Work in Progress Research Papers (original) (raw)

The purpose of this paper is to present the experimental device and the work in progress performed in search for objective organic correlation of damage to hearing, examining possible acoustic otofunctional effects on the cochlear epithelium of the rat due to exposure to microwaves (900 MHz). Two experiments using male Sprague-Dawley rats were carried out with a far-field exposure in a cubic chamber. No statistically significant evidence was obtained at both specific absorption rate (SAR) values. The exposure system and the diagnostic apparatus are extremely useful to investigate a potential effect on the auditory system: however, with the parameters applied in these experiments, no evidence was observed.

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- Radiation, Biological Sciences, Statistical Significance, Work in Progress

The concept of energy-efficient networking has begun to spread in the past few years, gaining increasing popularity. Besides the widespread sensitivity to ecological issues, such interest also stems from economic needs, since both energy costs and electrical requirements of telcos' and Internet Service Providers' infrastructures around the world show a continuously growing trend. In this respect, a common opinion among networking researchers is that the sole introduction of low consumption silicon technologies may not be enough to effectively curb energy requirements. Thus, for disruptively boosting the network energy efficiency, these hardware enhancements must be integrated with ad-hoc mechanisms that explicitly manage energy saving, by exploiting network-specific features. This paper aims at providing a twofold contribution to green networking. At first, we explore current perspectives in power consumption for next generation networks. Secondly, we provide a detailed survey on emerging technologies, projects, and work-in-progress standards, which can be adopted in networks and related infrastructures in order to reduce their carbon footprint. The considered approaches range from energy saving techniques for networked hosts, to technologies and mechanisms for designing nextgeneration and energy-aware networks and networking equipment.

- by Franco Davoli
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- Distributed Computing, Next Generation Networks, Future Internet, Carbon Footprint

This paper reports work in progress to build a Learning Companion, a computerized system sensitive to the affective aspects of learning, which facilitates the child's own efforts at learning. Learning related to science, math, engineering, and technology naturally involves failure and a host of associated affective responses. This article describes techniques and tools being developed to recognize affective states important in the interplay between emotions and learning.

- by Ashish Kapoor
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- Work in Progress

In this paper we present a work-in-progress interactive exhibit for the museum of Onna, a little town near to L'Aquila (Italy), almost completely destroyed by the earthquake of April 2009. The installation will be developed as an environment in which visitors of the museum can interact with a natural interaction system and then discover the history of the disaster via rich multimedia contents. Visitors are detected through the adoption of an RFID-based technology, which allows to store their interaction history and build an interest profile used to enrich the experience. Different scenarios have been implemented and tested in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed solution.

- by Daniele Pezzatini
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- RFID, Interaction Design, User Interface, Location-Awareness

We consider a set of programs a family when it pays to look at their common aspects before looking at their differences. For commercial software developers the implications are twofold: First, making rational decisions about product-line processes and products requires the ability to answer the question: "Does it pay?" Second, whether or not something pays is ultimately a business (rather than software engineering) question. In short, making sound software engineering decisions requires understanding the business implications of those decisions, and vice versa. This paper describes work in progress to develop a product-line process model and common value metric that adequately link product value drivers (what it pays) with the software engineering decisions that affect those drivers. In it, we describe a systematic approach to quantifying the return on investment for both product and process improvements based on common software engineering principles and a common value me...

The architecture for Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) is described in RFC 3031. A fundamental concept in MPLS is that two Label Switching Routers (LSRs) must agree on the meaning of the labels used to forward traffic between and... more

- by Paul Doolan
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- Computer Science, Work in Progress, RFC

IEEE P1596, the Scalable Coherent Interface (formerly known as SuperBus) is based on experience gained while developing Fastbus (ANSI/IEEE 960-1986, IEC 935), Futurebus (IEEE P896.x) and other modern high-performance buses. SC1 goals include a minimum bandwidth of 1 GByte/sec per processor in multiprocessor systems with thousands of processors; efficient support of a coherent distributed-cache image of distributed shared memory; support for bridges which interface to existing or future buses; and support for inexpensive small rings as well as for general switched interconnections like Banyan, Omega, or crossbar networks. This paper reports the status of the work in progress and suggests some applications in data acquisition and physics.

