cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
When to sample: flow variation mediates low-head dam effects on fish assemblages
Creators: name: Hastings, Ryan P.
name: Meiners, Scott J.
name: Colombo, Robert E.
name: Thomas, Trent
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Physiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Evolutionary Biology
subject: 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
subject: Ecology
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Inorganic Chemistry
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences

description: Low-head dams are a primary source of anthropogenic disturbance to river systems. They have the ability to change rivers from lotic to lentic habitats, affect sediment transportation, connectivity, water quality, linkages with wetlands and the quality of in-stream and riparian habitats. These changes can effect fish community structures and have the potential to alter the success of organisms in the system. However, there is no standard sampling protocol to assess dam impacts under varying flow regimes. The Vermilion River and its tributary, the North Fork Vermilion, are both impacted by low-head dams creating lentic habitats within each system. In October 2012 and May 2013, fish assemblages were sampled using direct current (DC) electrofishing at a total of 12 sites. Community composition at base flow responded strongly to both dams and differed between the two drainages. In sharp contrast, there was no effect of dams or differences between rivers during high flow. To adequately assess dam impacts on fish assemblages, we recommend sampling after base flow has been established. Sampling at high flow will reflect the homogenization of habitats and fish assemblages.
title: A seat at the table: Exploring treaty First Nation representation in a regional district
Creators: name: Garnett, Alison
Publisher: name: Electronic version published by Vancouver Island University
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Local government--British Columbia--Vancouver Island
subject: Indigenous peoples--Government relations
subject: Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District
subject: Maa-nulth First Nations
subject: Toquaht Nation
subject: Huu-ay-aht First Nations
subject: Uchucklesaht Tribe
subject: Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ Government

description: In 2011, the Maa-nulth First Nations Final Agreement became the first modern treaty on Vancouver Island, British Columbia (BC). As part of the treaty agreement, the Maa-nulth First Nations—which include Toquaht Nation, Huu-ay-aht First Nations, Uchucklesaht Tribe and Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ Government—agreed to join the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District (ACRD), thus creating a co-governance relationship unparalleled in BC. This research explores the potential for regional districts as a form of co-governance between local governments and First Nations with modern treaty. Guided by Indigenous Research Methodologies (IRM), three of the Maa-nulth First Nations representatives were interviewed in this research project to understand the transition to ACRD membership and dis/advantages of regional district participation. The research found that the co-governance relationship on the ACRD Board since the Maa-nulth First Nations joined has positively impacted regional governance and found overall that regional districts are a viable form of co-governance for Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.
ESGE DISCLOSURE AND FINANCIAL DISTRESS OF LISTED NON-FINANCE FIRMS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Creators: name: Okoye, Henry Onyebuchi
name: Prof. Tochukwu, G. Orji-Okafor
Publisher: name: ZAP journals
Year: 2024
Subjects: Environment
Social
Governance
Economy
Sub-saharan Africa

