cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Concept-Based Speech-to-Speech Translation Using Maximum Entropy Models for Statistical Natural Concept Generation

The IBM Multilingual Automatic Speech-To-Speech TranslatOR (MASTOR) system is a research prototype developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Babylon/CAST speech-to-speech machine translation program. The system consists of cascaded components of large-vocabulary conversational spontaneous speech recognition, statistical machine translation, and concatenative text-to-speech synthesis. To achieve highly accurate and robust conversational spoken language translation, a unique concept-based speech-to-speech translation approach is proposed that performs the translation by first understanding the meaning of the automatically recognized text. A decision-tree based statistical natural language understanding algorithm extracts the semantic information from the input sentences, while a natural language generation (NLG) algorithm predicts the translated text via maximum-entropy-based statistical models. One critical component in our statistical NLG approach is natural concept generation (NCG). The goal of NCG is not only to generate the correct set of concepts in the target language, but also to produce them in an appropriate order. To improve maximum-entropy-based concept generation, a set of new approaches is proposed. One approach improves concept sequence generation in the target language via forward–backward modeling, which selects the hypothesis with the highest combined conditional probability based on both the forward and backward generation models. This paradigm allows the exploration of both the left and right context information in the source and target languages during concept generation. Another approach selects bilingual features that enable maximum-entropy-based model training on the preannotated parallel corpora. This feature is augmented with word-level information in order to achieve higher NCG accuracy while minimizing the total number of distinct concepts and, hence, greatly reducing the concept annotation and natural language understanding effort. These features are further expanded to multiple sets to enhance model robustness. Finally, a confidence threshold is introduced to alleviate data sparseness problems in our training corpora. Experiments show a dramatic concept generation error rate reduction of more than 40% in our speech translation corpus within limited domains. Significant improvements of both word error rate and BiLingual Evaluation Understudy (BLEU) score are also achieved in our experiments on speech-to-speech translation.
‘New cartographies’ and the decolonization of European geographies

This paper begins with Jacques Derrida’s ‘Europe’ on an-Other heading and Claudio Minca’s (2003 Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 21 160–8) suggestion that critical human geographers need to become more attentive to their own geographical predispositions and positionalities. The paper focuses on some lessons from postcolonial writing and asks to what extent we have been successful in decolonizing (and reshaping) geographies of Europe in the ways in which we respond to transformations at the borders of Europe. The paper concludes with a discussion of efforts to ‘provincialize’ and decolonize Euro-geographies, and the kinds of ‘new cartographies’ of Europe we might write and teach.
Optimizing Read Reversals for Sequence Compression

New generation sequencing technologies produce massive data sets of millions of reads, making the compression of sequence read files an important problem. The sequential order of the reads in these files typically conveys no biologically significant information, providing the freedom to reorder them so as to facilitate compression. Similarly, for many problems the orientation of the reads (original or reverse complement) are indistinguishable from an information-theoretic perspective, providing the freedom to optimize the orientation of each read.
Effects of Music on Perceptual and Affective Responses to Exercise

Whether exercising at a fitness facility, a local park or greenway, or at home, many people listen to music during their workout. This has become much more common as media devices have become smaller and more portable. Gone are the days of the “boom box” radio in the gym; replaced by high quality sound systems often found in modern fitness facilities. However, now many participants have their own personal music player. As MP3 players and smartphones replaced cassette tape and CD players, people became much more likely to take their music along during outside exercise, weather permitting. Anecdotally, people discuss how they cannot exercise without accompanying music. They can exercise longer and harder because the music causes the exercise to feel easier. They will exercise more often because the music helps them feel more positive. The music can even help them forget about the exercise they are performing. These anecdotal reports have been tested through systematic experimentation. Research has studied the effects of varying types of music, including preferred versus nonpreferred and synchronous versus asynchronous, on perceived exertion, affect, and performance outcomes. This chapter presents recent evidence for the ergogenic effects of music during exercise as they pertain to perceptual and affective responses. In addition, selected laboratory applications of the perceptual methodologies presented in previous chapters are proposed regarding their use to study the ergogenic effects of listening to music during exercise.
The Trouble with Regulating Microfinance

In its short lifetime, the neologism 'microfinance' has become central to several realms - among them philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, commercial banking, and economic development efforts underway in numerous nations - with no consensus on what the word includes and excludes. Indeterminacy makes microfinance resemble other abstract polysyllabic Latinate words like 'nationalization,' 'industrialization,' 'privatization,' 'globalization,' and 'democracy.' Unlike these other nouns, however, microfinance has struck observers as amenable to unitary regulation. Well-intentioned proposals start from the erroneous premise that a single statute, best-practices compendium, or set of governing principles can cover all of microfinance. These efforts are destined to fail until reformers pause to consider the goals they can pursue and the varied sectors they address. The word has its uses. Before microfinance can be regulated, however, it must be disaggregated.
The Global Battlefield: Culture and International Child Custody Disputes at Century's End

