cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Correlation between the secondary structure of pre-mRNA introns and the efficiency of splicing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Creators: name: Rogic, Sanja
name: Montpetit, Ben
name: Hoos, Holger H.
name: Mackworth, Alan K.
name: Ouellette, B. F. F.
name: Hieter, Philip
Publisher: name: BioMed Central
Year: 2015

description: Background: Secondary structure interactions within introns have been shown to be essential for efficient splicing of several yeast genes. The nature of these base-pairing interactions and their effect on splicing efficiency were most extensively studied in ribosomal protein gene RPS17B (previously known as RP51B). It was determined that complementary pairing between two sequence segments located downstream of the 5' splice site and upstream of the branchpoint sequence promotes efficient splicing of the RPS17B pre-mRNA, presumably by shortening the branchpoint distance. However, no attempts were made to compute a shortened, 'structural' branchpoint distance and thus the functional relationship between this distance and the splicing efficiency remains unknown. Results In this paper we use computational RNA secondary structure prediction to analyze the secondary structure of the RPS17B intron. We show that it is necessary to consider suboptimal structure predictions and to compute the structural branchpoint distances in order to explain previously published splicing efficiency results. Our study reveals that there is a tight correlation between this distance and splicing efficiency levels of intron mutants described in the literature. We experimentally test this correlation on additional RPS17B mutants and intron mutants within two other yeast genes. Conclusion The proposed model of secondary structure requirements for efficient splicing is the first attempt to specify the functional relationship between pre-mRNA secondary structure and splicing. Our findings provide further insights into the role of pre-mRNA secondary structure in gene splicing in yeast and also offer basis for improvement of computational methods for splice site identification and gene-finding.
DeCoach: Deep Learning-based Coaching for Badminton Player Assessment
Creators: name: Ghosh, Indrajeet
name: Ramamurthy, Sreenivasan Ramasamy
name: Chakma, Avijoy
name: Roy, Nirmalya
Publisher: name: Elsevier
Year: 2022
Subjects: Badminton
Assessment
Coaching
Scoring
Error
Deep learning
Racquet sports
UMBC Mobile, Pervasive and Sensor Computing Lab (MPSC Lab)
Sports analytics
Activity recognition

description: Wearable devices have gained immense popularity among various pervasive computing and Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications in the past decade. Sports analytics researchers recently focused on improving a player’s performance to help devise a winning strategy based on the player’s gameplay. Especially in a racquet-based badminton sport, it is assumed that handling the racquet during the gameplay is one of the primary reasons to influence the players’ performance. On the contrary, we posit that the players’ stance, body movements, and posture are equally significant in evaluating a player’s performance during the game. A shot characterized by a recommended posture, stance, and body movements allows a player to play a stroke efficiently, thus aiding the player in guiding the shuttle to strategic spots and making it difficult for the opponent to return the shot and score a point. Relying on this hypothesis, we propose DeCoach, a data-driven framework that leverages the stance and posture of the players and ranks them based on their performances. In this effort, we first employ a deep learning-based algorithm to classify the strokes and stances of the players. Secondly, we propose a distance-based methodology to compare the obtained stance of a player with that of a professional player. Finally, we devise a deep learning-based regressor to predict the player’s performance which commences with ranking based on their performance. We evaluate DeCoach using our in-house dataset, Badminton Activity Recognition (BAR) Dataset that is collected using inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors by placing them on the upper and lower limbs of the players. The BAR dataset is collected from 11 players in the controlled and uncontrolled environment settings for 12 frequently played shots in the game. Empirical results indicate that DeCoach achieves 89.09% accuracy for strokes detection and R² score of 88.84% in estimating the players’ performance.
RhythmEdge: Enabling Contactless Heart Rate Estimation on the Edge
Creators: name: Hasan, Zahid
name: Dey, Emon
name: Ramamurthy, Sreenivasan Ramasamy
name: Roy, Nirmalya
name: Misra, Archan
Publisher: name: IEEE
Year: 2022
Subjects: rPPG
Quantization (signal)
Runtime
Real-time systems
Memory management
Edge Computing
System Prototyping
Prototypes
UMBC Mobile, Pervasive and Sensor Computing Lab (MPSC Lab)
Multitasking
Photoplethysmography

