GRDB: A general purpose relational database system

This article discusses the design and development of GRDB (General Purpose Relational Data Base System) which has been implemented on a DEC-1090 system in Pascal. GRDB is a general purpose database system designed to be completely independent of the nature of data to be handled, since it is not tailored to the specific requirements of any particular enterprise. It can handle different types of data such as variable length records and textual data. Apart from the usual database facilities such as data definition and data manipulation, GRDB supports User Definition Language (UDL) and Security definition language. These facilities are provided through a SEQUEL-like General Purpose Query Language (GQL). GRDB provides adequate protection facilities up to the relation level. The concept of “security matrix” has been made use of to provide database protection. The concept of Unique IDentification number (UID) and Password is made use of to ensure user identification and authentication. The concept of static integrity constraints has been used to ensure data integrity. Considerable efforts have been made to improve the response time through indexing on the data files and query optimisation. GRDB is designed for an interactive use but alternate provision has been made for its use through batch mode also. A typical Air Force application (consisting of data about personnel, inventory control, and maintenance planning) has been used to test GRDB and it has been found to perform satisfactorily.

On Toponymic Constructions as an Alternative to Naming Patterns in Describing Finnish Lake Names

This thesis combines a computational analysis of a comprehensive corpus of Finnish lake names with a theoretical background in cognitive linguistics. The combination results on the one hand in a description of the toponymic system and the processes involved in analogy-based naming and on the other hand some adjustments to Construction Grammar. Finnish lake names are suitable for this kind of study, as they are to a large extent semantically transparent even when relatively old. There is also a large number of them, and they are comprehensively collected in a computer database. The current work starts with an exploratory computational analysis of co-location patterns between different lake names. Such an analysis makes it possible to assess the importance of analogy and patterns in naming. Prior research has suggested that analogy plays an important role, often also in cases where there are other motivations for the name, and the current study confirms this. However, it also appears that naming patterns are very fuzzy and that their nature is somewhat hard to define in an essentially structuralist tradition. In describing toponymic structure and the processes involved in naming, cognitive linguistics presents itself as a promising theoretical basis. The descriptive formalism of Construction Grammar seems especially well suited for the task. However, now productivity becomes a problem: it is not nearly as clear-cut as the latter theory often assumes, and this is even more apparent in names than in more traditional linguistic material. The varying degree of productivity is most naturally described by a prototype-based theory. Such an approach, however, requires some adjustments to onstruction Grammar. Based on all this, the thesis proposes a descriptive model where a new name -- or more generally, a new linguistic expression -- can be formed by conceptual integration from either a single prior example or a construction generalised from a number of different prior ones. The new model accounts nicely for various aspects of naming that are problematic for the traditional description based on analogy and patterns.

