cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
The "legalist paradigm" and the resources for moral critique in international society
Creators: name: Tomm, Jonathan Michael
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2011

description: This thesis explores the "legalist paradigm," an important approach to the ethics of international relations, and addresses the question of whether the legalist paradigm has adequate resources for moral critique. Chapter One presents a synopsis of the legalist paradigm, drawing especially on the work of Robert Jackson, Michael Walzer, and Terry Nardin. The central contention of the legalist paradigm is that ethics in international relations should be worked out primarily in terms of the rights and duties of states in international society. Three key points of this approach are identified. First, states relate to each other within the normative order of international society. Second, respect for state sovereignty is connected to respect for human individuals. Third, international society is a "practical association" whose members are united not by common purposes or ideals, but by recognition of a common code of conduct that limits the actions states can take in pursuit of their individually-held purposes. Chapter Two focusses on an important criticism of this approach to international ethics: that given its commitment to the norms of international society, the legalist paradigm will find it difficult, if not impossible, to be critical of those normative standards themselves. This essay argues, on the contrary, that the legalist paradigm holds considerable resources for moral critique. Drawing on the theories of Michael Walzer and Jürgen Habermas, the possibilities for immanent critique from within the norms of international society are explored. The example of humanitarian intervention and the "responsibility to protect" illustrates how genuine moral transformation can occur through reinterpretation and revision within international society. Finally, even though the discourse of international society, like all moral discourse, strains toward universally valid norms, it cannot be replaced by the imagined discourse of a universal, moral point of view.
Euphorbia amygdaloides subsp. robbiae (Turkse amandelwolfsmelk) in het natuurreservaat De Buylaers (Lokeren, Oost-Vlaanderen, België)
Creators: name: Baeté, Hans
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024

description: Euphorbia amygdaloides subsp. robbiae (Turkish wood spurge) in the nature reserve De Buylaers (Lokeren, East Flanders, Belgium). Since at least 2014, a population of Euphorbia amygdaloides subsp. robbiae has persisted in a nature reserve dominated by moist to wet grasslands in Lokeren (Belgium). This taxon occurs along an elevated path shaded by Corylus avellana. It is presumably thanks to its characteristic rhizomes that this taxon could survive a recent disturbance and it is likely that it will expand its area in the future. Given the geographic origin of this taxon, the author suggests the Dutch vernacular name ‘Turkse amandelwolfsmelk’ (by analogy with its English vernacular name: ‘Turkish Wood Spurge').
title: Applications of computer algebra to the theory of electron energy loss
Creators: name: Chen, Mingliang
Publisher: name: The Open University
Year: 1994

description: This thesis develops dielectric theory in multilayers and following cases have been considered:

 - Normal incidence on a multilayered slab with n isotropic layers.

 - Parallel incidence on a multilayered slab with n isotropic layers.

 - Normal and parallel incidence on a multilayered with n anisotropic layers, analysed in the non-retarded limit.

 In each case we have developed the appropriate transfer matrix recurrence relation and solved it exactly, using computer algebra (REDUCE and MATHEMATICA) as an essential guide. For all the problems listed above, we have obtained closed form solutions for the dispersion relations of surface and interface plasmons and for the angle-resolved energy-loss function. The energyloss spectrum is then obtained by integrating over wavevectors. The formulas we have derived are applied to real materials such as Al/Mg, Al/Al2O3, Al/SiO2/Si, diamond and graphite.
Agricultural Commercialization and Nutrition in Smallholder Farm Households
Creators: name: Ogutu, Sylvester Ochieng
name: Goedecke, Theda
name: Qaim, Matin
name: Ogutu, Sylvester Ochieng
name: Goedecke, Theda
name: Qaim, Matin
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Agricultural and Food Policy
subject: Food Security and Poverty
subject: Commercialization
subject: Market access
subject: Continuous treatment
subject: Nutrition
subject: Dietary quality
subject: Africa

description: Commercialization of smallholder agriculture is widely seen as an essential pathway towards rural economic growth. While previous studies have analyzed effects of commercialization on productivity and income, implications for farm household nutrition have received much less attention. We evaluate the impact of commercialization on household food security and dietary quality, with a special focus on calorie and micronutrient consumption. We also examine transmission channels by looking at the role of income, gender, and possible substitution between the consumption of own-produced and purchased foods. The analysis builds on survey data from 805 farm households in Western Kenya. A control function approach is used to address issues of endogeneity. Generalized propensity scores are employed to estimate continuous treatment effects. Commercialization significantly improves food security and dietary quality in terms of calorie, zinc, and iron consumption. For vitamin A, effects are positive but statistically insignificant. Commercialization contributes to higher incomes and added nutrients from purchased foods. It does not reduce the consumption of nutrients from own-produced foods, even after controlling for farm size, which can be explained by higher productivity on more commercialized farms. Enhancing market access is important not only for rural economic growth, but also for making smallholder agriculture more nutrition-sensitive.
Roundtable on hotspots in livestock production – A mixed-methods-approach for a better understanding of farmers’ and consumers’ views
Creators: name: Rovers, Anja
name: Mergenthaler, Marcus
name: Wildraut, Christiane
name: Sonntag, Winnie Isabel
name: Von Meyer-Höfer, Marie
name: Christoph-Schulz, Inken
name: Rovers, Anja
name: Mergenthaler, Marcus
name: Wildraut, Christiane
name: Sonntag, Winnie Isabel
name: Von Meyer-Höfer, Marie
name: Christoph-Schulz, Inken
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Consumer/Household Economics
subject: Demand and Price Analysis
subject: Livestock production
subject: Farmers’ perception
subject: Consumers’ perception
subject: Focus group discussions
subject: Mixed methods