description: 2022 IEEE International Conference on Smart Computing (SMARTCOMP),20-24 June 2022,Helsinki, Finland
description: The primary contribution of this paper is designing and prototyping a real-time edge computing system, RhythmEdge, that is capable of detecting changes in blood volume from facial videos (Remote Photoplethysmography; rPPG), enabling cardio-vascular health assessment instantly. The benefits of RhythmEdge include non-invasive measurement of cardiovascular activity, real-time system operation, inexpensive sensing components, and computing. RhythmEdge captures a short video of the skin using a camera and extracts rPPG features to estimate the Photoplethysmography (PPG) signal using a multi-task learning framework while offloading the edge computation. In addition, we intelligently apply a transfer learning approach to the multi-task learning framework to mitigate sensor heterogeneities to scale the RhythmEdge prototype to work with a range of commercially available sensing and computing devices. Besides, to further adapt the software stack for resource-constrained devices, we postulate novel pruning and quantization techniques (Quantization: FP32, FP16; Pruned-Quantized: FP32, FP16) that efficiently optimize the deep feature learning while minimizing the runtime, latency, memory, and power usage. We benchmark RhythmEdge prototype for three different cameras and edge computing platforms while evaluating it on three publicly available datasets and an in-house dataset collected under challenging environmental circumstances. Our analysis indicates that RhythmEdge performs on par with the existing contactless heart rate monitoring systems while utilizing only half of its available resources. Furthermore, we perform an ablation study with and without pruning and quantization to report the model size (87%) vs. inference time (70%) reduction. We attested the efficacy of RhythmEdge prototype with a maximum power of 8W and a memory usage of 290MB, with a minimal latency of 0.0625 seconds and a runtime of 0.64 seconds per 30 frames.
Social Science Research and Society in Japan and Germany: Impact, Institutions and Perspectives
Creators: name: Eder-Ramsauer, Andreas
name: Gerster, Julia
name: Niggemeier, Jan
Publisher: name: ASIEN: The German Journal on Contemporary Asia
Year: 2021

description: ASIEN: The German Journal on Contemporary Asia, Nr. 149 (2018): ASIEN (Oktober)
Disclosing the Design of an African American Educational Technology: Bridge: A Cross Culture Reading Program
Creators: name: Young, Patricia
Publisher: name: Indiana University
Year: 2014

description: Produced in 1977, Bridge: A Cross Culture Reading Program could have transformed what we presently know as urban education. However, Bridge met with the disapproval of parents, communities, and school districts. The execution of a truly transformative curriculum died as an experimental project implemented in urban school districts. This article documents the transformative nature of Bridge as an educational technology that could have better educated African American youth. Bridge was designed as an intervention reading program that sought to improve the reading levels of black junior and senior high school students in America’s public schools. The program was normed for “inner city” black students in grades 7-12 who were reading between 2nd and 4th grade levels. A text and context analysis and interviews with the designers are offered to provide details surrounding the construction of Bridge: A Cross Culture Reading Program. This is the story of its design, designers, and dormancy.
Democracy, Duplicity and Dimona: The United States of America, Israel and the Globe since 1949
Creators: name: Hogan, Jacob Peter
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: History, Middle Eastern.
subject: History, United States.

description: The thesis examines Western complicity in covertly aiding, concealing and covering up Israel's nuclear weapons program and the implications that process had on the Soviet Union and Egypt during the Cold War. At the circumvention of the democratic process, Dimona's history is defined by shadowy scientism, obsequious journalism, secretive bureaucracies, clandestine corporatism and great power imperialism. In late October 1956 Israel acquired from France an atomic weapons reactor, with construction beginning in the Negev desert at Dimona during late 1957 or early 1958. During the ensuing years Israel received heavy water from Norway and Great Britain and uranium from Gabon, Argentina and South Africa. The atomic project was covertly funded by private Jewish donations from Canada, London, Paris and Wall Street. As early as 1958 factions within the State Department, Atomic Energy Commission and CIA factions were cognizant of Dimona's existence yet the bureaucracy chose to remain silent. When Dimona was unveiled by the media in December 1960, the White House salaciously denied possessing any foreknowledge of the reactor's nature, status or origins. The CIA-controlled and Jewish-dominated U.S. media obsequiously followed the state script by informing the public that Dimona was dedicated towards peaceful ends. During the 1960s the U.S. conducted pre-arranged tours of the facility, provided Israel with uranium and missiles to guard the reactor, covered up Israel's nuclear ambitions following China's first atomic test in October 1964, and refused to pressure Israel to sign the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Even though Dimona was the key catalyst of the conflict, the U.S. also suppressed Israel's nuclear program from emerging as the defining subject of the Six Day War. Armed with intelligence deriving from Israeli sources, in early 1966 the Kremlin began utilizing Cairo as a proxy mouth piece to rhetorically denounce Israel's atomic agenda as Soviet relations with Egypt and the Arabs grew more intimate. In a failed attempt to destroy the reactor, the U.S.S.R. instigated the Six Day War crisis by fabricating false intelligence concerning Israeli troop concentrations and overflying the reactor with its most advanced plane in late May 1967.
Modeling approach for upscaling gross ecosystem production to the landscape scale using remote sensing data
Creators: name: Hilker, Thomas
name: Coops, Nicholas C.
name: Hall, Forrest G.
name: Black, T. Andrew
name: Chen, Baozhang
name: Krishnan, Praveena
name: Wulder, Michael A.
name: Sellers, Piers J.
name: Middleton, Elizabeth M.
name: Huemmrich, Karl F.
Publisher: name: American Geophysical Union
Year: 2011

