46 CFR 72.10-30 - Dead end corridors.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 46 Shipping 3 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Dead end corridors. 72.10-30 Section 72.10-30 Shipping COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) PASSENGER VESSELS CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT Means of Escape § 72.10-30 Dead end corridors. (a) Dead end corridors, or the equivalent, more than 40...

"Dead End Kids in Dead End Jobs"? Reshaping Debates on Young People in Jobs without Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quinn, Jocey; Lawy, Robert; Diment, Kim

2008-01-01

Young people who are in "jobs without training" (JWT) are commonly seen as "dead end kids in dead end jobs". They have been identified as a problem group who need to be encouraged back into formal education and training. Following the Leitch report and the new policy goal to involve all young people in education and training up…

DEF: an automated dead-end filling approach based on quasi-endosymbiosis.

PubMed

Liu, Lili; Zhang, Zijun; Sheng, Taotao; Chen, Ming

2017-02-01

Gap filling for the reconstruction of metabolic networks is to restore the connectivity of metabolites via finding high-confidence reactions that could be missed in target organism. Current methods for gap filling either fall into the network topology or have limited capability in finding missing reactions that are indirectly related to dead-end metabolites but of biological importance to the target model. We present an automated dead-end filling (DEF) approach, which is derived from the wisdom of endosymbiosis theory, to fill gaps by finding the most efficient dead-end utilization paths in a constructed quasi-endosymbiosis model. The recalls of reactions and dead ends of DEF reach around 73% and 86%, respectively. This method is capable of finding indirectly dead-end-related reactions with biological importance for the target organism and is applicable to any given metabolic model. In the E. coli iJR904 model, for instance, about 42% of the dead-end metabolites were fixed by our proposed method. DEF is publicly available at http://bis.zju.edu.cn/DEF/. mchen@zju.edu.cn Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Classification with an edge: Improving semantic image segmentation with boundary detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marmanis, D.; Schindler, K.; Wegner, J. D.; Galliani, S.; Datcu, M.; Stilla, U.

2018-01-01

We present an end-to-end trainable deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) for semantic segmentation with built-in awareness of semantically meaningful boundaries. Semantic segmentation is a fundamental remote sensing task, and most state-of-the-art methods rely on DCNNs as their workhorse. A major reason for their success is that deep networks learn to accumulate contextual information over very large receptive fields. However, this success comes at a cost, since the associated loss of effective spatial resolution washes out high-frequency details and leads to blurry object boundaries. Here, we propose to counter this effect by combining semantic segmentation with semantically informed edge detection, thus making class boundaries explicit in the model. First, we construct a comparatively simple, memory-efficient model by adding boundary detection to the SEGNET encoder-decoder architecture. Second, we also include boundary detection in FCN-type models and set up a high-end classifier ensemble. We show that boundary detection significantly improves semantic segmentation with CNNs in an end-to-end training scheme. Our best model achieves >90% overall accuracy on the ISPRS Vaihingen benchmark.

Discovery of novel biomarkers and phenotypes by semantic technologies

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Biomarkers and target-specific phenotypes are important to targeted drug design and individualized medicine, thus constituting an important aspect of modern pharmaceutical research and development. More and more, the discovery of relevant biomarkers is aided by in silico techniques based on applying data mining and computational chemistry on large molecular databases. However, there is an even larger source of valuable information available that can potentially be tapped for such discoveries: repositories constituted by research documents. Results This paper reports on a pilot experiment to discover potential novel biomarkers and phenotypes for diabetes and obesity by self-organized text mining of about 120,000 PubMed abstracts, public clinical trial summaries, and internal Merck research documents. These documents were directly analyzed by the InfoCodex semantic engine, without prior human manipulations such as parsing. Recall and precision against established, but different benchmarks lie in ranges up to 30% and 50% respectively. Retrieval of known entities missed by other traditional approaches could be demonstrated. Finally, the InfoCodex semantic engine was shown to discover new diabetes and obesity biomarkers and phenotypes. Amongst these were many interesting candidates with a high potential, although noticeable noise (uninteresting or obvious terms) was generated. Conclusions The reported approach of employing autonomous self-organising semantic engines to aid biomarker discovery, supplemented by appropriate manual curation processes, shows promise and has potential to impact, conservatively, a faster alternative to vocabulary processes dependent on humans having to read and analyze all the texts. More optimistically, it could impact pharmaceutical research, for example to shorten time-to-market of novel drugs, or speed up early recognition of dead ends and adverse reactions. PMID:23402646

Are Women Over-Represented in Dead-End Jobs? A Swedish Study Using Empirically Derived Measures of Dead-End Jobs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bihagen, Erik; Ohls, Marita

2007-01-01

It has been claimed that women experience fewer career opportunities than men do mainly because they are over-represented in "Dead-end Jobs" (DEJs). Using Swedish panel data covering 1.1 million employees with the same employer in 1999 and 2003, measures of DEJ are empirically derived from analyses of wage mobility. The results indicate…

Biomechanics of Tetrahymena escaping from a dead end

PubMed Central

Kikuchi, Kenji

2018-01-01

Understanding the behaviours of swimming microorganisms in various environments is important for understanding cell distribution and growth in nature and industry. However, cell behaviour in complex geometries is largely unknown. In this study, we used Tetrahymena thermophila as a model microorganism and experimentally investigated cell behaviour between two flat plates with a small angle. In this configuration, the geometry provided a ‘dead end' line where the two flat plates made contact. The results showed that cells tended to escape from the dead end line more by hydrodynamics than by a biological reaction. In the case of hydrodynamic escape, the cell trajectories were symmetric as they swam to and from the dead end line. Near the dead end line, T. thermophila cells were compressed between the two flat plates while cilia kept beating with reduced frequency; those cells again showed symmetric trajectories, although the swimming velocity decreased. These behaviours were well reproduced by our computational model based on biomechanics. The mechanism of hydrodynamic escape can be understood in terms of the torque balance induced by lubrication flow. We therefore conclude that a cell's escape from the dead end was assisted by hydrodynamics. These findings pave the way for understanding cell behaviour and distribution in complex geometries. PMID:29491169

Behavior of micro-particles in monolith ceramic membrane filtration with pre-coagulation.

PubMed

Yonekawa, H; Tomita, Y; Watanabe, Y

2004-01-01

This paper is intended to clarify the characteristics unique to monolith ceramic membranes with pre-coagulation by referring to the behavior of micro-particles. Flow analysis and experiments have proved that monolith ceramic membranes show a unique flow pattern in the channels within the element, causing extremely rapid flocculation in the channel during dead-end filtration. It was assumed that charge-neutralized micro-particles concentrated near the membrane surface grow in size due to flocculation, and as a result, coarse micro-particles were taken up by the shearing force to flow out. As the dead end points of flow in all the channels are located near the end of the channels with higher filterability, most of the flocculated coarse particles are formed to a columnar cake intensively at the dead end point. Therefore cake layer forming on the membrane other than around the dead end point is alleviated. This behavior of particle flocculation and cake formation at the dead end point within the channels are unique characteristics of monolith ceramic membranes. This is why all monolith ceramic membrane water purification systems operating in Japan do not have pretreatment equipment for flocculation and sedimentation.

9 CFR 82.6 - Interstate movement of dead birds and dead poultry from a quarantined area.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Interstate movement of dead birds and... (END) § 82.6 Interstate movement of dead birds and dead poultry from a quarantined area. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section for dressed carcasses, dead birds and dead poultry, including any...

9 CFR 82.6 - Interstate movement of dead birds and dead poultry from a quarantined area.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Interstate movement of dead birds and... (END) § 82.6 Interstate movement of dead birds and dead poultry from a quarantined area. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section for dressed carcasses, dead birds and dead poultry, including any...

9 CFR 82.12 - Other interstate movements and special permits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... required for the disposal of dead birds or dead poultry that are infected with END, or dead birds or dead..., the special permit will also include the following: (i) The address of the place where the dead birds, dead poultry, manure, or eggs are located; and (ii) The number and type of birds, poultry, or other...

9 CFR 82.12 - Other interstate movements and special permits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... required for the disposal of dead birds or dead poultry that are infected with END, or dead birds or dead..., the special permit will also include the following: (i) The address of the place where the dead birds, dead poultry, manure, or eggs are located; and (ii) The number and type of birds, poultry, or other...

9 CFR 82.12 - Other interstate movements and special permits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... required for the disposal of dead birds or dead poultry that are infected with END, or dead birds or dead..., the special permit will also include the following: (i) The address of the place where the dead birds, dead poultry, manure, or eggs are located; and (ii) The number and type of birds, poultry, or other...

9 CFR 82.12 - Other interstate movements and special permits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... required for the disposal of dead birds or dead poultry that are infected with END, or dead birds or dead..., the special permit will also include the following: (i) The address of the place where the dead birds, dead poultry, manure, or eggs are located; and (ii) The number and type of birds, poultry, or other...

Comparison of MFI-UF constant pressure, MFI-UF constant flux and Crossflow Sampler-Modified Fouling Index Ultrafiltration (CFS-MFI UF).

PubMed

Sim, Lee Nuang; Ye, Yun; Chen, Vicki; Fane, Anthony G

2011-02-01

Understanding the foulant deposition mechanism during crossflow filtration is critical in developing indices to predict fouling propensity of feed water for reverse osmosis (RO). Factors affecting the performance on different fouling indices such as MFI-UF constant pressure, MFI-UF constant flux and newly proposed fouling index, CFS-MFI(UF) were investigated. Crossflow Sampler-Modified Fouling Index Ultrafiltration (CFS-MFI(UF)) utilises a typical crossflow unit to simulate the hydrodynamic conditions in the actual RO units followed by a dead-end unit to measure the fouling propensity of foulants. CFS-MFI(UF) was found sensitive to crossflow velocity. The crossflow velocity in the crossflow sampler unit influences the particle concentration and the particle size distribution in its permeate. CFS-MFI(UF) was also found sensitive to the permeate flux of both CFS and the dead-end cell. To closely simulate the hydrodynamic conditions of a crossflow RO unit, the flux used for CFS-MFI(UF) measurement was critical. The best option is to operate both the CFS and dead-end permeate flux at flux which is normally operated at industry RO units (∼20 L/m(2)h), but this would prolong the test duration excessively. In this study, the dead-end flux was accelerated by reducing the dead-end membrane area while maintaining the CFS permeate flux at 20 L/m(2)h. By doing so, a flux correction factor was investigated and applied to correlate the CFS-MFI(UF) measured at dead-end flux of 120 L/m(2)h to CFS-MFI(UF) measured at dead-end flux of 20 L/m(2)h for RO fouling rate prediction. Using this flux correction factor, the test duration of CFS-MFI(UF) can be shortened from 15 h to 2h. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emptying patterns of the lung studied by multiple-breath N2 washout

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lewis, S. M.

1978-01-01

Changes in the nitrogen concentration seen during the single-breath nitrogen washout reflect changes in relative flow (ventilation) from units with differing ventilation/volume ratios. The multiple-breath washout provides sufficient data on ventilation for units with varying ventilation/volume ratios to be plotted as a function of the volume expired. Flow from the dead space may also be determined. In young normals the emptying patterns are narrow and unimodal throughout the alveolar plateau with little or no flow from the dead space at the end of the breath. Older normals show more flow from the dead space, particularly toward the end of the breath, and some show a high ventilation/volume ratio mode early in the breath. Patients with obstructive lung disease have a high flow from the dead space which is present throughout the breath. A well ventilated mode at the end of the breath is seen in some obstructed subjects. Patients with cystic fibrosis showed a poorly ventilated mode appearing at the end of the breath as well as a very high dead space.

9 CFR 82.6 - Interstate movement of dead birds and dead poultry from a quarantined area.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Interstate movement of dead birds and dead poultry from a quarantined area. 82.6 Section 82.6 Animals and Animal Products ANIMAL AND PLANT... (END) § 82.6 Interstate movement of dead birds and dead poultry from a quarantined area. (a) Except as...

9 CFR 82.6 - Interstate movement of dead birds and dead poultry from a quarantined area.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Interstate movement of dead birds and dead poultry from a quarantined area. 82.6 Section 82.6 Animals and Animal Products ANIMAL AND PLANT... (END) § 82.6 Interstate movement of dead birds and dead poultry from a quarantined area. (a) Except as...

Finding the global minimum: a fuzzy end elimination implementation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keller, D. A.; Shibata, M.; Marcus, E.; Ornstein, R. L.; Rein, R.

1995-01-01

The 'fuzzy end elimination theorem' (FEE) is a mathematically proven theorem that identifies rotameric states in proteins which are incompatible with the global minimum energy conformation. While implementing the FEE we noticed two different aspects that directly affected the final results at convergence. First, the identification of a single dead-ending rotameric state can trigger a 'domino effect' that initiates the identification of additional rotameric states which become dead-ending. A recursive check for dead-ending rotameric states is therefore necessary every time a dead-ending rotameric state is identified. It is shown that, if the recursive check is omitted, it is possible to miss the identification of some dead-ending rotameric states causing a premature termination of the elimination process. Second, we examined the effects of removing dead-ending rotameric states from further considerations at different moments of time. Two different methods of rotameric state removal were examined for an order dependence. In one case, each rotamer found to be incompatible with the global minimum energy conformation was removed immediately following its identification. In the other, dead-ending rotamers were marked for deletion but retained during the search, so that they influenced the evaluation of other rotameric states. When the search was completed, all marked rotamers were removed simultaneously. In addition, to expand further the usefulness of the FEE, a novel method is presented that allows for further reduction in the remaining set of conformations at the FEE convergence. In this method, called a tree-based search, each dead-ending pair of rotamers which does not lead to the direct removal of either rotameric state is used to reduce significantly the number of remaining conformations. In the future this method can also be expanded to triplet and quadruplet sets of rotameric states. We tested our implementation of the FEE by exhaustively searching ten protein segments and found that the FEE identified the global minimum every time. For each segment, the global minimum was exhaustively searched in two different environments: (i) the segments were extracted from the protein and exhaustively searched in the absence of the surrounding residues; (ii) the segments were exhaustively searched in the presence of the remaining residues fixed at crystal structure conformations. We also evaluated the performance of the method for accurately predicting side chain conformations. We examined the influence of factors such as type and accuracy of backbone template used, and the restrictions imposed by the choice of potential function, parameterization and rotamer database. Conclusions are drawn on these results and future prospects are given.

Killing a Novel Metaphor and Reviving a Dead One: ERP Correlates of Metaphor Conventionalization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldstein, Abraham; Arzouan, Yossi; Faust, Miriam

2012-01-01

Novel metaphors are constantly created and some of them become conventional with repeated use. We investigated whether the processing of novel metaphors, as revealed in ERP waveforms, would change after inducing a metaphoric category merely by having participants explain the meaning of an expression. Participants performed a semantic judgment task…

Semantic transparency affects morphological priming . . . eventually.

PubMed

Heyer, Vera; Kornishova, Dana

2018-05-01

Semantic transparency has been in the focus of psycholinguistic research for decades, with the controversy about the time course of the application of morpho-semantic information during the processing of morphologically complex words not yet resolved. This study reports two masked priming studies with English - ness and Russian - ost' nominalisations, investigating how semantic transparency modulates native speakers' morphological priming effects at short and long stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). In both languages, we found increased morphological priming for nominalisations at the transparent end of the scale (e.g. paleness - pale) in comparison to items at the opaque end of the scale (e.g. business - busy) but only at longer prime durations. The present findings are in line with models that posit an initial phase of morpho-orthographic (semantically blind) decomposition.

29 CFR 1926.1414 - Wire rope-selection and installation criteria.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... sockets must be attached to the unloaded dead end of the rope only, except that the use of devices specifically designed for dead-ending rope in a wedge socket is permitted. (g) Socketing must be done in the...

29 CFR 1926.1414 - Wire rope-selection and installation criteria.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... sockets must be attached to the unloaded dead end of the rope only, except that the use of devices specifically designed for dead-ending rope in a wedge socket is permitted. (g) Socketing must be done in the...

29 CFR 1926.1414 - Wire rope-selection and installation criteria.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... sockets must be attached to the unloaded dead end of the rope only, except that the use of devices specifically designed for dead-ending rope in a wedge socket is permitted. (g) Socketing must be done in the...

The interaction of lexical tone, intonation and semantic context in on-line spoken word recognition: an ERP study on Cantonese Chinese.

PubMed

Kung, Carmen; Chwilla, Dorothee J; Schriefers, Herbert

2014-01-01

In two ERP experiments, we investigate the on-line interplay of lexical tone, intonation and semantic context during spoken word recognition in Cantonese Chinese. Experiment 1 shows that lexical tone and intonation interact immediately. Words with a low lexical tone at the end of questions (with a rising question intonation) lead to a processing conflict. This is reflected in a low accuracy in lexical identification and in a P600 effect compared to the same words at the end of a statement. Experiment 2 shows that a strongly biasing semantic context leads to much better lexical-identification performance for words with a low tone at the end of questions and to a disappearance of the P600 effect. These results support the claim that semantic context plays a major role in disentangling the tonal information from the intonational information, and thus, in resolving the on-line conflict between intonation and tone. However, the ERP data indicate that the introduction of a semantic context does not entirely eliminate on-line processing problems for words at the end of questions. This is revealed by the presence of an N400 effect for words with a low lexical tone and for words with a high-mid lexical tone at the end of questions. The ERP data thus show that, while semantic context helps in the eventual lexical identification, it makes the deviation of the contextually expected lexical tone from the actual acoustic signal more salient. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

CHLORINE DECAY AND BIOFILM STUDIES IN A PILOT SCALE DRINKING WATER DISTRIBUTION DEAD END PIPE SYSTEM

EPA Science Inventory

Chlorine decay experiments using a pilot-scale water distribution dead end pipe system were conducted to define relationships between chlorine decay and environmental factors. These included flow rate, biomass concentration and biofilm density, and initial chlorine concentrations...

Water Quality Modeling in the Dead End Sections of Drinking Water Distribution Networks

EPA Science Inventory

Dead-end sections of drinking water distribution networks are known to be problematic zones in terms of water quality degradation. Extended residence time due to water stagnation leads to rapid reduction of disinfectant residuals allowing the regrowth of microbial pathogens. Wate...

Directional effect in double conditionals with a construction task: The semantic hypothesis.

PubMed

Espino, Orlando; Morales, Tarek; Bolaños-Medina, Alicia

2017-09-01

The goal of this paper is to test the main predictions of the semantic hypothesis about the directional effect in double conditionals (such as, 'A only if B/only if C, B') with a construction task. The semantic hypothesis claims that directional effect can be explained by the inherent directionality of the relation between the relatum and the target object of the premises. According to this hypothesis, a directional effect should occur if only one of the end-terms of the premises takes the role of relatum: a) if the end-term that plays the role of relatum is in the first premise, a forward directional effect is predicted (from A to C); and b) if the end-term that plays the role of relatum is in the second premise, a backward directional effect is predicted (from C to A). On the other hand, it claims that there should be no directional effect when both end-terms take the role of relatum or when neither of the end-terms plays the role of relatum. Three experiments confirmed the main predictions of the semantic hypothesis in a construction task. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Do you remember? How caregivers question their spouses who have Alzheimer's disease and the impact on communication.

PubMed

Small, Jeff A; Perry, JoAnn

2005-02-01

This study examined the types of questions caregivers use and their outcomes when conversing with their spouse with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Of particular interest was caregivers' use of yes-no and open-ended questions and the demands they make on the memory of the person with AD. It was hypothesized that communication between caregivers and their spouses would be more successful when caregivers used yes-no rather than open-ended questions; however, it was also predicted that a more positive communication outcome would occur when caregivers used open-ended questions that requested information from semantic rather than episodic memory. Eighteen caregivers and their spouses diagnosed with AD were audiotaped while they conversed for approximately 10 min on a topic of their choosing. The conversations were transcribed and coded according to the occurrence of questions, the type of question (yes-no, choice, or open-ended), the type of memory required to respond to a question (semantic or episodic), and the outcome of a response to a question (communication breakdown). The results indicated that caregivers used yes-no and open-ended questions to a similar extent, whereas episodic questions were used almost twice as frequently as semantic questions. Communication was more successful when caregivers used yes-no compared with open-ended questions and when questions placed demands on semantic rather than episodic memory. The findings from this study suggest that caregivers can reduce communication problems by avoiding the use of questions that depend on episodic memory. In addition, while yes-no questions were associated with more favorable outcomes than open-ended questions, the latter do not need to be avoided if they refer to information that draws only on semantic memory.

Water Quality Modeling in the Dead End Sections of Drinking Water Distribution Networks -journal article

EPA Science Inventory

Dead-end sections of drinking water distribution networks are known to be problematic zones in terms of water quality degradation. Extended residence time due to water stagnation leads to rapid reduction of disinfectant residuals allowing the regrowth of microbial pathogens. Wate...

DNA-carbon nano onion aggregate: triangle, hexagon, six-petal flower to dead-end network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Babar, Dipak Gorakh; Pakhira, Bholanath; Sarkar, Sabyasachi

2017-08-01

The interaction between calf-thymus (CT) dsDNA and water soluble carbon nano onion (wsCNO) in water follows denaturation of dsDNA (double stranded) to ssDNA (single stranded) as monitored by optical spectroscopy. The ssDNA concomitantly wraps the spiky surface of wsCNO to create triangular aggregate as the building block as observed by time-dependent SEM images. These triangles further aggregate leading to six-petal flower arrangement via hexagon and finally reach a dead end network as imaged by SEM and optical fluorescence microscopy. The dead-end network aggregate lost the intrinsic optical property of DNA suggesting complete loss of its activity.

Phytophthora ramorum is a generalist plant pathogen with differences in virulence between isolates from infectious and dead-end hosts

Treesearch

D. Huberli; M. Garbelotto

2011-01-01

Variation in virulence was examined among isolates of Phytophthora ramorum from epidemiologically important or infectious (non-oak) and transmissive dead-end (oak) hosts from North America. Twelve isolates representative of the genetic, geographic and host range of P. ramorum in the western United States were inoculated on...

Semantic Processing in Children and Adults: Incongruity and the N400

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benau, Erik M.; Morris, Joanna; Couperus, J. W.

2011-01-01

Semantic processing in 10-year-old children and adults was examined using event related potentials (ERPs). The N400 component, an index of semantic processing, was studied in relation to sentences that ended with congruent, moderately incongruent, or strongly incongruent words. N400 amplitude in adults corresponded to levels of semantic…

Semantic Processing in the Production of Numerals across Notations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herrera, Amparo; Macizo, Pedro

2012-01-01

In the present work, we conducted a series of experiments to explore the processing stages required to name numerals presented in different notations. To this end, we used the semantic blocking paradigm previously used in psycholinguist studies. We found a facilitative effect of the semantic blocked context relative to the mixed context for Arabic…

Size-dependent control of colloid transport via solute gradients in dead-end channels

PubMed Central

Shin, Sangwoo; Um, Eujin; Sabass, Benedikt; Ault, Jesse T.; Rahimi, Mohammad; Warren, Patrick B.; Stone, Howard A.

2016-01-01

Transport of colloids in dead-end channels is involved in widespread applications including drug delivery and underground oil and gas recovery. In such geometries, Brownian motion may be considered as the sole mechanism that enables transport of colloidal particles into or out of the channels, but it is, unfortunately, an extremely inefficient transport mechanism for microscale particles. Here, we explore the possibility of diffusiophoresis as a means to control the colloid transport in dead-end channels by introducing a solute gradient. We demonstrate that the transport of colloidal particles into the dead-end channels can be either enhanced or completely prevented via diffusiophoresis. In addition, we show that size-dependent diffusiophoretic transport of particles can be achieved by considering a finite Debye layer thickness effect, which is commonly ignored. A combination of diffusiophoresis and Brownian motion leads to a strong size-dependent focusing effect such that the larger particles tend to concentrate more and reside deeper in the channel. Our findings have implications for all manners of controlled release processes, especially for site-specific delivery systems where localized targeting of particles with minimal dispersion to the nontarget area is essential. PMID:26715753

Anticipation in turn-taking: mechanisms and information sources.

PubMed

Riest, Carina; Jorschick, Annett B; de Ruiter, Jan P

2015-01-01

During conversations participants alternate smoothly between speaker and hearer roles with only brief pauses and overlaps. There are two competing types of accounts about how conversationalists accomplish this: (a) the signaling approach and (b) the anticipatory ('projection') approach. We wanted to investigate, first, the relative merits of these two accounts, and second, the relative contribution of semantic and syntactic information to the timing of next turn initiation. We performed three button-press experiments using turn fragments taken from natural conversations to address the following questions: (a) Is turn-taking predominantly based on anticipation or on reaction, and (b) what is the relative contribution of semantic and syntactic information to accurate turn-taking. In our first experiment we gradually manipulated the information available for anticipation of the turn end (providing information about the turn end in advance to completely removing linguistic information). The results of our first experiment show that the distribution of the participants' estimation of turn-endings for natural turns is very similar to the distribution for pure anticipation. We conclude that listeners are indeed able to anticipate a turn-end and that this strategy is predominantly used in turn-taking. In Experiment 2 we collected purely reacted responses. We used the distributions from Experiments 1 and 2 together to estimate a new dependent variable called Reaction Anticipation Proportion. We used this variable in our third experiment where we manipulated the presence vs. absence of semantic and syntactic information by low-pass filtering open-class and closed class words in the turn. The results suggest that for turn-end anticipation, both semantic and syntactic information are needed, but that the semantic information is a more important anticipation cue than syntactic information.