description: Intensive livestock production systems lose their societal acceptance. This paper reports how farmers and consumers communicated with each other in focus group discussions. For our analysis, a mixed-methodsapproach was chosen. The heterogeneous focus group discussions with farmers and consumers were conducted in Germany. Before and after the discussions, participants assessed critical issues in animal husbandry on a short item battery. Results illustrate that both farmers and consumers have different knowledge, perceptions and visions about livestock production and animal welfare. Some of these differences remained after the discussions. However, there are also topics where a consensus between farmers and consumers could be achieved through the discussions.
Pseudognaphalium undulatum (Asteraceae) in Belgium: another cudweed on the verge of naturalization?
Creators: name: Verloove, Filip
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024

description: In the summer of 2022 a small population of Pseudognaphalium undulatum was discovered in Roeselare (province of West-Flanders). Although the original population was almost entirely cleared, in 2023 many dozens of new plants were discovered in the surroundings, some almost half a kilometer away from the source population. It seems that the species is becoming established locally. This (predominantly South-) African weed is naturalized in western France and the Channel Islands (Great Britain) for more than two centuries, and has recently locally established itself elsewhere in Europe as well (Italy, the Netherlands). In Belgium, the species was previously seen only between 1893 and 1906, when it was unintentionally introduced as a rare wool alien in the Vesdre valley. This contribution discusses the morphology and differences compared to other species, and the opportunities for further expansion.
Alectorioid Morphologies in Paleogene Lichens: New Evidence and Re-Evaluation of the Fossil Alectoria succini Mägdefrau.
Creators: name: Kaasalainen, Ulla
name: Heinrichs, Jochen
name: Krings, Michael
name: Myllys, Leena
name: Grabenhorst, Heinrich
name: Rikkinen, Jouko
name: Schmidt, Alexander R
Publisher: name: FID GEO
Year: 2015

description: One of the most important issues in molecular dating studies concerns the incorporation of reliable fossil taxa into the phylogenies reconstructed from DNA sequence variation in extant taxa. Lichens are symbiotic associations between fungi and algae and/or cyanobacteria. Several lichen fossils have been used as minimum age constraints in recent studies concerning the diversification of the Ascomycota. Recent evolutionary studies of Lecanoromycetes, an almost exclusively lichen-forming class in the Ascomycota, have utilized the Eocene amber inclusion Alectoria succinic as a minimum age constraint. However, a re-investigation of the type material revealed that this inclusion in fact represents poorly preserved plant remains, most probably of a root. Consequently, this fossil cannot be used as evidence of the presence of the genus Alectoria (Parmeliaceae, Lecanorales) or any other lichens in the Paleogene. However, newly discovered inclusions from Paleogene Baltic and Bitterfeld amber verify that alectorioid morphologies in lichens were in existence by the Paleogene. The new fossils represent either a lineage within the alectorioid group or belong to the genus Oropogon.
description: Open-Access-Publikationsfonds 2015
Changing Structure, Financial Risks, and Government Policy for the U.S. Dairy Industry
Creators: name: MacDonald, James M.
name: Cessna, Jerry
name: Mosheim, Roberto
name: MacDonald, James M.
name: Cessna, Jerry
name: Mosheim, Roberto
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Agricultural and Food Policy
subject: Industrial Organization
subject: Livestock Production/Industries
subject: Farm structure
subject: Margin Protection Program
subject: dairy policy
subject: dairy trade
subject: ARMS
subject: dairy farm finances
subject: milk prices
subject: dairy exports
subject: dairy structure