description: Gross ecosystem production (GEP) can be estimated at the global scale and in a spatially continuous mode using models driven by remote sensing. Multiple studies have demonstrated the capability of high resolution optical remote sensing to accurately measure GEP at the leaf and stand level, but upscaling this relationship using satellite data remains challenging. Canopy structure is one of the complicating factors as it not only alters the strength of a measured signal depending on integrated leaf-angle-distribution and sun-observer geometry, but also drives the photosynthetic output and light-use-efficiency ( ɛ ) of individual leaves. This study introduces a new approach for upscaling multiangular canopy level reflectance measurements to satellite scales which takes account of canopy structure effects by using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). A tower-based spectro-radiometer was used to observe canopy reflectances over an annual period under different look and solar angles. This information was then used to extract sunlit and shaded spectral end-members corresponding to minimum and maximum values of canopy- ɛ over 8-d intervals using a bidirectional reflectance distribution model. Using three-dimensional information of the canopy structure obtained from LiDAR, the canopy light regime and leaf area was modeled over a 12 km2 area and was combined with spectral end-members to derive high resolution maps of GEP. Comparison with eddy covariance data collected at the site shows that the spectrally driven model is able to accurately predict GEP (r 2 between 0.75 and 0.91, p < 0.05). An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright 2008 American Geophysical Union.
Resonance and Periodic Solutions for Harmonic Oscillators with General Forcing
Creators: name: Benson, Isaac
name: Webster, Justin
Publisher: name: Maryland Shared Open Access Repository
Year: 2024
Subjects: 35C25, 34A36, 34C27, 70J35, 35B34
Mathematics - Classical Analysis and ODEs

description: We discuss the notion of resonance, as well as the existence and uniqueness of periodic solutions for a forced simple harmonic oscillator. While this topic is elementary, and well-studied for sinusoidal forcing, this does not seem to be the case when the forcing function is general (perhaps discontinuous). Clear statements of theorems and proofs do not readily appear in standard textbooks or online. For that reason, we provide a characterization of resonant solutions, written in terms of the relationship between the forcing and natural frequencies, as well as a condition on a particular Fourier mode. While our discussions involve some notions from 𝐿²-spaces, our proofs are elementary, using this the variation of parameters formula; the main theorem and its proof should be readable by students who have completed a differential equations course and have some experience with analysis. We provide several examples, and give various constructions of resonant solutions. Additionally, we connect our discussion to notions of resonance in systems of partial differential equations, including fluid-structure interactions and partially damped systems.
The Culture Based Model: A Framework for Designers and Visual ID Languages
Creators: name: Young, Patricia
Publisher: name: IGI Global
Year: 2008

description: Globalizing the field of Instructional Design lies in the building and nurturing of innovative models, frameworks, visual languages, and practices that include culture based considerations. This chapter argues that culture, as a design construct, is integral to educating learners and enhancing the design process. This is supported by a review of theoretical and methodological studies that define culture and an examination of models of culture that are supported by VIDLs. Further, the significance of VIDLs as design tools is offered through the Culture Based Model (CBM) an intercultural instructional design framework that guides designers through the management, design, development and assessment process while taking into account explicit culture based considerations. The chapter provides a description of the origins of CBM, an overview of relevant research, and an outline of the model and its possible applications with VIDLs. This research suggests that VIDLs can serve a broader scope if culture is considered.
Language and the Arts
Creators: name: Pulatova Oliyaxon Zuhdinovna, Sapayeva Sahiba
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024

description: Annotation: Since language is not a natural phenomenon, its place is determined within social phenomena.  However, at this point, we need to understand how it is related to other social phenomena.  At the moment, the following question stands transversely: What are the similarities and differences between language and other social phenomena?  We see the commonality of language with other social phenomena in the fact that society cannot develop without language, it is considered the key to spirituality and culture for society.  Language is fundamentally different from other social phenomena according to the laws of its historical development and its function.  We are fully convinced of this when we compare it with the legal, religious, and political views of society.  This article is about language and art.

 Key words: Culture, Creole languages, Pidgin languages, thought, art.
Platysteira cyanea subsp. aethiopica Neumann 1905
Creators: name: LeCroy, M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2008
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Aves
Passeriformes
Platysteiridae
Platysteira
Platysteira cyanea
Platysteira cyanea aethiopica neumann

description: Platysteira cyanea aethiopica Neumann
 Platysteira cyanea aethiopica Neumann, 1905b: 210 (Banka in Malo).
 Now Platysteira cyanea aethiopica Neumann, 1905. See Urban et al., 1997: 568.
 HOLOTYPE: AMNH 649583, adult male, collected at Bonca (5 Banka), 06.16N, 36.15E (R. Dowsett, personal commun.), Malo, Ethiopia, on 15 February 1901, by Oscar Neumann (no. 807). From the Rothschild Collection.
COMMENTS: In the original description, Neumann listed his specimen number 807, now AMNH 649583, as ‘‘Typus der subspecies’’ and five additional specimens in his type series. The paratypes are: AMNH 649584 (Neumann no. 832), male, Banka, 16 February 1901; AMNH 649585 (808), female, Banka, 15 February 1901 (also listed as ‘‘Cotypus für das weibliche Kleid’’); AMNH 649589 (1138), male, Bako, Binescho, 19 April 1901; AMNH 649590 (1044), juvenile female, Kankati Gibbe, Djemma, 26 March 1901; and AMNH 649591 (1006), female, Anderatscha, 16 March 1901. I did not find AMNH 649589 in the collection.
description: Published as part of LeCroy, M., 2008, Type Specimens Of Birds In The American Museum Of Natural History. Part 7. Passeriformes: Sylviidae, Muscicapidae, Platysteiridae, Maluridae, Acanthizidae, Monarchidae, Rhipiduridae, And Petroicidae, pp. 1-287 in Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 313 (1) on pages 100-101, DOI: 10.1206/313.1, http://zenodo.org/record/13223808
Bedeutsamkeiten absurder Existenz. Über lebensbejahende und lebensverneinende Weltmythen in Wolfgang Herrndorfs "Arbeit und Struktur"
Creators: name: Runge, Maximilian
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: nihilism
autobiography
cancer
suicide
existential philosophy
myth
hermeneutics
narrativity
rationality
faith
atheism
personal identity
religion
spirituality
writing
literature

