A local approach to concept generation

Generating concepts defined by a binary relation between a set of properties and a set of objects is one of the important current problems encountered in Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery in Databases. We present a new algorithmic process which computes all the concepts, without requiring an exponential-size data structure, and with a good worst-time complexity analysis, which makes it competitive with the best existing algorithms for this problem. Our algorithm can be used to compute the edges of the lattice as well at no extra cost.      

Reducing the overhead of dynamic compilation

The execution model for mobile, dynamically‐linked, object‐oriented programs has evolved from fast interpretation to a mix of interpreted and dynamically compiled execution. The primary motivation for dynamic compilation is that compiled code executes significantly faster than interpreted code. However, dynamic compilation, which is performed while the application is running, introduces execution delay. In this paper we present two dynamic compilation techniques that enable high performance execution while reducing the effect of this compilation overhead. These techniques can be classified as (1) decreasing the amount of compilation performed, and (2) overlapping compilation with execution. We first present and evaluate lazy compilation, an approach used in most dynamic compilation systems in which individual methods are compiled on‐demand upon their first invocation. This is in contrast to eager compilation, in which all methods in a class are compiled when a new class is loaded. In this work, we describe our experience with eager compilation, as well as the implementation and transition to lazy compilation. We empirically detail the effectiveness of this decision. Our experimental results using the SpecJVM Java benchmarks and the Jalapeño JVM show that, compared to eager compilation, lazy compilation results in 57% fewer methods being compiled and reductions in total time of 14 to 26%. Total time in this context is compilation plus execution time. Next, we present profile‐driven, background compilation, a technique that augments lazy compilation by using idle cycles in multiprocessor systems to overlap compilation with application execution. With this approach, compilation occurs on a thread separate from that of application threads so as to reduce intermittent, and possibly substantial, delay in execution. Profile information is used to prioritize methods as candidates for background compilation. Methods are compiled according to this priority scheme so that performance‐critical methods are invoked using optimized code as soon as possible. Our results indicate that background compilation can achieve the performance of off‐line compiled applications and masks almost all compilation overhead. We show significant reductions in total time of 14 to 71% over lazy compilation. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Identification of the female-produced sex pheromone of the scarab beetle,Hoplia equina

Hoplia equina LeConte (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) is a beetle pest of cranberry beds in Massachusetts. Larvae feed on the roots of the cranberry plant, reducing yield as well as vine density. The female sex pheromone was identified as 2-tetradecanone. There were eight compounds found in the airborne volatiles collected from females that elicited antennal responses from males. Of the eight compounds tested (nonanal, decanal, dodecanal, 2-dodecanone, 2-tridecanone, 2-tetradecanone, 2-pentadecanone, and 2-hexadecanone), 2-tetradecanone was the only one that attracted male beetles in the field. Combining any of the other seven antennally active compounds with 2-tetradecanone did not increase male capture.     

Firms’ willingness to invest in a water fund to improve water-related ecosystem services in the Lake Naivasha basin,Kenya

A valuation scenario was designed using a contingent-valuation approach and presented to decision makers in business firms in Kenya’s Lake Naivasha basin to test how applicable a water fund might be as a potential financing mechanism for a payment for water-related ecosystem services scheme. The findings indicate that measuring a firm’s willingness to invest in ecosystem services could help determine whether a firm would invest and engage with other stakeholders to pool their investments in ecosystem services. Linking the institutional decision-making behaviour of a firm and its willingness to invest in a water fund is the novelty of this article.     

Optimized temporal monitors for SystemC

SystemC is a modeling language built as an extension of C++. Its growing popularity and the increasing complexity of designs have motivated research efforts aimed at the verification of SystemC models using assertion-based verification (ABV), where the designer asserts properties that capture the design intent in a formal language such as PSL or SVA. The model then can be verified against the properties using runtime or formal verification techniques. In this paper we focus on automated generation of runtime monitors from temporal properties. Our focus is on minimizing runtime overhead, rather than monitor size or monitor-generation time. We identify four issues in monitor generation: state minimization, alphabet representation, alphabet minimization, and monitor encoding. We conduct extensive experimentation and identify a combination of settings that offers the best performance in terms of runtime overhead.     