Feature integration in human vision

The earliest stages of human cortical visual processing can be conceived as extraction of local stimulus features. However, more complex visual functions, such as object recognition, require integration of multiple features. Recently, neural processes underlying feature integration in the visual system have been under intensive study. A specialized mid-level stage preceding the object recognition stage has been proposed to account for the processing of contours, surfaces and shapes as well as configuration. This thesis consists of four experimental, psychophysical studies on human visual feature integration. In two studies, classification image a recently developed psychophysical reverse correlation method was used. In this method visual noise is added to near-threshold stimuli. By investigating the relationship between random features in the noise and observer s perceptual decision in each trial, it is possible to estimate what features of the stimuli are critical for the task. The method allows visualizing the critical features that are used in a psychophysical task directly as a spatial correlation map, yielding an effective "behavioral receptive field". Visual context is known to modulate the perception of stimulus features. Some of these interactions are quite complex, and it is not known whether they reflect early or late stages of perceptual processing. The first study investigated the mechanisms of collinear facilitation, where nearby collinear Gabor flankers increase the detectability of a central Gabor. The behavioral receptive field of the mechanism mediating the detection of the central Gabor stimulus was measured by the classification image method. The results show that collinear flankers increase the extent of the behavioral receptive field for the central Gabor, in the direction of the flankers. The increased sensitivity at the ends of the receptive field suggests a low-level explanation for the facilitation. The second study investigated how visual features are integrated into percepts of surface brightness. A novel variant of the classification image method with brightness matching task was used. Many theories assume that perceived brightness is based on the analysis of luminance border features. Here, for the first time this assumption was directly tested. The classification images show that the perceived brightness of both an illusory Craik-O Brien-Cornsweet stimulus and a real uniform step stimulus depends solely on the border. Moreover, the spatial tuning of the features remains almost constant when the stimulus size is changed, suggesting that brightness perception is based on the output of a single spatial frequency channel. The third and fourth studies investigated global form integration in random-dot Glass patterns. In these patterns, a global form can be immediately perceived, if even a small proportion of random dots are paired to dipoles according to a geometrical rule. In the third study the discrimination of orientation structure in highly coherent concentric and Cartesian (straight) Glass patterns was measured. The results showed that the global form was more efficiently discriminated in concentric patterns. The fourth study investigated how form detectability depends on the global regularity of the Glass pattern. The local structure was either Cartesian or curved. It was shown that randomizing the local orientation deteriorated the performance only with the curved pattern. The results give support for the idea that curved and Cartesian patterns are processed in at least partially separate neural systems.

Comment on “path integration of a quadratic action with a generalized memory

Using the promeasure technique, we give an alternative evaluation of a path integral corresponding to a quadratic action with a generalized memory.

Stress and Resilience in Combat-Related PTSD: Integration of Psychological Theory and Biological Mechanisms

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating psychiatric disorder that has a major impact on the ability to function effectively in daily life. PTSD may develop as a response to exposure to an event or events perceived as potentially harmful or life-threatening. It has high prevalence rates in the community, especially among vulnerable groups such as military personnel or those in emergency services. Despite extensive research in this field, the underlying mechanisms of the disorder remain largely unknown. The identification of risk factors for PTSD has posed a particular challenge as there can be delays in onset of the disorder, and most people who are exposed to traumatic events will not meet diagnostic criteria for PTSD. With the advent of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM V), the classification for PTSD has changed from an anxiety disorder into the category of stress- and trauma-related disorders. This has the potential to refocus PTSD research on the nature of stress and the stress response relationship. This review focuses on some of the important findings from psychological and biological research based on early models of stress and resilience. Improving our understanding of PTSD by investigating both genetic and psychological risk and coping factors that influence stress response, as well as their interaction, may provide a basis for more effective and earlier intervention.

Development of a New Zealand database of plant virus and virus-like organisms.

The recent 8th Australasian plant virology workshop in Rotorua, New Zealand, discussed the development of a New Zealand database of plant virus and virus-like organisms. Key points of discussion included: (i) the purpose of such a database; (ii) who would benefit from the information in a database; (iii) the scope of a database and its associated collections; (iv) database information and format; and (v) potential funding of such a database. From the workshop and further research, we conclude that the preservation and verification of specimens within the collections and the development of a New Zealand database of plant virus and virus-like organisms is essential. Such a collection will help to fulfil statutory requirements in New Zealand and assist in fulfilling international obligations under the International Plant Protection Convention. Sustaining such a database will assist New Zealand virologists and statutory bodies to undertake scientifically sound research. Establishing reliable records and an interactive database will help to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses of diseases caused by plant viruses and virus-like organisms. Detection of new incursions and their diagnosis will be further enhanced by the use of such reference collections and their associated database. Connecting and associating this information to similar overseas databases would assist international collaborations and allow access to the latest taxonomic and diagnostic resources. Associated scientists working in the areas of plant breeding, export phytosanitary assurance and in the area of the conservation estate would also benefit from access to verified specimens of plant viruses and virus-like organisms. We conclude that funding of a New Zealand database of virus and virus-like organisms and its associated collections should be based partly on Crown funds, as it is a nationally significant biological resource.