description: Does a nihilist who kills himself betray his own beliefs? An unreflected answer would probably turn out positive, because a nihilist may be defined as a person who embraces all aspects of life and pain itself. But someone who escapes his sorrowful existence by committing suicide seems not to accept his own human condition and therefore cannot die as a nihilist. If this argumentation is right, human life would not be possible outside cultural contexts, for the particularity of nihilism is its large distance to and independence of culture and collectivity. In his autobiographical work "Arbeit und Struktur" Wolfgang Herrndorf portrays his three and a half years of living with brain cancer. At the same time he shows us how his originally humanistic nihilism turns into a more pessimistic one while coping with his disease. Herrndorf, in a manner of speaking, writes his own "myth to live" without being able to rely on the shelter of culture, without a "myth of collectivity". In the face of this, we must assume Herrndorf's ideological transformation from a cooperative nihilism to a pessimistic nihilism, which justifies his own death, was his sole opportunity to mentally survive the three and a half years of pain and dissolution. From this perspective, the example of Wolfgang Herrndorf and his "Arbeit und Struktur" would reveal mankind's absolute dependency on metaphysical significance and its need for individual myths to live. Despite regarding himself as a modern, secular and rationalistic human being, Herrndorf cannot overcome the necessity of the iconological translation of "reality to world". Therefore, the intent of this master's thesis is to show that all living human beings are captives of icons and their metaphysical representation, and that the endless effort of translating whole reality into a single myth to live is part of our conditio humana.
The Weapons Policy of the Canadian Forces Chaplain Branch: A Multi-Theoretical Analysis
Creators: name: Klein, Kevin Edward
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2009
Subjects: subject: Philosophy.

description: Military chaplains of all countries are vehemently debating the issue of chaplains bearing arms. On both sides of the debate, various arguments are advanced which get to the very nature of the chaplain's role as non-combatant and minister of religion. However, there is not a consensus between military chaplaincies or even within military chaplaincies whether or not chaplains ought to carry weapons for their own protection or the protection of others especially in the present security environment. Within the Canadian Forces chaplains are expressly forbidden from ever bearing or using personal weapons in combat operations. This thesis analyzes the question of chaplains bearing and using personal weapons from an ethical standpoint. Three ethical views will be explored: J.J.C Smart's act utilitarianism, Alasdair Macintyre's virtue ethics, and Alan Gewirth's ethical rationalism. By using these three meta-ethical perspectives, the dialogue on chaplains bearing arms within the Canadian Forces can be advanced and policies re-evaluated.
Arbeitskreis Südostasien: Jahrestagung 2018
Creators: name: Koch, Michael
name: Kraas, Frauke
name: Revilla Diez, Javier
Publisher: name: ASIEN: The German Journal on Contemporary Asia
Year: 2021

description: ASIEN: The German Journal on Contemporary Asia, Nr. 149 (2018): ASIEN (Oktober)
Diaphorophyia graueri Hartert
Creators: name: LeCroy, M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2008
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Aves
Passeriformes
Platysteiridae
Diaphorophyia
Diaphorophyia graueri

description: Diaphorophyia (sic) graueri Hartert
 Diaphorophyia (sic) graueri Hartert, 1908c: 7 (Primeval forest, 90 km. west of Lake Albert Edward).
 Now Dyaphorophyia concreta graueri Hartert, 1908. See Urban et al., 1997: 565.
 HOLOTYPE: AMNH 649473, adult male, collected in primeval forest, 1600 m, 90 km west of Lake Edward (5 Albert Edward), 00.05N to 00.41S, 28.18E to 29.53E (Chapin, 1954: 660), Congo (Kinshasa), on 11 February 1908, by Rudolf Grauer (no. 2011). From the Rothschild Collection.
COMMENTS: Hartert cited Grauer’s unique field number of the holotype in the original description. The date of collection was incorrectly copied onto the Rothschild Collection label as 17 February 1908. He described male and female but did not say how many specimens he had examined. There are three paratypes at AMNH, all collected by Grauer at the type locality in February 1908: AMNH 649474, female; AMNH 649475, male; and AMNH 649476, female.
 Traylor (1986: 390) included this species in the genus Platysteira.
description: Published as part of LeCroy, M., 2008, Type Specimens Of Birds In The American Museum Of Natural History. Part 7. Passeriformes: Sylviidae, Muscicapidae, Platysteiridae, Maluridae, Acanthizidae, Monarchidae, Rhipiduridae, And Petroicidae, pp. 1-287 in Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 313 (1) on page 101, DOI: 10.1206/313.1, http://zenodo.org/record/13223808
Predicting and measuring thermal conductivity in carbonepoxy unidirectional tape and textile reinforced composites
Creators: name: Hind, Simon
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Mechanical.

