Book Review of Cetacean Societies: Field Studies Of Whales And Dolphins Edited by I. Mann, R. C. Connor, P. L. Tyack & H. Whitehead

Studying the sociobiology and behavioral ecology of cetaceans is particularly challenging due in large part to the aquatic environment in which they live. Nevertheless, many of the obstacles traditionally associated with data gathering on tree-ranging whales, dolphins and porpoises are rapidly being overcome, and are now far less formidable. During the past several decades, marine mammal scientists equipped with innovative research methods and new technologies have taken field-based behavioral studies to a new level of sophistication. In some cases, as is true for bottlenose dolphins, killer whales, sperm whales and humpback whales, modern research paradigms in the marine environment are comparable to present-day studies of terrestrial mammal social systems. Cetacean Society stands testament to the relatively recent advances in marine mammal science, and to those scientists, past and present, whose diligence has been instrumental in shaping the discipline.

The Use of Vocabulary in an Eighth Grade Mathematics Classroom: Improving Usage of Mathematics Vocabulary in Oral and Written Communication

In this action research study of my mathematics classroom of eighth grade students, I investigated the use of mathematics vocabulary by focusing on improving the usage of this vocabulary in both oral and written communication. I discovered oral communication tended to show more improvements compared to written communication done by the same group of students. As a result of this research, I plan to continue to focus my teaching on the use of mathematics vocabulary in an effort to help my students gain a greater understanding of the daily use of that vocabulary.

Fidelity and game-based technology in management education

This study explores educational technology and management education by analyzing fidelity in game-based management education interventions. A sample of 31 MBA students was selected to help answer the research question: To what extent do MBA students tend to recognize specific game-based academic experiences, in terms of fidelity, as relevant to their managerial performance? Two distinct game-based interventions (BG1 and BG2) with key differences in fidelity levels were explored: BG1 presented higher physical and functional fidelity levels and lower psychological fidelity levels. Hypotheses were tested with data from the participants, collected shortly after their experiences, related to the overall perceived quality of game-based interventions. The findings reveal a higher overall perception of quality towards BG1: (a) better for testing strategies, (b) offering better business and market models, (c) based on a pace that better stimulates learning, and (d) presenting a fidelity level that better supports real world performance. This study fosters the conclusion that MBA students tend to recognize, to a large extent, that specific game-based academic experiences are relevant and meaningful to their managerial development, mostly with heightened fidelity levels of adopted artifacts. Agents must be ready and motivated to explore the new, to try and err, and to learn collaboratively in order to perform.

Study of the building and decorative materials and techniques used in Hungarian Roman sites

The aims of this research were: - To identify the characteristics, properties and provenance of the building and decorative material found in three Hungarian Roman sites: Nagyharsány, Nemesvámos-Balácapuszta and Aquincum - To provide a database of information on the different sites - To have an overview of main conservation strategies applied in Hungary. Geological studies, macroscopical and microscopical observations, XRD investigations, physical and chemical analyses allowed us to define the characteristics and properties of the different kinds of collected materials. Building stones sampled from Nagyharsány site showed two different kinds of massive limestone belonging to the areas surrounding the villa. Also Building stones sampled from Nemesvámos-Balácapuszta Roman villa proved to be compatible with limestone belonging to local sources. Mural painting fragments show that all samples are units composed of multilayered structures. Mosaic tesserae can be classified as following: -Pale yellow , blackish and pink tesserae are comparable with local limestone; -White tessera, composed of marble, was probably imported from distant regions of the Empire, as the usual practice of Romans. Mortars present different characteristics according to the age, the site and the functions: -Building mortars are generally lime based, white or pale yellow in colour, present a high percentage of aggregates represented by fine sand; -Supporting mortars from both mosaics and mural paintings are reddish or pinkish in colour, due to the presence of high percentage of brick dust and tiles fragments, and present a higher content of MgO. Although the condition of the sites, there is an insignificant content of soluble salts. Database The whole study has allowed us to provide work sheets for each samples, including all characteristics and properties. Furthermore, all sites included in the frame of the research have been described and illustrated on the base of their floor plans, material and construction methodologies. It can be concluded that: 1. In Nagyharsány Archaeological site, it is possible to define a sequence of different construction phases on the base of the study of building material and mortars. The results are comparable with the chronology of the site provided by the archaeologists 2. The material used for construction was of local origin while the more precious ones, used for decorative elements, were probably imported from long distance 3. Construction techniques in Hungary mainly refer to the usual Roman knowledge and practice (Vitruvius); few differences have been found 4. The database will represent an archive for Archaeologists, Historians and Conservators dealing with Roman period in Hungary.