description: This study investigated the effect of ESGE reporting on financial distress of listed non-financial firms in Sub-Saharan Africa from (2012-2021). Four research questions and four corresponding hypotheses were developed for the study. An ex-post facto research design was employed. The population of the study included all non-financial firms listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and Nairobi Stock Exchange as of December 31, 2022. The study employed a simple filtering technique to select the sample because firms were included in the sample on certain selection criteria. The final sample size consists of 76 non-finance firms in Nigeria, 149 non-finance firms in South Africa, and 24 non-finance firms in Kenya. Thus, the sample size of this study was 282 listed non-finance firms in Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya. The study relied on secondary sources of data obtained from annual reports of sampled companies as provided by individual companies and the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) website. Amongst other preliminary analyses and tests, fixed effect regression analysis was performed to validate the hypotheses. The study found that environmental reporting has a significant positive effect on the financial distress of listed non-finance firms in Sub-Saharan Africa when measured in terms of the Altman Z-score during the period under review.  The study also found social reporting to have a significant negative effect on the financial distress of listed non-finance firms in Sub-Saharan Africa when measured in terms of Altman Z-score during the period under review. Governance and economic reporting have an insignificant negative effect on the financial distress of listed non-finance firms in Sub-Saharan Africa when measured in terms of Altman Z-score during the period under review. Consequent to the findings emanating from the analysis, the study therefore recommended, among others, that insufficient disclosure of green environmental issues be addressed by environmental regulatory bodies working in tandem with governments to establish a green information disclosure standard
SparsePoser: Real-time Full-body Motion Reconstruction from Sparse Data
Creators: name: Ponton, Jose Luis
name: Yun, Haoran
name: Aristidou, Andreas
name: Andujar, Carlos
name: Pelechano, Nuria
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Graphics (cs.GR)
subject: Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Accurate and reliable human motion reconstruction is crucial for creating natural interactions of full-body avatars in Virtual Reality (VR) and entertainment applications. As the Metaverse and social applications gain popularity, users are seeking cost-effective solutions to create full-body animations that are comparable in quality to those produced by commercial motion capture systems. In order to provide affordable solutions, though, it is important to minimize the number of sensors attached to the subject's body. Unfortunately, reconstructing the full-body pose from sparse data is a heavily under-determined problem. Some studies that use IMU sensors face challenges in reconstructing the pose due to positional drift and ambiguity of the poses. In recent years, some mainstream VR systems have released 6-degree-of-freedom (6-DoF) tracking devices providing positional and rotational information. Nevertheless, most solutions for reconstructing full-body poses rely on traditional inverse kinematics (IK) solutions, which often produce non-continuous and unnatural poses. In this article, we introduce SparsePoser, a novel deep learning-based solution for reconstructing a full-body pose from a reduced set of six tracking devices. Our system incorporates a convolutional-based autoencoder that synthesizes high-quality continuous human poses by learning the human motion manifold from motion capture data. Then, we employ a learned IK component, made of multiple lightweight feed-forward neural networks, to adjust the hands and feet toward the corresponding trackers. We extensively evaluate our method on publicly available motion capture datasets and with real-time live demos. We show that our method outperforms state-of-the-art techniques using IMU sensors or 6-DoF tracking devices, and can be used for users with different body dimensions and proportions.
description: Published in ACM TOG https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3625264 and presented in SIGGRAPH ASIA 2023
Orally administered zingerone does not mitigate alcohol-induced hepatic oxidative stress in growing Sprague Dawley rat pups
Creators: name: Asiedu, Bernice
name: Nyakudya, Trevor
name: Chivandi, Eliton
name: Lembede, Busisani Wiseman
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: 111103 Nutritional Physiology
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: 111504 Pharmaceutical Sciences
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: 110107 Metabolic Medicine
subject: 110104 Medical Biochemistry: Lipids
subject: 110306 Endocrinology
subject: 111601 Cell Physiology
subject: FOS: Basic medicine
subject: 111501 Basic Pharmacology

description: Comparative analysis between nutritive milk and water in male and females rat pups.
 All protocols and experimental procedures were approved by the Animal Research Ethics Committee of the University of Witwatersrand (Ethical clearance number: 2019/10/57/B). The study complied with accepted laboratory animal use and care principles stipulated in the South African National Standard (SANS 10386:2008) and the Animals Protection Act, 1962: Act No. 71. The study was undertaken at the Wits Research Animal Facility (WRAF)
Glyptothorax vatandousti Jouladeh-Roudbar, Ghanavi & Freyhof 2023
Creators: name: Sayyadzadeh, Golnaz
name: Esmaeili, Hamid Reza
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Siluriformes
Sisoridae
Glyptothorax
Glyptothorax vatandousti

description: 217. Glyptothorax vatandousti Jouladeh-Roudbar, Ghanavi & Freyhof, 2023
Common name. Catfish
Taxonomy. Original description: Glyptothorax vatandousti Jouladeh-Roudbar, Ghanavi & Freyhof, 2023: 37, figs. 4-7 [Kangavar stream at Kangavar Kohne, Kermanshah prov., 34.34849, 47.98972, Iran: holotype: BIAUBM 1-H, 1].
Revisions. None.
Illustrations. Jouladeh-Roudbar et al. (2023: 37, figs. 4-7).
Distribution in Iran. —Distribution in River Basin: Tigris.—Distribution in Ecoregions: 442-Upper Tigris & Euphrates.
Status in Iran. [Endemic].—Gorbemahi-e Vatandoust.—Recorded from Iran in the original description by Jouladeh-Roudbar et al. (2023).—Iran material: BIAUBM.
Conservation. —IUCN: NE.
description: Published as part of Sayyadzadeh, Golnaz & Esmaeili, Hamid Reza, 2024, Freshwater lamprey and fishes of Iran: Reappraisal and updated checklist with a note on Eagderi et al. (2022), pp. 1-99 in Zootaxa 5402 (1) on page 69, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5402.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10524097
NODES_INNDIANA_Z87_Characterisation of MRI Contrast Agents Using Multinuclear NMR Relaxometry
Creators: name: Wenzhou Institute of Technology Testing & Calibration
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Spoke 5 - Industry for Health and Silver Economy
INNDIANA Project
Eco healthcare
ECS00000036

description: Molecular probes in MRI bave potential for early diagnosis, assesment of disease progression and prediction/evaluation of the effetiveness of therapy. NMR relaxometry (1H and 17O), has proven to be a fundamental technique to determine the molecular parameters responsible for the relaxation enhancement caused by the contrast agents (CA). The goal is the understanding of the chemical properties of metal-based MRI CAs (Gd(III), Mn(II), Fe(III) chelates) and the dependence of their effectiveness (relaxivity) from the molecular Parameters. These include: i) the factors that control the rate of exchange of bound water molecules; ii) the nature and role of different isomers in aqueous solution, and the occurence of hydration equilibria, iii) the dominant role of the rotational dynamics to relaxivity, hence the different strategies to slow down and fine tune the molecular motion: iv) the role of the second sphere of hydration.
Chemical and electrochemical study of the inhibition of calcium carbonate precipitation using citric acid and sodium citrate
Creators: name: Karar, Amina
name: Naamoune, Farid
name: Abdelkrim Kahoul
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Physiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Pharmacology
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: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: 110309 Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences

description: This work investigated the inhibitive effect of citric acid (CA), sodium citrate (SC), and their mixture (CA–SC) on the CaCO3 scale. The study was carried out using chronoamperometry, impedancemetry, and fast-controlled precipitation methods. The electrochemical study showed that CA provides a slight inhibition of CaCO3 deposit at a concentration of 70 ppm on stainless steel surface. The use of SC alone inhibits very little the formation of scale. The use of the mixture (50% of CA and 50% of SC) with small concentration led to significant inhibition of the CaCO3 formation. The deposits formed were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD showed that the intensity of the preferential orientation (1 0 4) corresponding to crystallographic plans of calcite decreases and the SEM demonstrated a decrease in calcite crystal size from 10 to about 2 μm.
Reinforced Model Predictive Control via Trust-Region Quasi-Newton Policy Optimization
Creators: name: Brandner, Dean
name: Lucia, Sergio
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Machine Learning (cs.LG)
subject: Systems and Control (eess.SY)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: FOS: Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering

description: Model predictive control can optimally deal with nonlinear systems under consideration of constraints. The control performance depends on the model accuracy and the prediction horizon. Recent advances propose to use reinforcement learning applied to a parameterized model predictive controller to recover the optimal control performance even if an imperfect model or short prediction horizons are used. However, common reinforcement learning algorithms rely on first order updates, which only have a linear convergence rate and hence need an excessive amount of dynamic data. Higher order updates are typically intractable if the policy is approximated with neural networks due to the large number of parameters.
 In this work, we use a parameterized model predictive controller as policy, and leverage the small amount of necessary parameters to propose a trust-region constrained Quasi-Newton training algorithm for policy optimization with a superlinear convergence rate. We show that the required second order derivative information can be calculated by the solution of a linear system of equations. A simulation study illustrates that the proposed training algorithm outperforms other algorithms in terms of data efficiency and accuracy.
description: European Control Conference (ECC) 2024, Code: https://github.com/DeanBrandner/ECC24_TR_improved_QN_PO_for_MPC_in_RL
Increased cortisol levels in hair of recent Ecstasy/MDMA users
Creators: name: Parrott, A. C.
name: Sands, H. R.
name: Jones, L.
name: Clow, A.
name: Evans, P.
name: Downey, Luke
name: Stalder, T.
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 520201
subject: Behavioural genetics
classificationCode: 520202
subject: Behavioural neuroscience
classificationCode: 520203
subject: Cognitive neuroscience
classificationCode: 520205
subject: Psychopharmacology
classificationCode: 520206
subject: Psychophysiology
classificationCode: 520207
subject: Social and affective neuroscience
classificationCode: 520301
subject: Clinical neuropsychology
classificationCode: 520401
subject: Cognition
classificationCode: 520403
subject: Learning, motivation and emotion

description: Previous research has revealed an acute 8-fold increase in salivary cortisol following self-administrated Ecstasy/MDMA in dance clubbers. It is currently not known to what extent repeated usage impacts upon activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis over a more prolonged period of time. This study investigated the integrated cortisol levels in 3-month hair samples from recent Ecstasy/MDMA users and non-user controls. One hundred and one unpaid participants (53 males, 48 females; mean age 21.75 years) completed the University of East London recreational drug use questionnaire, modified to cover the past 3-months of usage. They comprised 32 light recent Ecstasy/MDMA users (1-4 times in last 3 months), 23 recent heavy MDMA users (+5 times in last 3 months), and 54 non-user controls. Volunteers provided 3 cm hair samples for cortisol analysis. Hair cortisol levels were observed to be significantly higher in recent heavy MDMA users (mean= 55.0 +/- 80.1 pg/mg), compared to recent light MDMA users (19.4 +/- 16.0 pg/mg; p=0.015), and to non-users (13.8 +/- 6.1 pg/mg; p<0.001). Hence the regular use of Ecstasy/MDMA was associated with almost 4-fold raised hair cortisol levels, in comparison with non-user controls. The present results are consistent with the bio-energetic stress model for Ecstasy/MDMA, which predicts that repeated stimulant drug use may increase cortisol production acutely, and result in greater deposits of the hormone in hair. These data may also help explain the neurocognitive, psychiatric, and other psychobiological problems of some abstinent users. Future study design and directions for research concerning the psychoneuroendocrinological impact of MDMA are also discussed.
title: Consultation on the Issuance of Ten ESA Section 10(a)(1)(A) Scientific Research Permits in ...
titleType: AlternativeTitle
title: National Marine Fisheries Service Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7(a)(2) Management Act Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Biological Opinion and Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and EFH Consultation Consultation on the Issuance of Ten ESA Section 10(a)(1)(A) Scientific Research Permits in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho affecting Salmon, Steelhead, Eulachon, and Rockfish in the West Coast Region
Creators: name: United States. National Marine Fisheries Service. West Coast Region
Publisher: name: United States. National Marine Fisheries Service. West Coast Region
Year: 2019

