73 research outputs found
Practical Use of Formal Concept Analysis in Service-Oriented Computing
International audiencePervasive applications are encountered in a number of settings, including smart houses, intelligent buildings or connected plants. Service-Oriented Computing is today the technology of choice for implementing and exposing resources in such environments. The selection of appropriate services at the right moment in order to compose meaningful applications is however a real issue. In this paper, we propose a FCA-based solution to this problem.We have integrated FCA algorithms in our pervasive gateways and adapted them in order to allow efficient runtime selection of heterogeneous and dynamic services. This work has been applied to realistic use cases in the scope of a European project
Thermotolerant isolates of Beauveria bassiana as potential control agent of insect pest in subtropical climates
The use of Beauveria bassiana in biological control of agricultural pests is mainly hampered by environmental factors, such as elevated temperatures and low humidity. These limitations, further amplified in a global warming scenario, could nullify biological control strategies based on this fungus. The identification of thermotolerant B. bassiana isolates represents a possible strategy to overcome this problem. In this study, in order to maximize the probability in the isolation of thermotolerant B. bassiana, soil samples and infected insects were collected in warm areas of Syria. The obtained fungal isolates were tested for different biological parameters (i.e., growth rate, sporulation and spore germination) at growing temperatures ranging from 20\u2daC to 35\u2daC. Among these isolates (eight from insects and 11 from soil samples), the five with the highest growth rate, spore production and germination at 30\u2daC were tested for their entomopathogenicity through in vivo assays on Ephestia kuehniella larvae. Insect mortality induced by the five isolates ranged from 31% to 100%. Two isolates, one from Phyllognathus excavatus and one from soil, caused 50% of the larval mortality in less than four days, reaching values exceeding 92% in ten days. These two isolates were molecularly identified as B. bassiana sensu stricto by using three markers (i.e., ITS, Bloc and EF1-\u3b1). Considering these promising results, further studies are ongoing, testing their efficiency in field conditions as control agents for agricultural insect pests in Mediterranean and Subtropical regions
Distance transform: a tool for the study of animal colour patterns
Summary
The information in animal colour patterns plays a key role in many ecological interactions; quantification would help us to study them, but this is problematic. Comparing patterns using human judgement is subjective and inconsistent. Traditional shape analysis is unsuitable as patterns do not usually contain conserved landmarks. Alternative statistical approaches also have weaknesses, particularly as they are generally based on summary measures that discard most or all of the spatial information in a pattern.
We present a method for quantifying the similarity of a pair of patterns based on the distance transform of a binary image. The method compares the whole pattern, pixel by pixel, while being robust to small spatial variations among images.
We demonstrate the utility of the distance transform method using three ecological examples. We generate a measure of mimetic accuracy between hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) and wasps (Hymenoptera) based on abdominal pattern and show that this correlates strongly with the perception of a model predator (humans). We calculate similarity values within a group of mimetic butterflies and compare this with proposed pairings of MĂŒllerian comimics. Finally, we characterise variation in clypeal badges of a paper wasp (Polistes dominula) and compare this with previous measures of variation.
While our results generally support the findings of existing studies that have used simpler ad hoc methods for measuring differences between patterns, our method is able to detect more subtle variation and hence reveal previously overlooked trends
Sharīʻa, Islamism and Arab support for democracy
The Arab Spring and its aftermath reignited the debate over the relationship between Islamism and democracy. This analysis improves upon previous research by demonstrating the crucial contribution which a more precise understanding of the multiple meanings of the concept of Sharīʻa can have on our assessment of the future of democracy in the Arab world. While support for the Sharīʻa-conformity of laws has a positive impact on the preference for democracy, the insistence that Sharīʻa represents the word of God as opposed to the human attempt to interpret it reduces support for democracy. These findings are of considerable significance for academics and policy-makers interested in the future of democracy in the Arab world as it suggests that generic expressions of support for Sharīʻa are less relevant in explaining support for democracy than what Arab women and men consider to be its essence
South Korea's automotive labour regime, Hyundai Motorsâ global production network and tradeâbased integration with the European Union
This article explores the interrelationship between global production networks(GPNs) and free trade agreements (FTAs) in the South Korean auto industry and its employment relations. It focuses on the production network of the Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) â the third biggest automobile manufacturer in the world â and the FTA between the EU and South Korea. This was the first of the EUâs ânew generationâ FTAs, which among other things contained provisions designed to protect and promote labour standards. The articleâs argument is twofold. First, that HMGâs production network and Koreaâs political economy (of which HMG is a crucial part) limited the possibilities for the FTAâs labour provisions to take effect. Second, that the commercial provisions in this same FTA simultaneously eroded HMGâs domestic market and corporate profitability, leading to adverse consequences for auto workers in the more
insecure and low-paid jobs. In making this argument, the article advances a multiscalar conceptualization of the labour regime as an analytical intermediary between GPNs and FTAs. It also provides one of the first empirical studies of the EUâSouth Korea FTA in terms of employment relations, drawing on 105 interviews with trade unions, employer associations, automobile companies and state officials across both parties
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Consumer acculturation theory: (crossing) conceptual boundaries
Consumer acculturation theorists have developed an insightful body of literature about the ways in which migrants adapt to foreign cultures via consumption. The present paper revisits 14 key studies from this field to highlight its most important contributions, critique its conceptual boundaries, and present cases of conceptual border crossings that indicate an emerging need for a broader conceptualization of the phenomenon. The paper closes by introducing a model that frames consumer acculturation as a complex system of recursive socio-cultural adaptation, and discusses its implications for future research
Comparison of physical fitness between healthy and mildâtoâmoderate asthmatic children with exercise symptoms: A crossâsectional study
.Objective
Asthma is a chronic disease that may affect physical fitness, although its primary effects on exercise capacity, muscle strength, functionality and lifestyle, in children and adolescents, are still poorly understood. This study aimed to evaluate the differences in cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, lifestyle, lung function, and functionality between asthmatics with exercise symptoms and healthy children. In addition, we have analyzed the association between clinical history and the presence of asthma.
