cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A fast immersed boundary method for external incompressible viscous flows using lattice Green's functions

A new parallel, computationally efficient immersed boundary method for solving three-dimensional, viscous, incompressible flows on unbounded domains is presented. Immersed surfaces with prescribed motions are generated using the interpolation and regularization operators obtained from the discrete delta function approach of the original (Peskin's) immersed boundary method. Unlike Peskin's method, boundary forces are regarded as Lagrange multipliers that are used to satisfy the no-slip condition. The incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are discretized on an unbounded staggered Cartesian grid and are solved in a finite number of operations using lattice Green's function techniques. These techniques are used to automatically enforce the natural free-space boundary conditions and to implement a novel block-wise adaptive grid that significantly reduces the run-time cost of solutions by limiting operations to grid cells in the immediate vicinity and near-wake region of the immersed surface. These techniques also enable the construction of practical discrete viscous integrating factors that are used in combination with specialized half-explicit Runge-Kutta schemes to accurately and efficiently solve the differential algebraic equations describing the discrete momentum equation, incompressibility constraint, and no-slip constraint. Linear systems of equations resulting from the time integration scheme are efficiently solved using an approximation-free nested projection technique. The algebraic properties of the discrete operators are used to reduce projection steps to simple discrete elliptic problems, e.g. discrete Poisson problems, that are compatible with recent parallel fast multipole methods for difference equations. Numerical experiments on low-aspect-ratio flat plates and spheres at Reynolds numbers up to 3700 are used to verify the accuracy and physical fidelity of the formulation.
The problem of empty names and Russellian Plenitude

Abstract‘Ahab is a whaler’ and ‘Holmes is a whaler’ express different propositions, even though neither ‘Ahab’ nor ‘Holmes’ has a referent. This seems to constitute a theoretical puzzle for the Russellian view of propositions. In this paper, I develop a variant of the Russellian view, Plenitudinous Russellianism. I claim that ‘Ahab is a whaler’ and ‘Holmes is a whaler’ express distinct gappy propositions. I discuss key metaphysical and semantic differences between Plenitudinous Russellianism and Traditional Russellianism and respond to objections that stem from those differences.
Future Digital Libraries: Research and Responsibilities

In October 1991 the National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored a workshop to examine the role of the Information Retrieval research community in the emerging environment of Internet, high performance text processing capabilities and ever-increasing volumes of digitized documents. Ed Fox, Michael Lesk and Michael McGill drafted a White Paper, calling for a National Electronic Science, Engineering, and Technology Library. The term "Digital Library" was adopted and for follow-up workshops with the goal to identify research directions, leading to National Science Foundation (NSF)/Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)/National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Research in Digital Libraries Initiative announced in late 1993. Now, in 2016, 25 years after the first workshop, 15 years after the Joint Conference on Digital Libraries has been established, and many initiatives and developments around the world, what is the state of Digital Libraries? What items should be in digital libraries, who should their custodians, how can the items be organized to support knowledge discovery, how can the contents be safeguarded and preserved? Ebla, Syria (2500 B.C. - 2250 B.C.) constitutes the oldest organized library of tables yet discovered. What will the archaeologists discover in year 4400 about the world, politics, economies, technologies, science, climate, species, health, food, culture, art, entertainment and everyday life through the ages? The talk will examine what we can do to support innovative research and design and implementation of lasting, informative Digital Libraries that will promote global goals of knowledge discovery and international understanding and personal needs to organize and selectively share important facts, creations, and memories.
A Man with Fever and Lymphadenopathy

A 40-year-old man presented with a three-week history of malaise, nausea, night sweats, decreased appetite, and a 15-lb weight loss. He reported having had diarrhea, occasionally with bright red blood, for the first two weeks and a temperature as high as 39.4 degrees C for the last two weeks. He had not had cough, shortness of breath, wheezing, chest pain, arthralgias, rash, or conjunctivitis. He had not eaten raw oysters or raspberries.
The hexactinellid sponge Cyathophycus from the Lower-Middle Ordovician Vinini Formation of central Nevada

The new species Cyathophycus pseudoreticulatus and a fragment of Cyathophycus reticulatus? Walcott, 1879, are described and reported from the lower part of the Upper Member of the Vinini Formation from black shale of late Whiterockian age. The sponges were collected from the north fork of Vinini Creek, in the north-central part of the Roberts Mountains, Eureka County, Nevada.
CT-05 Longitudinal patterns in SLE response to standard of care therapy: implications for clinical trial design

