pois discutem as concepções tradicionais da família cristã, mas não apresentam a mesma repercussão nas mídias devido aos conteúdos abordados. Para o desenvolvimento da análise fílmica, partimos da operação de Marc Ferro para compreendermos o desenvolvimento do conteúdo latente do filme a partir do contexto político e social dos países em que os filmes foram produzidos.
 Palavras-chave: Cinema, Política Sul-americana, Conservadorismo

House Wrens Troglodytes aedon reduce repertoire size and change song element frequencies in response to anthropogenic noise

Anthropogenic noise (≤ 3 kHz) can affect key features of birds’ acoustic communication via two different processes: (1) song‐learning, because songbirds need to hear themselves and other birds to crystallize their song, and (2) avoidance of song elements that overlap with anthropogenic noise. In this study we tested whether anthropogenic noise reduces the number of song elements in the repertoire of House Wren Troglodytes aedon, an urban species. Additionally, we tested whether the proportion of high‐frequency elements (i.e. elements where the minimum frequency is above 3 kHz) is related to anthropogenic noise levels, and how the frequencies and duration of shared elements between males change with different levels of anthropogenic noise. We recorded 29 House Wren males exposed to different anthropogenic noise levels (36.50–79.50 dB) during two consecutive breeding seasons from four locations. We recorded each male on 2 days during each season continuously for 50 min (we collected 104 h of recordings) and measured anthropogenic noise levels every 10 min inside each male territory during the recording period. In general, individuals inhabiting noisier territories had smaller repertoires. However, only in two locations with anthropogenic noise levels between 38.60 and 79.50 dB did males inhabiting noisier territories have smaller repertoires. In the other two locations with lower anthropogenic noise (36.50–66.50 dB), the anthropogenic noise inside each territory was not related to the repertoire size. Individuals inhabiting the noisiest location showed a tendency to include more high‐frequency elements in their songs. In 26% of the elements, the anthropogenic noise affected their frequency features. Our results showed that not all House Wrens inhabiting urban environments modify their songs at the highest level of organization (i.e. repertoire) to reduce the masking effect of anthropogenic noise on acoustic communication.

Discovery of a transcriptomic core of genes shared in 8 primary retinoblastoma with a novel detection score analysis.

Expression microarrays are powerful technology that allows large-scale analysis of RNA profiles in a tissue; these platforms include underexploited detection scores outputs. We developed an algorithm using the detection score, to generate a detection profile of shared elements in retinoblastoma as well as to determine its transcriptomic size and structure. We analyzed eight briefly cultured primary retinoblastomas with the Human transcriptome array 2.0 (HTA2.0). Transcripts and genes detection scores were determined using the Detection Above Background algorithm (DABG). We used unsupervised and supervised computational tools to analyze detected and undetected elements; WebGestalt was used to explore functions encoded by genes in relevant clusters and performed experimental validation. We found a core cluster with 7,513 genes detected and shared by all samples, 4,321 genes in a cluster that was commonly absent, and 7,681 genes variably detected across the samples accounting for tumor heterogeneity. Relevant pathways identified in the core cluster relate to cell cycle, RNA transport, and DNA replication. We performed a kinome analysis of the core cluster and found 4 potential therapeutic kinase targets. Through analysis of the variably detected genes, we discovered 123 differentially expressed transcripts between bilateral and unilateral cases. This novel analytical approach allowed determining the retinoblastoma transcriptomic size, a shared active transcriptomic core among the samples, potential therapeutic target kinases shared by all samples, transcripts related to inter tumor heterogeneity, and to determine transcriptomic profiles without the need of control tissues. This approach is useful to analyze other cancer or tissue types.

