cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Conceptual graph knowledge systems as problem context for neural networks

For a connectionist network to be able to learn to generalize well, there must be some correspondence between the structure/constraints of the net's architecture and those of the given problem space. Therefore, recourse to experiments with real-world problems will always be required in connectionist research. The author gives an outline of a problem area for which connectionist nets hold great promise: knowledge systems, where the knowledge is encoded/represented using conceptual graphs. Certain aspects of this problem context are already known, and these are probed for possible implementation by connection is nets. The approach used is to present some basic properties of conceptual graphs, indicate operations important in their application, and point out those that might be candidates for implementation with neural nets. A special representation schema for conceptual graphs is used for their implementation by neural nets. >
Arabidopsis Microtubule-Destabilizing Protein 25 Functions in Pollen Tube Growth by Severing Actin Filaments

The formation of distinct actin filament arrays in the subapical region of pollen tubes is crucial for pollen tube growth. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the organization and dynamics of the actin filaments in this region remain to be determined. This study shows that Arabidopsis thaliana MICROTUBULE-DESTABILIZING PROTEIN25 (MDP25) has the actin filament–severing activity of an actin binding protein. This protein negatively regulated pollen tube growth by modulating the organization and dynamics of actin filaments in the subapical region of pollen tubes. MDP25 loss of function resulted in enhanced pollen tube elongation and inefficient fertilization. MDP25 bound directly to actin filaments and severed individual actin filaments, in a manner that was dramatically enhanced by Ca2+, in vitro. Analysis of a mutant that bears a point mutation at the Ca2+ binding sites demonstrated that the subcellular localization of MDP25 was determined by cytosolic Ca2+ level in the subapical region of pollen tubes, where MDP25 was disassociated from the plasma membrane and moved into the cytosol. Time-lapse analysis showed that the F-actin-severing frequency significantly decreased and a high density of actin filaments was observed in the subapical region of mdp25-1 pollen tubes. This study reveals a mechanism whereby calcium enhances the actin filament–severing activity of MDP25 in the subapical region of pollen tubes to modulate pollen tube growth.
Handbook of Geochemistry: Techniques and Applications in Mineral Exploration

R. Dhana Raju. Pp. 520. 2009. Geological Society of India: Bangalore. ISBN 978-81-85867-93-9. US $70 (soft cover). The Handbook of Geochemistry is a compilation divided into one series of chapters on analytical techniques, and a second series of chapters on exploration geochemistry and isotope geochemistry. The Introduction to the book notes that the many different disciplines of geology critical to exploration are presented in numerous basic scientific papers scattered throughout the literature and there is a need for a comprehensive summary of such work that is presented to explorationists in a more applied manner. Raju does go on to admit that there are indeed some journals and texts that are more applied and useful to explorationists, but he claims they are not easily available to many academics in India and other developing countries because of high cost. Therefore, he hopes this book can represent a low-cost alternative to aid academics, exploration geologists, metallurgists, and managers in …
Optimal Harvest Licensing When Harvest Success Is Uncertain

Optimal harvests using individual licenses are determined given that a licensee’s probabilities of procuring a license and harvesting successfully are less than one. Probabilities are dependent on the resource stock and the number of licenses, and licensees benefit from the harvesting experience itself. Recreational fishing and hunting are applications. The optimum stock may be greater or less than the maximum sustained yield stock, and investing in more stock decreases licenses but increases licensees’ success. The optima depend on whether the license agency views applicants as dedicated or social, where the latter are relatively more interested in procuring a license than in a successful harvest.
Fast and accurate site frequency spectrum estimation from low coverage sequence data.

Motivation: The distribution of allele frequencies across polymorphic sites, also known as the site frequency spectrum (SFS), is of primary interest in population genetics. It is a complete summary of sequence variation at unlinked sites and more generally, its shape reflects underlying population genetic processes. One practical challenge is that inferring the SFS from low coverage sequencing data in a straightforward manner by using genotype calls can lead to significant bias. To reduce bias, previous studies have used a statistical method that directly estimates the SFS from sequencing data by first computing site allele frequency (SAF) likelihood for each site (i.e. the likelihood a site has each possible allele frequency conditional on observed sequence reads) using a dynamic programming (DP) algorithm. Although this method produces an accurate SFS, computing the SAF likelihood is quadratic in the number of samples sequenced. Results: To overcome this computational challenge, we propose an algorithm, ‘score-limited DP’ algorithm, which is linear in the number of genomes to compute the SAF likelihood. This algorithm works because in a lower triangular matrix that arises in the DP algorithm, all non-negligible values of the SAF likelihood are concentrated on a few cells around the best-guess allele counts. We show that our score-limited DP algorithm has comparable accuracy but is faster than the original DP algorithm. This speed improvement makes SFS estimation practical when using low coverage NGS data from a large number of individuals. Availability and implementation: The program will be available via a link from the Novembre lab website (http://jnpopgen.org/). Contact: moc.liamg@614nahe, ude.ogacihcu@erbmevonj Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A portrait of a woman as a scientist: breaking down barriers created by gender-role stereotypes

