Study of natural formation and anthropogenic change in soils for sustainable land-use

In this work, we have presented an approach to rational territorial organization of the environment with the aim of harmonizing natural, economic and socio-demographic processes. Successive stages of the action for the development of basin nature management projects are proposed by us. Design technology rational land use is implemented for one of the small river basi

Motivation to become an entrepreneur: a study of Nigerian women's decisions

Purpose – The paper aims to draw on rational choice theory (RCT) to explore factors underpinning the decision by female entrepreneurs in Nigeria to enter self-employment. Design/methodology/approach – A survey research design involving the use of questionnaire and structured interviews to obtain primary data was adopted. Primary data pertain to 300 female entrepreneurs currently engaged in their businesses in three states within the south-west of the country. A model developed from reviewed literature and multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyse data. Findings – Findings suggest the significance of “educational” and “family” capital, an “internal” orientation to social recognition as well as an “external” environment characterised by deregulation of the economy. Results broadly conform to RCT theory postulates of rational behaviour. Research limitations/implications – Inter-regional variances could not be addressed since the data are analysed in aggregate. Analysis of disaggregate data are required to study these differences and also those at the inter-sector (manufacturing/services, etc.) levels. Practical implications – Results from the study indicate that the government measures such as de-regulation which may as yet be in small measures have started to work and that these should be continued. The government can go a step further and identify entrepreneurs with characteristics described in this paper and provide them with the requisite help to get them started on the entrepreneurship route. Originality/value – The study makes a theoretical contribution by applying the lens of rational choice to this specific context. It also makes an original empirical contribution by focussing on an under-researched group by examining the influence of personal, social, market and environmental factors on the probability of females becoming entrepreneur

Kleine Gaben für große Götter

We are working on the development and design of an approach to agents that can reason, react to the environment and are able to update their own knowledge as a result of new incoming information. In the resulting framework, rational, reactive agents can dynamically change their own knowledge bases as well as their own goals. An agent can make observations, learn new facts and new rules from the environment, and then update its knowledge accordingly. The knowledge base of an agent and its updating mechanism has been implemented in Logic Programming. The agent’s framework is implemented in Java. This aim of this thesis is to design and implement an architecture of a reactive, rational agent in both Java and Prolog and to test the interaction between the rational part and the reactive part of the agent. The agent architecture is called RR-agent and consists of six more or less components, four implemented in Java and the other two are implemented in XSB Prolog. The result of this thesis is the ground for the paper “An architecture of a rational, reactive agent” by P. DellAcqua, M. Engberg, L.M. Pereira that has been submitted

Cell organization in soft media due to active mechanosensing

Adhering cells actively probe the mechanical properties of their environment and use the resulting information to position and orient themselves. We show that a large body of experimental observations can be consistently explained from one unifying principle, namely that cells strengthen contacts and cytoskeleton in the direction of large effective stiffness. Using linear elasticity theory to model the extracellular environment, we calculate optimal cell organization for several situations of interest and find excellent agreement with experiments for fibroblasts, both on elastic substrates and in collagen gels: cells orient in the direction of external tensile strain, they orient parallel and normal to free and clamped surfaces, respectively, and they interact elastically to form strings. Our method can be applied for rational design of tissue equivalents. Moreover our results indicate that the concept of contact guidance has to be reevaluated. We also suggest that cell-matrix contacts are upregulated by large effective stiffness in the environment because in this way, build-up of force is more efficient.Comment: Revtex, 7 pages, 4 Postscript files include

Inflation Expectations and Monetary Policy Design: Evidence from the Laboratory (Replaces CentER DP 2009-007)

Using laboratory experiments within a New Keynesian macro framework, we explore the formation of inflation expectations and its interaction with monetary policy design. The central question in this paper is how to design monetary policy in the environment characterized by heterogeneous expectations. Rules that use actual rather than forecasted inflation produce lower inflation variability and alleviate expectational cycles. Degree of responsiveness to deviations of inflation from its target in the Taylor rule produces nonlinear effects on inflation variability. We also provide considerable support for the existence of heterogeneity of inflation expectations and show that a significant proportion of subjects are rational in our experiment. However, most subjects rather than using a single model they tend to switch between alternative models.Laboratory Experiments;Inflation Expectations;New Keynesian Model;Monetary Policy Design

Response of pile-guided floats subjected to dynamic loading

Pile-guided floats can be a desirable alternative to stationary berthing structures. Both floats and guide piles are subjected to time varying (dynamic) forces such as wind-generated waves and impacts from vessels. There is little design information available concerning the dynamic load environment to which the floats will be subjected. So far, the most widely acceptable method used in offshore structure design is the Kinetic Energy Method (KEM). It is a simplified method that is based on the conservation of energy. This approach is straightforward and easy to implement. However, in spite of its simplicity and straightforwardness, the method lacks accuracy. The intent of this project is to develop a rational basis for estimating the dynamic response of floating pile-guided structures, providing necessary insight into design requirements of the guide-piles. In this study, the Dynamic Analysis Method (DAM) will be used to model the dynamic responses of the system. MATLAB codes are written to help calculate the analytic and numerical values obtained from the dynamic models. For the purpose of validation, results from the two systems should be compared to a comprehensive dynamic analysis model created with the ANSYS AQWA Software

The pathogenesis of Acanthamoeba infections: current status and future implications

Acanthamoeba are opportunistic protozoan parasites that can cause painful, visionthreatening keratitis. However the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of Acanthamoeba keratitis remain incompletely understood. Most cases of Acanthamoeba keratitis develop as a result of poor hygiene in contact lens care but it is unclear how amoebae transmigrate from the environment into the cornea leading to inflammation, photophobia and blindness. Acanthamoeba keratitis has become increasingly important in the past few decades due to increasing populations of contact lens users. The mechanisms associated with the pathogenesis of Acanthamoeba are highly complex, depending on the virulence properties of the parasite, host susceptibility and the environmental conditions. Complete understanding of Acanthamoeba pathogenesis and its associated risks factors should allow us to design strategies for disease prevention and for the rational development of therapeutic interventions against these devastating infections. Acanthamoeba keratitis has become a significant problem in recent years, especially in contact lens wearers exposed to contaminated water

Monitoring and analysis of data from complex systems

Some of the methods, systems, and prototypes that have been tested for monitoring and analyzing the data from several spacecraft and vehicles at the Marshall Space Flight Center are introduced. For the Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC) infrastructure, the Marshall Integrated Support System (MISS) provides a migration path to the state-of-the-art workstation environment. Its modular design makes it possible to implement the system in stages on multiple platforms without the need for all components to be in place at once. The MISS provides a flexible, user-friendly environment for monitoring and controlling orbital payloads. In addition, new capabilities and technology may be incorporated into MISS with greater ease. The use of information systems technology in advanced prototype phases, as adjuncts to mainline activities, is used to evaluate new computational techniques for monitoring and analysis of complex systems. Much of the software described (specially, HSTORESIS (Hubble Space Telescope Operational Readiness Expert Safemode Investigation System), DRS (Device Reasoning Shell), DART (Design Alternatives Rational Tool), elements of the DRA (Document Retrieval Assistant), and software for the PPS (Peripheral Processing System) and the HSPP (High-Speed Peripheral Processor)) is available with supporting documentation, and may be applicable to other system monitoring and analysis applications