Background Most clinical trials of new treatments for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have shown weak discrimination between investigational agents and placebo when added to standard of care (SOC). The design of future SLE trials may be improved by considering strategies for reducing placebo response rates and better understanding the within-patient variability in disease activity during follow- up. We evaluated longitudinal patterns of response in SLE patients who received placebo plus SOC in two completed 52-week clinical trials. Baseline characteristics that discriminated persistent responders from non-responders were also examined, with the goal of identifying characteristics that may define patient populations with unmet medical need who should be targeted for enrollment in future trials Materials and methods Data was obtained from the Collective Data Analysis Initiative (CDAI) of the Lupus Foundation of America and included 147 patients from the placebo plus SOC arms of two randomised Phase II/III trials in moderately-to-severely active lupus patients without acute nephritis. BILAG-based response was evaluated at weeks 12, 24, 36, 48, and 52. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of response rates were performed. Baseline clinical variables that discriminated persistent responders and non-responders were identified using logistic regression. Results Cross-sectional response rates for patients treated with placebo plus SOC decreased from 46% to 37% between 12–52 weeks (Figure 1). The rate of complete and sustained response, i.e., response at all visits between 12–52 weeks, was only 14.3% (95% CI: 8.6%–19.9%). Agreement between response status at 12 weeks and 36–52 weeks was low (kappa = 0.15–0.25); furthermore only 31% of initial 12 week responders maintained response at all subsequent visits. Baseline factors contributing to persistent response to SOC included fewer active organ systems, high C3 levels, and type of background therapy. Conclusions An endpoint based on a sustained rather than landmark response may reduce high placebo response rates in SLE trials that continue aggressive SOC. Further exploration to assess the power of this endpoint to improve discrimination between active and placebo arms is indicated. The observed lack of stability in response to SOC over time highlights a potential weakness with shorter studies that use an endpoint of improvement. Our data also confirm earlier reports that the likelihood of response in the placebo group depends on the severity of disease and the aggressiveness of background treatments. Acknowledgements Lupus Foundation of America Collective Data Analysis Initiative Group.
CINCO MAL-ENTENDIDOS SOBRE A TEOLOGIA PRÁTICA

omando emprestado um formato usado pelo sociologo Bent Flyvbjerg em um ensaio sobre estudos de caso, este artigo examina cinco mal-entendidos comuns na historia e no desenvolvimento da pesquisa na teologia pratica: (1) a teologia pratica e uma disciplina marginalizada com uma grave crise de identidade; (2) o problema com a teologia pratica e a educacao teologica e o paradigma clerical; (3) teologia pratica e teologia pastoral sao termos intercambiaveis; (4) e impossivel defi nir a teologia pratica ou, inversamente, ela pode ser definida de maneira simples (p. ex., estudo do relacionamento entre crencas e praticas);e (5) a teologia pratica e, em grande parte, se nao inteiramente, descritiva, empirica, interpretativa e nao e normativa, teologica e, em alguns casos (eu ousaria dizer), crista. Descrevo cada mal-entendido, ofereco corretivos e concluo que tres decadas de progresso na area e desdobramentos complementares em outras areas da academia reafi rmam antigas intuicoes na teologia pratica sobre a necessidade de formas alternativas de conhecimento teologico e de trabalho adicional na disciplina.
Learning to identify container contents through tactile vibration signatures

We examine using a simple contact sensor coupled with standard machine learning algorithms to classify and count objects shaken in a container. The contact sensor measures the resulting vibrations, and these signatures are used to learn a classifier that maps vibration signatures to known object categories. A linear support vector machine trained on labeled vibration signatures achieves a mean binary classification accuracy of 99% over 66 pairs of objects and a mean multi-class classification accuracy of 94% over 12 classes. It is also shown that useful tasks such as approximate counting of objects over the range 1 to 10 is possible. We see potential applications of these ideas in service robots engaged in cleanup and inventory control in labs, workshops, stores, warehouses and homes.
Transport-Support Workflow Composition and Optimization for Big Data Movement in High-Performance Networks

High-performance networks (HPNs) are being increasingly developed and deployed to support the transfer of big data. However, such HPN-based technologies and services have not been fully utilized as their use often requires considerable networking and system domain knowledge and many application users are even not aware of their existence. This work develops an integrated solution to discover system and network resources and compose end-to-end paths for big data movement. We first develop profiling and modeling approaches to characterize various types of resources distributed in end systems, edge segments, and backbone networks. A comprehensive set of performance metrics and network parameters are considered in different phases including device deployment, circuit setup, and data transfer. Based on these profiles and models, we then formulate a class of transport-support workflow optimization problems to compose the best end-to-end path that meets various performance requirements. We prove this problem to be NP-complete and design pseudo-polynomial optimal algorithms. We conduct extensive simulations to evaluate the proposed algorithms in comparison with a greedy approach, and also carry out real-life experiments across different network segments in production HPNs to evaluate the validity of the constructed cost models and illustrate the efficacy of the proposed transport solution.
Real-time traffic estimation at vehicular edge nodes