Methods for Clearance Influence Analysis in Planar and Spatial Mechanisms

This doctoral dissertation presents a new method to asses the influence of clearancein the kinematic pairs on the configuration of planar and spatial mechanisms. The subject has been widely investigated in both past and present scientific literature, and is approached in different ways: a static/kinetostatic way, which looks for the clearance take-up due to the external loads on the mechanism; a probabilistic way, which expresses clearance-due displacements using probability density functions; a dynamic way, which evaluates dynamic effects like the actual forces in the pairs caused by impacts, or the consequent vibrations. This dissertation presents a new method to approach the problem of clearance. The problem is studied from a purely kinematic perspective. With reference to a given mechanism configuration, the pose (position and orientation) error of the mechanism link of interest is expressed as a vector function of the degrees of freedom introduced in each pair by clearance: the presence of clearance in a kinematic pair, in facts, causes the actual pair to have more degrees of freedom than the theoretical clearance-free one. The clearance-due degrees of freedom are bounded by the pair geometry. A proper modelling of clearance-affected pairs allows expressing such bounding through analytical functions. It is then possible to study the problem as a maximization problem, where a continuous function (the pose error of the link of interest) subject to some constraints (the analytical functions bounding clearance- due degrees of freedom) has to be maximize. Revolute, prismatic, cylindrical, and spherical clearance-affected pairs have been analytically modelled; with reference to mechanisms involving such pairs, the solution to the maximization problem has been obtained in a closed form.

Reliable Broadcasting and Streaming of Multimedia Content

This thesis is focused on the study of techniques that allow to have reliable transmission of multimedia content in streaming and broadcasting applications, targeting in particular video content. The design of efficient error-control mechanisms, to enhance video transmission systems reliability, has been addressed considering cross-layer and multi-layer/multi-dimensional channel coding techniques to cope with bit errors as well as packet erasures. Mechanisms for unequal time interleaving have been designed as a viable solution to reduce the impact of errors and erasures by acting on the time diversity of the data flow, thus enhancing robustness against correlated channel impairments. In order to account for the nature of the factors which affect the physical layer channel in the evaluation of FEC schemes performances, an ad-hoc error-event modeling has been devised. In addition, the impact of error correction/protection techniques on the quality perceived by the consumers of video services applications and techniques for objective/subjective quality evaluation have been studied. The applicability and value of the proposed techniques have been tested by considering practical constraints and requirements of real system implementations.

L’interpretazione simultanea dal polacco all’italiano: le strategie per affrontare le catene nominali

La presente tesi rappresenta il primo studio dedicato all’interpretazione simultanea dal polacco all’italiano. La presente ricerca cerca di identificare il modo in cui interpreti di comprovata esperienza gestiscono alcune difficoltà tipiche della sintassi polacca fortemente divergenti da quella italiana. La scelta di studiare le catene nominali deriva dal confronto di quanto emerso dalle indagini sulla linguistica contrastiva con un’inchiesta tra gli interpreti accreditati presso le istituzioni europee per quella combinazione. Il primo capitolo è dedicato ad una panoramica sui contatti passati e presenti tra l’Italia e la Polonia e ad una riflessione sulla lingua polacca in chiave contrastiva con l’italiano. Il secondo capitolo si concentra sulla ricerca nell’ambito dell’interpretazione simultanea, in particolare sugli studi contrastivi e sulla discussione delle strategie usate dagli interpreti. Il terzo capitolo approfondisce il contesto di questo studio ovvero le istituzioni europee, il il multilinguismo e il regime linguistico al Parlamento Europeo. Il quarto capitolo include l’indagine del lavoro, condotta su un ampio corpus di dati. Sono stati infatti trascritti e analizzati tutti gli interventi tenuti in lingua polacca in occasione delle sedute parlamentari a Strasburgo e a Bruxelles del 2011 e del primo semestre 2009 e le relative interppretazioni in italiano (per un totale di oltre 9 ore di parlato per lingua). Dall’analisi è risultato che l’interprete nella maggior parte dei casi cerca, nonostante la velocità d’eloquio dell’oratore, di riprodurre fedelmente il messaggio. Tuttavia, qualora questo non risulti possibile, si è notato come gli interpreti ricorrano in maniera consapevole all’omissione di quelle informazioni desumibili o dal contesto o dalle conoscenze pregresse dell’ascoltatore. Di conseguenza la riduzione non rappresenta una strategia di emergenza ma una risorsa da applicare consapevolmente per superare le difficoltà poste da lunghe sequenze di sostantivi.