description: WCRO-2019-02441
Toward a more patient-specific model of post-radiotherapy saliva secretion for head and neck cancer patients
Creators: name: Tuomikoski, Laura
name: Kapanen, Mika
name: Collan, Juhani
name: Keyriläinen, Jani
name: Saarilahti, Kauko
name: Loimu, Venla
name: Seppälä, Tiina
name: Tenhunen, Mikko
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Hematology
subject: Science Policy
subject: Biological Sciences
subject: Physiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Medicine

description: Background. Reduction of saliva secretion is a common side effect following radiotherapy (RT) for cancer of the head and neck region. The aim of this study is to predict the post-RT salivary function for individual patients prior to treatment and to recognise possible differences in individual radiosensitivity.Material and methods. A predictive model for post-RT salivary function was validated for 64 head and neck cancer patients. The input parameters for the model were salivary excretion fraction (sEF) measured by 99mTc-pertechnetate scintigraphy, total stimulated salivary flow and mean absorbed dose for the major salivary glands. SEF values after RT relative to the baseline before RT (rEF) were compared among the patients using the distance ΔrEF between single gland rEF and the corresponding expected value at the dose response curve.Results. A significant correlation (R = 0.86, p = 0.018) was found between the modelled and the measured values of stimulated salivary flow six months after RT. The average prediction error for the saliva flow rate was 6 ml/15 min. A linear relationship between ΔrEF for the left and the right parotid glands was observed both six (R = 0.53) and 12 (R = 0.79) months after RT. The average of absolute values of ΔrEF was 0.20 for parotid glands and 0.22 for submandibular glands.Conclusions. The salivary flow model was validated for 64 patients. The results imply, that one explanation for the discrepancies between the predicted and the measured salivary flow rate values and the common variations found in ΔrEF for the parotid glands may be differences in patients’ individual response to radiation. However, quantitative extraction of individual radiosensitivity would require further studies in order to take it into account in predictive models.
Extending Regev's factoring algorithm to compute discrete logarithms
Creators: name: Ekerå, Martin
name: Gärtner, Joel
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Cryptography and Security (cs.CR)
subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Regev recently introduced a quantum factoring algorithm that may be perceived as a $d$-dimensional variation of Shor's factoring algorithm. In this work, we extend Regev's factoring algorithm to an algorithm for computing discrete logarithms in a natural way. Furthermore, we discuss natural extensions of Regev's factoring algorithm to order finding, and to factoring completely via order finding. For all of these algorithms, we discuss various practical implementation considerations, including in particular the robustness of the post-processing.
description: A number of improvements have been made, and further details on the robustness of the post-processing and other practical implementation considerations added
Protein phosphorylation profiling identifies potential mechanisms for direct immunotoxicity
Creators: name: Shao, Jia
name: Stout, Inge
name: Hendriksen, Peter J. M.
name: Loveren, Henk Van
name: Peijnenburg, Ad A. C. M.
name: Volger, Oscar L.
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: 110309 Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: Inorganic Chemistry
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences
subject: Biological Sciences
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: Chemistry
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Molecular Biology
subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Biochemistry

description: Signaling networks are essential elements that are involved in diverse cellular processes. One group of fundamental components in various signaling pathways concerns protein tyrosine kinases (PTK). Various toxicants have been demonstrated to exert their toxicity via modulation of tyrosine kinase activity. The present study aimed to identify common cellular signaling pathways that are involved in chemical-induced direct immunotoxicity. To this end, an antibody array-based profiling approach was applied to assess effects of five immunotoxicants, two immunosuppressive drugs and two non-immunotoxic control chemicals on the phosphorylation of 28 receptor tyrosine kinases and 11 crucial signaling nodes in Jurkat T-cells. The phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 (RPS6) and of kinases Akt, Src and p44/42 were found to be commonly regulated by immunotoxicants and/or immunosuppressive drugs (at least three compounds), with the largest effect observed upon RPS6. Flow cytometry and Western blotting were used to further examine the effect of the model immunotoxicant TBTO on the components of the mTOR-p70S6K-RPS6 pathway. These analyses revealed that both TBTO and the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin inactivate RPS6, but via different mechanisms. Finally, a comparison of the protein phosphorylation data to previously obtained transcriptome data of TBTO-treated Jurkat cells resulted in a good correlation at the pathway level and indicated that TBTO affects ribosome biogenesis and leukocyte migration. The effect of TBTO on the latter process was confirmed using a CXCL12 chemotaxis assay.
A computational study on possible active species in nickel(II)-catalyzed 1-butene dimerization in [BMIM]+[AlCl4]− ionic liquid solution
Creators: name: Nikiforidis, Ioannis
name: Görling, Andreas
name: Hieringer, Wolfgang
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biological Sciences
Chemistry
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Cell Biology
Biochemistry
Biophysics