The article asks: what would child-centered international child abduction laws look like? It then explains the primary treaty on international child abductions - The Hague Convention on the civil aspects of International Child Abduction and current case law in the United States which has grown up under it. However, because roughly two-thirds of the countries of the world (about 155 States) are non-signatories of the Treaty, the article next analyzes international custody cases involving non-signatories, specifically focusing on disputes involving a Muslim parent in United States courts. Both Hague cases and Muslim non-Hague cases in U.S. courts favor the "left-behind parent." The Hague Convention addresses primarily jurisdiction matters, purposely excluding cultural matters. By making the various legal systems' child custody standards irrelevant, the Treaty itself does little or nothing to assure that the best interests of the child will be promoted. In non-Hague cases U.S. domestic law applies, and the vast majority of states treat "foreign country" as equivalent to "U.S. state." This requires them to apply domestic rules concerning which state has jurisdiction. However, Congress intended these laws to apply to parental abductions within the United States. Because all of the states use a best interest of the child standard, there is no need for the kinds of defenses which might be necessary in the international context, where there is no such uniformity. Indeed, the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJA) and the Parental Kidnaping Prevention Act (PKPA of 1980), appear quite harsh in the international context, insisting there should be no exception to returning the child to her "home state,? i.e. the place she lived before the abduction. Although custody rules differ among different Muslim groups, in general Muslim countries have fixed custody rules, and honor the father's right to be the custodial parent. No Muslim country has signed the Hague Convention. Nor do current Muslim countries give any real weight to the child's best interest, even if that standard is given lip service in the law. The article concludes that there should not be two types of cases treated differently in international law, because one set falls under a Hague Convention and the other doesn?t. It suggests that Congress should enact new legislation for child custody disputes between a U.S. citizen (or a U. S. resident alien) and a citizen of a non-Hague country. Even though "The International Parental Kidnaping Crime Act of 1993" begins to fill a gap in international law, more is needed. Specifically, new legislation would allow for a primary care-taker defense, a best interests of the child defense, and a defense that a child should not be sent back to a parent who has either abused the child or the spouse. In this way, non-Hague cases in the United States could set the standards for what psychologists and other child advocates suggest are in the best interest of the child.
Structured-illumination reflectance imaging (SIRI) for enhanced detection of fresh bruises in apples

Abstract A structured-illumination reflectance imaging (SIRI) system was developed for the detection of fresh bruises in apples. The system consisted of a high-performance digital camera, a broadband DC-regulated light source, and a digital light engine for generating specific patterns of illumination. Sinusoidal patterns of illumination at a series of spatial frequencies were created to illuminate test samples. Experiments were first conducted on a strongly scattering nylon sample embedded with foreign objects at different depths and then on apples of three cultivars with fresh bruises. The acquired images were demodulated into two separate sets of direct component (representing uniform diffuse illumination) and alternating component (or amplitude) images for each spatial frequency. The amplitude images were found to be effective for ascertaining the sub-surface defects, and the detection resolution and depth depended on the spatial frequency of illumination. SIRI technique was able to detect fresh bruises in apples immediately after they were induced, which, otherwise, could be difficult to achieve by conventional uniform illumination-based imaging techniques. The technique is promising for effective detection of defects, like bruise, in fruit.
Atriopeptin 24 regulates myocardial function via Frank-Starling mechanism in conscious dogs.

Recent studies have shown that the infusion of atriopeptins decreases blood volume because of the diuresis and also because of changes in vascular volume. In dogs chronically instrumented for the measurement of left ventricular pressure and internal left ventricular diameter, infusion of atriopeptin 24 (500 ng.kg-1.min-1 for 1 h), steady-state plasma levels of 6,000 pg/ml resulted in 5.9 +/- 1.7% decrease in left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic diameter (EDD) from 34.7 +/- 2.3 mm (P less than 0.05) and no significant change in LV first derivative of pressure with time (dP/dt), LV first derivative of dimension with time, LV dP/dt divided by internal diastolic circumference or percent shortening. Hematocrit increased from 42 to 46% (P less than 0.05). During pacing, infusion of atriopeptin 24 still reduced LV EDD by 7.5 +/- 1.8% from 32 +/- 2.8 mm (P less than 0.05), although there were no changes in the indexes of inotropic state. These results were unaffected by combined autonomic receptor blockade or by ganglionic blockade. Inflation of a hydraulic occluder around the aorta during the infusion of atriopeptin 24 to return LV EDD to preinfusion levels did not cause any index of myocardial contractility to increase significantly. At lower infusion rates that resulted in plasma atriopeptin levels of 2,000 pg/ml, atriopeptin 24 still reduced LV EDD without effect on inotropic state. Thus in the conscious dog, atriopeptins reduce preload independent of neuronal influences and without affecting inotropic state.
Role of nitric oxide in regulation of basilar artery tone in vivo

