Reaction-driven surface restructuring and selectivity control in allylic alcohol catalytic aerobic oxidation over Pd

Synchronous, time-resolved DRIFTS/MS/XAS cycling studies of the vapor-phase selective aerobic oxidation of crotyl alcohol over nanoparticulate Pd have revealed surface oxide as the desired catalytically active phase, with dynamic, reaction-induced Pd redox processes controlling selective versus combustion pathways.

A production system and its control

DUE TO COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR CONSULTATION AT ASTON UNIVERSITY LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES WITH PRIOR ARRANGEMENT

Predictiuon and automatic control with special reference to the electricity supply industry

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Institutional contradiction and management control innovation:a field study of total quality management practices in a privatised telecommunications company

The purpose of this paper is to theorise the changes surrounding the introduction of a management control innovation, total quality management (TQM) techniques, within Telecom Fiji Limited. Using institutional theory and drawing on empirical evidence from multiple sources including interviews, discussions and documents, the paper explicates the institutionalization of these TQM practices. The focus of the paper is the micro-processes and practice changes around TQM implementation, rather than the influence of the macro-level structures that are often linked with institutional theory. The change agents used Quality Action Teams and the National Quality Council to introduce new TQM routines. The present study extends the scope of institutional analysis by explaining how institutional contradictions impact to create and make space for institutional entrepreneurs, who in turn, modify existing routines or introduce new routines in fluid organizational environments which also exhibit evidence of resistance.

The Automation of Adaptive Processes in the System of Distance Education and Knowledge Control

The article reveals a new technological approach to the creation of adaptive systems of distance learning and knowledge control. The use of the given technology helps to automate the learning process with the help of adaptive system. Developed with the help of the quantum approach of knowledge setting, a programming module-controller guarantees the support of students’ attention and the adaptation of the object language, and this helps to provide the effective interaction between learners and the learning system and to reach good results in the intensification of learning process.

Multi-Agent Information Processing and Adaptive Control in Global Telecommunication and Computer Networks

The problems and methods for adaptive control and multi-agent processing of information in global telecommunication and computer networks (TCN) are discussed. Criteria for controllability and communication ability (routing ability) of dataflows are described. Multi-agent model for exchange of divided information resources in global TCN has been suggested. Peculiarities for adaptive and intelligent control of dataflows in uncertain conditions and network collisions are analyzed.

WLAN / WMAN Integration Architecture and Traffic Control for Voice Transmission

The popular technologies Wi-Fi and WiMAX for realization of WLAN and WMAN respectively are much different, but they could compliment each other providing competitive wireless access for voice traffic. The article develops the idea of WLAN/WMAN (Wi-Fi/WiMAX) integration. WiMAX is offering a backup for the traffic overflowing from Wi-Fi cells located into the WiMAX cell. Overflow process is improved by proposed rearrangement control algorithm applied to the Wi-Fi voice calls. There are also proposed analytical models for system throughput evaluation and verification of the effectiveness using WMAN as a backup for WLAN overflow traffic and the proposed call rearrangement algorithm as well.

Generalised Riccati solution and pinning control of complex stochastic networks

This paper considers the global synchronisation of a stochastic version of coupled map lattices networks through an innovative stochastic adaptive linear quadratic pinning control methodology. In a stochastic network, each state receives only noisy measurement of its neighbours' states. For such networks we derive a generalised Riccati solution that quantifies and incorporates uncertainty of the forward dynamics and inverse controller in the derivation of the stochastic optimal control law. The generalised Riccati solution is derived using the Lyapunov approach. A probabilistic approximation type algorithm is employed to estimate the conditional distributions of the state and inverse controller from historical data and quantifying model uncertainties. The theoretical derivation is complemented by its validation on a set of representative examples.

