Toolkit In Order Research Articles

Human niche, human behaviour, human nature.

The concept of a 'human nature' or 'human natures' retains a central role in theorizing about the human experience. In Homo sapiens it is clear that we have a suite of capacities generated via our evolutionary past, and present, and a flexible capacity to create and sustain particular kinds of cultures and to be shaped by them. Regardless of whether we label these capacities 'human natures' or not, humans occupy a distinctive niche and an evolutionary approach to examining it is critical. At present we are faced with a few different narratives as to exactly what such an evolutionary approach entails. There is a need for a robust and dynamic theoretical toolkit in order to develop a richer, and more nuanced, understanding of the cognitively sophisticated genus Homo and the diverse sorts of niches humans constructed and occupied across the Pleistocene, Holocene, and into the Anthropocene. Here I review current evolutionary approaches to 'human nature', arguing that we benefit from re-framing our investigations via the concept of the human niche and in the context of the extended evolutionary synthesis (EES). While not a replacement of standard evolutionary approaches, this is an expansion and enhancement of our toolkit. I offer brief examples from human evolution in support of these assertions.

Machine Learning Classifiers: Evaluation of the Performance in Online Reviews

Objectives: This paper aims to evaluate the performance of the machine learning classifiers and identify the most suitable classifier for classifying sentiment value. The term “sentiment value” in this study is referring to the polarity (positive, negative or neutral) of the text. Methods/Analysis: This work applies machine learning classifiers from WEKA (Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis) toolkit in order to perform their evaluation. WEKA toolkit is a great set of tools for data mining and classification. The performance of the machine learning classifiers was evaluated by looking at overall accuracy, recall, precision, kappa statistic and few visualization techniques. Finally, the analysis is applied to find the most suitable classifier for classifying sentiment value. Findings: Results show that two classifiers from Rules and Trees categories of classifiers perform equally best comparing to the other classifiers from categories, such as Bayes, Functions, Lazy and Meta. Novelty/Improvement: This paper explores the performance of machine learning classifiers in sentiment value classification of the online reviews. Data used is never been used before to explore the performance of machine learning classifiers.

Optimizing Your Mentoring Relationship: A Toolkit for Mentors and Mentees

Mentorship is a vital component of academic and professional development. Mentees report positive impacts from mentorship programs, yet institutions and societies may struggle to meet their mentees' needs due to factors such as mentor fatigue and lack of mentor training. To address this in our own professional society, the Association of Pediatric Program Directors, we developed a mentor toolkit in order to utilize a variety of mentoring models, provide faculty development for midlevel mentors, and offer guidance to mentees. Most of these tools were designed to be administered in an interactive format such as a workshop or seminar with think-pair-share opportunities. The toolkit begins by providing a definition of mentoring and reinforcing the benefits and the characteristics of effective mentoring relationships. Next, we discuss the important role that mentees have in creating and maintaining effective mentoring relationships (i.e., mentee-driven mentoring). We then introduce a mentoring mosaic activity designed to help mentees examine their professional network and think about how they might expand it to fulfill the spectrum of their mentoring needs. Next, we present guidelines for the implementation of four mentoring models that can be used within one's institution: traditional dyadic mentoring, peer group mentoring, meet the professor mentoring, and speed mentoring. We then provide tools that can be used to help facilitate effective mentoring development. This toolkit has successfully served as a self-guided resource at national meetings for many years, garnering positive feedback from mentors and mentees alike. The principles and methods are easily generalizable and may be used to guide mentorship programs within institutional and professional societies, as well as to assist mentors and mentees in optimizing their individual mentoring relationships.

Cloud Computing CPU Allocation and Scheduling Algorithms using CloudSim Simulator

In this paper, we describe the Cloud Computing basic compute resources scheduling and allocation algorithms, in addition to the working mechanism. This paper also presents a number of experiments conducted based on CloudSim simulation toolkit in order to assess and evaluate the performance of these scheduling algorithms on Cloud Computing like infrastructure. Furthermore, we introduced and explained the CloudSim simulator design, architecture and proposed two new scheduling algorithms to enhance the existent ones and highlight the weaknesses and/or effectiveness of these algorithms.