Educational, attitudinal, and sociocultural factors create baniers that prevent girls and young women from pursuing opportunities in science. Of these baniers, gender-role stereotypes of science have been cited as a significant obstacle. This research analyses a US television series that counters gender-role stereotypes of science. The analysis found the images presented on this series challenge previously reported stereotypes of women scientists shown in the US media by emphasizing the expertise of women scientists, showing alternatives for balancing the demands of their professional and personal lives, and providing examples of role models who have succeeded in rnale-dominated fields. The significance of these results are discussed in light of gender schema theory and the need for future research on the effects of women scientist role models on girls' and young women's interest in science. Many educational, attitudinal, and sociocultural factors create barriers that affect girls' and young women's interest and participation in science.' Girls start to lose interest in science between the ages of 9 and 14,~ and, consequently, few later choose to pursue advanced degrees and careers in science. According to recent statistics, 39 per cent of all master's degrees and 31 per cent of all doctoral degrees in the agricultural, biological, and physical sciences awarded in 1992-93 in the USA were earned by women, and only 15 per cent of all master's degrees and 10 per cent of all doctoral degrees in engineering awarded in that year were earned by women.3 Employment statistics show that only 27 per cent of employed natural scientists and 8 per cent of employed engineers in early 1996 in the USA were women.4 Other statistics show that 4.3 per cent of the US labour force in engineering, 33.1 per cent in the social sciences, and 25.7 per cent in the life sciences were women with doctoral degrees.5 Research has documented many of the educational barriers that appear to contribute to the gender gap in science participation. These barriers include the preferential treatment of boys in science classrooms;6 the use of curriculum, teaching approaches, and assignments that favour male intellectual style^;^ teachers' gender-biased perceptions of girls' scientific ability;' the lack of female role models in science classroom^;^ the under-representation of women in science textbook^;'^ and the unequal training of girls as a result of fewer experiences with science activities in the classroom." Researchers also have identified several of the attitudinal barriers that keep girls from participating in science. Studies indicate that girls and young women are more likely to think of scientists as maleI2 and of science as a masculine subject;13 to develop negative attitudes toward science, scientists, and extracurricular science activities;14 to lose confidence in their ability to succeed in science;15 and to view science as masculine.I6
Selective attention to the parts of an object

Recent empirical results suggest that there is a decrement in dividing attention between two objects in a scene compared with focusing attention on a single object. However, objects can be made of individual parts. Is there a decrement for dividing attention across different parts of a single object? We addressed this question in two experiments. In Experiment 1, we demonstrated that attention can exhibit part-based selection—that is, the subjects were more accurate in reporting two attributes from the same part of an object than they were in reporting attributes from different parts of an object. In Experiment 2, we demonstrated that part-based attentional decrements occurred simultaneously with object-based attentional decrements. The results from Experiment 2 demonstrated that part-based attention is evident at the same time as objects are processed as coherent wholes. Our results imply that there is an attentional mechanism that can select either objects or their parts.
Environmental Correlations in Sire Evaluation

Abstract Correlations were computed among averages of first lactation deviations from herd-mate averages of groups of artificially sired daughters of the same Holstein bulls. The groups were constructed by specifying the time interval between animals in the different groups. Comparison of the actual correlations with the expected correlations suggests that environmental correlations are small or nil among artificially sired half-sibs in New York. The correlations between initial and later groups of 20 or 40 daughter records at different time intervals are so close to the expected correlations that there is no support for the view that accuracy of prediction in sire evaluation is being over-estimated due to failure to properly account for environmental correlations among contiguous half-sibs in artificial insemination.
Hemorrhagic Transformation of Ischemic Stroke in Patient Treated With Rivaroxaban

Rivaroxaban (BAY 59-7939) is an oral factor Xa inhibitor used for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation. There are currently no evidence based guidelines for treatment of hemorrhagic side effects of factor Xa inhibitors. We report a case of delayed hemorrhagic conversion of an ischemic infarct in a 60-year-old male treated with rivaroxaban for stroke prevention in a setting of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. The patient presented with generalized discomfort and malaise as well as worsening of expressive aphasia from a prior infarct. In addition, right superior quadrantanopsia was present. CT head at 140 minutes and 8 hours following symptom onset revealed confluent petechiae and linear gyral hyperintensities of the left temporal lobe without mass effect, classified as type 2 Hemorrhagic Transformation (HI2). The patient received a single unit of fresh frozen plasma (FFP) and three doses of Vitamin K. He remained clinically stable without need for neurosurgical intervention, and was subsequently discharged with a plan to commence aspirin therapy five days after onset and switch to dabigatran two weeks later for management of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Hemorrhagic transformation in this case remained clinically stable following conservative therapy, likely due to pharmacological clearance of rivaroxaban. Prothrombin complex concentrates may be considered for emergent reversal of rivaroxaban. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4021/jh78w
Wind Speed and Rotor Position Sensorless Control for Direct-Drive PMG Wind Turbines

