bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Towards life-long adaptive agents: using metareasoning for combining knowledge-based planning with situated learning
Authors: Parashar Priyam , Goel Ashok K. , Sheneman Bradley , Christensen Henrik I. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractWe consider task planning for long-living intelligent agents situated in dynamic environments. Specifically, we address the problem of incomplete knowledge of the world due to the addition of new objects with unknown action models. We propose a multilayered agent architecture that uses meta-reasoning to control hierarchical task planning and situated learning, monitor expectations generated by a plan against world observations, forms goals and rewards for the situated reinforcement learner, and learns the missing planning knowledge relevant to the new objects. We use occupancy grids as a low-level representation for the high-level expectations to capture changes in the physical world due to the additional objects, and provide a similarity method for detecting discrepancies between the expectations and the observations at run-time; the meta-reasoner uses these discrepancies to formulate goals and rewards for the learner, and the learned policies are added to the hierarchical task network plan library for future re-use. We describe our experiments in the Minecraft and Gazebo microworlds to demonstrate the efficacy of the architecture and the technique for learning. We test our approach against an ablated reinforcement learning (RL) version, and our results indicate this form of expectation enhances the learning curve for RL while being more generic than propositional representations.
Sex as the secret: counterinsurgency in Afghanistan
Authors: Kinsella Helen M. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractI explore the construction of women as the secret for the ‘successful’ prosecution of war in Afghanistan. To do so, I take up the mobilization of gender in the US counterinsurgency doctrine as deployed in Afghanistan. I draw on the 2006 Counterinsurgency Field Manual, human rights and humanitarian reports, and scholarly works to identify and analyze this mobilization, paying attention to the colonial histories upon which COIN explicitly and implicitly relies. By critically integrating these sources and the paradigmatic moments that exemplify COIN, I demonstrate the constitutive relationship of gender and COIN. The valence of the secret – of women as concealing, revealing, being, and bearing the secret – is still a lesser explored element in the analysis of the gendering of COIN and of its ‘military orientalism’. Even as scholars have powerfully shown how, in the case of Afghanistan and elsewhere, the veil functions as an overdetermined and ‘multilayered signifier’ in its own right, symbolizing the ‘tension between disclosure and concealment that defines the dominant conception of the secret’, less subject to detailed analysis in case of Afghanistan is the ways in which Afghan women are constituted through COIN in polysemous relation to the notion of the secret.
Palate and braincase ofWhatcheeria deltaeLombard & Bolt, 1995
Authors: BOLT John R. , LOMBARD R. Eric 
Published: December 2018