Anticipation in turn-taking: mechanisms and information sources

PubMed Central

Riest, Carina; Jorschick, Annett B.; de Ruiter, Jan P.

2015-01-01

During conversations participants alternate smoothly between speaker and hearer roles with only brief pauses and overlaps. There are two competing types of accounts about how conversationalists accomplish this: (a) the signaling approach and (b) the anticipatory (‘projection’) approach. We wanted to investigate, first, the relative merits of these two accounts, and second, the relative contribution of semantic and syntactic information to the timing of next turn initiation. We performed three button-press experiments using turn fragments taken from natural conversations to address the following questions: (a) Is turn-taking predominantly based on anticipation or on reaction, and (b) what is the relative contribution of semantic and syntactic information to accurate turn-taking. In our first experiment we gradually manipulated the information available for anticipation of the turn end (providing information about the turn end in advance to completely removing linguistic information). The results of our first experiment show that the distribution of the participants’ estimation of turn-endings for natural turns is very similar to the distribution for pure anticipation. We conclude that listeners are indeed able to anticipate a turn-end and that this strategy is predominantly used in turn-taking. In Experiment 2 we collected purely reacted responses. We used the distributions from Experiments 1 and 2 together to estimate a new dependent variable called Reaction Anticipation Proportion. We used this variable in our third experiment where we manipulated the presence vs. absence of semantic and syntactic information by low-pass filtering open-class and closed class words in the turn. The results suggest that for turn-end anticipation, both semantic and syntactic information are needed, but that the semantic information is a more important anticipation cue than syntactic information. PMID:25699004

Brain network of semantic integration in sentence reading: insights from independent component analysis and graph theoretical analysis.

PubMed

Ye, Zheng; Doñamayor, Nuria; Münte, Thomas F

2014-02-01

A set of cortical and sub-cortical brain structures has been linked with sentence-level semantic processes. However, it remains unclear how these brain regions are organized to support the semantic integration of a word into sentential context. To look into this issue, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study that required participants to silently read sentences with semantically congruent or incongruent endings and analyzed the network properties of the brain with two approaches, independent component analysis (ICA) and graph theoretical analysis (GTA). The GTA suggested that the whole-brain network is topologically stable across conditions. The ICA revealed a network comprising the supplementary motor area (SMA), left inferior frontal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, left caudate nucleus, and left angular gyrus, which was modulated by the incongruity of sentence ending. Furthermore, the GTA specified that the connections between the left SMA and left caudate nucleus as well as that between the left caudate nucleus and right thalamus were stronger in response to incongruent vs. congruent endings. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Effects of Antifoam Agent on Dead End Filtration Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohamad Pauzi, S.; Ahmad, N.; Yahya, M. F.; Arifin, M. A.

2018-05-01

The formation of foam as a result from introducing gases during cell culture process in the bioprocess industry has indirectly affected the throughput of the product of interest. Due to that, antifoams were developed and established as one of the means to minimize the formation of foam in the cell culture. There are many types of antifoams but the silicone-type of antifoams are widely used in the bioprocess industry. Although the establishment of antifoam has aided the cell culture process, the impacts of its presence in the cell culture to the downstream process especially the dead end filtration is not widely discussed. The findings in the study emphasized on the dead end filtration performance that includes flux rate profile and the resulted filtration capacity. In this study, the concentrations of antifoam injected into the solution were varied from 0.2% v/v – 1.0% v/v and the solutions were filtered using constant flow method. The resulted maximum pressure readings and final flux rates indicated that the resistance exerted to the feed flow rate increased as the concentration of antifoam loaded in the solution increased. This later has led to the decline in the flux rates with percentage reduction between 32 – 68%. The calculated filter capacity for flux rate of 1000LMH ranged from 53 – 63L/m2 while it is in the range of 40 – 43L/m2 for flux rate of 2000LMH. The presence of antifoam agents in the feed load was determined to have negative effects on the dead end filtration performance and it may reduce the efficiency of the dead end filtration process.

Building a Semantic Framework for eScience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Movva, S.; Ramachandran, R.; Maskey, M.; Li, X.

2009-12-01

The e-Science vision focuses on the use of advanced computing technologies to support scientists. Recent research efforts in this area have focused primarily on “enabling” use of infrastructure resources for both data and computational access especially in Geosciences. One of the existing gaps in the existing e-Science efforts has been the failure to incorporate stable semantic technologies within the design process itself. In this presentation, we describe our effort in designing a framework for e-Science built using Service Oriented Architecture. Our framework provides users capabilities to create science workflows and mine distributed data. Our e-Science framework is being designed around a mass market tool to promote reusability across many projects. Semantics is an integral part of this framework and our design goal is to leverage the latest stable semantic technologies. The use of these stable semantic technologies will provide the users of our framework the useful features such as: allow search engines to find their content with RDFa tags; create RDF triple data store for their content; create RDF end points to share with others; and semantically mash their content with other online content available as RDF end point.

Water quality modeling in the dead end sections of drinking water (Supplement)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Dead-end sections of drinking water distribution networks are known to be problematic zones in terms of water quality degradation. Extended residence time due to water stagnation leads to rapid reduction of disinfectant residuals allowing the regrowth of microbial pathogens. Water quality models developed so far apply spatial aggregation and temporal averaging techniques for hydraulic parameters by assigning hourly averaged water demands to the main nodes of the network. Although this practice has generally resulted in minimal loss of accuracy for the predicted disinfectant concentrations in main water transmission lines, this is not the case for the peripheries of the distribution network. This study proposes a new approach for simulating disinfectant residuals in dead end pipes while accounting for both spatial and temporal variability in hydraulic and transport parameters. A stochastic demand generator was developed to represent residential water pulses based on a non-homogenous Poisson process. Dispersive solute transport was considered using highly dynamic dispersion rates. A genetic algorithm was used tocalibrate the axial hydraulic profile of the dead-end pipe based on the different demand shares of the withdrawal nodes. A parametric sensitivity analysis was done to assess the model performance under variation of different simulation parameters. A group of Monte-Carlo ensembles was carried out to investigate the influence of spatial and temporal variation

Water Quality Modeling in the Dead End Sections of Drinking ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Dead-end sections of drinking water distribution networks are known to be problematic zones in terms of water quality degradation. Extended residence time due to water stagnation leads to rapid reduction of disinfectant residuals allowing the regrowth of microbial pathogens. Water quality models developed so far apply spatial aggregation and temporal averaging techniques for hydraulic parameters by assigning hourly averaged water demands to the main nodes of the network. Although this practice has generally resulted in minimal loss of accuracy for the predicted disinfectant concentrations in main water transmission lines, this is not the case for the peripheries of a distribution network. This study proposes a new approach for simulating disinfectant residuals in dead end pipes while accounting for both spatial and temporal variability in hydraulic and transport parameters. A stochastic demand generator was developed to represent residential water pulses based on a non-homogenous Poisson process. Dispersive solute transport was considered using highly dynamic dispersion rates. A genetic algorithm was used to calibrate the axial hydraulic profile of the dead-end pipe based on the different demand shares of the withdrawal nodes. A parametric sensitivity analysis was done to assess the model performance under variation of different simulation parameters. A group of Monte-Carlo ensembles was carried out to investigate the influence of spatial and temporal variations

A dual mode breath sampler for the collection of the end-tidal and dead space fractions.

PubMed

Salvo, P; Ferrari, C; Persia, R; Ghimenti, S; Lomonaco, T; Bellagambi, F; Di Francesco, F

2015-06-01

This work presents a breath sampler prototype automatically collecting end-tidal (single and multiple breaths) or dead space air fractions (multiple breaths). This result is achieved by real time measurements of the CO2 partial pressure and airflow during the expiratory and inspiratory phases. Suitable algorithms, used to control a solenoid valve, guarantee that a Nalophan(®) bag is filled with the selected breath fraction even if the subject under test hyperventilates. The breath sampler has low pressure drop (<0.5 kPa) and uses inert or disposable components to avoid bacteriological risk for the patients and contamination of the breath samples. A fully customisable software interface allows a real time control of the hardware and software status. The performances of the breath sampler were evaluated by comparing (a) the CO2 partial pressure calculated during the sampling with the CO2 pressure measured off-line within the Nalophan(®) bag; (b) the concentrations of four selected volatile organic compounds in dead space, end-tidal and mixed breath fractions. Results showed negligible deviations between calculated and off-line CO2 pressure values and the distributions of the selected compounds into dead space, end-tidal and mixed breath fractions were in agreement with their chemical-physical properties. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Relations between Semantic and Cognitive Development in the One-Word Stage: The Specificity Hypothesis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gopnik, Alison; Meltzoff, Andrew N.

1986-01-01

Compares two types of semantic development (the acquisition of disappearance words and success-failure words) to performance on two types of cognitive tasks (object-permanence and means-ends tasks) among infants. (HOD)

Perturbative search for dead-end CFTs

DOE PAGES

Nakayama, Yu

2015-05-08

To explore the possibility of self-organized criticality, we look for CFTs without any relevant scalar deformations (a.k.a. dead-end CFTs) within power-counting renormalizable quantum field theories with a weakly coupled Lagrangian description. In three dimensions, the only candidates are pure (Abelian) gauge theories, which may be further deformed by Chern-Simons terms. In four dimensions, we show that there are infinitely many non-trivial candidates based on chiral gauge theories. Using the three-loop beta functions, we compute the gap of scaling dimensions above the marginal value, and it can be as small as O(10 –5) and robust against the perturbative corrections. These classesmore » of candidates are very weakly coupled and our perturbative conclusion seems difficult to refute. Furthermore, the hypothesis that non-trivial dead-end CFTs do not exist is likely to be false in four dimensions.« less

Perturbative search for dead-end CFTs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nakayama, Yu

To explore the possibility of self-organized criticality, we look for CFTs without any relevant scalar deformations (a.k.a. dead-end CFTs) within power-counting renormalizable quantum field theories with a weakly coupled Lagrangian description. In three dimensions, the only candidates are pure (Abelian) gauge theories, which may be further deformed by Chern-Simons terms. In four dimensions, we show that there are infinitely many non-trivial candidates based on chiral gauge theories. Using the three-loop beta functions, we compute the gap of scaling dimensions above the marginal value, and it can be as small as O(10 –5) and robust against the perturbative corrections. These classesmore » of candidates are very weakly coupled and our perturbative conclusion seems difficult to refute. Furthermore, the hypothesis that non-trivial dead-end CFTs do not exist is likely to be false in four dimensions.« less

Early Obstacle Detection and Avoidance for All to All Traffic Pattern in Wireless Sensor Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huc, Florian; Jarry, Aubin; Leone, Pierre; Moraru, Luminita; Nikoletseas, Sotiris; Rolim, Jose

This paper deals with early obstacles recognition in wireless sensor networks under various traffic patterns. In the presence of obstacles, the efficiency of routing algorithms is increased by voluntarily avoiding some regions in the vicinity of obstacles, areas which we call dead-ends. In this paper, we first propose a fast convergent routing algorithm with proactive dead-end detection together with a formal definition and description of dead-ends. Secondly, we present a generalization of this algorithm which improves performances in all to many and all to all traffic patterns. In a third part we prove that this algorithm produces paths that are optimal up to a constant factor of 2π + 1. In a fourth part we consider the reactive version of the algorithm which is an extension of a previously known early obstacle detection algorithm. Finally we give experimental results to illustrate the efficiency of our algorithms in different scenarios.

Structure Discovery in Large Semantic Graphs Using Extant Ontological Scaling and Descriptive Statistics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

al-Saffar, Sinan; Joslyn, Cliff A.; Chappell, Alan R.

As semantic datasets grow to be very large and divergent, there is a need to identify and exploit their inherent semantic structure for discovery and optimization. Towards that end, we present here a novel methodology to identify the semantic structures inherent in an arbitrary semantic graph dataset. We first present the concept of an extant ontology as a statistical description of the semantic relations present amongst the typed entities modeled in the graph. This serves as a model of the underlying semantic structure to aid in discovery and visualization. We then describe a method of ontological scaling in which themore » ontology is employed as a hierarchical scaling filter to infer different resolution levels at which the graph structures are to be viewed or analyzed. We illustrate these methods on three large and publicly available semantic datasets containing more than one billion edges each. Keywords-Semantic Web; Visualization; Ontology; Multi-resolution Data Mining;« less

The dead donor rule: effect on the virtuous practice of medicine.

PubMed

Chaten, Frank C

2014-07-01

The President's Council on Bioethics in 2008 reaffirmed the necessity of the dead donor rule and the legitimacy of the current criteria for diagnosing both neurological and cardiac death. In spite of this report,many have continued to express concerns about the ethics of donation after circulatory death, the validity of determining death using neurological criteria and the necessity for maintaining the dead donor rule for organ donation. I analysed the dead donor rule for its effect on the virtuous practice of medicine by physicians caring for potential organ donors. The dead donor rule consistently impedes physicians in fulfilling their primary duty to act for the good of their prospective donor patients. This compromises the virtue of fidelity. It also weakens many other virtues necessary for physicians to provide excellent end-of-life care. The dead donor rule, while ethically powerful in theory, loses its force during translation to the bedside. This is so because the rule mandates simultaneous life and death within the same body for organ donation, a biological status that is inherently contradictory. The rule should be rejected as an ethical norm governing vital organ transplantation at the end of life. Its elimination will strengthen the doctor–patient relationship and foster trustworthiness in organ procurement.

Design and Test of a 65nm CMOS Front-End with Zero Dead Time for Next Generation Pixel Detectors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gaioni, L.; Braga, D.; Christian, D.

This work is concerned with the experimental characterization of a synchronous analog processor with zero dead time developed in a 65 nm CMOS technology, conceived for pixel detectors at the HL-LHC experiment upgrades. It includes a low noise, fast charge sensitive amplifier with detector leakage compensation circuit, and a compact, single ended comparator able to correctly process hits belonging to two consecutive bunch crossing periods. A 2-bit Flash ADC is exploited for digital conversion immediately after the preamplifier. A description of the circuits integrated in the front-end processor and the initial characterization results are provided

Insights from child development on the relationship between episodic and semantic memory.

PubMed

Robertson, Erin K; Köhler, Stefan

2007-11-05

The present study was motivated by a recent controversy in the neuropsychological literature on semantic dementia as to whether episodic encoding requires semantic processing or whether it can proceed solely based on perceptual processing. We addressed this issue by examining the effect of age-related limitations in semantic competency on episodic memory in 4-6-year-old children (n=67). We administered three different forced-choice recognition memory tests for pictures previously encountered in a single study episode. The tests varied in the degree to which access to semantically encoded information was required at retrieval. Semantic competency predicted recognition performance regardless of whether access to semantic information was required. A direct relation between picture naming at encoding and subsequent recognition was also found for all tests. Our findings emphasize the importance of semantic encoding processes even in retrieval situations that purportedly do not require access to semantic information. They also highlight the importance of testing neuropsychological models of memory in different populations, healthy and brain damaged, at both ends of the developmental continuum.

A percolation approach to study the high electric field effect on electrical conductivity of insulating polymer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benallou, Amina; Hadri, Baghdad; Martinez-Vega, Juan; El Islam Boukortt, Nour

2018-04-01

The effect of percolation threshold on the behaviour of electrical conductivity at high electric field of insulating polymers has been briefly investigated in literature. Sometimes the dead ends links are not taken into account in the study of the electric field effect on the electrical properties. In this work, we present a theoretical framework and Monte Carlo simulation of the behaviour of the electric conductivity at high electric field based on the percolation theory using the traps energies levels which are distributed according to distribution law (uniform, Gaussian, and power-law). When a solid insulating material is subjected to a high electric field, and during trapping mechanism the dead ends of traps affect with decreasing the electric conductivity according to the traps energies levels, the correlation length of the clusters, the length of the dead ends, and the concentration of the accessible positions for the electrons. A reasonably good agreement is obtained between simulation results and the theoretical framework.

Service composition towards increasing end-user accessibility.

PubMed

Kaklanis, Nikolaos; Votis, Konstantinos; Tzovaras, Dimitrios

2015-01-01

This paper presents the Cloud4all Service Synthesizer Tool, a framework that enables efficient orchestration of accessibility services, as well as their combination into complex forms, providing more advanced functionalities towards increasing the accessibility of end-users with various types of functional limitations. The supported services are described formally within an ontology, enabling, thus, semantic service composition. The proposed service composition approach is based on semantic matching between services specifications on the one hand and user needs/preferences and current context of use on the other hand. The use of automatic composition of accessibility services can significantly enhance end-users' accessibility, especially in cases where assistive solutions are not available in their device.

The association of personal semantic memory to identity representations: insight into higher-order networks of autobiographical contents.

PubMed

Grilli, Matthew D

2017-11-01

Identity representations are higher-order knowledge structures that organise autobiographical memories on the basis of personality and role-based themes of one's self-concept. In two experiments, the extent to which different types of personal semantic content are reflected in these higher-order networks of memories was investigated. Healthy, young adult participants generated identity representations that varied in remoteness of formation and verbally reflected on these themes in an open-ended narrative task. The narrative responses were scored for retrieval of episodic, experience-near personal semantic and experience-far (i.e., abstract) personal semantic contents. Results revealed that to reflect on remotely formed identity representations, experience-far personal semantic contents were retrieved more than experience-near personal semantic contents. In contrast, to reflect on recently formed identity representations, experience-near personal semantic contents were retrieved more than experience-far personal semantic contents. Although episodic memory contents were retrieved less than both personal semantic content types to reflect on remotely formed identity representations, this content type was retrieved at a similar frequency as experience-far personal semantic content to reflect on recently formed identity representations. These findings indicate that the association of personal semantic content to identity representations is robust and related to time since acquisition of these knowledge structures.

Novel metaphor comprehension: Semantic neighbourhood density interacts with concreteness.

PubMed

Al-Azary, Hamad; Buchanan, Lori

2017-02-01

Previous research suggests that metaphor comprehension is affected both by the concreteness of the topic and vehicle and their semantic neighbours (Kintsch, 2000; Xu, 2010). However, studies have yet to manipulate these 2 variables simultaneously. To that end, we composed novel metaphors manipulated on topic concreteness and semantic neighbourhood density (SND) of topic and vehicle. In Experiment 1, participants rated the metaphors on the suitability (e.g. sensibility) of their topic-vehicle pairings. Topic concreteness interacted with SND such that participants rated metaphors from sparse semantic spaces to be more sensible than those from dense semantic spaces and preferred abstract topics over concrete topics only for metaphors from dense semantic spaces. In Experiments 2 and 3, we used presentation deadlines and found that topic concreteness and SND affect the online processing stages associated with metaphor comprehension. We discuss how the results are aligned with established psycholinguistic models of metaphor comprehension.

The N400 and the P300 are not all that independent.

PubMed

Arbel, Yael; Spencer, Kevin M; Donchin, Emanuel

2011-06-01

This study assessed whether two ERP components that are elicited by unexpected events interact. The conditions that are known to elicit the N400 and the P300 ERP components were applied separately and in combination to terminal-words in sentences. Each sentence ended with a terminal-word that was highly expected, semantically unexpected, physically deviant, or both semantically unexpected and physically deviant. In addition, we varied the level of semantic relatedness between the unexpected terminal-words and the expected exemplars. Physically deviant words elicited a P300, whereas semantically unexpected words elicited an N400, whose amplitude was sensitive to the level of semantic relatedness. Words that were both semantically unexpected and physically deviant elicited both an N400 with enhanced amplitude, and a P300 with reduced amplitude. These results suggest an interaction between the processes manifested by the two components. Copyright © 2010 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

A common type system for clinical natural language processing

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background One challenge in reusing clinical data stored in electronic medical records is that these data are heterogenous. Clinical Natural Language Processing (NLP) plays an important role in transforming information in clinical text to a standard representation that is comparable and interoperable. Information may be processed and shared when a type system specifies the allowable data structures. Therefore, we aim to define a common type system for clinical NLP that enables interoperability between structured and unstructured data generated in different clinical settings. Results We describe a common type system for clinical NLP that has an end target of deep semantics based on Clinical Element Models (CEMs), thus interoperating with structured data and accommodating diverse NLP approaches. The type system has been implemented in UIMA (Unstructured Information Management Architecture) and is fully functional in a popular open-source clinical NLP system, cTAKES (clinical Text Analysis and Knowledge Extraction System) versions 2.0 and later. Conclusions We have created a type system that targets deep semantics, thereby allowing for NLP systems to encapsulate knowledge from text and share it alongside heterogenous clinical data sources. Rather than surface semantics that are typically the end product of NLP algorithms, CEM-based semantics explicitly build in deep clinical semantics as the point of interoperability with more structured data types. PMID:23286462

Leveraging Pattern Semantics for Extracting Entities in Enterprises

PubMed Central

Tao, Fangbo; Zhao, Bo; Fuxman, Ariel; Li, Yang; Han, Jiawei

2015-01-01

Entity Extraction is a process of identifying meaningful entities from text documents. In enterprises, extracting entities improves enterprise efficiency by facilitating numerous applications, including search, recommendation, etc. However, the problem is particularly challenging on enterprise domains due to several reasons. First, the lack of redundancy of enterprise entities makes previous web-based systems like NELL and OpenIE not effective, since using only high-precision/low-recall patterns like those systems would miss the majority of sparse enterprise entities, while using more low-precision patterns in sparse setting also introduces noise drastically. Second, semantic drift is common in enterprises (“Blue” refers to “Windows Blue”), such that public signals from the web cannot be directly applied on entities. Moreover, many internal entities never appear on the web. Sparse internal signals are the only source for discovering them. To address these challenges, we propose an end-to-end framework for extracting entities in enterprises, taking the input of enterprise corpus and limited seeds to generate a high-quality entity collection as output. We introduce the novel concept of Semantic Pattern Graph to leverage public signals to understand the underlying semantics of lexical patterns, reinforce pattern evaluation using mined semantics, and yield more accurate and complete entities. Experiments on Microsoft enterprise data show the effectiveness of our approach. PMID:26705540

Leveraging Pattern Semantics for Extracting Entities in Enterprises.

PubMed

Tao, Fangbo; Zhao, Bo; Fuxman, Ariel; Li, Yang; Han, Jiawei

2015-05-01

Entity Extraction is a process of identifying meaningful entities from text documents. In enterprises, extracting entities improves enterprise efficiency by facilitating numerous applications, including search, recommendation, etc. However, the problem is particularly challenging on enterprise domains due to several reasons. First, the lack of redundancy of enterprise entities makes previous web-based systems like NELL and OpenIE not effective, since using only high-precision/low-recall patterns like those systems would miss the majority of sparse enterprise entities, while using more low-precision patterns in sparse setting also introduces noise drastically. Second, semantic drift is common in enterprises ("Blue" refers to "Windows Blue"), such that public signals from the web cannot be directly applied on entities. Moreover, many internal entities never appear on the web. Sparse internal signals are the only source for discovering them. To address these challenges, we propose an end-to-end framework for extracting entities in enterprises, taking the input of enterprise corpus and limited seeds to generate a high-quality entity collection as output. We introduce the novel concept of Semantic Pattern Graph to leverage public signals to understand the underlying semantics of lexical patterns, reinforce pattern evaluation using mined semantics, and yield more accurate and complete entities. Experiments on Microsoft enterprise data show the effectiveness of our approach.

A common type system for clinical natural language processing.

PubMed

Wu, Stephen T; Kaggal, Vinod C; Dligach, Dmitriy; Masanz, James J; Chen, Pei; Becker, Lee; Chapman, Wendy W; Savova, Guergana K; Liu, Hongfang; Chute, Christopher G

2013-01-03

One challenge in reusing clinical data stored in electronic medical records is that these data are heterogenous. Clinical Natural Language Processing (NLP) plays an important role in transforming information in clinical text to a standard representation that is comparable and interoperable. Information may be processed and shared when a type system specifies the allowable data structures. Therefore, we aim to define a common type system for clinical NLP that enables interoperability between structured and unstructured data generated in different clinical settings. We describe a common type system for clinical NLP that has an end target of deep semantics based on Clinical Element Models (CEMs), thus interoperating with structured data and accommodating diverse NLP approaches. The type system has been implemented in UIMA (Unstructured Information Management Architecture) and is fully functional in a popular open-source clinical NLP system, cTAKES (clinical Text Analysis and Knowledge Extraction System) versions 2.0 and later. We have created a type system that targets deep semantics, thereby allowing for NLP systems to encapsulate knowledge from text and share it alongside heterogenous clinical data sources. Rather than surface semantics that are typically the end product of NLP algorithms, CEM-based semantics explicitly build in deep clinical semantics as the point of interoperability with more structured data types.

Explaining semantic short-term memory deficits: Evidence for the critical role of semantic control

PubMed Central

Hoffman, Paul; Jefferies, Elizabeth; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A.