description: The directional thermal conductivity of composite parts and moulds has a strong effect on out-of autoclave manufacturing operations. Limited thermal conductivity and variability data is available for composites made from carbon fibres that are widely used in mould and aircraft construction. A summary of experimental measurements and directional thermal conductivity models for carbon/epoxy composite materials is presented. Experimental data were collected for AS4 fibre unidirectional tape prepreg and T300 fibre unidirectional non-woven and plain weave textile reinforced composites. Lamination sequences included [0°]n, [0°/90°]n, [0°/90°/0°] n, [0°/60°/-60°]n and [0°/+45°/-45°/90°] n. Manufacturing methods included hybrid hand-layup and autoclave curing. Variability is quantified in all cases. Techniques for the predictive modeling of directional thermal conductivity are assessed. Classical lamination theory and models of conductivity for homogeneous assemblies of aligned fibres were used to determine thermal conductivity of tape prepreg and thermal properties of textile yarns. Unit cell simulations of textile based composites were performed to quantify the effect of changes in reinforcement geometry and configuration on directional thermal conductivity. A series of steady-state finite element models were developed for non-woven composites, unidirectional and cross-ply, and for plain weave textiles [0°/90°], [0°/90°/0°] n and [0°/+45°/-45°/90°]. Recommendations for the applicability of different modeling methods for the determination of thermal conductivity in composite materials are presented.
Teaching Fieldwork in Japanese Studies — A Blended Learning Approach
Creators: name: Bernardi, Peter
name: Lewerich, Ludgera
name: Uike-Bormann, Michiko
Publisher: name: Asien
Year: 2021

description: In the BA Plus program “Japanese Studies — Cultural and Social Perspectives” at Heinrich Heine University (HHU) in Düsseldorf, students acquire skills in qualitative research methods in order to carry out research projects in Japan. In this paper, we discuss how we prepare students for fieldwork in Japan and introduce our program’s approach to this challenging task. We rely on a small classroom setting, and utilize e-learning by combining a virtual classroom with a learning management system for documentation purposes. This blended learning setting supports students throughout their individual and heterogeneous fieldwork phases in Japan. We argue that both parts, the offline introduction to qualitative research methods before going abroad and online classes during the fieldwork in Japan itself, are equally important. We have found that e-learning and blended learning scenarios are especially useful tools for bridging the distance between teachers and students, and for better supporting the latter in the field. Therefore, we suggest that these teaching methods can be helpful and applicable outside of structured programs as well, because they can easily be adjusted to different teaching contexts.
description: Asien, Nr. 149 (2018): ASIEN (Oktober)
The Double-Sided Silicon Strip Detector Tracker onboard the ComPair Balloon Flight
Creators: name: Kirschner, Nicholas
name: Kierans, Carolyn
name: Wasti, Sambid
name: Schoenwald, Adam J.
name: Caputo, Regina
name: Griffin, Sean
name: Liceaga-Indart, Iker
name: Parker, Lucas
name: Perkins, Jeremy S.
name: Zajczyk, Anna
Publisher: name: Maryland Shared Open Access Repository
Year: 2024
Subjects: Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics

description: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation Conference, 16 - 21 June 2024, Yokohama, Japan
description: The ComPair balloon instrument is a prototype of the All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory (AMEGO) mission concept. AMEGO aims to bridge the spectral gap in sensitivity that currently exists from ∼100 keV to ∼100 MeV by being sensitive to both Compton and pair-production events. This is made possible through the use of four subsystems working together to reconstruct events: a double-sided silicon strip detector (DSSD) Tracker, a virtual Frisch grid cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) Low Energy Calorimeter, a ceasium iodide (CsI) High Energy Calorimeter, and an anti-coincidence detector (ACD) to reject charged particle backgrounds. Composed of 10 layers of DSSDs, ComPair’s Tracker is designed to measure the position of photons that Compton scatter in the silicon, as well as reconstruct the tracks of electrons and positrons from pair-production as they propagate through the detector. By using these positions, as well as the absorbed energies in the Tracker and 2 Calorimeters, the energy and direction of the incident photon can be determined. This proceeding will present the development, testing, and calibration of the ComPair DSSD Tracker and early results from its balloon flight in August 2023.
Pharmaceutical innovation : can health and economic goals be met?
Creators: name: Morgan, Steve
name: Mochrie, Clare
Publisher: name: Centre for Health Services and Policy Research (CHSPR)
Year: 2014

description: Canadians spend hundreds of millions of dollars per year on pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) through governments, charitable organizations,and private investment. While the pharmaceutical industry accounts for only 2% of the Canadian economy, it is responsible for more than 10% of all Canadian R&D; and although research in other sectors has decreased in recent years, pharmaceutical R&D continues to rise. From a public policy perspective, the hope is that this R&D will spur pharmaceutical innovation with benefits to population health and the economy. The degree to which these goals are both being realized, however, is the subject of increasing debate. This paper investigates the drivers of pharmaceutical R&D and re-examines how “innovations” from this sector are defined and promoted. Our aim is to reframe these issues and stimulate a new, balanced debate on pharmaceutical innovation.
Shaping Baltimore’s urban forests: past insights for present-day ecology
Creators: name: Sonti, Nancy F.
name: Baker, Matthew
name: Lagrosa, John
name: Allman, Michael
name: Grove, J. Morgan
name: Katoski, Michelle
Publisher: name: Springer Nature
Year: 2024
Subjects: Historical aerial imagery Land cover change Urban ecology Urban environmental history Urban forested natural areas