Global and regional sea level variations in the recent past and future: insight from observations and modeling

This work is focused on the analysis of sea–level change (last century), based mainly on instrumental observations. During this period, individual components of sea–level change are investigated, both at global and regional scales. Some of the geophysical processes responsible for current sea-level change such as glacial isostatic adjustments and current melting terrestrial ice sources, have been modeled and compared with observations. A new value of global mean sea level change based of tide gauges observations has been independently assessed in 1.5 mm/year, using corrections for glacial isostatic adjustment obtained with different models as a criterion for the tide gauge selection. The long wavelength spatial variability of the main components of sea–level change has been investigated by means of traditional and new spectral methods. Complex non–linear trends and abrupt sea–level variations shown by tide gauges records have been addressed applying different approaches to regional case studies. The Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition technique has been used to analyse tide gauges records from the Adriatic Sea to ascertain the existence of cyclic sea-level variations. An Early Warning approach have been adopted to detect tipping points in sea–level records of North East Pacific and their relationship with oceanic modes. Global sea–level projections to year 2100 have been obtained by a semi-empirical approach based on the artificial neural network method. In addition, a model-based approach has been applied to the case of the Mediterranean Sea, obtaining sea-level projection to year 2050.

Catheter ablation of recurrent scar-related ventricular tachycardia using electroanatomical mapping and irrigated ablation technology: results of the prospective multicenter Euro-VT-study

Ventricular tachycardia (VT) late after myocardial infarction is an important contributor to morbidity and mortality. This prospective multicenter study assessed the efficacy and safety of electroanatomical mapping in combination with open-saline irrigated ablation technology for ablation of chronic recurrent mappable and unmappable VT in remote myocardial infarction.

Comparison of real-time polymerase chain reaction and DNA-strip technology in microbiological evaluation of periodontitis treatment

The impact of a semiquantitative commercially available test based on DNA-strip technology (microIDent®, Hain Lifescience, Nehren, Germany) on diagnosis and treatment of severe chronic periodontitis of 25 periodontitis patients was evaluated in comparison with a quantitative in-house real-time PCR. Subgingival plaque samples were collected at baseline as well as at 3, 6, and 12 months later. After extracting DNA, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, Treponema denticola, and several other periodontopathogens were determined by both methods. The results obtained by DNA-strip technology were analyzed semiquantitatively and additionally quantitatively by densitometry. The results for the 4 major periodontopathogenic bacterial species correlated significantly between the 2 methods. Samples detecting a high bacterial load by one method and negative by the other were always found in less than 2% of the total samples. Both technologies showed the impact of treatment on microflora. Especially the semiquantitative DNA-strip technology clearly analyzed the different loads of periodontopathogens after therapy and is useful in microbial diagnostics for patients in dental practices.

Causes and consequences of past and projected Scandinavian summer temperatures, 500-2100 AD

Tree rings dominate millennium-long temperature reconstructions and many records originate from Scandinavia, an area for which the relative roles of external forcing and internal variation on climatic changes are, however, not yet fully understood. Here we compile 1,179 series of maximum latewood density measurements from 25 conifer sites in northern Scandinavia, establish a suite of 36 subset chronologies, and analyse their climate signal. A new reconstruction for the 1483–2006 period correlates at 0.80 with June–August temperatures back to 1860. Summer cooling during the early 17th century and peak warming in the 1930s translate into a decadal amplitude of 2.9°C, which agrees with existing Scandinavian tree-ring proxies. Climate model simulations reveal similar amounts of mid to low frequency variability, suggesting that internal ocean-atmosphere feedbacks likely influenced Scandinavian temperatures more than external forcing. Projected 21st century warming under the SRES A2 scenario would, however, exceed the reconstructed temperature envelope of the past 1,500 years.