LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Putting knowledge in its place: science, colonialism, and the postcolonial

This special issue of Postcolonial Studies is divided into two parts. In the first, three leading scholars of postcolonial science studies*a philosopher, an anthropologist, and an historian (although each wears several hats)*have been asked to contribute short, programmatic essays on a theme of their choosing, focusing less on providing a ‘state of the field’ and more on directions for future research and analysis. In the second part, three historians have offered papers on topics of particular current interest: the history of cartography and colonialism; botany and empire; and the history of method outside Europe. In the essay below, I offer an overview of secondary scholarship on, in turn, colonialism and science, and postcolonial technoscience, before turning to a discussion of the articles making up the issue. The idea that science and technology were among the gifts that Western imperial powers brought to their colonies was an integral part of the discourse of the ‘civilizing mission,’ one vaunted by both proponents and critics of the methods of colonialism. 1 ‘The political unity of India, more consolidated, and extending further than it ever did under the Great Moguls,’ wrote Karl Marx in 1853, ‘was the first condition of its regeneration. That unity, imposed by the British sword, will now be strengthened and perpetuated by the electric telegraph.’ The fruits of science, that is, could achieve by peaceful means what had previously only been possible through violence. Elites within colonized nations, while rejecting the notion that science was imported from the West, often shared such sentiments about science’s positive and transformative powers, speaking a ‘language of modernity’ that*however uneasily*allied them with imperialist officials. 2 Decolonization movements, however, quickly began to call into question any vision of science as a positive enterprise that merely accompanied*and did not aid or support*a rapacious colonialism. In 1959, Frantz Fanon’s essay on ‘Medicine and Colonialism’ made clear to French audiences that the complicity of doctors with state-sanctioned barbarism was not limited to the National Socialist atrocities punished in the Nuremberg trials a dozen years earlier. Medical officials and psychologists played an integral role in the oppressive and interrogative practices of ‘a dying colonialism.’ 3 Soon thereafter, Phillip Curtin’s works on European ‘images’ of Africa described the medical breakthroughs, particularly with regard to quinine prophylaxis, that had made possible the wide-spread colonisation of the continent’s interior. 4 Medicine, in Daniel Headrick’s later terminology, was one of the ISSN 1368-8790 print/ISSN 1466-1888 online/09/040373� 16# 2009 The Institute of Postcolonial Studies
Complete pose determination for low altitude unmanned aerial vehicle using stereo vision

A well-developed pose estimation scenario suitable for low altitude unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is proposed. By employing dual CCD cameras onboard, the instant pose of UAV can be determined without any use of expensive sensor like gyro. The unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is hereafter introduced to resolve the highly nonlinear system dynamics as well as the measurement process of the pose estimation system. The only measurements recorded are those snapshots of ground targets/landmarks taken by two CCD cameras. The proposed scenario can also detect large angle rotation of UAV. Simulation is conducted via a simple case, both UAV and ground targets are stationary, to show the feasibility and applicability of the proposed scheme. Actual GPS measurement data of ground targets coordinates was recorded for UKF processing. A highlight phenomenon, implied by simulation, reveals that a sudden transition of estimation errors arises at the epoch when the UAV is experiencing a large angle maneuvering up to 180/spl deg/ per second.
CEO Connectedness and Corporate Frauds

This paper identifies an important factor magnifying the risk of corporate fraud – the connections CEOs develop with top executives and directors through their appointment decisions during their tenure. A sample of publicly listed firms over the period 1996-2006 reveals that appointment-based CEO connectedness within executive suites and boardrooms increases the likelihood of committing frauds and decreases the likelihood of detection. We identify three channels through which the CEO connectedness decreases expected costs of committing fraud – by helping to conceal frauds, by reducing the likelihood of CEO dismissal upon fraud discovery, and by lowering the coordination costs of carrying out illegal activities. Further, except for audit committee independence, standard monitoring mechanisms do not seem to mitigate the adverse effects on frauds. These findings suggest regulators, investors, and governance specialists should pay particular attention to appointment-based CEO connectedness. First Draft: August 22, 2011 This Draft: September 3, 2013
Codon Optimization Significantly Improves the Expression Level of a Keratinase Gene in Pichia pastoris