2011-01-01

Patients with apparently selective short-term memory (STM) deficits for semantic information have played an important role in developing multi-store theories of STM and challenge the idea that verbal STM is supported by maintaining activation in the language system. We propose that semantic STM deficits are not as selective as previously thought and can occur as a result of mild disruption to semantic control processes, i.e., mechanisms that bias semantic processing towards task-relevant aspects of knowledge and away from irrelevant information. We tested three semantic STM patients with tasks that tapped four aspects of semantic control: (i) resolving ambiguity between word meanings, (ii) sensitivity to cues, (iii) ignoring irrelevant information and (iv) detecting weak semantic associations. All were impaired in conditions requiring more semantic control, irrespective of the STM demands of the task, suggesting a mild, but task-general, deficit in regulating semantic knowledge. This mild deficit has a disproportionate effect on STM tasks because they have high intrinsic control demands: in STM tasks, control is required to keep information active when it is no longer available in the environment and to manage competition between items held in memory simultaneously. By re-interpreting the core deficit in semantic STM patients in this way, we are able to explain their apparently selective impairment without the need for a specialised STM store. Instead, we argue that semantic STM patients occupy the mildest end of spectrum of semantic control disorders. PMID:21195105

Psycho-Semantics of Management Constructs: Expression of Democracy among Schoolteachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saparnis, Gintaras

2006-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to disclose the psycho-semantics of the opinions held by school educators in Lithuania on the expression of democracy in education management. Methodology: A non-standardized questionnaire asked teachers the open-ended question: "Are there any manifestations of democracy in your school? If yes (or…

A Validation of Parafoveal Semantic Information Extraction in Reading Chinese

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhou, Wei; Kliegl, Reinhold; Yan, Ming

2013-01-01

Parafoveal semantic processing has recently been well documented in reading Chinese sentences, presumably because of language-specific features. However, because of a large variation of fixation landing positions on pretarget words, some preview words actually were located in foveal vision when readers' eyes landed close to the end of the…

Visual analytics for semantic queries of TerraSAR-X image content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Espinoza-Molina, Daniela; Alonso, Kevin; Datcu, Mihai

2015-10-01

With the continuous image product acquisition of satellite missions, the size of the image archives is considerably increasing every day as well as the variety and complexity of their content, surpassing the end-user capacity to analyse and exploit them. Advances in the image retrieval field have contributed to the development of tools for interactive exploration and extraction of the images from huge archives using different parameters like metadata, key-words, and basic image descriptors. Even though we count on more powerful tools for automated image retrieval and data analysis, we still face the problem of understanding and analyzing the results. Thus, a systematic computational analysis of these results is required in order to provide to the end-user a summary of the archive content in comprehensible terms. In this context, visual analytics combines automated analysis with interactive visualizations analysis techniques for an effective understanding, reasoning and decision making on the basis of very large and complex datasets. Moreover, currently several researches are focused on associating the content of the images with semantic definitions for describing the data in a format to be easily understood by the end-user. In this paper, we present our approach for computing visual analytics and semantically querying the TerraSAR-X archive. Our approach is mainly composed of four steps: 1) the generation of a data model that explains the information contained in a TerraSAR-X product. The model is formed by primitive descriptors and metadata entries, 2) the storage of this model in a database system, 3) the semantic definition of the image content based on machine learning algorithms and relevance feedback, and 4) querying the image archive using semantic descriptors as query parameters and computing the statistical analysis of the query results. The experimental results shows that with the help of visual analytics and semantic definitions we are able to explain the image content using semantic terms and the relations between them answering questions such as what is the percentage of urban area in a region? or what is the distribution of water bodies in a city?

Phosphorus-31, sup 15 N, and sup 13 C NMR of glyphosate: Comparison of pH titrations to the herbicidal dead-end complex with 5-enolpyruvoylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Castellino, S.; Leo, G.C.; Sammons, R.D.

1989-05-02

The herbicidal dead-end ternary complex (E{sup S3P}{sub Glyph}) of glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine) with 5-enolpyruvoylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) and the substrate shikimate 3-phosphate (S3P) has been characterized by {sup 31}P, {sup 15}N, and {sup 13}C NMR. The NMR spectra of EPSPS-bound glyphosate show unique chemical shifts ({delta}) for each of the three nuclei. By {sup 31}P NMR, glyphosate in the dead-end complex is a distinct species 3.5 ppm downfield from free glyphosate. The {sup 13}C signal of glyphosate in the dead-end complex is shifted 4 ppm downfield from that of free glyphosate. The {sup 15}N signal for glyphosate (99%) in the dead-end complexmore » is 5 ppm further downfield than that of any free zwitterionic species and 10 ppm downfield from that of the average free species at pH 10.1. The structures of each ionic state of glyphosate are modeled with force field calculations by using MacroModel. A correlation is made for the {sup 31}P {delta} and the C-P-O bond angle, and the {sup 13}C and {sup 15}N {delta} values are postulated to be related to C-C-O and C-N-C bond angles, respectively. The downfield {sup 31}P chemical shift perturbation for S3P in the EPSPS binary complex is consistent with ionization of the 3-phosphate of S3P upon binding. Comparison with the S3P {sup 31}P {delta} vs pH titration curve specifies predominantly the dianion of the 3-phosphate in the E{sup S3P} binary complex, while the E{sup S3P}{sub Glyph} complex indicates net protonation at the 3-phosphate. Chemical shift perturbations of this latter type may be explained by changes in the O-P-O bond angle.« less

Dignity at the end of our days: personal, familial, and cultural location.

PubMed

McDonald, Michael

2004-01-01

The desire to be treated with dignity, particularly at the end of one's life, is a fairly universal preference found in most cultures. Such treatment requires positive actions of respect in the behaviour of others toward the dying and the dead. It also involves negative actions, particularly refraining from doing "dignatory harms" to the dead and the dying. Yet it is not always easy for clinicians and researchers who deal with the dying and dead to decide on appropriate action or inaction. I suggest that such decision making can be helped by locating the dying person along three dimensions: the personal, the familial, and the cultural. These elements are interrelated in complex ways that need to be unpacked in context. Thus, one person may locate herself within a familial context while a sibling may locate himself against that context. While locating individuals along the three dimensions suggested does not "solve" ethical problems, it should help clinicians in understanding and dealing more compassionately with the dead, the dying, their families, and their communities.

Local potential evolutions during proton exchange membrane fuel cell operation with dead-ended anode - Part II: Aging mitigation strategies based on water management and nitrogen crossover

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbou, S.; Dillet, J.; Maranzana, G.; Didierjean, S.; Lottin, O.

2017-02-01

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells operate with dead-ended anode in order to reduce system cost and complexity when compared with hydrogen re-circulation systems. In the first part of this work, we showed that localized fuel starvation events may occur, because of water and nitrogen accumulation in the anode side, which could be particularly damaging to the cell performance. To prevent these degradations, the anode compartment must be purged which may lead to an overall system efficiency decrease because of significant hydrogen waste. In the second part, we present several purge strategies in order to minimize both hydrogen waste and membrane-electrode assembly degradations during dead-ended anode operation. A linear segmented cell with reference electrodes was used to monitor simultaneously the current density distribution along the gas channel and the time evolution of local anode and cathode potentials. To asses MEA damages, Platinum ElectroChemical Surface Area (ECSA) and cell performance were periodically measured. The results showed that dead-end mode operation with an anode plate maintained at a temperature 5 °C hotter than the cathode plate limits water accumulation in the anode side, reducing significantly purge frequency (and thus hydrogen losses) as well as MEA damages. As nitrogen contribution to hydrogen starvation is predominant in this thermal configuration, we also tested a microleakage solution to discharge continuously most the nitrogen accumulating in the anode side while ensuring low hydrogen losses and minimum ECSA losses provided the right microleakage flow rate is chosen.

The nature and time-course of medial temporal lobe contributions to semantic retrieval: an fMRI study on verbal fluency.

PubMed

Sheldon, Signy; Moscovitch, Morris

2012-06-01

Recent investigations have shown that the medial temporal lobe (MTL), a region thought to be exclusive to episodic memory, can also influence performance on tests of semantic memory. The present study examined further the nature of MTL contributions to semantic memory tasks by tracking MTL activation as participants performed category fluency, a traditional test of semantic retrieval. For categories that were inherently autobiographical (e.g. names of friends), the MTLs were activated throughout the time period in which items were generated, consistent with the MTLs role in retrieving autobiographical memories. For categories that could not benefit from autobiographical or spatial/context information (e.g. governmental offices), the MTL was not implicated at any time point. For categories for which both prototypical and episodically-related information exists (e.g. kitchen utensils), there was more robust MTL activity for the open-ended, late generation periods compared with the more well-defined, early item generation time periods. We interpret these results as suggesting that early in the generation phase, responses are based on well-rehearsed prototypical knowledge whereas later performance relies more on open-ended strategies, such as deriving exemplars from personally relevant contextual information (e.g. imagining one's own kitchen). These findings and interpretation were consistent with the results of an initial, separate behavioral study (Expt 1), that used the distinctiveness of responses as a measure of open-endedness across the generation phase: Response distinctiveness corresponded to the predicted open-endedness of the various tasks at early and late phases. Overall, this is consistent with the view that as generation of semantic information becomes open-ended, it recruits processes from other domains, such as episodic memory, to support performance. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Dynamic User Interfaces for Service Oriented Architectures in Healthcare.

PubMed

Schweitzer, Marco; Hoerbst, Alexander

2016-01-01

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) play a crucial role in healthcare today. Considering a data-centric view, EHRs are very advanced as they provide and share healthcare data in a cross-institutional and patient-centered way adhering to high syntactic and semantic interoperability. However, the EHR functionalities available for the end users are rare and hence often limited to basic document query functions. Future EHR use necessitates the ability to let the users define their needed data according to a certain situation and how this data should be processed. Workflow and semantic modelling approaches as well as Web services provide means to fulfil such a goal. This thesis develops concepts for dynamic interfaces between EHR end users and a service oriented eHealth infrastructure, which allow the users to design their flexible EHR needs, modeled in a dynamic and formal way. These are used to discover, compose and execute the right Semantic Web services.

Design of push-pull system to control diesel particular matter inside a dead-end entry.

PubMed

Zheng, Yi; Thiruvengadam, Magesh; Lan, Hai; Tien, Jerry C

Diesel particulate matter (DPM) is considered to be carcinogenic after prolonged exposure. With more diesel-powered equipment used in underground mines, miners' exposure to DPM has become an increasing concern. This paper used computational fluid dynamics method to study the DPM dispersion in a dead-end entry with loading operation. The effects of different push-pull ventilation systems on DPM distribution were evaluated to improve the working conditions for underground miners. The four push-pull systems considered include: long push and short pull tubing; short push and long pull tubing, long push and curved pull tubing, and short push and curved pull tubing. A species transport model with buoyancy effect was used to examine the DPM dispersion pattern with unsteady state analysis. During the 200 s of loading operation, high DPM levels were identified in the face and dead-end entry regions. This study can be used for mining engineer as guidance to design and setup local ventilation, select DPM control strategies and for DPM annual training for underground miners.

Acoustic and semantic interference effects in words and pictures.

PubMed

Dhawan, M; Pellegrino, J W

1977-05-01

Interference effects for pictures and words were investigated using a probe-recall task. Word stimuli showed acoustic interference effects for items at the end of the list and semantic interference effects for items at the beginning of the list, similar to results of Kintsch and Buschke (1969). Picture stimuli showed large semantic interference effects at all list positions with smaller acoustic interference effects. The results were related to latency data on picture-word processing and interpreted in terms of the differential order, probability, and/or speed of access to acoustic and semantic levels of processing. A levels of processing explanation of picture-word retention differences was related to dual coding theory. Both theoretical positions converge on an explanation of picture-word retention differences as a function of the relative capacity for semantic or associative processing.

SPARK: Adapting Keyword Query to Semantic Search

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Qi; Wang, Chong; Xiong, Miao; Wang, Haofen; Yu, Yong

Semantic search promises to provide more accurate result than present-day keyword search. However, progress with semantic search has been delayed due to the complexity of its query languages. In this paper, we explore a novel approach of adapting keywords to querying the semantic web: the approach automatically translates keyword queries into formal logic queries so that end users can use familiar keywords to perform semantic search. A prototype system named 'SPARK' has been implemented in light of this approach. Given a keyword query, SPARK outputs a ranked list of SPARQL queries as the translation result. The translation in SPARK consists of three major steps: term mapping, query graph construction and query ranking. Specifically, a probabilistic query ranking model is proposed to select the most likely SPARQL query. In the experiment, SPARK achieved an encouraging translation result.

Pietro Manni (1778-1839) and the care of the apparently dead in the Age of Positivism.

PubMed

Cascella, Marco

2016-08-01

When can a man be declared 'really dead'? Being able to determine whether an individual's life has ended or not implies two important considerations, whether we can resuscitate him and avoid premature burial, the fear of which is termed 'taphophobia'. By the end of the 18th century, several scientists were involved in the study of apparent death and resuscitation. Pietro Manni was an obstetrician who, affected by his brother's death and his inability to help him, devoted himself to the study of apparent death, which became his aim in life. His Practical handbook for the care of the apparently dead is a detailed essay on resuscitation with a precise arrangement of topics - ventilation, tracheostomy, electricity and asphyxia in newborns - organised into chapters and paragraphs that resemble current texts on resuscitation. © The Author(s) 2016.

Comparison of burning characteristics of live and dead chaparral fuels

Treesearch

L. Sun; X. Zhou; S. Mahalingam; D.R. Weise

2006-01-01

Wildfire spread in living vegetation, such as chaparral in southern California, often causes significant damage to infrastructure and ecosystems. The effects of physical characteristics of fuels and fuel beds on live fuel burning and whether live fuels differ fundamentally from dead woody fuels in their burning characteristics are not well understood. Toward this end,...

Absolute dose calibration of an X-ray system and dead time investigations of photon-counting techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carpentieri, C.; Schwarz, C.; Ludwig, J.; Ashfaq, A.; Fiederle, M.

2002-07-01

High precision concerning the dose calibration of X-ray sources is required when counting and integrating methods are compared. The dose calibration for a dental X-ray tube was executed with special dose calibration equipment (dosimeter) as function of exposure time and rate. Results were compared with a benchmark spectrum and agree within ±1.5%. Dead time investigations with the Medipix1 photon-counting chip (PCC) have been performed by rate variations. Two different types of dead time, paralysable and non-paralysable will be discussed. The dead time depends on settings of the front-end electronics and is a function of signal height, which might lead to systematic defects of systems. Dead time losses in excess of 30% have been found for the PCC at 200 kHz absorbed photons per pixel.

Historical Semantic Chaining and Efficient Communication: The Case of Container Names

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xu, Yang; Regier, Terry; Malt, Barbara C.

2016-01-01

Semantic categories in the world's languages often reflect a historical process of "chaining": A name for one referent is extended to a conceptually related referent, and from there on to other referents, producing a chain of exemplars that all bear the same name. The beginning and end points of such a chain might in principle be rather…

Once Is Enough: N400 Indexes Semantic Integration of Novel Word Meanings from a Single Exposure in Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borovsky, Arielle; Elman, Jeffrey L.; Kutas, Marta

2012-01-01

We investigated the impact of contextual constraint on the integration of novel word meanings into semantic memory. Adults read strongly or weakly constraining sentences ending in known or unknown (novel) words as scalp-recorded electrical brain activity was recorded. Word knowledge was assessed via a lexical decision task in which recently seen…

Persian Native Speakers Reading Persian and English Texts: Their Strategic Behavior to Overcome Syntactic and Semantic Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alimorad, Zahra

2015-01-01

This study aimed to discover semantic and syntactic problems Persian native speakers might have while reading English and Persian texts and different strategies they use to overcome those problems. To this end, a convenient sample of 40 intermediate students studying English Literature at Shiraz University was selected. Twenty of them were asked…

Does Temporal Integration Occur for Unrecognizable Words in Visual Crowding?

PubMed Central

Zhou, Jifan; Lee, Chia-Lin; Li, Kuei-An; Tien, Yung-Hsuan; Yeh, Su-Ling

2016-01-01

Visual crowding—the inability to see an object when it is surrounded by flankers in the periphery—does not block semantic activation: unrecognizable words due to visual crowding still generated robust semantic priming in subsequent lexical decision tasks. Based on the previous finding, the current study further explored whether unrecognizable crowded words can be temporally integrated into a phrase. By showing one word at a time, we presented Chinese four-word idioms with either a congruent or incongruent ending word in order to examine whether the three preceding crowded words can be temporally integrated to form a semantic context so as to affect the processing of the ending word. Results from both behavioral (Experiment 1) and Event-Related Potential (Experiment 2 and 3) measures showed congruency effect in only the non-crowded condition, which does not support the existence of unconscious multi-word integration. Aside from four-word idioms, we also found that two-word (modifier + adjective combination) integration—the simplest kind of temporal semantic integration—did not occur in visual crowding (Experiment 4). Our findings suggest that integration of temporally separated words might require conscious awareness, at least under the timing conditions tested in the current study. PMID:26890366

Investigation of the disposal of dead pigs by pig farmers in mainland China by simulation experiment.

PubMed

Wu, Linhai; Xu, Guoyan; Li, Qingguang; Hou, Bo; Hu, Wuyang; Wang, Jianhua

2017-01-01

Dead pigs are a major waste by-product of pig farming. Thus, safe disposal of dead pigs is important to the protection of consumer health and the ecological environment by preventing marketing of slaughtered and processed dead pigs and improper dumping of dead pigs. In this study, a probability model was constructed for the disposal of dead pigs by pig farmers by selecting factors affecting disposal. To that end, we drew on the definition and meaning of behavior probability based on survey data collected from 654 pig farmers in Funing County, Jiangsu Province, China. Moreover, the role of influencing factors in pig farmers' behavioral choices regarding the disposal of dead pigs was simulated by simulation experiment. The results indicated that years of farming had a positive impact on pig farmers' choice of negative disposal of dead pigs. Moreover, there was not a simple linear relationship between scale of farming and pig farmers' behavioral choices related to the disposal of dead pigs. The probability for farmers to choose the safe disposal of dead pigs increased with the improvement of their knowledge of government policies and relevant laws and regulations. Pig farmers' behavioral choice about the disposal of dead pigs was also affected by government subsidy policies, regulation, and punishment. Government regulation and punishment were more effective than subsidy. The findings of our simulation experiment provide important decision-making support for the governance in preventing the marketing of dead pigs at the source.

Local potential evolutions during proton exchange membrane fuel cell operation with dead-ended anode - Part I: Impact of water diffusion and nitrogen crossover

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbou, S.; Dillet, J.; Maranzana, G.; Didierjean, S.; Lottin, O.

2017-02-01

Operating a PEMFC with a dead-ended anode may lead to local fuel-starvation because of water and possibly nitrogen accumulation in the anode compartment. In previous works, we used a segmented linear cell with reference electrodes to monitor simultaneously the local potentials and current densities during dead-ended anode operation. The results indicated that water transport as well as nitrogen crossover through the membrane were most probably the two key factors governing fuel starvation. In this first from a set of two papers, we evaluated with more details the contributions of nitrogen crossover and water transport to hydrogen starvation. To assess nitrogen contribution, the fuel cell cathode compartment was first supplied with pure oxygen instead of air. The results showed that in the absence of nitrogen (in the cathode side) the fuel starvation was much slower than with air, suggesting that nitrogen contribution cannot be neglected. On the other hand, the contribution of water flooding to hydrogen starvation was investigated by using different cooling temperature on the cathode and anode sides in order to drive water toward the colder plate. The results showed that with a colder anode side, fuel starvation was faster. In the opposite case of a hotter anode plate, water accumulation in the anode compartment was limited, nitrogen crossover through the membrane was the main reason for hydrogen starvation in this case. To fully assess the impact of the thermal configurations on membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) degradation, aging protocols with a dead-ended anode and a fixed closing time were also performed. The results showed that operation with a hotter anode could help to limit significantly cathode ElectroChemical Surface Area (ECSA) losses along the cell area and performance degradation induced by hydrogen starvation.

Titration of Ideal Positive End-expiratory Pressure in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Comparison between Lower Inflection Point and Esophageal Pressure Method Using Volumetric Capnography.

PubMed

Baikunje, Nandakishore; Sehgal, Inderpaul Singh; Dhooria, Sahajal; Prasad, Kuruswamy Thurai; Agarwal, Ritesh

2017-05-01

The tenets of mechanical ventilation in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) include the utilization of low tidal volume and optimal application of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP). Optimal PEEP in ARDS is characterized by reduction in alveolar dead space along with improvement in the lung compliance and resultant betterment in oxygenation. There are various methods of setting PEEP in ARDS. Herein, we report a patient of ARDS, wherein we employed measurement of dead space using volumetric capnography to compare two different PEEP strategies, namely, the lower inflection point and transpulmonary pressure monitoring.

Topographical gradients of semantics and phonology revealed by temporal lobe stimulation.

PubMed

Miozzo, Michele; Williams, Alicia C; McKhann, Guy M; Hamberger, Marla J

2017-02-01

Word retrieval is a fundamental component of oral communication, and it is well established that this function is supported by left temporal cortex. Nevertheless, the specific temporal areas mediating word retrieval and the particular linguistic processes these regions support have not been well delineated. Toward this end, we analyzed over 1000 naming errors induced by left temporal cortical stimulation in epilepsy surgery patients. Errors were primarily semantic (lemon → "pear"), phonological (horn → "corn"), non-responses, and delayed responses (correct responses after a delay), and each error type appeared predominantly in a specific region: semantic errors in mid-middle temporal gyrus (TG), phonological errors and delayed responses in middle and posterior superior TG, and non-responses in anterior inferior TG. To the extent that semantic errors, phonological errors and delayed responses reflect disruptions in different processes, our results imply topographical specialization of semantic and phonological processing. Specifically, results revealed an inferior-to-superior gradient, with more superior regions associated with phonological processing. Further, errors were increasingly semantically related to targets toward posterior temporal cortex. We speculate that detailed semantic input is needed to support phonological retrieval, and thus, the specificity of semantic input increases progressively toward posterior temporal regions implicated in phonological processing. Hum Brain Mapp 38:688-703, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Semantic message oriented middleware for publish/subscribe networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Han; Jiang, Guofei

2004-09-01

The publish/subscribe paradigm of Message Oriented Middleware provides a loosely coupled communication model between distributed applications. Traditional publish/subscribe middleware uses keywords to match advertisements and subscriptions and does not support deep semantic matching. To this end, we designed and implemented a Semantic Message Oriented Middleware system to provide such capabilities for semantic description and matching. We adopted the DARPA Agent Markup Language and Ontology Inference Layer, a formal knowledge representation language for expressing sophisticated classifications and enabling automated inference, as the topic description language in our middleware system. A simple description logic inference system was implemented to handle the matching process between the subscriptions of subscribers and the advertisements of publishers. Moreover our middleware system also has a security architecture to support secure communication and user privilege control.

Improvements to the Ontology-based Metadata Portal for Unified Semantics (OlyMPUS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Linsinbigler, M. A.; Gleason, J. L.; Huffer, E.

2016-12-01

The Ontology-based Metadata Portal for Unified Semantics (OlyMPUS), funded by the NASA Earth Science Technology Office Advanced Information Systems Technology program, is an end-to-end system designed to support Earth Science data consumers and data providers, enabling the latter to register data sets and provision them with the semantically rich metadata that drives the Ontology-Driven Interactive Search Environment for Earth Sciences (ODISEES). OlyMPUS complements the ODISEES' data discovery system with an intelligent tool to enable data producers to auto-generate semantically enhanced metadata and upload it to the metadata repository that drives ODISEES. Like ODISEES, the OlyMPUS metadata provisioning tool leverages robust semantics, a NoSQL database and query engine, an automated reasoning engine that performs first- and second-order deductive inferencing, and uses a controlled vocabulary to support data interoperability and automated analytics. The ODISEES data discovery portal leverages this metadata to provide a seamless data discovery and access experience for data consumers who are interested in comparing and contrasting the multiple Earth science data products available across NASA data centers. Olympus will support scientists' services and tools for performing complex analyses and identifying correlations and non-obvious relationships across all types of Earth System phenomena using the full spectrum of NASA Earth Science data available. By providing an intelligent discovery portal that supplies users - both human users and machines - with detailed information about data products, their contents and their structure, ODISEES will reduce the level of effort required to identify and prepare large volumes of data for analysis. This poster will explain how OlyMPUS leverages deductive reasoning and other technologies to create an integrated environment for generating and exploiting semantically rich metadata.

Risk factors for selective cognitive decline in dialyzed patients with end-stage renal disease: evidence from verbal fluency analysis.

PubMed

Harciarek, Michał; Williamson, John B; Biedunkiewicz, Bogdan; Lichodziejewska-Niemierko, Monika; Dębska-Ślizień, Alicja; Rutkowski, Bolesław

2012-01-01

Although dialyzed patients often have cognitive problems, little is known about the nature of these deficits. We hypothesized that, in contrast to semantic fluency relying mainly on temporal lobes, phonemic fluency, preferentially depending on functions of frontal-subcortical systems, would be particularly sensitive to the constellation of physiological pathological processes associated with end-stage renal disease and dialysis. Therefore, we longitudinally compared phonemic and semantic fluency performance between 49 dialyzed patients and 30 controls. Overall, patients performed below controls only on the phonemic fluency task. Furthermore, their performance on this task declined over time, whereas there was no change in semantic fluency. Moreover, this decline was related to the presence of hypertension and higher blood urea nitrogen. We suggest that these findings may be due to a combination of vascular and topic effects that impact more on fronto-subcortical than temporal lobe networks, but this speculation requires direct confirmation.