Previous studies have suggested that nitric oxide (NO) may be a major endothelium-derived relaxing factor in peripheral blood vessels. This study tested the hypotheses that 1) formation of NO from L-arginine contributes to basal tone of cerebral arteries in vivo and 2) dilator responses of cerebral arteries to acetylcholine are dependent on formation of NO. Diameter of the basilar artery was measured through a cranial window in anesthetized rats. Under control conditions, topical application of 10 microM NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA, an arginine analogue that inhibits enzymatic formation of NO), constricted the basilar artery by 11 +/- 1% (means +/- SE). L-Arginine (100 microM), which had no effect on baseline diameter, abolished vasoconstriction in response to L-NMMA. L-Arginine did not alter vasodilation during acetylcholine (1 microM) (11 +/- 2 vs. 12 +/- 2%) or vasoconstriction during serotonin (1 nM) (-15 +/- 3 vs. -16 +/- 2%). L-NMMA (5-10 microM) abolished the dilator response of the basilar artery to acetylcholine but did not alter responses to nitroglycerin (0.01 microM) (24 +/- 4 vs. 20 +/- 3%). The inhibitory effect of L-NMMA on the vasodilator response to acetylcholine was prevented by L-arginine. These studies suggest that synthesis of NO from L-arginine influences resting tone of the basilar artery in vivo. Dilatation of the basilar artery to acetylcholine in vivo appears to be dependent on formation of NO from L-arginine.
Comparison of projection methods for rendering virtual reality

Virtual reality is rapidly gaining popularity, and may soon become a common way of viewing 3D environments. While stereo rendering has been performed on consumer grade graphics processors for a while now, the new wave of virtual reality display devices have two properties that typical applications have not needed to consider before. Pixels no longer appear on regular grids and the displays subtend a wide field-of-view. In this paper, we evaluate several techniques designed to efficiently render for head-mounted displays with such properties. We show that the amount of rendered pixels can be reduced down to 36% without compromising visual fidelity compared to traditional rendering, by rendering multiple optimized sub-projections.
The Seventh-Inning Stretch[er]?: Analyzing the Antiquated 'Baseball Rule' and How It Governs Fan Injuries at Major League Baseball Games

Fan injuries at Major League Baseball games have been an issue for more than a century. Courts have heavily relied on stare decisis in deciding cases involving fans injured by foul balls, but have largely ignored the ever changing realities of the game. Players are bigger, faster, stronger, and bats shatter with an increasing risk of harm. Through the prevalence of cell phone use — and stadiums maximizing the technological and theatrical aspects of attending a baseball game — fans are routinely and deliberately distracted during play. Despite this, fans that are injured have little to no recourse through the judicial system because of the assumption of the risk doctrine and the accompanying “baseball rule.” Some states have enacted legislation giving even greater protection to stadium operators. Historically, Major League Baseball has been reluctant to alter its approach on fan protection as the game is rooted in a tradition that is difficult to change. However, with a new commissioner and several high profile incidents in the most recent season, Major League Baseball has revised its stance and the commissioner introduced increased netting protection recommendations. Although the policy was not a league-wide mandate, the introduced guidelines have been instituted by the owners. However, this has not sufficiently stopped injuries from occurring. Consequently, alternative remedies — such as further expansion of the netting, reworking the legal standard for recourse, or a baseball arbitration system for fans — are necessary to lessen or eradicate the impact of the archaic baseball rule that governs fan injury litigation today.
Endovascular Imaging, Planning, and Sizing for Treatment of Thoracoabdominal Aortic Aneurysms

Endovascular aortic aneurysm repair is now the preferred treatment modality for patients with anatomy suitable to commercially available devices.1,2 Aneurysms involving visceral and/or arch vessels not amendable to these devices are increasingly treated with investigational fenestrated and branched devices within all segments of the aorta. Once a patient is identified as a candidate for non-traditional endovascular aortic repair, a detailed pre-operative assessment directed at patient anatomic and physiologic variables is initiated to fabricate a customized device. Unlike traditional open aortic surgery where anatomic variances can be assessed and dealt with intra-operatively, the success of endovascular aortic repair is greatly contingent on careful pre-operatively planning. Careful consideration is given to patient anatomy and device design as well as the complex interaction between these two. Success is dependent on the ability of imaging modalities to accurately and reliably obtain this critical information. Once the raw image data is obtained, pre-operative planning is further enhanced by post-acquisition processing techniques. Necessary dimensions quantifying the aneurysm anatomy are determined from the compiled images. Once the patient data is gathered, the process of device design begins to generate a blueprint that will serve as the framework for the anticipated repair. Ideally and perhaps in the near future, the link between data acquisition and device design will be automated and the role of clinicians will be to oversee the process.
Host–microbiota interplay in mediating immune disorders