Wind turbine generators (WTGs) are usually equipped with mechanical sensors to measure wind speed and rotor position for system control, monitoring, and protection. The use of mechanical sensors increases the cost and hardware complexity and reduces the reliability of the WTG system. This paper proposes a wind speed and rotor position sensorless control for wind turbines directly driving permanent magnetic generators (PMGs). A sliding mode observer is designed to estimate the rotor position of the PMG, which is then used to calculate the shaft rotating speed. Based on the measured output electrical power and estimated rotor speed of the PMG, the mechanical power of the turbine is estimated by taking account into the power losses of the WTG system. A back propagation artificial neural network (BPANN) is then designed to estimate the wind speed in real time by using the estimated turbine shaft speed and mechanical power. The estimated wind speed is used to determine the optimal shaft speed or power reference for the PMG control system. Finally, a sensorless control is developed for the PMG wind turbines to continuously generate the maximum electrical power without using any wind speed or rotor position sensors. The validity of the proposed estimation and control algorithms are shown by simulation studies on a 3-kW PMG wind turbine and are further demonstrated by experimental results on a 300-W practical PMG wind turbine.
Structure of the PAS Fold and Signal Transduction Mechanisms

Despite their diverse origin and function, the structures of PAS domains from four distinct classes of PAS proteins support the notion of a common fold. The structures that help to define this fold are (i) the Ectothiorhodospira halophila photoactive yellow protein (PYP) (1, 2, 3), a self-contained, bacterial blue-light receptor, with a covalently attached 4-hydroxycinnamoyl chromophore, (ii) the oxygen-sensing heme domains of Bradyrhizobium japonicum FixL (BjFixLH) (4, 6) and Rhizobium meliloti FixL (RmFixLH) (7), (iii) the FMN-containing LOV2 domain from the plant blue-light receptor phy3 (8), and (iv) the N-terminus domain of the HERG (human eag-related gene) voltage-dependent potassium channel (9). This chapter describes the structural features that comprise a PAS domain, and reviews the current understanding into the mechanism of signal transduction utilized by each of the four structurally characterized classes of PAS proteins.
Ether, the Theory of Relativity and Quantum Physics

In this paper we revisit some of the reasons given by Einstein that resulted in his change of mind about the ether from denying to defending its existence. The ether proposed by Einstein we call Einstein’s new ether. We consider the potential use of Einstein’s new ether in quantum mechanics. The standard model of elementary particles reveals the existence of at least one component of Einstein’s new ether. In this work we explore additional properties of Einstein’s new ether. In particular, we consider a recent experiment known as the Afshar experiment due to its implications for the wave particle duality paradox. The Afshar experiment is perhaps the first experiment that provides clear evidence that wave and particle aspects of the photon have some sort of physical reality beyond the limits imposed by complementarity. We propose that the physical reality of the wave aspect of the photon has its origin in Einstein’s new ether. Here, we report on consequences of the Afshar experiment for Einstein’s new ether.
Myrrha: Incestuous Passion and Political Transgression (Inferno, 30)

The myth of Myrrha, as employed by Dante in the Comedy, bears a crucial political message. In the tenth pouch of Malebolge, Myrrha is condemned for her fraudulent act of impersonation as she counterfeited her identity in order to lie with her own father, thus breaking natural laws and social rules. In one of Dante's letters to emperor Henry VII, Myrrha is employed as the mythical counterpart of Florence. Florence's incest is a political one: the attempt to seduce the Pope, as “pater patrum,” against her own mother Rome. With her incessant and furious roaming, Myrrha indeed represents political instability caused by the inability or the unwillingness to comply with social expectations and to abide by the rules of human consortium. Through an overview of mythographic medieval sources and a brief analysis of the perception of the sin of incest in medieval society and literature, this paper attempts to establish which tradition of the myth of Myrrha was available to Dante and his readers in order to understan...
'Democratizing' Globalization: Practicing the Policies of Cultural Inclusion

Current processes of international intellectual property harmonization threaten to exacerbate further the divisions between developed and developing countries, the so-called “North-South divide,” by continuing to marginalize the participation of developing and non-industrialized countries. Such marginalization severely reduces the opportunity for “democratic” participation in the IPR harmonization process. This marginalization calls into question the validity of any so-called international standards by raising the specter of "undemocratic" coercion. Ultimately such coercion can only led to an international standard which is ineffective as countries forced to accept an unwanted bargain find ways to avoid the obligations of such coercive agreements. This Article examines current processes of international IPR harmonization to determine the extent to which such processes contribute to the North-South division, and suggests methods for reducing such divisions. Using the lens of present day economic globalization through which to examine the IPR harmonization process, it employs the processes and trends of economic globalization as a predictive and analytical tool to assist in forecasting potential problems in harmonization processes and to suggest solutions designed to make such processes more "democratic," and ultimately, more effective.
Customizable keyboard