description: ContextLand use history of urban forests impacts present-day soil structure, vegetation, and ecosystem function, yet is rarely documented in a way accessible to planners and land managers.ObjectivesTo (1) summarize historical land cover of present-day forest patches in Baltimore, MD, USA across land ownership categories and (2) determine whether social-ecological characteristics vary by historical land cover trajectory.MethodsUsing land cover classification derived from 1927 and 1953 aerial imagery, we summarized present-day forest cover by three land cover sequence classes: (1) Persistent forest that has remained forested since 1927, (2) Successional forest previously cleared for non-forest vegetation (including agriculture) that has since reforested, or (3) Converted forest that has regrown on previously developed areas. We then assessed present-day ownership and average canopy height of forest patches by land cover sequence class.ResultsMore than half of Baltimore City’s forest has persisted since at least 1927, 72% since 1953. About 30% has succeeded from non-forest vegetation during the past century, while 15% has reverted from previous development. A large proportion of forest converted from previous development is currently privately owned, whereas persistent and successional forest are more likely municipally-owned. Successional forest occurred on larger average parcels with the fewest number of distinct property owners per patch. Average tree canopy height was significantly greater in patches of persistent forest (mean?=?18.1 m) compared to canopy height in successional and converted forest patches (16.6 m and 16.9 m, respectively).ConclusionsHistorical context is often absent from urban landscape ecology but provides information that can inform management approaches and conservation priorities with limited resources for sustaining urban natural resources. Using historical landscape analysis, urban forest patches could be further prioritized for protection by their age class and associated ecosystem characteristics.
MPS: A Truth Discovery Service Scheme by Using History Data to Maximize Profit for Mobile Crowd Sensing
Creators: name: Mo, Wen
name: Liu, Anfeng
name: Xiong, Neal N.
name: Song, Houbing
Publisher: name: IEEE
Year: 2024
Subjects: truth discovery services
Sensors
Costs
maximize profit
data truth discovery
trust and time-discounting
UMBC Security and Optimization for Networked Globe Laboratory ?(SONG Lab)
Mobile Crowd Sensing
Task analysis
Low latency communication
Data collection
Recruitment
Data models

description: Mobile Crowd Sensing (MCS) has emerged as a novel paradigm in massive data collection, which leverages many individual mobile devices (called workers) to collect data. MCS platform utilizes the collected data to construct various services for service requesters, thus obtaining profit based on the data values contributed by workers. However, untrustworthy data would greatly reduce the data value, leading to a decline in platform profit, so it is crucial for the platform to recruit high-trust workers and collect truthful data, thereby providing high-quality service and obtaining high profit. To address this problem, we propose a Maximize Profit Scheme, called MPS, for MCS platforms, which consider that the data value declines as data trust decreases and discounts over time. MPS scheme is the first work that systematically addresses the impact of untruthful data on the platform profit, which is not well addressed in previous research. First, we utilize historical data of trusted workers as truthful data to identify the truth of data, which is a low-cost method. Then, a trust-discounting and time-discounting value model is proposed, which is more practical than previous methods. Based on the proposed value model, we propose a novel worker recruitment strategy combined with a trust-related and time-dependent reward threshold, which prioritizes workers with high trust and low latency, thereby promoting the data value of workers and maximizing the platform's profit. By comparing the MPS with existing schemes, the experimental results show that our MPS can achieve better performance in terms of total profit.
Aus Studierenden werden Forschende
Creators: name: Manzenreiter, Wolfram
name: Miserka, Antonia
Publisher: name: ASIEN: The German Journal on Contemporary Asia
Year: 2021

description: Ethnographic fieldwork is better qualified than textbook studies and quantitative survey data for obtaining a deeper understanding of social life in an unfamiliar setting. Teaching fieldwork, however, is difficult and time-consuming: the focus is usually on singular qualitative research methods; even their mastery remains detached from the processuality of collecting data in the field, where researchers are all too often confronted with unexpected twists and turns. Researchers know that ethnographic studies are not static or fixed, but students do not. We argue that moving the learning environment into unfamiliar and relatively challenging fields helps students realize that ethnographic research is personal, transformational, contingent, and responsive to often-shifting conditions. This report reflects on our direct experience of taking students into the field as part of their education in Japanese Studies. The introduction summarizes the didactic and methodological considerations of the 2019 Aso Summer Field School. The following parts introduce the conceptual background to our research project, and the preparatory training of 10 students. We then describe the progress of the Aso Summer Field School, in which students explored social institutions and organizations so as to discover how “rural happiness” is maintained in the face of regional decline. Student interviews were used to assess the educational outcomes. The conclusion highlights the benefits of student empowerment in research projects, and makes some suggestions for future improvement hereof too.
description: ASIEN: The German Journal on Contemporary Asia, Nr. 149 (2018): ASIEN (Oktober)
A NuSTAR Census of the X-Ray Binary Population of the M31 Disk
Creators: name: Moon, Hannah
name: Wik, Daniel R.
name: Antoniou, V.
name: Eracleous, M.
name: Hornschemeier, Ann E.
name: Lazzarini, Margaret
name: Lehmer, Bret D.
name: Vulic, Neven
name: Williams, Benjamin F.
name: Maccarone, T. J.
name: Pottschmidt, Katja
name: Ptak, Andrew
name: Yukita, Mihoko
name: Zezas, Andreas
Publisher: name: AAS
Year: 2024

