Automating the construction of replicated objects in a cluster of workstations

This paper describes a tool that mimics the design of the remote procedure call (RPC) system to support the building of replicated objects in a cluster of workstations (COW). The tool includes an interface definition language for describing a replica group, a language preprocessor and a runtime library system. The paper also presents one example and discusses some performance issues for replicated objects.

Methods of construction of OWA operators from data

This paper investigates the problem of obtaining the weights of the ordered weighted aggregation (OWA) operators from observations. The problem is formulated as a restricted least squares and uniform approximation problems. We take full advantage of the linearity of the problem. In the former case, a well known technique of non-negative least squares is used. In a case of uniform approximation, we employ a recently developed cutting angle method of global optimisation. Both presented methods give results superior to earlier approaches, and do not require complicated nonlinear constructions. Additional restrictions, such as degree of orness of the operator, can be easily introduced

Pointwise construction of Lipschitz aggregation operators

This paper establishes tight upper and lower bounds on Lipschitz aggregation operators considering their diagonal, opposite diagonal and marginal sections. Also we provide explicit formulae to determine the bounds. These are useful for construction of these type of aggregation operators, especially using interpolation schemata.

Consumer construction of sport consumption experiences through role play : a literature review

Evidence exists in the literature that many traditional consumer behaviours have fundamentally different meanings when considered in an experiential context. This paper posits that voicing during the experiential consumption of sport may in fact be a factor of experiential consumption rather than an expression of dissatisfaction as in the traditional complaint behaviour model. This is significant in the interpretation of experiential sport consumption where vocalising appears to serve purposes other than complaining. This paper revises the traditional complaint behaviour literature for explanations about vocalising and then offers some alternate conceptual propositions using experiential consumption literature.

Construction of aggregation operators for automated decision making via optimal interpolation and global optimization

This paper examines methods of point wise construction of aggregation operators via optimal interpolation. It is shown that several types of application-specific requirements lead to interpolatory type constraints on the aggregation function. These constraints are translated into global optimization problems, which are the focus of this paper. We present several methods of reduction of the number of variables, and formulate suitable numerical algorithms based on Lipschitz optimization.

Construction of aggregation operators with noble reinforcement

This paper examines disjunctive aggregation operators used in various recommender systems. A specific requirement in these systems is the property of noble reinforcement: allowing a collection of high-valued arguments to reinforce each other while avoiding reinforcement of low-valued arguments. We present a new construction of Lipschitz-continuous aggregation operators with noble reinforcement property and its refinements.

Construction of extrusion limit diagram for AZ31 magnesium alloy by FE simulation

The maximum speed at which magnesium can be extruded is considerably slower than that of many common aluminium extrusion alloys. This affects both the economies of production and the final mechanical behaviour. The present work quantifies the limiting extrusion speeds and ratios of magnesium alloy AZ31 as a function of billet temperature. This is done by combining hot compression test results, FE simulations and extrusion trials. Hot working stress–strain curves displayed a distinct dynamic recrystallisation peak. These data were used as a “look-up” table for the FE simulations in which the cracking limit was assumed to occur when the surface temperature reaches the incipient melting point. The maximum extrusion ratio predicted using FE analysis dropped from 90 to 40 when the extrusion ram speed was raised from 5 to 50 mm/s. The predicted limits agree well with the occurrence of cracking in both a laboratory and a commercial extrusion trial.

Overexpression and Purification of the Oat (Avena Fatua) Protein AFN1 and Construction of a pMAL/AFN1 Expression Plasmid

Abscisic acid (ABA) is an important phytohormone with regulatory roles in many physiological processes. ABA expression is induced by environmental stresses such as drought and it is known to be an inhibitor of seed germination. A wild oat (Avena fatua) called AFN1 has been hypothesized to initiate the early stages of germination as its mRNA accumulates in nondormant seed embryos during imbibition. The polypeptide sequence of AFN1 suggests that it is an ABA glucosyl transferase. Glucosylation by AFN1 and thereby inactivation of ABA could lead to seed germination. In order to understand the role of AFN1 in germination, an ample quantity of AFN1 polypeptide is needed to test for enzymatic ABA glucosylase activity. My work has been to overexpress recombinant AFN1containing a (His)6 tag using a pRSETC E.coli expression system followed by Purification of the AFN1 protein by means of a nickel-affinity column that bind to the (His)6 tag. Due to the insufficient yield of AFN1 fusion protein obtained with this procedure, another method using a pMAL-c2x vector is now being employed. The pMAL expression system provides a method for expressing and purifying protein by tagging proteins with maltose-binding protein (MBP). It is anticipated that MBP tag will be advantageous as it can make the fusion protein more soluble and thereby yield a larger quantity of protein. Currently, work is underway on the construction of pMAL/AFN1 plasmid.

The Cultural Construction of the Maine Sporting Camps

Maine sporting camps were a cultural and social phenomenon of the urban upper and middle class. They originated in Maine in the late 1870s and early 1880s and reached their zenith around the turn of the century with over 160 in operation in eight of the sixteen counties in Maine in 1906. The period from 1880 until World War I can be considered the 'golden era' of the Maine sporting camps. After the war, with technological advancements such as the outboard motor, the proliferation of the automobile, and the introduction of a road system into rural Maine, the camps underwent significant change that warrants an entirely different cultural analysis. A number of elements came together to produce a cultural atmosphere permissive of sporting camp creation in Maine. These include changing national views upon nature, health, sport and the leisure time in which to pursue them. In the late nineteenth century, with the rise of large industrially based cities, overcrowding fostered crime and disease. An upper and middle class emerged that desired escape and separation from the lower classes. Maine was chosen for such an escape because it offered, through sporting camps, a chance to "get back to nature," by pursuing the healthful activities of hunting and fishing. At the same time these urban sportsmen and sportswomen distinguished themselves on the social Hierarchical scale from the rural inhabitants. What happened in rural Maine during the period between 1880 and World War I was the introduction of a new cultural order on the landscape. Coming primarily from urban centers on the East Coast of the United States were men, women and children who looked to Maine for vacations. These vacations were designed to put them in touch with nature by pursuing healthful activities, especially those of fishing and hunting. Coming from an environment that emphasized social standing, they ensured that these trips would perpetuate this hierarchy. They experienced nature through the Maine sporting camps, which provided them with the services and skills necessary to experience it while enjoying a degree of luxury that they were accustomed to in the urban world. The Maine sporting camps were a cultural manifestation of the urban upper and middle class, the groups that the camps were established to serve. Despite this the camps did not represent a structural duplication of urban society. Instead, the camps represented a cultural construction that was produced by interaction between members of two different conceptual and physical worlds, the blending of which, on a social level, was determined by urban mentality and rural knowledge. In the production of a cultural world meaningful to the clients, the rural world of the Maine woods was altered to meet their needs. It was not a one-sided process, however, as the clients were forced to acknowledge the importance of the rural inhabitants on the basis of their value to the clients.

The 'China Threat' in American self-imagination: the discursive construction of other as power politics

Argues that the "China threat" argument in mainstream international relations literature in the United States is derived, primarily, from a discursive construction of otherness. Construction which is predicated on a particular narcissistic understanding of the U.S. self and on a positivist-based realism, concerned with absolute certainty and security; Concern which is central to the dominant U.S. self-imagery.