Evaluation of molecular typing methods for methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus

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Comparison of BER estimation methods in numerical simulation of 40 Gbit/s RZ-DPSK transmission

This study analyzes the validity of different Q-factor models in the BER estimation in RZ-DPSK transmission at 40 Gb/s channel rate. The impact of the duty cycle of the carrier pulses on the accuracy of the BER estimates through the different models has also been studied.

Linear stability of flow past two circular cylinders in a side-by-side arrangement

The linear stability of flow past two circular cylinders in a side-by-side arrangement is investigated theoretically, numerically and experimentally under the assumption of a two-dimensional flow field, in order to explore the origin of in-phase and antiphase oscillatory flows. Steady symmetric flow is realized at a small Reynolds number, but becomes unstable above a critical Reynolds number though the solution corresponding to the flow still satisfies the basic equations irrespective of the magnitude of the Reynolds number. We obtained the solution numerically and investigated its linear stability. We found that there are two kinds of unstable modes, i.e., antisymmetric and symmetric modes, which lead to in-phase and antiphase oscillatory flows, respectively. We determined the critical Reynolds numbers for the two modes and evaluated the critical distance at which the most unstable disturbance changes from the antisymmetric to the symmetric mode, or vice versa. ��2005 The Physical Society of Japan.

Advance of the Access Methods

The goal of this paper is to outline the advance of the access methods in the last ten years as well as to make review of all available in the accessible bibliography methods.

Applications of Nonclassical Logic Methods for Purposes of Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining

* The work is partially supported by Grant no. NIP917 of the Ministry of Science and Education ��� Republic of Bulgaria.

Upgradable Tree Levels Editor of Metaontologies, Ontologies and Knowledge for a Chemistry

* This paper has supported by Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the project 06-III-A-01-005 and Russian Fund of Fundamental Investigation, the project 06-07-89071-a

On The Critical Points of some Iteration Methods for Solving Algebraic Equations. Global Convergence Properties

In this work we give su��cient conditions for k-th approximations of the polynomial roots of f(x) when the Maehly{Aberth{Ehrlich, Werner-Borsch-Supan, Tanabe, Improved Borsch-Supan iteration methods fail on the next step. For these methods all non-attractive sets are found. This is a subsequent improvement of previously developed techniques and known facts. The users of these methods can use the results presented here for software implementation in Distributed Applications and Simulation Environ- ments. Numerical examples with graphics are shown.

Enhancing the transparency of accounting research: the case of narrative analysis

Purpose ��� This paper aims to clarify what ���narrative analysis��� may entail when it is assumed that interview accounts can be treated as (collections of) narratives. What is considered a narrative and how these may be analyzed is open to debate. After suggesting an approach of how to deal with narrative analysis, the authors critically discuss how far it might offer insights into a particular accounting case. Design/methodology/approach ��� After having explained what the authors��� view on narrative analysis is, and how this is linked with the extant literature, the authors examine the socialisation processes of two early career accountants that have been articulated in an interview context. Findings ��� The approach to narrative analysis set out in this paper could help to clarify how and why certain interpretations from an interview are generated by a researcher. The authors emphasise the importance of discussing a researcher���s process of discovery when an interpretive approach to research is adopted. Research limitations/implications ��� The application of any method, and what a researcher thinks can be distilled from this, depends on the research outlook he/she has. As the authors adopt an interpretive approach to research in this paper, they acknowledge that the interpretations of narratives, and what they deem to be narratives, will be infused by their own perceptions. Practical implications ��� The authors believe that the writing-up of qualitative research from an interpretive stance would benefit from an explicit acceptance of the equivocal nature of interpretation. The way in which they present and discuss the narrative analyses in this paper intends to bring this to the fore. Originality/value ��� Whenever someone says he/she engages in narrative analysis, both the ���narrative��� and ���analysis��� part of ���narrative analysis��� need to be explicated. The authors believe that this only happens every so often. This paper puts forward an approach of how more clarity on this might be achieved by combining two frameworks in the extant literature, so that the transparency of the research is enhanced.