description: The butene insertion step of nickel complex-catalyzed butene dimerization in the presence of a [BMIM]+[AlCl4]− ionic liquid has been studied using density functional theory. The possibility of anion coordination from the ionic liquid to the catalyst complex has explicitly been taken into account. The calculated relative energies of various possible active catalyst complexes suggest that anion coordination to the nickel center may be thermodynamically favorable. Phosphine-free complexes which are only coordinated by one or two anions are higher in energy and show higher activation barriers for butene insertion. The lowest activation barrier has been found for a mono-phosphine nickel complex. Explanations for the calculated barriers based on structural data are offered.
Gain variations as induced by the diffuse night sky background: the ASTRI-Horn experience
Creators: name: Impiombato, D.
name: Compagnino, A. A.
name: Mineo, T.
name: Catalano, O.
name: Giarrusso, S.
name: Maccarone, M. C.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
subject: High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: ASTRI-Horn is the prototype of the nine telescopes that form the ASTRI Mini-Array, under construction at the Teide Observatory in Tenerife (Spain), devoted to observe the sky in the 1--200 TeV energy band. It adopts an innovative optical design based on a dual-mirror Schwarzschild-Couder configuration, and the camera, composed by a matrix of monolithic multipixel silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) is managed by ad-hoc tailored front-end electronics based on a peak-detector operation mode. During the Crab Nebula campaign in 2018-2019, ASTRI-Horn was affected by gain variations induced by high levels of night sky background. This paper reports the work performed to detect and quantify the effects of these gain variations in shower images. The analysis requested the use of simultaneous observations of the night sky background flux in the wavelength band 300-650 nm performed with the auxiliary instrument UVscope, a calibrated multi-anode photomultiplier working in single counting mode. As results, a maximum gain reduction of 15% was observed, in agreement with the value previously computed from the variance of the night sky background level in each image. This ASTRI-Horn gain reduction was caused by current limitation of the voltage supply. The analysis presented in this paper provides a method to evaluate possible variations in the nominal response of SiPMs when scientific observations are performed in the presence of high night sky background as in moon conditions.
description: 16 pages, 10 figures The current version of this article has been accepted for publication in Journal of Instrumentation, including all changes made as a result of the peer review process, but excluding any other editing, typesetting, or other changes made by IOP Publishing and/or its licensors
Nigerian Companies and the Prohibition on Political Donations A Paradigmatic Shift as a Panacea for Compliance.pdf
Creators: name: Ekpo, Mokutima  Etido
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: 150310 Organisation and Management Theory
subject: FOS: Economics and business
subject: 150311 Organisational Behaviour
subject: 150312 Organisational Planning and Management

description: — Democratic rule is generally acclaimed as a better form of governance, but its operation does not appear to come cheap. This is especially so in Nigeria where new democratic dispensations are heralded by expensive electioneering campaigns. The funds for these campaigns are sourced from willing donors or through subtle coercion. Corporate organizations are easy prey to politicians. This paper is provoked by the frequency and blatancy with which corporate organizations in Nigeria donate to political parties and for political purposes without any sanctions despite the unambiguous prohibition in S.38 (2) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA). This exposes the inability of the provision to halt or reduce this practice to the barest minimum and also reveals the unpopularity of the provision. The paper argued that it is not possible to completely extricate organizations from the political dynamics in their host committees and proffered some mitigating factors which will make the provision more acceptable to the people and more respected. The paper discovered normative reasons why the prohibition in S.38 (2) of CAMA is largely ignored.It therefore recommended wide ranging amendments to the provisions so as to enhance compliance, improve its enforcement strategies, reflect present day realities and align it with international best practices
Optimizing Fictitious States for Bell Inequality Violation in Bipartite Qubit Systems
Creators: name: Cheng, Kun
name: Han, Tao
name: Low, Matthew
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: There is a significant interest in testing quantum entanglement and Bell inequality violation in high-energy experiments. Since the analyses in high-energy experiments are performed with events statistically averaged over phase space, the states used to determine observables depend on the choice of coordinates through an event-dependent basis and are thus not genuine quantum states, but rather "fictitious states." We prove that if Bell inequality violation is observed with a fictitious state, then it implies the same for a quantum sub-state. We further show analytically that the basis which diagonalizes the spin-spin correlations is optimal for constructing fictitious states, and for maximizing the violation of Bell's inequality.
description: v2: 6 pages, 1 figure, updated to journal version
Maximizing Quantitative Traits in the Mating Design Problem via Simulation-Based Pareto Estimation
Creators: name: Hunter, Susan R.
name: McClosky, Benjamin
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Mathematics
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: Information and Computing Sciences
subject: Biological Sciences
subject: Evolutionary Biology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Neuroscience