Customizable Keyboard is an on-screen keyboard designed to be flexible and expandable. Instead of giving the user a keyboard layout Customizable Keyboard allows the user to create a layout that is accommodating to the user's needs. Customizable Keyboard also allows the user to select from a variety of ways to interact with the keyboard including but not limited to using the mouse pointer to select keys and different types of scan based systems. Customizable Keyboard provides more functionality than a typical onscreen keyboard including the ability to control infrared devices such as TVs and send Twitter® Tweets.
Adaptive optofluidic lens(es) for switchable 2D and 3D imaging

The stereoscopic image is often captured using dual cameras arranged side-by-side and optical path switching systems such as two separate solid lenses or biprism/mirrors. The miniaturization of the overall size of current stereoscopic devices down to several millimeters is at a sacrifice of further device size shrinkage. The limited light entry worsens the final image resolution and brightness. It is known that optofluidics offer good re-configurability for imaging systems. Leveraging this technique, we report a reconfigurable optofluidic system whose optical layout can be swapped between a singlet lens with 10 mm in diameter and a pair of binocular lenses with each lens of 3 mm in diameter for switchable two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) imaging. The singlet and the binoculars share the same optical path and the same imaging sensor. The singlet acquires a 3D image with better resolution and brightness, while the binoculars capture stereoscopic image pairs for 3D vision and depth perception. The focusing power tuning capability of the singlet and the binoculars enable image acquisition at varied object planes by adjusting the hydrostatic pressure across the lens membrane. The vari-focal singlet and binoculars thus work interchangeably and complementarily. The device is thus expected to have applications in robotic vision, stereoscopy, laparoendoscopy and miniaturized zoom lens system.
Fundamentals of MEMS packaging

In this chapter an overview of MEMS and microsystems and their representative products that are available in the current marketplace is discussed. The authors offer their views on why the packaging and assembly of these products have become major cost factors in the production of MEMS and microsystems. Major challenging issues related to MEMS and microsystems packaging will be outlined. In the authors' view, research institutions and industries have not effectively dealt with some of these issues, such as assembly tolerances and product testing. A generic packaging process flow is offered to provide readers with a perspective on the extent of the tasks involved in this important stage of production.
Influence of God Liver Oil on Deposition of Ceroid in the Nutritional Rat Cirrhosis

SummaryRegular and severe liver cirrhosis can be induced in male weaning rats on a choline-free, protein-deficient diet after 90 days, if the protein source is either fibrin or peanut meal plus casein. Early cirrhosis is occasionally observed in less than 60 days. Very large amounts of ceroid are deposited by the use of these diets, containing 2% cod liver oil. The amount of the deposited ceroid is markedly reduced if the intake of cod liver oil is restricted to one drop weekly. On the same diet without any cod liver oil, the produced cirrhosis is less severe. Some of these livers contain no ceroid, others small amounts of this pigment. Cod liver oil is therefore not the only cause for ceroid pigmentation in nutritional cirrhosis. It enhances, however, its formation very markedly.
Storage and incubation temperature effects on hatching time of Coturnix quail eggs.

Abstract Hatching time of Coturnix quail eggs was observed in three trials. Eggs were stored 1–6 and 7–12 days in trial 1; 1–4 and 13–21 days in trial 2; and 1–7, 8–14 and 15–21 days in trial 3 and were incubated at different temperatures (36.5° to 38.2° C.). The hatching time varied between 390 and 460 hours with the shorter storage periods and higher incubation temperatures having the lower hatching times.
Bacterial azurin in potential cancer therapy.

A paper by Nuno Bernardes et al.1 entitled “Modulation of membrane properties of lung cancer cells by azurin enhances the sensitivity to EGFR-targeted therapy and decreased β1 integrin mediated adh...
Analysis on Correlation Between Yield and the Main Agronomic Characteristics of Waxy Maize Hybrids

To determine the correlation between yield and the main agronomic characteristics of waxy maize hybrids,using a randomized complete block design tested twenty hybrids.The results showed that the most contribution to the fresh-eatable spike yield is from ear length(r=0.600 0**),further path analysis showed an order about the important of agronomic characteristics to the fresh-eatable spike yield from large to small: double ear percentageear length100-grain weightshelling percentageear positionkernels in ear rowear diameterplant height.While kernels in ear row(r=0.504 2*) and ear diameter(r=0.495 9*) are the main contribution to the dry yield,path analysis show that the important of agronomic characteristics to dry yield from large to small: kernels in ear rowear positionear diameterear lengthbald head length.
Appliance of Demonstration Teaching Style in Skating Teaching