Vezet��kkel szemben t��masztott munkaer��-piaci kompetenciaelv��r��sok a Heti Vil��ggazdas��g ��s a The Economist ��ll��shirdet��seinek elemz��se alapj��n (Job market competency requirements for managers on the basis of the analysis of job advertisements in the Heti Vil��ggazdas��g and The Economist)

A szervezet dolgoz��i k��z��tt kiemelt fontoss��g��ak a vezet��k, hiszen d��nt��seikkel, m��k��d��s��kkel a szervezet ��let��t k��zvetlen��l, ��s sokszor hossz�� t��vra befoly��solj��k. Annak a v��llalatnak, mely megtartani, n��velni szeretn�� piaci poz��ci��j��t, k��l��n��s hangs��lyt kell fektetnie vezet��inek kiv��laszt��s��ra, a k��s��bbiekben pedig fejleszt��s��re. A szerz�� cikk��ben azt mutatja be, hogy a k��zgazd��szk��pzetts��ggel rendelkez�� vezet��k ir��nti munkaer��-piaci kereslet (a HVG-hirdet��sek elemz��se alapj��n) milyen min��s��gi jellemz��ket mutatott 2000���2009 k��z��tt. A szerz�� r��szletesen ismerteti az eredm��nyeket, melyek ��rtelmez��s��hez a Spencer ��s munkat��rsai ��ltal kidolgozott kompetenciamodell saj��t tov��bbfejlesztett v��ltozat��t haszn��lja fel. Kitekint��s c��lj��val a magyar eredm��nyek mellett bemutatja, hogy egy m��s gazdas��gi strukt��r��val, kult��r��val rendelkez�� orsz��gban hogyan alakultak a vezet��kkel szemben t��masztott kompetencia-elv��r��sok. Az eredm��nyek ��� melyeket m��s hazai felm��r��sek is al��t��masztanak ��� azt t��kr��zik, hogy a magyar vezet��kkel szemben t��masztott munkaer��-piaci kompetencia-elv��r��sok elt��rnek a szakmai v��rakoz��sokt��l ��s ��lesen elt��r�� k��pet mutatnak a The Economist hirdet��selemz��s��nek eredm��ny��t��l. _________ The thesis that the most important factor which determines the competitiveness of future companies is the quality of human resources has received increasingly more emphasis in the literature on management. The managers of organizations have a key role since they can directly influence the life of the organization by their decisions and work, often for a long term. Therefore, a company which intends to maintain or improve its market position should place special emphasis on the selection, and later on the development of its managers. In the present paper the author presents the characteristic features of job market demand for managers with qualifications in economics between 2000 and 2009 (on the basis of the analysis of job advertisements published in the economic weekly paper Heti Vil��ggazdas��g). The author gives a detailed analysis of the results using the competence model developed by Spencer et al. and further developed by the author. In addition to the Hungarian results, the paper also provides an overview of how managers are selected in a country with a different economic structure and culture. The results ��� also supported by other surveys conducted in Hungary ��� demonstrate that the competence expectations of the job market for Hungarian managers fail to meet professional expectations; the picture is sharply different from what the analysis of job advertisements published in The Economist show, and the competence expectation changed very little, though quite strikingly, over the period under discussion.

On the additivity of preference aggregation methods

The paper reviews some axioms of additivity concerning ranking methods used for generalized tournaments with possible missing values and multiple comparisons. It is shown that one of the most natural properties, called consistency, has strong links to independence of irrelevant comparisons, an axiom judged unfavourable when players have different opponents. Therefore some directions of weakening consistency are suggested, and several ranking methods, the score, generalized row sum and least squares as well as fair bets and its two variants (one of them entirely new) are analysed whether they satisfy the properties discussed. It turns out that least squares and generalized row sum with an appropriate parameter choice preserve the relative ranking of two objects if the ranking problems added have the same comparison structure.