effects of alien species and climate change in the assessment framework, and by the nonlinear doseresponse relationships dominating in biological systems. Attempts to diminish uncertainties in quality assessment have become a new... more

- by Ana Cardoso
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- Earth Sciences, Climate Change, Water quality, Biological Sciences

Imaging plays an essential role for the detection and analysis of pathologic conditions of the brachial plexus. Currently, several new techniques are used in addition to conventional 2D MR sequences to study the brachial plexus: the 3D STIR SPACE sequence, 3D heavily T2w MR myelography sequences (balanced SSFP = CISS 3D, True FISP 3D, bFFE and FIESTA), and the diffusion-weighted (DW) neurography sequence with fiber tracking reconstruction (tractography). The 3D STIR sequence offers complete anatomical coverage of the brachial plexus and the ability to slice through the volume helps to analyze fiber course modification and structure alteration. It allows precise assessment of distortion, compression and interruption of postganglionic nerve fibers thanks to the capability of performing maximum intensity projections (MIP) and multiplanar reconstructions (MPRs). The CISS 3D, b-SSFP sequences allow good visualization of nerve roots within the spinal canal and may be used for MR myelography in traumatic plexus injuries. The DW neurography sequence with tractography is still a work in progress, able to demonstrate nerves tracts, their structure alteration or deformation due to pathologic processes surrounding or located along the postganglionic brachial plexus. It may become a precious tool for the understanding of the underlying molecular pathophysiologic mechanisms in diseases affecting the brachial plexus and may play a role for surgical planning procedures in the near future.

- by maria vargas
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- Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Magnetic Resonance, Work in Progress, Surgical Planning

This paper focuses on examining an industrial supplier's internal communication when interacting with customers. We briefly review the existing literature related to internal communication and discuss its role in interacting with customers. To illustrate the complex nature of internal communication, we present a case of communicating customer-related information in the early phases of a customer relationship in a complex matrix organization company delivering material handling solutions for logistics operators. We end with a framework mapping the communication flows between different units in the supplier and customer organizations and discuss the preliminary implications regarding the identified complex nature of internal communication. In the following phases of the research process we will apply social network analysis to study the communication flows between different organizational actors at both interpersonal and inter-functional levels.

- by Risto T Salminen and +1
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- Work in Progress, Customer Relations, Social Network Analysis

A new method for doing text-independent speaker identification geared to forensic situations is presented. By analysing 'isolexemic' sequences, the method addresses the issues of very short criminal exemplars and the need for open-set identification. An algorithm is given that computes an average spectral shape of the speech to be analysed for each glottal pulse period. Each such spectrum is converted to a probability density function and the first moment (i.e. the mean) and the second moment about the mean (i.e. the variance) are computed. Sequences of moment values are used as the basis for extracting variables that discriminate among speakers. Ten variables are presented all of which have sufficiently high inter-to intraspeaker variation to be effective discriminators. A case study comprising a ten-speaker database, and ten unknown speakers, is presented. A discriminant analysis is performed and the statistical measurements that result suggest that the method is potentially effective. The report represents work in progress.

- by Robert Rodman
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- Cognitive Science, Law, Forensic Linguistics, Linguistics

A set of manufacturers outsources certain operations to a single third party following the announcement of a booking price for each available day of production. Knowing these costs, manufacturers book available production days in a first-come-first-serve order to optimize their individual cost. The cost for each manufacturer consists of booking and work-in-progress costs, as expressed by the weighted flow time. When window booking is completed, the third party identifies a schedule that minimizes the total cost incurred by all manufacturers. This coordination reduces the total cost but may result in higher costs for a subset of manufacturers. For this reason, the third party devises a savings sharing scheme with which the monetary benefit for each manufacturer is greater. In this article we present algorithms for the problem considered, as well as savings-sharing schemes that make coordination a better alternative for all parties. The highlight of our experiments is that the costs of the production chain can be reduced by an average of 32% if one-third of the members let the third party cover their increased work-in-progress cost in exchange for 38%-53% of the total savings.