Reasonable appliance of teaching method is an important factor that affects the effect of teaching. This paper designs a teaching experiment to apply demonstration teaching style in skating teaching and put it into practice. The results show that the appliance of this kind of teaching method can stimulate students' interests in skating. The goal of helping students to master the basic knowledge and skill of speed skating and improving students'physique can also be achieved.
Effect of Umbilical Cord Winding,Neck on Perinatal Infants

OBJECTIVE To observe the influence of trial vaginal delivery in women with cord around neck fetus on the outcome of perinatal infants. METHODS There were 344 cases with umbilical cord winding nape were assigned into treatment group,and 1 000 cases without this complication into contrast group. RESULTS The fetal distress neonatal asphyxia and cesarean section rates in study group were significantly higher than those in control group(P0.050). CONCLUSIONS The pregnant women with umbilical cord winding neck can trial vaginal delivery under strengthening electronic monitoring during the stages of labor,to reduce cesarean section rates and improve the state of perinatal infants.
Multi-hierarchical Grey Evaluation of the Brownfield Redevelopment Project Based on Combinational Weight

The paper puts forward the evaluation index system of the brownfield redevelopment project for the complexity and particularity of brownfield redevelopment.It adopts the multi-hierarchical grey evaluation method to evaluate the index system.We decide the weight of every evaluation index by using AHP and entropy method in the process of evaluation and use the gray correlation degree to establish evaluation matrix.It can improve the accuracy of the evaluation result.In the last,the instance illustrates the evaluation method is workable.
Antibiotic use in the elderly. A selective review.

SUMMARY There are unique challenges for the physician who prescribes an antibiotic to an elderly patient. Advanced age is associated with physiological alterations and a reduction in the excretion of numerous compounds. Mental and physical illness in aged patients will impair unsupervised drug compliance. Antibiotic-related adverse events and antibiotic-associated drug interactions pose a threat to life and impede the desired therapeutic outcome.
Wearable privacy protection with visual bubble

Wearable cameras are increasingly used in many different applications from law enforcement to medicine. In this paper1, we consider an application of using a wearable camera to record one-on-one therapy with a child in a classroom or clinic. To protect the privacy of other individuals in the same environment, we introduce a new visual privacy paradigm called privacy bubble. Privacy bubble is a virtual zone centered around the camera for observation whereas the rest of the environment and people are obfuscated. In contrast to most existing visual privacy systems that rely on visual classifier, privacy bubble is based on depth estimation to determine the extent of privacy protection. To demonstrate this concept, we construct a wearable stereo-camera for depth estimation on the Raspberry Pi platform. We also propose a novel framework to quantify the uncertainty in depth measurements so as to minimize a statistical privacy risk in constructing the depth-based privacy bubble. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is demonstrated with preliminary experimental results.
A Profile of the Online Advertising and Tracking Industry: Technology, Business Model and Market Structure

This research note is a sideline product for a more theoretical analysis of multisided markets on the Internet (Kox, Straathof and Zwart, 2014). This note provides auxiliary information on the Internet advertising and tracking industry: market structure, business model, targeting technologies, performance criteria, payment structures, main welfare aspects, and recent market trends.
When R&D is Not a Public Good, Why Subsidize it?

Patent, copyright, trade secret, and other exclusionary laws regarding intellectual property convert new-product research and development from a public/common good into a private good. To the extent that R&D is a private good, the argument that it, as a public good, needs to be subsidized vanishes. Yet the prima facie case for public subsidies of R&D continues to be the basis for enormous governmental transfers of resources. The explanation of unwarranted subsidies is straightforward and well known. Following a brief review, adapting this standard explanation to the case of R&D in particular, this paper offers an entirely new argument against R&D subsidies. Specifically, unwarranted R&D subsidies destabilize new-product R&D, turning a sustainable process into an unsustainable one.
The Price Seems Right: Explaining Suboptimal Strategic Pricing Decisions

While management researchers have studied the causes of suboptimal pricing decisions, previous research has emphasized experimental or aggregate corporate data rather than pricing and performance d...
Mapping 3D Gestural Inputs to Traditional Touchscreen Interface Designs within the Context of Anesthesiology

Gestures are a natural means of every day human-human communication, and with the advances in gestural input technology, there is an opportunity to investigate gestures as a means of communicating ...
Forces as regulators of cell adhesions.