Traffic estimation has been a long-studied problem, but prior work has mostly provided coarse estimates over large areas. This work proposes effective fine-grained traffic volume estimation using in-vehicle dashboard mounted cameras. Existing work on traffic estimation relies on static traffic cameras that are usually deployed at crowded intersections and at some traffic lights. For streets with no traffic cameras, some well-known navigation apps (e.g., Google Maps, Waze) are often used to get the traffic information but these applications depend on limited number of GPS traces to estimate speed, and therefore may not show the average speed experienced by every vehicle. Moreover, they do not give any information about the number of vehicles traveling on the road. In this work, we focus on harvesting vehicles as edge compute nodes, focusing on sensing and interpretation of traffic from live video streams. With this goal, we consider a system that uses the dash-cam video collected on a drive, and executes object detection and identification techniques on this data to detect and count vehicles. We use image processing techniques to estimate the lane of traveling and speed of vehicles in real-time. To evaluate this system, we recorded several trips on a major highway and a university road. The results show that vehicle count accuracy depends on traffic conditions heavily but even during the peak hours, we achieve more than 90% counting accuracy for the vehicles traveling in the left most lane. For the detected vehicles, results show that our speed estimation gives less than 10% error across diverse roads and traffic conditions, and over 91% lane estimation accuracy for vehicles traveling in the left most lane (i.e., the passing lane).
Exploring the use and impact of travel guidebooks

One might imagine that historians and other scholars of tourism have moved past simplistic dismissals of guidebooks as empty, yet tyrannical, manipulators of mindless tourists. At first, Victoria P...
Synthesis of β and γ-Substituted Prolines for Conformation-Activity Relationship Studies of the α-MSH Analogue MT-II

Substituted prolines have limited rotational freedom about χ1 and χ2, and therefore can be used as unique probes for conformation-activity studies by incorporating them into biologically important peptides [1]. For example, substitution of Pro for His6 in the α-MSH analogue MT-II led to analogues with high agonist potency and selectivity for agonist activity at the human MC5R [2]. To explore this function, we have synthesized a series of novel, topographically constrained β and γ-substituted prolines and incorporated these optically pure substituted prolines into MT-II at positions 6 and 7.
The sensory nature of reward in instrumental behavior.

Improvement in the sensory state, or “better-being,” achieved either through obtaining desirable sensations or through escaping undesirable sensations, is considered the essential value which maintains the instrumental behavior. This value may vary depending on such factors as the intensity of the stimulus producing sensations, the effects of its previous occurrence, and the changes in the internal and external environment. Methods of evaluation of sensory “better-being” by means of measuring instrumental, autonomic and EEG responses are discussed.
ITEAM integrated teamwork enablement and management

This paper reports our new approach towards teamwork in advanced Computer Science courses in an online learning environment. The approach, Integrated Teamwork Enablement And Management (ITEAM), uses Course Management System (CMS), Source Configuration Management (SCM) and public teleconference services. Through CMS, team members are able to brainstorm, plan, do a project summary, maintain implementation logs, keep checkpoints of code development, and present a final report asynchronously but within predesigned time frames. Using SCM, team members are able to work on a single source code version in a well-managed code development system. Each team member can see the source code change history and the reasons for the changes. All activities within the CMS and SCM are closely monitored and supervised by the instructor. The instructor serves as an educator and a facilitator as well. Lastly, since all students contributions are logged and are traceable, assigning grades to each team member is easier than using traditional team grading techniques. Our pilot trial has demonstrated that the ITEAM approach facilitates the design of meaningful team projects, enables the instructor close guidance and surveillance, and helps to assign grades to team members more objectively. This approach also encourages team members to work in a more systematic, constructive and effective manner in an online learning environment.
A Role for IEEE in Quantum Computing

Will quantum computation become an important milestone in human progress? Passionate advocates and equally passionate skeptics abound. IEEE already provides useful, neutral forums for state-of-the-art science and engineering knowledge as well as practical benchmarks for quantum computation evaluation. But could the organization do more?
Modulation of Motoneuronal Activity With Sleep-Wake States and Motoneuronal Gene Expression Vary With Circadian Rest-Activity Cycle