Modulation of the N400 component in relation to hypomanic personality traits in a word meaning ambiguity resolution task.

PubMed

Raucher-Chéné, Delphine; Terrien, Sarah; Gobin, Pamela; Gierski, Fabien; Kaladjian, Arthur; Besche-Richard, Chrystel

2017-09-01

High levels of hypomanic personality traits have been associated with an increased risk of developing bipolar disorder (BD). Changes in semantic content, impaired verbal associations, abnormal prosody, and abnormal speed of language are core features of BD, and are thought to be related to semantic processing abnormalities. In the present study, we used event-related potentials to investigate the relation between semantic processing (N400 component) and hypomanic personality traits. We assessed 65 healthy young adults on the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HPS). Event-related potentials were recorded during a semantic ambiguity resolution task exploring semantic ambiguity (polysemous word ending a sentence) and congruency (target word semantically related to the sentence). As expected, semantic ambiguity and congruency both elicited an N400 effect across our sample. Correlation analyses showed a significant positive relationship between the Social Vitality subscore of the HPS and N400 modulation in the frontal region of interest in the incongruent unambiguous condition, and in the frontocentral region of interest in the incongruent ambiguous condition. We found differences in semantic processing (i.e., detection of incongruence and semantic inhibition) in individuals with higher Social Vitality subscores. In the light of the literature, we discuss the notion that a semantic processing impairment could be a potential marker of vulnerability to BD, and one that needs to be explored further in this clinical population. © 2017 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2017 Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Fronto-temporal interactions are functionally relevant for semantic control in language processing.

PubMed

Wawrzyniak, Max; Hoffstaedter, Felix; Klingbeil, Julian; Stockert, Anika; Wrede, Katrin; Hartwigsen, Gesa; Eickhoff, Simon B; Classen, Joseph; Saur, Dorothee

2017-01-01

Semantic cognition, i.e. processing of meaning is based on semantic representations and their controlled retrieval. Semantic control has been shown to be implemented in a network that consists of left inferior frontal (IFG), and anterior and posterior middle temporal gyri (a/pMTG). We aimed to disrupt semantic control processes with continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) over left IFG and pMTG and to study whether behavioral effects are moderated by induced alterations in resting-state functional connectivity. To this end, we applied real cTBS over left IFG and left pMTG as well as sham stimulation on 20 healthy participants in a within-subject design. Stimulation was followed by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and a semantic priming paradigm. Resting-state functional connectivity of regions of interest in left IFG, pMTG and aMTG revealed highly interconnected left-lateralized fronto-temporal networks representing the semantic system. We did not find any significant direct modulation of either task performance or resting-state functional connectivity by effective cTBS. However, after sham cTBS, functional connectivity between IFG and pMTG correlated with task performance under high semantic control demands in the semantic priming paradigm. These findings provide evidence for the functional relevance of interactions between IFG and pMTG for semantic control processes. This interaction was functionally less relevant after cTBS over aIFG which might be interpretable in terms of an indirect disruptive effect of cTBS.

Deadly Fires Engulfing Madeira

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2016-12-30

... temperatures topping 95 degrees Fahrenheit and very dry weather. The entire island is only 30 miles (48 kilometers) from end to end, ... D.C. The Terra spacecraft is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. The MISR data were obtained from the ...

OlyMPUS - The Ontology-based Metadata Portal for Unified Semantics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huffer, E.; Gleason, J. L.

2015-12-01

The Ontology-based Metadata Portal for Unified Semantics (OlyMPUS), funded by the NASA Earth Science Technology Office Advanced Information Systems Technology program, is an end-to-end system designed to support data consumers and data providers, enabling the latter to register their data sets and provision them with the semantically rich metadata that drives the Ontology-Driven Interactive Search Environment for Earth Sciences (ODISEES). OlyMPUS leverages the semantics and reasoning capabilities of ODISEES to provide data producers with a semi-automated interface for producing the semantically rich metadata needed to support ODISEES' data discovery and access services. It integrates the ODISEES metadata search system with multiple NASA data delivery tools to enable data consumers to create customized data sets for download to their computers, or for NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) facility registered users, directly to NAS storage resources for access by applications running on NAS supercomputers. A core function of NASA's Earth Science Division is research and analysis that uses the full spectrum of data products available in NASA archives. Scientists need to perform complex analyses that identify correlations and non-obvious relationships across all types of Earth System phenomena. Comprehensive analytics are hindered, however, by the fact that many Earth science data products are disparate and hard to synthesize. Variations in how data are collected, processed, gridded, and stored, create challenges for data interoperability and synthesis, which are exacerbated by the sheer volume of available data. Robust, semantically rich metadata can support tools for data discovery and facilitate machine-to-machine transactions with services such as data subsetting, regridding, and reformatting. Such capabilities are critical to enabling the research activities integral to NASA's strategic plans. However, as metadata requirements increase and competing standards emerge, metadata provisioning becomes increasingly burdensome to data producers. The OlyMPUS system helps data providers produce semantically rich metadata, making their data more accessible to data consumers, and helps data consumers quickly discover and download the right data for their research.

Exploitation of Semantic Building Model in Indoor Navigation Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anjomshoaa, A.; Shayeganfar, F.; Tjoa, A. Min

2009-04-01

There are many types of indoor and outdoor navigation tools and methodologies available. A majority of these solutions are based on Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and instant video and image processing. These approaches are ideal for open world environments where very few information about the target location is available, but for large scale building environments such as hospitals, governmental offices, etc the end-user will need more detailed information about the surrounding context which is especially important in case of people with special needs. This paper presents a smart indoor navigation solution that is based on Semantic Web technologies and Building Information Model (BIM). The proposed solution is also aligned with Google Android's concepts to enlighten the realization of results. Keywords: IAI IFCXML, Building Information Model, Indoor Navigation, Semantic Web, Google Android, People with Special Needs 1 Introduction Built environment is a central factor in our daily life and a big portion of human life is spent inside buildings. Traditionally the buildings are documented using building maps and plans by utilization of IT tools such as computer-aided design (CAD) applications. Documenting the maps in an electronic way is already pervasive but CAD drawings do not suffice the requirements regarding effective building models that can be shared with other building-related applications such as indoor navigation systems. The navigation in built environment is not a new issue, however with the advances in emerging technologies like GPS, mobile and networked environments, and Semantic Web new solutions have been suggested to enrich the traditional building maps and convert them to smart information resources that can be reused in other applications and improve the interpretability with building inhabitants and building visitors. Other important issues that should be addressed in building navigation scenarios are location tagging and end-user communication. The available solutions for location tagging are mostly based on proximity sensors and the information are bound to sensor references. In the proposed solution of this paper, the sensors simply play a role similar to annotations in Semantic Web world. Hence the sensors data in ontology sense bridges the gap between sensed information and building model. Combining these two and applying the proper inference rules, the building visitors will be able to reach their destinations with instant support of their communication devices such as hand helds, wearable computers, mobiles, etc. In a typical scenario of this kind, user's profile will be delivered to the smart building (via building ad-hoc services) and the appropriate route for user will be calculated and delivered to user's end-device. The calculated route is calculated by considering all constraints and requirements of the end user. So for example if the user is using a wheelchair, the calculated route should not contain stairs or narrow corridors that the wheelchair does not pass through. Then user starts to navigate through building by following the instructions of the end-device which are in turn generated from the calculated route. During the navigation process, the end-device should also interact with the smart building to sense the locations by reading the surrounding tags. So for example when a visually impaired person arrives at an unknown space, the tags will be sensed and the relevant information will be delivered to user in the proper way of communication. For example the building model can be used to generate a voice message for a blind person about a space and tell him/her that "the space has 3 doors, and the door on the left should be chosen which needs to be pushed to open". In this paper we will mainly focus on automatic generation of semantic building information models (Semantic BIM) and delivery of results to the end user. Combining the building information model with the environment and user constraints using Semantic Web technologies will make many scenarios conceivable. The generated IFC ontology that is base on the commonly accepted IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) standard can be used as the basis of information sharing between buildings, people, and applications. The proposed solution is aiming to facilitate the building navigation in an intuitive and extendable way that is easy to use by end-users and at the same time easy to maintain and manage by building administrators.

Vertical Mixing in the Dead Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gertman, Isaac; Ozer, Tal; Katsenelson, Boris; Lensky, Nadav

2015-04-01

For hundreds of years, the Dead Sea was characterized by a stable haline stratification, supported by runoff. The penetration of the winter convection was limited to an upper mixed layer (UML) of about 30-50 m. Below the UML, a stable halocline prevented the mixing. As a result of the runoff reduction, the UML salinity increased and the gravitational stability diminished. During the winter of 1978-1979, the sea water overturned, ending the long-term stable hydrological regime. Since 1979, the haline stratification structure reoccurred twice after extremely rainy winters, in 1980-82 and 1992-1995. In other years, the sea was entirely mixed by winter thermal convection ( which occurs from November to March ) and had a seasonal pycnocline beneath the UML during summer. Profiles of temperature and quasi-salinity (density anomaly from 1000 kg/m3 for the chosen reference temperature of 32° C) during the last 19 years, show the formation of summer ``overturning halocline'' beneath the UML, and the thermocline that supports the stable stratification. Another warm and saline layer is formed also during the summer period near the bottom. This layer spreads from the southern part of the sea, where end-brine is discharged to the sea from the Israeli and Jordanian salt plants' evaporation ponds. The end-brine has extremely high salinity (˜ 350 g/kg) and, in spite of the high temperatures ( ˜ 45° C), high density (1350 kg/m^3), it therefore spreads as a gravitational current in the Dead Sea deep basin. Estimation of the density ratio (Rρ) for the Dead Sea water (where measurements of water salinity is quite difficult) was done using quasi-salinity (σ32) and potential temperature (θ): Rρ= [α(partialθ/partial z)]/[β(partial σ32/partial z)], where α and β are temperature expansion and quasi-salinity contraction coefficients respectively. The values of α and β for the Dead Sea water were defined from water samples collected during 2008. The Rρ values confirm that the summer Dead Sea thermohaline structure is appropriate for double diffusion mixing. A salt fingers regime beneath the UML (1.3< Rρ

Interactions between mood and the structure of semantic memory: event-related potentials evidence

PubMed Central

Pinheiro, Ana P.; del Re, Elisabetta; Nestor, Paul G; McCarley, Robert W.; Gonçalves, Óscar F.

2013-01-01

Recent evidence suggests that affect acts as modulator of cognitive processes and in particular that induced mood has an effect on the way semantic memory is used on-line. We used event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine affective modulation of semantic information processing under three different moods: neutral, positive and negative. Fifteen subjects read 324 pairs of sentences, after mood induction procedure with 30 pictures of neutral, 30 pictures of positive and 30 pictures of neutral valence: 108 sentences were read in each mood induction condition. Sentences ended with three word types: expected words, within-category violations, and between-category violations. N400 amplitude was measured to the three word types under each mood induction condition. Under neutral mood, a congruency (more negative N400 amplitude for unexpected relative to expected endings) and a category effect (more negative N400 amplitude for between- than to within-category violations) were observed. Also, results showed differences in N400 amplitude for both within- and between-category violations as a function of mood: while positive mood tended to facilitate the integration of unexpected but related items, negative mood made their integration as difficult as unexpected and unrelated items. These findings suggest the differential impact of mood on access to long-term semantic memory during sentence comprehension. PMID:22434931

Interactions between mood and the structure of semantic memory: event-related potentials evidence.

PubMed

Pinheiro, Ana P; del Re, Elisabetta; Nestor, Paul G; McCarley, Robert W; Gonçalves, Óscar F; Niznikiewicz, Margaret

2013-06-01

Recent evidence suggests that affect acts as modulator of cognitive processes and in particular that induced mood has an effect on the way semantic memory is used on-line. We used event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine affective modulation of semantic information processing under three different moods: neutral, positive and negative. Fifteen subjects read 324 pairs of sentences, after mood induction procedure with 30 pictures of neutral, 30 pictures of positive and 30 pictures of neutral valence: 108 sentences were read in each mood induction condition. Sentences ended with three word types: expected words, within-category violations, and between-category violations. N400 amplitude was measured to the three word types under each mood induction condition. Under neutral mood, a congruency (more negative N400 amplitude for unexpected relative to expected endings) and a category effect (more negative N400 amplitude for between- than to within-category violations) were observed. Also, results showed differences in N400 amplitude for both within- and between-category violations as a function of mood: while positive mood tended to facilitate the integration of unexpected but related items, negative mood made their integration as difficult as unexpected and unrelated items. These findings suggest the differential impact of mood on access to long-term semantic memory during sentence comprehension.

Semantic segmentation of mFISH images using convolutional networks.

PubMed

Pardo, Esteban; Morgado, José Mário T; Malpica, Norberto

2018-04-30

Multicolor in situ hybridization (mFISH) is a karyotyping technique used to detect major chromosomal alterations using fluorescent probes and imaging techniques. Manual interpretation of mFISH images is a time consuming step that can be automated using machine learning; in previous works, pixel or patch wise classification was employed, overlooking spatial information which can help identify chromosomes. In this work, we propose a fully convolutional semantic segmentation network for the interpretation of mFISH images, which uses both spatial and spectral information to classify each pixel in an end-to-end fashion. The semantic segmentation network developed was tested on samples extracted from a public dataset using cross validation. Despite having no labeling information of the image it was tested on, our algorithm yielded an average correct classification ratio (CCR) of 87.41%. Previously, this level of accuracy was only achieved with state of the art algorithms when classifying pixels from the same image in which the classifier has been trained. These results provide evidence that fully convolutional semantic segmentation networks may be employed in the computer aided diagnosis of genetic diseases with improved performance over the current image analysis methods. © 2018 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry. © 2018 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

Student Projects that Make a Meaningful and Lasting Contribution to Course Content

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmidt, Shelly J.

2013-01-01

The objective of this teaching tip is to share with others an idea of how to transform student projects from a dead-end process to a value-added end product, value-added end products that make a meaningful and lasting contribution to course content for use by future students. (Contains 2 tables.)

FN400 potentials are functionally identical to N400 potentials and reflect semantic processing during recognition testing

PubMed Central

Voss, Joel L.; Federmeier, Kara D.

2010-01-01

The “F” in FN400 denotes a more frontal scalp distribution relative to the morphologically similar N400 component—a distinction consistent with the hypothesized distinct roles of FN400 in familiarity memory versus N400 in language. However, no direct comparisons have substantiated these assumed dissimilarities. To this end, we manipulated short-term semantic priming during a recognition test. Semantic priming effects on N400 were indistinguishable from memory effects at the same latency, and semantic priming strongly modulated the “FN400,” despite having no influence on familiarity memory. Thus, no evidence suggested either electrophysiological or functional differences between the N400 and FN400, and findings were contrary to the linking of the “FN400” to familiarity. Instead, it appears that semantic/conceptual priming (reflected in the N400) occurs during recognition tests, and is frequently (mis)labeled as FN400 and attributed to familiarity. PMID:20701709

Working Memory Is Partially Preserved during Sleep

PubMed Central

Daltrozzo, Jérôme; Claude, Léa; Tillmann, Barbara; Bastuji, Hélène; Perrin, Fabien

2012-01-01

Although several cognitive processes, including speech processing, have been studied during sleep, working memory (WM) has never been explored up to now. Our study assessed the capacity of WM by testing speech perception when the level of background noise and the sentential semantic length (SSL) (amount of semantic information required to perceive the incongruence of a sentence) were modulated. Speech perception was explored with the N400 component of the event-related potentials recorded to sentence final words (50% semantically congruent with the sentence, 50% semantically incongruent). During sleep stage 2 and paradoxical sleep: (1) without noise, a larger N400 was observed for (short and long SSL) sentences ending with a semantically incongruent word compared to a congruent word (i.e. an N400 effect); (2) with moderate noise, the N400 effect (observed at wake with short and long SSL sentences) was attenuated for long SSL sentences. Our results suggest that WM for linguistic information is partially preserved during sleep with a smaller capacity compared to wake. PMID:23236418

Working memory is partially preserved during sleep.

PubMed

Daltrozzo, Jérôme; Claude, Léa; Tillmann, Barbara; Bastuji, Hélène; Perrin, Fabien

2012-01-01

Although several cognitive processes, including speech processing, have been studied during sleep, working memory (WM) has never been explored up to now. Our study assessed the capacity of WM by testing speech perception when the level of background noise and the sentential semantic length (SSL) (amount of semantic information required to perceive the incongruence of a sentence) were modulated. Speech perception was explored with the N400 component of the event-related potentials recorded to sentence final words (50% semantically congruent with the sentence, 50% semantically incongruent). During sleep stage 2 and paradoxical sleep: (1) without noise, a larger N400 was observed for (short and long SSL) sentences ending with a semantically incongruent word compared to a congruent word (i.e. an N400 effect); (2) with moderate noise, the N400 effect (observed at wake with short and long SSL sentences) was attenuated for long SSL sentences. Our results suggest that WM for linguistic information is partially preserved during sleep with a smaller capacity compared to wake.

ADEpedia: a scalable and standardized knowledge base of Adverse Drug Events using semantic web technology.

PubMed

Jiang, Guoqian; Solbrig, Harold R; Chute, Christopher G

2011-01-01

A source of semantically coded Adverse Drug Event (ADE) data can be useful for identifying common phenotypes related to ADEs. We proposed a comprehensive framework for building a standardized ADE knowledge base (called ADEpedia) through combining ontology-based approach with semantic web technology. The framework comprises four primary modules: 1) an XML2RDF transformation module; 2) a data normalization module based on NCBO Open Biomedical Annotator; 3) a RDF store based persistence module; and 4) a front-end module based on a Semantic Wiki for the review and curation. A prototype is successfully implemented to demonstrate the capability of the system to integrate multiple drug data and ontology resources and open web services for the ADE data standardization. A preliminary evaluation is performed to demonstrate the usefulness of the system, including the performance of the NCBO annotator. In conclusion, the semantic web technology provides a highly scalable framework for ADE data source integration and standard query service.

Semantic memory retrieval circuit: role of pre-SMA, caudate, and thalamus.

PubMed

Hart, John; Maguire, Mandy J; Motes, Michael; Mudar, Raksha Anand; Chiang, Hsueh-Sheng; Womack, Kyle B; Kraut, Michael A

2013-07-01

We propose that pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA)-thalamic interactions govern processes fundamental to semantic retrieval of an integrated object memory. At the onset of semantic retrieval, pre-SMA initiates electrical interactions between multiple cortical regions associated with semantic memory subsystems encodings as indexed by an increase in theta-band EEG power. This starts between 100-150 ms after stimulus presentation and is sustained throughout the task. We posit that this activity represents initiation of the object memory search, which continues in searching for an object memory. When the correct memory is retrieved, there is a high beta-band EEG power increase, which reflects communication between pre-SMA and thalamus, designates the end of the search process and resultant in object retrieval from multiple semantic memory subsystems. This high beta signal is also detected in cortical regions. This circuit is modulated by the caudate nuclei to facilitate correct and suppress incorrect target memories. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Deciphering The Fall And Rise Of The Dead Sea In Relation To Solar Forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yousef, Shahinaz M.

2005-03-01

Solar Forcing on closed seas and Lakes is space time dependent. The Cipher of the Dead Sea level variation since 1200 BC is solved in the context of millenium and Wolf-Gleissberg solar cycles time scales. It is found that the pattern of Dead Sea level variation follows the pattern of major millenium solar cycles. The 70 m rise of Dead Sea around 1AD is due to the forcing of the maximum millenium major solar cycle. Although the pattern of the Dead Sea level variation is almost identical to major solar cycles pattern between 1100 and 1980 AD, there is a dating problem of the Dead Sea time series around 1100-1300 AD that time. A discrepancy that should be corrected for the solar and Dead Sea series to fit. Detailed level variations of the Dead Sea level for the past 200 years are solved in terms of the 80-120 years solar Wolf-Gliessberg magnetic cycles. Solar induced climate changes do happen at the turning points of those cycles. Those end-start and maximum turning points are coincident with the change in the solar rotation rate due to the presence of weak solar cycles. Such weak cycles occur in series of few cycles between the end and start of those Wolf-Gleissberg cycles. Another one or two weak r solar cycle occur following the maximum of those Wolf-Gleissberg cycles. Weak cycles induce drop in the energy budget emitted from the sun and reaching the Earth thus causing solar induced climate change. An 8 meter sudden rise of Dead Sea occur prior 1900 AD due to positive solar forcing of the second cycle of the weak cycles series on the Dead Sea. The same second weak cycle induced negative solar forcing on Lake Chad. The first weak solar cycle forced Lake Victoria to rise abruptly in 1878. The maximum turning point of the solar Wolf-Gleissberg cycle induced negative forcing on both the Aral Sea and the Dead Sea causing their shrinkage to an alarming reduced area ever since. On the other hand, few years delayed positive forcing caused Lake Chad and the Equatorial African lakes to rise abruptly by several meters. Since the present solar cycle number 23 is the first weak cycle of a series, and since it caused 1.6 m sharp rise in Lake Victoria in 1997, then there is a high probability that the Dead Sea will rise by the beginning of the second weak cycle in few years time. And since both the Aral Sea and the Dead Sea are very much in coherence since the late 1950s, then it is rather likely that the Aral Sea will rise with God's wish in the near future. However it is also demanded that Israel should allow more water of the Jordan River to feed the Dead Sea before its real death. Plans for joining the Dead sea to the Red and or to the Mediterranean Seas should be cancelled owing the damaging harm it will cause the Dead Sea as a perfect indicator of solar induced climate change on one hand. On the other hand, the Dead Sea time series always show abrupt changes that can be as high as 70 m; if we add to this a planned artificial rise of the Dead Sea to its level of the thirties, then a damaging flooding effect will ruin the establishments and environment greatly.

Semantic Repositories for eGovernment Initiatives: Integrating Knowledge and Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palmonari, Matteo; Viscusi, Gianluigi

In recent years, public sector investments in eGovernment initiatives have depended on making more reliable existing governmental ICT systems and infrastructures. Furthermore, we assist at a change in the focus of public sector management, from the disaggregation, competition and performance measurements typical of the New Public Management (NPM), to new models of governance, aiming for the reintegration of services under a new perspective in bureaucracy, namely a holistic approach to policy making which exploits the extensive digitalization of administrative operations. In this scenario, major challenges are related to support effective access to information both at the front-end level, by means of highly modular and customizable content provision, and at the back-end level, by means of information integration initiatives. Repositories of information about data and services that exploit semantic models and technologies can support these goals by bridging the gap between the data-level representations and the human-level knowledge involved in accessing information and in searching for services. Moreover, semantic repository technologies can reach a new level of automation for different tasks involved in interoperability programs, both related to data integration techniques and service-oriented computing approaches. In this chapter, we discuss the above topics by referring to techniques and experiences where repositories based on conceptual models and ontologies are used at different levels in eGovernment initiatives: at the back-end level to produce a comprehensive view of the information managed in the public administrations' (PA) information systems, and at the front-end level to support effective service delivery.

From data to analysis: linking NWChem and Avogadro with the syntax and semantics of Chemical Markup Language.

PubMed

de Jong, Wibe A; Walker, Andrew M; Hanwell, Marcus D

2013-05-24

Multidisciplinary integrated research requires the ability to couple the diverse sets of data obtained from a range of complex experiments and computer simulations. Integrating data requires semantically rich information. In this paper an end-to-end use of semantically rich data in computational chemistry is demonstrated utilizing the Chemical Markup Language (CML) framework. Semantically rich data is generated by the NWChem computational chemistry software with the FoX library and utilized by the Avogadro molecular editor for analysis and visualization. The NWChem computational chemistry software has been modified and coupled to the FoX library to write CML compliant XML data files. The FoX library was expanded to represent the lexical input files and molecular orbitals used by the computational chemistry software. Draft dictionary entries and a format for molecular orbitals within CML CompChem were developed. The Avogadro application was extended to read in CML data, and display molecular geometry and electronic structure in the GUI allowing for an end-to-end solution where Avogadro can create input structures, generate input files, NWChem can run the calculation and Avogadro can then read in and analyse the CML output produced. The developments outlined in this paper will be made available in future releases of NWChem, FoX, and Avogadro. The production of CML compliant XML files for computational chemistry software such as NWChem can be accomplished relatively easily using the FoX library. The CML data can be read in by a newly developed reader in Avogadro and analysed or visualized in various ways. A community-based effort is needed to further develop the CML CompChem convention and dictionary. This will enable the long-term goal of allowing a researcher to run simple "Google-style" searches of chemistry and physics and have the results of computational calculations returned in a comprehensible form alongside articles from the published literature.