Cloud Computing CPU Allocation and Scheduling Algorithms using CloudSim Simulator

In this paper, we describe the Cloud Computing basic compute resources scheduling and allocation algorithms, in addition to the working mechanism. This paper also presents a number of experiments conducted based on CloudSim simulation toolkit in order to assess and evaluate the performance of these scheduling algorithms on Cloud Computing like infrastructure. Furthermore, we introduced and explained the CloudSim simulator design, architecture and proposed two new scheduling algorithms to enhance the existent ones and highlight the weaknesses and/or effectiveness of these algorithms.

Recent developments in Geant4

Geant4 is a software toolkit for the simulation of the passage of particles through matter. It is used by a large number of experiments and projects in a variety of application domains, including high energy physics, astrophysics and space science, medical physics and radiation protection. Over the past several years, major changes have been made to the toolkit in order to accommodate the needs of these user communities, and to efficiently exploit the growth of computing power made available by advances in technology. The adaptation of Geant4 to multithreading, advances in physics, detector modeling and visualization, extensions to the toolkit, including biasing and reverse Monte Carlo, and tools for physics and release validation are discussed here.

Validation of a Monte Carlo simulation of the Inveon PET scanner using GATE

The purpose of this study is to validate the application of GATE (Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission) Monte Carlo simulation toolkit in order to model the performance characteristics of Siemens Inveon small animal PET system. The simulation results were validated against experimental/published data in accordance with the NEMA NU-4 2008 protocol for standardized evaluation of spatial resolution, sensitivity, scatter fraction (SF) and noise equivalent counting rate (NECR) of a preclinical PET system. An agreement of less than 18% was obtained between the radial, tangential and axial spatial resolutions of the simulated and experimental results. The simulated peak NECR of mouse-size phantom agreed with the experimental result, while for the rat-size phantom simulated value was higher than experimental result. The simulated and experimental SFs of mouse- and rat- size phantom both reached an agreement of less than 2%. It has been shown the feasibility of our GATE model to accurately simulate, within certain limits, all major performance characteristics of Inveon PET system.

Perspectives of healthcare providers and HIV-affected individuals and couples during the development of a Safer Conception Counseling Toolkit in Kenya: stigma, fears, and recommendations for the delivery of services

ABSTRACTReproduction is important to many HIV-affected individuals and couples and healthcare providers (HCPs) are responsible for providing resources to help them safely conceive while minimizing the risk of sexual and perinatal HIV transmission. In order to fulfill their reproductive goals, HIV-affected individuals and their partners need access to information regarding safer methods of conception. The objective of this qualitative study was to develop a Safer Conception Counseling Toolkit that can be used to train HCPs and counsel HIV-affected individuals and couples in HIV care and treatment clinics in Kenya. We conducted a two-phased qualitative study among HCPs and HIV-affected individuals and couples from eight HIV care and treatment sites in Kisumu, Kenya. We conducted in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) to assess the perspectives of HCPs and HIV-affected individuals and couples in order to develop and refine the content of the Toolkit. Subsequently, IDIs were conducted among HCPs who were trained using the Toolkit and FGDs among HIV-affected individuals and couples who were counseled with the Toolkit. HIV-related stigma, fears, and recommendations for delivery of safer conception counseling were assessed during the discussions. One hundred and six individuals participated in FGDs and IDIs; 29 HCPs, 49 HIV-affected women and men, and 14 HIV–serodiscordant couples. Participants indicated that a safer conception counseling and training program for HCPs is needed and that routine provision of safer conception counseling may promote maternal and child health by enhancing reproductive autonomy among HIV-affected couples. They also reported that the Toolkit may help dispel the stigma and fears associated with reproduction in HIV-affected couples, while supporting them in achieving their reproductive goals. Additional research is needed to evaluate the Safer Conception Toolkit in order to support its implementation and use in HIV care and treatment programs in Kenya and other HIV endemic regions of sub-Saharan Africa.

Model of Knowledge Base for Supporting the Classification of a Psychological Profile in the Context of Social Engineering

Companies are looking for protecting their information implementing security policies and security tool kits in order to save the information, regardless that most thefts or unauthorized access are mainly committed by Human. The social engineer (perpetrator) finds vulnerabilities in employees (victims) who manage the information within Companies. To prevent this issue, is important to identify the profile of the social engineer using a psychometric tests such as 16PF. This psychometric test can identify characteristic on the personality of Social Engineer profile. The profile identified from this psychometric test allows detailing personality variables. Design a knowledge base KB will be a support to prevent and controlling the access to information from social engineering. The purpose of this Knowledge Base is characterize the Social Engineer profile to be applied for evaluate profiles in employees and candidates to job post in various Companies.