The main keratinase (kerA) gene from the Bacillus licheniformis S90 was optimized by two codon optimization strategies and expressed in Pichia pastoris in order to improve the enzyme production compared to the preparations with the native kerA gene. The results showed that the corresponding mutations (synonymous codons) according to the codon bias in Pichia pastoris were successfully introduced into keratinase gene. The highest keratinase activity produced by P. pastoris pPICZαA-kerAwt, pPICZαA-kerAopti1 and pPICZαA-kerAopti2 was 195 U/ml, 324 U/ml and 293 U/ml respectively. In addition, there was no significant difference in biomass concentration, target gene copy numbers and relative mRNA expression levels of every positive strain. The molecular weight of keratinase secreted by recombinant P. pastori was approx. 39 kDa. It was optimally active at pH 7.5 and 50°C. The recombinant keratinase could efficiently degrade both α-keratin (keratin azure) and β-keratin (chicken feather meal). These properties make the P. pastoris pPICZαA-kerAopti1 a suitable candidate for industrial production of keratinases.
Design and Development of an Improved Adaptive Median Filtering Method for Impulse Noise Detection

An Impulse noise detection & removal with adaptive filtering approach is proposed to restore images corrupted by salt & pepper noise. The proposed algorithm works well for suppressing impulse noise with noise density from 5 to 60% while preserving image details. The difference of current central pixel with median of local neighborhood pixels is used to classify the central pixel as noisy or noise-free. The noise is attenuated by estimating the values of the noisy pixels with a switching based median filter applied exclusively to those neighborhood pixels not labeled as noisy. The size of filtering window is adaptive in nature, and it depends on the number of noise-free pixels in current filtering window. Simulation results indicate that this filter is better able to preserve 2-D edge structures of the image and delivers better performance with less computational complexity as compared to other denoising algorithms existing in literature.
A Distributed PIR-based Approach for Estimating People Count in Office Environments

Office buildings are key energy consumers and thus require attention to achieve efficient operation. While individual office spaces are dynamically used, current building automation does not receive information on utilisation that could be used to adaptively adjust energy consumption. In this work, we propose an approach to estimate people count per office space using distributed strategically placed PIR sensors and algorithms that can process the distributed sensor information. We detail our sensing node and evaluate its performance in an office installation. A sensor model was subsequently used in a floor-wide simulation of realistic occupant behaviours to investigate two algorithms to estimate people count per office space. The occupant behaviour simulations confirmed that our estimation algorithms can accurately predict people count in different office use scenarios. The errors introduced by the PIR masking time after a detection can be partially compensated when using distributed sensor information. Our approach can be used for dynamic, occupancy-dependent lighting, climate, and appliances control of office spaces.
Immunogenicity of pneumococcal vaccine in persons with spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVE
To determine immunogenicity and optimum timing for administering the 23-valent pneumococcal vaccine after spinal cord injury (SCI).


DESIGN
Double-blind, randomized, placebo control study.


SETTING
SCI unit in a tertiary care medical center and community.


PARTICIPANTS
Eighty-seven persons with recent SCI.


INTERVENTION
Participants were randomized to receive either placebo or pneumococcal vaccine at 16 to 18 days versus 4 to 6 months postinjury.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Antibody concentrations were measured prior to intervention and 1, 2, and 12 months afterward to evaluate the immune response to five serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Effects of demographic and injury-related variables on immune response were also evaluated.


RESULTS
Timing of vaccination did not influence mean antibody concentrations for any serotype (p > .05). Ninety-five percent of vaccinated persons had twofold or greater increases in antibody concentration for at least one serotype when measured 1 month after vaccination versus 35% of placebo groups (p < .01). After 12 months, 93% of vaccinated persons in both groups maintained antibody concentrations twofold or greater than baseline values.


