Xmds: eXtensible multi-dimensional simulator

A software package that efficiently solves a comprehensive range of problems based on coupled complex nonlinear stochastic ODEs and PDEs is outlined. Its input and output syntax is formulated as a subset of XML, thus making a step towards a standard for specifying numerical simulations.

Intellectual origins of welfare dependency

'Welfare dependency' has become a key term in policy debate in the United States and, more recently, Australia. In this article I explore the intellectual origins of the term, looking specifically at the writings of George Gilder and Charles Murray, two commentators whose (often polemically presented) ideas were influential within the Reagan Administration and have been at the forefront of a conservative renewal in welfare debate generally. Although others have subsequently refined some of their arguments and proposals, the authors' central claim that welfare causes dependency and thus unemployment and poverty - and that welfare reform therefore needs to focus on changing the behaviour of welfare recipients rather than providing employment opportunities - has had a lasting political impact, in Australia as much as in the US.

Some vocabulary and grammar for the analysis of multi-environment trials, as applied to the analysis of FPB and PPB trials

For the improvement of genetic material suitable for on farm use under low-input conditions, participatory and formal plant breeding strategies are frequently presented as competing options. A common frame of reference to phrase mechanisms and purposes related to breeding strategies will facilitate clearer descriptions of similarities and differences between participatory plant breeding and formal plant breeding. In this paper an attempt is made to develop such a common framework by means of a statistically inspired language that acknowledges the importance of both on farm trials and research centre trials as sources of information for on farm genetic improvement. Key concepts are the genetic correlation between environments, and the heterogeneity of phenotypic and genetic variance over environments. Classic selection response theory is taken as the starting point for the comparison of selection trials (on farm and research centre) with respect to the expected genetic improvement in a target environment (low-input farms). The variance-covariance parameters that form the input for selection response comparisons traditionally come from a mixed model fit to multi-environment trial data. In this paper we propose a recently developed class of mixed models, namely multiplicative mixed models, also called factor-analytic models, for modelling genetic variances and covariances (correlations). Mixed multiplicative models allow genetic variances and covariances to be dependent on quantitative descriptors of the environment, and confer a high flexibility in the choice of variance-covariance structure, without requiring the estimation of a prohibitively high number of parameters. As a result detailed considerations regarding selection response comparisons are facilitated. ne statistical machinery involved is illustrated on an example data set consisting of barley trials from the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). Analysis of the example data showed that participatory plant breeding and formal plant breeding are better interpreted as providing complementary rather than competing information.

High dependency units: Issues to consider in their planning

This review discusses the issues to be considered in establishing new or extending existing high dependency unit (HDU) services. A defined high dependency service becomes cost-effective when patient care requires more than one nurse for three patients. Professional guidelines for HDUs vary and there are no national accreditation criteria. Casemix and service delivery specifications for the HDU need to be defined and agreed upon within the institution. Establishing a new HDU service requires changes to care delivery. Many potential HDU patients are currently managed in general wards or in the intensive care unit. The service should be discussed widely and marketed within the institution, and the development of defined working relationships with the ICU and primary care teams oil the wards is mandatory.

A comunicação de informações nas instituições públicas e privadas: o caso XBRL - eXtensible Business Reporting Language no Brasil

O XBRL - eXtensible Business Report Language - é uma linguagem que está sendo implementada em vários países para divulgação das informações contábil-financeiras pela internet. Este artigo mostra o estado-da-arte do XBRL e como se deu sua evolução, bem como avalia o estágio atual do Brasil na divulgação de informações contábil-financeiras pela internet. Foi realizada uma pesquisa do tipo survey com empresas de capital aberto no Brasil. A pesquisa revelou uma forte aceitação do meio eletrônico para divulgação de informações financeiras e também que ainda é muito pequeno o conhecimento da linguagem XBRL no país e, conseqüentemente, menor ainda o número de entidades que já iniciaram formalmente os estudos para sua implementação. Mostrou ainda a inexistência de um padrão de divulgação de informações eletrônicas, tendo predominado os formatos PDF, HTML e DOC, o que dificulta a análise e comparação de informações entre órgãos reguladores e com o público em geral.

