7,041 research outputs found
A compositional method for reliability analysis of workflows affected by multiple failure modes
We focus on reliability analysis for systems designed as workflow based compositions of components. Components are characterized by their failure profiles, which take into account possible multiple failure modes. A compositional calculus is provided to evaluate the failure profile of a composite system, given failure profiles of the components. The calculus is described as a syntax-driven procedure that synthesizes a workflows failure profile. The method is viewed as a design-time aid that can help software engineers reason about systems reliability in the early stage of development. A simple case study is presented to illustrate the proposed approach
Self-efficacy configurations and wellbeing in the academic context: A person-centred approach
The aim of the present study was to identify self-efficacy configurations in different domains (i.e., emotional, social, and self-regulated learning) in a sample of university students using a person-centred approach. Results from a two-cohort sample (N = 1650) assessed at the beginning of their first year supported a 4-cluster solution: 1) Highly Self-Efficacious students, with high levels of self-efficacy in all domains; 2) Low Self-Efficacious students, with low levels of self-efficacy in all domains; 3) Learning and Socially Self-Efficacious students, with a medium-high level of self-regulated learning, medium level of social, and medium-low level of emotional self-efficacies; and 4) Emotionally Self-Efficacious students, with a medium-high level of emotional, medium-low level of social, and low level of self-regulated learning self-efficacies. The association of these configurations with wellbeing indicators, concurrently and one year later, provides support for the validity of the cluster solution. Specifically, by adopting the informative hypothesis testing approach, results showed that the first and second groups have the best and the worst wellbeing levels, respectively. Furthermore, whereas the other two groups did not differ with respect to depression, Learning and Socially Self-Efficacious students have higher life satisfaction than the last group. These results were confirmed both concurrently and over time
The implicit component of moral disengagement: applying the relational responding task to investigate its relationship with cheating behavior
This article aims to conceptualize, for the first time, an implicit form of moral disengagement and investigate its role in relation to cheating behavior. In line with the implicit social-cognition models, we argue that the implicit moral disengagement would represent an unintentional, automatic, and less accessible form of the mechanisms bypassing the moral self-regulatory system. We anticipate that in situations implying on-the-spot decisions and where individuals might suffer no consequences for the misconduct, the implicit moral disengagement would predict the actual behavior while the explicit moral disengagement would predict self-reported conduct. The results of three empirical studies provide support for the theorization of an implicit moral disengagement and its assessment through a newly developed implicit measurement procedure using the relational responding task. Results of the structural equation models, including both implicit and explicit moral disengagement, demonstrated that only the implicit one was associated with the actual misconduct
Abundances of Stars with Planets: Trends with Condensation Temperature
Precise abundances of 18 elements have been derived for ten stars known to
host giant planets from high signal-to-noise ratio, high-resolution echelle
spectroscopy. Internal uncertainties in the derived abundances are typically
<=0.05 dex. The stars in our sample have all been previously shown to have
abundances that correlate with the condensation temperature (T_c) of the
elements in the sense of increasing abundances with increasing T_c; these
trends have been interpreted as evidence that the stars may have accreted
H-depleted planetary material. Our newly derived abundances also correlate
positively with T_c, although slopes of linear least-square fits to the
[m/H]-T_c relations for all but two stars are smaller here than in previous
studies. When considering the refractory elements (T_c > 900 K) only, which may
be more sensitive to planet formation processes, the sample can be separated
into a group with positive slopes (four stars) and a group with flat or
negative slopes (six stars). The four stars with positive slopes have very
close-in giant planets (three at 0.05 AU) and slopes that fall above the
general Galactic chemical evolution trend. We suggest that these stars have
accreted refractory-rich planet material but not to the extent that would
increase significantly the overall stellar metallicity. The flat or negative
slopes of the remaining six stars are consistent with recent suggestions of a
planet formation signature, although we show that the trends may be the result
of Galactic chemical evolution.Comment: 64 pages (single column), 5 figures, 10 tables. Accepted by Ap
Effects of Circadian Phase Tailored Light Therapy on Sleep, Mood, and Cognition in Alzheimer’s Disease: Preliminary Findings in a Pivotal Study
Asymmetric core combustion in neutron stars and a potential mechanism for gamma ray bursts
We study the transition of nuclear matter to strange quark matter (SQM)
inside neutron stars (NSs). It is shown that the influence of the magnetic
field expected to be present in NS interiors has a dramatic effect on the
propagation of a laminar deflagration (widely studied so far), generating a
strong acceleration of the flame in the polar direction. This results in a
strong asymmetry in the geometry of the just formed core of hot SQM which
resembles a cylinder orientated in the direction of the magnetic poles of the
NS. This geometrical asymmetry gives rise to a bipolar emission of the thermal
neutrino-antineutrino pairs produced in the process of SQM formation. The
neutrino-antineutrino pairs annihilate into electron-positron pairs just above
the polar caps of the NS giving rise to a relativistic fireball, thus providing
a suitable form of energy transport and conversion to gamma emission that may
be associated to short gamma ray bursts (GRBs).Comment: 2 figure
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