ABSTRACTThe reconstructed palate ofWhatcheeria deltaeindicates a skull that was unusually narrow: at least 2.2 times longer than wide if the pterygoids are conservatively placed in the horizontal plane. This maximum width is narrower than any other early tetrapod reconstructed so far. Rotating the pterygoids to produce a vaulted palate would produce an even narrower skull. Primitive palatal features include very narrow interpterygoid vacuities and a vomer, palatine, and ectopterygoid with fang-sized replacement pairs. It is derived in that there is no anterior palatal fenestra and the premaxilla has a substantial palatal shelf – a combination of characters shared only with Proterogyrinus among early tetrapods. There is a possible septomaxilla in one specimen.Whatcheeriadiffers from and is more derived thanPederpes, its likely sister taxon, in that only the pterygoid is covered with denticles, the vomer, palatine, and ectopterygoid containing labyrinthine teeth only. Reconstructed dental occlusion indicates that the large choana apparently accommodated the large dentary fangs; this would be a unique feature among early tetrapods. The palatal ramus of the pterygoid is longer than the quadrate ramus, which does not have a descending flange. Like Meckel's cartilage in the lower jaw, the palatoquadrate is fully ossified in larger specimens, such that in a posterior view of the skull the pterygoid is mostly hidden from sight by the epipterygoid. The ossified neurocranium consists of the basiparasphenoid and basioccipital; no ossified sphenethmoid has been found. Remains of otic capsules are partial, crushed, and smeared, so no useful morphology is available. The stapes appears to be more columnar and less plate-like than in many other primitive, early tetrapods.
Beneficial effects of maternal swimming during pregnancy on offspring metabolism when the father is obese
Authors: Tarevnic R. , Ornellas F. , Mandarim-de-Lacerda C. A. , Aguila M. B. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractWe aimed to evaluate the impact of maternal exercise training on the offspring metabolism and body size caused by father obesity. C57BL/6 male 4-week-old mice were fed a high-fat diet (HF father) or control diet (C father), while equal age female mice were fed only a C diet and were separated into two groups: trained (T mother) and non-trained (NT mother), and at 12 weeks of age mice were mated. A continuous swimming protocol was applied for 10 weeks (before and during gestation), and offspring were followed since weaning until sacrifice (at 12 weeks of age). HF father, compared to C father, showed obesity, elevated total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG), and glucose intolerance. Both sexes HF/NT offspring showed hyperglycemia, glucose intolerance and high levels of TC and TG, without obesity. However, HF/T offspring showed data close to C/NT, demonstrating the beneficial effect of maternal exercise in the offspring of obese fathers.
Waves in Kinetic‐Scale Magnetic Dips: MMS Observations in the Magnetosheath
Authors: Yao S. T. , Shi Q. Q. , Yao Z. H. , Li J. X. , Yue C. , Tao X. , Degeling A. W. , Zong Q. G. , Wang X. G. , Tian A. M. , Russell C. T. , Zhou X. Z. , Guo R. L. , Rae I. J. , Fu H. S. , Zhang H. , Li L. , Le Contel O. , Torbert R. B. , Ergun R. E. , Lindqvist P.‐A. , Pollock C. J. , Giles B. L. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractKinetic‐scale magnetic dips (KSMDs), with a significant depression in magnetic field strength, and scale length close to and less than one proton gyroradius, were reported in the turbulent plasmas both in recent observation and numerical simulation studies. These KSMDs likely play important roles in energy conversion and dissipation. In this study, we present observations of the KSMDs that are labeled whistler mode waves, electrostatic solitary waves, and electron cyclotron waves in the magnetosheath. The observations suggest that electron temperature anisotropy or beams within KSMD structures provide free energy to generate these waves. In addition, the occurrence rates of the waves are higher in the center of the magnetic dips than at their edges, implying that the KSMDs might be the origin of various kinds of waves. We suggest that the KSMDs could provide favorable conditions for the generation of waves and transfer energy to the waves in turbulent magnetosheath plasmas.
An Axisymmetric Limit for the Width of the Hadley Cell on Planets With Large Obliquity and Long Seasonality
Authors: Guendelman I. , Kaspi Y. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractHadley cells dominate the meridional circulation of terrestrial atmospheres. The solar system terrestrial atmospheres, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Titan, exhibit a large variety in the strength, width, and seasonality of their Hadley circulation. Despite the Hadley cell being thermally driven, in all planets, the ascending branch does not coincide with the warmest latitude, even in cases with very long seasonality (e.g., Titan) or very small thermal inertia (e.g., Mars). In order to understand the characteristics of the Hadley circulation in cases of extreme planetary characteristics, we show both theoretically, using axisymmetric theory, and numerically, using a set of idealized GCM simulations, that the thermal Rossby number dictates the character of the circulation. Given the possible variation of thermal Rossby number parameters, the rotation rate is found to be the most critical factor controlling the circulation characteristics. The results also explain the location of the Hadley cell ascending branch on Mars and Titan.
Subseasonal Week 3–5 Surface Air Temperature Prediction During Boreal Wintertime in a GFDL Model
Authors: Xiang Baoqiang , Lin Shian‐Jiann , Zhao Ming , Johnson Nathaniel C. , Yang Xiaosong , Jiang Xianan 
Published: December 2018