Medicinal plant use practice in four ethnic communities (Gurage, Mareqo, Qebena, and Silti), south central Ethiopia

BackgroundEthnic groups throughout the world have developed their own cultures expressed in the form of customs, taboos, and traditional healthcare systems. Traditional medicine system is one of the widespread cultures known throughout the world which is very much tied to cultural practices of the community or ethnic group. Medicinal plant treasure found in Gurage and Silti zones remained poorly characterized and understood. Therefore, this study was conducted in four ethnic groups: three from Gurage zone (Gurage, Qebena, and Mareqo) and one from Silti zone (Silti) which have lived in close proximity and contact for many centuries in the respective zones. In the present study, unique and shared cultural elements in connection to traditional herbal medicine were examined through investigation of the diversity of medicinal plants. Moreover, attempts have been made to determine similarities among the society in the medicinal plants they have used in general and in medicinal plant species considered culturally most important.MethodsIn a study that involved 320 randomly sampled informants, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observation were used and qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Descriptive statistics, rank order priority (ROP), informant consensus factor, Jaccard similarity coefficient, and clustering were used for data analysis.ResultsA total of 244 medicinal plant species and a fungal species used to treat human and/or livestock ailments were documented. The number of plants (80 plants, 33 %) with ROP value greater than 50% were considerably fewer than that of plants with ROP < 50% (164, 67 %). Jaccard similarity index and clustering analysis for all cited plants, among the respective studied districts, indicated that grouping generally followed the existing ethnic origin. On the contrary, clustering based on culturally important medicinal plant species (80 plant species, score ROP ≥ 50%) showed the influence of proximity and geographical orientation rather than ethnic relation.ConclusionsCulturally, most important plants (80 spp.) are widely used and best shared with nearby communities and this could imply current (new) knowledge being practiced in the communities. This knowledge must be documented and better utilized in a modern way including modernized use of traditional medicinal plants.

Branching out as a mentor.

Two years ago, the vice president for student life at my university asked me to serve as a faculty adviser of a student group. I enjoy mentoring and have worked with a number of student groups over the years, but this offer was different. The group—called Brother 2 Brother (B2B)—is largely composed of African American and Latino students. It has a good reputation for fostering a supportive environment for male students who find themselves in the minority in virtually every other situation they encounter across campus. But I was reluctant to get involved because I didn't see myself as the right person for the job. What would a 52-year-old white male professor raised in largely white northern Appalachia have to offer? > “The students have taught me to see the world through a different lens.” It wasn't the first time the administrator, who founded B2B, asked me to get involved. Previously, I had always declined, thinking that the job would be better left to someone whose background was more similar to that of the group members. Plus, I wasn't sure I could fit it in my schedule. This time, though, with the administrator heading off to a different university and the current faculty adviser in poor health, I felt I couldn't say no. I knew from the beginning that I needed to earn the right to be listened to—that my age, rank, and background would discourage openness. I spent roughly 1 year paying dues—simply being present, listening, and trying to be helpful—before the students began to see me as worthy of trust. The first few meetings were especially awkward. I was clearly the outsider—that out-of-place white dude sitting in the corner. The students shot me looks indicating they were wondering why I was there. During the first year, I only managed to develop a few connections. It was a little disheartening, but I stuck with it because I had made a commitment and no one stepped up to take my place. I'm glad I continued to work with the group, because in year two the students started to open up to me with questions and problems. There was little overlap between my rural upbringing and my students' largely urban backgrounds, but we bonded by discussing shared elements of our college experience: crummy jobs, financial aid issues, classroom experiences, music, sports, and the horrors of cafeteria food. I did my best to help when they came to me with problems, even when I couldn't solve them myself. For example, one undergraduate student explained that he was having difficulty getting assistance from his academic adviser. I knew the faculty member, and I also knew he wasn't considered to be the best mentor. So I connected the student with another adviser, someone who always has time for students and is willing to problem-solve. I've also given group members tips about how to study and where to go on campus to troubleshoot administrative and academic issues. I didn't do anything most faculty couldn't do; the difference was that I was in the room to listen and provide advice. My interactions with the B2B students have, honestly, been a highlight of my career—not only because I feel like I'm doing something worthwhile, but also because of what I've learned. The students have taught me to see the world through a different lens. They have given me a better understanding of the experiences of people of color—which, I believe, has strengthened my cultural competence and my ability to interact with others on a more meaningful level. And in the process, I've made new friends. I encourage my fellow faculty members to get involved in programs such as B2B, even if you're not a member of an underrepresented group. It requires patience and time; it can be challenging, but it's also rewarding and fun. What's more, you'll help ease the service burden carried by our minority colleagues, work that is often invisible to white faculty and staff.