To maintain health, the immune system must maintain a delicate balance between eliminating invading pathogens and avoiding immune disorders such as autoimmunity and allergies. The gut microbiota provide essential health benefits to the host, particularly by regulating immune homeostasis. Dysbiosis, an alteration and imbalance of the gut microbiota, is associated with the development of several autoimmune diseases in both mice and humans. In this review, we discuss recent advances in understanding how certain factors, such as age and gender, affect the gut microbiota, which in turn can influence the development of autoimmune diseases. The age factor in microbiota-dependent immune disorders indicates a window of opportunity for future diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. We also discuss unique commensal bacteria with strong immunomodulatory activity. Finally, we provide an overview of the potential molecular mechanisms whereby gut microbiota induce autoimmunity, as well as the evidence that gut microbiota trigger extraintestinal diseases by inducing the migration of gut-derived immune cells. Elucidating the interaction of gut microbiota and the host immune system will help us understand the pathogenesis of immune disorders, and provide us with new foundations to develop novel immuno- or microbe-targeted therapies.
A post-fault strategy to control the AC-AC modular multilevel converter under input-side line-to-ground fault

The AC-AC Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) is a promising candidate for medium-voltage motor drive applications. In this paper, a post-fault strategy to control the AC-AC MMC under input-side line-to-ground fault condition is proposed. Since the line-to-ground fault results in negative-sequence components of input-side voltages, input-side current regulation and capacitor voltage balancing methods need to be redesigned to maintain power transfer capability and keep capacitor voltages of all clusters balanced. Besides, an inherent problem of the AC-AC MMC is large capacitor voltage fluctuations when outputside frequency is close to input-side frequency. To overcome the problem under the line-to-ground fault, a capacitor voltage fluctuation mitigation method is developed in this paper. The proposed post-fault strategy achieves seamless transition from normal operation to the post-fault operation. Effectiveness of the proposed post-fault strategy is verified by simulation results in the PSCAD/EMTDC software environment.
SWMM5 Unsaturated Drainage Models for Stormwater Biofiltration with an Internal Water Storage Zone

AbstractDenitrifying stormwater biofiltration systems are designed to enhance nitrogen removal and operate under saturated and unsaturated conditions; however, unsaturated drainage expressions for ...
Chapter 6 Complex Movement Behavior: Toward Understanding Cortical and Subcortical Interactions in Regulating Control Processes

Deficits in the cognitive aspects of complex motor skills have been shown after basal ganglia damage secondary to Parkinson's disease and after damage to the cerebral cortex. Despite the existence of several neuroanatomical circuits interconnecting areas in the cerebral cortex and basal ganglia, studies of complex motor function in these two areas have proceeded independent of one another. This chapter assesses the literature relevant to complex motor function in these areas, emphasizing the importance of isolating deficits in specific cognitive aspects of movement. Research methods and findings from cortical and subcortical studies are contrasted and, whenever possible, integrated as a preliminary step toward gaining insight into the importance of these areas for regulating specific components of complex motor skills. The combined study of motor control and motor learning, which have traditionally been treated as separate research domains, is proposed as a method to further our understanding of motor programming processes and their neuroanatomical basis.
Airway Anomalies in Patients With 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome: A 5-Year Review.

Objectives:To characterize the frequency of airway anomalies in patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS).Methods:Retrospective review of patients with 22q11DS who had undergone microlaryng...
Management Considerations in Infective Endocarditis: A Review.

Importance Infective endocarditis occurs in approximately 15 of 100 000 people in the United States and has increased in incidence. Clinicians must make treatment decisions with respect to prophylaxis, surgical management, specific antibiotics, and the length of treatment in the setting of emerging, sometimes inconclusive clinical research findings. Observations Community–associated infective endocarditis remains the predominant form of the disease; however, health care accounts for one-third of cases in high-income countries. As medical interventions are increasingly performed on older patients, the disease incidence from cardiac implanted electronic devices is also increasing. In addition, younger patients involved with intravenous drug use has increased in the past decade and with it the proportion of US hospitalization has increased to more than 10%. These epidemiological factors have led toStaphylococcus aureusbeing the most common cause in high-income countries, accounting for up to 40% of cases. The mainstays of diagnosis are still echocardiography and blood cultures. Adjunctive imaging such as cardiac computed tomographic and nuclear imaging can improve the sensitivity for diagnosis when echocardiography is not conclusive. Serological studies, histopathology, and polymerase chain reaction assays have distinct roles in the diagnosis of infective endocarditis when blood culture have tested negative with the highest yield obtained from serological studies. Increasing antibiotic resistance, particularly toS aureus, has led to a need for different antibiotic treatment options such as newer antibiotics and combination therapy regimens. Surgery can confer a survival benefit to patients with major complications; however, the decision to pursue surgery must balance the risks and benefits of operations in these frequently high-risk patients. Conclusions and Relevance The epidemiology and management of infective endocarditis are continually changing. Guidelines provide specific recommendations about management; however, careful attention to individual patient characteristics, pathogen, and risk of sequela must be considered when making therapeutic decisions.
Efficient Encryption for Rich Message Spaces Under General Assumptions.

