OPTICAL COMPUTING

Since Japan is one of the leading countries in optoelectronics and computer technology, it is no wonder that researches in optical computing are imagined to be also very active. As is well known, much work in optical analog information processing with spatial filtering and holography has been done after notable one of Tsujiuchi. While some computer applications of optical technology such as optical storage, data transmission by optical fibers, and laser printers are being well developed, research efforts in optical computing have been just begun as in the other countries so far as it is concerned in a relatively narrow sense. In this paper, the state of the art in optical computing devices and systems in Japan is reviewed.

The next generation of advances in computer throughput and capability can be achieved only by algorithmic and architectural innovations and by exploiting parallelism and concurrency. In this context, optical computing offers intrinsic massive parallelism, high speed and low power dissipation. Realization of those advantages requires technologies for optical and optoelectronic devices and materials. Whether optics will be an alternative or a complement to electronics for computing depends to a large extent on the technological advances in optical devices and materials. Architectural considerations for optical computing also depend on novel devices and materials. Optical computing requires light sources, detectors, switches and optical refractive, reflective and diffractive components. These devices should have distinct characteristics and should also be compatible with electronic VLSI technologies. Optoelectronic and photonic technologies are a fast-growing area in the industries related to optical fiber communications, optical disk memories, optoelectronic displays, laser printers, fax machines and photocopiers. There have also been significant advances in particular devices and materials for optical analog, digital, parallel and neural computing. A remarkable technological advance is the application of electronic VLSI fabrication technologies into optics and optoelectronics, resulting in new devices and new technologies such as multiple quantum well effect devices, binary optics, micro optic components, etc. In what follows, we will examine recent developments of the major optical and optoelectronic devices and materials for optical computing.

Simple SummaryAbundance is a hallmark of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). They are exceedingly common in both natural and artificial environments and they constitute a conspicuous part of the terrestrial ecosystem; every 3 to 4 out of 10 kg of insects are given by ants. Due to their key role in natural habitats, they are at the basis of any nature conservation and pest management policy. Thus, the first step in developing adequate management strategies is to build a precise faunistic inventory. More than 16,000 valid ant species are registered worldwide, of which 126 are known to occur in Hungary. Thanks to the last decade’s efforts in the Hungarian myrmecological research, and because of the constantly changing taxonomy of several problematic ant genera, a new checklist of the Hungarian ants is presented here. A comparison of the Hungarian myrmecofauna to other European countries’ ant fauna is also provided in this paper. The current dataset is a result of ongoing work on inventorying the Hungarian ant fauna, therefore it is expected to change over time and will be updated once the ongoing taxonomic projects are completed.Ants (Hymenoptera: Forimicidae) are exceedingly common in nature. They constitute a conspicuous part of the terrestrial animal biomass and are also considered common ecosystem engineers. Due to their key role in natural habitats, they are at the basis of any nature conservation policy. Thus, the first step in developing adequate conservation and management policies is to build a precise faunistic inventory. More than 16,000 valid ant species are registered worldwide, of which 126 are known to occur in Hungary. Thanks to the last decade’s efforts in the Hungarian myrmecological research, and because of the constantly changing taxonomy of several problematic ant genera, a new checklist of the Hungarian ants is presented here. The state of the Hungarian myrmecofauna is also discussed in the context of other European countries’ ant fauna. Six species (Formica lemani, Lasius nitidigaster, Tetramorium immigrans, T. staerckei, T. indocile and Temnothorax turcicus) have been reported for the first time in the Hungarian literature, nine taxon names were changed after systematic replacements, nomenclatorial act, or as a result of splitting formerly considered continuous populations into more taxa. Two species formerly believed to occur in Hungary are now excluded from the updated list. All names are nomenclaturally assessed, and complete synonymies applied in the Hungarian literature for a certain taxon are provided. Wherever it is not self-evident, comments are added, especially to explain replacements of taxon names. Finally, we present a brief descriptive comparison of the Hungarian myrmecofauna with the ant fauna of the surrounding countries. The current dataset is a result of ongoing work on inventorying the Hungarian ant fauna, therefore it is expected to change over time and will be updated once the ongoing taxonomic projects are completed.

Neste artigo preguntámonos, en primeiro lugar, por que o deseño do euro non incor-porou os mecanismos necesarios para resolver situacións de crise como a actual. A hipótese que manexamos é que, en contra do que frecuentemente se di, o euro seguiu un modelo que responde máis á lóxica dunha “currency board” dun mercado común que ao dunha moeda única dunha unidade política. En segundo lugar, formulamos a cuestión de se a actual eurozona pode ir máis alá desa lóxica para transformarse nunha verdadeira moeda común. Para iso preguntá-monos en que medida a actual crise de débeda pode acabar sendo unha crise integradora ou, pola contra, desintegradora da eurozona, identificando os factores que poden determinar que o resultado sexa un ou outro. A conclusión é que o camiño cara ao goberno económico do euro será longo e de resultados impredicibles. O avance necesita dun novo impulso rexenerador do proxecto europeo. Ese impulso non poderá vir dos actuais plans de austeridade. A integración dos novos, hoxe afectados por un elevado nivel de desemprego, pode servir de obxectivo para dar ese novo impulso.