“She dances featly”: Dance as Rhetoric in Act 4, Scene 4 of The Winter's Tale

In The Muses' Concord, James H. Jensen observes that rhetorical theory and practice ground all the arts of the Renaissance era (47). This connection is evident in the discourse of rhetorical and dance performance shared between Classical rhetoric treatises and Renaissance dance manuals, which leads one to understand both arts equally as forms of ordered and measured language. The recognition and perspectives of dance as a form of rhetoric contribute much to our understanding of the culture's awareness and economy of nonverbal communication. The shared elements of rhetoric and dance can be observed in the sheep-shearing festival scene of The Winter's Tale (4.4). A rhetorical reading of this scene conveys the rhetorical quality of dance, as well as its dramaturgical function. Framing this reading is a cultural and historical context that delineates the association between dance and rhetoric as it was understood by Quintilian, Sir Thomas Elyot, and Ben Jonson. Indeed, Perdita's corporeal eloquence communicates an air of nobility out of place in the rustic setting of this scene and misplaced within this assumed peasant. Because Perdita's true identity is discovered soon after (5.2), this scene, with its covert comingling of peasants and aristocrats and its graceful spectacle, can be understood as a pivotal moment that moves the play from its discordant beginning to its harmonious end.

Editorial endeavours: plainchant revision in early modern Italian printed graduals

ABSTRACTThe extensive melodic revision of plainchant in editions of the Graduale Romanum published in Italy from the late sixteenth century onward resulted in musically diverse repertoires that could depart widely from earlier chant traditions. The scale of the changes in these sources, both in type and in number, has obscured certain aspects of their editors’ work: their familiarity with the corpus, their aims and techniques, and their approach to the task. Previous analyses concluded that the editors worked on a chant-by-chant basis, and were either unaware of or ignored any shared melodic relationships between pieces of plainchant. An examination of the revisions to the recurrent melody used by the eight Ostende alleluias in three influential Italian printed graduals – Gardano 1591, Giunta 1596 and Medici 1614/15 – provides a different perspective. Analyses of the reshaped chants reveal that the editors possessed knowledge of the repertoire guiding aims, and favoured revision techniques. The combination of these factors, whether intentionally or not, resulted in the chants’ continued structural connection in the midst of increased melodic diversity. The individuation evident the chants did not necessarily signal the editors’ unfamiliarity with the repertoire, but could have been indicative of their intentional rejection of shared elements. Further, the revisions to the Ostende alleluias reveal that the editorial process could be flexible, with the chants approached both as individual entities and as groups. These findings demonstrate the complexity of the editorial process in early modern Italian printed graduals, and deepen our understanding of this multifaceted repertoire.

The Future of Religious Leadership: World Religions in Conversation

This essay offers a critical reading in The Future of Religious Leadership: World Religions in Conversation, a collection of articles edited by Alon Goshen-Gottstein. The essay suggests a few ways of reading this book. In one way, it should be appreciated as a history of ideas, allowing us to trace the development of the concept of leadership in various religions, allowing us to understand how leadership came to be what it is today. The question posed to all the authors who wrote texts for this book pertained not only to the significance of leadership in their respective religions, but to the future of religious leadership. They were asked to address the challenges they have faced, the ways in which they have contended with them, and, equally important, the manner in which they have dealt with the cumulative significance of the many challenges to a new formulation of leadership in the future. Therefore, before readers embark on their encounter with each of the different accounts contained in the book, it is important to start by first considering the significance of the project as a whole. To this end, this review begins by presenting the book’s potential readers with its major challenge, which also appears to have been the goal of compiling all of its essays into one text: identification of the shared elements of the challenges facing the different religious leaderships. Phrased more precisely, it is the argument that the future of religious leadership depends entirely on interreligious discourse. It is the divergence into interreligious study and interreligious theology—which the book’s authors and editors regard as necessary at this point in time—that constitutes the primary motive for the anthology’s compilation into a single major project.