A case study of phantom omni force feedback device for virtual product design

Research towards a methodology which helps designers/engineers in conceptualizing, facilitating participatory Design and validating products during designing and development process becoming more important with the aim of reducing the lengthy process and errors that crops up during the process. In this kind of situation it is felt that Virtual Reality-Haptic is among the solutions to cater repeated physical prototyping as well as for rapid prototyping and reduces related cost. This integrated system of virtual reality-Haptic feedback interaction may enhance the usability evaluation of virtual products. Therefore, emphasis of this paper is to study the virtual and augmented reality, Haptics working principles and their advantage towards product evaluation. Through this study it was possible to understand the working principles of Haptic device and write codes/program using OpenHaptics Software development Toolkit in order to manipulate the virtual object which was prepared through CAD Software (in this research CATIA was used), thereafter, experimental setup with full system were established. After preparing questionnaires and virtual reality-haptic system, participants were allowed to manipulate the virtual object via phantom Omni haptic feedback device and compare the physical properties of different virtual objects. Finally collected data were analyzed and drawn a result that revealed the potential of Virtual Reality-Haptic system for realizing the virtual objects surface texture, size, shape, and weight.

Bikeability Audit in Urban Road Environment

Promotion of cycling can improve the sustainability level of a city or an urban area. This study presents a methodology that audits the bikeability level of the urban road environment across three selected routes in the city of Volos, Greece. This methodology is a useful toolkit in order to evaluate and improve the bikeability level of the urban road environment and also evaluate existing bikeways. Four suitably trained auditors rode their bikes and evaluated the bikeability level using an audit tool in order to audit specific features that influence bicycling suitability across the road segments and intersections of the selected routes. Furthermore, the auditors graded specific features of the road environment in order to set a bikeability score for each tested route. Finally, this study concludes that the bikeability level of the selected routes was moderate and certain actions are necessary in order to be improved.

4D-Analysis of Left Ventricular Heart Cycle Using Procrustes Motion Analysis

The aim of this study is to investigate human left ventricular heart morphological changes in time among 17 healthy subjects. Preliminarily, 2 patients with volumetric overload due to aortic insufficiency were added to our analyses. We propose a special strategy to compare the shape, orientation and size of cardiac cycle’s morphological trajectories in time. We used 3D data obtained by Speckle Tracking Echocardiography in order to detect semi-automated and homologous landmarks clouds as proxies of left ventricular heart morphology. An extended Geometric Morphometrics toolkit in order to distinguish between intra- and inter-individual shape variations was used. Shape of trajectories with inter-individual variation were compared under the assumption that trajectories attributes, estimated at electrophysiologically homologous times are expressions of left ventricular heart function. We found that shape analysis as commonly applied in Geometric Morphometrics studies fails in identifying a proper morpho-space to compare the shape of morphological trajectories in time. To overcome this problem, we performed a special type of Riemannian Parallel Transport, called “linear shift”. Whereas the two patients with aortic insufficiency were not differentiated in the static shape analysis from the healthy subjects, they set apart significantly in the analyses of motion trajectory’s shape and orientation. We found that in healthy subjects, the variations due to inter-individual morphological differences were not related to shape and orientation of morphological trajectories. Principal Component Analysis showed that volumetric contraction, torsion and twist are differently distributed on different axes. Moreover, global shape change appeared to be more correlated with endocardial shape change than with the epicardial one. Finally, the total shape variation occurring among different subjects was significantly larger than that observable across properly defined morphological trajectories.