description: Congress reorganized dairy policy in the Agricultural Act of 2014 when it eliminated three programs and created the Dairy Margin Protection Program. The new program aims to provide farmers with financial protection against risks from increasing vola - tility in milk and feed prices. These developments occurred amid ongoing structural change toward larger dairy farms, as well as ongoing change in dairy product demand, away from fluid milk, and toward manufactured products sold in domestic and export markets. This report focuses on the interrelated topics of structural change in dairy production, changes in dairy product markets, growing price volatility, and dairy policy. It details the major developments in each, traces the linkages among them, and identifies the challenges that structural change, evolving product markets, and price volatility pose for policy. ----- Errata On May 17, the following corrections were made to ERR-205, Changing Structure, Financial Risks, and Government Policy for the U.S. Dairy Industry . Three cells in Table 3 were updated as follows: “Western States, 3,000-3,999 head in 1992" (19), “Traditional States, 1,000-1,999 head in 1997" (54), and “Other States, 1,000-1,999 head in 2002" (56). On page 10, the State in which Shamrock Farms is located was corrected. In addition, Appendix table A-2 was updated to reflect return-on-equity calculations for the full rather than a restricted sample of dairy farms.
Synthesis of Novel Pyrimido[1,2-a]Pyrimidines by Fe3O4@PAP as an Efficient and Reusable Magnetic Nanocatalyst
Creators: name: Rad, Fatemeh Tajali
name: Kefayati, Hassan
name: Shariati, Shahab
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Biophysics
subject: Biochemistry
subject: 29999 Physical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Physiology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: 39999 Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences
subject: 60506 Virology

description: Novel 2-amino-1,4-dihydropyrimidines derivatives was synthesized by the reaction of guanidine hydrochloride, aromatic aldehyde and ethyl benzoylacetate under ultrasound irradiation. Then, the reaction of 2-amino-1,4-dihydropyrimidines and 3-formylchromone for the synthesis of novel pyrimido[1,2-a]pyrimidine was studied in the presence and absence of Fe3O4@PAP as catalyst. The results show that, the products in the presence of catalyst were obtained in highest yield and at least time, that confirmed the efficiency of Fe3O4@PAP.
Undecidability and unpredictability: not limitations, but triumphs of science
Creators: name: Mueller, Markus P.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: History and Philosophy of Physics (physics.hist-ph)
subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: It is a widespread belief that results like Gödel's incompleteness theorems or the intrinsic randomness of quantum mechanics represent fundamental limitations to humanity's strive for scientific knowledge. As the argument goes, there are truths that we can never uncover with our scientific methods, hence we should be humble and acknowledge a reality beyond our scientific grasp. Here, I argue that this view is wrong. It originates in a naive form of metaphysics that sees the physical and Platonic worlds as a collection of things with definite properties such that all answers to all possible questions exist ontologically somehow, but are epistemically inaccessible. This view is not only a priori philosophically questionable, but also at odds with modern physics. Hence, I argue to replace this perspective by a worldview in which a structural notion of `real patterns', not `things' are regarded as fundamental. Instead of a limitation of what we can know, undecidability and unpredictability then become mere statements of undifferentiation of structure. This gives us a notion of realism that is better informed by modern physics, and an optimistic outlook on what we can achieve: we can know what there is to know, despite the apparent barriers of undecidability results.
description: First prize at the 2020 FQXi Essay Contest "Undecidability, Uncomputability, and Unpredictability". v2: minor corrections added. 7 pages, 1 figure
Elytrigia ×oliveri (E. acuta × repens) (Poaceae) in België, een erg miskend gras van onze flora
Creators: name: De Beer, Dirk
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024

description: Elytrigia ×oliveri (E. acuta × repens) (Poaceae) in Belgium, a very misunderstood grass of our flora. Elytrigia acuta and its hybrid with E. repens (E. ×oliveri) are very often confused. E. acuta only occurs along the coast and along the Scheldt north of Antwerp, while the hybrid is much more common and moreover widespread. E. ×oliveri is common in the polders and seems to occur increasingly as an adventive elsewhere as well. The hybrid is recognizable by the sterile or less fertile pollen, the leaf anatomy and the habitus. Elytrigia juncea and its hybrid with E. repens (E. ×obtusiuscula), on the contrary, have only been found along the North Sea coast.
An optimised whole mount in situ hybridisation protocol for the mollusc Lymnaea stagnalis
Creators: name: Hohagen, Jennifer
name: Herlitze, Ines
name: Jackson, Daniel J.
Publisher: name: FID GEO
Year: 2015

