Asymptotic Giant Branch Variables in the Galaxy and the Local Group

AGB variables, particularly the large amplitude Mira type, are a vital step on the distance scale ladder. They will prove particularly important in the era of space telescopes and extremely large ground-based telescopes with adaptive optics, which will be optimized for infrared observing. Our current understanding of the distances to these stars is reviewed with particular emphasis on improvements that came from Hipparcos as well as on recent work on Local Group galaxies. In addition to providing the essential calibration for extragalactic distances Gaia may also provide unprecedented insight into the poorly understood mass-loss process itself.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science. From a presentation at the conference "The Fundamental Cosmic Distance Scale: State of the Art and Gaia Perspective, Naples May 2011. 8 Pages, 9 Figure

MEMBERS' FINANCIAL EVALUATION AND COOPERATIVES' DECISION PROCESSES

The paper presents an analysis of cooperative investment decision based on the coalition theoretical framework (Staatz 1983, 1987, 1989). According to this framework, cooperatives can be considered as coalitions of groups with different interests. The behavior of any cooperative is determined by the interaction of its many groups (different types of farmers, managers, lenders, input suppliers, buyers, etc.) with different objectives. The group that can impose its will on the coalition will determine the cooperative's strategy. The other parties may accept this leadership, leave the cooperative or try to use their bargaining power to modify the final outcome. The paper discusses the impact of group bargaining on cooperatives' decision process. In particular, the paper addresses the issues related to the consequences of members' heterogeneity on cooperative efficiency. The proposed model utilizes tools from financial theory already successfully applied in the literature (Peterson 1992, Hendrikse 1998) providing a more detailed insight into the determinants of the cooperative decision process. The paper shows that cooperatives evaluate investments differently from IOFs due to the unique characteristics of their patrons compared to other types of investors.Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance,

Detection of interictal discharges with convolutional neural networks using discrete ordered multichannel intracranial EEG

Detection algorithms for electroencephalography (EEG) data, especially in the field of interictal epileptiform discharge (IED) detection, have traditionally employed handcrafted features which utilised specific characteristics of neural responses. Although these algorithms achieve high accuracy, mere detection of an IED holds little clinical significance. In this work, we consider deep learning for epileptic subjects to accommodate automatic feature generation from intracranial EEG data, while also providing clinical insight. Convolutional neural networks are trained in a subject independent fashion to demonstrate how meaningful features are automatically learned in a hierarchical process. We illustrate how the convolved filters in the deepest layers provide insight towards the different types of IEDs within the group, as confirmed by our expert clinicians. The morphology of the IEDs found in filters can help evaluate the treatment of a patient. To improve the learning of the deep model, moderately different score classes are utilised as opposed to binary IED and non-IED labels. The resulting model achieves state of the art classification performance and is also invariant to time differences between the IEDs. This study suggests that deep learning is suitable for automatic feature generation from intracranial EEG data, while also providing insight into the dat

Peningkatan Sikap Moderat Remaja Melalui IPNU-IPPNU di Desa Bekiring

Along with the emergence of complaints and problems faced by the NU Branch Management and the community in Bekiring Village, Pulung regarding increasing and strengthening the moderate attitude of youth who are not facilitated. From this, a solution emerged so that teenagers could be facilitated by how the moderate attitude of teenagers increased and became stronger, namely by forming an organized organization under the auspices of the Nahdlatul 'Ulama which is commonly called the Nahdlatul 'Ulama Student Association (IPNU) and the Nahdlatul 'Ulama Female Student Association (IPPNU). This program was assisted and accompanied by participants in the Community Service Lecture (KPM) group 3 of INSURI Ponorogo. This organization can become a bridge to improve and strengthen the moderate attitude of youth in Bekiring Village, which is the hope of the NU Branch Management and the local community. The methodology used in this program is through the coaching and actualization stages. Coaching is carried out by providing insight and understanding of organization, national insight and moderate attitudes among Jam'iyyah Nahdlatul 'Ulama. The results of increasing the moderate attitude of teenagers in this program can be seen from how the process is carried out during the coaching period and providing insight about moderation. And it can be concluded that the provision of guidance and insight into moderate attitudes can increase the moderate attitude of youth through the IPNU-IPPNU forum in Bekiring Village