Are you ‘Ready, Steady, Go?’: Development of a telehealth implementation toolkit

Introduction: Telehealth is considered to have great potential to support the ever increasing ageing population. In a drive to deliver better care many countries have invested in various telecare and telehealth initiatives. Telehealth services, however, are rare and many of the available services are either on a small scale or fail during the implementation process. Evidence suggests that this failure is due to a lack of understanding of the barriers surrounding implementation. In view of this the ‘Ready, Steady, Go’ telehealth implementation toolkit was developed by Brownsell and Ellis (2012) to assist all telehealth stakeholders in the implementation of large scale and sustainable telehealth services. It is available online at http://www.clarhcsy.nihr.ac.uk/images/resources/RSG-Toolkit.pdf and is embedded in the AHSN for Yorkshire and Humber business plan (2013) to support the implementation of two of the high impact innovations defined in ‘Innovation for Health and Wealth’ (Nicholson, 2011). The first version of the RSG toolkit was launched in September 2012 and is structured around the analogy of preparation for, undertaking and reviewing a race and is illustrated with photographs of people implementing telehealth technologies. The RSG toolkit is viewed as a “working” document, which means that it strives to continuously adapt and improve over time. Aims: To refine and assess the usability of the current version of the ‘Ready, Steady, Go’ (RSG) toolkit in order to ensure that it is a valid document which can be deployed at a national level. Objectives: To examine in depth the views and experiences of telehealth professionals on the usability of the RSG toolkit. Methods: A qualitative design, incorporating semi-structured telephone interviews and focus groups, with a convenience sample of telehealth professionals will be used. This study will target telehealth professionals who have either read, used or are using the RSG toolkit. A non-random sampling strategy will be used to recruit a convenience sample of up to 20 users and 20 readers of the “Ready Steady Go” telehealth implementation toolkit. This sample will include NHS telehealth professionals and telehealth experts from industry and academia. This will enable a wide range of perspectives to be present in the dataset so that the issues of usability of the RSG toolkit can be considered from all angles before identifying the common themes evident in the data. Data will be

Visual Literacy and the Untimely Transmogrification of the Problem

It seems as though we have come to the understanding that we live in an increasingly visual world. In educational contexts, the notion that ours is an image-saturated existence has led to a focus on to best equip learners with the skills needed to participate within this world. Visual literacy , or the question of how people perceive objects, interpret what they see, and what they learn from them (Elkins, 2008, p. 2), has been brought to the forefront as one strategy that works to meet the demands of our contemporary moment. This work investigates the potential problem of visual literacy, particularly in relation to art (and its) education. Drawing on the work of contemporary visual artist Chris Millar, this investigation employs a Deleuzoguattarian conceptual toolkit in order to transmogrify a current understanding of the art encounter based on a visual literacy approach. Instead, this exploration develops a philosophy of fabulation in order to think art and our encounter with it in a manner delinked from representation, ultimately asking the question What does art do?

Simulation and prototyping of 2 m long resistive plate chambers for detection of fast neutrons and multi-neutron event identification

Resistive plate chamber (RPC) prototypes of 2m length were simulated and built. The experimental tests using a 31MeV electron beam, discussed in details, showed an efficiency higher than 90% and an excellent time resolution of around σ=100ps. Furthermore, comprehensive simulations were performed by Geant4 toolkit in order to study the possible use of these RPCs for fast neutron (200MeV–1GeV) detection and multi-neutron event identification. The validation of simulation parameters was carried out via a comparison to experimental data. A possible setup for invariant mass spectroscopy of multi-neutron emission is presented and the characteristics are discussed. The results show that the setup has a high detection efficiency. Its capability of determining the momentum of the outgoing neutrons and reconstructing the relative energy between the fragments from nuclear reactions is demonstrated for different scenarios.

Guru logics

This commentary highlights the diversity of thematics and conceptual schema generated by guru-ship, and its capacity—as a set of principles as much as specific persons—to participate in, and move between, multiple social and conceptual domains. The aim is to reassess some of the key existing literature on guru-ship while developing a kind of analytical toolkit in order to aid future studies and stimulate new thought on the phenomenon. The guru, we argue, is a social form of peculiar suggestibility. We suggest that the multiplicity and diversity of the guru’s political and economic entanglements point toward a sense of the guru’s uncontainability, a quality which, in a seeming irony, relies at least in part on the guru’s ability to contain diverse others (principally his/her devotees and former incarnations). We present the case study of an avatar guru—a particularly prolific “collector of associations”—who exemplifies the expansive personhood of the guru as an “inclusive singularity.” Emphasizing the plural forms of guru-ship, we define categories of anti-guru and collective guru while also drawing attention to the guru’s mimetic proficiency and the complex role of the guru in imagination and fantasy and gender politics. The political and governmental functions of guru-ship are also analyzed, with “guru governmentality” not “just another” agency of devolved governance in an era of economic liberalization but the retooling of the radical asymmetry of the guru-devotee relationship in order to produce “humanitarian” or “developmental” effects, which from devotees’ point of view could hardly be glossed as “secular”.