Adaptive power and rate control for QoS guarantee of DSRC based collaborative road safety applications

In this paper we propose an adaptive power and message rate control method for safety applications at road intersections. The design objectives are to firstly provide guaranteed QoS support to both high priority emergency safety applications and low priority routine safety applications and secondly maximize channel utilization. We use an offline simulation based approach to find out the best possible configurations of transmit power and message rate for given numbers of vehicles in the network with certain safety QoS requirements. The identified configurations are then used online by roadside access points (AP) adaptively according to estimated number of vehicles. Simulation results show that this adaptive method could provide required QoS support to safety applications and it significantly outperforms a fixed control method. © 2013 International Information Institute.

Ultrastructural Basis and Developmental Control of Blue Iridescence in Selaginella Leaves

The iridescentb lue color of several Selaginellasp ecies is caused by a physical effect, thinfilm interference.P redictionsf or a model film have been confirmedb y electronm icroscopyo f S. willdenowaEnid S. uncinataF. or the latters pecies iridescencec ontributest o leaf absorption at wavelengths above 450 nm and develops in environments enriched with far-red (730 nm) light. This evidence supports the involvement of phytochrome in the developmental control of iridescence.

Thioredoxin and Jab1 control estrogen- and antiestrogen-mediated progression of the cell cycle through p27 interactions

A major problem with breast cancer treatment is the prevalence of antiestrogen resistance, be it de novo or acquired after continued use. Many of the underlying mechanisms of antiestrogen resistance are not clear, although estrogen receptor-mediated actions have been identified as a pathway that is blocked by antiestrogens. Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), such as tamoxifen, are capable of producing reactive oxygen species (ROS) through metabolic activation, and these ROS, at high levels, can induce irreversible growth arrest that is similar to the growth arrest incurred by SERMs. This suggests that SERM-mediated growth arrest may also be through ROS accumulation. Breast cancer receiving long-term antiestrogen treatment appears to adapt to this increased, persistent level of ROS. This, in turn, leads to the disruption of reversible redox signaling that involves redox-sensitive phosphatases and protein kinases and transcription factors. This has downstream consequences for apoptosis, cell cycle progression, and cell metabolism. For this dissertation, we explored if altering the ROS formed by tamoxifen also alters sensitivity of the drug in resistant cells. We explored an association with a thioredoxin/Jab1/p27 pathway, and a possible role of dysregulation of thioredoxin-mediated redox regulation contributing to the development of antiestrogen resistance in breast cancer. We used standard laboratory techniques to perform proteomic assays that showed cell proliferation, protein concentrations, redox states, and protein-protein interactions. We found that increasing thioredoxin reductase levels, and thus increasing the amount of reduced thioredoxin, increased tamoxifen sensitivity in previously resistant cells, as well as altered estrogen and tamoxifen-induced ROS. We also found that decreasing levels of Jab1 protein also increased tamoxifen sensitivity, and that the downstream effects showed a decrease p27 phosphorylation in both cases. We conclude that the chronic use of tamoxifen can lead to an increase in ROS that alters cell signaling and causing cell growth in the presence of tamoxifen, and that this resistant cell growth can be reversed with an alteration to the thioredoxin/Jab1 pathway.

Phosphorus Availability and Salinity Control Productivity and Demography of the Seagrass Thalassia testudinum in Florida Bay

Biomass, net primary productivity (NPP), foliar elemental content, and demography of Thalassia testudinum were monitored in populations from five sites across Florida Bay beginning in January 2001. Sites were selected to take advantage of the spatial variability in phosphorus (P) availability and salinity climates across the bay. Aboveground biomass and NPP of T. testudinum were determined five to six times annually. Short-shoot demography, belowground biomass, and belowground NPP were assessed from a single destructive harvest at each site and short-shoot cohorts were estimated from leaf scar counts multiplied by site-specific leaf production rates. Biomass, relative growth rate (RGR), and overall NPP were positively correlated with P availability. Additionally, a positive correlation between P availability and the ratio of photosynthetic to non-photosynthetic biomass suggests that T. testudinum increases allocation to aboveground biomass as P availability increases. Population turnover increased with P availability, evident in positive correlations of recruitment and mortality rates with P availability. Departures from seasonally modeled estimates of RGR were found to be influenced by salinity, which depressed RGR when below 20 psu or above 40 psu. Freshwater management in the headwaters of Florida Bay will alter salinity and nutrient climates. It is becoming clear that such changes will affect T. testudinum, with likely feedbacks on ecosystem structure, function, and habitat quality.