We present a new family of public-key encryption schemes which combine modest computational demands with provable security guarantees under only general assumptions. The schemes may be realized with any one-way trapdoor permutation, and provide a notion of security corresponding to semantic security under the condition that the message space has sufficient entropy. Furthermore, these schemes can be implemented with very few applications of the underlying one-way permutation: schemes which provide security for message spaces in 0 1 n with minimum entropy n can be realized with w k logk applications of the underlying one-way trapdoor permutation. Here k is the security parameter and w k is any function which tends to infinity. In comparison, extant systems offering full semantic security require roughly n applications of the underlying one-way trapdoor permutation. Finally, we give a simplified proof of a fundamental “elision lemma” of Goldwasser and Micali.
Beliefs in the Nature of Science and Responses to Socioscientific Issues

It has been said that if educators wish to stimulate thinking and reasoning skills, then students must be given something to think about (Brown, 1997). Certainly, one of the most powerful stimuli to thinking is the consideration of moral and ethical issues. As virtually anyone who has become involved in heated discussions regarding sex, politics, or religion can attest, people often tend to react eagerly when their existing conceptions of the morality of such issues are challenged. For a number of reasons, many science educators are reluctant to present curriculum that evokes strong emotions, unintentionally rejecting an effective pedagogical strategy. In this chapter, we present our case that science educators should include controversial socioscientific issues in their curricula. By engaging in carefully selected moral problems in the domain of science, we believe that students can and will develop logical and moral reasoning skills while they gain a deeper understanding about important aspects of the nature of science. The purpose of this chapter is to describe rationale and methods useful to science educators who strive to include moral development in science curricula while simultaneously addressing the nature of science. To that end, this chapter is arranged into two parts: first, an overview of the theory and practice of using controversial scientific dilemmas and anomalous data in the classroom to address the nature of science; and second, a synopsis of a recent research study investigating the reactions of students to contentious socioscientific issues, dialogic interaction, and contradictory evidence, and the relationships between these instructional strategies and students’ conceptions of the nature of science. By providing a theoretical framework combined with real world examples of using socioscientific issues in the classroom,
Introduction: the FIA research roadmap, priorities for future internet research

We describe the key findings of the Future Internet Assembly Research Roadmap for Framework Programme 8, which captures the ideas and contributions of the FIA community on the important research topics that should be addressed in future funding programmes. The findings of the roadmap have been produced through an open consultation of research projects who participate in FIA. It is primarily concerned with identifying research that can be carried out in the second half of this decade and which will have an impact in 2020 and beyond. By ‘impact' we mean will result in products, services, systems, capabilities, that come to market and are available and deployed in that timeframe.
Effects of Cigarette Prices on Intention to Quit, Quit Attempts, and Successful Cessation Among African American Smokers.

Author(s): Keeler, Courtney; Max, Wendy; Yerger, Valerie B; Yao, Tingting; Wang, Yingning; Ong, Michael K; Sung, Hai-Yen | Abstract: IntroductionThis study examined the effects of cigarette price on intention to quit, quit attempts, and successful cessation among African American smokers in the United States and explored whether price effects differed by income level and menthol use status. Price effects were further compared to White counterparts.MethodsWe used pooled cross-sectional data from 2006 to 2007 and 2010 to 2011 Tobacco Use Supplements to the Current Population Survey to analyze 4213 African American recent active smokers. Three dependent variables were examined: any quit attempts in the past 12 months, successful cessation for at least 3 months, and intention to quit in the next 6 months. For each dependent variable, separate multiple logistic regression models were estimated to determine the impact of cigarette prices.ResultsThere was no indication that price was associated with quit attempts or successful cessation, but price was positively associated with increased odds of intending to quit among African American smokers (p l .001). In contrast, prices were positively associated with intention to quit and quit attempts for White smokers. The association between price and intention to quit was significantly positive for African American low-income and menthol smokers but was not statistically significant for African American high-income and non-menthol smokers. There was no evidence of a price effect on quit attempts and successful cessation for each subgroup of African Americans.ConclusionsTobacco tax policy alone may not be enough to increase quit attempts or successful cessation among African Americans. Community-based cessation programs tailored toward African American smokers, especially low-income menthol smokers, are needed.ImplicationsThe results revealed that, among African American smokers, particularly among low-income and menthol smoking African American smokers, price appears to be positively associated with intention to quit; nevertheless, this deterrent effect does not appear to translate to actualized quit attempts or successful cessation. Increasing cigarette prices as a standalone policy may not be independently effective in increasing quit attempts and successful cessation within the African American community. Community-based cessation interventions tailored for African Americans are needed to help further translate desired cessation into actualized quit attempts.
Structural and Biochemical Studies of Non-native Agonists of the LasR Quorum-Sensing Receptor Reveal an L3 Loop “Out” Conformation for LasR

