Interaction of directional, neuromuscular and egocentric constraints on the stability of preferred bimanual coordination patterns

We investigated how the relative direction of limb movements in external space (iso- and non-isodirectionality), muscular constraints (the relative timing of homologous muscle activation) and the egocentric frame of reference (moving simultaneously toward/away the longitudinal axis of the body) contribute to the stability of coordinated movements. In the first experiment, we attempted to determine the respective stability of isodirectional and non-isodirectional movements in between-persons coordination. In a second experiment, we determined the effect of the relative direction in external space, and of muscular constraints, on pattern stability during a within-person bimanual coordination task. In the third experiment we dissociated the effects on pattern stability of the muscular constraints, relative direction and egocentric frame of reference. The results showed that (1) simultaneous activation of homologous muscles resulted in more stable performance than simultaneous activation of non-homologous muscles during within-subject coordination, and that (2) isodirectional movements were more stable than non-isodirectional movements during between-persons coordination, confirming the role of the relative direction of the moving limbs in the stability of bimanual coordination. Moreover, the egocentric constraint was to some extent found distinguishable from the effect of the relative direction of the moving limbs in external space, and from the effect of the relative timing of muscle activation. In summary, the present study showed that relative direction of the moving limbs in external space and muscular constraints may interact either to stabilize or destabilize coordination patterns. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Using objects and patterns to implement domain ontologies

Ontologies are becoming an important mechanism to build information systems. Nevertheless, there is still no systematic approach to support the design of such systems using tools that are common to information systems developers. In this paper, we propose an approach for deriving object frameworks from domain ontologies and then we show the application of this approach in the software process domain.

On the discovery of business processes orchestration patterns

COORDINSPECTOR is a Software Tool aiming at extracting the coordination layer of a software system. Such a reverse engineering process provides a clear view of the actually invoked services as well as the logic behind such invocations. The analysis process is based on program slicing techniques and the generation of, System Dependence Graphs and Coordination Dependence Graphs. The tool analyzes Common Intermediate Language (CIL), the native language of the Microsoft .Net Framework, thus making suitable for processing systems developed in any .Net Framework compilable language. COORDINSPECTOR generates graphical representations of the coordination layer together with business process orchestrations specified in WSBPEL 2.0

Discovering coordination patterns

A large and growing amount of software systems rely on non-trivial coordination logic for making use of third party services or components. Therefore, it is of outmost importance to understand and capture rigorously this continuously growing layer of coordination as this will make easier not only the veri cation of such systems with respect to their original speci cations, but also maintenance, further development, testing, deployment and integration. This paper introduces a method based on several program analysis techniques (namely, dependence graphs, program slicing, and graph pattern analysis) to extract coordination logic from legacy systems source code. This process is driven by a series of pre-de ned coordination patterns and captured by a special purpose graph structure from which coordination speci cations can be generated in a number of di erent formalisms

Domain-Specific Language for Coordination patterns

The integration and composition of software systems requires a good architectural design phase to speed up communications between (remote) components. However, during implementation phase, the code to coordinate such components often ends up mixed in the main business code. This leads to maintenance problems, raising the need for, on the one hand, separating the coordination code from the business code, and on the other hand, providing mechanisms for analysis and comprehension of the architectural decisions once made. In this context our aim is at developing a domain-specific language, CoordL, to describe typical coordination patterns. From our point of view, coordination patterns are abstractions, in a graph form, over the composition of coordination statements from the system code. These patterns would allow us to identify, by means of pattern-based graph search strategies, the code responsible for the coordination of the several components in a system. The recovering and separation of the architectural decisions for a better comprehension of the software is the main purpose of this pattern language

Theory of reasoned action for continuous improvement capabilities: a behavioral approach

The importance of interaction between Operations Management (OM) and Human Behavior has been recently re-addressed. This paper introduced the Reasoned Action Theory suggested by Froehle and Roth (2004) to analyze Operational Capabilities exploring the suitability of this model in the context of OM. It also seeks to discuss the behavioral aspects of operational capabilities from the perspective of organizational routines. This theory was operationalized using Fishbein and Ajzen (F/A) behavioral model and a multi-case strategy was employed to analyze the Continuous Improvement (CI) capability. The results posit that the model explains partially the CI behavior in an operational context and some contingency variables might influence the general relations among the variables involved in the F/A model. Thus intention might not be the determinant variable of behavior in this context.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF AMERICAN AND SPANISH CRUISE PASSENGERS' BEHAVIORAL INTENTIONS

ABSTRACT Earlier studies of cross-national differences in consumer behavior in different consumption sectors have verified that cultural differences have a strong influence on consumers. Despite the importance of cross-national analysis, no studies in the literature examine the moderating effects of nationality on the construction of behavioral intentions and their antecedents among cruise line passengers. This study investigates the moderating effects of nationality on the relationships between perceived value, satisfaction, trust and behavioral intentions among Spanish and (U.S.) American passengers of cruise lines that use Barcelona as home port and port-of-call. A theoretical model was tested with a total of 968 surveys. Structural equation models (SEMs) were used, by means of a multigroup analysis. Results of this study indicated that Spaniards showed stronger relationships between trust and behavioral intentions, and between emotional value and satisfaction. Americans presented stronger relationships between service quality and satisfaction, and between service quality and behavioral intentions.