In both nocturnal and diurnal mammals, sleep and wake states differentially aggregate during the rest and active phases of circadian cycle. Closely associated with this rhythm are prominent changes in motor activity. Here, we quantified the magnitudes of electromyographic activity (EMG) measured separately during different sleep-wake states across the rest-activity cycle, thereby separating amplitude measurements from the known dependance of the timing of wake and sleep on the phase of circadian rest-activity cycle. In seven rats chronically instrumented for electroencephalogram and EMG monitoring, nuchal and lingual muscle EMGs were measured as a commonly used postural output in behavioral sleep studies and as a cranial motor output with potential clinical relevance in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome, respectively. We found that, for both motor outputs, EMG measured during wake episodes was significantly higher during the active phase, than during the rest phase, of circadian cycle. The corresponding patterns observed during slow-wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement sleep (REMS) were different. During SWS, lingual EMG was very low and did not differ between the rest and active phase, whereas nuchal EMG had pattern similar to that during wakefulness. During REMS, lingual EMG was, paradoxically, higher during the rest phase due to increased twitching activity, whereas nuchal EMG was very low throughout the rest and active periods (postural atonia). In the follow-up comparison of differences in transcript levels in tissue samples obtained from the medullary hypoglossal motor nucleus and inferior olive (IO) at rest onset and active period onset conducted using microarrays, we identified significant differences for multiple transcripts representing the core members of the molecular circadian clock and other genes important for the regulation of cell metabolism and activity (up to n = 130 at p < 0.001). Collectively, our data indicate that activity of motoneurons is regulated to optimally align it with the rest-activity cycle, with the process possibly involving transcriptional mechanisms at the motoneuronal level. Our data also suggest that OSA patients may be relatively better protected against sleep-related upper airway obstructions during REMS episodes generated during the rest phase, than during active phase, of the circadian cycle.
Gang Organization and Gang Identity: An Investigation of Enduring Gang Membership

Motivated by recent advances in the study of disengagement from street gangs, this research develops a theoretical framework of enduring gang membership based on gang organization and gang identity. Using multivariate data, this research tests the theoretical framework against a competing theory derived from the general theory of crime where gang organization and gang identity are non-existent or unimportant in producing enduring gang membership. Eight waves of panel data on high-risk youth from the Denver Youth Survey and discrete-time event-history models are used to investigate enduring gang membership. The length of time an individual spends in a gang is associated with the perceived organization of the gang and an individual’s gang identity. In a hazard model, accounting for right censoring, low self-control, and contextual time-varying gang related variables, increases in gang identity were associated with (on average) a 26% lower rate of reporting no longer being a gang member. Increases in perceived gang organization were associated with (on average) a 12% lower rate of reporting no longer being a gang member. Surprisingly however, no association was found between gang organization and gang identity. This research finds support for using a theoretical framework based on gang organization and gang identity to understand enduring gang membership. Both gang identity and gang organization exert independent effects on the length of time an individual spends in a gang.
Borane/silane frustrated Lewis pairs for polymerization of β-substituted Michael acceptors

Abstract Frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) of Lewis acid (LA) B(C6F5)3 and Lewis base hydrosilane [SiH] have been utilized to promote controlled polymerization of a challenging β-substituted Michael acceptor, methyl crotonate (MC), devoid of chain transfer side reactions. Mechanistic studies show that chain initiation involves LA-catalyzed 1,4-hydrosilylation of MC with [SiH] via FLP-type activation, generating a silyl ketene acetal nucleophile that participates in chain propagation via classic LA activation of monomer and a bimolecular conjugate addition mechanism. The role of the LA is conflicting in the two different catalytic cycles: the FLP activation in chain initiation requires LA-substrate (monomer) dissociation (or weak interaction) while the classic LA activation in chain propagation demands LA-monomer association (or strong interaction).
What Can Pinterest Do for Radiology

The rapid growth of social media over the last decade soon convinced businesses including medical practices and academic medical centers to enter the social media fray—for profit, education, and expanding access. Launched in 2010, Pinterest (San Francisco, CA, USA) differed from many of the established social media platforms by presenting collection and curation features based on the sharing of images rather than text. Thus, Pinterest allows users to categorize website links using photos, GIFs, and videos, and catalog them for future consideration, saved on a virtual folder or “pinboard.” Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are text-heavy social media platforms that do not allow for significant curating activities. Instagram, the other of the two primary photo-oriented social media giants, was launched the same year as Pinterest. Owned by Facebook, Instagram caters to a more personal experience and mostly relies on mobile technology. Because Pinterest users are mainly focused on finding and collecting other users’ content, Pinterest is thought to generate website traffic and is more conducive to use on larger screens. It further distinguishes itself by encouraging appreciation/learning over self-promotion and its range of categories exceeds that of other such sites. Some of the more visually oriented medical specialties (i.e., dermatology, plastic surgery, and radiology) have begun to consider what role, if any, the popular site Pinterest, with more than 250 million monthly users, might play in disseminating healthy messages, reaching patients, and contributing to medical education. We investigated how Pinterest could work for our radiology education mission and then decided to establish a presence on the site to ascertain if creating our own board would have any practical benefits.
Techniques for active learning in CS courses

Studies show that active learning promotes improved long-term retention of course material in students. Research suggests that CS students tend to have learning styles that make an active environment almost critical to their successful mastery of material. This paper demonstrates the effects of a novel lab experience in an objects-first Computer Science 2 course. Our lab is a novel departure from traditional lab based courses, in that it promotes student self-learning and interleaved into the class lectures. We show through assessment comparison that an active learning improves student grades, comprehension, and satisfaction with the course.
A Randomized Trial of High-Dose (HD) Imatinib Mesylate (IM) with or without Peg-Interferon (PEG-IFN) and GM-CSF as Frontline Therapy for Patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) in Early Chronic Phase (CP).