description: Abstract Background The ability to visualise the expression of individual genes in situ is an invaluable tool for developmental and evolutionary biologists; it allows for the characterisation of gene function, gene regulation and through inter-specific comparisons, the evolutionary history of unique morphological features. For well-established model organisms (e.g., flies, worms, sea urchins) this technique has been optimised to an extent where it can be automated for high-throughput analyses. While the overall concept of in situ hybridisation is simple (hybridise a single-stranded, labelled nucleic acid probe complementary to a target of interest, and then detect the label immunologically using colorimetric or fluorescent methods), there are many parameters in the technique that can significantly affect the final result. Furthermore, due to variation in the biochemical and biophysical properties of different cells and tissues, an in situ technique optimised for one species is often not suitable for another, and often varies depending on the ontogenetic stage within a species. Results Using a variety of pre-hybridisation treatments we have identified a set of treatments that greatly increases both whole mount in situ hybridisation (WMISH) signal intensity and consistency while maintaining morphological integrity for early larval stages of Lymnaea stagnalis. These treatments function well for a set of genes with presumably significantly different levels of expression (beta tubulin, engrailed and COE) and for colorimetric as well as fluorescent WMISH. We also identify a tissue-specific background stain in the larval shell field of L. stagnalis and a treatment, which eliminates this signal. Conclusions This method that we present here will be of value to investigators employing L. stagnalis as a model for a variety of research themes (e.g. evolutionary biology, developmental biology, neurobiology, ecotoxicology), and brings a valuable tool to a species in a much understudied clade of animals collectively known as the Spiralia.
The 2014 Farm Act Agriculture Risk Coverage, Price Loss Coverage, and Supplemental Coverage Option Programs' Effects on Crop Revenue
Creators: name: O'Donoghue, Erik J.
name: Hungerford, Ashley E.
name: Cooper, Joseph C.
name: Worth, Thomas
name: Ash, Mark
name: O'Donoghue, Erik J.
name: Hungerford, Ashley E.
name: Cooper, Joseph C.
name: Worth, Thomas
name: Ash, Mark
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Agricultural and Food Policy
subject: Crop Production/Industries
subject: Risk and Uncertainty
subject: 2014 Farm Act
subject: Agriculture Risk Coverage
subject: crop insurance
subject: crop revenue
subject: Supplemental Coverage Option

description: The 2014 Farm Act provides eligible U.S. farmers with new commodity supports in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC), the Price Loss Coverage (PLC), and the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) programs. These programs help producers with revenue losses generally not covered by traditional crop insurance policies. Interactions, both among these programs and between these programs and the Federal Crop Insurance (FCI) program, determine the nature and magnitude of support avail - able to producers. This report provides an analysis of these programs with a focus on how various combinations of the programs impact producer revenue and its variability, producer well-being, and expected program costs. The report finds that these programs’ effectiveness are influenced by historical prices, expected prices, and FCI coverage rates. High historic crop prices combined with low expected prices since the enactment of the 2014 Farm Act led to higher enrollment of producers in the ARC program in 2015 relative to that in the SCO program.
Assassin nation : theorizing the conspiracy film in the early 21st century
Creators: name: Tait, R. Colin
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2011

description: Assassin Nation: Theorizing the Conspiracy Film in the Early Twenty-First Century argues that the conspiracy films of the 1970s - which depicted or alluded to the highly politicized events of Watergate, the world oil crisis, and the devaluing of the US currency can be used as a template for understanding and addressing the political events and the films of the last twenty years. I argue that similar narrative, iconographic and syntactical tropes may be found in two subsequent cycles of films in the 1990s and in the post-9/11 period. In order to establish my claim of the conspiracy film as a genre with at least three cycles, I call upon the work of Fredric Jameson, Rick Altman, Richard Hofstadter and Peter Knight. Chapter One outlines the historical phenomenon of the conspiracy film over the past three decades and formulates a methodology for coping with the genre's cyclical reappearances. Chapter Two argues that the conspiracy film's inaugural appearance is not only inherently linked to the crisis of leadership that the Nixon administration presented. Furthermore, the genre reflects the rise of postmodernism in popular American Cinema and the last gasp of the American political film embodied by works such as Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974), The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974) and The Parallax View (Alan J. Pakula, 1974). Chapter Three presents the genre's ongoing commodification, considering its transformation from a highly-politicized form to a commercial product by way of its intersection with the Hollywood Blockbuster system in the 1990s. Oliver Stone's JFK (1991) is taken as the zero-moment of this phenomenon, which ranges through The X-Files (1993-2001), to Zoolander (Ben Stiller, 2001). Chapter Four highlights the conspiracy genre's continuing evolution by juxtaposing the narrative form of the nineties with the documentary films of that era and by elaborating the narrative, iconographic and syntactical changes which occur from this fusion of "fictional" and "nonfictional" elements. Michael Moore's oeuvre - Roger and Me (1989) to Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) - provides template for this movement. Finally, Chapter Five considers the eruption of seemingly political films in the post-9/11 era by synthesizing all this material - postmodern and genre theory, historical overviews, textual analysis of films in addition to industrial overviews of the Hollywood system - and by considering the political films that emerged in this highly turbulent time. Here, I measure the cycle's contemporary trajectory beginning with Jonathan Demme's The Manchurian Candidate (2004), through to Syriana (Fernando Mereilles, 2005) to the genre's mainstream influence in films such as Shooter (Antoine Fuqua, 2007) and The Transformers (Michael Bay, 2007).
Open, Programmable, and Virtualized 5G Networks: State-of-the-Art and the Road Ahead
Creators: name: Bonati, Leonardo
name: Polese, Michele
name: D'Oro, Salvatore
name: Basagni, Stefano
name: Melodia, Tommaso
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Networking and Internet Architecture (cs.NI)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Fifth generation (5G) cellular networks will serve a wide variety of heterogeneous use cases, including mobile broadband users, ultra-low latency services and massively dense connectivity scenarios. The resulting diverse communication requirements will demand networking with unprecedented flexibility, not currently provided by the monolithic black-box approach of 4G cellular networks. The research community and an increasing number of standardization bodies and industry coalitions have recognized softwarization, virtualization, and disaggregation of networking functionalities as the key enablers of the needed shift to flexibility. Particularly, software-defined cellular networks are heralded as the prime technology to satisfy the new application-driven traffic requirements and to support the highly time-varying topology and interference dynamics, because of their openness through well-defined interfaces, and programmability, for swift and responsive network optimization. Leading the technological innovation in this direction, several 5G software-based projects and alliances have embraced the open source approach, making new libraries and frameworks available to the wireless community. This race to open source softwarization, however, has led to a deluge of solutions whose interoperability and interactions are often unclear. This article provides the first cohesive and exhaustive compendium of recent open source software and frameworks for 5G cellular networks, with a full stack and end-to-end perspective. We detail their capabilities and functionalities focusing on how their constituting elements fit the 5G ecosystem, and unravel the interactions among the surveyed solutions. Finally, we review hardware and testbeds on which these frameworks can run, and discuss the limitations of the state-of-the-art, as well as feasible directions toward fully open source, programmable 5G networks.
Propellers of Agricultural Productivity in India
Creators: name: Rada, Nicholas E.
name: Schimmelpfennig, David E.
name: Rada, Nicholas E.
name: Schimmelpfennig, David E.
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Crop Production/Industries
subject: International Development
subject: Productivity Analysis
subject: Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies
subject: National agricultural research
subject: returns to research
subject: total factor productivity (TFP)
subject: CGIAR
subject: international agricultural research
subject: India
subject: irrigation
subject: education