Use of conjoint analysis to examine beliefs related to the practice of early literacy instruction

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between teacher beliefs and actual classroom practice in early literacy instruction. Conjoint analysis was used to measure teachers' beliefs on four early literacy factors���phonological awareness, print awareness, graphophonic awareness, and structural awareness. A collective case study format was then used to measure the correspondence of teachers' beliefs with their actual classroom practice. ^ Ninety Project READS participants were given twelve cards in an orthogonal experimental design describing students that either met or did not meet criteria on the four early literacy factors. Conjoint measurements of whether the student is an efficient reader were taken. These measurements provided relative importance scores for each respondent. Based on the relative important scores, four teachers were chosen to participate in a collective case study. ^ The conjoint results enabled the clustering of teachers into four distinct groups, each aligned with one of the four early literacy factors. K-means cluster analysis of the relative importance measurements showed commonalities among the ninety respondents' beliefs. The collective case study results were mixed. Implications for researchers and practitioners include the use of conjoint analysis in measuring teacher beliefs on the four early literacy factors. Further, the understanding of teacher preferences on these beliefs may assist in the development of curriculum design and therefore increase educational effectiveness. Finally, comparisons between teachers' beliefs on the four early literacy factors and actual instructional practices may facilitate teacher self-reflection thus encouraging positive teacher change. ^

Application of intervention analysis to evaluate the impacts of special events on freeways

In China in particular, large, planned special events (e.g., the Olympic Games, etc.) are viewed as great opportunities for economic development. Large numbers of visitors from other countries and provinces may be expected to attend such events, bringing in significant tourism dollars. However, as a direct result of such events, the transportation system is likely to face great challenges as travel demand increases beyond its original design capacity. Special events in central business districts (CBD) in particular will further exacerbate traffic congestion on surrounding freeway segments near event locations. To manage the transportation system, it is necessary to plan and prepare for such special events, which requires prediction of traffic conditions during the events. This dissertation presents a set of novel prototype models to forecast traffic volumes along freeway segments during special events. Almost all research to date has focused solely on traffic management techniques under special event conditions. These studies, at most, provided a qualitative analysis and there was a lack of an easy-to-implement method for quantitative analyses. This dissertation presents a systematic approach, based separately on univariate time series model with intervention analysis and multivariate time series model with intervention analysis for forecasting traffic volumes on freeway segments near an event location. A case study was carried out, which involved analyzing and modelling the historical time series data collected from loop-detector traffic monitoring stations on the Second and Third Ring Roads near Beijing Workers Stadium. The proposed time series models, with expected intervention, are found to provide reasonably accurate forecasts of traffic pattern changes efficiently. They may be used to support transportation planning and management for special events.

Automated detection of hematological abnormalities through classification of flow cytometric data patterns

Flow Cytometry analyzers have become trusted companions due to their ability to perform fast and accurate analyses of human blood. The aim of these analyses is to determine the possible existence of abnormalities in the blood that have been correlated with serious disease states, such as infectious mononucleosis, leukemia, and various cancers. Though these analyzers provide important feedback, it is always desired to improve the accuracy of the results. This is evidenced by the occurrences of misclassifications reported by some users of these devices. It is advantageous to provide a pattern interpretation framework that is able to provide better classification ability than is currently available. Toward this end, the purpose of this dissertation was to establish a feature extraction and pattern classification framework capable of providing improved accuracy for detecting specific hematological abnormalities in flow cytometric blood data. ^ This involved extracting a unique and powerful set of shift-invariant statistical features from the multi-dimensional flow cytometry data and then using these features as inputs to a pattern classification engine composed of an artificial neural network (ANN). The contribution of this method consisted of developing a descriptor matrix that can be used to reliably assess if a donor���s blood pattern exhibits a clinically abnormal level of variant lymphocytes, which are blood cells that are potentially indicative of disorders such as leukemia and infectious mononucleosis. ^ This study showed that the set of shift-and-rotation-invariant statistical features extracted from the eigensystem of the flow cytometric data pattern performs better than other commonly-used features in this type of disease detection, exhibiting an accuracy of 80.7%, a sensitivity of 72.3%, and a specificity of 89.2%. This performance represents a major improvement for this type of hematological classifier, which has historically been plagued by poor performance, with accuracies as low as 60% in some cases. This research ultimately shows that an improved feature space was developed that can deliver improved performance for the detection of variant lymphocytes in human blood, thus providing significant utility in the realm of suspect flagging algorithms for the detection of blood-related diseases.^