Christopher Chen highlights the early studies of mechanoregulation of cell–matrix adhesions that established mechanobiology as a cross-discplinary research field
Neurobiology: A genetic cause of age-related decline

Genetic variation in a neuropeptide signalling pathway regulates age-related declines in health in nematode worms. This discovery points to a mechanism that influences individual differences in ageing. See Article p.198 The rate at which we age is highly variable. The roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans also shows variability in lifespan and age-related decline. Shi-Qing Cai and colleagues now show that polymorphisms in regulatory-gene-for-behavioural-ageing-1 (rgba-1) and the neuropeptide receptor gene npr-28 result in changes in the rate at which the worms age. rgba-1 encodes neuropeptides in glial cells that activate receptors encoded by npr-28 in neurons, leading to a reduction of SIR-2.1-mediated activation of UPRmt, which modulates ageing.
How outside opportunities affect alliance governance: evidence from the biotechnology industry

In complex interfirm exchange relationships like alliances, firms that invest in relation-specific assets are likely to devise governance mechanisms, most prominently hierarchical control, to safeguard against various exchange hazards. However, if investing in relation-specific assets leads the focal alliance firm to discover new opportunities outside of the exchange relationship that can be exploited independent of its partner firm, then instead of seeking more control over the alliance, we may see such firms' incentives for seeking control over the alliance to be weakened. These different conditions are contrasted and explored empirically in the biotechnology alliance setting. Understanding the role of outside opportunities as an important driver of alliance governance can help to integrate the governance literature and the capabilities literature.
Perspectives in Hydrologic Modeling and Simulation

Unlike ecology, the field of hydrology is rich with fundamental and well-accepted classical physics-based equations. These equations are universal—water behaves identically regardless of where on earth it is studied. This is in dramatic contrast to ecological modeling where fundamental system behavior algorithms are not available and the salient processes of the system vary dramatically among locations. There are very few ecological models suitable for landscape and watershed management and they are usually developed to be suitable for a particular location. Typically, the most efficient way to develop ecological models is to begin with simulation modeling environments, within which the local ecological interactions and behavior can be specified. Hydrologic models, on the other hand, are numerous; there are many different models, and user interfaces are well developed. Singh (1995) provides an excellent and thorough review of and introduction to hydrologic simulation modeling.
Relation of serum insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and IGF binding protein-3 to risk of prostate cancer (United States).

Objective: Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) exerts potent mitogenic and antiapoptotic effects on prostatic epithelial cells. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) modulates the effects of IGF-I, and independently induces apoptosis and inhibits cell growth. Previous studies have inconsistently associated IGF-I and IGFBP-3 with prostate cancer. To try and further clarify these potential associations, we undertook a sibling-matched case–control study. Methods: Serum IGF-I and IGFBP-3 were determined for 845 men (408 cases and 437 sibling controls). Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between the serum IGF levels and prostate cancer. Results: Among all study subjects, only the molar ratio of IGF-I to IGFBP-3 was associated with prostate cancer: comparing those in the highest to lowest quartiles gave an OR = 1.62 (95% CI = 1.02–2.57, trend-p = 0.04). Among men with clinically less aggressive disease, we observed positive associations between prostate cancer and high levels of IGF-I (OR = 2.78, 95% CI = 1.06–6.80, trend-p = 0.03), and IGFBP-3 (OR = 2.68, 95% CI = 1.08–6.80, trend-p = 0.04). Simultaneously modeling both left the IGF-I result essentially unchanged, while substantially weakening the IGFBP-3 association. Conclusions: We found that a high IGF-I to IGFBP-3 molar ratio was associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer. Furthermore, high IGF-I was associated with increased risk of prostate cancer among men with less advanced disease at diagnosis. These results lend support to the hypothesis that IGF-I, or the IGF-I to IGFBP-3 molar ratio, is an important risk factor for prostate cancer.
Business improvement districts (BIDs): An economic development policy or a tool for gentrification

This paper examines the roles of business improvement districts (BIDs) in revitalizing struggling neighborhoods and downtown areas in urban settings. For decades, New York City has been using BIDs ...
Structurally Consistent Class/Shape Transformation Equations for Morphing Airfoils

Camber morphing of the wing outer mold line may improve aerodynamic performance and reduce noise emissions for some aircraft. However, not all outer mold lines are obtainable from a given reference...
Relationships among Training, Mindfulness, and Workplace Injuries among Nurse Aides Working in Long-Term Care Settings

Nursing aides working in long-term care settings experience high rates of injury, musculoskeletal symptoms, and exposure to resident aggression. Some of these injuries and exposure to aggression may be related to trait mindfulness. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between trait mindfulness, job training, injury, sources of injury, and musculoskeletal symptoms among nursing aides working in long-term care residential settings. Nursing aides working in long-term care settings across Ohio, USA (n = 152) were recruited for the study. Measures of sociodemographic characteristics, job tenure, job training, mindfulness, work injuries, sources of injuries, and musculoskeletal symptoms were obtained. Correlational analyses demonstrated that higher levels of mindfulness and training were associated with lower levels of injury and musculoskeletal symptoms. They were also significantly inversely associated with the following injury sources: lifting/repositioning resident, bumping/hitting equipment, and resident aggression. Results of hierarchical linear regressions indicated that mindfulness was a significant and unique predictor of injuries, exposure to the most common sources of injury, and musculoskeletal symptoms. Specifically, nursing aides with higher levels of mindfulness were less likely to report experiencing injuries, exposure to the most common sources of injury, and musculoskeletal symptoms. Given that mindfulness can be trained and modified, adding mindfulness training to nursing aide educational programs could potentially help reduce risk for injury among this vulnerable population of workers. Further research exploring the potential benefit of mindfulness training could address this possibility.
New data, new findings: An updated assessment of wrongful convictions