CONCLUSIONS
Most participants developed an immune response to at least one serotype that was maintained for at least 12 months. Immune response varied according to serotype. Given the favorable immune response and no effect of timing, persons with SCI should receive pneumococcal vaccine during initial hospitalization.
A Literature Survey on International Standards for Systems Requirements Engineering

Since 2005, the international organization for standardization (ISO) has published a wealth of standards and reports that deal with requirements engineering for systems. ISO/IEC/IEEE 24765 defines a standard vocabulary for systems and software engineering. ISO/IEC 24766 defines requirements for requirements engineering tools. ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148 describes processes for requirements engineering. The ISO 25000 series targets product quality metrics. This review paper shall provide a high-level description of each of these standards and highlights their interconnection. It thus provides to the systems engineer some guidance as to the relevance of those standards to his or her work. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Georgia Institute of Technology.
Preferential macrovasculopathy in systemic sclerosis detected by regional pulse wave velocity from wave intensity analysis: comparisons of local and regional arterial stiffness parameters in cases and controls.

OBJECTIVE
To study the extent and severity of macrovasculopathy in systemic sclerosis (SSc; scleroderma) patients by comparing both local and regional arterial stiffness parameters.


METHODS
The local arterial stiffness indices of the right common carotid artery, right brachial artery, right radial artery, right superficial femoral artery, and right posterior tibial artery were measured in 25 SSc patients and strictly matched healthy controls. The regional pulse wave velocity (PWV) of each arterial segment was also calculated from wave intensity analysis.


RESULTS
There were no differences between the two groups in the stiffness index (β), Peterson's pressure modulus, arterial compliance, and local PWV derived from β (PWVβ) of all vessels except the right brachial artery, of which β, Peterson's pressure modulus, and PWVβ were markedly lower and arterial compliance was higher in SSc patients compared with controls (P<0.05). The forearm (brachial-radial) and arm (carotid-radial) PWVs were significantly higher in SSc patients than in controls (mean±SD 12.1±7.1 meters/second versus 8.3±3.5 meters/second and mean±SD 7.9±1.9 meters/second versus 6.9±1.5 meters/second, respectively; P<0.05), whereas the upper arm (carotid-brachial), aortic (carotid-femoral), and leg (femoral-ankle) PWVs were not different between groups. The aortic PWV was also higher in the diffuse cutaneous SSc subgroup than in controls (mean 6.2, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 5.4-6.9 meters/second versus mean 5.1, 95% CI 4.7-5.6 meters/second; P<0.05) after adjusting for potentially influential variables.


CONCLUSION
The macrovasculopathy occurs preferentially at the forearm and aorta in SSc, which can be sensitively and reliably detected by regional PWVs rather than commonly used local arterial stiffness indices.
Precise Undersampling Theorems

Undersampling theorems state that we may gather far fewer samples than the usual sampling theorem while exactly reconstructing the object of interest-provided the object in question obeys a sparsity condition, the samples measure appropriate linear combinations of signal values, and we reconstruct with a particular nonlinear procedure. While there are many ways to crudely demonstrate such undersampling phenomena, we know of only one mathematically rigorous approach which precisely quantifies the true sparsity-undersampling tradeoff curve of standard algorithms and standard compressed sensing matrices. That approach, based on combinatorial geometry, predicts the exact location in sparsity-undersampling domain where standard algorithms exhibit phase transitions in performance. We review the phase transition approach here and describe the broad range of cases where it applies. We also mention exceptions and state challenge problems for future research. Sample result: one can efficiently reconstruct a k-sparse signal of length N from n measurements, provided n ¿ 2k · log(N/n), for (k,n,N) large.k ¿ N.AMS 2000 subject classifications . Primary: 41A46, 52A22, 52B05, 62E20, 68P30, 94A20; Secondary: 15A52, 60F10, 68P25, 90C25, 94B20.
Multimodal biochemical modulation of 5-fluorouracil by leucovorin, methotrexate, and interferon alpha in patients with advanced colorectal cancer

 A total of 26 patients with advanced colorectal cancer received 60 mg/m2 methotrexate i. v. on days 1 – 4; 400 mg/m2 5-fluorouracil i. v. on days 2, 3, 5, and 6; and 100 mg/m2 6S-leucovorin i. v. on days 2, 3, 5, and 6. Interferon-α2b at a dose of 3 million U was given i. m. daily for the 6 days of chemotherapy. Courses were repeated every 3 weeks. There were four partial responses for a response rate of 15% (95% confidence interval 2 – 28%). In all, 14 patients expressed grade 3 toxicity; 9 patients had diarrhea, 3 had stomatitis, and 2 developed leukopenia. In conclusion, multimodal biochemical modulation of 5-fluorouracil, at least on this schedule, does not seem to be effective, as it results in severe toxicity.
Video games as a tool to train visual skills.