Summary Chemical strategies to block quorum sensing (QS) could provide a route to attenuate virulence in bacterial pathogens. Considerable research has focused on this approach in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which uses the LuxR-type receptor LasR to regulate much of its QS network. Non-native ligands that antagonize LasR have been developed, yet we have little understanding of the mode by which these compounds interact with LasR and alter its function, as the receptor is unstable in their presence. Herein, we report an approach to circumvent this challenge through the study of a series of synthetic LasR agonists with varying levels of potency. Structural investigations of these ligands with the LasR ligand-binding domain reveal that certain agonists can enforce a conformation that deviates from that observed for other, often more potent agonists. These results, when combined with cell-based and biophysical analyses, suggest a functional model for LasR that could guide future ligand design.
Simulation of the Flotation of Bear Lodge Ore and a Preliminary Economic Analysis

Rapid technological development has caused an increase in the demand for rare earths. Ancylite, a strontium rare earth carbonate, is a potentially significant source of rare earths. In this research paper, essential aspects of the magnetic separation and flotation processes for Bear Lodge ore are presented. A flowsheet is proposed based on an optimization of the variables and flotation simulation. The economic feasibility of the proposed processing operation is analyzed.
Frege’s Unification

What makes certain definitions fruitful? And how can definitions play an explanatory role? The purpose of this paper is to examine these questions via an investigation of Frege’s treatment of definitions. Specifically, I pursue this issue via an examination of Frege’s views about the scientific unification of logic and arithmetic. In my view, what interpreters have failed to appreciate is that logicism is a project of unification, not reduction. For Frege, unification involves two separate steps: (1) an account of the content expressed by arithmetical claims and (2) the justification of that content. The distinction between these steps allows us to see that there are two notions of definition at play in Frege’s logicist work, viz., one concerned with conceptual analysis, the other concerned with the construction of gap-free proof. I then use this discussion to explain how Frege employs his definitions to defend an epistemological thesis about arithmetic, and to clarify Grundlagen’s fruitfulness condition ...
A Human Rights Approach to Health Disparities

Erika Blacksher provides an insightful moral analysis of the recent decline in life expectancy for low-education whites in the United States. As Blacksher argues, a narrow focus on racial health di...
Vision-Based Terrain Classification and Solar Irradiance Mapping for Solar-Powered Robotics

This paper examines techniques for real-time terrain classification and solar irradiance mapping for outdoor, solar-powered mobile robots using a vision-based Artificial Neural Network (ANN). This process is completed sequentially. First, terrain classification is completed by extracting key features from visual-spectrum images captured from an on-board camera using Haar wavelet transform to identify both color and textural information. These features are then classified using an ANN to identify grass, concrete, asphalt, gravel, and mulch. Using the terrain classes, the image is then analyzed using concepts from high dynamic range imagery to establish the solar irradiance map of the area. In this way, our sequential methodology presented allows unmanned vehicles to classify the terrain and map the irradiance of a given area with no prior knowledge. Whereas, the terrain classification can be used in determining energy consumption or traversability criteria and the irradiance map can be used to estimate the energy harvesting capabilities.
Enhanced four-wave mixing process near the excitonic resonances of bulk MoS 2

Two-dimensional materials are generating great interest due to their unique electrical and optical properties. In particular, transition metal dichalcogenides such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) are attractive materials due to the existence of a direct band gap in the monolayer limit that can be used to enhance nonlinear optical phenomena, such as Raman spectroscopy. Here, we have investigated four-wave mixing processes in bulk MoS2 using a multiplex coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy setup. The observed four-wave mixing signal has a resonance at approximately 680 nm, corresponding to the energy of the A excitonic transition of MoS2. This resonance can be attributed to the increased third-order nonlinear susceptibility at wavelengths near the excitonic transition. This phenomenon could open the path to using MoS2 as a substrate for enhancing four-wave mixing processes such as coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy.
Low rate of intraperitoneal port placement in ovarian cancer patients, a population-based assessment.