description: Commercial plant breeders improve economically important traits by selectively mating individuals from a given breeding population. Potential pairings are evaluated before the growing season using Monte Carlo simulation, and a mating design is created to allocate a fixed breeding budget across the parent pairs to achieve desired population outcomes. We introduce a novel objective function for this mating design problem that accurately models the goals of a certain class of breeding experiments. The resulting mating design problem is a computationally burdensome simulation optimization problem on a combinatorially large set of feasible points. We propose a two-step solution to this problem: (i) simulate to estimate the performance of each parent pair, and (ii) solve an estimated version of the mating design problem, which is an integer program, using the simulation output. To reduce the computational burden when implementing steps (i) and (ii), we analytically identify a Pareto set of parent pairs that will receive the entire breeding budget at optimality. Since we wish to estimate the Pareto set in step (i) as input to step (ii), we derive an asymptotically optimal simulation budget allocation to estimate the Pareto set that, in our numerical experiments, out-performs Multi-objective Optimal Computing Budget Allocation (MOCBA) in reducing misclassifications. Given the estimated Pareto set, we provide a branch and bound algorithm to solve the estimated mating design problem. Our approach dramatically reduces the computational effort required to solve the mating design problem when compared to naive methods.
Hall-like behaviour of higher rank Chern-Simons theory of fractons
Creators: name: Bertolini, Erica
name: Blasi, Alberto
name: Maggiore, Nicola
name: Shaikh, Daniel Sacco
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Fracton phases of matter constitute an interesting point of contact between condensed matter and high-energy physics. The limited mobility property of fracton quasiparticles finds applications in many different contexts, including quantum information, spin liquids, elasticity, hydrodynamics, gravity and holography. In this paper we adopt a field theoretical approach to investigate the three dimensional action of a rank-2 symmetric tensor field invariant under the covariant fracton symmetry. The theory appears as a non-topological higher rank generalization of the ordinary Chern-Simons model, depending only on the traceless part of the tensor gauge field. After defining a field strength, a rank-2 traceless ``electric'' field and a ``magnetic'' vector field are identified, in analogy with the standard Chern-Simons ones. Once matter is introduced, a Hall-like behaviour with fractonic features emerges. In particular, our model shows a Hall-like dipole current, together with a vectorial ``flux-attachment'' relation for dipoles. This gives a possible starting point for a fracton - vortex duality. A gauge-fixing term is then introduced, from which propagators are computed and the counting of the degrees of freedom is performed. Finally, the energy-momentum tensor is shown to be conserved and the integrated energy density is proved to be zero, which reminds the topological nature of the standard Chern-Simons model.
description: 31 pages, appendix and references added, version to appear on JHEP
Bayesian Online Natural Gradient (BONG)
Creators: name: Jones, Matt
name: Chang, Peter
name: Murphy, Kevin
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Machine Learning (stat.ML)
subject: Machine Learning (cs.LG)
subject: Computation (stat.CO)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: We propose a novel approach to sequential Bayesian inference based on variational Bayes (VB). The key insight is that, in the online setting, we do not need to add the KL term to regularize to the prior (which comes from the posterior at the previous timestep); instead we can optimize just the expected log-likelihood, performing a single step of natural gradient descent starting at the prior predictive. We prove this method recovers exact Bayesian inference if the model is conjugate. We also show how to compute an efficient deterministic approximation to the VB objective, as well as our simplified objective, when the variational distribution is Gaussian or a sub-family, including the case of a diagonal plus low-rank precision matrix. We show empirically that our method outperforms other online VB methods in the non-conjugate setting, such as online learning for neural networks, especially when controlling for computational costs.
description: Final NeurIPS version, updated in response to reviews. 43 pages, 13 figures
title: BIA, USFWS, NMFS - Development Assistance and Authorization of 2019-20 Puget Sound Salmon Fisheries
titleType: AlternativeTitle
title: Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7(a)(2) Biological Opinion and Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Response Impacts of the Role of the BIA Under its Authority to Assist with the Development of the 2019-2020 Puget Sound Chinook Harvest Plan, Salmon Fishing Activities Authorized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Fisheries Authorized by the U.S. Fraser Panel in 2019
Creators: name: United States. National Marine Fisheries Service. West Coast Region
Publisher: name: United States. National Marine Fisheries Service. West Coast Region
Year: 2019