description: Using hard (E > 10 keV) X-ray observations with NuSTAR, we are able to differentiate between the accretion states, and thus compact object types, of neutron stars (NSs) and black holes (BHs) in X-ray binaries (XRBs) in M31, our nearest Milky Way–type neighbor. Using 10 moderate-depth (20–50 ks) observations of the disk of M31 covering a total of ?0.45 deg2, we detect 20 sources at 2? in the 4–25 keV bandpass, 14 of which we consider to be XRB candidates. This complements an existing, deeper (100–400 ks) survey covering ?0.2 deg2 of the bulge and the northeastern disk. We make tentative classifications of nine of these sources with the use of diagnostic color–intensity and color–color diagrams, which separate sources into various NS and BH regimes, identifying three BHs and six NSs. In addition, we create X-ray luminosity functions (XLFs) for both the full (4–25 keV) and hard (12–25 keV) bands, as well as subpopulations of the full band based on compact object type and association with globular clusters. Our best-fit globular cluster XLF is shallower than the field XLF, and preliminary BH and NS XLFs suggest a difference in shape based on compact object type. We find that the cumulative disk XLFs in the full and hard band are best fit by power laws with indices of 1.32 and 1.28, respectively. This is consistent with models of the Milky Way XLF from Grimm et al., Voss & Ajello, and Doroshenko et al.
Chronic Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Stress Interact to Predict Biologic and Clinical Outcomes in Asthma
Creators: name: Chen, Edith
name: Schreier, Hannah M. C.
name: Strunk, Robert C.
name: Brauer, Michael (Of University Of British Columbia)
Publisher: name: The University of British Columbia
Year: 2015

description: BACKGROUND: Previous research has documented effects of both physical and social environmental exposures on childhood asthma. However, few studies have considered how these two environments might interact to affect asthma. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to test interactions between chronic exposure to traffic-related air pollution and chronic family stress in predicting biologic and clinical outcomes in children with asthma. METHOD: Children with asthma (n = 73, 9–18 years of age) were interviewed about life stress, and asthma-relevant inflammatory markers [cytokine production, immunoglobulin E (IgE), eosinophil counts] were measured. Parents reported on children’s symptoms. Children completed daily diaries of symptoms and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) measures at baseline and 6 months later. Exposure to traffic-related air pollution was assessed using a land use regression model for nitrogen dioxide concentrations. RESULTS: NO2 by stress interactions were found for interleukin-5 (β for interaction term = –0.31, p = 0.02), IgE (interaction β = –0.29, p = 0.02), and eosinophil counts (interaction β = –0.24, p = 0.04). These interactions showed that higher chronic stress was associated with heightened inflammatory profiles as pollution levels decreased. Longitudinally, NO2 by stress interactions emerged for daily diary symptoms (interaction β = –0.28, p = 0.02), parent-reported symptoms (interaction β = –0.25, p = 0.07), and PEFR (interaction β = 0.30, p = 0.03). These interactions indicated that higher chronic stress was associated with increases over time in symptoms and decreases over time in PEFR as pollution levels decreased. CONCLUSIONS: The physical and social environments interacted in predicting both biologic and clinical outcomes in children with asthma, suggesting that when pollution exposure is more modest, vulnerability to asthma exacerbations may be heightened in children with higher chronic stress.
Supplementary notes; Figure S1. Critical growth conditions for transitions towards establishment. from A probabilistic framework for windows of opportunity: the role of temporal variability in critical transitions
Creators: name: van Belzen, Jim
name: Fivash, Gregory S.
name: Hu, Zhan
name: Bouma, Tjeerd J.
name: Herman, Peter M. J.
Publisher: name: The Royal Society
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences

description: Notes extending on the analytical and numerical approaches in the main text.;a) Conceptual framework for WoO with organisms developing tolerance linear (green arrow) and exponential (blue arrow). The organism (colored arrows) needs to overcome threshold  to establish. The inclination of arrows depicts the critical growth rate λcrit just high enough to be successful. (b) Critical growth rate at increasing variance. The gray area depicts the region where variance levels are too low and do not create WoOs. The white area is the region where WoO are created by environmental variance given that the growth rate is sufficiently high. (c) Critical growth rate with increasing benign period length.
Movement of decaying quasi-2-day wave in the austral summer-time mesosphere
Creators: name: Salinas, Cornelius Csar Jude
name: Wu, Dong L.
Publisher: name: Springer Nature
Year: 2024
Subjects: Atmospheric dynamics Space physics