An optical computer is a computer that uses light instead of electricity (i.e. photons rather than electrons) to manipulate. store and transmit data. Most research projects focus on replacing current computer components with optical equivalents, resulting in an optical digital computer system processing binary data. A study of using a physical medium for computation‐solitons is presented here. As particle like nonlinear waves, solitons carry and exchange information, thus acting as computing agents. Oprical solitons have pulse widths measured in pico seconds or femtoseconds. The general idea of implementing logic usng using solitons is investigated.

The combination of knowledge and skills from different backgrounds or research cultures is often consid- ered good for science. This paper describes the extent to which academic research teams in the life sciences draw on knowledge from different research cultures and how this is related to their research performance. We distinguish be- tween international collaboration of research teams from dif- ferent countries and cultural diversity of research teams re- sulting from team members with different countries of ori- gin. Our results show that the most successful teams have a moderate level of cultural diversity; in addition, success- ful teams engage in collaboration activities with teams from other European countries and the US leading to joint pub- lications. These results have implications for research team management and for research policy, in particular in relation to supporting measures for mobile scientists.

BackgroundPhysicians’ clinical decision-making may be influenced by non‐analytical thinking, especially when perceiving uncertainty. Incidental gut feelings in general practice have been described, namely, as “a sense of alarm” and “a sense of reassurance”.A Dutch Gut Feelings Questionnaire (GFQ) was developed, validated and afterwards translated into English following a linguistic validation procedure.The aims were to translate the GFQ from English into French, German and Polish; to describe uniform elements as well as differences and difficulties in the linguistic validation processes; to propose a procedural scheme for future GFQ translations into other languages.MethodsWe followed a structured, similar and equivalent procedure. Forward and backward-translations, repeated consensus procedures and cultural validations performed in six steps. Exchanges between the several research teams, the authors of the Dutch GFQ, and the translators involved continued throughout the procedure.Results12 translators, 52 GPs and 8 researchers in the field participated to the study in France, Germany, Switzerland and Poland. The collaborating research teams created three versions of the 10-item GFQ. Each research team found and agreed on compromises between comparability and similarity on one hand, and linguistic and cultural specificities on the other.ConclusionsThe gut feeling questionnaire is now available in five European languages: Dutch, English, French, German and Polish. The uniform procedural validation scheme presented, and agreed upon by the teams, can be used for the translation of the GFQ into other languages. Comparing results of research into the predictive value of gut feelings and into the significance of the main determinants in five European countries is now possible.

Statistics in European countries show the same trends, for example: social inclusion depends on inclusion in education, training or employment, and life chances are greatly improved if the level of qualifications is high; in all European countries, economic growth still leads to the existence of ‘pockets’ of poverty and economic and social relegation. The schools whose students get results below the national average are located in such areas. Nevertheless, educational policies for addressing disaffected young people in European countries are different, as they are linked with choices made among the European paradigms of social exclusion and models of schooling. This article extends the findings from a comparative study for which Professors Carl Parsons and Danielle Zay were responsible in the European Interreg programme. Research teams in France and England included academics and practitioners in two disadvantaged regions, Nord Pas-de-Calais on the French side and Kent on the English side. The study aimed to find practices and strategies likely to help disaffected young people. The comparative approach was worthwhile since the two countries represent opposing perspectives on exclusion and its prevention at school level among the European paradigms. The English and French teams' approach was drawn from the same theoretical background, the same paradigm of school and social exclusion. The starting question which articulates the others was: How can schools deal with problems which come from elsewhere? This article introduces the results of this collaborative inquiry, addressing both the schools' staff and young people in schools, many of whom were dropping in and out of school. It was these initial results that prompted us to submit a new Interreg project as a development from the previous one.

The Roundup

Research projects are essential tools for creating knowledge and fueling societal developments. Consequently, research efforts are consistent with requirements from accepted scientific methods as they are exhaustively recorded and stored. Traditional approaches are equally effective in helping assess the robustness of research methods. However, approaches to recording research projects leave behind a wealth of tacit knowledge and contextual information. Tacit knowledge and contextual information are essential to enable the development of individual researchers and research teams, which in turn have the potential to increase productivity, effectiveness and impact of future research. Found within the project management literature is the idea of utilizing storytelling to record projects' lessons learned. This paper's main research question is "how would a storytelling framework for capturing and sharing knowledge and contextual information improve organizational memory and the management of research projects?" The framework will be piloted at Canadian, Finnish, and Japanese universities. The effectiveness of the framework will be assessed by comparing it with established procedures to record research projects. In terms of organization, this paper will include a review of the literature, a description of the logic and application of the framework, findings from pilot studies, next steps, and opportunities for future research.