description: WCRO-2019-00381
Who stays, who walks, and why in high-intensity service contexts
Creators: name: Prentice, Catherine
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: The current investigation explores relationships among customer service-quality evaluations, propensity-to-switch, and player retention in a highly-intense service delivery environment (casinos). The study also examines the proposal that player loyalty intervenes between casino service-quality perceptions and player retention. Overall customer service-quality perception is operationalized as a multi-dimensional construct, consisting of service environment, empathy, reliability, assurance, responsiveness, game service, and food service. Path analyses show that casino service environment is the only factor that impacts player propensity-to-switch, whereas food service and empathy affect player retention. After separating the sample into three groups based on respondents' average betting, namely low-end, medium and high-end players, the influence of casino service factors on player propensity-to-switch and retention varies substantially among the groups. Results for testing the mediation model demonstrate that customer loyalty affects player retention and that casino service evaluations influence customer loyalty directly. A few measured factors such as age, education, occupation, and income influence player propensity-to-switch and retention. These findings have strategic implications for casino marketers.
Quarkonium Polarization in Medium from Open Quantum Systems and Chromomagnetic Correlators
Creators: name: Yang, Di-Lun
name: Yao, Xiaojun
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: Nuclear Theory (nucl-th)
subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We study the spin-dependent in-medium dynamics of quarkonia by using the potential nonrelativistic QCD (pNRQCD) and the open quantum system framework. We consider the pNRQCD Lagrangian valid up to the order $\frac{r}{M^0}=r$ and $\frac{r^0}{M}=\frac{1}{M}$ in the double power counting. By considering the Markovian condition and applying the Wigner transformation upon the diagonal spin components of the quarkonium density matrix with the semiclassical expansion, we systematically derive the Boltzmann transport equation for quarkonia with polarization dependence in the quantum optical limit. Unlike the spin-independent collision terms governed by certain chromoelectric field correlators, new gauge invariant correlators of chromomagnetic fields determine the recombination and dissociation terms with polarization dependence at the order we are working. We also derive a Lindblad equation describing the in-medium transitions between spin-singlet and spin-triplet heavy quark-antiquark pairs in the quantum Brownian motion limit. The Lindblad equation is governed by new transport coefficients defined in terms of the chromomagnetic field correlators. Our formalism is generic and valid for both weakly coupled and strongly coupled quark gluon plasmas. It can be further applied to study spin alignment of vector quarkonia in heavy ion collisions.
description: 38 pages; v2: published version
Silurus glanis Linnaeus 1758
Creators: name: Sayyadzadeh, Golnaz
name: Esmaeili, Hamid Reza
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Siluriformes
Siluridae
Silurus
Silurus glanis

description: 218. Silurus glanis Linnaeus, 1758
Common name. Wels catfish
Taxonomy. Original description: Silurus glanis Linnaeus, 1758: 304 [Orient, less frequently in European lakes; syntypes: BMNH 1853.11.12.168 (1, skin), NRM 59 (1)].
Revisions. Berg (1949: 904).
Illustrations. Berg (1949: 904-905, figs. 656-657).
Distribution in Iran. —Distribution in River Basin: Caspian Sea, Lake Orumiyeh.—Distribution in Ecoregions: 434-Kura-South Caspian Drainages, 450-Turan Plain, 445-Orumiyeh.
Status in Iran. [Native].—Esbele.—Listed in previous checklists from Iran by Esmaeili et al. (2017 a, 2018); Jouladeh-Roudbar et al. (2020) and Eagderi et al. (2022).—Iran material: ZM-CBSU.
Conservation. —IUCN: LC.
description: Published as part of Sayyadzadeh, Golnaz & Esmaeili, Hamid Reza, 2024, Freshwater lamprey and fishes of Iran: Reappraisal and updated checklist with a note on Eagderi et al. (2022), pp. 1-99 in Zootaxa 5402 (1) on page 69, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5402.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10524097
Visual place recognition for aerial imagery: A survey
Creators: name: Moskalenko, Ivan
name: Kornilova, Anastasiia
name: Ferrer, Gonzalo
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (cs.CV)
subject: Robotics (cs.RO)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Aerial imagery and its direct application to visual localization is an essential problem for many Robotics and Computer Vision tasks. While Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are the standard default solution for solving the aerial localization problem, it is subject to a number of limitations, such as, signal instability or solution unreliability that make this option not so desirable. Consequently, visual geolocalization is emerging as a viable alternative. However, adapting Visual Place Recognition (VPR) task to aerial imagery presents significant challenges, including weather variations and repetitive patterns. Current VPR reviews largely neglect the specific context of aerial data. This paper introduces a methodology tailored for evaluating VPR techniques specifically in the domain of aerial imagery, providing a comprehensive assessment of various methods and their performance. However, we not only compare various VPR methods, but also demonstrate the importance of selecting appropriate zoom and overlap levels when constructing map tiles to achieve maximum efficiency of VPR algorithms in the case of aerial imagery. The code is available on our GitHub repository -- https://github.com/prime-slam/aero-vloc.
Autophagy and Spinal Muscular Atrophy: Towards a Pathway-Centric Therapy for a Fatal Childhood Disorder
Creators: name: Hodgson, Michael
Publisher: name: UH Research Archive
Year: 2019
Subjects: Caenorhabditis elegans
Autophagy
Modifier genes
RNA interference
Genetic screen
Neuromuscular behavioural assays
Spinal Muscular Atrophy