description: India’s decelerating wheat- and rice-yield growth rates have led to questions of whether India’s agricultural sector will be able to meet future food demands. To explore this issue, ERS researchers measure sector-level agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) growth and evaluate how public policies affected TFP from 1980 to 2008. During this period, substantial regional differences in TFP growth emerged: the Indian West and South achieved faster TFP growth than the rest of the country, largely due to rapid growth in horticulture and animal products. Of the policies hypothesized to stimulate TFP, India’s public agricultural research and higher education programs had the greatest effect on TFP growth, followed by public investments in irrigation infrastructure. These effects propelled TFP in Northern and Western India more than in the rest of the country. Groundwater irrigation from wells accelerated TFP more than surface-water irrigation from canals. Other drivers of TFP growth included research investments of international institutions and an emerging private sector. Public investment in rural education has had mixed effects, depending on education levels. These findings support an optimistic view that Indian agriculture will be able to meet the broadening spectrum of future food demands. Critical to that optimism, though, is continued innovation from public and private research systems, especially in seed development, and from irrigation and high-value-commodity production technologies.
Occurrence, Sources and Exposure Risk of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Street Dusts from the Nigerian Megacity, Lagos
Creators: name: Iwegbue, Chukwujindu M. A.
name: Ehigbor, Monday J.
name: Tesi, Godswill O.
name: Eguavoen, Osayanmo I.
name: Martincigh, Bice S.
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Space Science
subject: Medicine
subject: Biotechnology
subject: 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
subject: 39999 Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Hematology