- by Ruth Aylett
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- Virtual Reality, Work in Progress

This paper describes work-in-progress on an Interactive Sonification Toolkit which has been developed in order to aid the analysis of general data sets. The toolkit allows the designer to process and scale data sets, then rapidly change... more

- by A. Hunt and +1
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- Work in Progress, Real Time Control, User Testing

A work in progress of a tool designed to help sports coaches to analyze their players using an RFID technology connected to a 3-layer software is described in this paper. A few ranging techniques available in conventional RFID systems were studied to best fit this application scenario. Together with the RFID equipments, there is a 3-layer system managing all the data. The software bottom layer is responsible for the low-level communication between the software and the hardware. The middle layer is the system engine where all the calculation is performed. Finally, the top layer is the software part responsible for showing reports and the player analyzed. The system has 2 tracking modes, one for 2D player location in the field, and a 3D mode to capture players' movement in small area sports. It has 2 report modes also, one for real-time report displaying each player's actual location in the field; and the other to present reports with statistics of the player such as distance covered, a heat map of the field showing where the player is at a time interval and number of sprints.

- by Ahmed El-Deeb
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- System Management, Pervasive Computing, System Engineering, Work in Progress

The paper reviews some significant pieces of work carried out in the authors' laboratory in the course of about three decades and concerned with the development of market oriented devices, which exploit the singular characteristics of electrosynthesised polymers. The strategic role of X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy is underlined not only as a powerful technique for the characterization of these thin films, but mainly as an unvaluable tool to feedback optimization procedures both in film synthesis and modification. Case studies relevant to the development of permselective membranes for biosensors, of biocompatible coatings and active layers for gas sensors have been selected and reviewed. Future trends and prospects of the work in progress are also described.

- by Ilario Losito and +1
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- Condensed Matter Physics, Biosensors, Carbon Dioxide, Kinetics
- by Rajesh Kumar
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- Computer Science, Image Processing, System Design, OPERATING SYSTEM

This paper represents work in progress towards a complete system working to assist users in a library. With this aim, the system must be capable to looking for a specific book in a shelf, asked by any user, and whether it is found, deliver it as soon as possible to the user. To get its objectives the system integrates automatic object recognition, visually guided grasping, and force feedback, among other advanced capabilities. Implementation details about the main modules developed presently are shown. Finally, after success in preliminary results obtained in our Campus, we are encouraged to follow working in this way to obtain the complete prototype.

- by Rafael Ramos-garijo
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- System Integration, Object Recognition, Work in Progress, Force Feedback

The polymerisation of furan monomers and the exploitation of some of the chemical peculiarities of the furan heterocycle have generated a wide diversity of macromolecular materials based on renewable resources. We present here recent contributions to this field, including ongoing studies on the synthesis and characterisation of novel furan polyesters and on the application of the Diels-Alder reaction to the preparation of linear and branched thermally reversible polyadducts.

- by Alessandro Gandini
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- Engineering, Materials Chemistry, Polymerization, Work in Progress

This paper presents work in progress and continues a project devoted to developing shape modeling system for surface generation and enhancement. A local mesh enhancement based on statistical characteristics of an initial triangle mesh is proposed for mesh simplification. Experimental results are included to demonstrate the functionality of our simplification algorithm.

- by Vladimir Savchenko
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- Shape Modeling, Mesh simplification, Work in Progress, Aspect Ratio

This paper addresses a real-life 1.5D cutting stock problem, which arises in a make-to-order plastic company. The problem is to choose a subset from the set of stock rectangles to be used for cutting into a number of smaller rectangular pieces so as to minimize total production cost and meet orders. The total production cost includes not only material wastage, as in traditional cutting stock problems, but also production time. A variety of factors are taken into account, like cutter knife changes, machine restrictions, due dates and other work in progress limitations. These restrictions make the combinatorial structure of the problem more complex. As a result, existing algorithms and mathematical models are no longer appropriate. Thus we developed a new 1.5D cutting stock model with multiple objectives and multi-constraints and solve this problem in an incomplete enumerative way. The computational results show that the solution procedure is easy to implement and works very well. Ó 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.