description: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a devastating neuromuscular and the primary cause of infant death. SMA is characterised by the loss of motor neurons in the spinal resulting in progressive muscle atrophy, paralysis and respiratory defects leading to early childhood death. SMA is caused by a depletion of the ubiquitously expressed survival motor neuron (SMN) protein that performs a key regulatory function in the assembly of the eukaryotic mRNA splicing machinery and is thus required for the survival of all tissues. The genetic elements responsible for SMA are very well characterised but, after decades of research, it is still unknown why depletion of this ubiquitous specifically affects motor neurons. Numerous studies are now emerging that implicate disruption of autophagy, a highly conserved lysosomal degradative pathway responsible for the bulk removal of cytosolic cargo too large for the proteasome, in the disease pathology of SMA. In the present study, we utilise the powerful genetic tools of a Caenorhabditis elegans SMA model to delineate how disruptions in the autophagic pathway may contribute to SMA pathogenesis. Using an RNA interference genetic screen, we identified three putative modifiers of SMN loss of function neuromuscular defects in the C. elegans SMA model – epg-8, sqst-1 and atg-16.1. In line with pre-existing studies, our results indicate that autophagy is disrupted in SMA, and that this disruption is likely occur during the initial regulatory stages of the pathway. Although further study will be required to identify the precise mechanisms through which this autophagic disruption occurs, these findings show that autophagy has promising potential for novel therapeutic targets.
Function Prime Number Factorization and Source Code Python language file.py
Creators: name: Boatto, Alessandro
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Prime numbers , factorization , python language , Teoria dei numeri , funzione f(x)

description: This Function f(x):
 f(x) = (x2)−(1÷(1−(x−1−x2)÷−2))+1−2+x2 ÷x÷2 What does this mean? It means that for any arbitrary odd number x ÷ 2 always divides with f(x) the result is a prime number, or a composite number of relatively small prime numbers. Important Note : only if the result of the function f(x) is an odd number, the rule is valid.Important Note : only if the result of the function f(x) is an odd number, the rule is valid.
Function Prime Number Factorization and Source Code Python language file.py
Creators: name: Boatto, Alessandro
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Prime numbers , factorization , python language , Teoria dei numeri , funzione f(x)

description: This Function f(x):
 f(x) = (x^2)−(1÷(1−(x−1−x^2)÷−2))+1−2+x^2 ÷x÷2 What does this mean? It means that for any arbitrary odd number x ÷ 2 always divides with f(x) the result is a prime number, or a composite number of relatively small prime numbers. Important Note : only if the result of the function f(x) is an odd number, the rule is valid. Important relationship between this function f (x) and the prime numbers of Mersenne, precisely the exponent of mersenne 2^(factor f(x) )-1
Discovery of copy number variants by multiplex amplifiable probe hybridization (MAPH) in candidate pigmentation genes
Creators: name: Saioa López
name: García, Iker
name: Smith, Isabel
name: Arrate Sevilla
name: Neskuts Izagirre
name: Rúa, Concepción De La
name: Alonso, Santos
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: 111714 Mental Health
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: Science Policy
subject: Biological Sciences
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Earth and Environmental Sciences
subject: Molecular Biology
subject: Genetics

description: Background: Copy Number Variants (CNVs) contribute to a large fraction of genetic diversity and some of them have been reported to offer an evolutionary advantage.Aim: To identify CNVs in pigmentary loci that could contribute to human skin pigmentation diversity.Subjects and methods: This study assessed the existence of CNVs in every exon of candidate genes: TYR, TYRP1, DCT, MC1R and SLC24A5, using the Multiplex Amplifiable Probe Hybridization technique (MAPH). This study analysed a total of 99 DNA samples of unrelated individuals from different populations. Validation and further analysis in a larger Spanish sample were performed by RT-qPCR.Results: Five CNVs were identified by MAPH: DCT exons 4 and 8, TYR exon 1 and SLC24A5 exons 1 and 4. Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) confirmed the CNV in exon 1 of SLC24A5. This study further analysed the 5′ promoter region of SLC24A5 and found another CNV in this region. However, no association was found between the CNV and the degree of pigmentation.Conclusion: Although the functional role of these structural variants in pigmentation should be the subject of future work, the results emphasize the need to consider all classes of variation (both SNPs and CNVs) when exploring the genetics of skin pigmentation.