From data to analysis: linking NWChem and Avogadro with the syntax and semantics of Chemical Markup Language

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Multidisciplinary integrated research requires the ability to couple the diverse sets of data obtained from a range of complex experiments and computer simulations. Integrating data requires semantically rich information. In this paper an end-to-end use of semantically rich data in computational chemistry is demonstrated utilizing the Chemical Markup Language (CML) framework. Semantically rich data is generated by the NWChem computational chemistry software with the FoX library and utilized by the Avogadro molecular editor for analysis and visualization. Results The NWChem computational chemistry software has been modified and coupled to the FoX library to write CML compliant XML data files. The FoX library was expanded to represent the lexical input files and molecular orbitals used by the computational chemistry software. Draft dictionary entries and a format for molecular orbitals within CML CompChem were developed. The Avogadro application was extended to read in CML data, and display molecular geometry and electronic structure in the GUI allowing for an end-to-end solution where Avogadro can create input structures, generate input files, NWChem can run the calculation and Avogadro can then read in and analyse the CML output produced. The developments outlined in this paper will be made available in future releases of NWChem, FoX, and Avogadro. Conclusions The production of CML compliant XML files for computational chemistry software such as NWChem can be accomplished relatively easily using the FoX library. The CML data can be read in by a newly developed reader in Avogadro and analysed or visualized in various ways. A community-based effort is needed to further develop the CML CompChem convention and dictionary. This will enable the long-term goal of allowing a researcher to run simple “Google-style” searches of chemistry and physics and have the results of computational calculations returned in a comprehensible form alongside articles from the published literature. PMID:23705910

Transient analysis of gas transport in anode channel of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell with dead-ended anode under pressure swing operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ichikawa, Yasushi; Oshima, Nobuyuki; Tabuchi, Yuichiro; Ikezoe, Keigo

2014-12-01

Further cost reduction is a critical issue for commercialization of fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) based on polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). The cost of the fuel-cell system is driven by the multiple parts required to maximize stack performance and maintain durability and robustness. The fuel-cell system of the FCEV must be simplified while maintaining functionality. The dead-ended anode is considered as a means of simplification in this study. Generally, if hydrogen is supplied under constant pressure during dead-ended operation, stable power generation is impossible because of accumulation of liquid water produced by power generation and of nitrogen via leakage from the cathode through the membrane. Herein, pressure oscillation is applied to address this issue. Empirical and CFD data are employed to elucidate the mechanism of stable power generation using the pressure swing supply. Simultaneous and time-continuous measurements of the current distribution and gas concentration distribution are also conducted. The results demonstrate that the nitrogen concentration in the anode channel under pressure constant operation differs from that under pressure swing supply conditions. The transient two-dimensional CFD results indicate that oscillatory flow is generated by pressure swing supply, which periodically sweeps out nitrogen from the active area, resulting in stable power generation.

Is floral specialization an evolutionary dead-end? Pollination system transitions in Ruellia (Acanthaceae).

PubMed

Tripp, Erin A; Manos, Paul S

2008-07-01

Pollination systems frequently reflect adaptations to particular groups of pollinators. Such systems are indicative of evolutionary specialization and have been important in angiosperm diversification. We studied the evolution of pollination systems in the large genus Ruellia. Phylogenetic analyses, morphological ordinations, ancestral state reconstructions, and a character mapping simulation were conducted to reveal key patterns in the direction and lability of floral characters associated with pollination. We found significant floral morphological differences among species that were generally associated with different groups of floral visitors. Floral evolution has been highly labile and also directional. Some specialized systems such as hawkmoth or bat pollination are likely evolutionary dead-ends. In contrast, specialized pollination by hummingbirds is clearly not a dead-end. We found evidence for multiple reverse transitions from presumed ancestral hummingbird pollination to more derived bee or insect pollination. These repeated origins of insect pollination from hummingbird-pollinated ancestors have not evolved without historical baggage. Flowers of insect-pollinated species derived from hummingbird-pollinated ancestors are morphologically more similar to hummingbird flowers than they are to other more distantly related insect-pollinated flowers. Finally, some pollinator switches were concomitant with changes in floral morphology that are associated with those pollinators. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that some transitions have been adaptive in the evolution of Ruellia.

Experimental study on the optimal purge duration of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell with a dead-ended anode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Yu-Fen; Chen, Yong-Song

2017-02-01

When a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is operated with a dead-ended anode, impurities gradually accumulate within the anode, resulting in a performance drop. An anode purge is thereby ultimately required to remove impurities within the anode. A purge strategy comprises purge interval (valve closed) and purge duration (valve is open). A short purge interval causes frequent and unnecessary activation of the valve, whereas a long purge interval leads to excessive impurity accumulation. A short purge duration causes an incomplete performance recovery, whereas a long purge duration results in low hydrogen utilization. In this study, a series of experimental trials was conducted to simultaneously measure the hydrogen supply rate and power generation of a PEMFC at a frequency of 50 Hz for various operating current density levels and purge durations. The effect of purge duration on the cell's energy efficiency was subsequently analyzed and discussed. The results showed that the optimal purge duration for the PEMFC was approximately 0.2 s. Based on the results of this study, a methodical process for determining optimal purge durations was ultimately proposed for widespread application. Purging approximately one-fourth of anode gas can obtain optimal energy efficiency for a PEMFC with a dead-ended anode.

Water quality modeling in the dead end sections of drinking water distribution networks.

PubMed

Abokifa, Ahmed A; Yang, Y Jeffrey; Lo, Cynthia S; Biswas, Pratim

2016-02-01

Dead-end sections of drinking water distribution networks are known to be problematic zones in terms of water quality degradation. Extended residence time due to water stagnation leads to rapid reduction of disinfectant residuals allowing the regrowth of microbial pathogens. Water quality models developed so far apply spatial aggregation and temporal averaging techniques for hydraulic parameters by assigning hourly averaged water demands to the main nodes of the network. Although this practice has generally resulted in minimal loss of accuracy for the predicted disinfectant concentrations in main water transmission lines, this is not the case for the peripheries of the distribution network. This study proposes a new approach for simulating disinfectant residuals in dead end pipes while accounting for both spatial and temporal variability in hydraulic and transport parameters. A stochastic demand generator was developed to represent residential water pulses based on a non-homogenous Poisson process. Dispersive solute transport was considered using highly dynamic dispersion rates. A genetic algorithm was used to calibrate the axial hydraulic profile of the dead-end pipe based on the different demand shares of the withdrawal nodes. A parametric sensitivity analysis was done to assess the model performance under variation of different simulation parameters. A group of Monte-Carlo ensembles was carried out to investigate the influence of spatial and temporal variations in flow demands on the simulation accuracy. A set of three correction factors were analytically derived to adjust residence time, dispersion rate and wall demand to overcome simulation error caused by spatial aggregation approximation. The current model results show better agreement with field-measured concentrations of conservative fluoride tracer and free chlorine disinfectant than the simulations of recent advection dispersion reaction models published in the literature. Accuracy of the simulated concentration profiles showed significant dependence on the spatial distribution of the flow demands compared to temporal variation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Is specialization an evolutionary dead end? Testing for differences in speciation, extinction and trait transition rates across diverse phylogenies of specialists and generalists.

PubMed

Day, E H; Hua, X; Bromham, L

2016-06-01

Specialization has often been claimed to be an evolutionary dead end, with specialist lineages having a reduced capacity to persist or diversify. In a phylogenetic comparative framework, an evolutionary dead end may be detectable from the phylogenetic distribution of specialists, if specialists rarely give rise to large, diverse clades. Previous phylogenetic studies of the influence of specialization on macroevolutionary processes have demonstrated a range of patterns, including examples where specialists have both higher and lower diversification rates than generalists, as well as examples where the rates of evolutionary transitions from generalists to specialists are higher, lower or equal to transitions from specialists to generalists. Here, we wish to ask whether these varied answers are due to the differences in macroevolutionary processes in different clades, or partly due to differences in methodology. We analysed ten phylogenies containing multiple independent origins of specialization and quantified the phylogenetic distribution of specialists by applying a common set of metrics to all datasets. We compared the tip branch lengths of specialists to generalists, the size of specialist clades arising from each evolutionary origin of a specialized trait and whether specialists tend to be clustered or scattered on phylogenies. For each of these measures, we compared the observed values to expectations under null models of trait evolution and expected outcomes under alternative macroevolutionary scenarios. We found that specialization is sometimes an evolutionary dead end: in two of the ten case studies (pollinator-specific plants and host-specific flies), specialization is associated with a reduced rate of diversification or trait persistence. However, in the majority of studies, we could not distinguish the observed phylogenetic distribution of specialists from null models in which specialization has no effect on diversification or trait persistence. © 2016 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2016 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Supporting the self-concept with memory: insight from amnesia

PubMed Central

Verfaellie, Mieke

2015-01-01

We investigated the extent to which personal semantic memory supports the self-concept in individuals with medial temporal lobe amnesia and healthy adults. Participants completed eight ‘I Am’ self-statements. For each of the four highest ranked self-statements, participants completed an open-ended narrative task, during which they provided supporting information indicating why the I Am statement was considered self-descriptive. Participants then completed an episodic probe task, during which they attempted to retrieve six episodic memories for each of these self-statements. Supporting information was scored as episodic, personal semantic or general semantic. In the narrative task, personal semantic memory predominated as self-supporting information in both groups. The amnesic participants generated fewer personal semantic memories than controls to support their self-statements, a deficit that was more pronounced for trait relative to role self-statements. In the episodic probe task, the controls primarily generated unique event memories, but the amnesic participants did not. These findings demonstrate that personal semantic memory, in particular autobiographical fact knowledge, plays a critical role in supporting the self-concept, regardless of the accessibility of episodic memories, and they highlight potential differences in the way traits and roles are supported by personal memory. PMID:25964501

Categorizing words through semantic memory navigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borge-Holthoefer, J.; Arenas, A.

2010-03-01

Semantic memory is the cognitive system devoted to storage and retrieval of conceptual knowledge. Empirical data indicate that semantic memory is organized in a network structure. Everyday experience shows that word search and retrieval processes provide fluent and coherent speech, i.e. are efficient. This implies either that semantic memory encodes, besides thousands of words, different kind of links for different relationships (introducing greater complexity and storage costs), or that the structure evolves facilitating the differentiation between long-lasting semantic relations from incidental, phenomenological ones. Assuming the latter possibility, we explore a mechanism to disentangle the underlying semantic backbone which comprises conceptual structure (extraction of categorical relations between pairs of words), from the rest of information present in the structure. To this end, we first present and characterize an empirical data set modeled as a network, then we simulate a stochastic cognitive navigation on this topology. We schematize this latter process as uncorrelated random walks from node to node, which converge to a feature vectors network. By doing so we both introduce a novel mechanism for information retrieval, and point at the problem of category formation in close connection to linguistic and non-linguistic experience.

Combining a semantic differential with fMRI to investigate brands as cultural symbols

PubMed Central

Rotte, Michael

2010-01-01

Traditionally, complex cultural symbols like brands are investigated with psychological approaches. Often this is done by using semantic differentials, in which participants are asked to rate a brand regarding different pairs of adjectives. Only recently, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been used to examine brands. In the current work we used fMRI in combination with a semantic differential to cross-validate both methods and to improve the characterization of the basic factors constituting the semantic space. To this end we presented pictures of brands while recording subject's brain activity during an fMRI experiment. Results of the semantic differential arranged the brands in a semantic space illustrating their relationships to other cultural symbols. FMRI results revealed activation of the medial prefrontal cortex for brands that loaded high on the factor ‘social competence’, suggesting an involvement of a cortical network associated with social cognitions. In contrast, brands closely related to the factor ‘potency’ showed decreased activity in the superior frontal gyri, possibly related to working memory during task performance. We discuss the results as a different engagement of the prefrontal cortex when perceiving brands as cultural symbols. PMID:20080877

Fully convolutional networks with double-label for esophageal cancer image segmentation by self-transfer learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xue, Di-Xiu; Zhang, Rong; Zhao, Yuan-Yuan; Xu, Jian-Ming; Wang, Ya-Lei

2017-07-01

Cancer recognition is the prerequisite to determine appropriate treatment. This paper focuses on the semantic segmentation task of microvascular morphological types on narrowband images to aid clinical examination of esophageal cancer. The most challenge for semantic segmentation is incomplete-labeling. Our key insight is to build fully convolutional networks (FCNs) with double-label to make pixel-wise predictions. The roi-label indicating ROIs (region of interest) is introduced as extra constraint to guild feature learning. Trained end-to-end, the FCN model with two target jointly optimizes both segmentation of sem-label (semantic label) and segmentation of roi-label within the framework of self-transfer learning based on multi-task learning theory. The learning representation ability of shared convolutional networks for sem-label is improved with support of roi-label via achieving a better understanding of information outside the ROIs. Our best FCN model gives satisfactory segmentation result with mean IU up to 77.8% (pixel accuracy > 90%). The results show that the proposed approach is able to assist clinical diagnosis to a certain extent.

Semantic Theme Analysis of Pilot Incident Reports

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thirumalainambi, Rajkumar

2009-01-01

Pilots report accidents or incidents during take-off, on flight and landing to airline authorities and Federal aviation authority as well. The description of pilot reports for an incident contains technical terms related to Flight instruments and operations. Normal text mining approaches collect keywords from text documents and relate them among documents that are stored in database. Present approach will extract specific theme analysis of incident reports and semantically relate hierarchy of terms assigning weights of themes. Once the theme extraction has been performed for a given document, a unique key can be assigned to that document to cross linking the documents. Semantic linking will be used to categorize the documents based on specific rules that can help an end-user to analyze certain types of accidents. This presentation outlines the architecture of text mining for pilot incident reports for autonomous categorization of pilot incident reports using semantic theme analysis.

Climate change and dead zones.

PubMed

Altieri, Andrew H; Gedan, Keryn B

2015-04-01

Estuaries and coastal seas provide valuable ecosystem services but are particularly vulnerable to the co-occurring threats of climate change and oxygen-depleted dead zones. We analyzed the severity of climate change predicted for existing dead zones, and found that 94% of dead zones are in regions that will experience at least a 2 °C temperature increase by the end of the century. We then reviewed how climate change will exacerbate hypoxic conditions through oceanographic, ecological, and physiological processes. We found evidence that suggests numerous climate variables including temperature, ocean acidification, sea-level rise, precipitation, wind, and storm patterns will affect dead zones, and that each of those factors has the potential to act through multiple pathways on both oxygen availability and ecological responses to hypoxia. Given the variety and strength of the mechanisms by which climate change exacerbates hypoxia, and the rates at which climate is changing, we posit that climate change variables are contributing to the dead zone epidemic by acting synergistically with one another and with recognized anthropogenic triggers of hypoxia including eutrophication. This suggests that a multidisciplinary, integrated approach that considers the full range of climate variables is needed to track and potentially reverse the spread of dead zones. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Analyzing structural changes in SNOMED CT's Bacterial infectious diseases using a visual semantic delta.

PubMed

Ochs, Christopher; Case, James T; Perl, Yehoshua

2017-03-01

Thousands of changes are applied to SNOMED CT's concepts during each release cycle. These changes are the result of efforts to improve or expand the coverage of health domains in the terminology. Understanding which concepts changed, how they changed, and the overall impact of a set of changes is important for editors and end users. Each SNOMED CT release comes with delta files, which identify all of the individual additions and removals of concepts and relationships. These files typically contain tens of thousands of individual entries, overwhelming users. They also do not identify the editorial processes that were applied to individual concepts and they do not capture the overall impact of a set of changes on a subhierarchy of concepts. In this paper we introduce a methodology and accompanying software tool called a SNOMED CT Visual Semantic Delta ("semantic delta" for short) to enable a comprehensive review of changes in SNOMED CT. The semantic delta displays a graphical list of editing operations that provides semantics and context to the additions and removals in the delta files. However, there may still be thousands of editing operations applied to a set of concepts. To address this issue, a semantic delta includes a visual summary of changes that affected sets of structurally and semantically similar concepts. The software tool for creating semantic deltas offers views of various granularities, allowing a user to control how much change information they view. In this tool a user can select a set of structurally and semantically similar concepts and review the editing operations that affected their modeling. The semantic delta methodology is demonstrated on SNOMED CT's Bacterial infectious disease subhierarchy, which has undergone a significant remodeling effort over the last two years. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Analyzing Structural Changes in SNOMED CT’s Bacterial Infectious Diseases Using a Visual Semantic Delta

PubMed Central

Ochs, Christopher; Case, James T.; Perl, Yehoshua

2017-01-01

Thousands of changes are applied to SNOMED CT’s concepts during each release cycle. These changes are the result of efforts to improve or expand the coverage of health domains in the terminology. Understanding which concepts changed, how they changed, and the overall impact of a set of changes is important for editors and end users. Each SNOMED CT release comes with delta files, which identify all of the individual additions and removals of concepts and relationships. These files typically contain tens of thousands of individual entries, overwhelming users. They also do not identify the editorial processes that were applied to individual concepts and they do not capture the overall impact of a set of changes on a subhierarchy of concepts. In this paper we introduce a methodology and accompanying software tool called a SNOMED CT Visual Semantic Delta (“semantic delta” for short) to enable a comprehensive review of changes in SNOMED CT. The semantic delta displays a graphical list of editing operations that provides semantics and context to the additions and removals in the delta files. However, there may still be thousands of editing operations applied to a set of concepts. To address this issue, a semantic delta includes a visual summary of changes that affected sets of structurally and semantically similar concepts. The software tool for creating semantic deltas offers views of various granularities, allowing a user to control how much change information they view. In this tool a user can select a set of structurally and semantically similar concepts and review the editing operations that affected their modeling. The semantic delta methodology is demonstrated on SNOMED CT’s Bacterial infectious disease subhierarchy, which has undergone a significant remodeling effort over the last two years. PMID:28215561

Design of fast signal processing readout front-end electronics implemented in CMOS 40 nm technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kleczek, Rafal

2016-12-01

The author presents considerations on the design of fast readout front-end electronics implemented in a CMOS 40 nm technology with an emphasis on the system dead time, noise performance and power dissipation. The designed processing channel consists of a charge sensitive amplifier with different feedback types (Krummenacher, resistive and constant current blocks), a threshold setting block, a discriminator and a counter with logic circuitry. The results of schematic and post-layout simulations with randomly generated input pulses in a time domain according to the Poisson distribution are presented and analyzed. Dead time below 20 ns is possible while keeping noise ENC ≈ 90 e- for a detector capacitance CDET = 160 fF.

The 3rd DBCLS BioHackathon: improving life science data integration with Semantic Web technologies.

PubMed

Katayama, Toshiaki; Wilkinson, Mark D; Micklem, Gos; Kawashima, Shuichi; Yamaguchi, Atsuko; Nakao, Mitsuteru; Yamamoto, Yasunori; Okamoto, Shinobu; Oouchida, Kenta; Chun, Hong-Woo; Aerts, Jan; Afzal, Hammad; Antezana, Erick; Arakawa, Kazuharu; Aranda, Bruno; Belleau, Francois; Bolleman, Jerven; Bonnal, Raoul Jp; Chapman, Brad; Cock, Peter Ja; Eriksson, Tore; Gordon, Paul Mk; Goto, Naohisa; Hayashi, Kazuhiro; Horn, Heiko; Ishiwata, Ryosuke; Kaminuma, Eli; Kasprzyk, Arek; Kawaji, Hideya; Kido, Nobuhiro; Kim, Young Joo; Kinjo, Akira R; Konishi, Fumikazu; Kwon, Kyung-Hoon; Labarga, Alberto; Lamprecht, Anna-Lena; Lin, Yu; Lindenbaum, Pierre; McCarthy, Luke; Morita, Hideyuki; Murakami, Katsuhiko; Nagao, Koji; Nishida, Kozo; Nishimura, Kunihiro; Nishizawa, Tatsuya; Ogishima, Soichi; Ono, Keiichiro; Oshita, Kazuki; Park, Keun-Joon; Prins, Pjotr; Saito, Taro L; Samwald, Matthias; Satagopam, Venkata P; Shigemoto, Yasumasa; Smith, Richard; Splendiani, Andrea; Sugawara, Hideaki; Taylor, James; Vos, Rutger A; Withers, David; Yamasaki, Chisato; Zmasek, Christian M; Kawamoto, Shoko; Okubo, Kosaku; Asai, Kiyoshi; Takagi, Toshihisa

2013-02-11

BioHackathon 2010 was the third in a series of meetings hosted by the Database Center for Life Sciences (DBCLS) in Tokyo, Japan. The overall goal of the BioHackathon series is to improve the quality and accessibility of life science research data on the Web by bringing together representatives from public databases, analytical tool providers, and cyber-infrastructure researchers to jointly tackle important challenges in the area of in silico biological research. The theme of BioHackathon 2010 was the 'Semantic Web', and all attendees gathered with the shared goal of producing Semantic Web data from their respective resources, and/or consuming or interacting those data using their tools and interfaces. We discussed on topics including guidelines for designing semantic data and interoperability of resources. We consequently developed tools and clients for analysis and visualization. We provide a meeting report from BioHackathon 2010, in which we describe the discussions, decisions, and breakthroughs made as we moved towards compliance with Semantic Web technologies - from source provider, through middleware, to the end-consumer.

The 3rd DBCLS BioHackathon: improving life science data integration with Semantic Web technologies

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background BioHackathon 2010 was the third in a series of meetings hosted by the Database Center for Life Sciences (DBCLS) in Tokyo, Japan. The overall goal of the BioHackathon series is to improve the quality and accessibility of life science research data on the Web by bringing together representatives from public databases, analytical tool providers, and cyber-infrastructure researchers to jointly tackle important challenges in the area of in silico biological research. Results The theme of BioHackathon 2010 was the 'Semantic Web', and all attendees gathered with the shared goal of producing Semantic Web data from their respective resources, and/or consuming or interacting those data using their tools and interfaces. We discussed on topics including guidelines for designing semantic data and interoperability of resources. We consequently developed tools and clients for analysis and visualization. Conclusion We provide a meeting report from BioHackathon 2010, in which we describe the discussions, decisions, and breakthroughs made as we moved towards compliance with Semantic Web technologies - from source provider, through middleware, to the end-consumer. PMID:23398680

Love letters to the dead: resurrecting an epistolary art.

PubMed

Lander, Dorothy A; Graham-Pole, John R

This article explores the art of letter-writing, specifically to our beloved dead, as a form of autoethnographic research, pedagogy, and care work. As university teachers and qualitative researchers in palliative and end-of-life care, we review the literature and history of epistolary communications with the deceased, as a prelude to writing our own letters. John writes to his long-dead mother and Dorothy to her recently deceased spouse Patrick, each letter followed by a reflective dialogue between us. Through this dialogue, we highlight the potential application of this art, or handcraft, to formal and informal palliative care, and the implications for practice, pedagogy, policy, and research. We propose that such direct, non-mediated, communications can offer a valuable form of healing for bereaved people. The therapeutic potential of letter writing and the abundance of literary and popular culture exemplars of responses from the dead are also largely unexplored in death education and research.

Overhead electric power transmission line jumpering system for bundles of five or more subconductors

DOEpatents

Winkelman, Paul F.

1982-01-01

Jumpering of electric power transmission lines at a dead end tower. Two transmission line conductor bundles each contain five or more spaced apart subconductors (5) arranged in the shape of a cylinder having a circular cross section. The ends of each bundle of subconductors are attached with insulators to a dead end tower (1). Jumpering allows the electric current to flow between the two bundles of subconductors using jumper buses, internal jumper conductors, and external jumper conductors. One or more current collecting jumper buses (37) are located inside each bundle of subconductors with each jumper bus being attached to the end of a subconductor. Small-diameter internal jumper conductors (33) are located in the inherently electrically shielded area inside each bundle of subconductors with each subconductor (except ones having an attached jumper bus) having one internal jumper conductor connected between that subconductor's end and a jumper bus. Large-diameter external jumper conductors (9) are located outside each bundle of subconductors with one or more external jumper conductors being connected between the jumper buses in one bundle of subconductors and the jumper buses in the other bundle.

Supporting the self-concept with memory: insight from amnesia.

PubMed

Grilli, Matthew D; Verfaellie, Mieke

2015-12-01

We investigated the extent to which personal semantic memory supports the self-concept in individuals with medial temporal lobe amnesia and healthy adults. Participants completed eight 'I Am' self-statements. For each of the four highest ranked self-statements, participants completed an open-ended narrative task, during which they provided supporting information indicating why the I Am statement was considered self-descriptive. Participants then completed an episodic probe task, during which they attempted to retrieve six episodic memories for each of these self-statements. Supporting information was scored as episodic, personal semantic or general semantic. In the narrative task, personal semantic memory predominated as self-supporting information in both groups. The amnesic participants generated fewer personal semantic memories than controls to support their self-statements, a deficit that was more pronounced for trait relative to role self-statements. In the episodic probe task, the controls primarily generated unique event memories, but the amnesic participants did not. These findings demonstrate that personal semantic memory, in particular autobiographical fact knowledge, plays a critical role in supporting the self-concept, regardless of the accessibility of episodic memories, and they highlight potential differences in the way traits and roles are supported by personal memory. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Sex differences in the use of delayed semantic context when listening to disrupted speech.

PubMed

Liederman, Jacqueline; Fisher, Janet McGraw; Coty, Alexis; Matthews, Geetha; Frye, Richard E; Lincoln, Alexis; Alexander, Rebecca

2013-02-01

Female as opposed to male listeners were better able to use a delayed informative cue at the end of a long sentence to report an earlier word which was disrupted by noise. Informative (semantically related) or uninformative (semantically unrelated) word cues were presented 2, 6, or 10 words after a target word whose initial phoneme had been replaced with noise. A total of 84 young adults (45 males) listened to each sentence and then repeated it after its offset. The semantic benefit effect (SBE) was the difference in the accuracy of report of the disrupted target word during informative vs. uninformative sentences. Women had significantly higher SBEs than men even though there were no significant sex differences in terms of number of non-target words reported, the effect of distance between the disrupted target word and the informative cue, or kinds of errors generated. We suggest that the superior ability of women to use delayed semantic information to decode an earlier ambiguous speech signal may be linked to women's tendency to engage the hemispheres more bilaterally than men during word processing. Since the maintenance of semantic context under ambiguous conditions demands more right than left hemispheric resources, this may give women an advantage.