Ten years ago, in January 2003, the American Judicature Society dedicated a conference to "Preventing the Convictions of Innocent Persons." Former Attorney General Janet Reno attended the conference and delivered a keynote address that was later reproduced in Judicature. In her address, Attorney General Reno reflected on what was then slightly more than 100 wrongfully convicted persons who had been exonerated in the preceding decade. Listening to the panels at the AJS conference and meeting the exonerated individuals, Reno called upon the academic community to provide more research about wrongful conviction and its causes-research that could be used to influence policy decisions and ultimately reform the American criminal justice system. She concluded by saying, "I think the findings are sufficiently grave, in terms of the mistakes the system has made, that we must renew our efforts...to find the truth. And what we do with the criminal justice system, which is the hallmark of the legal system for so many Americans looking in from the outside, will make a profound difference for this century".
Neurological Complications of Endocarditis: A Multidisciplinary Review with Focus on Surgical Decision Making

Infective endocarditis (IE) is a systemic disease with many potential neurologic manifestations including ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes, cerebral microbleeding, infectious intracranial aneurysms, meningitis, brain abscesses, and encephalopathy. The majority of left-sided (heart) IE patients have brain lesions that may alter management decisions, warranting the systematic use of magnetic resonance imaging. Many patients require surgical treatment of valvular disease, and central nervous system lesions weigh into decision making. Data regarding the timing of surgery are conflicting, but earlier surgery appears to be safe in most ischemic strokes, while ideally surgery should be delayed for 3 to 4 weeks in patients with hemorrhagic strokes. IE requires a multidisciplinary team to collaboratively care for the patient. In this article, we review the current understanding and management of the neurological complications of IE and their impact on the performance and timing of cardiac surgery.
Gated Recurrent Neural Networks Empirical Utilization for Time Series Classification

Hybrid LSTM-Fully Convolutional Networks(LSTM-FCN) for time series classification has produced state-of-the-art classification results on univariate time series. This paper shows empirically that replacing the LSTM with a gated recurrent unit (GRU) to create a hybrid GRU fully convolutional network (GRU-FCN) can offer even better performance on many time series datasets. This resulted GRU-FCN model outperforms the state-of-the-art classification performance in many univariate time series datasets. In addition, since the GRU uses a simpler architecture than the LSTM, it has a simpler hardware implementation and fewer arithmetic components compared to the LSTM-based models.
Middle longitudinal fascicle is associated with semantic processing deficits in primary progressive aphasia

The middle longitudinal fascicle (MdLF) is a recently delineated association cortico-cortical fiber pathway in humans, connecting superior temporal gyrus and temporal pole principally with the angular gyrus, and is likely to be involved in language processing. However, the MdLF has not been studied in language disorders as primary progressive aphasia (PPA). We hypothesized that the MdLF will exhibit evidence of neurodegeneration in PPA patients. In this study, 20 PPA patients and 25 healthy controls were recruited in the Primary Progressive Aphasia program in the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit. We used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) tractography to reconstruct the MdLF and extract tract-specific DTI metrics (fractional anisotropy (FA), radial diffusivity (RD), mean diffusivity (MD) and axial diffusivity (AD)) to assess white matter changes in PPA and their relationship with language impairments. We found severe WM damage in the MdLF in PPA patients, which was principally pronounced in the left hemisphere. Moreover, the WM alterations in the MdLF in the dominant hemisphere were significantly correlated with impairments in word comprehension and naming, but not with articulation and fluency. In addition, asymmetry analysis revealed that the DTI metrics of controls were similar for each hemisphere, whereas PPA patients had clear laterality differences in MD, AD and RD. These findings add new insight into the localization and severity of white matter fiber bundle neurodegeneration in PPA, and provide evidence that degeneration of the MdLF contribute to impairment in semantic processing and lexical retrieval in PPA.
An evaluation and review of English language pre-exposure prophylaxis websites and YouTube videos.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a promising HIV prevention strategy in which antiretroviral medications are taken to prevent HIV infection. PrEP was approved as an HIV prevention method in the U...
Repensando el giro biopolítico: Del paradigma tanatopolítico al geneapolítico