- by Chengbin Chu
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- Multidisciplinary, Work in Progress, Mathematical Model, Cutting Stock Problem

Public administrations have been facing problems with geographical information use and management for years. This was the case of the Galicia Department of Environment (CMA), in charge of managing environmental resources in that Spanish NUTS-2 region. On one hand, INSPIRE work in progress toward a European Spatial Data Infrastructure (ESDI), currently focused on environmental issues, suggested a solution based on IN-SPIRE recommended standards. On the other hand, the availability of commercial software licenses in the CMA, Oracle Spatial, ESRI products, SAFE software products, and other software, suggested an approach based as much as possible on commercial off the shelf (COTS) software. The developed system architecture integrates heterogeneous COTS products, but is perceived as a homogeneous and standards-based infrastructure.

- by Miguel Ángel Latre
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- System Architecture, Work in Progress, Commercial Off-The-Shelf

This is a report on work in progress on microelectrical and mechanical systems (MEMS)-based gas turbine engines, turbogenerators, and rocket engines currently under development at MIT. Fabricated in large numbers in parallel using semiconductor manufacturing techniques, these engines are based on micro-high speed rotating machinery with the same power density as that achieved in their more familiar, full-sized brethren. The micro-gas turbine is a 1 cm diameter by 3 mm thick SiC heat engine designed to produce 10-20 W of electric power or 0.05-0.1 Nt of thrust while consuming under 10 grams/hr of H 2 . Later versions may produce up to 100 W using hydrocarbon fuels. A liquid fuel, bi-propellant rocket motor of similar size could develop over 3 lb of thrust. The rocket motor would be complete with turbopumps and control valves on the same chip. These devices may enable new concepts in propulsion, fluid control, and portable power generation.

- by F. Ehrich
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- Semiconductor Manufacturing, Engineering Design, GAS TURBINE, Power Generation
- by Barbara Ferman
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- Political Science, Individualism, Curriculum, Reputation

This paper describes the motivation and the methodology behind an advanced undergraduate/graduate level elective course on the wireless standards developed by the IEEE. The course has been offered twice at two different Universities and has been very popular, attracting record enrollment. The paper first discusses the need for this course, and then presents an overview of the wireless standards. The outline of the developed onesemester course including learning goals and the justification of the proposed outline are discussed in detail. The related labs that have been developed are summarized. The student survey results are also included.

- by Todor Cooklev
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- Work in Progress, Educational Standards, Wireless Communication

This paper deals with the development of a System Dynamics Model to study the influence of Production cycle time on: Production start rate, Work in progress, Production rate, Distribution inventory, Distribution rate, and Waste rate. The simulation results indicate that Production cycle time has a significant influence on 'Bullwhip Effect' and there may be a need to stretch the Production cycle time and reduce the delays to minimize this effect. Reduction of Bullwhip effect is a constant endeavour in Supply Chain Management (SCM) and this paper is also an attempt in this direction with specific reference to the influence of Production cycle time.

Quality problems in engineering education are cawed by the wide range of student backgrounds and abilities, the need for integrating interpersonal and technical skills, the lack of feedback mechanisms for the assessment of quality, and the overall lack of relevance between the students' needs and the coursework. Steven R. Covey's seven habits and Peter Senge's$ve disciplines provide a framework for converting the classroom into a leaming organization-un organization capable of addressing such quality issues. Portfolio assessment, a tool seldom used in engineering courses but particularly effective, is the k q organizing element. By student portfolios, we mean a systematic and

- by David Cress
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- Engineering Education, Human Factors, Continuous Improvement, Teaching

The traditional owners of the land, air and waters on which this conference and the greater Adelaide area are located are the Kaurna people. We begin our presentation by acknowledging this historical fact. Yunggorendi is the name bestowed upon the First Nations Centre for Higher Education and Research in which we work by Kaurna elder Uncle Lewis O'Brien and in Kaurna its meaning is: to inform, to communicate, to impart knowledge.