description: The quasi-2-day wave (Q2DW) is a large temperature disturbance in the austral summer-time mesosphere. Its decay-phase movement and phase-speed are poorly understood. Q2DW events observed by the microwave limb sounder (MLS) onboard the NASA Aura satellite reveal that during the temperature Q2DW’s decay-phase, the Q2DW temperature disturbance is still substantial, but its phase-speed reduces exponentially, on average, from around ?70 to ?20 m/s in around 30-days. Observations also reveal significant interannual variability in these phase-speed values. Q2DW events simulated by the extended Canadian middle atmosphere model (eCMAM) reveal that during the Q2DW decay-phase, the temperature Q2DW phase-speed is strongly correlated with the summer mesosphere easterly jet (SMEJ) wind values. eCMAM also shows that the phase-speed interannual variabilities partially reflect the interannual variabilities of the SMEJ. Planetary-wave diagnostics indicate that during the Q2DW’s decay phase, there is still an active transfer of momentum from the SMEJ into Q2DW. The model simulations therefore indicate that the SMEJ plays a substantial role in the decaying temperature Q2DW phase-speed variabilities observed by MLS. This adds to our knowledge of how the SMEJ affects the Q2DW.
MILLIY MЕNTАLITЕTGА MОSLАSHISHDА YUQОRI SINF ОʻQUVCHILАRINING PЕDАGОGIK RIVОJLАNTIRISH MЕTОDIKАSI
Creators: name: Hudаybеrdiyеvа, Mоhirа
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024

description: Yuqоri sinf о‘quvchilаrini milliy mеntаlitеtgа mоslаshtirish mаdаniy о‘zigа xоslik vа ijtimоiy mаs’uliyаt hissini tаrbiyаlаshdа muhim аhаmiyаtgа еgа. Ushbu mаqоlаdа о'quvchilаrning milliy mеntаlitеtni tushunish vа uyg'unligini оshirishgа qаrаtilgаn pеdаgоgik rivоjlаnish mеtоdоlоgiyаsi muhоkаmа qilinаdi. Qаdriyаtlаrgа аsоslаngаn tа'lim, mаdаniy jihаtdаn sеzgir о'qitish, ijtimоiy-еmоtsiоnаl tа'lim vа jаmiyаtgа аsоslаngаn lоyihаlаr kаbi yоndаshuvlаrni о'rgаnib, tаdqiqоt milliy g'ururni vа ijtimоiy mоslаshuvchаnlikni rivоjlаntirishning sаmаrаli usullаrini аniqlаydi.
Slow convergence: Career impediments to interdisciplinary biomedical research
Creators: name: Berkes, Enrico
name: Marion, Monica
name: Milojevi?, Staša
name: Weinberg, Bruce A.
Publisher: name: PNAS
Year: 2024

description: Despite the long-standing calls for increased levels of interdisciplinary research as a way to address society’s grand challenges, most science is still disciplinary. To understand the slow rate of convergence to more interdisciplinary research, we examine 154,021 researchers who received a PhD in a biomedical field between 1970 and 2013, measuring the interdisciplinarity of their articles using the disciplinary composition of references. We provide a range of evidence that interdisciplinary research is impactful, but that those who conduct it face early career impediments. The researchers who are initially the most interdisciplinary tend to stop publishing earlier in their careers—it takes about 8 y for half of the researchers in the top percentile in terms of initial interdisciplinarity to stop publishing, compared to more than 20 y for moderately interdisciplinary researchers (10th to 75th percentiles). Moreover, perhaps in response to career challenges, initially interdisciplinary researchers on average decrease their interdisciplinarity over time. These forces reduce the stock of interdisciplinary researchers who can train future cohorts. Indeed, new graduates tend to be less interdisciplinary than the stock of active researchers. We show that interdisciplinarity does increase over time despite these dampening forces because initially disciplinary researchers become more interdisciplinary as their careers progress.
title: Campánula :
title: Directrices para la ejecución del examen de la distinción, la homogeneidad y la estabilidad.
titleType: Subtitle
Creators: name: International Union For The Protection Of New Varieties Of Plants,
Publisher: name: International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants,
Year: 0
Subjects: Plants
New Varieties of Plants
Campanula

description: La finalidad de estas directrices (“directrices de examen”) es elaborar los principios que figuran en la Introducción General (documento TG/1/3) y sus documentos TGP conexos, con objeto de que sirvan de orientación práctica y detallada para el examen armonizado de la distinción, homogeneidad y estabilidad (DHE) y en particular, para identificar los caracteres apropiados para el examen DHE y producir descripciones armonizadas de variedades.
Influenza in Canada : 2007-2008 Season Update
Creators: name: Reyes, F.
name: Aziz, S.
name: Winchester, B.
name: Li, Y.
name: Vaudry, Wendy
name: Bettinger, Julie A.
name: Huston, Patricia
name: King, A.
Publisher: name: The University of British Columbia
Year: 2016

description: Canada’s national influenza surveillance system, FluWatch, now in its 12th year, is coordinated through the Centre for Immunization and Respiratory Infectious Diseases (CIRID), Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). The program collects data and information from various sources in order to provide a national picture of influenza activity. This report provides a summary of the results on influenza activity in Canada during the current 2007-2008 season from 26 August 2007 up to and including 17 May 2008.