description: This study presents the results for the determination of the concentrations and distribution patterns of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urban street dusts from the Nigerian megacity, Lagos, in order to provide information on their sources, and the potential environmental and human health risks arising from exposure to PAH contaminated dust. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used for the quantification of the levels of PAHs in the dust samples after they were extracted with n-hexane/dichloromethane by ultrasonication. The PAH concentrations in the urban street dusts ranged from 545 to 10785 μg kg−1, 289 to 17943 μg kg−1 and 616 to 13174 μg kg−1 for industrial, commercial, and residential areas, respectively. The risk quotient (RQ) values indicated a moderate to high ecosystem risk for organisms in contact with PAHs in dust from these functional areas. The BaPTEQ and BaPMEQ values indicated potential carcinogenic and mutagenic risks to residents of the megacity. The hazard index (HI) values signify that there is a substantial non-carcinogenic risk relating to exposure of children to PAHs in dusts from the commercial areas, while the lifetime cancer risk factors indicate a considerable cancer risk for human exposure to PAHs via oral ingestion and dermal contact with the dust particles. The source diagnosis, determined from PAH isomeric ratios and multivariate analysis, showed that PAHs in the urban street dust originated from vehicular traffic emissions, burning of biomass, volatilization of petroleum products, and domestic cooking gas.
Hidden symmetries for transparent de Sitter space
Creators: name: Compton, Garrett
name: Morrison, Ian A.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: It is known that odd-dimensional de Sitter space acts as a transparent potential for free fields. Previous studies have explained this phenomena by relating de Sitter free field equations of motion to the time-independent Schrodinger equation with known transparent potentials. In this work we show that de Sitter's transparency is a consequence of an infinite set of "hidden" symmetries. These symmetries arise from an accidental symmetry for the zero-mode of matter fields, as well as the boost isometry of de Sitter space. For simplicity, we consider the case of massive Klein-Gordon theory. We show that the Noether charges associated with these hidden symmetries distinguish the two linearly-independent solutions of the free field wave equation in the asymptotic past and future of de Sitter. Conservation of these charges requires that the asymptotic behavior of any solution be identical, up to a constant phase, in the future and the past, which is the property of transparency. In the quantized theory, these charges act trivially on particle states belonging to the in/out vacuum Fock space. For particle states constructed from other vacua, the action of the charges generates particles. We comment on how these hidden symmetries may be present in interacting theories.
description: 17 pp
Household Food Security in the United States in 2014
Creators: name: Coleman-Jensen, Alisha
name: Rabbitt, Matthew P.
name: Gregory, Christian
name: Singh, Anita
name: Coleman-Jensen, Alisha
name: Rabbitt, Matthew P.
name: Gregory, Christian
name: Singh, Anita
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Food Security and Poverty
subject: Public Economics
subject: Food security
subject: food insecurity
subject: food spending
subject: food pantry
subject: soup kitchen
subject: emergency kitchen
subject: material well-being
subject: material hardship
subject: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
subject: SNAP
subject: Food Stamp Program
subject: National School Lunch Program
subject: Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children
subject: WIC

description: An estimated 86.0 percent of American households were food secure throughout the entire year in 2014, meaning that they had access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members. The remaining households (14.0 percent) were food insecure at least some time during the year, including 5.6 percent with very low food security, meaning that the food intake of one or more household members was reduced and their eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because the household lacked money and other resources for food. The change in food insecurity overall from the prior year (from 14.3 percent in 2013) was not statistically significant. The cumulative decline in food insecurity from 2011 (14.9 percent) to 2014 (14.0 percent) was statistically significant. The prevalence rate of very low food security was essentially unchanged from 5.6 percent in 2013 and 5.7 percent in 2011 and 2012. Children and adults were food inse - cure in 9.4 percent of households with children in 2014, essentially unchanged from 9.9 percent in 2013 and 10.0 percent in 2011 and 2012. In 2014, the typical food-secure house - hold spent 26 percent more on food than the typical food-insecure household of the same size and household composition. Sixty-one percent of all food-insecure households partic - ipated in one or more of the three largest Federal food and nutrition assistance programs during the month prior to the 2014 survey.
Didymodon umbrosus, een nieuwe mossoort voor België
Creators: name: De Beer, Dirk
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024

description: Didymodon umbrosus, a new moss for Belgium. Didymodon umbrosus was found for the first time in Belgium in October 2021 on an artificial ruin at the castle of Beervelde, then also on dolomite in Kallo in November 2023. The morphological differences with the closely related D. australasiae and the ecology of both species are discussed.
Interactions of High Energy Cosmic Rays with Extragalactic Infrared Radiation Background
Creators: name: Bugaev, E. V.
name: Klimai, P. A.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2005
Subjects: subject: Astrophysics (astro-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We consider the modification of extragalactic cosmic ray spectrum caused by cosmic ray interactions with infrared background photons which are present in the extragalactic space together with relic photons. It is assumed that cosmic ray spectrum at superhigh energies has extragalactic origin and is proton dominated.
description: Talk given at the NANP'05 conference, June 2005. 5 pages, one eps figure
Biophysical Investigation and Antitumor Potential of Heterocyclic Palladium-Based Agent: Cytotoxicity, Spectroscopic and Molecular Docking Approaches in Interaction with Human Serum Albumin
Creators: name: Saeidifar, Maryam
name: Sabbaghzadeh, Reihaneh
name: Nasab, Navid Ahmadi
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Biophysics
subject: Biochemistry
subject: 29999 Physical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
subject: 39999 Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Cancer

