Compact coalgebras, compact quantum groups and the positive antipode

In this article -that has also the intention to survey some known results in the theory of compact quantum groups using methods different from the standard and with a strong algebraic flavor- we consider compact o-coalgebras and Hopf algebras. In the case of a o-Hopf algebra we present a proof of the characterization of the compactness in terms of the existence of a positive definite integral, and use our methods to give an elementary proof of the uniqueness - up to conjugation by an automorphism of Hopf algebras- of the compact involution appearing in [4]. We study the basic properties of the positive square root of the antipode square that is a Hopf algebra automorphism that we call the positive antipode. We use it -as well as the unitary antipode and the Nakayama automorphism- in order to enhance our understanding of the antipode itself

PARADISE: A Framework for Evaluating Spoken Dialogue Agents

This paper presents PARADISE (PARAdigm for DIalogue System Evaluation), a general framework for evaluating spoken dialogue agents. The framework decouples task requirements from an agent's dialogue behaviors, supports comparisons among dialogue strategies, enables the calculation of performance over subdialogues and whole dialogues, specifies the relative contribution of various factors to performance, and makes it possible to compare agents performing different tasks by normalizing for task complexity.Comment: 10 pages, uses aclap, psfig, lingmacros, time

Pricing Efficiency in Major Cattle Auction Centres in the Philippines

The problem of low productivity is the major constraint to the development of the Philippine livestock sector. Contribution from the industry particularly cattle production is considered below potential despite conditions favoring cattle raising in the Philippines. Apart from the technical innovations to encourage cattle raising, an improvement in the marketing system is needed to sustain production. The establishment of livestock auction markets to minimize the defects of the traditional marketing system is believed to be the most feasible short-run modification to effect an efficient marketing of cattle . This study evaluates the pricing efficiency in major cattle auction centres in the Philippines. The univariate residual cross-correlation approach by Haugh (1972 , 1976) and Pierce (1977), and the Sims' (1972) distributed-lag regress ion were used to ascertain Whether the auction centres are integrated in terms of price formation. This was done through the assessment of the nature of causality between prices in the various cattle auctions within and among regions. Time series data an prices consisting of 84 monthly observations were utilized for the purpose. Results showed an inter-dependence among markets, thus, rejecting the null hypothesis of no market integration. The study concludes that government policies geared towards an effective dissemination and monitoring of market information, establishment of more auction markets will enhance the output of the livestock sector

Assessment of microbial community structure changes by amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA)

Amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) is a simple method based on restriction endonuclease digestion of the amplified bacterial 16S rDNA. In this study we have evaluated the suitability of this method to detect differences in activated sludge bacterial communities fed on domestic or industrial wastewater, and subject to different operational conditions. The ability of ARDRA to detect these differences has been tested in modified Ludzack-Ettinger (MLE) configurations. Samples from three activated sludge wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with the MLE configuration were collected for both oxic and anoxic reactors, and ARDRA patterns using double enzyme digestions AluI+MspI were obtained. A matrix of Dice similarity coefficients was calculated and used to compare these restriction patterns. Differences in the community structure due to influent characteristics and temperature could be observed, but not between the oxic and anoxic reactors of each of the three MLE configurations. Other possible applications of ARDRA for detecting and monitoring changes in activated sludge systems are also discussed

New findings of Pleistocene fossil turtles (Geoemydidae, Kinosternidae and Chelydridae) from Santa Elena Province, Ecuador

New Pleistocene fossilized turtle remains from five localities of western Ecuador (Santa Elena Province) are described here. All these shell (carapace and plastron) fossil remains come from the Tablazo Formation and belong to three different lineages of cryptodires ("hidden-necked" turtles). The most abundant remains belong to geoemydids, attributed here to the genus Rhinoclemmys (indeterminate species). Less abundant in occurrence are the kinosternidids, attributed to Kinosternon (indeterminate species), and the first fossil record of chelydrids, Chelydra (indeterminate species), in the entirety of Central and South America

Rapidly Restoring Biological Soil Crusts and Ecosystem Functions in a Severely Disturbed Desert Ecosystem