Focus Group Initiative: Increase Student Participation in Program Planning and Evaluation

The purpose of this paper is to gain a better insight into nursing student participation in governance activities of St. Catherine University Associate Degree Nursing Program. The Associate Degree Nursing Program (ADNP) has lacked student input into governance activities, and is missing a process to engage student input. Qualitative research was conducted to ascertain ways to improve student participation in program governance activities. The author completed two pilot focus groups with one cohort of ADNP students to test the process and determine feasibility throughout the program during fall term of 2010. The author took the results from that process to improve the method of data collection. Three focus groups were completed during fall term of 2010 and five during winter term 2011. There was at least one focus group for each cohort of students in the ADNP. Focus groups allowed the researcher to gain rich data about student perceptions of the course of study, providing a venue for participation in program planning and evaluation. The process also afforded the opportunity to ask students if they would participate in governance activities and if there were barriers to involvement that faculty might address. When evaluating the focus group data, the author analyzed both themes and outlier comments. The analysis mainly considered the student group comments as a whole, but occasionally data demanded immediate action for individual student needs

The national Swedish value of time study

In Sweden, cost benefit evaluations have been part of the planning process for many years. In these cost benefit evaluations, the value of time plays an important role. This project aims at providing VoT’s for new guidelines for project evaluation. A more general aim of the study is to provide more insight in VoT issues, especially for business trips. The Hensher formula was used for calculation of the VoT’s for business trips. But as the aim was to look deeper into business trips, it was decided to extract samples also for behaviour values and for the group of self-employed persons. The project was carried out in Sweden 1994/95. It is concentrated to regional and long distance trips, since they will be the most important trip types in the evaluation work. Approximately 5000 interviews were completed

Pragmatic Awareness of Japanese EFL Learners in Relation to Individual Differences: A Cluster Analytic Approach

This study investigated the relationships between pragmatic awareness and learner types drawn from pro les of learners’ motivation and pro ciency, thus providing insight into the interplay of learner factors in contrast to previous studies describing the relationships between single variables. In addition to a modi ed replication of Bardovi-Harlig and Dörnyei’s (1998) study in the Japanese EFL context, this study incorporated measures of motivation based on Self-Determination Theory and learners’ pro ciency. Cluster analysis sorted 69 Japanese EFL learners into three distinct subgroups based on their con guration of motivation and pro ciency; in particular, they differed on their levels of intrinsic motivation and pro ciency. Their pragmatic awareness was later compared by use of one-way ANOVA. The results illustrated that two groups with more self-determined motivation showed sharper perception of pragmatic inappropriateness than the group with lower intrinsic motivation, even though its pro ciency was higher. Based on the “noticing hypothesis” (Schmidt, 1995), we propose that intrinsically motivated learners are likely to process L2 pragmatic input at the level of ‘understanding,’ whereas those with lower motivational pro les only ‘notice the form’ but do not process it at the ‘understanding’ level. Proficiency is not in itself a suffcient condition for enabling ‘understanding.

Preservice teachers' reflections on professional education : a synthetic rendition

The purpose of this investigation was to do an in-depth case study of the reflections of a select group of students during the first professional component of their teacher education program in middle grades mathematics education. More specifically, this study explored the themes, patterns, unique differences, and omissions of their reflections (a) on themselves personally, (b) on themselves as learners, (c) on themselves as preservice teachers, (d) on the learning-teaching process, and (e) on their views of emerging adolescents as students. Data were obtained from five preservice teachers through interviews, journals, and course papers. A technique of "synthetic rendition" was devised to create a composite Interpretation of each series of interviews. The purpose of this technique was to present reconstructed "interviews" in a way that maintained the integrity of the participant's verbal expression while providing the reader with insight into the "voice" of the participant