Introduction The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines recommend intraperitoneal chemotherapy in optimally debulked stage III ovarian cancer patients. The objective of this investigation was to determine the rate of intraperitoneal port placement in patients undergoing surgery for ovarian cancer in a national database maintained by the American College of Surgeons. Method We identified ovarian cancer patients in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database from 2006 to 2012. Demographics, comorbidities, operative outcomes, and postoperative complications were abstracted. Descriptive analyses were conducted using Wilcoxon rank-sum and Chi square tests, and multivariate regression models were used to analyze pre-operative and post-operative variables associated with intraperitoneal port placement. Results We identified 2659 ovarian cancer patients who underwent primary surgical management. Of these patients, only 128 (4.8%) had an intraperitoneal port placed at the time of surgery. In multivariable analyses, intraperitoneal ports were associated with body mass index ≤25, disseminated cancer, later portion of the study period (2009–2012), and operative time >200 min. Intraperitoneal port placement was not associated with any difference in surgical site infection, wound disruption, major postoperative complication, readmission within 30 days, or death within 30 days. Discussion Recent investigation of practice at NCCN institutions between 2003 and 2012 found only 35% of eligible ovarian cancer patients received intraperitoneal chemotherapy. Using intraperitoneal port placement as a surrogate for intraperitoneal chemotherapy administration, our investigation suggests an even lower rate (4.8%) nationally.
Open to Open? An Exploration of Textbook Preferences and Strategies to Offset Textbook Costs for Online Versus On-Campus Students

As open textbook initiatives are on the rise, a burgeoning literature has begun exploring student perceptions of openly licensed textbooks used in higher education. Most of this research has lacked consideration of potential differences in the perceptions of online and on-campus students and has failed to include a control group of students using traditional textbooks. Therefore, the authors employed a 2 x 2 design to directly compare perceptions of online students with on-campus students assigned either open or traditional textbooks. Students (N = 925) enrolled in multiple sections of psychology courses at a midsized R1 institution completed a survey on their perceptions of their particular book’s format and features, as well as strategies they typically employ to offset the cost of expensive course materials. The results revealed that online and on-campus students report disparate strategies for offsetting the high costs of textbooks, different preferences in textbook formats (print versus digital versus both) when cost is not a factor, and differences in their ratings of the importance of various textbook features. Moreover, the results indicate that the use of open textbooks may increase preference for free digital textbooks over paid printed textbooks. Based on these results, the authors suggest that campuses might consider providing customized support to different student populations as open textbook initiatives gain in popularity on university campuses. Additionally, they suggest that prior exposure to open textbooks may increase students’ willingness to use openly licensed materials in future courses. They recommend future research on this question, using a longitudinal within-subjects designs.
Building portals in pollen.

Pollen apertures are the manifestation of distinct plasma membrane domains on the pollen surface. A new study discovered two proteins in rice that are localized specifically to the aperture domains in the membrane of developing pollen and are involved in aperture formation.
Small-mammal characteristics affect tick communities in southwestern Tennessee (USA).

Abstract Life histories can influence the degree of parasite infestations on a host. Pressures exerted on hosts based on age and sex convey varying degrees of parasite prevalence due to differences in host lifestyles, but it is not known how interactions between different host traits affect tick numbers. The objective of this study was to determine if host characteristics (e.g., age, sex, weight, and their interactions) affect the mean number of ticks found on small mammals regardless of host species or habitat. Sherman live traps were placed in forest and grass/forb habitats representative of the southeastern United States. After capture, host characteristics were recorded, and hosts were then searched for ticks. A total of 281 small mammals (148 Peromyscus leucopus, 34 P. maniculatus, 76 Sigmodon hispidus, 16 Microtus pinetorum, and 7 Ochrotomys nuttalli) and 610 ticks (488 Dermacentor variabilis, 114 Ixodes scapularis, 1 Amblyomma americanum, and 7 A. maculatum) were collected in this study. Host's age, sex, and weight affected the number of ticks collected from small mammals and significant interaction effects between host traits occurred (weight by sex, weight by age, and sex by age). For instance, female subadult rodents had significantly more ticks compared to female adults, male subadults had significantly fewer ticks compared to male adults, and the number of ticks on a host increased as host body mass increased. These results support the hypothesis that the number of ticks vary on rodent hosts based on life histories and trait interactions. Therefore, understanding the behavioral mechanisms of a host can aid in the management of parasites in the environment.
The ACA Medicaid Expansions and Employment of Adults With Disabilities

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 substantially expanded the availability of health insurance coverage, particularly for adults with disabilities. One notable change was ...
Clotting Around Catheters and Devices

