Salient elements in novice solutions to code writing problems

This paper presents an approach to the evaluation of novice programmers' solutions to code writing problems. The first step was the development a framework comprised of the salient elements, or programming constructs, used in a set of student solutions to three typical code writing assessment problems. This framework was then refined to provide a code quality factor framework that was compared with an analysis using the SOLO taxonomy. We found that combining our framework with the SOLO taxonomy helped to define the SOLO categories and provided an improved approach to applying the principles of SOLO to code writing problems. © 2011, Australian Computer Society, Inc.

Hierarchical ZnO “rod like” architecture synthesized via reverse micellar route for improved photocatalytic activity

Hierarchical ZnO “rod like” architecture was successfully synthesized via reverse micellar route and characterized by various techniques. The FESEM studies show controlled decomposition of zinc oxalate into ZnO “rod like” architecture at 500 °C with slow heat rate at 1°/min. Interestingly, improved photocatalytic activity was observed for the degradation of Rhodamine B, due to the self assembly of hexagonal nanoparticles of zinc oxide forming hierarchical ZnO “rod like” architecture which can greatly enhance the light utilization rate due to its special architecture and enlarge the specific surface area, providing more reaction sites and promoting mass transfer. More importantly, the reusability studies of this architecture were most economical.

Performance evaluation of reverse osmosis (RO) pre-treatment technologies for in-land brackish water treatment

Integration of renewable energy with desalination technologies has emerged as an attractive solution to augment fresh water supply sustainably. Fouling and scaling are still considered as limiting factors in membrane desalination processes. For brackish water treatment, pre-treatment of reverse osmosis (RO) feed water is a key step in designing RO plants avoiding membrane fouling. This study aims to compare at pilot scale the rejection efficiency of RO membranes with multiple pre-treatment options at different water recoveries (30, 35, 40, 45 and 50%) and TDS concentrations (3500, 4000, and 4500mg/L). Synthetic brackish water was prepared and performance evaluation were carried out using brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) membranes (Filmtec LC-LE-4040 and Hydranautics CPA5-LD-4040) preceded by 5 and 1μm cartridge filters, 0.02μm ultra-filtration (UF) membrane, and forward osmosis (FO) membrane using 0.25M NaCl and MgCl2 as draw solutions (DS). It was revealed that FO membrane with 0.25M MgCl2 used as a draw solution (DS) and Ultra-filtration (UF) membrane followed by Filmtec membrane gave overall 98% rejection but UF facing high fouling potential due to high applied pressure. Use of 5 and 1μm cartridge filter prior to Filmtec membrane also showed effective results with 95% salt rejection.

Termeléstervezés a visszutas logisztikában (Production planning in the reverse logistics)

A dolgozat az újrafelhasználás termeléstervezésbe történő integrálását elemzi. A nemzetközi kutatások is gyermekcipőben járnak még ezen a területen. A legtöbb alkalmazást a német irodalomban találhatjuk meg, de az angol nyelvű irodalom is csak elvétve található. Ismereteink szerint magyar nyelvű vizsgálódások ezen a területen még nem születtek, ezért a következő munka úttörőnek számíthat ezen a területen. ______ The aim of the paper is to investigate the introduction of reuse in materials reqiurements planning systems. There are no sigificant contribution on this field in the Hungarian management literature. The paper reviews the available international literature.

The Reverse Balassa–Samuelson Effect in the Euro Zone

The debt crisis of the eurozone revealed a structural problem of the single market. The single currency created a pegged foreign exchange system among the euro member states. Thus, the less competitive countries can not improve their wage competitiveness through devaluation, but are motivated to extend the current consumption as the single central bank rate and the zone stability created cheap debt financing. The paper overviews the process of Reverse Balassa-Samuelson effect to explain the importance of external imbalance in the debt crisis.