Getting ahead of yourself: Parafoveal word expectancy modulates the N400 during sentence reading

DOE PAGES

Stites, Mallory C.; Payne, Brennan R.; Federmeier, Kara D.

2017-01-18

An important question in the reading literature regards the nature of the semantic information readers can extract from the parafovea (i.e., the next word in a sentence). Recent eye-tracking findings have found a semantic parafoveal preview benefit under many circumstances, and findings from event-related brain potentials (ERPs) also suggest that readers can at least detect semantic anomalies parafoveally. We use ERPs to ask whether fine-grained aspects of semantic expectancy can affect the N400 elicited by a word appearing in the parafovea. In an RSVP-with-flankers paradigm, sentences were presented word by word, flanked 2° bilaterally by the previous and upcoming words.more » Stimuli consisted of high constraint sentences that were identical up to the target word, which could be expected, unexpected but plausible, or anomalous, as well as low constraint sentences that were always completed with the most expected ending. Findings revealed an N400 effect to the target word when it appeared in the parafovea, which was graded with respect to the target’s expectancy and congruency within the sentence context. Moreover, when targets appeared at central fixation, this graded congruency effect was mitigated, suggesting that the semantic information gleaned from parafoveal vision functionally changes the semantic processing of those words when foveated.« less

[Electrophysiological bases of semantic processing of objects].

PubMed

Kahlaoui, Karima; Baccino, Thierry; Joanette, Yves; Magnié, Marie-Noële

2007-02-01

How pictures and words are stored and processed in the human brain constitute a long-standing question in cognitive psychology. Behavioral studies have yielded a large amount of data addressing this issue. Generally speaking, these data show that there are some interactions between the semantic processing of pictures and words. However, behavioral methods can provide only limited insight into certain findings. Fortunately, Event-Related Potential (ERP) provides on-line cues about the temporal nature of cognitive processes and contributes to the exploration of their neural substrates. ERPs have been used in order to better understand semantic processing of words and pictures. The main objective of this article is to offer an overview of the electrophysiologic bases of semantic processing of words and pictures. Studies presented in this article showed that the processing of words is associated with an N 400 component, whereas pictures elicited both N 300 and N 400 components. Topographical analysis of the N 400 distribution over the scalp is compatible with the idea that both image-mediated concrete words and pictures access an amodal semantic system. However, given the distinctive N 300 patterns, observed only during picture processing, it appears that picture and word processing rely upon distinct neuronal networks, even if they end up activating more or less similar semantic representations.

Getting ahead of yourself: Parafoveal word expectancy modulates the N400 during sentence reading

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stites, Mallory C.; Payne, Brennan R.; Federmeier, Kara D.

An important question in the reading literature regards the nature of the semantic information readers can extract from the parafovea (i.e., the next word in a sentence). Recent eye-tracking findings have found a semantic parafoveal preview benefit under many circumstances, and findings from event-related brain potentials (ERPs) also suggest that readers can at least detect semantic anomalies parafoveally. We use ERPs to ask whether fine-grained aspects of semantic expectancy can affect the N400 elicited by a word appearing in the parafovea. In an RSVP-with-flankers paradigm, sentences were presented word by word, flanked 2° bilaterally by the previous and upcoming words.more » Stimuli consisted of high constraint sentences that were identical up to the target word, which could be expected, unexpected but plausible, or anomalous, as well as low constraint sentences that were always completed with the most expected ending. Findings revealed an N400 effect to the target word when it appeared in the parafovea, which was graded with respect to the target’s expectancy and congruency within the sentence context. Moreover, when targets appeared at central fixation, this graded congruency effect was mitigated, suggesting that the semantic information gleaned from parafoveal vision functionally changes the semantic processing of those words when foveated.« less

Productive extension of semantic memory in school-aged children: Relations with reading comprehension and deployment of cognitive resources.

PubMed

Bauer, Patricia J; Blue, Shala N; Xu, Aoxiang; Esposito, Alena G

2016-07-01

We investigated 7- to 10-year-old children's productive extension of semantic memory through self-generation of new factual knowledge derived through integration of separate yet related facts learned through instruction or through reading. In Experiment 1, an experimenter read the to-be-integrated facts. Children successfully learned and integrated the information and used it to further extend their semantic knowledge, as evidenced by high levels of correct responses in open-ended and forced-choice testing. In Experiment 2, on half of the trials, the to-be-integrated facts were read by an experimenter (as in Experiment 1) and on half of the trials, children read the facts themselves. Self-generation performance was high in both conditions (experimenter- and self-read); in both conditions, self-generation of new semantic knowledge was related to an independent measure of children's reading comprehension. In Experiment 3, the way children deployed cognitive resources during reading was predictive of their subsequent recall of newly learned information derived through integration. These findings indicate self-generation of new semantic knowledge through integration in school-age children as well as relations between this productive means of extension of semantic memory and cognitive processes engaged during reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Productive Extension of Semantic Memory in School-aged Children: Relations with Reading Comprehension and Deployment of Cognitive Resources

PubMed Central

Bauer, Patricia J.; Blue, Shala N.; Xu, Aoxiang; Esposito, Alena G.

2016-01-01

We investigated 7- to 10-year-old children’s productive extension of semantic memory through self-generation of new factual knowledge derived through integration of separate yet related facts learned through instruction or through reading. In Experiment 1, an experimenter read the to-be-integrated facts. Children successfully learned and integrated the information and used it to further extend their semantic knowledge, as evidenced by high levels of correct responses in open-ended and forced-choice testing. In Experiment 2, on half of the trials, the to-be-integrated facts were read by an experimenter (as in Experiment 1) and on half of the trials, children read the facts themselves. Self-generation performance was high in both conditions (experimenter- and self-read); in both conditions, self-generation of new semantic knowledge was related to an independent measure of children’s reading comprehension. In Experiment 3, the way children deployed cognitive resources during reading was predictive of their subsequent recall of newly learned information derived through integration. These findings indicate self-generation of new semantic knowledge through integration in school-age children as well as relations between this productive means of extension of semantic memory and cognitive processes engaged during reading. PMID:27253263

Dynamics of column stability with partial end restraints

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gregory, Peyton B.

1990-01-01

The dynamic behavior of columns with partial end restraints and loads consisting of a dead load and a pulsating load are investigated. The differential equation is solved using a lumped impulse recurrence formula relative to time coupled with a finite difference discretization along the member length. A computer program is written from which the first critical frequencies are found as a function of end stiffness. The case of a pinned ended column compares very well with the exact solution. Also, the natural frequency and buckling load formulas are derived for equal and unequal end restraints.

Physiologic Factors Influencing the Arterial-To-End-Tidal CO2 Difference and the Alveolar Dead Space Fraction in Spontaneously Breathing Anesthetised Horses.

PubMed

Mosing, Martina; Böhm, Stephan H; Rasis, Anthea; Hoosgood, Giselle; Auer, Ulrike; Tusman, Gerardo; Bettschart-Wolfensberger, Regula; Schramel, Johannes P

2018-01-01

The arterial to end-tidal CO 2 difference (P (a-ET) CO 2 ) and alveolar dead space fraction (VDalv frac  = P (a-ET) CO 2 /PaCO 2 ), are used to estimate Enghoff's "pulmonary dead space" (V/Q Eng ), a factor which is also influenced by venous admixture and other pulmonary perfusion abnormalities and thus is not just a measure of dead space as the name suggests. The aim of this experimental study was to evaluate which factors influence these CO 2 indices in anesthetized spontaneously breathing horses. Six healthy adult horses were anesthetized in dorsal recumbency breathing spontaneously for 3 h. Data to calculate the CO 2 indices (response variables) and dead space variables were measured every 30 min. Bohr's physiological and alveolar dead space variables, cardiac output (CO), mean pulmonary pressure (MPP), venous admixture [Formula: see text], airway dead space, tidal volume, oxygen consumption, and slope III of the volumetric capnogram were evaluated (explanatory variables). Univariate Pearson correlation was first explored for both CO 2 indices before V/Q Eng and the explanatory variables with rho were reported. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed on P (a-ET) CO 2 and VDalv frac assessing which explanatory variables best explained the variance in each response. The simplest, best-fit model was selected based on the maximum adjusted R 2 and smallest Mallow's p (C p ). The R 2 of the selected model, representing how much of the variance in the response could be explained by the selected variables, was reported. The highest correlation was found with the alveolar part of V/Q Eng to alveolar tidal volume ratio for both, P (a-ET) CO 2 ( r  = 0.899) and VDalv frac ( r  = 0.938). Venous admixture and CO best explained P (a-ET) CO 2 ( R 2  = 0.752; C p  = 4.372) and VDalv frac ( R 2  = 0.711; C p  = 9.915). Adding MPP (P (a-ET) CO 2 ) and airway dead space (VDalv frac ) to the models improved them only marginally. No "real" dead space variables from Bohr's equation contributed to the explanation of the variance of the two CO 2 indices. P (a-ET) CO 2 and VDalv frac were closely associated with the alveolar part of V/Q Eng and as such, were also influenced by variables representing a dysfunctional pulmonary perfusion. Neither P (a-ET) CO 2 nor VDalv frac should be considered pulmonary dead space, but used as global indices of V/Q mismatching under the described conditions.

Explosive Model Tarantula V1/JWL++ Calibration of LX-17: #2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Souers, P C; Vitello, P

2009-05-01

Tarantula V1 is a kinetic package for reactive flow codes that seeks to describe initiation, failure, dead zones and detonation simultaneously. The most important parameter is P1, the pressure between the initiation and failure regions. Both dead zone formation and failure can be largely controlled with this knob. However, V1 does failure with low settings and dead zones with higher settings, so that it cannot fulfill its purpose in the current format. To this end, V2 is under test. The derivation of the initiation threshold P0 is discussed. The derivation of the initiation pressure-tau curve as an output of Tarantulamore » shows that the initiation package is sound. A desensitization package is also considered.« less

Medical Concept Normalization in Social Media Posts with Recurrent Neural Networks.

PubMed

Tutubalina, Elena; Miftahutdinov, Zulfat; Nikolenko, Sergey; Malykh, Valentin

2018-06-12

Text mining of scientific libraries and social media has already proven itself as a reliable tool for drug repurposing and hypothesis generation. The task of mapping a disease mention to a concept in a controlled vocabulary, typically to the standard thesaurus in the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS), is known as medical concept normalization. This task is challenging due to the differences in the use of medical terminology between health care professionals and social media texts coming from the lay public. To bridge this gap, we use sequence learning with recurrent neural networks and semantic representation of one- or multi-word expressions: we develop end-to-end architectures directly tailored to the task, including bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory, Gated Recurrent Units with an attention mechanism, and additional semantic similarity features based on UMLS. Our evaluation against a standard benchmark shows that recurrent neural networks improve results over an effective baseline for classification based on convolutional neural networks. A qualitative examination of mentions discovered in a dataset of user reviews collected from popular online health information platforms as well as a quantitative evaluation both show improvements in the semantic representation of health-related expressions in social media. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Hitting the Maternal Wall

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Joan C.

2004-01-01

Women's lack of progress in academe is well documented: in its 1999-2000 report, the AAUP's Committee on the Economic Status of the Profession found "striking evidence of a distorted gender distribution by rank." Women are more likely than men to end up in low-paid, non tenure-track positions that are often a dead end. Women who do manage to…

Grasping Ideas with the Motor System: Semantic Somatotopy in Idiom Comprehension

PubMed Central

Hauk, Olaf; Pulvermüller, Friedemann

2009-01-01

Single words and sentences referring to bodily actions activate the motor cortex. However, this semantic grounding of concrete language does not address the critical question whether the sensory–motor system contributes to the processing of abstract meaning and thought. We examined functional magnetic resonance imaging activation to idioms and literal sentences including arm- and leg-related action words. A common left fronto-temporal network was engaged in sentence reading, with idioms yielding relatively stronger activity in (pre)frontal and middle temporal cortex. Crucially, somatotopic activation along the motor strip, in central and precentral cortex, was elicited by idiomatic and literal sentences, reflecting the body part reference of the words embedded in the sentences. Semantic somatotopy was most pronounced after sentence ending, thus reflecting sentence-level processing rather than that of single words. These results indicate that semantic representations grounded in the sensory–motor system play a role in the composition of sentence-level meaning, even in the case of idioms. PMID:19068489

Semantic based man-machine interface for real-time communication

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ali, M.; Ai, C.-S.

1988-01-01

A flight expert system (FLES) was developed to assist pilots in monitoring, diagnosing and recovering from in-flight faults. To provide a communications interface between the flight crew and FLES, a natural language interface (NALI) was implemented. Input to NALI is processed by three processors: (1) the semantics parser; (2) the knowledge retriever; and (3) the response generator. First the semantic parser extracts meaningful words and phrases to generate an internal representation of the query. At this point, the semantic parser has the ability to map different input forms related to the same concept into the same internal representation. Then the knowledge retriever analyzes and stores the context of the query to aid in resolving ellipses and pronoun references. At the end of this process, a sequence of retrievel functions is created as a first step in generating the proper response. Finally, the response generator generates the natural language response to the query. The architecture of NALI was designed to process both temporal and nontemporal queries. The architecture and implementation of NALI are described.

[Does action semantic knowledge influence mental simulation in sentence comprehension?].

PubMed

Mochizuki, Masaya; Naito, Katsuo

2012-04-01

This research investigated whether action semantic knowledge influences mental simulation during sentence comprehension. In Experiment 1, we confirmed that the words of face-related objects include the perceptual knowledge about the actions that bring the object to the face. In Experiment 2, we used an acceptability judgment task and a word-picture verification task to compare the perceptual information that is activated by the comprehension of sentences describing an action using face-related objects near the face (near-sentence) or far from the face (far-sentence). Results showed that participants took a longer time to judge the acceptability of the far-sentence than the near-sentence. Verification times were significantly faster when the actions in the pictures matched the action described in the sentences than when they were mismatched. These findings suggest that action semantic knowledge influences sentence processing, and that perceptual information corresponding to the content of the sentence is activated regardless of the action semantic knowledge at the end of the sentence processing.

The ERP correlates of self-knowledge: Are assessments of one's past, present, and future traits closer to semantic or episodic memory?

PubMed

Tanguay, Annick N; Benton, Lauren; Romio, Lorenza; Sievers, Carolin; Davidson, Patrick S R; Renoult, Louis

2018-02-01

Self-knowledge concerns one's own preferences and personality. It pertains to the self (similar to episodic memory), yet does not concern events. It is factual (like semantic memory), but also idiosyncratic. For these reasons, it is unclear where self-knowledge might fall on a continuum in relation to semantic and episodic memory. In this study, we aimed to compare the event-related potential (ERP) correlates of self-knowledge to those of semantic and episodic memory, using N400 and Late Positive Component (LPC) as proxies for semantic and episodic processing, respectively. We considered an additional factor: time perspective. Temporally distant selves have been suggested to be more semantic compared to the present self, but thinking about one's past and future selves may also engage episodic memory. Twenty-eight adults answered whether traits (e.g., persistent) were true of most people holding an occupation (e.g., soldiers; semantic memory condition), or true of themselves 5 years ago, in the present, or 5 years from now (past, present, and future self-knowledge conditions). The study ended with an episodic recognition memory task for previously seen traits. Present self-knowledge produced mean LPC amplitudes at posterior parietal sites that fell between semantic and episodic memory. Mean LPC amplitudes for past and future self-knowledge were greater than for semantic memory, and not significantly different from episodic memory. Mean N400 amplitudes for the self-knowledge conditions were smaller than for semantic memory at sagittal sites. However, this N400 effect was not separable from a preceding P200 effect at these same electrode sites. This P200 effect can be interpreted as reflecting the greater emotional salience of self as compared to general knowledge, which may have facilitated semantic processing. Overall, our findings are consistent with a distinction between knowledge of others and self-knowledge, but the closeness of self-knowledge's neural correlates to either semantic or episodic memory appears to depend to some extent on time perspective. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neural Substrates of Semantic Prospection – Evidence from the Dementias

PubMed Central

Irish, Muireann; Eyre, Nadine; Dermody, Nadene; O’Callaghan, Claire; Hodges, John R.; Hornberger, Michael; Piguet, Olivier

2016-01-01

The ability to envisage personally relevant events at a future time point represents an incredibly sophisticated cognitive endeavor and one that appears to be intimately linked to episodic memory integrity. Far less is known regarding the neurocognitive mechanisms underpinning the capacity to envisage non-personal future occurrences, known as semantic future thinking. Moreover the degree of overlap between the neural substrates supporting episodic and semantic forms of prospection remains unclear. To this end, we sought to investigate the capacity for episodic and semantic future thinking in Alzheimer’s disease (n = 15) and disease-matched behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (n = 15), neurodegenerative disorders characterized by significant medial temporal lobe (MTL) and frontal pathology. Participants completed an assessment of past and future thinking across personal (episodic) and non-personal (semantic) domains, as part of a larger neuropsychological battery investigating episodic and semantic processing, and their performance was contrasted with 20 age- and education-matched healthy older Controls. Participants underwent whole-brain T1-weighted structural imaging and voxel-based morphometry analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between gray matter integrity and episodic and semantic future thinking. Relative to Controls, both patient groups displayed marked future thinking impairments, extending across episodic and semantic domains. Analyses of covariance revealed that while episodic future thinking deficits could be explained solely in terms of episodic memory proficiency, semantic prospection deficits reflected the interplay between episodic and semantic processing. Distinct neural correlates emerged for each form of future simulation with differential involvement of prefrontal, lateral temporal, and medial temporal regions. Notably, the hippocampus was implicated irrespective of future thinking domain, with the suggestion of lateralization effects depending on the type of information being simulated. Whereas episodic future thinking related to right hippocampal integrity, semantic future thinking was found to relate to left hippocampal integrity. Our findings support previous observations of significant MTL involvement for semantic forms of prospection and point to distinct neurocognitive mechanisms which must be functional to support future-oriented forms of thought across personal and non-personal contexts. PMID:27252632

Thermodynamic and fluid mechanic analysis of rapid pressurization in a dead-end tube

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leslie, Ian H.

1989-01-01

Three models have been applied to very rapid compression of oxygen in a dead-ended tube. Pressures as high as 41 MPa (6000 psi) leading to peak temperatures of 1400 K are predicted. These temperatures are well in excess of the autoignition temperature (750 K) of teflon, a frequently used material for lining hoses employed in oxygen service. These findings are in accord with experiments that have resulted in ignition and combustion of the teflon, leading to the combustion of the stainless steel braiding and catastrophic failure. The system analyzed was representative of a capped off-high-pressure oxygen line, which could be part of a larger system. Pressurization of the larger system would lead to compression in the dead-end line, and possible ignition of the teflon liner. The model consists of a large plenum containing oxygen at the desired pressure (500 to 6000 psi). The plenum is connected via a fast acting valve to a stainless steel tube 2 cm inside diameter. Opening times are on the order of 15 ms. Downstream of the valve is an orifice sized to increase filling times to around 100 ms. The total length from the valve to the dead-end is 150 cm. The distance from the valve to the orifice is 95 cm. The models describe the fluid mechanics and thermodynamics of the flow, and do not include any combustion phenomena. A purely thermodynamic model assumes filling to be complete upstream of the orifice before any gas passes through the orifice. This simplification is reasonable based on experiment and computer modeling. Results show that peak temperatures as high as 4800 K can result from recompression of the gas after expanding through the orifice. An approximate transient model without an orifice was developed assuming an isentropic compression process. An analytical solution was obtained. Results indicated that fill times can be considerably shorter than valve opening times. The third model was a finite difference, 1-D transient compressible flow model. Results from the code show the recompression effect but predict much lower peak temperatures than the thermodynamic model.

Thermodynamic and fluid mechanic analysis of rapid pressurization in a dead-end tube

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leslie, Ian H.

1989-12-01

Three models have been applied to very rapid compression of oxygen in a dead-ended tube. Pressures as high as 41 MPa (6000 psi) leading to peak temperatures of 1400 K are predicted. These temperatures are well in excess of the autoignition temperature (750 K) of teflon, a frequently used material for lining hoses employed in oxygen service. These findings are in accord with experiments that have resulted in ignition and combustion of the teflon, leading to the combustion of the stainless steel braiding and catastrophic failure. The system analyzed was representative of a capped off-high-pressure oxygen line, which could be part of a larger system. Pressurization of the larger system would lead to compression in the dead-end line, and possible ignition of the teflon liner. The model consists of a large plenum containing oxygen at the desired pressure (500 to 6000 psi). The plenum is connected via a fast acting valve to a stainless steel tube 2 cm inside diameter. Opening times are on the order of 15 ms. Downstream of the valve is an orifice sized to increase filling times to around 100 ms. The total length from the valve to the dead-end is 150 cm. The distance from the valve to the orifice is 95 cm. The models describe the fluid mechanics and thermodynamics of the flow, and do not include any combustion phenomena. A purely thermodynamic model assumes filling to be complete upstream of the orifice before any gas passes through the orifice. This simplification is reasonable based on experiment and computer modeling. Results show that peak temperatures as high as 4800 K can result from recompression of the gas after expanding through the orifice. An approximate transient model without an orifice was developed assuming an isentropic compression process. An analytical solution was obtained.

The Influence of Task-Irrelevant Music on Language Processing: Syntactic and Semantic Structures

PubMed Central

Hoch, Lisianne; Poulin-Charronnat, Benedicte; Tillmann, Barbara

2011-01-01

Recent research has suggested that music and language processing share neural resources, leading to new hypotheses about interference in the simultaneous processing of these two structures. The present study investigated the effect of a musical chord's tonal function on syntactic processing (Experiment 1) and semantic processing (Experiment 2) using a cross-modal paradigm and controlling for acoustic differences. Participants read sentences and performed a lexical decision task on the last word, which was, syntactically or semantically, expected or unexpected. The simultaneously presented (task-irrelevant) musical sequences ended on either an expected tonic or a less-expected subdominant chord. Experiment 1 revealed interactive effects between music-syntactic and linguistic-syntactic processing. Experiment 2 showed only main effects of both music-syntactic and linguistic-semantic expectations. An additional analysis over the two experiments revealed that linguistic violations interacted with musical violations, though not differently as a function of the type of linguistic violations. The present findings were discussed in light of currently available data on the processing of music as well as of syntax and semantics in language, leading to the hypothesis that resources might be shared for structural integration processes and sequencing. PMID:21713122

Neural Correlates of Semantic Prediction and Resolution in Sentence Processing.

PubMed

Grisoni, Luigi; Miller, Tally McCormick; Pulvermüller, Friedemann

2017-05-03

Most brain-imaging studies of language comprehension focus on activity following meaningful stimuli. Testing adult human participants with high-density EEG, we show that, already before the presentation of a critical word, context-induced semantic predictions are reflected by a neurophysiological index, which we therefore call the semantic readiness potential (SRP). The SRP precedes critical words if a previous sentence context constrains the upcoming semantic content (high-constraint contexts), but not in unpredictable (low-constraint) contexts. Specific semantic predictions were indexed by SRP sources within the motor system-in dorsolateral hand motor areas for expected hand-related words (e.g., "write"), but in ventral motor cortex for face-related words ("talk"). Compared with affirmative sentences, negated ones led to medial prefrontal and more widespread motor source activation, the latter being consistent with predictive semantic computation of alternatives to the negated expected concept. Predictive processing of semantic alternatives in negated sentences is further supported by a negative-going event-related potential at ∼400 ms (N400), which showed the typical enhancement to semantically incongruent sentence endings only in high-constraint affirmative contexts, but not to high-constraint negated ones. These brain dynamics reveal the interplay between semantic prediction and resolution (match vs error) processing in sentence understanding. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Most neuroscientists agree on the eminent importance of predictive mechanisms for understanding basic as well as higher brain functions. This contrasts with a sparseness of brain measures that directly reflects specific aspects of prediction, as they are relevant in the processing of language and thought. Here we show that when critical words are strongly expected in their sentence context, a predictive brain response reflects meaning features of these anticipated symbols already before they appear. The granularity of the semantic predictions was so fine grained that the cortical sources in sensorimotor and medial prefrontal cortex even distinguished between predicted face- or hand-related action words (e.g., the words "lick" or "pick") and between affirmative and negated sentence meanings. Copyright © 2017 Grisoni et al.