description: With the aim of cancer treatment, interaction between 1-hexyldithiocarbamato 1,10-phenanthrolinepalladium(II) nitrate complex ([Pd(Hex-Dtc)(Phen)]NO3, Pd-HDP), as a potential antitumor candidate and human serum albumin (HSA), was investigated at four temperatures under physiological conditions. The cell viability of Pd-HDP on normal cell lines, HFFF2 and cancer cell lines, HeLa, and G-292 were also tested. Changes in fluorescence intensity, 3D-fluorescence, synchronous fluorescence, absorption, and circular dichroism spectra of HSA were due to binding with Pd-HDP. The quenching mechanism was suggested as a combination of dynamic and static. The binding constant (K × 104) and the number of binding sites (n ≈ 1) were also determined. Thermodynamic parameters proved that the interaction process was spontaneous (ΔG H S
Genetic confirmation for the presence of the rare moss Atrichum angustatum (Brid.) Bruch & Schimp. in Belgium
Creators: name: D'hondt, Bram
name: Meganck, Kenny
name: Van Acker, Kasper
name: De Beer, Dirk
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024

description: Atrichum angustatum (Polytrichaceae) had not been recorded in Belgium for more than a century, until it was rediscovered in 2014. In this article, we disclose the coordinates of that find, and add two new observations from the same area (Zedelgem-Oostkamp). We also report on a validation of the species’ identity by means of DNA barcoding. This genetic test clearly confirmed the latest sample as A. angustatum. Given the extremely scarce observations, and taking into account the inherent risks associated with its dioecious life-history, the current status as a red-listed species remains justified.
Hierarchical Neutrino Mass Matrices, CP violation and Leptogenesis
Creators: name: Velasco-Sevilla, L.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2003
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: In this work we study examples of hierarchical neutrino mass matrices inspired by family symmetries, compatible with experiments on neutrino oscillations, and for which there is a connection among the low energy CP violation phase associated to neutrino oscillations, the phases appearing in the amplitude of neutrinoless double beta decay, and the phases relevant for leptogenesis. In particular, we determine the predictions from a texture based on an underlying SU(3) family symmetry together with a GUT symmetry, and a strong hierarchy for the masses of the heavy right handed Majorana masses. We also give some examples of inverted hierarchies of neutrino masses, which may be motivated in the context of U(1) family symmetries.
description: 34 pages. Replaced with published version -typos, corrections and references added
title: Functional elements of the promoter, leader and intergenic spacer regions of ribosomal RNA operon(s) of mycobacteria
Creators: name: Ji, Y.
Publisher: name: The Open University
Year: 1993

description: This study was focused on the promoter and non-coding regions of the ribosomal RNA (rrn) operon(s) of mycobacteria; namely, the leader and the intergenic spacer regions. Two clones containing the promoter sequences of M .leprae and M. tuberculosis rrn operon were sequenced, their promoter elements were identified by primer extension experiments and by comparison with E.coli consensus promoter sequences. Their function was tested in E.coli and M. smegmatis. The sequences of the leader and intergenic spacer regions from eight and six species respectively were established after amplification by means of peR. Both leader and spacer regions contain antitermination elements and RNaseIII processing sites. The sequences established for these two regions also showed greater variability than the 168 rRNA gene and are suitable for phylogenetic studies. The sequences of the two rrn operons of M.smegmatis upstream from the 168 rRNA gene were cloned and sequenced. Their sequences showed that rrnI has a Box B element which is typical of slow-growers and that rrnII does not. Primer extension studies revealed that the rrn operon of slow-growers has a single promoter. In contrast multiple promoters were identified in the faster-growing M.smegmatis. Distinctive features, which are absent from slow-growers, were identified in the intergenic spacer regions of M. smegmatis.
Isotope Dating of the Potash and Rock Salt Deposit at Bamnet Narong, NE-Thailand
Creators: name: Hansen, Bent T.
name: Wemmer, Klaus
name: Eckhardt, Monique
name: Putthapiban, Prinya
name: Assavapatchara, San
Publisher: name: FID GEO
Year: 2016

description: Bamnet Narong is located in northeastern Thailand (Chaiyaphum Province). It is the largest salt mine in the country and has been mined for decades. The landscape in this part of Thailand is characterised by a low plateau, which is called the Khorat Plateau. The plateau is divided into two basins by the Phu Phan Range, the Sakhon Nakhon Basin in the north and the Khorat Basin in the south. The analysed potashes and rock salts are deposited in the Maha Sarakham Formation, which represents the salt-bearing strata of the Khorat Basin. The stratigraphic age of this deposit has been debated since the late 1960’s. The assigned ages range from Mid-Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous and up to the Eocene. In this study different isotopic dating systems (Rb-Sr, Sr-Sr, K-Ar and K-Ca) were applied. The stratigraphic age for the time of deposition was confirmed to be Mid Cretaceous (Cenomanian). Furthermore, the homogeneity of the carnallites was investigated in order to trace a possible redistribution of rubidium.
description: Open-Access-Publikationsfonds 2016
An Expedient Four Component Synthesis of Substituted Pyrido-Pyrimidine Heterocycles in Glycerol:Proline Based Low Transition Temperature Mixture and Their Antioxidant Activity with Molecular Docking Studies
Creators: name: Mohire, Priyanka P.
name: Chandam, Dattatray R.
name: Patravale, Ajinkya A.
name: Choudhari, Prafulla
name: Karande, Vishram
name: Ghosh, Jai. S.
name: Deshmukh, Madhukar B.
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: 39999 Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Biological sciences

