Estimating specific inherent optical properties of tropical coastal waters using bio-optical model inversion and in situ measurements: case of the Berau estuary, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

Specific inherent optical properties (SIOP) of the Berau coastal waters were derived from in situ measurements and inversion of an ocean color model. Field measurements of water-leaving reflectance, total suspended matter (TSM), and chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentrations were carried out during the 2007 dry season. The highest values for SIOP were found in the turbid waters, decreasing in value when moving toward offshore waters. The specific backscattering coefficient of TSM varied by an order of magnitude and ranged from 0.003 m2 g-1, for clear open ocean waters, to 0.020 m2 g-1, for turbid waters. On the other hand, the specific absorption coefficient of Chl a was relatively constant over the whole study area and ranged from 0.022 m2 mg-1, for the turbid shallow estuary waters, to 0.027 m2 mg-1, for deeper shelf edge ocean waters. The spectral slope of colored dissolved organic matter light absorption was also derived with values ranging from 0.015 to 0.011 nm-1. These original derived values of SIOP in the Berau estuary form a corner stone for future estimation of TSM and Chl a concentration from remote sensing data in tropical equatorial water

Phenomenology: Basing Knowledge on Appearance

Phenomenology is the study of appearance as such. It is a branch of both Ontology and Epistemology, since appearing is being known. By an ‘appearance’ is meant any existent which impinges on consciousness, anything cognized, irrespective of any judgment as to whether it be ‘real’ or ‘illusory.’ The evaluation of a particular appearance as a reality or an illusion is a complex process, involving inductive and deductive logical principles and activities. Opinion has to earn the status of strict knowledge. Knowledge develops from appearances, which may be: (a) objects of perception, i.e. concrete phenomena in the physical or mental domains; (b) objects of intuition, i.e. one’s subjective self, cognitions, volitions and valuations (non-phenomenal concretes); and/or (c) objects of conception, i.e. simple or complex abstracts of preceding appearances. Abstraction relies on apprehensions of sameness and difference between appearances (including received or projected appearances, and projected negations of appearances). Coherence in knowledge (perceptual, intuitive and conceptual) is maintained by apprehensions of compatibility or incompatibility. Words facilitate our construction of conceptual knowledge, thanks to their intentionality. The abstract concepts most words intend are common characters or behaviors of particulars (concrete material, mental or subjective experiences). Granting everything in the world is reducible to waves, ‘universals’ would be equalities or proportionalities in the measures of the features, motions and interrelations of particular waves. Such a theory of universals would elucidate sensation and memory. In attempting to retrace the development of conceptual knowledge from experience, we may refer to certain major organizing principles. It is also important to keep track of the order of things in such development, interrelating specific concepts and specific experiences. By proposing a precise sequence of events, we avoid certain logical fallacies and are challenged to try and answer certain crucial questions in more detail. Many more topics are discussed in the present collection of essays, including selfhood, adduction and other logical issues, the status of mathematical concepts and theology