Visszutas logisztika és termeléstervezés (Reverse logistics and production planning)

A dolgozat a visszutas logisztikát, az újrahasznosítást igyekszik beilleszteni a vállalati termeléstervezés keretei közé. A szükséglettervezési rendszerek (material requirements planning, MRP) célja a készletek és beszerzendő anyagok, alkatrészek időben ütemezett gyártásának és beszerzésének megtervezése. A klasszikus MRP rendszereket az utóbbi időben próbálja a tudomány az újrahasznosítással kibővíteni. Mivel ebben az esetben az új, és újrafelhasználható anyagokat külön kell nyilvántartani, ezért az MRP-táblák és készletek növekednek. A rendelési tételnagyságok meghatározása is nehezebb, összetettebb tételnagysághoz vezet. A dolgozatban egy visszutas logisztikai készletmodellt ismertetünk, valamint annak dinamikus kiterjesztését, amely alapja lehet az SAP-ba beépíthető rendelés állomány meghatározó heurisztikának. ____ The aim of the paper is to extend production planning with reverse logistics and reuse. Material requirements planning (MRP) systems plan and control invetory levels and purchasing activities of the firm. In the last decade scientists on this field try to involve reverse logistics activities in MRP systems. Size of MRP-tables is growing in this case because of the alternative use of newly purchased products and reusable old items. Determination of order quantities will be more complex with these two modes of material supplies. An EOQ-type reverse logistics model is presented in the paper with a dynamic lot size generalization. The generalized model can be seen as a basic model to build in production planning and control system like SAP.

Salient factors in child molestation: Moral development, social competence, and type of offender

The current study was designed to build on and extend the existing knowledge base of factors that cause, maintain, and influence child molestation. Theorized links among the type of offender and the offender's levels of moral development and social competence in the perpetration of child molestation were investigated. The conceptual framework for the study is based on the cognitive developmental stages of moral development as proposed by Kohlberg, the unified theory, or Four-Preconditions Model, of child molestation as proposed by Finkelhor, and the Information-Processing Model of Social Skills as proposed by McFall. The study sample consisted of 127 adult male child molesters participating in outpatient group therapy. All subjects completed a Self-Report Questionnaire which included questions designed to obtain relevant demographic data, questions similar to those used by the researchers for the Massachusetts Treatment Center: Child Molester Typology 3's social competency dimension, the Defining Issues Test (DIT) short form, the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (SADS), the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (RAS), and the Questionnaire Measure of Empathic Tendency (Empathy Scale). Data were analyzed utilizing confirmatory factor analysis, t-tests, and chi-square statistics. Partial support was found for the hypothesis that moral development is a separate but correlated construct from social competence. As predicted, although the actual mean score differences were small, a statistically significant difference was found in the current study between the mean DITP scores of the subject sample and that of the general male population, suggesting that child molesters, as a group, function at a lower level of moral development than does the general male population, and the situational offenders in the study sample demonstrated a statistically significantly higher level of moral development than the preferential offenders. The data did not support the hypothesis that situational offenders will demonstrate lower levels of social competence than preferential offenders. Relatively little significance is placed on this finding, however, because the measure for the social competency variable was likely subject to considerable measurement error in that the items used as indicators were not clearly defined. The last hypothesis, which involved the potential differences in social anxiety, assertion skills, and empathy between the situational and preferential offender types, was not supported by the data. ^

Reverse Engineering of Modified Genes by Bayesian Network Analysis Defines Molecular Determinants Critical to the Development of Glioblastoma

In this study we have identified key genes that are critical in development of astrocytic tumors. Meta-analysis of microarray studies which compared normal tissue to astrocytoma revealed a set of 646 differentially expressed genes in the majority of astrocytoma. Reverse engineering of these 646 genes using Bayesian network analysis produced a gene network for each grade of astrocytoma (Grade I–IV), and ‘key genes’ within each grade were identified. Genes found to be most influential to development of the highest grade of astrocytoma, Glioblastoma multiforme were: COL4A1, EGFR, BTF3, MPP2, RAB31, CDK4, CD99, ANXA2, TOP2A, and SERBP1. All of these genes were up-regulated, except MPP2 (down regulated). These 10 genes were able to predict tumor status with 96–100% confidence when using logistic regression, cross validation, and the support vector machine analysis. Markov genes interact with NFkβ, ERK, MAPK, VEGF, growth hormone and collagen to produce a network whose top biological functions are cancer, neurological disease, and cellular movement. Three of the 10 genes - EGFR, COL4A1, and CDK4, in particular, seemed to be potential ‘hubs of activity’. Modified expression of these 10 Markov Blanket genes increases lifetime risk of developing glioblastoma compared to the normal population. The glioblastoma risk estimates were dramatically increased with joint effects of 4 or more than 4 Markov Blanket genes. Joint interaction effects of 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 Markov Blanket genes produced 9, 13, 20.9, 26.7, 52.8, 53.2, 78.1 or 85.9%, respectively, increase in lifetime risk of developing glioblastoma compared to normal population. In summary, it appears that modified expression of several ‘key genes’ may be required for the development of glioblastoma. Further studies are needed to validate these ‘key genes’ as useful tools for early detection and novel therapeutic options for these tumors.