- by Daryle Rigney and +1
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- Work in Progress

ABSTRACT. Today, the thematic layer is still the prevailling structure in geomatics for handling geographical information. However, the layer model is rigid: it implies partitionning geographical data in predefined categories and using the same description schema for all elements of a layer. Recently, Logical Information Systems (LIS) introduced a new paradigm for information management and retrieval. Using LIS, we propose a more flexible organisation of vectorial geographical data at a thiner level since it is centered on the geographical feature. LIS does not rely on a hierarchical organisation of information, and enable to tightly combine querying and navigation in a same search. In this article, we present a work in progress about the use of LIS model to handle geographical data. In particular, we detail a data model for geographical features and the corresponding querying and navigation model. These models have been implemented in the GEOLIS prototype, which has been used to le...

- by Olivier Ridoux
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- Information Management, Navigation, Work in Progress, Do

This study reports work in progress on the development of an on-line evolutionary automatic programming methodology for uncovering technical trading rules for the S&P 500 index. The system adopts a variable sized investment strategy based on the strength of the signals produced by the trading rules. Rogue rules, which generate excessive signals, led to poor market activity. Here we examine the viability of a signal decay constant to reduce the effect of rogue rules. The results show that an aggressive decay rate yielded more profitable results for the trading period January 1st 1991 to December 1st 1997.

- by Ian Dempsey
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- Profitability, Work in Progress, Grammatical Evolution, Investment Strategies

The lack of knowledge of the beam-flow angle represents one of the major sources of uncertainty in Doppler measurements. Not only are some new, appealing applications of the Doppler technique prevented, but some basic clinical procedures are made more difficult than desirable. This paper reports on the Doppler angle ambiguity problem and on the classic solutions so far proposed in order to overcome the related limitations. The main features of a recently introduced dual-beam method are described. Starting from the classic problem of measuring the true velocity in a single sample volume, the application to the measurement of full velocity profiles is discussed. Combination of this method with a new multi-channel multi-gate system is shown capable of contributing to arterial mechanics investigations by allowing the simultaneous measurement of wall shear rate and wall distension in major human arteries. Finally the feasibility of accurate volumetric flow measurements is discussed, and work-in-progress is reported

- by Francesco Guidi
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- Doppler Ultrasound, Work in Progress, Flow measurement, Velocity Profile

This paper reports on a work in-progress scenario of a computerintegrated classroom (CiC) with a focus on document management and document sharing. Following a brief introduction on the topic of distributed (distance) and non-distributed (face-to-face) learning, the system´s functionalities and architecture are being described, as well as the file structure to be found in the document archive. The system uses a unique type of XML document that can be created and edited by the FreeStyler application. The paper then concludes with a short description about the future work on the project.

- by Nelson Baloian
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- Computer Science, Face to Face, Work in Progress, Document Management System

Robotic endoscope holders constitute an alternative to complete telesurgery systems, by offering a "third hand" to the surgeon during a laparoscopic procedure. ViKY robotic scope holder (Endocontrol, Grenoble, France) is a lightweight, sterilizable body-mounted robot with 3 DOF. In this paper, we present the specifics of this robot, the newly developed XL version dedicated to single-port surgery and the initial clinical experience. We have proposed a method to control the robot, based on the detection and tracking of surgical instrument from image analysis and shape priors, to enrich the interaction between the surgeon and the robot. We present here, our work in progress toward its integration into a probabilistic framework, with the aim of improving the method's speed and robustness. We also present the surgeons' viewpoints on the feasibility of its integration into the operating theater.

- by Sandrine Voros
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- Mechanical Engineering, Image Analysis, Robotic Surgery, Manufacturing Engineering
- by Simone Frigerio and +1
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- Decision Making, Disaster Management, Information and Communication technology, Emergency Management

The significance of metastatic disease in the lymph nodes of the neck as a critical independent prognostic factor in head and neck cancer has long been appreciated. Although 19th century surgeons attempted to remove involved cervical lymph nodes at the time of resection of the primary cancer, a systematic approach to en bloc removal of cervical lymph node disease, described in detail by Jawdyński in 1888 and popularized and illustrated by Crile in the early 20th century, provided consistent and more effective treatment, and forms the basis of our current techniques.