Personality and job performance: The mediating roles of leader -member exchange quality and action control

The present investigation examined the relationships among personality (as conceptualized by the Big Five Factors), leader-member exchange (LMX) quality, action control, organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB), and overall job performance (OJP). Two mediator variables were proposed and tested in this study: LMX and Action Control. Two-hundred and seven currently employed regular elementary school classroom teachers provided data during the 2000–2001 academic school year. Teachers provided personality, LMX quality (member or subordinate perspective), action control, job tenure, and demographic data. Nine school administrators (i.e., Principals, Assistant Principals) were the source for supervisor ratings of OCB, OJP, and LMX quality (leader or supervisor perspective). In eight of the nine total schools, teachers completed questionnaires during an after-school teacher gathering; in the remaining school location questionnaires were dropped off, distributed to teachers, and re-collected two weeks later. Results indicated a significant relationship between the OCB scale and overall supervisory ratings of OJP. The relationship among the big five factors of personality and OJP did not reach statistical significance, nor did the relationships among personality and OCB. The data indicated that none of the teacher tenure variables (i.e., teacher, school, or time worked with principal tenure) moderated the personality-OCB relationship nor the personality-OJP relationship. Finally, a review of the correlations among the variables of interest precluded conducting a mediation between personality-performance by OCB, mediation of personality-OCB by action control, and mediation of personality-OCB by LMX. In conclusion, the data reveal that personality was not significantly correlated with supervisory ratings of OJP or significantly related to supervisory ratings of overall OCB. Moreover, LMX quality and action control did not mediate the relationships between Personality-OJP nor the Personality-OCB relationship. Significant relationships were found between disengagement and overall LMX quality and between Initiative and overall LMX quality (both LMX-Teacher perspectives) as well as between personality variables and both Disengagement and Initiative action control variables. Despite the limitations inherent in this study, these latter findings suggest “lessons” for teachers and school administrators alike. ^

Effect of Medical Advice for Diet on Diabetes Self-Management and Glycemic Control for Haitian and African Americans with Type 2 Diabetes

Adequate care of type 2 diabetes is reflected by the individual’s adherence to dietary guidance; yet, few patients are engaged in diabetes self-care at the recommended level, regardless of race/ethnicity. Few studies on the effect of dietary medical advice on diabetes self-management (DSM) and glycemic control have been conducted on Haitian and African American adults with type 2 diabetes. These relationships were assessed in total of 254 Blacks with type 2 diabetes (Haitian Americans = 129; African Americans = 125) recruited from Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, Florida by community outreach methods. Although dietary advice received was not significantly different between the two Black ethnicities, given advice “to follow a diet” as a predictor of “using food groups” was significant for Haitian Americans, but not for African Americans. Haitian Americans who were advised to follow a diet were approximately 3 times more likely to sometimes or often use food groups (or exchange lists) in planning meals. Less than optimal glycemic control (A1C > 7.2) was inversely related to DSM for African Americans; but the relationship was not significant for Haitian Americans. A one unit increase in DSM score decreased the odds ratio point estimate of having less than optimal glycemic control (A1C > 7.2%) by a factor of 0.94 in African Americans. These results suggest that medical advice for diet plans may not be communicated effectively for DSM for some races/ethnicities. Research aimed at uncovering the enablers and barriers of diet management specific to Black ethnicities with type 2 diabetes is recommended.