AbstractWith a Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) coupled model, the subseasonal prediction of wintertime (December–February) surface air temperature (SAT) is investigated through the analysis of 11‐year hindcasts. Significant subseasonal week 3–5 correlation skill exists over a large portion of the global land domain, and the predictability originates primarily from the eight most predictable SAT modes. The first three modes, identified as the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation mode, the North Atlantic Oscillation mode, and the Eurasia Meridional Dipole mode, can be skillfully predicted more than 5 weeks in advance. The North Atlantic Oscillation and Eurasia Meridional Dipole modes are strongly correlated with the initial stratospheric polar vortex strength, highlighting the role of stratosphere in subseasonal prediction. Interestingly, the Madden‐Julian Oscillation is not essential for the subseasonal land SAT prediction in the Northern Hemisphere extratropics. The spatial correlation skill exhibits considerable intraseasonal and interannual fluctuations, indicative of the importance to identify the time window of opportunity for subseasonal prediction.
Molecular and epigenetic regulatory mechanisms of normal stem cell radiosensitivity
Authors: Fabbrizi Maria Rita , Warshowsky Kacie E. , Zobel Cheri L. , Hallahan Dennis E. , Sharma Girdhar G. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractIonizing radiation (IR) therapy is a major cancer treatment modality and an indispensable auxiliary treatment for primary and metastatic cancers, but invariably results in debilitating organ dysfunctions. IR-induced depletion of neural stem/progenitor cells in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus in the hippocampus where neurogenesis occurs is considered largely responsible for deficiencies such as learning, memory, and spatial information processing in patients subjected to cranial irradiation. Similarly, IR therapy-induced intestinal injuries such as diarrhea and malabsorption are common side effects in patients with gastrointestinal tumors and are believed to be caused by intestinal stem cell drop out. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is currently used to reinstate blood production in leukemia patients and pre-clinical treatments show promising results in other organs such as the skin and kidney, but ethical issues and logistic problems make this route difficult to follow. An alternative way to restore the injured tissue is to preserve the stem cell pool located in that specific tissue/organ niche, but stem cell response to ionizing radiation is inadequately understood at the molecular mechanistic level. Although embryonic and fetal hypersensity to IR has been very well known for many decades, research on embryonic stem cell models in culture concerning molecular mechanisms have been largely inconclusive and often in contradiction of the in vivo observations. This review will summarize the latest discoveries on stem cell radiosensitivity, highlighting the possible molecular and epigenetic mechanism(s) involved in DNA damage response and programmed cell death after ionizing radiation therapy specific to normal stem cells. Finally, we will analyze the possible contribution of stem cell-specific chromatin’s epigenetic constitution in promoting normal stem cell radiosensitivity.
A two-microRNA-based signature predicts first-line chemotherapy outcomes in advanced colorectal cancer patients
Authors: Lu Jia-huan , Zuo Zhi-xiang , Wang Wei , Zhao Qi , Qiu Miao-zhen , Luo Hui-yan , Chen Zhan-hong , Mo Hai-yu , Wang Feng , Yang Dong-dong , Wang Yun , Wei Xiao-li , Wu Qi-nian , Ju Huai-qiang , Xu Rui-hua , Zeng Zhao-lei 
Published: December 2018

AbstractPrognostic and predictive markers are needed to predict the clinical outcomes of patients with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) who receive standard first-line treatments. We performed a prospective cohort study in advanced CRC patients to identify a miRNA signature that could predict the benefit of receiving first-line chemotherapy for these patients. Twenty-one paired tumours and adjacent normal tissues were collected from advanced CRC patients and analysed by miRNA microarrays. Between tumour and normal tissues, 33 miRNAs were differentially expressed and was confirmed by qRT-PCR from another group of 67 patients from a prospective cohort study. A two-miRNA-based signature was obtained using the LASSO Cox regression model based on the association between the expression of each miRNA and the PFS of individual patients. Internal and external validation cohorts, including 40 and 44 patients with advanced CRC, respectively, were performed to prove the prognostic and predictive value of this signature. A signature was built based on two miRNAs, miR-125b-2-3p and miR-933. CRC patients were classified into low- and high-risk groups for disease progression based on this tool. The patients with low risk scores generally had better PFS than those with high risk scores. In the training set, the median PFS in the low- and high-risk groups were 12.00 and 7.40 months, respectively. In the internal validation set, the median PFS in the low- and high-risk groups were 9.90 and 5.10 months, respectively. In the external validation set, the median PFS in the low- and high-risk groups were 9.90 and 6.40 months, respectively. Furthermore, we detected miR-125b-2-3p associated with CRC cell sensitivity to first-line chemotherapy. Our two-miRNA-based signature was a reliable prognostic and predictive tool for tumour progression in patients with advanced CRC, and might be able to predict the benefit of receiving standard first-line chemotherapy in CRC.
Topological sound
Authors: Zhang Xiujuan , Xiao Meng , Cheng Ying , Lu Ming-Hui , Christensen Johan 
Published: December 2018