- by Luiz Kowalski
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- English language, Immunohistochemistry, Head and Neck Cancer, Work in Progress

Most of future digital services for home and office users will be deployed and delivered through the Internet and wireless connectivity. However, employing regular access points (APs) and protocols will not allow an efficient coexistence among heterogeneous application flows. Indeed, real-time and elastic applications are (and will be) supported by different protocols and featured with different performance requirements: low perpacket delay for the former and high throughput for the latter. In this work, we present a work-in-progress evaluation of a new AP prototype able to guarantee a fast and smooth data delivery for real-time streams while maintaining a high throughput for TCP-based applications. Our approach is based on a userspace modification of the AP's code based on OpenWRT operating system so as to appropriately shape transiting network traffic. Preliminary experimental results confirm that our solution represents an optimal candidate to become the center of future wireless in-home scenarios.

- by Claudio Palazzi
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- Wireless Communications, Computer Networks, Protocols, Real Time Systems

The paper addresses the conference themes - politics of planning and rules of the game - in a global context. It presents a case that globalization is changing planning cultures and that there is a need to "re-invent" planning for the 21 st century. Rapid urbanization and the urbanization of poverty fundamentally challenge many of the rules and routines of

- by Cliff Hague
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- Urban Planning, Environmental Management, Urban Development, Urban Governance

In this presentation a methodology is suggested for site assessment and site selection based in a data analysis framework. This framework consists in tree steeps using different data analysis methods from cluster analysis, classification trees and regression analysis. The different variables selected in all the models used for the three steeps are compared and the spatial analysis data importance in site assessment is evaluated. For variable importance several measures can be used. In this text we use the discriminant power for the selection of profiling variables and a precision index for classification trees. Dominance analysis is used for the multiple regression models in the forecasting procedure. The advantage of this technique over other techniques as the standardized coefficients is that it overcomes some limitations of stepwise regression. The different measures of variable importance result in a clear pattern for the relevance of spatial analysis variables, being only dominated by the "trade area". So, spatial analysis resulting variables are of special importance in site assessment studies and the delimitation method used for their calculation is relevant in their usefulness.

- by Armando Mendes
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- Spatial Analysis, Data Analysis, Spatial Data Analysis, Discriminant Analysis

UPDATE: For those interested in reading more about the Faculty Course Assessment Report, please see my 2012 publication, "Improving Upon Best Practices: FCAR 2.0", which is available for download here at this site. Thanks!

- by John Estell
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- Work in Progress

Within the National Security domain there is a convergence of security responsibility across the national security agencies, law enforcement and private security sectors. The sensitivity of this environment requires individuals operating in the domain to be honest, trustworthy and loyal. Personnel vetting is a formal process used to determine an individual’s suitability for access to this domain. Notwithstanding this process, significant breaches of trust, security, and corruption still occur. In psychology, resilience is a well researched phenomenon that is considered a multidimensional construct where individual attributes, family aspects and social environment interact in aiding individuals to deal with vulnerability. There are many understandings and definitions of resilience based on theorists ’ different perspectives; however, most agree that resilience is represented by a minimum of two aspects. The first is adversity and second, how the individual deals with adversity that d...

- by Cath Ferguson
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- Resilience, Risk Management, Law Enforcement, National Security

We present work in progress on automated and ontology-guided discovery, extraction and mapping of information sources on the Semantic Web. It concerns an ontology-guided focused crawler to discover and match different data sources. We have developed an automated ontology-matcher embedded in the crawler that relates semantic web documents found during the crawl to an initial topic ontology that describes the domain of interest of the crawl. Similarity coefficients resulting from the matching process are used to guide the crawler to the information sources relevant to the modelled domain of interest. In addition, the matching process also provides links between the different data sources, which helps in the integration of this data at a later stage. In this paper, the overall architecture, the various modules and methods actually implemented are presented.