Nonlinear optimization method for short-term hydro scheduling considering head-dependency

This paper is on the problem of short-term hydro scheduling, particularly concerning head-dependent reservoirs under competitive environment. We propose a new nonlinear optimization method to consider hydroelectric power generation as a function of water discharge and also of the head. Head-dependency is considered on short-term hydro scheduling in order to obtain more realistic and feasible results. The proposed method has been applied successfully to solve a case study based on one of the main Portuguese cascaded hydro systems, providing a higher profit at a negligible additional computation time in comparison with a linear optimization method that ignores head-dependency.

BabeLO : an extensible converter of programming exercises formats

In the last two decades, there was a proliferation of programming exercise formats that hinders interoperability in automatic assessment. In the lack of a widely accepted standard, a pragmatic solution is to convert content among the existing formats. BabeLO is a programming exercise converter providing services to a network of heterogeneous e-learning systems such as contest management systems, programming exercise authoring tools, evaluation engines and repositories of learning objects. Its main feature is the use of a pivotal format to achieve greater extensibility. This approach simplifies the extension to other formats, just requiring the conversion to and from the pivotal format. This paper starts with an analysis of programming exercise formats representative of the existing diversity. This analysis sets the context for the proposed approach to exercise conversion and to the description of the pivotal data format. The abstract service definition is the basis for the design of BabeLO, its components and web service interface. This paper includes a report on the use of BabeLO in two concrete scenarios: to relocate exercises to a different repository, and to use an evaluation engine in a network of heterogeneous systems.

Extensible metadata repository for information systems

Thesis submitted to Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Computer Science

Scheduling of a hydro producer considering head-dependency, price scenarios and risk-aversion

In this paper, a mixed-integer quadratic programming approach is proposed for the short-term hydro scheduling problem, considering head-dependency, discontinuous operating regions and discharge ramping constraints. As new contributions to earlier studies, market uncertainty is introduced in the model via price scenarios, and risk aversion is also incorporated by limiting the volatility of the expected profit through the conditional value-at-risk. Our approach has been applied successfully to solve a case Study based on one of the main Portuguese cascaded hydro systems, requiring a negligible computational time.

Design of an extensible metadata editor based on RDF

The content of a Learning Object is frequently characterized by metadata from several standards, such as LOM, SCORM and QTI. Specialized domains require new application profiles that further complicate the task of editing the metadata of learning object since their data models are not supported by existing authoring tools. To cope with this problem we designed a metadata editor supporting multiple metadata languages, each with its own data model. It is assumed that the supported languages have an XML binding and we use RDF to create a common metadata representation, independent from the syntax of each metadata languages. The combined data model supported by the editor is defined as an ontology. Thus, the process of extending the editor to support a new metadata language is twofold: firstly, the conversion from the XML binding of the metadata language to RDF and vice-versa; secondly, the extension of the ontology to cover the new metadata model. In this paper we describe the general architecture of the editor, we explain how a typical metadata language for learning objects is represented as an ontology, and how this formalization captures all the data required to generate the graphical user interface of the editor.

Tradução, Adaptação e Validação da Escala Jones Dependency Tool

A avaliação do grau de dependência dos utentes é um dos aspectos que contribui para a melhoria dos cuidados, dado que permite uma melhor adequação dos recursos humanos às situações vivenciadas no quotidiano dos serviços de urgência. A carga de trabalho em enfermagem está estreitamente relacionada com o grau de dependência, pelo que a sua avaliação assume-se como um elemento fundamental numa politica de gestão de qualidade. Com o intuito de avaliar, numa fase inicial, o grau de dependência dos utentes que recorrem aos serviços de urgência foi criada uma escala – Jones Dependency Tool (JDT) – sendo que o objectivo major é a avaliação da carga de trabalho em Enfermagem relacionando com o grau de dependência dos utentes. O presente estudo visa traduzir, adaptar e validar para Portugal o referido instrumento. O estudo encontra-se dividido em duas partes. A primeira constituída pela tradução e adaptação cultural da JDT para língua portuguesa e a segunda, pela análise da fidelidade e da validade do instrumento. O processo de validação para a língua portuguesa ocorreu numa amostra de 129 utentes de dois serviços de urgência da região de lisboa. Através dos testes estatísticos realizados, a versão Portuguesa revelou-se um instrumento confiável e válido para a realização do grau de dependência dos utentes que recorrem ao serviço de urgência.