Enhancing primary care services for diverse sexual and gender minority populations: a developmental study protocol

IntroductionCompared with heterosexual, cisgender populations, sexual and gender minority (SGM) people are more likely to suffer from serious health conditions and insufficient access to health services. Primary care is at...

Manifesto Poetico: Toward New Theatrical Languages

Manifesto Poetico:Toward New Theatrical Languages Paige Allerton (bio), Carlos García Estévez (bio), and Johanna Skibsrud (bio) manifesto poetico is an international theater research group and production company that proposes a theater "for and with the people." 1 Their work began twenty-two years ago after artistic leader and founder carlos garcía estévez was provoked by his teacher, the renowned theater innovator jacques lecoq, to delve more deeply into the tragic depth of Commedia dell'Arte and masked performance. After years of research and collaborations with such artists as donato sartori, dario fo, tapa sudana, simon mcburney, and miquel barceló, carlos became a recognized authority on Contemporary Mask Performance. A contributor to the Routledge Companion to Commedia dell'Arte, 2 carlos has taught masked performance all over the world and presented at major conferences and festivals including at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the International Encounter of Theatre of the Oppressed, and the International Commedia dell'Arte Festival. In 2010—responding to a growing disassociation between the theater and more popular cultural forms—he was inspired to entirely reinvent his practice. What was necessary, he recognized, was not more or different forms of theater —that is, more or different depictions of human experience within a previously established representative mode—but new languages, new ways of communicating experience that could accommodate and employ the techniques and effects of our rapidly changing technologies, social realities, and points of view. [End Page 281] With this goal of arriving at new theatrical languages in mind, Carlos began collaborating with the performing artist and anthropologist Paige Allerton in 2014, a partnership that has expanded Manifesto Poetico's international reach and the scope of its research and philosophy. Today, Paige and Carlos codirect Manifesto Poetico, making theater using what they call "Spatial Dramaturgy"—a language where the abstraction of space, the spirit of imagination, and the essence of the collective form the basis of both narrative and emotional communication. Drawing on a range of artistic and scientific discourses and charging their work with the language of everyday experience, as well as with urgent contemporary issues, Manifesto Poetico seeks to challenge performers and audiences alike to rethink the possibilities of theater, composition, and imagination. Their ideas are regularly tested through their itinerant research laboratory, the aim of which is to challenge practitioners to change their ways of seeing in both a physical and an intellectual or theoretical sense. Within an international, multidisciplinary, and multilingual context, Laboratory participants are invited to engage with what shapes communication at an elemental level: the deep, structural realities of space and time. This research is applied, in turn, through Manifesto Poetico's TransPoetico Productions. For these productions, the group is commissioned by theaters, festivals, performing art centers, and theater academies from all over the world to create and direct shows with casts of local artists. Recent TransPoetico Productions include: Nama Kamu Atas Perahu (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2013), Tito's Dream (Storrs, CT, 2014), Bogota in Action (Bogotá, Colombia, 2015), New York Lands (New York, NY, 2016), Klassiek van de Toekomst (Haarlem, Netherlands, 2017), Hann: Voices of a Bay (Dakar, Senegal, 2018), and PULSE (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2018). The core aim of these and other Manifesto Poetico productions is to investigate and apply the basic shared elements of human perspective and experience—what Carlos refers to as "universals." Everyone, everywhere, Carlos reminds his students, experiences gravity. Everyone knows up, down. Everyone knows push, pull, fixed point. Manifesto Poetico works with local artists and theater collectives to explore these foundational elements, which also serve as potential points of connectivity between persons—both human and nonhuman. Today, when—as Paige puts it—"isolation, disconnect, removal, division, categorization, partitions, competition and ownership are within the architecture of globalized civilization," she and Carlos propose a theater of connection and [End Page 282] contact that might move us beyond the preconceived limits of individual perspective and established discursive modes. Recalling the Greek etymology of the word "Trans," which means to go beyond, and the etymological root of the word "Poetic," which refers to creation—to making or doing—TransPoetico emphasizes the group's conscious effort to go beyond what has been created by...