PURPOSE
Adult brain plasticity, although possible, is often difficult to elicit. Training regimens in adults can produce specific improvements on the trained task without leading to general enhancements that would improve quality of life. This paper considers the case of playing action video games as a way to induce widespread enhancement in vision.


CONCLUSIONS
We review the range of visual skills altered by action video game playing as well as the game components important in promoting visual plasticity. Further, we discuss what these results might mean in terms of rehabilitation for different patient populations.
Anemia before coronary artery bypass surgery as additional risk factor increases the perioperative risk.

BACKGROUND
A negative relationship between anemia before coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and the perioperative mortality has been shown. We tried to clarify whether anemia only expresses an increased perioperative risk or is a risk factor per se in a two-institution database.


METHODS
In the years 2005 and 2006, 185 of 3,311 patients undergoing isolated first-time CABG surgery had anemia defined as hematocrit less than 33% or Hb≤11 g/dL. Preoperative and postoperative data of patients having anemia and patients having normal hematocrit were compared using χ2-tests or Fisher's exact tests regarding structural group differences. To determine factors influencing perioperative mortality, methods of logistic regression were used.


RESULTS
The 30-day mortality of anemic patients (12.9%) was significantly higher (p<0.001) than the mortality of nonanemic patients (2.2%). Patients having anemia, though, had a worse risk profile before surgery: high European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation values (median, 7 in anemic patients versus 4 in nonanemic patients), acute myocardial infarction (9.7% in anemic versus 2% in nonanemic patients), diabetes mellitus (45.4% in anemic versus 33.3% in nonanemic patients), and cardiogenic shock (5.4% in anemic versus 0.8% in nonanemic patients) were significantly more frequent in the anemic group. However, taking these risks in account, the logistic regression revealed preoperative anemia still to be a mortality-increasing factor in patients undergoing CABG surgery (odds ratio 3.727, confidence interval: 2.196 to 6.324). Furthermore, anemia was a risk factor for perioperative morbidity (major adverse cardiovascular events) after CABG surgery (odds ratio 2.199, confidence interval: 1.423 to 3.397).


CONCLUSIONS
In our patient group undergoing CABG surgery, preoperative anemia increased the mortality risk by 3.4, even when taking the higher perioperative risk of anemic patients into consideration.
Impact of high dose n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid treatment on measures of microvascular function and vibration perception in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: results from the randomised WELCOME trial

The effect of n-3 fatty acid treatment on vibration perception thresholds (VPTs) and cutaneous microvascular reactivity is not known. We tested whether: (1) a 15–18 month treatment with high dose (4 g/day) docosahexaenoic (DHA) plus eicosapentaenoic (EPA) acid improved VPT and microvascular reactivity in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; and (2) there are associations between VPT, microvascular reactivity and metabolic variables. In the completed single centre, randomised, parallel group, placebo controlled Wessex Evaluation of fatty Liver and Cardiovascular markers in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with OMacor thErapy (WELCOME) trial, we tested the effect of DHA+EPA on VPT at 125 Hz (big toe) and the cutaneous hyperaemic response (forearm) to arterial occlusion (ratio of maximum to resting blood flux [MF/RF]). Allocation and dispensing was carried out by an independent research pharmacist; all participants and research team members were blinded to group assignment. In all, 51 and 49 patients were randomised to placebo and DHA+EPA, respectively (mean age 51.4 years). Of these, 32 had type 2 diabetes. Forty-six (placebo) and 47 (DHA+EPA) patients completed the study; there were no important adverse (or unexpected) effects or side effects. In multivariable-adjusted regression models (intention-to-treat analyses), DHA+EPA treatment was associated with an increase in VPT (β coefficient 1.49 [95% CI 0.04, 2.94], p = 0.04). For VPT, the adjusted mean differences (95% CIs) in the placebo and DHA+EPA treatment groups were −0.725 (−1.71, 0.25) and 0.767 (−0.21, 1.75) m/s2, respectively. With DHA+EPA treatment, there was no change in MF/RF (β coefficient 0.07 [95% CI −0.56, 0.70], p = 0.84), the adjusted mean differences (95% CIs) in the placebo and DHA+EPA treatment groups were −0.549 (−1.03, −0.07) and −0.295 (−0.77, 0.18) respectively. VPT was independently associated with age (β coefficient 0.019 [95% CI 0.010, 0.029], p < 0.0001) and MF/RF (β coefficient −0.074 [95% CI −0.132, −0.016], p = 0.013), but not with diabetes (p = 0.38). High dose n-3 fatty acid treatment did not improve measures of microvascular function or vibration perception. Ageing and microvascular reactivity are associated with a measure of peripheral nerve function. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00760513 Funding: The study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research UK and Diabetes UK.
Minimum Bayes Risk decoding and system combination based on a recursion for edit distance

In this paper we describe a method that can be used for Minimum Bayes Risk (MBR) decoding for speech recognition. Our algorithm can take as input either a single lattice, or multiple lattices for system combination. It has similar functionality to the widely used Consensus method, but has a clearer theoretical basis and appears to give better results both for MBR decoding and system combination. Many different approximations have been described to solve the MBR decoding problem, which is very difficult from an optimization point of view. Our proposed method solves the problem through a novel forward–backward recursion on the lattice, not requiring time markings. We prove that our algorithm iteratively improves a bound on the Bayes risk. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Phytoplankton dynamics and structure: a comparative analysis in natural and man-made water bodies of different trophic state

Previous investigations on Sicilian man made lakes suggested that physical factors, along with the specific morphology and hydrology of the water body, are important in selecting phytoplankton species. In particular, the variations of the z mix/z eu ratio due to the operational procedure to which reservoirs are generally subject were recognised as a trigger allowing the assemblage shift. To investigate if these variations may be considered analogous to those occurring in natural lakes as trophic state and phytoplankton biomass increase, causing a transparency decrease and a contraction of the euphotic depth, phytoplankton were collected in two natural water bodies, one mesotrophic (Lake Biviere di Cesarò) the other eutrophic (Lake Soprano), and compared with those collected in two reservoirs with analogous trophic characteristics (Lake Rosamarina, mesotrophic and Lake Arancio, eutrophic). Particular attention was paid to the dynamics of two key groups: Cyanophytes and chlorophytes. In all four water bodies, transparency mainly depended on chlorophyll level. Annual average value of phytoplankton biomass in the mesotrophic environments was below 2.0 mg l−1, whereas in the eutrophic systems it was well above 10 mg l−1. All water bodies showed the presence of cyanophytes (e.g. Anabaena spp., Anabaenopsis spp., Microcystis spp., Planktothrix spp.) and chlorophytes (e.g. Chlamydomonas spp., Botryococcus spp., Oocystis spp., Scenedesmus spp., Pediastrum spp.), but their relative proportions and body size dimensions were different. In particular, small colonial chlorophytes and large-colony forming cyanophytes were most common in the most eutrophic water bodies, whereas larger colonies of green algae in those with a lower trophic state. The results showed that, under the same climatic conditions, autogenic (increase of biomass, decrease in light penetration and euphotic depth) and allogenic (use of the stored waters, anticipated breaking of the thermocline, increase of the mixing depth) processes may shift the structure of phytoplankton assemblage in the same direction even though the quantity of biomass remains linked to nutrient availability.
Disconnected Recurrent Neural Networks for Text Categorization

www.PosterPresentations.com RNN can model the entire sequence and capture long-term dependencies, but it does not do well in extracting key patterns. In contrast, convolutional neural network (CNN) is good at Extracting local and position-invariant features. We present a novel model named disconnected recurrent neural network (DRNN), which incorporates position-invariance into RNN by constraining the distance of information flow in RNN. DRNN achieves the best performance on several benchmark datasets for text categorization. INTRODUCTION