The toolbox for local and global plagiarism detection

Digital plagiarism is a problem for educators all over the world. There are many software tools on the market for uncovering digital plagiarism. Most of them can work only with text submissions. In this paper, we present a new architecture for a plagiarism detection tool that can work with many different kinds of digital submissions, from plain or formatted texts to audio podcasts. The open architecture is based on converting the digital submission into text form for processing by a plagiarism detection algorithm. To process non-text submissions, the system is extended with the appropriate converter. Such an open architecture makes the anti-plagiarism toolbox universal and easily adaptable for processing virtually any kind of digital submissions. This paper describes a software prototype based on the proposed architecture and presents the results of its implementation on a large archive of student papers.     

Measuring welfare loss caused by air pollution in Europe: A CGE analysis

To evaluate the socio-economic impacts of air pollution, we develop an integrated approach based on computable general equilibrium (CGE). Applying our approach to 18 western European countries shows that even there, where air quality is relatively high compared with other parts of the world, health-related damages caused by air pollution may be substantial. We estimate that as of 2005, Europe experienced an annual loss in consumption of about 220 billion Euro in year 2000 prices (about 3% of total consumption) with a range based on 95% high and low epidemiological response functions of 107–335 billion Euro and a total welfare loss of about 370 billion Euro (range of 209–550) including both consumption and broader welfare losses (around 2% of welfare level) due to the accumulated effects of three decades of air pollution in Europe. In addition, we estimate that a set of air quality improvement policy scenarios as proposed in the 2005 CAFE program would bring 18 European countries as a whole a welfare gain of 37–49 billion Euro (year 2000 prices) in year 2020 alone.     

Environmental impact assessment of housing projects

The purposes, tasks and stages of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) practice for housing development projects have been considered. The implementation of the EIA of these projects is proposed in three stages:

1. Identification of the existing state of the environment.

2. Identification of natural and anthropogenic factors which are of significance for designing housing developments and the arrangement of recreation facilities.

3. 3. EIA of the existing development projects.

The approach given is illustrated by the EIA of four development projects in one of the Vladivostok “microdistricts”, 2,3 km² in area, designed for 22,000 residents. A set of ten maps has been compiled for the future construction area which illustrates spatial spreading and significance of each factor for the housing development. Possibilities are shown for the increase of positive characteristics and the neutralization of considerable negative characteristics of the natural environment by means of town planning. Measures are proposed to improve the environment for recreation facilities.     

Unprecedented Control of Selectivity in Nickel‐Catalyzed Hydrophosphorylation of Alkynes: Efficient Route to Mono‐ and Bisphosphonates

A unique nickel‐based catalytic system was developed where the direction of the hydrophosphorylation reaction can be controlled by varying the catalyst loading. A flexible one‐pot access to vinylmonophosphonates and alkylbisphosphonates was demonstrated using simple starting materials in an atom‐economic reaction without any specific solvents or ligands. Monitoring of the reaction mechanism with joint NMR and MS studies revealed key information about the reaction intermediates. The synthetic scope of the developed catalytic system was explored and the utility of the synthesized products for the fire protection of cotton materials was demonstrated.

     

Label-free solution-based kinetic study of aptamer-small molecule interactions by kinetic capillary electrophoresis with UV detection revealing how kinetics control equilibrium

Here we demonstrate a label-free solution-based approach for studying the kinetics of biopolymer-small molecule interactions. The approach utilizes kinetic capillary electrophoresis (KCE) separation and UV light absorption detection of the unlabeled small molecule. In this proof-of-concept work, we applied KCE-UV to study kinetics of interaction between a small molecule and a DNA aptamer. From the kinetic analysis of a series of aptamers, we found that dissociation rather than binding controls the stability of the complex. Because of its label-free features and generic nature, KCE-UV promises to become a practical tool for challenging kinetic studies of biopolymer-small molecule interactions.     

Slow-equilibration approximation in macroscopic approach to studying kinetics at equilibrium

Macroscopic approach to studying kinetics at equilibrium (MASKE) facilitates measurements of rate constants of formation (k(+)) and dissociation (k(-)) of affinity complexes in the state of chemical equilibrium. MASKE relies on "informational nonequilibrium" created by a nonuniform initial spatial distribution of a label on one of the reactants. In general, finding k(+) and k(-) by MASKE requires fitting experimental label-propagation patterns-dependencies of label concentrations on a coordinate or time-with the simulated label-propagation patterns. Here we introduce a simple fitting-free approach for finding the rate constants in the case of slow equilibration. Slow equilibration means that the characteristic equilibration time of the labeled reactant and labeled complex, t(eq), is much greater than the characteristic separation time of the labeled reactant and labeled complex, t(sep). We developed the mathematics for this approach by solving the differential equations of mass transfer using the assumption of slow equilibration. The approach was then tested and its accuracy was studied by applying it to label-propagation patterns created with the earlier-developed exact solution of the mass-transfer equations. The results proved that the approximate solution was correct. They also showed that k(+) and k(-) can be found with this fitting-free approach with a relative error less than 20% if t(sep) < 0.6t(eq). The practical limitations of our slow-equilibration approximation are discussed.     

Slow-dissociation and slow-recombination assumptions in nonequilibrium capillary electrophoresis of equilibrium mixtures

Nonequilibrium capillary electrophoresis of equilibrium mixtures (NECEEM) is a kinetic affinity method with both analytical and preparative applications. NECEEM requires that the dissociation of the complexes be negligible in its first phase and the recombination of the dissociated complexes be negligible in its second phase. Here, we introduce a method, which facilitates easy examination of whether or not these requirements are satisfied. We derived expressions for two parameters, termed the slow-dissociation parameter (SDP) and slow-recombination parameter (SRP), which can be used to assess the assumptions. Both parameters should be much less than 1 for the assumptions to be satisfied. We calculated the two parameters for new and previously published NECEEM experiments and found that the assumptions were satisfied in all of them. Finally, we discuss changes to NECEEM conditions that should be done if the assumptions are found not to be satisfied. The SDP/SRP assessment helps to easily validate the results of NECEEM-based analyses and thus makes the NECEEM method more robust.     

Single-camera motion measurement and monitoring for magnetic resonance applications

An optically based rigid-body six-degrees of freedom (DOF) measurement system optimized for prospective (real-time) motion correction in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications is described. By optimizing system capabilities to the specific applications requirements, the six-DOF measurement is accomplished using a single camera and simple three-disc fiducial at rates of 50 Hz. The algorithm utilizes successive approximation to solve the three point pose problem for angles close to the origin. Convergence to submicroradian levels occurs within 20 iterations for angles in an approximate half-radian (29°) arc centered on the origin. The overall absolute accuracy of the instrument is 10-100 μm for translational and <100 μrad (0.005°) for rotational motions. Results for head nodding and speech tasks are presented for subjects in the MR scanner, and the instrument results are compared to standard prospective acquisition correction.     

Ship wake detection by Raman lidar

We carried out a remote study of ship wakes by optical methods. Both Mie and Raman scattering signals and their evolution were simultaneously recorded by gated detector (intensified CCD). The Mie scattering signal was detectable within 1?min after water disturbance by a high-speed boat. According to an approximation of experimental data, Raman signal fluctuations can be detected for a much longer time under the same conditions. We have demonstrated that Raman spectroscopy is substantially more sensitive to water perturbation compared to conventional acoustic (sonar) technique and can be used for ship wake detection and monitoring.