Catheter- and device-related upper extremity deep vein thrombosis is a commonly encountered entity in clinical practice and may be associated with such complications as pulmonary embolism and catheter-related infection. It is seen often in patients with malignancy who have indwelling catheters for chemotherapy administration, and it may develop when catheters are improperly positioned. The diagnosis is made using ultrasonography, although venography may be used when ultrasound is nondiagnostic. Pharmacologic prophylaxis with heparins or vitamin K antagonists is not recommended. Treatment of symptomatic thrombosis usually consists of a short course of therapeutic anticoagulation, with removal of the catheter only if it is no longer needed.
On Kostant’s weight q-multiplicity formula for $$\mathfrak {sl}_{4}(\mathbb {C})$$ sl 4 ( C )

The q-analog of Kostant’s weight multiplicity formula is an alternating sum over a finite group, known as the Weyl group, whose terms involve the q-analog of Kostant’s partition function. This formula, when evaluated at $$q=1$$ , gives the multiplicity of a weight in a highest weight representation of a simple Lie algebra. In this paper, we consider the Lie algebra $$\mathfrak {sl}_4(\mathbb {C})$$ and give closed formulas for the q-analog of Kostant’s weight multiplicity. This formula depends on the following two sets of results. First, we present closed formulas for the q-analog of Kostant’s partition function by counting restricted colored integer partitions. These formulas, when evaluated at $$q=1$$ , recover results of De Loera and Sturmfels. Second, we describe and enumerate the Weyl alternation sets, which consist of the elements of the Weyl group that contribute nontrivially to Kostant’s weight multiplicity formula. From this, we introduce Weyl alternation diagrams on the root lattice of $$\mathfrak {sl}_4(\mathbb {C})$$ , which are associated to the Weyl alternation sets. This work answers a question posed in 2019 by Harris, Loving, Ramirez, Rennie, Rojas Kirby, Torres Davila, and Ulysse.
The roles of experienced and internalized weight stigma in healthcare experiences: Perspectives of adults engaged in weight management across six countries

Background/Objectives Considerable evidence from U.S. studies suggests that weight stigma is consequential for patient-provider interactions and healthcare for people with high body weight. Despite international calls for efforts to reduce weight stigma in the medical community, cross-country research is lacking in this field. This study provides the first multinational investigation of associations between weight stigma and healthcare experiences across six Western countries. Methods Participants were 13,996 adults residing in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the US who were actively enrolled in an internationally available behavioral weight management program. Participants completed identical online surveys in the dominant language for their country that assessed experienced weight stigma, internalized weight bias, and healthcare behaviors and experiences including perceived quality of care, avoidance or delay of seeking care, experiences with providers, and perceived weight stigma from doctors. Results Among participants who reported a history of weight stigma (56–61%), two-thirds of participants in each country reported experiencing weight stigma from doctors. Across all six countries, after accounting for demographics, BMI, and experienced stigma, participants with higher internalized weight bias reported greater healthcare avoidance, increased perceived judgment from doctors due to body weight, lower frequency of obtaining routine checkups, less frequent listening and respect from providers, and lower quality of healthcare. Additionally, experienced weight stigma (from any source) was indirectly associated with poorer healthcare experiences through weight bias internalization, consistently across the six countries. Conclusions Weight stigma in healthcare is prevalent among adults actively engaged in weight management across different Western countries, and internalized weight bias has negative implications for healthcare even after controlling for BMI. The similar findings across all six countries underscore the negative consequences of weight stigma on healthcare behaviors and experiences, and emphasize the need for collective international efforts to address this problem.
Understanding individual SARS-CoV-2 proteins for targeted drug development against COVID-19.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic, responsible for millions of deaths globally. Even with effective vaccines, SARS-CoV-2 will likely maintain a hold in the human population through gaps in efficacy, percent vaccinated, and arising new strains. Therefore, understanding how SARS-CoV-2 causes widespread tissue damage and the development of targeted pharmacological treatments will be critical in fighting this virus and preparing for future outbreaks. Herein, we summarize the progress made thus far by using in vitro or in vivo models to investigate individual SARS-CoV-2 proteins and their pathogenic mechanisms. We have grouped the SARS-CoV-2 proteins into three categories: host entry, self-acting, and host interacting. This review focuses on the self-acting and host-interacting SARS-CoV-2 proteins and summarizes current knowledge on how these proteins promote virus replication and disrupt host systems, as well as drugs that target the virus and virus interacting host proteins. Encouragingly, many of these drugs are currently in clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19. Future coronavirus outbreaks will most likely be caused by new virus strains that evade vaccine protection through mutations in entry proteins. Therefore, study of individual self-acting and host-interacting SARS-CoV-2 proteins for targeted therapeutic interventions is not only essential for fighting COVID-19 but also valuable against future coronavirus outbreaks.