Restoring biological soil crusts (biocrusts) in degraded drylands can contribute to recovery of ecosystem functions that have global implications, including erosion resistance and nutrient cycling. To examine techniques for restoring biocrusts, we conducted a replicated, factorial experiment on recently abandoned road surfaces by applying biocrust inoculation (salvaged and stored dry for two years), salvaged topsoil, an abiotic soil amendment (wood shavings), and planting of a dominant perennial shrub (Ambrosia dumosa). Eighteen months after treatments, we measured biocrust abundance and species composition, soil chlorophyll a content and fertility, and soil resistance to erosion. Biocrust addition significantly accelerated biocrust recovery on disturbed soils, including increasing lichen and moss cover and cyanobacteria colonization. Compared to undisturbed controls, inoculated plots had similar lichen and moss composition, recovered 43% of total cyanobacteria density, had similar soil chlorophyll content, and exhibited recovery of soil fertility and soil stability. Inoculation was the only treatment that generated lichen and moss cover. Topsoil application resulted in partial recovery of the cyanobacteria community and soil properties. Compared to untreated disturbed plots, topsoil application without inoculum increased cyanobacteria density by 186% and moderately improved soil chlorophyll and ammonium content and soil stability. Topsoil application produced 22% and 51% of the cyanobacteria density g−1 soil compared to undisturbed and inoculated plots, respectively. Plots not treated with either topsoil or inoculum had significantly lower cyanobacteria density, soil chlorophyll and ammonium concentrations, and significantly higher soil nitrate concentration. Wood shavings and Ambrosia had no influence on biocrust lichen and moss species recovery but did affect cyanobacteria composition and soil fertility. Inoculation of severely disturbed soil with native biocrusts rapidly restored biocrust communities and soil stability such that restored areas were similar to undisturbed desert within three years. Using salvaged biocrust as inoculum can be an effective tool in ecological restoration because of its efficacy and simple implementation. Although salvaging biocrust material can be technically difficult and potentially costly, utilizing opportunities to salvage material in planned future disturbance can provide additional land management tools

La Formación de los Profesionales de la Actividad Física y del Deporte

En este estudio se describe la formación inicial y permanente de las personas que trabajan en funciones de actividad física y deporte. La metodología utilizada en este estudio es cuantitativa de corte descriptivo, cuyo instrumento de recogida de datos ha sido una entrevista individual, oral y estandarizada por medio de cuestionario llevada a cabo a 600 personas que trabajan en funciones de actividad física y deporte en entidades y/o instalaciones deportivas de la Comunidad Autónoma Valenciana. Los resultados de la investigación determinan que en el mercado laboral y profesional de la actividad física y deporte existe una gran cantidad de personas trabajando en funciones de actividad física y deporte sin posesión de ninguna de las titulaciones oficiales de actividad física y deporte. La formación continua de las personas con alguna de las distintas titulaciones de actividad física y deporte es amplia y diversificada

Situación sociodemográfica y formativa de los entrenadores personales en la Comunidad Valenciana

En este estudio se describe el género, edad y la formación inicial y permanente de las personas que trabajan en el entrenamiento personal en la Comunidad Valencian

Emission of photon echoes in a strongly scattering medium

We observe the two- and three-pulse photon echo emission from a scattering powder, obtained by grinding a Pr$^{3+}$:Y$_2$SiO$_5$ rare earth doped single crystal. We show that the collective emission is coherently constructed over several grains. A well defined atomic coherence can therefore be created between randomly placed particles. Observation of photon echo on powders as opposed to bulk materials opens the way to faster material development. More generally, time-domain resonant four-wave mixing offers an attractive approach to investigate coherent propagation in scattering media

Sensible energy accounting with abstract metering for multicore systems

Chip multicore processors (CMPs) are the preferred processing platform across different domains such as data centers, real-time systems, and mobile devices. In all those domains, energy is arguably the most expensive resource in a computing system. Accurately quantifying energy usage in a multicore environment presents a challenge as well as an opportunity for optimization. Standard metering approaches are not capable of delivering consistent results with shared resources, since the same task with the same inputs may have different energy consumption based on the mix of co-running tasks. However, it is reasonable for data-center operators to charge on the basis of estimated energy usage rather than time since energy is more correlated with their actual cost. This article introduces the concept of Sensible Energy Accounting (SEA). For a task running in a multicore system, SEA accurately estimates the energy the task would have consumed running in isolation with a given fraction of the CMP shared resources. We explain the potential benefits of SEA in different domains and describe two hardware techniques to implement it for a shared last-level cache and on-core resources in SMT processors. Moreover, with SEA, an energy-aware scheduler can find a highly efficient on-chip resource assignment, reducing by up to 39% the total processor energy for a 4-core system.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft