bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
2D least-squares elastic reverse time migration of multicomponent seismic data
Authors: Gu Bingluo , Han Jianguang , Ren Zhiming , Li Zhenchun
Published: August 2019

Elastic reverse time migration (ERTM) is a state-of-the-art imaging technique used for determining complicated subsurface structures. However, the migrated images often suffer from low spatial resolution, low signal-to-noise ratio (S/N), and unbalanced amplitudes because the theoretical hypothesis of ERTM cannot be satisfied in practice. Although elastic least-squares reverse time migration (ELSRTM) has been proposed to address the issues of ERTM, the resulting images are generally represented by parameter perturbations such as P- and S-velocity perturbations, which have the different physical meanings from the ERTM images. To produce improved ERTM images, we used a least-squares RTM method for elastic data in isotropic media by applying least-squares inversion to ERTM. In the least-squares ERTM method, the forward operator generates multicomponent seismic data from the migrated images by applying elastic wavefield decomposition, scalar wavefield extrapolation, and wavefield recomposition operators. Additionally, the adjoint operator generates PP and PS images using ERTM, at which point the wavefield decomposition operator and scalar imaging condition are applied in the imaging process. Compared to conventional ERTM, our least-squares ERTM method enables us to produce improved ERTM images with higher resolution, more balanced amplitudes, and fewer artifacts. Several synthetic and field data examples were used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed least-squares ERTM method.
Effect of the pH in the enrichment of X or Y sex chromosome-bearing sperm in bovine
Authors: Raval Nidhi P. , Shah Tejas M. , George Linz-Buoy , Joshi Chaitanya G.
Published: August 2019

Background and Aim: Studies have shown that the pH of the vagina during the course of fertilization may influence the migration of X- and Y-bearing spermatozoa and thus leading to skewness in the sex of the offspring. Hence, this study was carried out to check the effect of the pH in the enrichment of X or Y sex chromosome-bearing sperm in bovine (Bos indicus). Materials and Methods: To check the effect of pH in the enrichment of X or Y sex chromosome-bearing sperm in bovine, we used buffers of various pH ranging from 5.5 to 9.0 for swim-up procedure of sperm sample and collected upper and bottom fraction from the same buffer and checked the abundance of X- and Y-bearing spermatozoa by droplet digital polymerase chain reaction using X- and Y-chromosome-specific DNA probe. Results: The abundance of X- and Y-bearing spermatozoa was not differed significantly in either of the fraction collected. Conclusion: Thus, it appears to be unlikely that an immediate impact of pH on sperm can be a solitary impact on the sex of offspring in bovine. Keywords: droplet digital polymerase chain reaction, spermatozoa, swim-up.
Molecular epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella isolates from broilers and pigs in Thailand
Authors: Phongaran Dusadee , Khang-Air Seri , Angkititrakul Sunpetch
Published: August 2019

Aim: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance pattern of Salmonella spp., and the genetic relatedness between isolates from broilers and pigs at slaughterhouses in Thailand. Materials and Methods: Fecal samples (604 broilers and 562 pigs) were collected from slaughterhouses from April to July 2018. Salmonella spp. were isolated and identified according to the ISO 6579:2002. Salmonella-positive isolates were identified using serotyping and challenged with nine antimicrobial agents: Amoxicillin/clavulanate (AMC, 30 μg), ampicillin (AMP, 10 μg), ceftazidime (30 μg), chloramphenicol (30 μg), ciprofloxacin (CIP, 5 μg), nalidixic acid (NAL, 30 μg), norfloxacin (10 μg), trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (SXT, 25 μg), and tetracycline (TET, 30 μg). Isolates of the predominant serovar Salmonella Typhimurium were examined for genetic relatedness using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Results: Salmonella was detected in 18.05% of broiler isolates and 37.54% of pig isolates. The most common serovars were Kentucky, Give, and Typhimurium in broilers and Rissen, Typhimurium, and Weltevreden in pigs. Among broilers, isolates were most commonly resistant to antibiotics, NAL, AMP, TET, AMC, and CIP. Pig isolates most commonly exhibited antimicrobial resistance against AMP, TET, and SXT. Based on PFGE results among 52 S. Typhimurium isolates from broilers and pigs, a high genetic relatedness between broiler and pig isolates (85% similarity) in Cluster A and C from PFGE result was identified. Conclusion: The results revealed high cross-contamination between these two animal species across various provinces in Thailand. Keywords: antimicrobial resistance, broilers, pigs, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, Salmonella spp.
On the Sobolev space of functions with derivative of logarithmic order
Authors: Brué Elia , Nguyen Quoc-Hung
Published: August 2019

Two notions of “having a derivative of logarithmic order” have been studied. They come from the study of regularity of flows and renormalized solutions for the transport and continuity equation associated to weakly differentiable drifts.
Branding City Destinations
Authors: Wang Qian , Zhang Dan
Published: August 2019

City branding brings immense benefits for megacities to gain international prestige in an increasingly competitive global arena. City publicity films, as an effective method for selling the city through online dissemination, could reach and influence a wider audience. However, the deployment of different semiotic resources in the branding discourse in city publicity films remains under-explored, and in particular, the role of cultural attributes in the construction of meaning in the discourse of city branding through linguistic and nonverbal modalities remains unknown. This paper, drawing on theories of systemic functional grammar and visual grammar, examines the multimodal discourse of publicity films of Beijing and London in terms of representational and interactive meanings achieved through various semiotic resources. It is found that, in verbal and visual discourse, both films share similarities regarding enhancing persuasiveness via emotional branding but exhibit differences regarding how to achieve persuasiveness through different semiotic resources that co-construct meaning. The Beijing publicity film blends functional and emotional values while the London publicity film is prone to being more functional. In addition, possible reasons for the differences observed are discussed.
Meaning Generation
Authors: Yu Hongbing
Published: August 2019

Meaning generation reaches beyond the convenient code-based distinction between the encoding versus the decoding of information. What we need is a more comprehensive perspective that can encompass code-based communication and agency-oriented interpretation, both of which are treated as two subordinate mechanisms of meaning generation or signification. Based on a close reading of Saussure, there are only forms in signification; signs and signification are one. Given the complexity of its usage over the years, the term sign should be reevaluated. In its stead, the present article proposes using Sebeok and Danesi’s term model, although with some modifications, in order to shed a new light on meaning generation. The present article also demonstrates that cultural memory, or culture understood in the sense proposed by Lotman and Uspensky, coupled with emotions and human agency, act as three determinants of the process of meaning generation and make it a semi-autonomous process.
Indirect reports as semantic-pragmatic games
Authors: Yasrebi Sepideh
Published: August 2019

This paper examines indirect reports from the lens of socio-cognitive approach (SCA) to pragmatics. Indirect reports have the capacity to re-mold the substance of the original utterance as a whole. In direct reporting, the original utterance is produced in an actual situational context, and then, it is being reported by a different speaker in a new situational context. So, the utterance which was initially produced is only interpretable in the light of the common ground A whereas the reported utterance is only interpretable in the light of common ground B. We have it from Kecskes (2013. Intercultural pragmatics. New York: Oxford University Press: 159) that “common ground is both an a priori existing and a cooperatively constructed mental abstraction. Likewise, the main condition of reporting is the need of the hearer: there would be no need for reported speech if the audience were already aware of the content of the report. For that reason, the process of meaning making in reporting, that is, the transmission and simultaneously creation of meaning is inextricably bound with the question of context, salience, common ground, pragmatics, semantics and syntax, not to mention all those bodily gestures and expressions that can, or more importantly, cannot be registered in language.
Crystal structure of poly[aqua(μ2-2-amino-1,4-benzenedisulfonato-κ3
N,O:O′)-(μ4-hexamethylenetetramino-κ4
N:N′:N′′:N′′′)disilver(I)] monohydrate, C12H21Ag2N5O8S2
Authors: Jiang Jin-Ke , Li Xi-Xi , Jiang Hui , Dong Xian-Wu
Published: August 2019

C12H21Ag2N5O8S2, triclinic, P1 (no. 1), a = 6.3703(5) Å, b = 6.4191(5) Å, c = 12.3215(7) Å, α = 87.841(5)°, β = 75.119(6)°, γ = 87.489(6)°, V = 486.30(6) Å3, Z = 1, Rgt
(F) = 0.0444, wR
ref(F
2) = 0.1289, T = 293(2) K.
The crystal structure of 1,12-diazaperylene, C18H10N2
Authors: Kirste Matthias , Brietzke Thomas , Holdt Hans-Jürgen , Schilde Uwe
Published: August 2019

C18H10N2, monoclinic, P21/c (no. 14), a = 7.9297(9) Å, b = 11.4021(14) Å, c = 13.3572(15) Å, β = 105.363(8)°, V = 1164.5(2) Å3, Z = 4, R
gt(F) = 0.0325, wR
ref(F
2) = 0.0774, T = 210(2) K.
Crystal structure of (E)-1-(4-(((E)-2-bromo-6-hydroxybenzylidene)amino)phenyl)ethan-1-one O-methyl oxime, C16H15BrN2O2
Authors: Ma Jin-Xia , Wei Ping , Li Qing-Lin , Fu Tao , Zhao Ji-Xing , Zhao Li
Published: August 2019

C16H15BrN2O2, monoclinic, P21 (no. 4), a = 10.9311(8) Å, b = 3.9554(3) Å, c = 16.5215(12) Å, β = 92.743(2)°, V = 713.52(9) Å3, Z = 2, R
gt(F) = 0.0335, wR
ref(F
2) = 0.0655, T = 173(2) K.
Named entity recognition for Polish
Authors: Marcińczuk Michał , Wawer Aleksander
Published: August 2019

In this article we discuss the current state-of-the-art for named entity recognition for Polish. We present publicly available resources and open-source tools for named entity recognition. The overview includes various kind of resources, i.e. guidelines, annotated corpora (NKJP, KPWr, CEN, PST) and lexicons (NELexiconS, PNET, Gazetteer). We present the major NER tools for Polish (Sprout, NERF, Liner2, Parallel LSTM-CRFs and PolDeepNer) and discuss their performance on the reference datasets. In the article we cover identification of named entity mentions in the running text, local and global entity categorization, fine- and coarse-grained categorization and lemmatization of proper names.
Adsorption of uranium from its aqueous solutions using activated cellulose and silica grafted cellulose
Authors: Kouraim Mohamed N. , Hagag Mohammed S. , Ali Amr H.
Published: August 2019

The present work provides a thorough description of the preparation of two cellulose anion exchange resins. In addition, the application of the prepared resins for treatment the uranium-contaminated wastewater. In the preparation, the first resin was cellulose reacted with 0.3 M HNO3 to produce Activated Cellulose (AC), while the second was AC treated with sodium metasilicate and phosphoric acid to yield Silica Grafted Cellulose (SGC). The efficiency of the two prepared resins for uranium adsorption from aqueous solution was testifying on a batch scale. In solutions of pH ranging from 4 to 7, results showed a high exchange rate and uptaking capacity up to 105 mg/g. However, the addition of NO3
−, Fe3+ and Th4+ ions to the target media has an adverse impact on the uranium sorption for AC adsorbent. Otherwise, the addition of uranyl sulfate complexes could ameliorate Fe3+ and Th4+ adsorbed into the SGC.
Sexual attraction: a review of bumblebee male pheromones
Authors: Valterová Irena , Martinet Baptiste , Michez Denis , Rasmont Pierre , Brasero Nicolas
Published: August 2019

Males of many bumblebee species exhibit a conspicuous pre-mating behavior with two distinct behavioral components: scent marking and patrol flying. The marking pheromone is produced by the cephalic part of the labial gland (CLG). As far as is known, the CLG secretion is species specific, and it usually consists of two types of compounds: (i) straight-chain aliphatic alcohols, aldehydes or esters, and (ii) acyclic mono-, sesqui- and diterpenes (alcohols or acetates). Here, we summarize data from the literature reporting chemical composition of the CLG secretions of more than 80 bumblebee species. Similarities and differences within and between subgenera are discussed in the context of biosynthetic pathways and evolution.
Environmental Association Identifies Candidates for Tolerance to Low Temperature and Drought
Authors: Lei Li , Poets Ana M , Liu Chaochih , Wyant Skylar R , Hoffman Paul J , Carter Corey K , Shaw Brian G , Li Xin , Muehlbauer Gary J , Katagiri Fumiaki , Morrell Peter L
Published: August 2019

Barley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. vulgare) is cultivated from the equator to the Arctic Circle. The wild progenitor species, Hordeum vulgare ssp. spontaneum, occupies a relatively narrow latitudinal range (∼30 - 40° N) primarily at low elevation (< 1,500 m). Adaptation to the range of cultivation has occurred over ∼8,000 years. The genetic basis of adaptation is amenable to study through environmental association. An advantage of environmental association in a well-characterized crop is that many loci that contribute to climatic adaptation and abiotic stress tolerance have already been identified. This provides the opportunity to determine if environmental association approaches effectively identify these loci of large effect. Using published genotyping from 7,864 SNPs in 803 barley landraces, we examined allele frequency differentiation across multiple partitions of the data and mixed model associations relative to bioclimatic variables. Using newly generated resequencing data from a subset of these landraces, we tested for linkage disequilibrium (LD) between SNPs queried in genotyping and SNPs in neighboring loci. Six loci previously reported to contribute to adaptive differences in flowering time and abiotic stress in barley and six loci previously identified in other plant species were identified in our analyses. In many cases, patterns of LD are consistent with the causative variant occurring in the immediate vicinity of the queried SNP. The identification of barley orthologs to well-characterized genes may provide a new understanding of the nature of adaptive variation and could permit a more targeted use of potentially adaptive variants in barley breeding and germplasm improvement.
A first approach to chalcid wasps (Hymenoptera, Chalcididae) of the entomological museum UNAB with new records for Colombia
Authors: Pérez-Benavides Alba Lucia , Serna Francisco
Published: August 2019

The entomological museum of Universidad Nacional, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Bogota, (UNAB) Colombia, conserves several arthropod collections. These collections are considered of great interest to several agricultural and silvicultural production systems in the eastern Andes and the nearby Amazon region (Caqueta and Putumayo provinces) of the country. As a contribution to the knowledge of the diversity of parasitoid wasps associated to agroecosystems (cacao in agroforestry systems, mainly) of these geographical areas, the current research presents a first approach to the study of Chalcididae wasps at this museum. The curatorial status was organized, the represented genera identified, and the geographic occurrences in extension and altitude graphically represented. The Central Taxonomic Collection (CTC) is the main collection at UNAB. It contains 214 specimens of the family Chalcididae that correspond to the genera Brachymeria, Conura, Dirhinus, Haltichella, Notaspidium, Stypiura, Ecuada, and Parastypiura, with records from 17 provinces. The genera Ecuada and Parastypiura, as well as 11 species of Conura, are recorded for the country for the first time.
Roma Tales - Opportunity for Intercultural Communication
Authors: Borisova Tanya
Published: August 2019

The current article looks at the opportunity for using Roma tales as an opportunity for intercultural communication. The experience of encountering Roma characters in the stories is Roma children read is pivotal for their self-awareness, understanding of moral values and the development of their self-esteem. By reading Roma stories, Roma children have better success at understanding their own traditions and characteristics; discover their own identity within the general settings of educational environment with intercultural communication. On the other hand, students of non-Roma origin meet different and unknown to them characters and by doing so, enrich their world perspective. The fairy-tale Roma characters, as well as the characters of other ethnicities, are carriers of universal human values. They carry the specifics of the Roma soul which provoke the readers’ curiosity and bring about an appreciation. Communicating with the artistic text makes the Roma children an active participant when discussing universal values. The article presents a pedagogical experiment with students from Rakitovo, Stara Zagora and Banya, where mainly Roma children are taught.
FORMATION OF EDUCATIONAL SKILLS IN SOLVING PROBLEMS THROUGH INTEGRATIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE GAME
Authors: Petrov Petar
Published: August 2019

The skill for mathematical problem solving is addressed as an insufficiently studies problem with a great amount of information in “Cognitive sciences”. The development of the concept for mathematical problem solving (and mathematics in the school curriculum in particular) has been supplemented. Proposed a model of the structure of the ability to solve problems. It comprises a set of meta-cognitive components, some of which can also be included in educational skills. Illustrated is the feasibility of integrative Game Features in solving problems. The games are considered as didactical situations for formulating hypotheses and suggesting ways for solving the problems. Account Options
Rеflection Technology for Developing Pedagogical Competences in Intercultural Education Environments
Authors: Neminska Rumyana
Published: August 2019

The Faculty of Pedagogy at Trakia University prepares students from different ethnic groups and students who are a part of the Erasmus+ exchange program. This intercultural environment reveals the opportunities for establishing common values ​​in an intercultural learning environment through a broad intercommunication symbiosis. In an intercultural pedagogical interaction, students are given the opportunity to express their identity through the visualization of ideas, attitudes and thoughts. Art texts are used to introduce students to the traditional values ​​of the unknown ethnicity and nationality as well as solving moral dilemmas, breaking stereotypes about behavior and overcoming prejudices. By using a five-module multimedia construct, the pedagogical environment allows students, in addition to personally reflecting on a particular problem, to develop pedagogical skills to guide the process.
Tools for Creating Augmented Reality Educational Applications
Authors: Kiryakova Gabriela
Published: August 2019

Information and communication technologies are an important part of contemporary education. Implementation of innovative technologies in education contributes to its transformation to be in line with digital learners’ needs. Among the rapidly advancing technologies in different spheres of public life is Augmented reality. It has many advantages that can provide innovative and effective means of transferring knowledge to learners.
The aim of the current work is to present the approaches and tools in creating Augmented reality educational applications. The emphasis is on the Augmented reality browsers, which allows teachers to create interactive educational products without the need for special programming skills.
Different Point OF View to the Mastering of Bulgarian Language by Students for Whom it is Not Mother Languagе
Authors: Borisova Taniya
Published: August 2019

The article examines the problems of literacy and language learning by students for whom it is not a mother. Attention is paid to bilingualism and its manifestations, seeking opportunities for mastering the national language in the educational process. Special attention is paid to the variety of methods and techniques for motivating bilingual students to communicate and group activities. The role of language learning in the context of integration and socialization of the individual is taken into account.
Research on the Main Causes of Children’s Fears in Pre-School Age
Authors: Dancheva Vasilka
Published: August 2019

The current article looks at the main reasons for fear as an emotion. A methodology is presented to highlight, analyze and summarize the main reasons for children’s fear in pre-school age. The prevailing fears are established in a group of children who are four to seven years old and are in Kalina Malina Kindergarten groups in Pazardjik. Conclusions and summaries are presented on the causes of fear as well as some recommendations and guidelines for parents and pedagogical experts.
Tren Kajian Komunikasi Islam di Indonesia
Authors: Imamah Fardan Mahmudatul
Published: August 2019

This article discusses trends in the study of da'wah, specifically communication and Islamic broadcasting, which are discussed in scientific journals. This study uses a literature study approach to 11 journals published by the Islamic Communication and Broadcast Study Program in Indonesia. 581 articles were determined to be the subject of research. Each article is mapped based on (1) the theme and subject of the study, (2) the data collection method, (3) the approach or theory used, (4) the reference source used. The results of the data analysis showed that most of the articles with the theme 'Da'wah' from various platforms of various research subjects. This study opens a new paradigm in communication in general. This is marked by the enrichment of communication and broadcast theories through research in da'wah studies.
Geopolityka XXI wieku, koncepcje i mity
Authors: Kuzniecow Artur
Published: August 2019

The issue of sovereignty in the modern world, particularly in the EU, is a current matter and in some cases significant (for example military and political issues) decisive.

Poland – the geopolitical giant in the 16th and 17th centuries, in 1795 it disappeared from the map of Europe for 123 years. The country was reborn in 1918 and today it acts as a stable geopolitical entity. It is the sixth country in Europe in terms of geopolitical focus of the main parameters: territory, population and GDP. Poland is of a great importance for the fate of the United Europe. One of the important myths for the Polish ethos is called Jagiellonian idea, manifested amongst other things in the Eastern Partnership initiative and the concept of “soft power”. The EU is becoming an increasingly significant “soft power” in the world. Regardless of the serious events in the Arab world, it can be said that the whole world democratizes rapidly in the spirit of soft power. Polish successes in this area are very significant and Poland is gaining new resources of attractiveness. It is becoming a more secure and comfortable place in

Europe.

Poland has achieved significant results prior to its presidency of the EU, These include primarily: significant improvement in relations with its neighbours – Russia and Germany and the Eastern Partnership initiative which now takes on a special significance. Moreover, not rushing into joining the euro zone, Poland wants to participate in the EuroClub decision-making. Poland wants to prevent the development of two-speed Europe.
Rosja Putina – polityczny projekt budowy rosyjskiej państwowości
Authors:   Uniwersytet Gdański, Potulski Jakub
Published: August 2019

Twelve-year period of Vladimir Putin’s reign in Russia (eight-year presidency and four-year term as Prime Minister) resulted in significant changes in all spheres of social life. Vladimir Putin took over the power in a difficult moment for Russia, associated with the weakening of authority (Russian state mechanism was disrupted, eaten away by corruption and weakened with internal struggles for the power and control over the economy) as well as strong financial and economic crisis. As a main task he set himself restoring the stability in Russia and creating a strong and effective state. At the same time he presented ambitious plans in the economic sphere (the transformation of Russia into one of the leading industrial powers of the world) and in the social area (changing social structure, supporting the development of the middle class, fighting poverty, stopping the negative demographic trends). The Russian political elites adopted the assumption that in order to achieve these ambitious objectives they need “vertical integration of power”, centralization policy of the country and need to increase the role of the state in economic life. During Vladimir Putin’s presidency (2000–2008) many economic and social goals were achieved and the Russian authorities achieved internal economic and political stability. The international authority of the country became stronger and Russia was intensively involved in the global processes. However, the internal stability was achieved mainly by strengthening the government power and limiting the internal democratization. The socio-political stability was achieved while maintaining full control over political and economic processes. The effectiveness of the central authorities was submitted to the continuation of the democratization processes which were recognized to bring the Russian reality into government disruption and country’s big crisis in the 1990s. The result is a unique political system in which the most important role is played by the state bureaucracy, fuel and energy sector, as well as special services.
Komiczna etnopsychologia
Authors:   redaktor naczelny miesięcznika „Myśl”, Kuttykadam Sejdachmet
Published: August 2019

The article talks about the stereotypes of national character, formed both in own minds and imported from other nations, about how, in the light of these stereotypes, cultural and behavioral consciousness of nation’s immediate, close and distant neighbors are perceived. The author identifies and amplifies the comic symptoms and character traits that are a stable component of such stereotypes and rarely have anything to do with reality. At the same time, the author draws attention to the importance of studying these distorting mirror “portraits” for better understanding of the true national characters, and the treatment of defined states by the international community. Also he identifies the colorful and comic stereotypes such as the images of Uncle Sam – American, Ivan – Russian, Han – the grandfather of Chinese, Kerim – Kazakh, Tashmataka – Uzbek and other folklore characters, actively utilized in various political disagreements, debates and conflicts.
Perspektywy przywództwa w Azji
Authors: Sielski Jerzy
Published: August 2019

The author wonders at the problem of the leadership in the present Asia, which is the region of the economic growth and the area doesn’t affected by the crisis. At the present four countries aspire to the leadership in Asia: India, Japan, China and United States. The author presents reasoning that the present China is the nearest to the leaderships in the Asia. China tries to push out the USA from the Asia and addict the United States by its economic policy and the ransom of indebted papers. At the present the America is in debt on approx. 17 bln USD., and 7% of this debt has at Chinese. In the India it came to slow down of the economic development and in the Japan after the period of the stagnation, it just slowly comes in on the path of the economic development.
Efficiently Reasoning with Interval Constraints in Forward Search Planning
Authors: Coles Amanda , Coles Andrew , Martinez Moises , Savas Emre , Delfa Juan Manuel , De la Rosa Tomás , E-Martín Yolanda , García-Olaya Angel
Published: August 2019

In this paper we present techniques for reasoning natively with quantitative/qualitative interval constraints in statebased PDDL planners. While these are considered important in modeling and solving problems in timeline based planners; reasoning with these in PDDL planners has seen relatively little attention, yet is a crucial step towards making PDDL planners applicable in real-world scenarios, such as space missions. Our main contribution is to extend the planner OPTIC to reason natively with Allen interval constraints. We show that our approach outperforms both MTP, the only PDDL planner capable of handling similar constraints and a compilation to PDDL 2.1, by an order of magnitude. We go on to present initial results indicating that our approach is competitive with a timeline based planner on a Mars rover domain, showing the potential of PDDL planners in this setting.
Operator Mutexes and Symmetries for Simplifying Planning Tasks
Authors: Fišer Daniel , Torralba Álvaro , Shleyfman Alexander
Published: August 2019

Simplifying classical planning tasks by removing operators while preserving at least one optimal solution can significantly enhance the performance of planners. In this paper, we introduce the notion of operator mutex, which is a set of operators that cannot all be part of the same (strongly) optimal plan. We propose four different methods for inference of operator mutexes and experimentally verify that they can be found in a sizable number of planning tasks. We show how operator mutexes can be used in combination with structural symmetries to safely remove operators from the planning task.
Learning How to Ground a Plan – Partial Grounding in Classical Planning
Authors: Gnad Daniel , Torralba Álvaro , Domínguez Martín , Areces Carlos , Bustos Facundo
Published: August 2019

Current classical planners are very successful in finding (nonoptimal) plans, even for large planning instances. To do so, most planners rely on a preprocessing stage that computes a grounded representation of the task. Whenever the grounded task is too big to be generated (i.e., whenever this preprocess fails) the instance cannot even be tackled by the actual planner. To address this issue, we introduce a partial grounding approach that grounds only a projection of the task, when complete grounding is not feasible. We propose a guiding mechanism that, for a given domain, identifies the parts of a task that are relevant to find a plan by using off-the-shelf machine learning methods. Our empirical evaluation attests that the approach is capable of solving planning instances that are too big to be fully grounded.
Generalized Planning via Abstraction: Arbitrary Numbers of Objects
Authors: Illanes León , McIlraith Sheila A.
Published: August 2019

We consider a class of generalized planning problems based on the idea of quantifying over sets of similar objects. We show how we can adapt fully observable nondeterministic planning techniques to produce generalized solutions that are easy to instantiate over particular problem instances. We also describe how we can reformulate a classical planning problem into a quantified one. The reformulation allows us to solve the original planning task without grounding every action with respect to all objects in the problem, and a single solution can be applied to a possibly infinite set of related classical planning tasks. We report experimental results that show our approach is a practical and promising technique for solving an interesting class of problems.
Moral Permissibility of Action Plans
Authors: Lindner Felix , Mattmüller Robert , Nebel Bernhard
Published: August 2019

Research in classical planning so far was mainly concerned with generating a satisficing or an optimal plan. However, if such systems are used to make decisions that are relevant to humans, one should also consider the ethical consequences generated plans can have. We address this challenge by analyzing in how far it is possible to generalize existing approaches of machine ethics to automatic planning systems. Traditionally, ethical principles are formulated in an actionbased manner, allowing to judge the execution of one action. We show how such a judgment can be generalized to plans. Further, we study the computational complexity of making ethical judgment about plans.
Probabilistic Logic Programming with Beta-Distributed Random Variables
Authors: Cerutti Federico , Kaplan Lance , Kimmig Angelika , Şensoy Murat
Published: August 2019

We enable aProbLog—a probabilistic logical programming approach—to reason in presence of uncertain probabilities represented as Beta-distributed random variables. We achieve the same performance of state-of-the-art algorithms for highly specified and engineered domains, while simultaneously we maintain the flexibility offered by aProbLog in handling complex relational domains. Our motivation is that faithfully capturing the distribution of probabilities is necessary to compute an expected utility for effective decision making under uncertainty: unfortunately, these probability distributions can be highly uncertain due to sparse data. To understand and accurately manipulate such probability distributions we need a well-defined theoretical framework that is provided by the Beta distribution, which specifies a distribution of probabilities representing all the possible values of a probability when the exact value is unknown.
Learning Diverse Bayesian Networks
Authors: Chen Cong , Yuan Changhe
Published: August 2019

Much effort has been directed at developing algorithms for learning optimal Bayesian network structures from data. When given limited or noisy data, however, the optimal Bayesian network often fails to capture the true underlying network structure. One can potentially address the problem by finding multiple most likely Bayesian networks (K-Best) in the hope that one of them recovers the true model. However, it is often the case that some of the best models come from the same peak(s) and are very similar to each other; so they tend to fail together. Moreover, many of these models are not even optimal respective to any causal ordering, thus unlikely to be useful. This paper proposes a novel method for finding a set of diverse top Bayesian networks, called modes, such that each network is guaranteed to be optimal in a local neighborhood. Such mode networks are expected to provide a much better coverage of the true model. Based on a globallocal theorem showing that a mode Bayesian network must be optimal in all local scopes, we introduce an A* search algorithm to efficiently find top M Bayesian networks which are highly probable and naturally diverse. Empirical evaluations show that our top mode models have much better diversity as well as accuracy in discovering true underlying models than those found by K-Best.
Marginal Inference in Continuous Markov Random Fields Using Mixtures
Authors: Guo Yuanzhen , Xiong Hao , Ruozzi Nicholas
Published: August 2019

Exact marginal inference in continuous graphical models is computationally challenging outside of a few special cases. Existing work on approximate inference has focused on approximately computing the messages as part of the loopy belief propagation algorithm either via sampling methods or moment matching relaxations. In this work, we present an alternative family of approximations that, instead of approximating the messages, approximates the beliefs in the continuous Bethe free energy using mixture distributions. We show that these types of approximations can be combined with numerical quadrature to yield algorithms with both theoretical guarantees on the quality of the approximation and significantly better practical performance in a variety of applications that are challenging for current state-of-the-art methods.
Randomized Strategies for Robust Combinatorial Optimization
Authors: Kawase Yasushi , Sumita Hanna
Published: August 2019

In this paper, we study the following robust optimization problem. Given an independence system and candidate objective functions, we choose an independent set, and then an adversary chooses one objective function, knowing our choice. The goal is to find a randomized strategy (i.e., a probability distribution over the independent sets) that maximizes the expected objective value in the worst case. This problem is fundamental in wide areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, game theory and optimization. To solve the problem, we propose two types of schemes for designing approximation algorithms. One scheme is for the case when objective functions are linear. It first finds an approximately optimal aggregated strategy and then retrieves a desired solution with little loss of the objective value. The approximation ratio depends on a relaxation of an independence system polytope. As applications, we provide approximation algorithms for a knapsack constraint or a matroid intersection by developing appropriate relaxations and retrievals. The other scheme is based on the multiplicative weights update (MWU) method. The direct application of the MWU method does not yield a strict multiplicative approximation algorithm but yield one with an additional additive error term. A key technique to overcome the issue is to introduce a new concept called (η,γ)-reductions for objective functions with parameters η and γ. We show that our scheme outputs a nearly α-approximate solution if there exists an α-approximation algorithm for a subproblem defined by (η,γ)-reductions. This improves approximation ratios in previous results. Using our result, we provide approximation algorithms when the objective functions are submodular or correspond to the cardinality robustness for the knapsack problem.
Briefing: US environmental science women are high-impact team players
Authors: Thelwall Mike A
Published: August 2019

In the context of continuing gender inequality in environmental science, this briefing investigates the evolution of the share of female first-authored journal articles in US environmental science specialisms in 1996–2018 and whether there are gender differences in average citation impact. The proportion of female first authors has increased by at least 16% in all 11 Scopus environmental science categories in the USA, with none achieving a female majority by 2018. Female last authors were rarer and increased less during the same period. There is a citation (ratio) advantage for female first-authored research of 2–10% that could be partly accounted for by females tending to lead larger teams (up to 8% if team size is factored out). Irrespective of the main author’s gender, extra authors produce expected citation rate increases of between 6% for an ecology second author and 70% for at least five waste management and disposal authors. The female citation advantage in one field might be substantial enough to boost female careers, although collaboration is a much stronger indicator of greater impact.
Percepção de riscos no trabalho: estudo de caso com colaboradores de uma indústria metalúrgica
Authors: Gasques Ana Carla Fernandes , Souza Dener De , Luz Maria De Lourdes Santiago
Published: August 2019

No cotidiano das organizações é comum a existência de riscos, que podem interferir na saúde do colaborador bem como no exercício de sua profissão. Dessa forma, a saúde e segurança de um indivíduo em seu ambiente de trabalho e as condições proporcionadas pela empresa refletem diretamente em sua produtividade e no bem-estar pessoal durante as ações que este exerce. Assim, este artigo tem como objetivo analisar a percepção de riscos no trabalho com colaboradores de uma metalúrgica localizada no noroeste do estado do Paraná. Adotou-se como metodologia a pesquisa exploratória e básica, implantada com o auxílio de questionário estruturado aplicado aos colaboradores. Para o desenvolvimento do artigo foram seguidas as etapas de elaboração da bibliografia, levantamento das informações e caracterização da empresa, coleta e análise dos dados, verificação dos equipamentos de segurança, elaboração da análise preliminar dos riscos e, por fim, proposição de melhorias para os riscos identificados pelos colaboradores. Como resultados os riscos presentes nos processos foram identificados com base na percepção dos colaboradores, dentre os quais destacam-se: utilização inadequada de EPIs, risco de quedas e intoxicação, bem como ruídos. A partir de então foram propostas melhorias. Desta forma foi possível concluir que as situações identificadas pelas análises trazem risco à segurança e saúde dos colaboradores desta empresa, devendo as mesmas receberem a devida atenção por parte dos responsáveis pela organização.
Use of magnesian fluxes of the Khalilovo deposit in sinter production
Authors: Shapovalov A. N. , Ovchinnikova E. V. , Gorbunov V. B.
Published: August 2019

The article describes the magnesian fluxes properties of the Khalilovo deposit with different proportions of magnesite and serpentine. The results of laboratory experiments on the effect of these fluxes with various magnesite contents on the parameters of sintering process of the Kursk magnetic anomaly ores at JSC “Ural Steel” are presented. The use of experimental magnesian fluxes of the Khalilovo deposit increases the sinter strength, yield and sinter productivity. With the use of experimental fluxes instead of Bakal siderite, an increase in the sinter yield of 3  –  5  %  (rel.) can be reached. In addition, the sinter productivity increases from 1.04 to 1.08  –  1.15  t/(m2·h), that is, by 4  –  10  %  (rel.). The use of experimental magnesian fluxes increases the sinter strength: the tumbler index (+5  mm) increases by an average of 4  –  6  %  (abs.), and the abrasion index (–0.5  mm) decreases by 0.6  –  0.8  %  (abs.). Improving the strength characteristics of the sinter using magnesian fluxes of the Khalilovo deposit is due to the formation of “reinforcing” ferritic binder, as well as due to homogenization of the solidifying melt and its crystallization in the form of glass phase of the rankinite composition, which together limit the formation of β-Ca2SiO4 . The results of experimental sintering have confirmed the possibility of using experimental fluxes in the sintering production at sinter plant of JSC “Ural Steel” without changing the production technology. The rational variant for JSC “Ural Steel” is 50  % of magnesite of Khalilovo deposit in sinter rawmix. Replacement of the Bakal siderite in the production of sinter with 2  % of MgO on the magnesian flux of the Khalilovo deposit with 50  % of magnesite provides an increase in yield by 4  –  5  %, an increase in sinter strength by 5  –  6  % and an increase in sinter productivity by 8  –  10  % while keeping the iron content at the level of the “base” period.
Epigenomic profiling of neuroblastoma cell lines v1
Authors: Upton Kristen , T. Sussman Robyn , Patel Khushbu , P. Way Gregory , N. Adams Rebecca , I. Sacks Gregory , N. Adams Rebecca , Fortina Paolo , M. Maris John , Lynne Rokita Jo
Published: August 2019

This protocol explains the process of how we collected MYCN, MYC, and Histone ChIP-Seq data, as well as ATAC-Seq data for neuroblastoma cell lines. This protocol is comprised of three sections: Cell Growth and Expansion for care of neuroblastoma cell lines, ChIP-Seq protocol, and ATAC-Seq Protocol. Table 1, within the document, outlines which data was collected for each cell line.
A Test System for Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Detection Based on Bioluminescent Immunoassay
Authors: Kudryavtsev Alexander N. , Burakova Ludmila P. , Barinova Ksenia A. , Frank Ludmila A.
Published: August 2019

The tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is the causative agent of one of the most severe human neuroinfections. The infection transmitted by ixodid ticks is spread throughout the forest and foreststeppe zones of the temperate climatic belt of the Eurasian continent, including the Siberian region of the Russian Federation. Despite the availability of commercial analytical systems for the detection of TBEV, the task of developing approaches to a quick and reliable analysis that can be performed routinely, particularly in environmental studies, remains topical. A solid-phase bioluminescent immunoassay for determining the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) in ticks was developed. The assay is based on the hybrid protein consisting of a modified thermostable version of Renilla muelleri luciferase and a single-chain mini-antibody to protein E. This unique protein had been obtained and investigated by the authors earlier. The current study describes the expression of the hybrid protein in two different strains of recombinant E. coli cells. The optimal conditions for obtaining a highly purified protein were found. The bioluminescent reaction of the luciferase domain was triggered with the help of the stable natural form of the substrate, a Ca2+-dependent coelenterazine-binding protein, the recombinant variant of which was obtained by the authors. The conditions for production and storage of the immunoassay components (the hybrid protein, the stable form of the luciferase substrate, and activated microplates) were determined. Using the developed test system, more than 900 tick samples were analyzed for TBEV. In terms of sensitivity (89.5%) and specificity (98.9%), the proposed method is not inferior to colorimetric detection and is much simpler and faster than the latter
Technikakzeptanz durch User-Centred Change
Authors: Meißner Antonia , Trübswetter Angelika , Jenny Mathias
Published: August 2019

Die Digitalisierung verändert die Arbeitswelt in kaum absehbarem Ausmaß. Unternehmen müssen sich deshalb an neue Anforderungen anpassen. Innovative Technologien wie künstliche Intelligenz und Robotik verändern Arbeitsstrukturen langfristig. Aufgrund der Geschwindigkeit dieses Wandels ist es zentral, den Menschen ins Zentrum der Veränderung zu stellen und Technik als Teilkomponente eines sozio-technischen Systems zu begreifen. Mit User-Centred Change stellt dieser Artikel einen menschzentrierten, partizipativen Ansatz zur Implementierung neuer Technologien in Organisationen vor, der Akzeptanz für das technische System und den Veränderungsprozess gleichermaßen schafft.
Evolution eines Digital Twin am Beispiel einer Ethylen-Anlage
Authors: Labisch Daniel , Leingang Chris , Lorenz Otmar , Oppelt Mathias , Pfeiffer Bernd-Markus , Pohmer Felix
Published: August 2019

Der Artikel beschreibt ein Konzept für die Entwicklung und durchgängige Nutzung eines Digital Twins über den gesamten Lebenszyklus einer Prozessanlage. Dabei werden zuerst verschiedene Aspekte und Sichtweisen des Digital Twins definiert und erläutert. Die Möglichkeiten und der Nutzen für die verschiedenen Phasen des Lebenszyklus werden ausführlich dargestellt. Als praktisches Anwendungsbeispiel dient ein Steam Cracker zur Ethylenherstellung, für den das Konzept in Form eines Demonstrators realisiert ist.
Industrie-Sicht auf Autonomie
Authors: Gamer Thomas , Klöpper Benjamin , Hoernicke Mario , Subasic Milos , Biagini Veronica , Groß Christian
Published: August 2019

Autonomie ist derzeit ein viel diskutiertes Thema. In der Industrie wird Autonomie, trotz der heute schon beeindruckenden technischen Möglichkeiten, schrittweise eingeführt werden. Um Ziele für den Übergang zu autonomen Systemen zu definieren, ist es wichtig, ein entsprechendes einheitliches Klassifikationsmodell („Taxonomie“) von Autonomie-Stufen aus Industrie-Sicht festzulegen. Basierend auf einer solchen übergeordneten Taxonomie wird ein Prozess zur deren praktischer Nutzung für spezifische industrielle Anwendungen vorgeschlagen und beispielhaft für autonome Anlagen dargestellt. Zudem werden  grundlegende Technologien als Voraussetzung für Autonomie sowie Implikationen der Autonomie aufgezeigt.