Partner selection for reverse logistics centres in green supply chains: a fuzzy artificial immune optimization approach

The design of reverse logistics networks has now emerged as a major issue for manufacturers, not only in developed countries where legislation and societal pressures are strong, but also in developing countries where the adoption of reverse logistics practices may offer a competitive advantage. This paper presents a new model for partner selection for reverse logistic centres in green supply chains. The model offers three advantages. Firstly, it enables economic, environment, and social factors to be considered simultaneously. Secondly, by integrating fuzzy set theory and artificial immune optimization technology, it enables both quantitative and qualitative criteria to be considered simultaneously throughout the whole decision-making process. Thirdly, it extends the flat criteria structure for partner selection evaluation for reverse logistics centres to the more suitable hierarchy structure. The applicability of the model is demonstrated by means of an empirical application based on data from a Chinese electronic equipment and instruments manufacturing company.

The comparative utility of fluorescence in situ hybridization and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction in the diagnosis of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma.

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for FOXO1 gene rearrangement and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for PAX3/7-FOXO1 fusion transcripts have become routine ancillary tools for the diagnosis of alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas (ARMS). Here we summarize our experience of these adjunct diagnostic modalities at a tertiary center, presenting the largest comparative series of FISH and PCR for suspected or possible ARMS to date. All suspected or possible ARMS tested by FISH or PCR for FOXO1 rearrangement or PAX3/7-FOXO1 fusion transcripts over a 7-year period were included. FISH and PCR results were correlated with clinical and histologic findings. One hundred samples from 95 patients had FISH and/or PCR performed. FISH had higher rates of technical success (96.8 %) compared with PCR (88 %). Where both tests were utilized successfully, there was high concordance rate between them (94.9 %). In 24 histologic ARMS tested for FISH or PCR, 83.3 % were translocation-positive (all for PAX3-FOXO1 by PCR) and included 3 histologic solid variants. In 76 cases where ARMS was excluded, there were 3 potential false-positive cases with FISH but none with PCR. PCR had similar sensitivity (85.7 %) and better specificity (100 %) in aiding the diagnosis of ARMS, compared with FISH (85 and 95.8 %, respectively). All solid variant ARMS harbored FOXO1 gene rearrangements and PAX3-FOXO1 ARMS were detected to the exclusion of PAX7-FOXO1. In comparative analysis, both FISH and PCR are useful in aiding the diagnosis of ARMS and excluding its sarcomatous mimics. FISH is more reliable technically but has less specificity than PCR. In cases where ARMS is in the differential diagnosis, it is optimal to perform both PCR and FISH: both have similar sensitivities for detecting ARMS, but FISH may confirm or exclude cases that are technically unsuccessful with PCR, while PCR can detect specific fusion transcripts that may be useful prognostically.

Angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma: comparison of fluorescence in situ hybridization and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction as adjunct diagnostic modalities

Angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma (AFH) is a rare soft tissue neoplasm of intermediate biologic potential and uncertain differentiation, most often arising in the extremities of children and young adults. Although it has characteristic histologic features of a lymphoid cuff surrounding nodules of ovoid cells with blood-filled cystic cavities, diagnosis is often difficult due to its morphologic heterogeneity and lack of specific immunoprofile. Angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma is associated with recurrent chromosomal translocations, leading to characteristic EWSR1-CREB1, EWSR1-ATF1, and, rarely, FUS-ATF1 gene fusions; fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), detecting EWSR1 or FUS rearrangements, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for EWSR1-CREB1 and EWSR1-ATF1 fusion transcripts have become routine ancillary tools. We present a large comparative series of FISH and RT-PCR for AFH. Seventeen neoplasms (from 16 patients) histologically diagnosed as AFH were assessed for EWSR1 rearrangements or EWSR1-CREB1 and EWSR1-ATF1 fusion transcripts. All 17 were positive for either FISH or RT-PCR or both. Of 16, 14 (87.5%) had detectable EWSR1-CREB1 or EWSR1-ATF1 fusion transcripts by RT-PCR, whereas 13 (76.5%) of 17 had positive EWSR1 rearrangement with FISH. All 13 of 13 non-AFH control neoplasms failed to show EWSR1-CREB1 or EWSR1-ATF1 fusion transcripts, whereas EWSR1 rearrangement was present in 2 of these 13 cases (which were histopathologically myoepithelial neoplasms). This study shows that EWSR1-CREB1 or EWSR1-ATF1 fusions predominate in AFH (supporting previous reports that FUS rearrangement is rare in AFH) and that RT-PCR has a comparable detection rate to FISH for AFH. Importantly, cases of AFH can be missed if RT-PCR is not performed in conjunction with FISH, and RT-PCR has the added advantage of specificity, which is crucial, as EWSR1 rearrangements are present in a variety of neoplasms in the histologic differential diagnosis of AFH, that differ in behavior and treatment.

Does the European Union have a reverse gear? Policy dismantling in a hyperconsensual polity

The financial crisis has triggered demands to halt and even reverse the expansion of European Union (EU) policies. But have these and previous demands actually resulted in policy dismantling? The existing literature has charted the rise of dismantling discourses such as subsidiarity and better regulation, but has not examined the net effect on the acquis. For the first time, this contribution addresses this gap in the literature through an empirical study of policy change between 1992 and 2014. It is guided by a coding framework which captures the direction of policy change. It reveals that, despite its disposition towards consensualism, the EU has become a new locus of policy dismantling. However, not all policies targeted have been cut; many have stayed the same and some have even expanded. It concludes by identifying new directions for research on a topic that has continually fallen into the analytical blind spot of EU scholars.

Area-Wide Job Access and Reverse Commute Transportation Plan

A Job Access project focuses on implementing new or expanded transportation services, targeted at filling transportation gaps and designed to transport welfare recipients and low-income individuals to and from jobs and other employment-related activities such as child care or training.

Quantitative characterization of physico-chemical properties of the active layers of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes, and their relation to membrane performance

The main objectives of this dissertation were: (i) to develop experimental and analytical procedures to quantify different physico-chemical properties of the ultra-thin (~ 100 nm) active layers of reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes and their interactions with contaminants; (ii) to use such procedures to evaluate the similarities and differences between the active layers of different RO/NF membranes; and (iii) to relate characterization results to membrane performance. Such objectives were motivated by the current limited understanding of the physico-chemical properties of active layers as a result of traditional characterization techniques having limitations associated with the nanometer-scale spatial resolution required to study these ultra-thin films. Functional groups were chosen as the main active layer property of interest. Specific accomplishments of this study include the development of procedures to quantify in active layers as a function of pH: (1) the concentration of both negatively and positively ionized functional groups; (2) the stoichiometry of association between ions (i.e., barium) and ionized functional groups (i.e., carboxylate and sulfonate); and (3) the steric effects experienced by ions (i.e., barium). Conceptual and mathematical models were developed to describe experimental results. The depth heterogeneity of the active layer physico-chemical properties and interactions with contaminants studied in this dissertation was also characterized. Additionally, measured concentrations of ionized functional groups in the polyamide active layers of several commercial RO/NF membranes were used as input in a simplified RO/NF transport model to predict the rejection of a strong electrolyte (i.e., potassium iodide) and a weak acid (i.e., arsenious acid) at different pH values based on rejection results at one pH condition. The good agreement between predicted and experimental results showed that the characterization procedures developed in this study serve as useful tools in the advancement of the understanding of the properties and structure of the active layers of RO/NF membranes, and the mechanisms of contaminant transport through them.