Diagnoses-related procedure bundles in outpatient care – results from a research project using secondary data

Currently, one aspect of the discussion concerning healthcare reform in Austria focuses on strengthening the provision of ambulatory healthcare. Consequently, legal changes aim at fostering the development of new structures in healthcare (group practices), as well as implementing alternative payment mechanisms for those entities. In 2009, we started a research project in the field of diagnosis-related mechanisms of payment for ambulatory care. The project focuses on episodes of care for chronic diseases. The main objectives of this project are to show the feasibility of the available administrative healthcare data, to develop a statistical toolkit in order to identify diagnoses-related procedure bundles in ambulatory care, and to calculate costs for the procedure bundles.

Polylingual and polycultural learning ecologies: Mediating emergent academic literacies for dual language learners

In this article, we examine the affordances of polylingual and polycultural learning ecologies in expanding the linguistic repertoires of children, particularly young Dual Language Learners. In contrast to settings that promote the development of English and academic language at the expense of maintaining and developing home language, we argue that the social organization of learning should privilege participation in dynamic, hybrid literacy practices. Children are often more likely to experiment with English and academic genres, while also taking on powerful identities as learners and language users, when formal and informal modes of communication are leveraged, multimodality and language-crossing encouraged and the use of both home and academic vernaculars promoted within a context that values social relationships and the playful imagination. We argue that children’s literacy practices develop in particular social and ‘located’ relationships, and we examine one such after-school setting designed with these principles in mind, the long-standing UC Links/Las Redes partnership, where home languages and intercultural experiences are unmarked and necessarily integral to participating in the shared practices of the community. We highlight the affordance of one common practice of the community, children s communication with the mythical cyber wizard, El Maga (sic), and the ways this practice strategically draws on students full linguistic toolkits in order to invite them to integrate modes and genres of communication that challenge the divide between everyday and school-based literacies, stretching children beyond their current levels of literacy development.

Verification of three‐dimensional anisotropic adaptive processes

AbstractA verification methodology for adaptive processes is devised. The mathematical claims made during the process are identified and measures are presented in order to verify that the mathematical equations are solved correctly. The analysis is based on a formal definition of the optimality of the adaptive process in the case of the control of the L∞‐norm of the interpolation error. The process requires a reconstruction that is verified using a proper norm. The process also depends on mesh adaptation toolkits in order to generate adapted meshes. In this case, the non‐conformity measure is used to evaluate how well the adapted meshes conform to the size specification map at each iteration. Finally, the adaptive process should converge toward an optimal mesh. The optimality of the mesh is measured using the standard deviation of the element‐wise value of the L∞‐norm of the interpolation error. The results compare the optimality of an anisotropic process to an isotropic process and to uniform refinement on highly anisotropic 2D and 3D test cases. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

NGOs Fighting Corruption: Theory and Practice

Since the last decade of the twentieth century corruption has caught the attention of international community which has resulted in the adoption and wide acceptance regional and international anti-corruption treaties. Many of these treaties expect non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to play an important role in combating corruption. As yet, there is no empirical study, to our knowledge, on the strategies adopted by the various NGOs in respect of the anti-corruption drive or the nature of their interaction with other stakeholders such as the public, businesses and the state and their contribution to policy-making and the drafting of codes of conduct. In order to address this gap the authors used a postal questionnaire to provide, as part of a larger project on corruption in international business, an insight into the ways in which NGOs operate, both with respect to their strategies and stakeholder engagement and their views on the various anti-corruption regulatory approaches. This article, the main aim of which is to provide the findings of the survey, consists of three sections. Section I briefly discusses the conceptual differences between civil society and NGOs, the different forms of NGOs and the roles envisaged for them in relation to anti-corruption by the various anti-corruption toolkits in order to provide a backdrop for the survey. Section II provides the survey results and Section III concludes with a discussion and suggestions for future research.