Some studies suggest that HD IM may be more effective than standard dose in CP CML. Still, only a minority of patients (pts) may reach undetectable levels of Bcr-Abl transcripts, and the use of single agent therapy may eventually result in development of resistance. IFN is thought to be effective in CML due to its immunomodulatory properties and may be valuable for management of minimal residual disease. Pre-clinical studies suggest synergy with imatinib. GM-CSF combined with IFN is a potent stimulator of dendritic cells. We designed this randomized phase II study to investigate if adding PEG-IFN to imatinib may improve the rate of complete molecular responses and prolong remission duration. Pts with previously untreated CP CML started treatment with imatinib 800mg daily and randomized after 6 months (mo) of therapy to either continue HD IM alone or add PEG-IFN 0.5mcg/kg/week and GM-CSF 125 mg/m2 three times weekly. Pts were monitored with real-time PCR and cytogenetics (CG) every 3 mo for the 1st year and every 6 mo thereafter. Ninety-four pts have been registered to date: 49 randomized to IM alone and 45 to IM + PEG-IFN+GM. 70 (75%) have been followed for at least 6 months and 49 (52%) for 12 months. (First interim analysis done when 30 pts evaluable at 12 mo). Ten pts randomized to PEG-IFN did not start therapy (2 refused, 2 physicians decision, 6 off study before 6 mo because of noncompliance n=3, melanoma n=1, financial n=1, progressive disease n=1). Patient characteristics and response (intention to treat) are as follows: | | No./No. Evaluable (%) | p value | |:---------------------- | --------------------- | ------------- | ------------- | | | Overall | IM alone | IM+PEGIFN+GM | | | Median age (range), y | 48 (19–73) | 46 (19–73) | 50 (19–73) | 0.12 | | Sokal (% low/int/high) | 71/20/9 | 63/25/12 | 79/16/5 | 0.17 | | CG CR Overall | 73/84 (87) | 40/45 (89) | 33/39 (85) | 0.74 | | @ 12 mo | 44/49 (90) | 27/31 (87) | 17/18 (94) | 0.63 | | 12 mo BCR-ABL/ABL | | | | | | <0.05% | 20/49 (41) | 10/31 (32) | 10/18 (55) | 0.13 | | Undetectable | 5/49 (10) | 3/31 (10) | 2/18 (11) | 1.0 | | Median (range) | 0.1 (0–79.3) | 0.12 (0–79.3) | 0.04 (0–21.9) | 0.51 | Toxicity with HD imatinib was similar to previous reports. The most common grade ≥3 toxicity associated with PEG-IFN in the 26 pts included fatigue (n=7, 27%), rash (n=5, 19%), depression (n=3, 11%), and headache (n=2, 7%). Twelve pts have required dose reductions of PEG-IFN and 3 (13%) permanently discontinued it. The actual median (range) dose of IM at 12 months was 800 mg (600–800 mg) for IM alone and 800 mg (400–800 mg) for combination arm. Among pts randomized to PEG-IFN arm, the dose of IM had to be reduced after 6 mo (i.e., after start of PEG-IM) in 4 (16%) pts. We conclude that the combination of IM and PEG-IM as done here is associated with acceptable toxicity profile. There is a trend for improved response after 12 months with the combination.
Choosing a good toolkit, I: Prior-free heuristics

Abstract The dynamic problem of choosing subsets of objects or “toolkits” when their value distribution is unknown is a multi-armed bandit problem with non-independent arms. Accordingly, except for very simple specifications, this problem cannot (practically) be solved, either analytically or numerically. Decision makers facing this problem must resort to decision heuristics, employing past experience and, perhaps, what they know about the problem. This paper focuses on prior-free heuristics, the simpler and more naive end of the spectrum of heuristics where the decision maker is guided entirely by past experience. Prior-free heuristics can take a variety of forms, depending on the decision maker’s unit of analysis: tools or toolkits. We examine and compare different prior-free heuristics using both analytical methods and simulations. In a companion paper, Francetich and Kreps (2019), we examine heuristics in which the decision maker engages in Bayesian updating of her prior beliefs about the environment.
The Ethical Underpinnings of World Class Universities