- by Robert Meersman
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- Semantic Web, Information Sources, Work in Progress

- by Luc Fréchette
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- Semiconductor Manufacturing, Engineering Design, GAS TURBINE, Power Generation

Both epidemiologic data and everyday life experience show that adolescents adopt risktaking behaviours, that increase the morbidity and mortality rates, despite a general body strengthening. This phenomenon could suggest the presence of a still immature capacity of judgement and evaluation of consequences of one own actions. Recent evidence, from neuroscience, gives a possible explanation for this kind of adolescent behaviour. New studies on neuroeconomics describe the prefrontal cortex as one of the most important centres of the neural circuits involved in decision-making. Longitudinal studies with structural neuroimaging techniques show that the prefrontal cortex undergoes important changes during adolescence, in terms of synapse number and myelination. If affective executive functions, especially decision-making processes, are based on prefrontal cortex areas that mature during adolescence, it is possible to deem that adolescent decision-making is still a work in progress, and this could contribute to better explain their risk-taking behaviours. These data then have to be related with the several psychopathological disorders with an adolescence onset.

- by Michele Poletti
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- Decision Making, Risk Taking, Prefrontal Cortex, Brain development

UniSim is a graphic tool that can be used to develop and validate portable automation software, which fully complies with the IEC 61131-3 standard. UniSim is based on a graphical editor and on a simulation engine which allows to perform off-line validation of the automation software. Its simulation engine can also be interfaced with off-the-shelf I/O boards, in order to fast prototype automation systems by using a personal computer. Hardware-in-the-loop validation can be performed interfacing the prototype with the real plant or with an emulator. Furthermore, UniSim adopts the new XML Formats for IEC 61131-3, which provides an open interface for data exchange among different systems. Thanks to this choice the code developed with UniSim can be easily ported among different commercial platforms, increasing software reusability. Although the current release of UniSim is a work in progress version, it is already available and it can be effectively used to develop small and medium automation size projects.

- by Phillip Benachour and +1
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- Cognitive Science, Higher Education, Computer Software, Work in Progress

The Health Systems in Transition (HiT) profiles are country-based reports that provide a detailed description of health systems and of policy initiatives in progress or under development. HiTs examine different approaches to the organization, financing and delivery of health services and the role of the main actors in health systems. They also describe the institutional framework, process, content, and implementation of health and health care policies, highlighting challenges and areas that require more in-depth analysis. Undoubtedly the dominant issue in the Dutch health care system at present is the fundamental reform that came into effect in 2006. With the introduction of a single compulsory health insurance scheme, the dual system of public and private insurance for curative care became history. Managed competition for providers and insurers became a major driver in the health care system. This has meant fundamental changes in the roles of patients, insurers, providers and the g...

- by Walter Deville
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- Primary Care, Health Care, Quality of Mental Health Care, Health insurance

Inventory is a list of goods and materials believed and available in stock by a business. Inventory is also continued to take care of difference in appeal and lead time. In some cases, it takes care of cumulative price leaning of materials. Inventory control and management must be designed to meet the orders of the market place and care the company's strategic plan. The greatest important objective of inventory mechanism is to maintain a best level of investment in the inventory which diminishes the cost and to categorize the several constituents based on their value. The main objective of the study is to assess the efficiency of inventory management in Aringar Anna Sugar Mill, Kurungulam using the costing techniques like ABC Analysis, Inventory revenue ratio and Economic Order Size. The study was conducted for a period of five financial years from 2008-2009 to 2012-2013. The secondary data were collected from the inventory maintenance records maintained by the company for the past five financial years. From the analysis, it is indirect that the company should strictly follow the Economic order quantity for optimum purchase. It can also maintain safety stock for its components in order to avoid stock-out condition and help in continuous production flow. The company must implementation tight control on stock levels based on ABC Analysis and maintain high proportion in inventory turnover ratio for well-organized management of the inventory.

- by Shankar Ganesan and +1
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- Work in Progress

Serious games are about to enter the medical sector to give people with behavioural or addictive disorders the ability to use them as part of health promotion and disease prevention. The PlayMancer framework will support physical rehabilitations and psycho-education programs thru a modular multiplayer networked 3D game based on the Universally Accessible Games (UA games) guidelines.

- by Costas Davarakis
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- Educational Technology, Game Development, Work in Progress, Mental Disorder