AbstractRecently, we witnessed a tremendous effort to conquer the realm of acoustics as a possible playground to test with topologically protected sound wave propagation. In this article, we review the latest efforts to explore with sound waves topological states of quantum matter in two- and three-dimensional systems where we discuss how spin and valley degrees of freedom appear as highly novel ingredients to tailor the flow of sound in the form of one-way edge modes and defect-immune protected acoustic waves. Both from a theoretical stand point and based on contemporary experimental verifications, we summarize the latest advancements of the flourishing research frontier on topological sound.
A preclinical micro-computed tomography database including 3D whole body organ segmentations
Authors: Rosenhain Stefanie , Magnuska Zuzanna A. , Yamoah Grace G. , Rawashdeh Wa’el Al , Kiessling Fabian , Gremse Felix 
Published: December 2018

AbstractThe gold-standard of preclinical micro-computed tomography (μCT) data processing is still manual delineation of complete organs or regions by specialists. However, this method is time-consuming, error-prone, has limited reproducibility, and therefore is not suitable for large-scale data analysis. Unfortunately, robust and accurate automated whole body segmentation algorithms are still missing. In this publication, we introduce a database containing 225 murine 3D whole body μCT scans along with manual organ segmentation of most important organs including heart, liver, lung, trachea, spleen, kidneys, stomach, intestine, bladder, thigh muscle, bone, as well as subcutaneous tumors. The database includes native and contrast-enhanced, regarding spleen and liver, μCT data. All scans along with organ segmentation are freely accessible at the online repository Figshare. We encourage researchers to reuse the provided data to evaluate and improve methods and algorithms for accurate automated organ segmentation which may reduce manual segmentation effort, increase reproducibility, and even reduce the number of required laboratory animals by reducing a source of variability and having access to a reliable reference group.
Identification of novel pathogenic ABCA4 variants in a Han Chinese family with Stargardt disease
Authors: Xiang Qin , Cao Yanna , Xu Hongbo , Guo Yi , Yang Zhijian , Xu Lu , Yuan Lamei , Deng Hao 
Published: December 2018

Abstract
Stargardt disease (STGD1, OMIM 248200) is a common hereditary juvenile or early adult onset macular degeneration. It ultimately leads to progressive central vision loss. Here, we sought to identify gene mutations associated with STGD1 in a three-generation Han Chinese pedigree by whole exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing. Two novel potentially pathogenic variants in a compound heterozygous state, c.3607G>T (p.(Gly1203Trp)) and c.6722T>C (p.(Leu2241Pro)), in the ATP binding cassette subfamily A member 4 gene (ABCA4) were identified as contributing to the family’s STGD1 phenotype. These variants may impact the ABCA4 protein structure and reduce the retinal-activated ATPase activity, leading to abnormal all-trans retinal accumulation in photoreceptor outer segments and in retinal pigment epithelium cells. The present study broadens the mutational spectrum of the ABCA4 responsible for STGD1. A combination of whole exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing is likely to be a time-saving and cost-efficient approach to screen pathogenic variants in genetic disorders caused by sizable genes, as well as avoiding misdiagnosis. These results perhaps refine genetic counseling and ABCA4-targetted treatments for families affected by STGD1.
Architecture of urban rail transit power supply based on PET braking energy feedback
Authors: Liu Hao , Zheng Zedong , Xu Zheng 
Published: December 2018