The public benefits of higher education have long been recognized. Higher education contributes to the public consensus; it transmits knowledge and attitudes toward the role of the citizen; and it may model good behavior in the face of controversy and sometimes intellectual acrimony. Great universities, perform these functions very well. This is among the reasons why attention has been paid to the characteristics of world class universities [1–3] as well as to the threats to university quality in the form of corruption in higher education. Attention has focused on the definition of corruption, the degree to which corruption occurs, and its economic impact [4–7]. This paper combines these lines of scholarship and explores the degree to which world class universities exhibit ethical qualities. The study defines ‘ethics’ in the management of a university. This includes mission statements which mention ethical issues, transparency in governance and fiscal affairs, codes of conduct for faculty, administrators and students, procedures for adjudication of infractions, and other elements. It then proposes a rating for the ethical infrastructure elements. Universities have been divided into two groups. First are universities listed on the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) international ranking. The second are random samples of universities in countries which use English, Korean, Japanese, Georgian, Chinese, and Russian languages as the medium of instruction. The paper poses three questions. First, how common is it for internationally-ranked universities to exhibit ethical char-acteristics on their websites? The answer is unambiguous: 98 % of the world class universities have established an ethical infrastructure of some kind. Second, which areas of the world are more likely to have universities which exhibit a depth of ethical infrastructure elements on their websites? In terms of countries, the most comprehensive ethics infrastructure can be found in Britain, the U.S., and Japan. Lastly, what is the relationship between the level of international ranking and the depth of ethical ingredients? The strength of the relationship is weak, suggesting that the depth of ethnical infrastructure is not an important determinant of ranking. However given the fact that virtually all ranked THES universities, across 40 counties, mentioned ethical infrastructure elements, suggests that having an ethical infrastructure is an important ingredient associated with other elements in a university’s reputation.
Uncrewed aircraft systems versus motorcycles to deliver laboratory samples in west Africa: a comparative economic study.

Summary Background Transportation of laboratory samples in low-income and middle-income countries is often constrained by poor road conditions, difficult geographical terrain, and insecurity. These constraints can lead to long turnaround times for laboratory diagnostic tests and hamper epidemic control or patient treatment efforts. Although uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS)—ie, drones—can mitigate some of these transportation constraints, their cost-effectiveness compared with land-based transportation systems is unclear. Methods We did a comparative economic study of the costs and cost-effectiveness of UAS versus motorcycles in Liberia (west Africa) for transportation of laboratory samples under simulated routine conditions and public health emergency conditions (based on the 2013–16 west African Ebola virus disease epidemic). We modelled three UAS with operational ranges of 30 km, 65 km, and 100 km (UAS30, UAS65, and UAS100) and lifespans of 1000 to 10 000 h, and compared the costs and number of samples transported with an established motorcycle transportation programme (most commonly used by the Liberian Ministry of Health and the charity Riders for Health). Data for UAS were obtained from Skyfire (a UAS consultancy), Vayu (a UAS manufacturer), and Sandia National Laboratories (a private company with UAS research experience). Motorcycle operational data were obtained from Riders for Health. In our model, we included costs for personnel, equipment, maintenance, and training, and did univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses for UAS lifespans, range, and accident or failures. Findings Under the routine scenario, the per sample transport costs were US$0·65 (95% CI 0·01–2·85) and $0·82 (0·56–5·05) for motorcycles and UAS65, respectively. Per-sample transport costs under the emergency scenario were $24·06 (95% CI 21·14–28·20) for motorcycles, $27·42 (95% CI 19·25–136·75) for an unadjusted UAS model with insufficient geographical coverage, and $34·09 (95% CI 26·70–127·40) for an adjusted UAS model with complementary motorcycles. Motorcycles were more cost-effective than short-range UAS (ie, UAS30). However, with increasing range and operational lifespans, UAS became increasingly more cost-effective. Interpretation Given the current level of technology, purchase prices, equipment lifespans, and operational flying ranges, UAS are not a viable option for routine transport of laboratory samples in west Africa. Field studies are required to generate evidence about UAS lifespan, failure rates, and performance under different weather conditions and payloads. Funding None.
Is there a relationship between welfare-state policies and suicide rates? Evidence from the U.S. states, 2000-2015.

Abstract Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. The rise in suicide rates is contributing to the recently observed decline in life expectancy. While previous research identified a solid association between economic strain and suicide, little attention has been paid to how specific welfare policies that are designed to alleviate economic strain may influence suicide rates. There is a growing body of research that is using an institutional approach to demonstrate the role of welfare-state policies in the distribution of health. However, this perspective has not been applied yet to the investigation of suicide. In this study, I combine these approaches to analyze the association between two specific policies, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and overall and gender-specific suicide rates across the 50 U.S. states between 2000 and 2015. I estimate two-way fixed-effects longitudinal models and find evidence of a robust association between one of these policies – SNAP – and overall and male suicide. After adjusting for a number of confounding factors, higher participation in SNAP is associated with lower overall and male suicide rates. Increasing SNAP participation by one standard deviation (4.5% of the state population) during the study period could have saved the lives of approximately 31,600 people overall and 24,800 men.
Variables impacting the severity of crashes involving traffic barriers on horizontal curves: actual crash analysis of interstate roads in Wyoming