Resumen: Este articulo pretende repensar el sentido de la nocion de “biopolitica” situandola dentro de una genealogia general de la “politica” y analizando las implicaciones filosoficas de su emergencia y proliferacion: ?por que la “biopolitica” ha surgido en un tiempo determinado y de una manera tan especifica? Tras reconstruir brevemente las dos rupturas fundamentales en la genealogia de la “politica,” se argumenta que tanto el modelo biopolitico de Foucault como el de Agamben estan arraigados en una tradicion filosofica occidental que consistentemente privilegia la muerte sobre el nacimiento como el momento definitorio de nuestra condicion existencial y, por lo tanto, es intrinsecamente tanatopolitica. Pero, ?que pasaria si el nacimiento tuviera una prioridad ontologica y politica sobre la muerte –ontologica porque solo morimos como consecuencia de haber nacido y politica porque, mientras podemos morir solas, siempre nacemos en compania de alguien mas? Si los seres humanos son concebidos como seres-tras-el-nacimiento, en lugar de seres-para-la-muerte, emerge una perspectiva distinta: una que es tanto feminista como afirmativa y que se denomina geneapolitica (proveniente del griego antiguo γeνeά , que significa nacimiento).
Grace Lee Boggs's Person-Centered Education for Community-Based Change: Feminist Pragmatism, Pedagogy, and Philosophical Activism

This paper offers an overview of Grace Lee Boggs's community-based and person-centered philosophy and pedagogy, highlighting how education can foster social responsibility and create democratic habits in students, better equipping them to create radical change within their communities. The essay demonstrates Boggs's commitment to philosophical-activist pedagogy and its alignment with a feminist-pragmatist approach, which emphasizes lived experience, pluralism, complexity, and equality, as well as praxis. The essay then considers how Boggs's philosophical activism can be enacted inside and outside the traditional classroom, concluding by describing an educational and activist project called Narrative 4.
Sub)Exponential advantage of adiabatic Quantum computation with no sign problem

We demonstrate the possibility of (sub)exponential quantum speedup via a quantum algorithm that follows an adiabatic path of a gapped Hamiltonian with no sign problem. The Hamiltonian that exhibits this speed-up comes from the adjacency matrix of an undirected graph whose vertices are labeled by n-bit strings, and we can view the adiabatic evolution as an efficient O(poly(n))-time quantum algorithm for finding a specific “EXIT” vertex in the graph given the “ENTRANCE” vertex. On the other hand we show that if the graph is given via an adjacency-list oracle, there is no classical algorithm that finds the “EXIT” with probability greater than exp(−nδ) using at most exp(nδ) queries for δ= 1/5 − o(1). Our construction of the graph is somewhat similar to the “welded-trees” construction of Childs et al., but uses additional ideas of Hastings for achieving a spectral gap and a short adiabatic path.
Proximal Hypospadias and Acquired Cryptorchidism: Incidence, Morphology and Potential Clinical Implications.

Purpose:We identified the incidence of acquired cryptorchidism among patients with proximal and mid shaft hypospadias, predictors of acquired cryptorchidism, and the prevalence of testis-epididymis...
Nonparametric Causal Effects Based on Longitudinal Modified Treatment Policies

Most causal inference methods consider counterfactual variables under interventions that set the exposure to a fixed value. With continuous or multi-valued treatments or exposures, such counterfact...
Fabricating Efficient CdTe Solar Cells: The Effect of Cu Precursor

Copper (Cu) is being widely used in CdTe solar cells to improve the p-type conductivity and reduce the back-barrier height. However, due to the defect compensate effect and the high spatial migration rate of Cu, the physical mechanism of Cu in CdTe is still a challenge. Here, three different Cu dopant source, metallic copper (Cu), and cuprous chloride (CuCl) and copper chloride (CuCl 2 ), are applied in ZMO/CdTe solar cells. Our results indicate that solution processed Cu treatment supplies lower Cu diffusion temperature and possibilities to reduce the Cu dosage and distribution profile in CdTe.
Stochastic Adaptive Search Methods: Theory and Implementation

Random search algorithms are very useful for simulation optimization, because they are relatively easy to implement and typically find a “good” solution quickly. One drawback is that strong convergence results to a global optimum require strong assumptions on the structure of the problem.
Metastable Walking on Stochastically Rough Terrain.

Simplified models of limit-cycle walking on flat terrain have provided important insights into the nature of legged locomotion. Real walking robots (and humans), however, do not exhibit true limit cycle dynamics because terrain, even in a carefully designed laboratory setting, is inevitably non-flat. Walking systems on stochastically rough terrain may not satisfy strict conditions for limit-cycle stability but can still demonstrate impressively long-living periods of continuous walking. Here, we examine the dynamics of rimless-wheel and compass-gait walking on randomly generated rough terrain and employ tools from stochastic processes to describe the ‘stochastic stability’ of these gaits. This analysis generalizes our understanding of walking stability and may provide statistical tools for experimental limit cycle analysis on real walking systems.