Background Although small, the African immigrant population is one of the fastest growing immigrant populations in the United States. Emerging research indicates a high prevalence of noncommunicable preventable chronic conditions in this population. Like other African Americans, African immigrants are mistrustful of the health care system, hampering efforts for prevention and intervention research. Purpose To describe our experiences conducting 2 studies in an African immigrant community, discuss the lessons learned, and provide advice to researchers interested in conducting research in similar populations. Design The 2 published studies for which we derive lessons learned for this paper were a cross-sectional study and a qualitative study using focus group interviews. Participants included Zimbabwean immigrants in the Eastern United States recruited at religious festivals and community events. The 2 studies enrolled a total of 135 participants. Results Of our recruitment goal of 120 in the first study, we enrolled only 98 despite numerous efforts. However, after strategically partnering with a community advisory board (CAB), in the second study, we met our recruitment goal within 4 months. With the CAB, we recruited a larger proportion of men (38% versus 24%). Without the CAB, 350 individuals agreed to participate, but only 98 (28%) returned the questionnaire, whereas with the CAB, 40 agreed to participate, and 37 (93%) successfully completed the study. Conclusion Conducting health-related research in immigrants requires strategic partnerships with the community to build strong relationships between the research team and the target community. By nurturing these relationships, research teams can effectively access this hard-to-reach population and achieve high participation.

Editorial introductions

Purpose: The objectives of this paper are two-fold: first, it presents a bibliometric study on digital audit in the public sector of different countries; and Second, it provides review of prior studies on digital audit implementation by governments in various countries. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: There are two parts in the present study, and both use secondary data. The first part is a bibliometric study of past literature on digital audit in the public sector which was carried out to provide an overview of trend of publications over the last 30 years, citation analysis in terms of top cited journals and articles, as well as author analysis which covers most active single author and author with co-authorship and based on the country of the authors. The second part of the paper uses the content analysis technique on prior literature to extract and compile information on digital audit practices by the public sector of various countries in terms of the year of implementation, current status of implementation, and modules and the software used. Findings: The results of the first of the study indicate the increasing trend of publications on digital audit in the public sector which are authored by researchers from many countries. This implies the current trend of digital audit movement by governments around the world. For the second part, the review on digital audit practices of governments in different countries reveals several European countries such as Norway, Ukraine and Germany are championing digital audit in the public sector although none of the countries has full-fledged implementation. Most countries started with taxation audit, and are now having labs or incubators for full-fledged digital audit experimentation in the public sector. Originality/ Value: The findings of this paper are important due to the followings: (1) it offers insightful evidence into the current development and direction of digital audit research, which ultimately calls for more research efforts on digital audit in the public sector; (2) the information on digital audit practices by several European countries provides essential guidance to the governments of other countries including Malaysia to better prepare for its successful more advanced digital audit implementation journey. Keywords: Digital audit, public sector, bibliometric analysis, digital transformation.

The Continuing Medical Education (CME) in Europe Project is conducted by the World Federation for Medical Education, in conjunction with the Association for Medical Education in Europe, the Association for Medical Deans in Europe, and the European Office of the World Health Organization, with Upjohn Medical Sciences Liaison Division. The aim of the Project is to promote the development of CME in all European countries. It also has global relevance: all six Regions participated in initiating the Project, and its progress and outcomes will be generalized to the other five Regions. This Project coordinates information about the important developments in CME in all countries of Europe. In addition to this coordinating function, the Project has a dissemination function, promoting knowledge about good examples and CME experience (demonstration projects) in the countries of Europe. A survey was made of the methods of CME in each country, the informants being the members of the Project's CME Task Force. It consists of nominated representatives from the National Associations for Medical Education of countries in the European Region.

: In February 1999, a team of researchers from the Air Force Institute of Technology, the Wright State University and the University of Dayton teamed with researchers within the Air Force Research Laboratory, Logistics Research Division, Logistics Readiness Branch to propose a research agenda entitled, Models, Web-based Simulations, and Integrated Analysis Techniques for Improved Logistical Performance. This proposal was submitted in response to the initial Dayton Area Graduate Studies Institute request for proposals under the Joint Air Force Research Laboratory/DAGSI Basic Research Program. The particular project supported as HE15 within the Human Effectiveness Directorate and entitled Logistics Readiness. The proposal successfully competed and was selected for contract award. Between June 1999 and July 2001, the researchers from the collaborating institutes pursued a collective research agenda, one that was closely aligned with the missions of the AFRL Logistics Readiness Branch as well as other organizations within the United States Air Force. This final technical report summarizes the research efforts under the contract, AFIT-HE-99-10. This report includes descriptions of the accomplishments of the research as well as listings of the numerous papers produced, presentations made, and masters thesis completed directly supporting, and supported by this research effort.