Agenda común sobre desarrollo sostenible en América Latina

El objetivo de este artículo es aportar a la búsqueda de elementos comu- nes hacia una visión colegiada del desarrollo sostenible en América Latina, especialmente en materia medioambiental. Este documento forma parte de una investigación más amplia sobre el papel de las redes transnacionales de organizaciones no gubernamentales que participaron en la construcción de la Agenda 2030, cuyo resultado fue encontrar si existen elementos comunes sobre desarrollo sostenible, particularmente sobre los problemas ambienta- les que afectan la región, y cómo estos se vinculan a la producción industrial y consumo del modelo económico actual. Así, encontrando estos temas co- munes, se pueden encontrar soluciones comunes basadas en los diferentes objetivos de desarrollo sostenible elaborados por la onu en 2015.

Representações Sociais de professores do ensino técnico integrado ao médio do Instituto Federal da Paraíba sobre formação docente

&lt;p&gt;Vocational and Technological Education - EPT, in Brazil, is mainly allocated to the Federal Institutes of Education, Science and Technology. However, some teachers who work in this type of teaching do not have pedagogical training to teach classes in technical education integrated to high school, despite having consistent training in their areas of knowledge. Given this reality, the need for initial and continuing teacher education of teachers working in EFA has been increasing in the host of these institutions and raising academic debates on the subject. As a way to contribute to this theme, this research aimed to investigate the pedagogical formation of teachers from the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Paraíba - IFPB and to understand their social representations about teacher education. The theoretical-methodological path that underpinned this research was the precepts about the Theory of Social Representations of Moscovici (1978; 2015) and other authors, and the use of the theoretical-methodological support of the Central Core Theory (ABRIC, 2001; 2003). The research participants consisted of 100 teachers, ten from each of the ten IFPB campuses selected. Data were collected through the application of the Free Word Association Technique - with the inductive term “teacher training is ...”, as well as a questionnaire and on-site observation, recorded in a field diary. Data treatment was performed through Excel, with systematization of the words evoked in a Spiral of Directions. The combination of theoretical and technical concepts related to the research theme and proposition as well as the results presented shows, in their quantitative and qualitative aspects, that the most shared elements which belonged to the central nucleus of social representations, were fundamental as well as knowledge of intermediate element I. This work not only sought to understand the level of the pedagogical formation of the investigated ones, but also apprehended the process of construction of their social representations. It also pointed alternatives to (re) think a teacher formation concatenated with the yearnings and interests of IFPB teachers.&lt;/p&gt;

Transcription closed and open complex formation coordinate expression of genes with a shared promoter region.

Many genes are spaced closely, allowing coordination without explicit control through shared regulatory elements and molecular interactions. We study the dynamics of a stochastic model of a gene-pair in a head-to-head configuration, sharing promoter elements, which accounts for the rate-limiting steps in transcription initiation. We find that only in specific regions of the parameter space of the rate-limiting steps is orderly coexpression exhibited, suggesting that successful cooperation between closely spaced genes requires the coevolution of compatible rate-limiting step configuration. The model predictions are validated using in vivo single-cell, single-RNA measurements of the dynamics of pairs of genes sharing promoter elements. Our results suggest that, in E. coli, the kinetics of the rate-limiting steps in active transcription can play a central role in shaping the dynamics of gene-pairs sharing promoter elements.