description: The present work describes an efficient and environmentally benign four component synthesis of structurally diverse substituted pyrido-pyrimidines involving the reaction of barbituric acid, 4-hydroxy 6-methyl 2-pyrone, an aromatic aldehyde and ammonium acetate in low transition temperature mixture (LTTM) (glycerol:proline: 1:1). The LTTM serves as green solvent which is an inexpensive, nontoxic and plays a dual function (reusable catalyst and solvent), and is found to be an excellent reaction endorsing medium. The present protocol offers some advantages such as easy work up, shorter reaction time, an excellent yield with higher atom economy, maximum reaction efficiency with an excellent green chemistry metrics. The synthesized compounds have been evaluated for their antioxidant activity using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay as well as molecular docking studies performed on myeloperoxidase enzyme. Tested scaffolds exhibits an excellent results of virtual screening and antioxidant activity.
How Much Does It Matter How Sick You Get? Consumers' Responses to Foodborne Disease Outbreaks of Different Severities
Creators: name: Kuchler, Fred
name: Kuchler, Fred
Publisher: name: Unknown
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety
subject: Risk and Uncertainty
subject: comparative risks
subject: demand
subject: Salmonella
subject: Listeria

description: Federal health and safety officials warned consumers away from cantaloupes in 2011 and again in 2012. The warnings occurred under similar market conditions but were for contamination by two different foodborne microorganisms that posed entirely different health risks. This unhappy natural experiment allows us to investigate whether consumers make food choices that account for the severity of pathogens and the associated health risks. A retail demand system for U.S. melons is estimated to account for ordinary price- and income-induced changes in demand. Remaining changes are attributed to warnings. After consumers were informed about the risk with the higher fatality rate, the demand for cantaloupes fell and consumers substituted other melons. No such shifts in demand were evident under the lower fatality risk, despite more illnesses attributed to it.
Underestimation Bias and Underfitting in Machine Learning
Creators: name: Cunningham, Padraig
name: Delany, Sarah Jane
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Machine Learning (cs.LG)
subject: Machine Learning (stat.ML)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Often, what is termed algorithmic bias in machine learning will be due to historic bias in the training data. But sometimes the bias may be introduced (or at least exacerbated) by the algorithm itself. The ways in which algorithms can actually accentuate bias has not received a lot of attention with researchers focusing directly on methods to eliminate bias - no matter the source. In this paper we report on initial research to understand the factors that contribute to bias in classification algorithms. We believe this is important because underestimation bias is inextricably tied to regularization, i.e. measures to address overfitting can accentuate bias.
description: 12 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables
Conformally invariant powers of the Laplacian -- A complete non-existence theorem
Creators: name: Gover, A. Rod
name: Hirachi, Kengo
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2003
Subjects: subject: Differential Geometry (math.DG)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 53A30 (Primary); 53A55, 35Q99(Secondary)

description: We show that on conformal manifolds of even dimension $n\geq 4$ there is no conformally invariant natural differential operator between density bundles with leading part a power of the Laplacian $Δ^{k}$ for $k>n/2$. This shows that a large class of invariant operators on conformally flat manifolds do not generalise to arbitrarily curved manifolds and that the theorem of Graham, Jenne, Mason and Sparling, asserting the existence of curved version of $Δ^k$ for $1\le k\le n/2$, is sharp.
description: 18 pages; Minor changes and typographical corrections throughout article; To appear in Jour. Amer. Math. Soc
A Control Barrier Perspective on Episodic Learning via Projection-to-State Safety
Creators: name: Taylor, Andrew J.
name: Singletary, Andrew
name: Yue, Yisong
name: Ames, Aaron D.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Systems and Control (eess.SY)
subject: FOS: Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering

description: In this paper we seek to quantify the ability of learning to improve safety guarantees endowed by Control Barrier Functions (CBFs). In particular, we investigate how model uncertainty in the time derivative of a CBF can be reduced via learning, and how this leads to stronger statements on the safe behavior of a system. To this end, we build upon the idea of Input-to-State Safety (ISSf) to define Projection-to-State Safety (PSSf), which characterizes degradation in safety in terms of a projected disturbance. This enables the direct quantification of both how learning can improve safety guarantees, and how bounds on learning error translate to bounds on degradation in safety. We demonstrate that a practical episodic learning approach can use PSSf to reduce uncertainty and improve safety guarantees in simulation and experimentally.
description: 6 pages, 2 figures, submitted to L-CSS + CDC 2020