Study Design
Cross-sectional study including 71 patients with a diagnosis of asthma and 71 healthy children and adolescents (7â17 years of age). Anthropometric data, clinical history, disease control, lifestyle (KIDMED and physical activity questionnaires), lung function (spirometry), exercise-induced bronchoconstriction test, aerobic fitness (cardiopulmonary exercise test), muscle strength and functionality (timed up and go; timed up and down stairs) were evaluated.
Results
Seventy-one patients with asthma (mean age 11.5â±â2.7) and 71 healthy subjects (mean age 10.7â±â2.5) were included. All asthmatic children had mild to moderate and stable asthma. EIB occurred in 56.3% of asthmatic children. Lung function was significantly (pâ<â.05) lower in the asthmatic group when compared to healthy peers, as well as the cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, lifestyle and functionality. Moreover, asthmatic children were more likely to have atopic dermatitis, allergic reactions, food allergies, and a family history of asthma when compared to healthy children.
Conclusions
Children with mild-to-moderate asthma presenting exercise symptoms show a reduction in cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, lung function, functionality, and lifestyle when compared to healthy peers. The study provides data for pediatricians to support exercise practice aiming to improve prognosis and quality of life in asthmatic children.S
What lies between market and hierarchy? Insights from internalization theory and global value chain theory
In this paper, we suggest that internalization theory might be extended by incorporating complementary insights from GVC theory. More specifically, we argue that internalization theory can explain why lead firms might wish to externalize selected activities, but that it is largely silent on the mechanisms by which those lead firms might exercise control over the resultant externalized relationships with their GVC partners. We advance an explanation linking the choice of control mechanism to two factors: power asymmetries between the lead firms and their GVC partners, and the degree of codifiability of the information to be exchanged in the relationship
An analysis of material consumption culture in the Muslim world
In this paper, we examine the notion of material consumption culture in Islamic societies. We differentiate between institutionalised religion and religion as culture. We contest the Orientalist portrayal of Islam as a fanatic ideology opposed to Western Modernityâs features of secularism, individualism, and pluralism. With reference to the Qurâanic text, we discuss that such qualities are embedded with Islam. We do not interpret the Qurâan from a theological perspective; rather, we seek to demonstrate the possibilities of its multiple interpretations. We argue that, in their everyday life consumption practices, Muslims (re)interpret religious guidelines in different ways and refer to Islam, as a transcendental set of guidelines, to make better sense of their cultural practices in different ways. We summarise our discussion by highlighting the importance of analysing the culture of consumption from the lens of insiders and offer directions for future research
Against the epistemicide. : Itinerant curriculum theory and the reiteration of an epistemology of liberation
Echoing Ettore Scola metaphor âBruti, Sporchi & Cativiâ, this chapter challenges how hegemonic and specific (or so called) counter hegemonic curriculum platforms â so connected with Western Eurocentric Modernity â have been able to colonize the field without any prudency to âfabricateâ and impose a classed, raced and gendered philosophy of praxis, as unique, that drives the field to an ideological surrealism and collective suicide. Such collective suicide framed by a theoretical timesharing unleashed by both dominant and specific counter dominant platforms that tenaciously controlled the circuits of cultural production grooms the field as a ghetto, flooded with rudeness, and miserable ambitions, a theoretical caliphate that wipes out any episteme beyond the Western Eurocentric Modern terrain, insolently droving to sewage of society the needs and desires of students, teachers and the community. Drawing from key decolonial thinkers, this chapter examines the way Western eugenic curriculum of modernity created an abyssal thinking in which âthis sideâ of the line is legitimate and âthe other sideâ has been produced as ânon-existentâ (Sousa Santos B, Another knowledge is possible. Verso, London, 2007). The paper suggests the need to move a post-abyssal curriculum that challenges dominant and counter dominant traditions within âthis sideâ of the line, and respects âthe otherâ side of the line. The paper challenges curriculum studies to assume a non-abyssal position one that respects epistemological diversity. This requires an Itinerant Curriculum Theory (Paraskeva JM, Conflicts in curriculum theory: Challenging hegemonic epistemologies. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2011), which is a commitment and a ruthless epistemological critique of every existing epistemology
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