Analysis of mediation and reciprocal effects of changes in weight, self-esteem, and exercise in a behavioral weight loss treatment

Improving the treatment of obesity remains a critical challenge. Several health behaviour change models, often based on a social-cognitive framework, have been used to design weight management interventions (Baranowski et al., 2003). However, most interventions have only produced modest weight reductions (Wadden et al., 2002) and socialcognitive variables have shown limited power to predict weight outcomes (Palmeira et al., 2007). Other predictors, and possibl alte nati e e planatory models, are needed to better understand the mechanisms by which weight loss and other obesity treatment-outcomes are brought about (Baranowski, 2006). Self-esteem is one of these possible mechanisms, because is commonly reported to change during the treatment, although these changes are not necessarily associated with weight loss (Blaine et al., 2007; Maciejewski et al., 2005). This possibility should be more evident if the program integrates regular exercise, as it promotes improvements in subjective well-being (Biddle & Mutrie, 2001), with possible influences on long-term behavioral adherence (e.g. diet, exercise). Following the reciprocal effects model tenets (Marsh & Craven, 2006), we expect that the influences between changes in weight, selfesteem and exercise to be reciprocal and might present one of the mechanisms by which obesity treatments can be improved.

Geographical patterns of proportionate mortality for the most common causes of death in Brazil

Mortality due to chronic diseases has been increasing in all regions of Brazil with corresponding decreases in mortality from infectious diseases. The geographical variation in proportionate mortality for chronic diseases for 17 Brazilian state capitals for the year 1985 and their association with socio-economic variables and infectious disease was studied. Calculations were made of correlation coefficients of proportionate mortality for adults of 30 years or above due to ischaemic heart disease, stroke and cancer of the lung, the breast and stomach with 3 socio-economic variables, race, and mortality due to infectious disease. Linear regression analysis included as independent variables the % of illiteracy, % of whites, % of houses with piped water, mean income, age group, sex, and % of deaths caused by infectious disease. The dependent variables were the % of deaths due to each one of the chronic diseases studied by age-sex group. Chronic diseases were an important cause of death in all regions of Brazil. Ischaemic heart diseases, stroke and malignant neoplasms accounted for more than 34% of the mortality in each of the 17 capitals studied. Proportionate cause-specific mortality varied markedly among state capitals. Ranges were 6.3-19.5% for ischaemic heart diseases, 8.3-25.4% for stroke, 2.3-10.4% for infections and 12.2-21.5% for malignant neoplasm. Infectious disease mortality had the highest (p < 0.001) correlation with all the four socio-economic variables studied and ischaemic heart disease showed the second highest correlation (p < 0.05). Higher socio-economic level was related to a lower % of infectious diseases and a higher % of ischaemic heart diseases. Mortality due to breast cancer and stroke was not associated with socio-economic variables. Multivariate linear regression models explained 59% of the variance among state capitals for mortality due to ischaemic heart disease, 50% for stroke, 28% for lung cancer, 24% for breast cancer and 40% for stomach cancer. There were major differences in the proportionate mortality due to chronic diseases among the capitals which could not be accounted for by the social and environmental factors and by the mortality due to infectious disease.

Patterns of induced abortion in urban area of Southeastern region, Brazil

OBJECTIVE: To assess the behavior of induced abortion as a function of certain demographic variables, for the population of fertile women (15 to 49 years old) residing in the Vila Madalena subdistrict S. Paulo (Brazil). MATERIAL AND METHOD: Two population samples were selected. One sample, with 996 women, investigated the incidence of induced abortions during 1987, using the RRT. In the other, involving 1,004 women, the same information was detected through a conventional approach. In both samples, the induced abortion occurring during the reproductive life was recorded in direct fashion. Though this analysis refers only to information about past abortions, that is by 2,000 women -, it should be noted that it is exactly the RRT that lends credibility to the found or results given results. CONCLUSION: The analysis furnishes evidence showing that single women, young women between the ages of 15 and 19, women who have not had live births, women who have a number of children below the expected ideal, women who use contraceptive methods (especially inefficient ones) and women who do not have any restrictions as to abortion constitute the categories most inclined to resort to induced abortion. This grouping suggests the existence of interrelationships between categories, that is, each of these categories is probably composed primarily of the same women, those who are at the beginning of their reproductive lives.