Disability and Quality of Life of Community-Dwelling Older People

With the increase of life expectancy, more Malaysian will live to old ages. The rapid ageing of the population is leading to an increasing number of disabled older people as disability is associated with increasing age. The study on the prevalence, risk factors for disability and consequences of disability on quality of life is important in the face of the prevailing ageing population. This study assessed disability prevalence and determined factors that predict disability and quality of life among the older people who lived in the community. In this study, Verbrugge and Jette’s model of disablement process has been used as a conceptual frame of reference. Data from the Mental Health and Quality of Life of Older Malaysians Survey (MHQoLOM) were used in this study, which was a national survey conducted from 2003 through 2005 that employed a cross-sectional design. A multi-stage proportional stratified sample of 2980 older persons living in the community in Malaysia, ranging in age from 60 to 104 years were interviewed in the respondent’s home. Statistical procedures for the analyses included descriptive statistics, univariate logistic regression and multivariate logistic regression. The prevalence of disability in at least one of the activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) items was 22.8 percent. Higher prevalence of disability was observed in older women (31%) compared to older men (14.5%). The predictors for disability in men were age, ethnicity, marital status, self-rated health, heart disease, eye disorder and functional limitation. While age, ethnicity, marital status, smoking, self-rated health, respiratory disorders and functional limitation predicted disability in women. Increasing age, being of the other ethnicity compared with the Malay for men and being of Indian ethnicity compared to the Malay for women, being unmarried, poor self-rated health and functional limitations increased the risk of disability in both men and women. The predictors of perceived good quality of life for men were ethnicity, education, income, urban/rural residence, physical activity and self-rated health. Among women, ethnicity, self-rated health and functional limitation predicted perceived good quality of life. Being of Indian and Chinese ethnicity compared to the Malay were associated with reduced perceived good quality of life for both men and women, while being of Bumiputera and other ethnicity compared to the Malay increased the odds of perceived good quality of life among men. Very poor self-rated health compared to excellent self-rated health was associated with lower perceived good quality of life in both men and women. These findings confirmed the independent contribution of risk factors, medical conditions or disease, and functional limitation in the disablement process. The examination of perceived quality of life in relation to the disablement process indicated that risk factors and functional limitation contributed to lower perceived good quality of life. The findings of the study will be relevant for program development to improve functional abilities and to minimize risk factors by early intervention, improve or maintain the quality of life of older people and to promote the use of appropriate health and social resources. Moreover, policy makers and service providers could effectively focus on those factors that are crucial in maintaining functional ability and quality of life of the older Malaysians

An Ontology Based Method to Solve Query Identifier Heterogeneity in Post-Genomic Clinical Trials

The increasing amount of information available for biomedical research has led to issues related to knowledge discovery in large collections of data. Moreover, Information Retrieval techniques must consider heterogeneities present in databases, initially belonging to different domains—e.g. clinical and genetic data. One of the goals, among others, of the ACGT European is to provide seamless and homogeneous access to integrated databases. In this work, we describe an approach to overcome heterogeneities in identifiers inside queries. We present an ontology classifying the most common identifier semantic heterogeneities, and a service that makes use of it to cope with the problem using the described approach. Finally, we illustrate the solution by analysing a set of real queries

Management of germ cell tumors in children: Approaches to cure

The introduction of cisplatinum chemotherapy and current advances in the surgical treatment have resulted in a dramatic improvement of the prognosis of children with malignant germ cell tumors (GCT). Cisplatinum chemotherapy generally results in sufficient systemic tumor control, but local relapses may still occur in patients who did not receive adequate local treatment. Therefore, the therapeutic consideration must take into account age, primary site of the tumor, and its histology. In gonadal tumors, there is a high chance of primary complete resection since these tumors tend to be encapsulated, and particularly testicular GCT are often detected at a low tumor stage. In contrast, a primary complete resection may be impossible in large nongonadal tumors such as sacrococcygeal or mediastinal GCT. In these tumors, a neoadjuvant or pre-operative chemotherapy after clinical diagnosis by imaging and evaluation of tumor markers significantly facilitates complete resection on delayed surgery. In addition, the impact of chemotherapy on local tumor control may be enhanced by locoregional hyperthermia. In most intracranial GCT complete resection is impossible and may be associated with significant morbidity. Nevertheless, biopsy is essential for diagnosis in nonsecreting tumors. In intracranial GCT, radiotherapy significantly contributes to local tumor control, and doses are stratified according to histology. These general considerations have been integrated into national and international cooperative treatment protocols. In most current protocols, treatment is stratified according to an initial risk assessment that includes the parameters age, site, histology, stage, completeness of resection and the tumor markers alpha(1)-fetoprotein (AFP) and human choriogonadotropin (beta-HCG). With such modern protocols overall cure rates above 80% can be achieved. Moreover, the previously high-risk groups may now expect a favorable prognosis with this risk-adapted treatment, whereas an increasing number of low-risk patients are treated expectantly or with significantly reduced chemotherapy. As current biologic studies reveal distinct genetic patterns in childhood GCT, it can be expected that further combined clinical and genetic studies will be valuable for risk assessment of childhood GCT

What are Benefits and Pitfalls of Using Technical Selection Tests During the Hiring Process?

