Peer-to-peer bichromatic reverse nearest neighbours in mobile ad-hoc networks

The increasing use of mobile communications has raised many issues of decision support and resource allocation. A crucial problem is how to solve queries of Reverse Nearest Neighbour (RNN). An RNN query returns all objects that consider the query object as their nearest neighbour. Existing methods mostly rely on a centralised base station. However, mobile P2P systems offer many benefits, including self-organisation, fault-tolerance and load-balancing. In this study, we propose and evaluate 3 distinct P2P algorithms focusing on bichromatic RNN queries, in which mobile query peers and static objects of interest are of two different categories, based on a time-out mechanism and a boundary polygon around the mobile query peers. The Brute-Force Search Algorithm provides a naive approach to exploit shared information among peers whereas two other Boundary Search Algorithms filter a number of peers involved in query processing. The algorithms are evaluated in the MiXiM simulation framework with both real and synthetic datasets. The results show the practical feasibility of the P2P approach for solving bichromatic RNN queries for mobile networks.     

完美需要一点点坚持

"is still designing……"(设计中……)每当Joost van Bleiwijk在MSN上线的时候,都能看到他这段闪烁的签名。荷兰与这里时差7个小时,你却几乎总能在线上找到他,他很忙,工作起来几乎夜以继日。     

Vocal interaction at 3 months and cognitive skills at 12 years.

Measured the differential vocal responsiveness (DVR) of 12 3-mo-old normal firstborn male infants to vocal–visual stimulation by the mother vs a stranger. There was a significant correlation between Ss' DVR at 3 mo of age and their performance at 12 yrs of age on the Verbal subscale of the WISC-R, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and the Reading and Arithmetic subtests of the Wide Range Achievement Test. (1 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gamma irradiation of Aspergillus flavus strains associated with Indonesian nutmeg (Myristica fragrans)

Food Science and Biotechnology - The aims of this work were to investigate the effects of gamma irradiation on population, viability and aflatoxin B1 production of Aspergillus flavus strains...     

Sex differences in vocal interaction with mother and stranger in Greek infants: Some cognitive implications.

Studies in the US rarely find differences in the social–vocal behaviors of male and female infants, and when such differences are found, they favor females. The present study examined whether this pattern would hold true in Greece, where the parental preference for boys over girls could differentially affect rearing behavior. Ss were normal 3-mo-olds, 39 reared by their parents and 25 reared in an institution. Ss' vocal interaction pattern was assessed by differential vocal responsiveness (DVR) to mother/caretaker or a stranger during 3-min social–vocal interactions. Home-reared males had higher DVR scores than home-reared females, whereas no such sex difference was obtained for the institution-reared infants. Also, the affective voice quality rating of mothers talking to their sons was higher than that of mothers talking to their daughters, whereas no such difference existed in the way caretakers talked to the institution-reared infants. Results suggest that early differences in vocal-interactional patterns, and possibly cognitive processing, may be attributable to differences in parental behavior. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Kinetics of enthalpy relaxation of milk protein concentrate powder upon ageing and its effect on solubility

Kinetics of enthalpy relaxation of milk protein concentrate (MPC) powder upon short-term (up to 67 h) storage at 25 °C and a_w 0.85, and long-term (up to 48 days) storage at 25 °C and a range of a_w values (0–0.85) were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The short-term study showed a rapid recovery of enthalpy for the first 48 h, followed by a slower steady increase with time. The non-exponential β parameter was calculated using the Kohlrausch–Williams–Watts function and found to be 0.39. Long-term storage showed that enthalpy relaxation depends on both storage period and water activity. The enthalpy value was much less for lower moisture content (mc) (a_w ? 0.23, mc ? 5.5%) than for higher mc (a_w ? 0.45, mc ? 8%) samples for a particular storage period. The results suggest that the presence of more water molecules, in close proximity to the protein surface facilitates kinetic unfreezing and subsequent motion of molecular segments of protein molecules towards thermodynamic equilibrium. Although de-ageing of stored samples did not reverse storage-induced solubility losses, the timescale of enthalpy relaxation was similar to that of solubility loss. It is suggested that enthalpy relaxation within stored samples allows structural rearrangements that are responsible for subsequent solubility decreases.     

Toward a contingency hypothesis of empathy development.

Found that the empathy level (assessed by a version of the Feshbach and Roe Situational Test for Empathy) of 42 normal 9- and 10-yr-old children from a Greek island was negatively related to their fear of physical punishment from their parents, particularly from their fathers. Low empathy Ss also reported more spanking from and more fear of their fathers than their mothers. Ss whose fathers were away from home for most of the year scored higher in empathy. Results are explained in terms of the relatively distant and ambivalent relationship that Greek children have with their fathers, in contrast to the very positive relationship they have with their mothers. It is therefore suggested that when punishment is delivered by a parent with whom the child has a prior strong positive bonding, such punishment may not be very deleterious to the child's development of empathy. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction method of autoregressive moving average models for uncertain time series

ABSTRACT

Time series analysis is based on the continuous regularity of the development of objective things to predict the next value depending on observed values. Based on time series analysis, we present autoregressive moving average models to predict the next future value for an uncertain time series. In this paper, imprecise observations and disturbance terms are regarded as uncertain variables and assume that the latter are satisfied uncertain normal distribution. The prediction models of uncertain time series are established combining the knowledge of autoregressive model and uncertainty theory. Therefore, the interval range of the next future value is predicted based on the reliability constraint. As an illustration to compare with the numerical examples of the existing prediction method, the innovations and effectiveness of the work are further demonstrated by the computational results.     

Mental health services and the emerging role of psychology in Greece.

Notes that, of the few mental health services available in Greece, those resources that do exist are centralized in large cities and few psychologists are involved. The majority of persons requesting help receive pharmaceutical treatments; psychotherapy and counseling are rare. The present authors discuss how recently psychology is rapidly emerging as a science/profession in Greece. Licensure now is required of most academic psychologists, who are expected to practice as well as teach and do research. Although all Greek psychologists must be trained abroad, this multicultural education provides opportunity for broader theoretical perspectives; however, this same multicultural orientation may also pose difficulties in establishing standards for practice. Current increasing demand for psychological services may result in needed support for training programs within Greece. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)