Implementation of physical coordination training and cognitive behavioural training interventions at cleaning workplaces--secondary analyses of a randomised controlled trial

This study evaluates the implementation of physical coordination training (PCT) and cognitive behavioural training (CBTr) interventions in a randomised controlled trial at nine cleaners' workplaces. Female cleaners (n = 294) were randomised into a PCT, a CBTr or a reference (REF) group. Both 12-week interventions were performed in groups guided by an instructor. Records were kept on intervention dose (adherence) unanticipated events at the work place (context) and quality of intervention delivery (fidelity). Participant adherence was 37% in the PCT and 49% in the CBTr interventions. Optimal implementation was reached by only 6% in PCT and 42% in the CBTr. Analysis of the barriers to successful implementation indicated that the intervention process is sensitive to unanticipated events. In order to succeed in improving the health of high-risk populations such as cleaners and to correctly interpret intervention effects, more research on implementation is needed. Trial registration: ISRCTN96241850. PRACTITIONER SUMMARY: Both physical coordination training and cognitive behavioural training are potential effective workplace interventions among low educated job groups with high physical work demands. However, thorough consideration should be given to feasibility in the design of interventions. The optimal intervention should be tailored to closely match the implementation context and be robust and flexible to minimise susceptibility to changes in work organisation.     

Processing aspects in the low-frequency noise of nMOSFETs on strained-silicon substrates

The impact of different processing factors on the low-frequency (LF) noise of nMOSFETs fabricated in strained-silicon (SSi) substrates will be described. It is shown that the use of an SSi substrate can yield improved LF noise performance compared with standard Czochralski silicon material. This is demonstrated for both full-wafer and selective epitaxial SSi material. The lower 1/f noise points to an improved gate oxide quality, i.e., with a lower interface and bulk defect density, and is correlated with the low-field mobility or transconductance of the transistors. At the same time, it will be demonstrated that there exist defect-related LF noise mechanisms, which generally give rise to excess generation-recombination (GR) noise. Associated with this GR noise, a degradation of either the OFF-state leakage current or the mobility (transconductance) of the devices is observed. It is clear that noise is a sensitive parameter to local defectiveness and may be a useful tool for both materials' characterization and the analysis of processing-related device degradation mechanisms.     

Instrumental Learning Within the Rat Spinal Cord: Localization of the Essential Neural Circuit.

Following spinal transection of the upper thoracic spinal cord, male Sprague-Dawley rats given legshock whenever a hindlimb is extended learn to maintain the leg in a flexed position. The region of the cord that mediates this instrumental learning was isolated using neuroanatomical tracing, localized infusion of lidocaine, and surgical transections. DiI and Fluoro-Gold microinjection at the site of shock application labeled motor neuron bodies of lamina IX in the lower lumbar region. Local application of the Na++ channel blocker lidocaine disrupted learning when it was applied over a region extending from the lower lumbar (L3) to upper sacral (S2) cord. The drug had no effect rostral or caudal to this region. Surgical transections as low as L4 had no effect on learning. Learning also survived a dual transection at L4 and S3, but not L4 and S2. The results suggest that the essential neural circuit lies between L4 and S3. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Science and technology in the region: The output of regional science and technology, its strengths and its leading institutions

Summary We operationalize scientific output in a region by means of the number of articles (as in the SciSearch database) per year and technology output by means of the number of patent applications (as in the database of the European Patent Office) per priority year. All informetric analyses were done using the DIALOG online-system. The main research questions are the following: Which scientific and technological fields or topics are most influent within a region and which institutions or companies are mainly publishing articles or holding patents? Do the distributions of regional science and technology fields and of publishing institutions follow the well-known informetric function? Are there - as it is expected - only few fields and few institutions which dominate the region? Is there a connection between the economic power of a region and the regional publication and patent output? Examples studied in detail are seven German regions: Aachen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Köln (Cologne), Leipzig - Halle - Dessau, München (Munich), and Stuttgart. Three different indicators were used, science and technology attraction of a region (number of scientific articles and patents), science and technology intensity (articles and patents per 1,000 inhabitants), and science and technology density (articles and patents per 1 billion EURO gross value added). Top region concerning both attraction and intensity is Munich, concerning density it is Aachen.     

The LabMatrix system

The LabMatrix^™ is a prototyping system designed to give the user a practical and versatile platform for testing microfluidic applications in the fields of health care and life sciences. The LabMatrix^™ system consists of a microfluidic breadboard and cover that align and secure a series of specially designed LabMatrix^™ microfluidic chips. Chips are easily arranged and rearranged into a user-defined fluidic network. The LabMatrix^™ system is designed with maximum flexibility in mind, providing the user with a means to prototype a wide range of microfluidic applications in a short period.