Man Versus Demon:Interconnections between Incantations and Belief Narratives

AbstractThe present paper examines the relationship between incantations and belief narratives, two types of oral genres based on human contact with the supernatural. Such contact attests to a dangerous disruption of the boundary between the human and demonic worlds and to the intensive efforts to reinforce it so that participants may return to the space they belong in. For this purpose, various verbal and nonverbal tools are used in belief narratives (gestures, objects, plants, sound or light signals, certain activities – such as walking backwards, placing a cap over the forehead, etc.). In contrast, incantations, an inseparable part of vernacular magical practices, rely solely on verbal communication with impure forces.This paper will analyse the following aspects of interconnection between these oral genres: 1) the display of a genre within a genre – the presence of incantations in belief narratives, e.g., about dispersing hailstorm clouds; 2) the types of verbal communication with the supernatural in belief narratives (swearing, cursing, command, reproach) and their equivalents in incantations; 3) various motifs of protection from demons (counting the uncountable, using bodily fluids; thorn, fire, metal, broom, etc.). The consideration of shared elements in these genres that preserve the relationship with the mythological narrative include elements of the ceremonial context in which incantations are performed. I argue that some of these elements appear also in belief narratives, where they undergo a transformation.

Towards a Transversal Definition of Psychological Resilience: A Literature Review.

Background and objectives: This paper addresses psychological resilience, a multidisciplinary theoretical construct with important practical implications for health sciences. Although many definitions have been proposed in several contexts, an essential understanding of the concept is still lacking up to now. This negatively affects comparisons among research results and makes objective measurement difficult. The aim of this review is to identify shared elements in defining the construct of resilience across the literature examined in order to move toward a conceptual unification of the term. Materials and methods: A literature review was performed using the electronic databases ‘PubMed’ and ‘PsycINFO’. Scientific studies written in English between 2002 and May 2019 were included according to the following key terms: ‘Psychological’, ‘resilience’, and ‘definition’. Results: The review identifies five macro-categories that summarize what has been reported in the recent literature concerning the resilience phenomenon. They serve as a preliminary and necessary step toward a conceptual clarification of the construct. Conclusions: We propose a definition of psychological resilience as the ability to maintain the persistence of one’s orientation towards existential purposes. It constitutes a transversal attitude that can be understood as the ability to overcome the difficulties experienced in the different areas of one’s life with perseverance, as well as good awareness of oneself and one’s own internal coherence by activating a personal growth project. The conceptual clarification proposed will contribute to improving the accuracy of research on this topic by suggesting future paths of investigation aimed at deeply exploring the issues surrounding the promotion of resilience resources.

Austen Riggs Center: At the Intersection of Psychoanalysis, Psychiatry, and Social Sciences

Austen Riggs Center: At the Intersection of Psychoanalysis, Psychiatry, and Social Sciences

Best Practice Patterns for Variant Modeling of Activities in Model-Based Systems Engineering

Product line development practices have emerged in recent years as methods to increase variety in a family of products while also keeping development costs down. However, with higher complexity comes complex system models that are error-prone and time consuming to maintain. This article proposes two variant modeling patterns which, when used in the right context, can reduce complexity, eliminate many opportunities for error, and minimize development costs and maintenance effort. The 150% pattern, already commonly used in industry, capitalizes on commonality among variants. The encapsulation pattern promotes model organization and understandability. This article also introduces four comparison criteria—number of variation points, number of shared model elements, human readability, and model maintainability—that a system architect can use to determine which pattern is best suited to model a certain product family. The 150% pattern is found to be best to be used for product lines with high commonality among variants, whereas product lines whose variants exhibit much variety and are managed by multiple development teams are best modeled using the encapsulation pattern. A parking brake product family is used to illustrate each modeling pattern and provides a sample context against which to use the comparison criteria.

Re-ranking with ranking-reflected similarity for person re-identification

A recent concern for person re-identification (Re-ID) is re-ranking after initial results to improve Re-ID accuracy. In this paper, we propose a novel re-ranking method using a ranking-reflected metric to measure the similarity between the ordered set of K-nearest neighbors (OKNN) of a probe and that of a gallery. The proposed metric for ranking-reflected similarity (RSS) reflects the ranking of the shared elements between the two OKNNs. Using RSS, a re-ranking procedure is proposed that prioritizes galleries having neighbors similar to a probe’s neighbor in the perspective of ranking order. In the experiment, we show that the proposed method improves the Re-ID accuracy by add-on to the state-of-the-art methods.