Integration of clinical information systems in Saudi Arabian health care contexts: A grounded theory exploration

This research examined the implementation of clinical information system technology in a large Saudi Arabian health care organisation. The research was underpinned by symbolic interactionism and grounded theory methods informed data collection and analysis. Observations, a review of policy documents and 38 interviews with registered nurses produced in-depth data. Analysis generated three abstracted concepts that explained how imported technology increased practice and health care complexity rather than enhance quality patient care. The core category, Disseminating Change, also depicted a hierarchical and patriarchal culture that shaped the implementation process at the levels of government, organisation and the individual.

Performance Study of a Centralized Concurrency Control Algorithm for Distributed Database Systems using SIMULA

The stimulation technique has gained much importance in the performance studies of Concurrency Control (CC) algorithms for distributed database systems. However, details regarding the simulation methodology and implementation are seldom mentioned in the literature. One objective of this paper is to elaborate the simulation methodology using SIMULA. Detailed studies have been carried out on a centralised CC algorithm and its modified version. The results compare well with a previously reported study on these algorithms. Here, additional results concerning the update intensiveness of transactions and the degree of conflict are obtained. The degree of conflict is quantitatively measured and it is seen to be a useful performance index. Regression analysis has been carried out on the results, and an optimisation study using the regression model has been performed to minimise the response time. Such a study may prove useful for the design of distributed database systems.

DAQ00129 Improving the Integration of Legumes in Grain and Sugarcane Farming Systems in Southern Queensland

The farming systems and agribusinesses of the inland Burnett and southern coastal cropping regions of Queensland are becoming increasingly interlinked as grain legume crops, a key component of dryland cropping systems, become more firmly entrenched in the coastal sugarcane cropping areas. Soybeans, peanuts and possibly winter cereals like barley have a real and demonstrated role in sugarcane rotations, and assistance with the integration of those crops into viable and sustainable cropping systems with sugarcane will be critical to the futuer development of these industries.

CRC27012 A National Diagnostic Database for Emergency Plant Pests

Development of a national diagnostic database for Emergency Plant Pests which will be web-accessible.

Recognition And Top-Down Generation Of Beta-Acyclic Database Schemes

Database schemes can be viewed as hypergraphs with individual relation schemes corresponding to the edges of a hypergraph. Under this setting, a new class of "acyclic" database schemes was recently introduced and was shown to have a claim to a number of desirable properties. However, unlike the case of ordinary undirected graphs, there are several unequivalent notions of acyclicity of hypergraphs. Of special interest among these are agr-, beta-, and gamma-, degrees of acyclicity, each characterizing an equivalence class of desirable properties for database schemes, represented as hypergraphs. In this paper, two complementary approaches to designing beta-acyclic database schemes have been presented. For the first part, a new notion called "independent cycle" is introduced. Based on this, a criterion for beta-acyclicity is developed and is shown equivalent to the existing definitions of beta-acyclicity. From this and the concept of the dual of a hypergraph, an efficient algorithm for testing beta-acyclicity is developed. As for the second part, a procedure is evolved for top-down generation of beta-acyclic schemes and its correctness is established. Finally, extensions and applications of ideas are described.

Better integration of crop-legume sequencing under limited water

It is proposed that over 4-5 years of study period, multiple collaborative sites will be established with on-farm cooperators to demonstrate better integration of crop-legume sequencing for improved root growth and functioning under limited water, leading to improved productivity and carbon sequestration, and reduced runoff and deep drainage losses.

DAQ00083 Integration of biopesticides into IPM against sucking pests

Develop and evaluate novel fungal biopesticides.

A bottom-up integration of vision and actions to create cognitive humanoids

In recent years more and more complex humanoid robots have been developed. On the other hand programming these systems has become more difficult. There is a clear need for such robots to be able to adapt and perform certain tasks autonomously, or even learn by themselves how to act. An important issue to tackle is the closing of the sensorimotor loop. Especially when talking about humanoids the tight integration of perception with actions will allow for improved behaviours, embedding adaptation on the lower-level of the system.