Despite numerous past studies conducted on traffic barriers, research is still needed to analyze the performance of traffic barriers on superelevated horizontal curves. Based on the literature of t...
Whose Puget Sound?: Examining Place Attachment, Residency, and Stewardship in the Puget Sound Region

Place attachment is recognized as integral to addressing place-based challenges, such as environmental degradation. In combination with place identity and place meaning, place attachment can contri...
Ion Bernstein wave studies on microtor

In recent years heating in the ion cyclotron range of frequency (ICRF) has been under active study as an efficient source of supplementary heating in tokamak plasmas. At UCLA far-infrared (FIR) collective Thomson scattering has been employed to directly probe and identify the various plasma waves, thereby improving the understanding of ICRF wave physics. In addition, the measurement of the dispersion of externally excited ion Bernstein waves has resulted in a determination of ion temperature at a number of radial locations. The ion Bernstein waves are identified as being generated through mode conversion of the fast magnetosonic wave at the second harmonic ion cyclotron layer.
Mechanistic insights into effect of feeding rate on soot formation during rapid pyrolysis of biomass model components in a drop-tube furnace at high temperature

Abstract This paper reports the significant effect of feeding rate on soot formation during rapid pyrolysis of water-washed cellulose and acid-washed lignin (denoted as W-cellulose and A-lignin, respectively) in a drop-tube furnace at 1300 °C and a residence time of ∼0.75 s in argon. Soot produced during W-cellulose pyrolysis has a unimodal distribution, with only a fine mode that its modal diameter increases from 0.043 to 0.246 µm as the feeding rate increases from 40 to 280 mg/min. However, at feeding rates of 12–200 mg/min, soot produced from A-lignin pyrolysis has a bimodal distribution with two fine modes located at 0.077 µm and 0.246 µm, respectively. As the A-lignin feeding rate further increases from 200 to 280 mg/min, the fine mode at 0.077 µm disappears and the particle size distribution of soot becomes unimodal with only a fine mode with diameter of 0.246 µm. Increasing feeding rate increases the yield and particle size of total soot but decreases the yield of non-mature soot for W-cellulose at feeding rates
Block-Based High Performance CNN Architectures for Frame-Level Overlapping Speech Detection

Speech technology systems such as Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), speaker diarization, speaker recognition, and speech synthesis have advanced significantly by the emergence of deep learning techniques. However, none of these voice-enabled systems perform well in natural environmental circumstances, specifically in situations where one or more potential interfering talkers are involved. Therefore, overlapping speech detection has become an important front-end triage step for speech technology applications. This is crucial for large-scale datsets where manual labeling in not possible. A block-based CNN architecture is proposed to address modeling overlapping speech in audio streams with frames as short as 25 ms. The proposed architecture is robust to both: (i) shifts in distribution of network activations due to the change in network parameters during training, (ii) local variations from the input features caused by feature extraction, environmental noise, or room interference. We also investigate the effect of alternate input features including spectral magnitude, MFCC, MFB, and pyknogram on both computational time and classification performance. Evaluation is performed on simulated overlapping speech signals based on the GRID corpus. The experimental results highlight the capability of the proposed system in detecting overlapping speech frames with 90.5% accuracy, 93.5% precision, 92.7% recall, and 92.8% Fscore on same gender overlapped speech. For opposite gender cases, the network scores exceed 95% in all the classification metrics.
Modeling ammonia volatilization from urea application to agricultural soils in the DayCent model

Nitrogen (N) loss through ammonia $$({\mathrm{NH}}_{3})$$ volatilization in agricultural soils is a significant source of atmospheric $${\mathrm{NH}}_{3}$$ , contributing to low N use efficiency in crops, risk to human health, environmental pollution, and is an indirect source of nitrous oxide $$({\mathrm{N}}_{2}\mathrm{O})$$ emissions. Our objective was to develop an ammonia volatilization method within the DayCent ecosystem model that incorporates key 4R N management practices (right type, right rate, right placement, and right timing) that influence $${\mathrm{NH}}_{3}$$ volatilization associated with application of urea-based nitrogen fertilizers to agricultural soils. The $${\mathrm{NH}}_{3}$$ volatilization method was developed with Bayesian calibration using sampling importance resampling methods and Bayes factors to select the level of complexity in the model that best represents $${\mathrm{NH}}_{3}$$ volatilization given the observed data. The final model included urea hydrolysis and the influence of urease inhibitors; short-term soil pH changes following fertilization; fertilizer incorporation into the soil (mechanically and through irrigation/precipitation); and specification of the fertilizer placement method (i.e. broadcast vs. banding and surface vs incorporated). DayCent predicts $${\mathrm{NH}}_{3}$$ volatilization with a root-mean-squared error of 158 (95% interval ranging from 133 to 192), bias of 7 (95% interval ranging from − 106 to 102) g NH3-N ha−1 day−1, and with a Bayesian R2 value of 0.39 (95% interval ranging from 0.17 to 0.62). Furthermore, the model incorporates key management options influencing $${\mathrm{NH}}_{3}$$ volatilization related to placement method and fertilizer type with and without urease inhibitors that can be used to evaluate management and policy options for reducing losses of NH3 from urea fertilization.
COVID-19 increases age- and sex-controlled 21-day fatality rates for patients with melanoma, hematologic malignancies, uterine cancer, or kidney cancer