[Excerpt] Talent Acquisition departments are the frontline soldiers in the war for talent. Selection tests and simulations are common mechanisms by which firm’s filter through potential job candidates. Nevertheless, a 2017 Deloitte survey reported that 71% of firms believed they were weak in their ability to use these tools effectively. Using assessments is a balancing act between false positives (hiring the wrong candidate) and false negatives (rejecting the right candidate). As such it is important to understand the benefits and pitfalls. This is especially true with technical assessments for coders and programmers

Medulloblastoma has a global impact on health related quality of life: Findings from an international cohort

BACKGROUND: Understanding the global impact of medulloblastoma on health related quality of life (HRQL) is critical to characterizing the broad impact of this disease and realizing the benefits of modern treatments. We evaluated HRQL in an international cohort of pediatric medulloblastoma patients. METHODS: Seventy-six patients were selected from 10 sites across North America, Europe, and Asia, who participated in the Medulloblastoma Advanced Genomics International Consortium (MAGIC). The Health Utilities Index (HUI) was administered to patients and/or parents at each site. Responses were used to determine overall HRQL and attributes (ie specific subdomains). The impact of various demographic and medical variables on HRQL was considered-including molecular subgroup. RESULTS: The majority of patients reported having moderate or severe overall burden of morbidity for both the HUI2 and HUI3 (HUI2 = 60%; HUI3 = 72.1%) when proxy-assessed. Self-care in the HUI2 was rated as higher (ie better outcome) for patients from Western versus Eastern sites, P = .02. Patients with nonmetastatic status had higher values (ie better outcomes) for the HUI3 hearing, HUI3 pain, and HUI2 pain, all P \u3c .05. Patients treated with a gross total resection also had better outcomes for the HUI3 hearing (P = .04). However, those who underwent a gross total resection reported having worse outcomes on the HUI3 vision (P = .02). No differences in HRQL were evident as a function of subgroup. CONCLUSIONS: By examining an international sample of survivors, we characterized the worldwide impact of medulloblastoma. This is a critical first step in developing global standards for evaluating long-term outcomes

I-O Psychology in Aotearoa, New Zealand: A world away?

Industrial-organizational psychology has had a fairly long history in this country, dating back to around the 1920s (Jamieson & Paterson, 1993). To a large extent the field developed initially within universities, although the focus of I-O psychologists’ activities in this country has always been very applied. Inclusion of I-O psychology in university curricula originally started at the University of Canterbury (in the south island) and then Massey University (in the north island); now two other universities (University of Auckland and University of Waikato, both in the north island) also provide training programs in the field. There are about a dozen academics in psychology departments who would consider themselves to be I-O psychologists, and a small handful in management or HRM departments. Clearly the number of academics specializing in this field is very small. Although this poses challenges for the development of I-O psychology in Aotearoa New Zealand, at the same time it helps communication among us

Computable Rationality, NUTS, and the Nuclear Leviathan

This paper explores how the Leviathan that projects power through nuclear arms exercises a unique nuclearized sovereignty. In the case of nuclear superpowers, this sovereignty extends to wielding the power to destroy human civilization as we know it across the globe. Nuclearized sovereignty depends on a hybrid form of power encompassing human decision-makers in a hierarchical chain of command, and all of the technical and computerized functions necessary to maintain command and control at every moment of the sovereign's existence: this sovereign power cannot sleep. This article analyzes how the form of rationality that informs this hybrid exercise of power historically developed to be computable. By definition, computable rationality must be able to function without any intelligible grasp of the context or the comprehensive significance of decision-making outcomes. Thus, maintaining nuclearized sovereignty necessarily must be able to execute momentous life and death decisions without the type of sentience we usually associate with ethical individual and collective decisions