In recent years, the urban rail transit has a great development in many cities of China. It is important to keep the DC transit grid strong and the power transmitted/power transmission high quality. During the process of rail operation, braking energy leads to a wide range of load oscillation for the traction and city grid, which cannot be absorbed inside the rail transit system. In this study, a novel architecture of urban rail transit power supply based on power electronics transformer braking energy feedback is put forward. Based on the circle grid, the topology adds an inverter to LLC series resonant converter to carry the power from 1500 V DC traction grid to 1180 V AC. Analysis together with simulation on the topology and control strategy is made on the basis of MATLAB/Simulink. Process of braking energy feedback and transmission of energy are illustrated with simulation. By paralleling the three‐phase H bridge and braking energy feedback device, double direction of the power flow is ensured. As a consequence, the power quality increases and harmonics reduce. The energy can be used more efficiently to achieve better effects on energy conservation.
Research on optimisation of minimum air clearance of 1000 kV UHV AC substation
Authors: Zhenqiang Li , Liang Xie , Jing Liu , Huiwen He 
Published: December 2018

Based on air clearance discharge characteristic curve and insulation coordination method, it is pointed out that the minimum air clearance of 1000 kV ultra‐high voltage (UHV) AC substation can be further optimised. On the basis of analysis of the merits and demerits of the two insulation coordination methods for air clearances of UHV substation stated in the national standard GB/Z 24842–2009, it is concluded that using statistical method for insulation coordination is more reasonable and feasible. The minimum air clearance of UHV substation is optimised with the statistical method based on 1000 μs switching impulse characteristic test results. According to the study results, the phase‐to‐earth air clearance A1′ can be 1 m less than that specified in standard, the air clearance between conductors 0.5 m less than that specified in standard, and the phase‐to‐phase air clearance of grading ring and tubular bus 0.6 and 1.8 m, respectively, less than that specified in standard.
Vor 50 Jahren: Erste erfolgreiche Behandlung einer akuten Herztransplantat-Abstoßungskrise
Authors: Land Walter 
Published: December 2018

AbstractThe first clinical use of the “Munich antilymphocyte globulin” (ALG) at the occasion of the first successful human heart transplantation is briefly described. The cardiac transplantation was carried out by Christiaan Barnard and his team in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1968. The patient developed an acute allograft rejection which could be successfully reversed within three weeks using the intravenous administration of ALG. This event can be regarded as the beginning of a success story of ALG in its use as a powerful immunosuppressive agent in all categories of clinical organ transplantation.
Vom Chirurgen zum Verleger – Das Jahrhundertleben des Gottfried Bermann Fischer (1897–1995)
Authors: Bruns Florian 
Published: December 2018

AbstractGottfried Bermann Fischer was a German-Jewish physician and publisher who dedicated his life to the S. Fischer publishing company which ranks among the most significant German-language publishers in the 20th century. In 1925 Bermann left his position as a surgeon and married Brigitte Fischer, daughter of the company’s founder Samuel Fischer. Now called Bermann Fischer he became a passionate publisher and steered the company through the Weimar Republic and Nazi years, publishing authors like Hermann Hesse, Thomas Mann, and Alfred Döblin. Fearing the Nazi terror Bermann-Fischer left Germany in 1936 with his family and parts of the company. From his exile in Austria, Sweden, and later in the United States Bermann Fischer carried on with publishing. In 1950 the S. Fischer publishing company was reestablished in Frankfurt, West Germany. Bermann Fischer and his wife brought out the works of Sigmund Freud and books like Alexander Mitscherlich’s “Doctors of Infamy”. Through these publishing activities Bermann Fischer had a significant impact on public debates about medicine and its past in Germany.
Die Influenza 1918
Authors: Salzberger Bernd , Mohr Arno , Hitzenbichler Florian 
Published: December 2018

ZusammenfassungDie Influenza 1918 war die größte Pandemie des 20. Jahrhunderts und hat eine große Zahl an Opfern gefordert. Das öffentliche Echo der Pandemie war in Deutschland aufgrund des Endes des Ersten Weltkrieges eher verhalten, allerdings wurde die Pandemie ausführlich in der wissenschaftlichen Literatur behandelt. In Europa war die Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift das erste Publikationsorgan, das von der Pandemie ab Juli 1918 ausführlich berichtete. Von Beginn an war die Frage des Erregers kontrovers, sie wurde 1930 endgültig geklärt. Zeitgenössische Publikationen und aktuelle Untersuchungen demonstrieren klar die prominente Rolle bakterieller Koinfektionen für die hohe Rate von Komplikationen und Todesfällen. Der Ablauf der Pandemie und die wissenschaftliche Aufarbeitung bis in die heutige Zeit werden hier dargestellt.