Abstract Introduction Prior research has reported an increased risk of fatality for cancer patients, but most studies investigated the risk by comparing cancer patients to non-cancer patients among COVID-19 infections. Only a few studies have compared the impact of a COVID-19 infection to non-infection with matched cancer patients and types. Methods & Materials We conducted survival analyses of 4,606 cancer patients with COVID-19 test results from March 16 to October 11, 2020 in UK Biobank and estimated the overall hazard ratio of fatality with and without COVID-19 infection. We also examined the hazard ratios of thirteen specific cancer types with at least 100 patients. Results COVID-19 resulted in an overall hazard ratio of 7.76 (95% CI: [5.78, 10.40], p Conclusion The results highlight the importance of timely care for localized and hematological cancer patients and the necessity to vaccinate uninfected patients as soon as possible, particularly for the cancer types influenced most by COVID-19.
Export Promotion vs. Import Substitution

Why do some countries develop more than others? Do their strategies on international trade have a role on this? In this paper, two different industrialization strategies, import substitution and export promotion, are compared. The advantages and the disadvantages of these strategies on their development are stated.
Progress on optical microspheres for CO2 sensors

Shrinking the volumetric footprint of gas sensors is desirable as it allows for nonintrusive, nonperturbing gas mixture analysis and access to tight enclosures. Micro-resonators are a perfect candidate for these sensors as their size parameter (~micron) is minimal, and the typical surface propagating whispering gallery modes can interact with an analyte without disrupting the environment. The large, quality factor (Q) of these resonant cavity modes enables long interaction lengths on the order of 100s of centimeters between the optical field and analyte. Thus, the presence of a gas different than the nominal environment will result in a shift of the resonant properties, including the resonant wavelength, amplitude, and quality factor, that can be detected in real-time. To illustrate this effect, we utilized a spherical micro resonator on the end of a piece of optical fiber, formed using standard ball lens fabrication, and excited the resonant modes using a tapered optical fiber connected to tunable Infrared laser. The resonator was fixed in contact with the tapered region of fiber, and the assembly was placed inside an in-house, optically coupled, vacuum-tight vessel for gas testing. We compared the spectral response of air, pure CO2, and pure N2 gas, observing spectral shifting and broadening of the cavity resonances. In addition, the effect of vessel temperature on resonance peak position due to the thermo-optic effect was investigated and quantified. Lastly, a feedback arm was added to the setup to reduce signal noise and automated data analysis was implemented to improve data clarity.
'How the Sausage Gets Made': Voter ID and Deliberative Democracy

I was in “the room where it happens” when Kentucky enacted a new photo ID law for voting. And I lived to tell the tale. This Article recounts the evolution of Kentucky’s voter ID law, which could have been one of the strictest ID laws in the country but ultimately became one of the mildest. The inside story of how that occurred is itself interesting, but the Article also relates it to a theory of deliberative democracy, or a legislative process that benefits from debate, negotiation, and compromise from various voices, making the final enactment more legitimate. The Article traces the history of the voter ID law, explaining the significant substantive changes that occurred during the legislative process. Next, the Article analyzes the litigation over the bill, which was focused on its implementation during the pandemic and not about the substance of the new law—showing that even opponents accepted its main substantive components. Finally, the Article relates the Kentucky story to a legislative theory of deliberative democracy. The Kentucky process mostly worked because, even though Republicans had the votes to pass the most stringent law possible, they instead moderated in response to opposition from Democrats and advocacy organizations. That moderation made the process more legitimate and created a better substantive outcome. The Article suggests that, to encourage a stronger legislative process, courts could give slightly more deference to a state that passes an election law with indicia of deliberative democracy. Voter ID laws are unnecessary: they do not root out any fraud that exists and can disenfranchise voters. But the Kentucky experience shows that not all voter ID laws are created equal. If the political reality meant that a new voter ID law was inevitable, the Kentucky version—with its various exceptions and fail-safe protections—is about as good as one can expect. Further, its passage opened the door to other pro-voter reforms. Perhaps the Kentucky model—and the deliberative democracy process it exhibits—can lower the temperature in other states.