Neural Correlates of Semantic Prediction and Resolution in Sentence Processing

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Most brain-imaging studies of language comprehension focus on activity following meaningful stimuli. Testing adult human participants with high-density EEG, we show that, already before the presentation of a critical word, context-induced semantic predictions are reflected by a neurophysiological index, which we therefore call the semantic readiness potential (SRP). The SRP precedes critical words if a previous sentence context constrains the upcoming semantic content (high-constraint contexts), but not in unpredictable (low-constraint) contexts. Specific semantic predictions were indexed by SRP sources within the motor system—in dorsolateral hand motor areas for expected hand-related words (e.g., “write”), but in ventral motor cortex for face-related words (“talk”). Compared with affirmative sentences, negated ones led to medial prefrontal and more widespread motor source activation, the latter being consistent with predictive semantic computation of alternatives to the negated expected concept. Predictive processing of semantic alternatives in negated sentences is further supported by a negative-going event-related potential at ∼400 ms (N400), which showed the typical enhancement to semantically incongruent sentence endings only in high-constraint affirmative contexts, but not to high-constraint negated ones. These brain dynamics reveal the interplay between semantic prediction and resolution (match vs error) processing in sentence understanding. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Most neuroscientists agree on the eminent importance of predictive mechanisms for understanding basic as well as higher brain functions. This contrasts with a sparseness of brain measures that directly reflects specific aspects of prediction, as they are relevant in the processing of language and thought. Here we show that when critical words are strongly expected in their sentence context, a predictive brain response reflects meaning features of these anticipated symbols already before they appear. The granularity of the semantic predictions was so fine grained that the cortical sources in sensorimotor and medial prefrontal cortex even distinguished between predicted face- or hand-related action words (e.g., the words “lick” or “pick”) and between affirmative and negated sentence meanings. PMID:28411271

Application of latent semantic analysis for open-ended responses in a large, epidemiologic study

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background The Millennium Cohort Study is a longitudinal cohort study designed in the late 1990s to evaluate how military service may affect long-term health. The purpose of this investigation was to examine characteristics of Millennium Cohort Study participants who responded to the open-ended question, and to identify and investigate the most commonly reported areas of concern. Methods Participants who responded during the 2001-2003 and 2004-2006 questionnaire cycles were included in this study (n = 108,129). To perform these analyses, Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) was applied to a broad open-ended question asking the participant if there were any additional health concerns. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to examine the adjusted odds of responding to the open-text field, and cluster analysis was executed to understand the major areas of concern for participants providing open-ended responses. Results Participants who provided information in the open-ended text field (n = 27,916), had significantly lower self-reported general health compared with those who did not provide information in the open-ended text field. The bulk of responses concerned a finite number of topics, most notably illness/injury, exposure, and exercise. Conclusion These findings suggest generalized topic areas, as well as identify subgroups who are more likely to provide additional information in their response that may add insight into future epidemiologic and military research. PMID:21974837

Semantic labeling of high-resolution aerial images using an ensemble of fully convolutional networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Xiaofeng; Shen, Shuhan; Lin, Xiangguo; Hu, Zhanyi

2017-10-01

High-resolution remote sensing data classification has been a challenging and promising research topic in the community of remote sensing. In recent years, with the rapid advances of deep learning, remarkable progress has been made in this field, which facilitates a transition from hand-crafted features designing to an automatic end-to-end learning. A deep fully convolutional networks (FCNs) based ensemble learning method is proposed to label the high-resolution aerial images. To fully tap the potentials of FCNs, both the Visual Geometry Group network and a deeper residual network, ResNet, are employed. Furthermore, to enlarge training samples with diversity and gain better generalization, in addition to the commonly used data augmentation methods (e.g., rotation, multiscale, and aspect ratio) in the literature, aerial images from other datasets are also collected for cross-scene learning. Finally, we combine these learned models to form an effective FCN ensemble and refine the results using a fully connected conditional random field graph model. Experiments on the ISPRS 2-D Semantic Labeling Contest dataset show that our proposed end-to-end classification method achieves an overall accuracy of 90.7%, a state-of-the-art in the field.

POLE.VAULT: A Semantic Framework for Health Policy Evaluation and Logical Testing.

PubMed

Shaban-Nejad, Arash; Okhmatovskaia, Anya; Shin, Eun Kyong; Davis, Robert L; Buckeridge, David L

2017-01-01

The major goal of our study is to provide an automatic evaluation framework that aligns the results generated through semantic reasoning with the best available evidence regarding effective interventions to support the logical evaluation of public health policies. To this end, we have designed the POLicy EVAlUation & Logical Testing (POLE.VAULT) Framework to assist different stakeholders and decision-makers in making informed decisions about different health-related interventions, programs and ultimately policies, based on the contextual knowledge and the best available evidence at both individual and aggregate levels.

Next generation data harmonization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armstrong, Chandler; Brown, Ryan M.; Chaves, Jillian; Czerniejewski, Adam; Del Vecchio, Justin; Perkins, Timothy K.; Rudnicki, Ron; Tauer, Greg

2015-05-01

Analysts are presented with a never ending stream of data sources. Often, subsets of data sources to solve problems are easily identified but the process to align data sets is time consuming. However, many semantic technologies do allow for fast harmonization of data to overcome these problems. These include ontologies that serve as alignment targets, visual tools and natural language processing that generate semantic graphs in terms of the ontologies, and analytics that leverage these graphs. This research reviews a developed prototype that employs all these approaches to perform analysis across disparate data sources documenting violent, extremist events.

Studies of ZVS soft switching of dual-active-bridge isolated bidirectional DC-DC converters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Fei; Zhao, Feng; Shi, Qibiao; Wen, Xuhui

2018-05-01

To operate dual-active-bridge isolated bidirectional dc- dc converter (DAB) at high efficiency, the two bridge switches must operate with Zero-Voltage-Switching (ZVS) over as wide an operating range as possible. This paper proposes a new perspective on realizing ZVS in dead-time. An exact theoretical analysis and mathematical mode is built to explain the process of ZVS switching in dead-time under Single Phase Shift (SPS) control strategy. In order to assure the two bridge switches operate on soft switching, every SPS switching point is analyzed. Generally, dead-time will be determined when the power electronic devices is selected. The key factor to realizing ZVS is the size of the end time of resonance comparing to dead-time. Through detailed analysis, it can obtain the conditions of all switches achieving ZVS turn-on and turn-off. Finally, simulation validates the theoretical analysis and some advice are given to realize the ZVS soft switching.

"Parents a dead end life": The main experiences of parents of children with leukemia.

PubMed

Jadidi, Rahmatollah; Hekmatpou, Davood; Eghbali, Aziz; Memari, Fereshteh; Anbari, Zohreh

2014-11-01

The quantitative studies show that due to the widespread prevalence, high death rate, high treatment expenses, and long hospital stay, leukemia influences the families and their children to a great extent. In this regard, no qualitative study has been conducted in Iran. So, this study was conducted in Arak in 2011 with the aim of expressing the experiences of the parents whose children suffered from leukemia. Using qualitative research approach, by applying content analysis method, 22 participants were interviewed in two educational hospitals during 2 months. The study was started by purposive sampling and continued by theoretical one. The data were analyzed based on the content analysis method. Data analysis showed that insolvency, knapsack problems, cancer secrecy, trust on God, self-sacrifice, adaptation, medical malpractice, and hospital facilities were the level 3 codes of parents' experiences and "parents a dead end life" was the main theme of this study. In this study, the experiences of the parents whose children suffered from cancer were studied deeply by the use of qualitative method, especially by the use of resources syncretism rather than studying quantitatively. Parents a dead end life emerged as the main theme of this study, emphasizing the necessity of paying further attention to the parents. On the other hand, making more use of parents' experiences and encouraging them helps make the treatment more effective. It is suggested that these experiences be shared with parents in the form of pamphlets distributed right at the beginning of the treatment process.

Transformation of a metaphor: semantic shift in a Cantonese term 'Chi Sin' denoting insanity.

PubMed

Ng, J Y W; Chen, E Y H

2015-03-01

The historical evolution of the existing terms used to describe insanity may be able to shed light on the formation of stigma towards psychosis patients. In Hong Kong, a widely used Cantonese term for insanity 'Chi Sin' provides a unique example because of its neutral original sense, as it literally means misconnection in a network circuit. We attempt to trace the origin and subsequent evolution of the term 'Chi Sin' from its early use to the present day to understand how local Hong Kong people have attached increasingly negative connotations to this scientific term since the mid-20th century. We sampled as many newspapers and magazines published in Hong Kong from 1939 to June 2014 as possible, and sampled 7 popular local movies from the 1950s and 1960s. We also searched all the newspapers published in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and Mainland China from January 1998 to June 2014, and searched several other local historical resources. In one early use of 'Chi Sin' in 1939, the term was only used in a technical sense to describe 'short circuiting'. We found that the development of the telephone system, the Strowger system, in Hong Kong is closely related to the evolution of the semantics of the term 'Chi Sin'. The original meaning of short circuitry of the term 'Chi Sin' is no longer used, and it has become a dead metaphor through repeated use with negative emotional connotations. This illustrates some of the factors facilitating the emergence of a metaphor with subsequent semantic drift.

End-of-life-vignettes. A Chaplain's story.

PubMed

Bodemann, Christina

2014-03-01

Julia, a 31-year-old woman, is brain dead after having suffered a cardiac arrest. This article describes a hospital chaplain's journey with her family through the tragedy of letting her die. It addresses the power of pastoral presence and prayer in a situation of loss and grief and the importance of storytelling for everyone involved in Julia's end-of-life care.

A survey of program slicing for software engineering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beck, Jon

1993-01-01

This research concerns program slicing which is used as a tool for program maintainence of software systems. Program slicing decreases the level of effort required to understand and maintain complex software systems. It was first designed as a debugging aid, but it has since been generalized into various tools and extended to include program comprehension, module cohesion estimation, requirements verification, dead code elimination, and maintainence of several software systems, including reverse engineering, parallelization, portability, and reuse component generation. This paper seeks to address and define terminology, theoretical concepts, program representation, different program graphs, developments in static slicing, dynamic slicing, and semantics and mathematical models. Applications for conventional slicing are presented, along with a prognosis of future work in this field.

Semantic integration of audio-visual information of polyphonic characters in a sentence context: an event-related potential study.

PubMed

Liu, Hong; Zhang, Gaoyan; Liu, Baolin

2017-04-01

In the Chinese language, a polyphone is a kind of special character that has more than one pronunciation, with each pronunciation corresponding to a different meaning. Here, we aimed to reveal the cognitive processing of audio-visual information integration of polyphones in a sentence context using the event-related potential (ERP) method. Sentences ending with polyphones were presented to subjects simultaneously in both an auditory and a visual modality. Four experimental conditions were set in which the visual presentations were the same, but the pronunciations of the polyphones were: the correct pronunciation; another pronunciation of the polyphone; a semantically appropriate pronunciation but not the pronunciation of the polyphone; or a semantically inappropriate pronunciation but also not the pronunciation of the polyphone. The behavioral results demonstrated significant differences in response accuracies when judging the semantic meanings of the audio-visual sentences, which reflected the different demands on cognitive resources. The ERP results showed that in the early stage, abnormal pronunciations were represented by the amplitude of the P200 component. Interestingly, because the phonological information mediated access to the lexical semantics, the amplitude and latency of the N400 component changed linearly across conditions, which may reflect the gradually increased semantic mismatch in the four conditions when integrating the auditory pronunciation with the visual information. Moreover, the amplitude of the late positive shift (LPS) showed a significant correlation with the behavioral response accuracies, demonstrating that the LPS component reveals the demand of cognitive resources for monitoring and resolving semantic conflicts when integrating the audio-visual information.

32. William E. Barrett, Photographer, 1973. DEADEND WELL WITH WOODEN ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

32. William E. Barrett, Photographer, 1973. DEAD-END WELL WITH WOODEN OIL TANK, PIPE ROCKER ARM. - West Oil Company Endless Wire Pumping Station, U.S. Route 50 (Volcano vicinity), Petroleum, Ritchie County, WV

Women and Work in Appalachia: The Waging War.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lilly, Leslie

1979-01-01

Discusses the low wages and dead-end jobs most Appalachian women workers face and explores nontraditional employment options which offer higher wages, benefits, security, and a chance for truly meeting a family's needs. (DS)

Infection of apical dentin and root-end cavity disinfection.

PubMed

Aziz, Abdul; Chandler, Nicholas P; Hauman, Catharina H J; Leichter, Jonathan W; McNaughton, Andrew; Tompkins, Geoffrey R

2012-10-01

The purpose of this study was to assess Enterococcus faecalis penetration into the dentin of the apical 3 mm and bacterial death after the application of either chlorhexidine or laser to root-end cavities. Root canals of 60 single-rooted teeth were prepared. In part 1, cementum was removed semicircumferentially from 21 roots, and the smear layer was removed from 15 roots using 17% EDTA/cetrimide. Teeth were inoculated and incubated with E. faecalis for 10 days, rinsed, and live/dead stained. The effect of cementum and smear on bacterial penetration was assessed by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). In part 2, 39 teeth had root ends resected and cavities ultrasonically prepared. Inoculated roots were assigned to 1 of the following 3 groups: (1) root-end cavities irrigated with 0.2 % chlorhexidine, (2) root-end cavities irradiated with a laser for 20 seconds at 1.5 W, or (3) root-end cavities that received no treatment. Roots were live/dead stained, sectioned, and examined by CLSM. The depth of the bacterial penetration and bacterial survival were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. The presence of a smear layer and/or cementum did not significantly affect bacterial penetration. In root-end cavities, chlorhexidine was more effective than laser (P < .001), reducing bacterial viability by 93% versus 70% with a laser. E. faecalis invaded the entire width of dentin in the apical 3 mm irrespective of the smear layer and/or cementum. Chlorhexidine was more effective than laser in disinfecting root-end cavities. Copyright © 2012 American Association of Endodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Is it time to awaken Sleeping Beauty? European psychiatry has been sleeping since 1980.

PubMed

de Leon, Jose

2014-01-01

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III), published in 1980, has led to a dead end, the DSM-V. Following the allegory of Sleeping Beauty, the DSM-III put European psychiatry to sleep; it now must wake up to create a 21st century psychiatric language for descriptive psychopathology and psychiatric nosology. Four topics are reviewed. First, the review of descriptive psychopathology focuses on: a) Chaslin's and Jaspers's books, and b) Schneider's transmittal of Jaspers's ideas and involvement with Kraepelin in incorporating neuroscience into psychiatric nosology. Second, US psychiatry's historic steps include: a) the pseudoscience of psychoanalysis, b) the low level of pre-DSM-III diagnostic expertise, c) the neo-Kraepelinian revolution which led to DSM-III, d) the failure to improve diagnostic skills, and e) the reprise of Kraepelin's marketing ("neuroscience will save psychiatry"). Third, the DSM-III devastated European psychiatry by destroying: a) the national textbooks which increased consistency but eliminated creative European thinking; and b) the Arbeitsgemenschaft fur Methodic und Dokumentation in der Psychiatrie, the most reasonable attempt to reach diagnostic agreement: start with symptoms/signs (first level) rather than disorders (second level). Fourth, Berrios elaborated upon Jaspers, who described psychiatry as a hybrid science and heterogeneous. Berrios affirmed that psychiatric symptoms/signs are hybrid. Some symptoms are in the "semantic space" and cannot be "explained" by neuroscience. Copyright © 2013 SEP y SEPB. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

CDAO-Store: Ontology-driven Data Integration for Phylogenetic Analysis

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background The Comparative Data Analysis Ontology (CDAO) is an ontology developed, as part of the EvoInfo and EvoIO groups supported by the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, to provide semantic descriptions of data and transformations commonly found in the domain of phylogenetic analysis. The core concepts of the ontology enable the description of phylogenetic trees and associated character data matrices. Results Using CDAO as the semantic back-end, we developed a triple-store, named CDAO-Store. CDAO-Store is a RDF-based store of phylogenetic data, including a complete import of TreeBASE. CDAO-Store provides a programmatic interface, in the form of web services, and a web-based front-end, to perform both user-defined as well as domain-specific queries; domain-specific queries include search for nearest common ancestors, minimum spanning clades, filter multiple trees in the store by size, author, taxa, tree identifier, algorithm or method. In addition, CDAO-Store provides a visualization front-end, called CDAO-Explorer, which can be used to view both character data matrices and trees extracted from the CDAO-Store. CDAO-Store provides import capabilities, enabling the addition of new data to the triple-store; files in PHYLIP, MEGA, nexml, and NEXUS formats can be imported and their CDAO representations added to the triple-store. Conclusions CDAO-Store is made up of a versatile and integrated set of tools to support phylogenetic analysis. To the best of our knowledge, CDAO-Store is the first semantically-aware repository of phylogenetic data with domain-specific querying capabilities. The portal to CDAO-Store is available at http://www.cs.nmsu.edu/~cdaostore. PMID:21496247

CDAO-store: ontology-driven data integration for phylogenetic analysis.

PubMed

Chisham, Brandon; Wright, Ben; Le, Trung; Son, Tran Cao; Pontelli, Enrico

2011-04-15

The Comparative Data Analysis Ontology (CDAO) is an ontology developed, as part of the EvoInfo and EvoIO groups supported by the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, to provide semantic descriptions of data and transformations commonly found in the domain of phylogenetic analysis. The core concepts of the ontology enable the description of phylogenetic trees and associated character data matrices. Using CDAO as the semantic back-end, we developed a triple-store, named CDAO-Store. CDAO-Store is a RDF-based store of phylogenetic data, including a complete import of TreeBASE. CDAO-Store provides a programmatic interface, in the form of web services, and a web-based front-end, to perform both user-defined as well as domain-specific queries; domain-specific queries include search for nearest common ancestors, minimum spanning clades, filter multiple trees in the store by size, author, taxa, tree identifier, algorithm or method. In addition, CDAO-Store provides a visualization front-end, called CDAO-Explorer, which can be used to view both character data matrices and trees extracted from the CDAO-Store. CDAO-Store provides import capabilities, enabling the addition of new data to the triple-store; files in PHYLIP, MEGA, nexml, and NEXUS formats can be imported and their CDAO representations added to the triple-store. CDAO-Store is made up of a versatile and integrated set of tools to support phylogenetic analysis. To the best of our knowledge, CDAO-Store is the first semantically-aware repository of phylogenetic data with domain-specific querying capabilities. The portal to CDAO-Store is available at http://www.cs.nmsu.edu/~cdaostore.

Mechanisms of masked evaluative priming: task sets modulate behavioral and electrophysiological priming for picture and words differentially

PubMed Central

Liegel, Nathalie; Zovko, Monika; Wentura, Dirk

2017-01-01

Abstract Research with the evaluative priming paradigm has shown that affective evaluation processes reliably influence cognition and behavior, even when triggered outside awareness. However, the precise mechanisms underlying such subliminal evaluative priming effects, response activation vs semantic processing, are matter of a debate. In this study, we determined the relative contribution of semantic processing and response activation to masked evaluative priming with pictures and words. To this end, we investigated the modulation of masked pictorial vs verbal priming by previously activated perceptual vs semantic task sets and assessed the electrophysiological correlates of priming using event-related potential (ERP) recordings. Behavioral and electrophysiological effects showed a differential modulation of pictorial and verbal subliminal priming by previously activated task sets: Pictorial priming was only observed during the perceptual but not during the semantic task set. Verbal priming, in contrast, was found when either task set was activated. Furthermore, only verbal priming was associated with a modulation of the N400 ERP component, an index of semantic processing, whereas a priming-related modulation of earlier ERPs, indexing visuo-motor S-R activation, was found for both picture and words. The results thus demonstrate that different neuro-cognitive processes contribute to unconscious evaluative priming depending on the stimulus format. PMID:27998994

What Phonological Facilitation Tells about Semantic Interference: A Dual-Task Study

PubMed Central

Ayora, Pauline; Peressotti, Francesca; Alario, F.-Xavier; Mulatti, Claudio; Pluchino, Patrick; Job, Remo; Dell'Acqua, Roberto

2011-01-01

Despite increasing interest in the topic, the extent to which linguistic processing demands attentional resources remains poorly understood. We report an empirical re-examination of claims about lexical processing made on the basis of the picture–word interference task when merged in a dual-task psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm. Two experiments were conducted in which participants were presented with a tone followed, at varying stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs), by a picture–word stimulus. In Experiment 1, the phonological relatedness between pictures and words was manipulated. Begin- and end-related words decreased picture naming latencies relative to unrelated words. This effect was additive with SOA effects. In Experiment 2, both the semantic and the phonological relatedness between pictures and words were manipulated. Replicating Experiment 1, effects arising from the phonological manipulation were additive with SOA effects on picture naming latencies. In contrast, effects arising from the semantic manipulation were under additive with SOA effects on picture naming latencies, that is, semantic interference decreased as SOA was decreased. Such contrastive pattern suggests that semantic and phonological effects on picture naming latencies are characterized by distinguishable sources, the former prior to the PRP bottleneck and the latter at the PRP bottleneck or after. The present findings are discussed in relation to current models of language production. PMID:21716584

Neural correlates of three cognitive processes involved in theory of mind and discourse comprehension.

PubMed

Lin, Nan; Yang, Xiaohong; Li, Jing; Wang, Shaonan; Hua, Huimin; Ma, Yujun; Li, Xingshan

2018-04-01

Neuroimaging studies have found that theory of mind (ToM) and discourse comprehension involve similar brain regions. These brain regions may be associated with three cognitive components that are necessarily or frequently involved in ToM and discourse comprehension, including social concept representation and retrieval, domain-general semantic integration, and domain-specific integration of social semantic contents. Using fMRI, we investigated the neural correlates of these three cognitive components by exploring how discourse topic (social/nonsocial) and discourse processing period (ending/beginning) modulate brain activation in a discourse comprehension (and also ToM) task. Different sets of brain areas showed sensitivity to discourse topic, discourse processing period, and the interaction between them, respectively. The most novel finding was that the right temporoparietal junction and middle temporal gyrus showed sensitivity to discourse processing period only during social discourse comprehension, indicating that they selectively contribute to domain-specific semantic integration. Our finding indicates how different domains of semantic information are processed and integrated in the brain and provides new insights into the neural correlates of ToM and discourse comprehension.

A Semantic Cooperation and Interoperability Platform for the European Chambers of Commerce

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Missikoff, Michele; Taglino, Francesco

The LD-CAST project aims at developing a semantic cooperation and interoperability platform for the European Chambers of Commerce. Some of the key issues that this platform addresses are: The variety and number of different kinds of resources (i.e., business processes, concrete services) that concur to achieve a business service The diversity of cultural and procedural models emerging when composing articulated cross-country services The limited possibility of reusing similar services in different contexts (for instance, supporting the same service between different countries: an Italian-Romanian cooperation is different from an Italian-Polish one) The objective of the LD-CAST platform, and in particular of the semantic services provided therein, is to address the above problems with flexible solutions. We aim at introducing high levels of flexibility, both at the time of development of business processes and concrete services (i.e., operational services offered by service providers), with the possibility of dynamically binding c-services to the selected BP, according to user needs. To this end, an approach based on semantic services and a reference ontology has been proposed.

Minimally inconsistent reasoning in Semantic Web.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiaowang

2017-01-01

Reasoning with inconsistencies is an important issue for Semantic Web as imperfect information is unavoidable in real applications. For this, different paraconsistent approaches, due to their capacity to draw as nontrivial conclusions by tolerating inconsistencies, have been proposed to reason with inconsistent description logic knowledge bases. However, existing paraconsistent approaches are often criticized for being too skeptical. To this end, this paper presents a non-monotonic paraconsistent version of description logic reasoning, called minimally inconsistent reasoning, where inconsistencies tolerated in the reasoning are minimized so that more reasonable conclusions can be inferred. Some desirable properties are studied, which shows that the new semantics inherits advantages of both non-monotonic reasoning and paraconsistent reasoning. A complete and sound tableau-based algorithm, called multi-valued tableaux, is developed to capture the minimally inconsistent reasoning. In fact, the tableaux algorithm is designed, as a framework for multi-valued DL, to allow for different underlying paraconsistent semantics, with the mere difference in the clash conditions. Finally, the complexity of minimally inconsistent description logic reasoning is shown on the same level as the (classical) description logic reasoning.

Minimally inconsistent reasoning in Semantic Web

PubMed Central

Zhang, Xiaowang

2017-01-01

Reasoning with inconsistencies is an important issue for Semantic Web as imperfect information is unavoidable in real applications. For this, different paraconsistent approaches, due to their capacity to draw as nontrivial conclusions by tolerating inconsistencies, have been proposed to reason with inconsistent description logic knowledge bases. However, existing paraconsistent approaches are often criticized for being too skeptical. To this end, this paper presents a non-monotonic paraconsistent version of description logic reasoning, called minimally inconsistent reasoning, where inconsistencies tolerated in the reasoning are minimized so that more reasonable conclusions can be inferred. Some desirable properties are studied, which shows that the new semantics inherits advantages of both non-monotonic reasoning and paraconsistent reasoning. A complete and sound tableau-based algorithm, called multi-valued tableaux, is developed to capture the minimally inconsistent reasoning. In fact, the tableaux algorithm is designed, as a framework for multi-valued DL, to allow for different underlying paraconsistent semantics, with the mere difference in the clash conditions. Finally, the complexity of minimally inconsistent description logic reasoning is shown on the same level as the (classical) description logic reasoning. PMID:28750030

A cloud-based semantic wiki for user training in healthcare process management.

PubMed

Papakonstantinou, D; Poulymenopoulou, M; Malamateniou, F; Vassilacopoulos, G

2011-01-01

Successful healthcare process design requires active participation of users who are familiar with the cooperative and collaborative nature of healthcare delivery, expressed in terms of healthcare processes. Hence, a reusable, flexible, agile and adaptable training material is needed with the objective to enable users instill their knowledge and expertise in healthcare process management and (re)configuration activities. To this end, social software, such as a wiki, could be used as it supports cooperation and collaboration anytime, anywhere and combined with semantic web technology that enables structuring pieces of information for easy retrieval, reuse and exchange between different systems and tools. In this paper a semantic wiki is presented as a means for developing training material for healthcare providers regarding healthcare process management. The semantic wiki should act as a collective online memory containing training material that is accessible to authorized users, thus enhancing the training process with collaboration and cooperation capabilities. It is proposed that the wiki is stored in a secure virtual private cloud that is accessible from anywhere, be it an excessively open environment, while meeting the requirements of redundancy, high performance and autoscaling.

Comparative study of the energy potential of cyanide waters using two osmotic membrane modules under dead-end flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García-Díaz, Y.; Quiñones-Bolaños, E.; Bustos-Blanco, C.; Vives-Pérez, L.; Bustillo-Lecompte, C.; Saba, M.

2017-12-01

The energy potential of the osmotic pressure gradient of cyanide waters is evaluated using two membrane modules, horizontal and vertical, operated under dead-end flow. The membrane was characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS). The membrane is mainly composed of carbon, oxygen, and sulphur. The properties of the membrane were unchanged and had no pore clogging after exposure to the cyanide waters. Potentials of 1.78×10-4 and 6.36×10-5Wm-2 were found for the horizontal and vertical modules, respectively, using the Van’t Hoff equation. Likewise, the permeability coefficient of the membrane was higher in the vertical module. Although the energy potential is low under the studied conditions the vertical configuration has a greater potential due to the action of gravity and the homogenous contact of the fluid with the membrane.

Moving Controlled Vocabularies into the Semantic Web

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, R.; Lowry, R. K.; Kokkinaki, A.

2015-12-01

One of the issues with legacy oceanographic data formats is that the only tool available for describing what a measurement is and how it was made is a single metadata tag known as the parameter code. The British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) has been supporting the international oceanographic community gain maximum benefit from this through a controlled vocabulary known as the BODC Parameter Usage Vocabulary (PUV). Over time this has grown to over 34,000 entries some of which have preferred labels with over 400 bytes of descriptive information detailing what was measured and how. A decade ago the BODC pioneered making this information available in a more useful form with the implementation of a prototype vocabulary server (NVS) that referenced each 'parameter code' as a URL. This developed into the current server (NVS V2) in which the parameter URL resolves into an RDF document based on the SKOS data model which includes a list of resource URLs mapped to the 'parameter'. For example the parameter code for a contaminant in biota, such as 'cadmium in Mytilus edulis', carries RDF triples leading to the entry for Mytilus edulis in the WoRMS and for cadmium in the ChEBI ontologies. By providing links into these external ontologies the information captured in a 1980s parameter code now conforms to the Linked Data paradigm of the Semantic Web, vastly increasing the descriptive information accessible to a user. This presentation will describe the next steps along the road to the Semantic Web with the development of a SPARQL end point1 to expose the PUV plus the 190 other controlled vocabularies held in NVS. Whilst this is ideal for those fluent in SPARQL, most users require something a little more user-friendly and so the NVS browser2 was developed over the end point to allow less technical users to query the vocabularies and navigate the NVS ontology. This tool integrates into an editor that allows vocabulary content to be manipulated by authorised users outside BODC. Having placed Linked Data tooling over a single SPARQL end point the obvious future development for this system is to support semantic interoperability outside NVS by the incorporation of federated SPARQL end points in the USA and Australia during the ODIP II project. 1https://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/sparql 2 https://www.bodc.ac.uk/data/codes_and_formats/vocabulary_search/

Rich Representations with Exposed Semantics for Deep Visual Reasoning

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-01

Gupta, Abh inav; Hebert, Martial ; Aminoff, Elissa; Park, HyunSoo; Forsyth, David; Shi, Jianbo; Tarr, Michael Se. TASK NUMBER Sf. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7...approach performs equally well or better when compared to the state-of-the- art . We also expanded our research on perceiving the interactions between...cross-instance correspondences. We demonstrated that our end-to-end trained ConvNet supervised by cycle-consistency outperforms state-of-the- art

DEAD-box helicase DDX27 regulates 3′ end formation of ribosomal 47S RNA and stably associates with the PeBoW-complex

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kellner, Markus; Rohrmoser, Michaela; Forné, Ignasi

PeBoW, a trimeric complex consisting of pescadillo (Pes1), block of proliferation (Bop1), and the WD repeat protein 12 (WDR12), is essential for processing and maturation of mammalian 5.8S and 28S ribosomal RNAs. Applying a mass spectrometric analysis, we identified the DEAD-box helicase DDX27 as stably associated factor of the PeBoW-complex. DDX27 interacts with the PeBoW-complex via an evolutionary conserved F×F motif in the N-terminal domain and is recruited to the nucleolus via its basic C-terminal domain. This recruitment is RNA-dependent and occurs independently of the PeBoW-complex. Interestingly, knockdown of DDX27, but not of Pes1, induces the accumulation of an extendedmore » form of the primary 47S rRNA. We conclude that DDX27 can interact specifically with the Pes1 and Bop1 but fulfils critical function(s) for proper 3′ end formation of 47S rRNA independently of the PeBoW-complex. - Highlights: • DEAD-box helicase DDX27 is a new constituent of the PeBoW-complex. • The N-terminal F×F motif of DDX27 interacts with the PeBoW components Pes1 and Bop1. • Nucleolar anchoring of DDX27 via its basic C-terminal domain is RNA dependent. • Knockdown of DDX27 induces a specific defect in 3′ end formation of 47S rRNA.« less

Efficiency measurement and uncertainty discussion of an electric engine powered by a ``self-breathing'' and ``self-humidified'' proton exchange membrane fuel cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schiavetti, Pierluigi; Del Prete, Zaccaria

2007-08-01

The efficiency of an automotive engine based on a "self-breathing" and "self-humidified" proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack (PEM FC) connected to a dc brushless electrical motor was measured under variable power load conditions. Experiments have been carried out on a small scale 150W engine model. After determining the fuel cell static polarization curve and the time response to power steps, the system was driven to copy on the test bench a "standard urban load cycle" and its instantaneous efficiencies were measured at an acquisition rate of 5Hz. The integral system efficiency over the entire urban load cycle, comprising the losses of the unavoidable auxiliary components of the engine, was then calculated. The fuel cell stack was operated mainly in "partial" dead-end mode, with a periodic anode flow channel purging, and one test was carried out in "pure" dead-end mode, with no anode channel purging. An uncertainty analysis of the efficiencies was carried out, taking into account either type A and type B evaluation methods, strengthening the discussion about the outcomes obtained for a system based on this novel simplified FC type. For our small scale engine we measured over the standard urban cycle, on the basis of the H2 high heating value (HHV), a tank-to-wheel integral efficiency of (18.2±0.8)%, when the fuel cell was operated with periodic flow channel purging, and of (21.5±1.3)% in complete dead-end operation mode.

“Parents a dead end life”: The main experiences of parents of children with leukemia

PubMed Central

Jadidi, Rahmatollah; Hekmatpou, Davood; Eghbali, Aziz; Memari, Fereshteh; Anbari, Zohreh

2014-01-01

Background: The quantitative studies show that due to the widespread prevalence, high death rate, high treatment expenses, and long hospital stay, leukemia influences the families and their children to a great extent. In this regard, no qualitative study has been conducted in Iran. So, this study was conducted in Arak in 2011 with the aim of expressing the experiences of the parents whose children suffered from leukemia. Materials and Methods: Using qualitative research approach, by applying content analysis method, 22 participants were interviewed in two educational hospitals during 2 months. The study was started by purposive sampling and continued by theoretical one. The data were analyzed based on the content analysis method. Resluts: Data analysis showed that insolvency, knapsack problems, cancer secrecy, trust on God, self-sacrifice, adaptation, medical malpractice, and hospital facilities were the level 3 codes of parents’ experiences and “parents a dead end life” was the main theme of this study. Conclusion: In this study, the experiences of the parents whose children suffered from cancer were studied deeply by the use of qualitative method, especially by the use of resources syncretism rather than studying quantitatively. Parents a dead end life emerged as the main theme of this study, emphasizing the necessity of paying further attention to the parents. On the other hand, making more use of parents’ experiences and encouraging them helps make the treatment more effective. It is suggested that these experiences be shared with parents in the form of pamphlets distributed right at the beginning of the treatment process. PMID:25558257

Efficiency measurement and uncertainty discussion of an electric engine powered by a "self-breathing" and "self-humidified" proton exchange membrane fuel cell.

PubMed

Schiavetti, Pierluigi; Del Prete, Zaccaria

2007-08-01

The efficiency of an automotive engine based on a "self-breathing" and "self-humidified" proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack (PEM FC) connected to a dc brushless electrical motor was measured under variable power load conditions. Experiments have been carried out on a small scale 150 W engine model. After determining the fuel cell static polarization curve and the time response to power steps, the system was driven to copy on the test bench a "standard urban load cycle" and its instantaneous efficiencies were measured at an acquisition rate of 5 Hz. The integral system efficiency over the entire urban load cycle, comprising the losses of the unavoidable auxiliary components of the engine, was then calculated. The fuel cell stack was operated mainly in "partial" dead-end mode, with a periodic anode flow channel purging, and one test was carried out in "pure" dead-end mode, with no anode channel purging. An uncertainty analysis of the efficiencies was carried out, taking into account either type A and type B evaluation methods, strengthening the discussion about the outcomes obtained for a system based on this novel simplified FC type. For our small scale engine we measured over the standard urban cycle, on the basis of the H(2) high heating value (HHV), a tank-to-wheel integral efficiency of (18.2+/-0.8)%, when the fuel cell was operated with periodic flow channel purging, and of (21.5+/-1.3)% in complete dead-end operation mode.

Organ donation in the Philippines: should the dead do more?

PubMed

de Castro, Leonardo D

2014-01-01

This paper asks whether the Philippines should focus on ways of dealing with end-stage renal disease by getting more transplantable kidneys from the dead. Would it be more ethical to put the burden to donate on the dead (who have already lost their chance to consent) than on the living (who can consent)? Given the risks involved in undergoing nephrectomy and the lack of benefits arising from the procedure to donors, the dead should be the first to put their kidneys on the line. In the Philippines, unfortunately, living donors have had to bear the greater burden in this regard. Starting with a brief account of developments surrounding the impact of the Declaration of Istanbul on the situation in the Philippines as well as in other countries, the paper examines what the living have been expected to do, what they have actually done, and what lessons the experience with living donors offers for the understanding of cadaver transplants. The paper then looks at possible ways of increasing the sources of kidneys for transplantation and asks if these ways could be implemented successfully and ethically in the Philippines.

Synoptic conditions of fine-particle transport to the last interglacial Red Sea-Dead Sea from Nd-Sr compositions of sediment cores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palchan, Daniel; Stein, Mordechai; Goldstein, Steven L.; Almogi-Labin, Ahuva; Tirosh, Ofir; Erel, Yigal

2018-01-01

The sediments deposited at the depocenter of the Dead Sea comprise high-resolution archive of hydrological changes in the lake's watershed and record the desert dust transport to the region. This paper reconstructs the dust transport to the region during the termination of glacial Marine Isotope Stage 6 (MIS 6; ∼135-129 ka) and the last interglacial peak period (MIS5e, ∼129-116 ka). We use chemical and Nd and Sr isotope compositions of fine detritus material recovered from sediment core drilled at the deepest floor of the Dead Sea. The data is integrated with data achieved from cores drilled at the floor of the Red Sea, thus, forming a Red Sea-Dead Sea transect extending from the desert belt to the Mediterranean climate zone. The Dead Sea accumulated flood sediments derived from three regional surface cover types: settled desert dust, mountain loess-soils and loess-soils filling valleys in the Dead Sea watershed termed here "Valley Loess". The Valley Loess shows a distinct 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.7081 ± 1, inherited from dissolved detrital calcites that originate from dried waterbodies in the Sahara and are transported with the dust to the entire transect. Our hydro-climate and synoptic conditions reconstruction illustrates the following history: During glacial period MIS6, Mediterranean cyclones governed the transport of Saharan dust and rains to the Dead Sea watershed, driving the development of both mountain soils and Valley Loess. Then, at Heinrich event 11, dry western winds blew Saharan dust over the entire Red Sea - Dead Sea transect marking latitudinal expansion of the desert belt. Later, when global sea-level rose, the Dead Sea watershed went through extreme aridity, the lake retreated, depositing salt and accumulating fine detritus of the Valley Loess. During peak interglacial MIS 5e, enhanced flooding activity flushed the mountain soils and fine detritus from all around the Dead Sea and Red Sea, marking a significant "contraction" of the desert belt. At the end of MIS 5e the effect of the regional precipitation diminished and the Dead Sea and Red Sea areas re-entered sever arid conditions with extensive salt deposition at the Dead Sea.

Library Consultant: Career or Dead-End Job?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holt, Raymond M.

1984-01-01

Enumerates characteristics required of the library consultant--motivation; character traits; education and experience; other qualifications (specialized knowledge, financial resources, adequate time, good health, communication skills, objectivity, perspective); special skills. The library-consultant marketplace (e.g., automation, public relations,…

OWL2 benchmarking for the evaluation of knowledge based systems.

PubMed

Khan, Sher Afgun; Qadir, Muhammad Abdul; Abbas, Muhammad Azeem; Afzal, Muhammad Tanvir

2017-01-01

OWL2 semantics are becoming increasingly popular for the real domain applications like Gene engineering and health MIS. The present work identifies the research gap that negligible attention has been paid to the performance evaluation of Knowledge Base Systems (KBS) using OWL2 semantics. To fulfil this identified research gap, an OWL2 benchmark for the evaluation of KBS is proposed. The proposed benchmark addresses the foundational blocks of an ontology benchmark i.e. data schema, workload and performance metrics. The proposed benchmark is tested on memory based, file based, relational database and graph based KBS for performance and scalability measures. The results show that the proposed benchmark is able to evaluate the behaviour of different state of the art KBS on OWL2 semantics. On the basis of the results, the end users (i.e. domain expert) would be able to select a suitable KBS appropriate for his domain.

Mining Genotype-Phenotype Associations from Public Knowledge Sources via Semantic Web Querying.

PubMed

Kiefer, Richard C; Freimuth, Robert R; Chute, Christopher G; Pathak, Jyotishman

2013-01-01

Gene Wiki Plus (GeneWiki+) and the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) are publicly available resources for sharing information about disease-gene and gene-SNP associations in humans. While immensely useful to the scientific community, both resources are manually curated, thereby making the data entry and publication process time-consuming, and to some degree, error-prone. To this end, this study investigates Semantic Web technologies to validate existing and potentially discover new genotype-phenotype associations in GWP and OMIM. In particular, we demonstrate the applicability of SPARQL queries for identifying associations not explicitly stated for commonly occurring chronic diseases in GWP and OMIM, and report our preliminary findings for coverage, completeness, and validity of the associations. Our results highlight the benefits of Semantic Web querying technology to validate existing disease-gene associations as well as identify novel associations although further evaluation and analysis is required before such information can be applied and used effectively.

OMOGENIA: A Semantically Driven Collaborative Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liapis, Aggelos

Ontology creation can be thought of as a social procedure. Indeed the concepts involved in general need to be elicited from communities of domain experts and end-users by teams of knowledge engineers. Many problems in ontology creation appear to resemble certain problems in software design, particularly with respect to the setup of collaborative systems. For instance, the resolution of conceptual conflicts between formalized ontologies is a major engineering problem as ontologies move into widespread use on the semantic web. Such conflict resolution often requires human collaboration and cannot be achieved by automated methods with the exception of simple cases. In this chapter we discuss research in the field of computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) that focuses on classification and which throws light on ontology building. Furthermore, we present a semantically driven collaborative environment called OMOGENIA as a natural way to display and examine the structure of an evolving ontology in a collaborative setting.

A Method for Transforming Existing Web Service Descriptions into an Enhanced Semantic Web Service Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Xiaofeng; Song, William; Munro, Malcolm

Web Services as a new distributed system technology has been widely adopted by industries in the areas, such as enterprise application integration (EAI), business process management (BPM), and virtual organisation (VO). However, lack of semantics in the current Web Service standards has been a major barrier in service discovery and composition. In this chapter, we propose an enhanced context-based semantic service description framework (CbSSDF+) that tackles the problem and improves the flexibility of service discovery and the correctness of generated composite services. We also provide an agile transformation method to demonstrate how the various formats of Web Service descriptions on the Web can be managed and renovated step by step into CbSSDF+ based service description without large amount of engineering work. At the end of the chapter, we evaluate the applicability of the transformation method and the effectiveness of CbSSDF+ through a series of experiments.

Left ventral occipitotemporal activation during orthographic and semantic processing of auditory words.

PubMed

Ludersdorfer, Philipp; Wimmer, Heinz; Richlan, Fabio; Schurz, Matthias; Hutzler, Florian; Kronbichler, Martin

2016-01-01

The present fMRI study investigated the hypothesis that activation of the left ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOT) in response to auditory words can be attributed to lexical orthographic rather than lexico-semantic processing. To this end, we presented auditory words in both an orthographic ("three or four letter word?") and a semantic ("living or nonliving?") task. In addition, a auditory control condition presented tones in a pitch evaluation task. The results showed that the left vOT exhibited higher activation for orthographic relative to semantic processing of auditory words with a peak in the posterior part of vOT. Comparisons to the auditory control condition revealed that orthographic processing of auditory words elicited activation in a large vOT cluster. In contrast, activation for semantic processing was only weak and restricted to the middle part vOT. We interpret our findings as speaking for orthographic processing in left vOT. In particular, we suggest that activation in left middle vOT can be attributed to accessing orthographic whole-word representations. While activation of such representations was experimentally ascertained in the orthographic task, it might have also occurred automatically in the semantic task. Activation in the more posterior vOT region, on the other hand, may reflect the generation of explicit images of word-specific letter sequences required by the orthographic but not the semantic task. In addition, based on cross-modal suppression, the finding of marked deactivations in response to the auditory tones is taken to reflect the visual nature of representations and processes in left vOT. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Deep processing activates the medial temporal lobe in young but not in old adults.

PubMed

Daselaar, Sander M; Veltman, Dick J; Rombouts, Serge A R B; Raaijmakers, Jeroen G W; Jonker, Cees

2003-11-01

Age-related impairments in episodic memory have been related to a deficiency in semantic processing, based on the finding that elderly adults typically benefit less than young adults from deep, semantic as opposed to shallow, nonsemantic processing of study items. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that elderly adults are not able to perform certain cognitive operations under deep processing conditions. We further hypothesised that this inability does not involve regions commonly associated with lexical/semantic retrieval processes, but rather involves a dysfunction of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) memory system. To this end, we used functional MRI on rather extensive groups of young and elderly adults to compare brain activity patterns obtained during a deep (living/nonliving) and a shallow (uppercase/lowercase) classification task. Common activity in relation to semantic classification was observed in regions that have been previously related to semantic retrieval, including mainly left-lateralised activity in the inferior prefrontal, middle temporal, and middle frontal/anterior cingulate gyrus. Although the young adults showed more activity in some of these areas, the finding of mainly overlapping activation patterns during semantic classification supports the idea that lexical/semantic retrieval processes are still intact in elderly adults. This received further support by the finding that both groups showed similar behavioural performances as well on the deep and shallow classification tasks. Importantly, though, the young revealed significantly more activity than the elderly adults in the left anterior hippocampus during deep relative to shallow classification. This finding is in line with the idea that age-related impairments in episodic encoding are, at least partly, due to an under-recruitment of the medial temporal lobe memory system.

A Robust Crowdsourcing-Based Indoor Localization System.

PubMed

Zhou, Baoding; Li, Qingquan; Mao, Qingzhou; Tu, Wei

2017-04-14

WiFi fingerprinting-based indoor localization has been widely used due to its simplicity and can be implemented on the smartphones. The major drawback of WiFi fingerprinting is that the radio map construction is very labor-intensive and time-consuming. Another drawback of WiFi fingerprinting is the Received Signal Strength (RSS) variance problem, caused by environmental changes and device diversity. RSS variance severely degrades the localization accuracy. In this paper, we propose a robust crowdsourcing-based indoor localization system (RCILS). RCILS can automatically construct the radio map using crowdsourcing data collected by smartphones. RCILS abstracts the indoor map as the semantics graph in which the edges are the possible user paths and the vertexes are the location where users may take special activities. RCILS extracts the activity sequence contained in the trajectories by activity detection and pedestrian dead-reckoning. Based on the semantics graph and activity sequence, crowdsourcing trajectories can be located and a radio map is constructed based on the localization results. For the RSS variance problem, RCILS uses the trajectory fingerprint model for indoor localization. During online localization, RCILS obtains an RSS sequence and realizes localization by matching the RSS sequence with the radio map. To evaluate RCILS, we apply RCILS in an office building. Experiment results demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of RCILS.

A Robust Crowdsourcing-Based Indoor Localization System

PubMed Central

Zhou, Baoding; Li, Qingquan; Mao, Qingzhou; Tu, Wei

2017-01-01

WiFi fingerprinting-based indoor localization has been widely used due to its simplicity and can be implemented on the smartphones. The major drawback of WiFi fingerprinting is that the radio map construction is very labor-intensive and time-consuming. Another drawback of WiFi fingerprinting is the Received Signal Strength (RSS) variance problem, caused by environmental changes and device diversity. RSS variance severely degrades the localization accuracy. In this paper, we propose a robust crowdsourcing-based indoor localization system (RCILS). RCILS can automatically construct the radio map using crowdsourcing data collected by smartphones. RCILS abstracts the indoor map as the semantics graph in which the edges are the possible user paths and the vertexes are the location where users may take special activities. RCILS extracts the activity sequence contained in the trajectories by activity detection and pedestrian dead-reckoning. Based on the semantics graph and activity sequence, crowdsourcing trajectories can be located and a radio map is constructed based on the localization results. For the RSS variance problem, RCILS uses the trajectory fingerprint model for indoor localization. During online localization, RCILS obtains an RSS sequence and realizes localization by matching the RSS sequence with the radio map. To evaluate RCILS, we apply RCILS in an office building. Experiment results demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of RCILS. PMID:28420108

Salt Sensitive Tet-Off-Like Systems to Knockdown Primordial Germ Cell Genes for Repressible Transgenic Sterilization in Channel Catfish, Ictalurus punctatus.

PubMed

Li, Hanbo; Su, Baofeng; Qin, Guyu; Ye, Zhi; Alsaqufi, Ahmed; Perera, Dayan A; Shang, Mei; Odin, Ramjie; Vo, Khoi; Drescher, David; Robinson, Dalton; Zhang, Dan; Abass, Nermeen; Dunham, Rex A

2017-05-31

Repressible knockdown approaches were investigated for transgenic sterilization in channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus . Two primordial germ cell (PGC) marker genes, nanos and dead end , were targeted for knockdown, and an off-target gene, vasa , was monitored. Two potentially salt sensitive repressible promoters, zebrafish adenylosuccinate synthase 2 (ADSS) and zebrafish racemase (Rm), were each coupled with four knockdown strategies: ds-sh RNA targeting the 5' end (N1) or 3' end (N2) of channel catfish nanos , full-length cDNA sequence of channel catfish nanos for overexpression (cDNA) and ds-sh RNA targeting channel catfish dead end (DND). Each construct had an untreated group and treated group with sodium chloride as the repressor compound. Spawning rates of full-sibling P₁ fish exposed or not exposed to the constructs as treated and untreated embryos were 93% and 59%, respectively, indicating potential sterilization of fish and repression of the constructs. Although the mRNA expression data of PGC marker genes were inconsistent in P₁ fish, most F₁ individuals were able to downregulate the target genes in untreated groups and repress the knockdown process in treated groups. The results indicate that repressible transgenic sterilization is feasible for reproductive control of fish, but more data from F₂ or F₃ are needed for evaluation.

OrganismTagger: detection, normalization and grounding of organism entities in biomedical documents.

PubMed

Naderi, Nona; Kappler, Thomas; Baker, Christopher J O; Witte, René

2011-10-01

Semantic tagging of organism mentions in full-text articles is an important part of literature mining and semantic enrichment solutions. Tagged organism mentions also play a pivotal role in disambiguating other entities in a text, such as proteins. A high-precision organism tagging system must be able to detect the numerous forms of organism mentions, including common names as well as the traditional taxonomic groups: genus, species and strains. In addition, such a system must resolve abbreviations and acronyms, assign the scientific name and if possible link the detected mention to the NCBI Taxonomy database for further semantic queries and literature navigation. We present the OrganismTagger, a hybrid rule-based/machine learning system to extract organism mentions from the literature. It includes tools for automatically generating lexical and ontological resources from a copy of the NCBI Taxonomy database, thereby facilitating system updates by end users. Its novel ontology-based resources can also be reused in other semantic mining and linked data tasks. Each detected organism mention is normalized to a canonical name through the resolution of acronyms and abbreviations and subsequently grounded with an NCBI Taxonomy database ID. In particular, our system combines a novel machine-learning approach with rule-based and lexical methods for detecting strain mentions in documents. On our manually annotated OT corpus, the OrganismTagger achieves a precision of 95%, a recall of 94% and a grounding accuracy of 97.5%. On the manually annotated corpus of Linnaeus-100, the results show a precision of 99%, recall of 97% and grounding accuracy of 97.4%. The OrganismTagger, including supporting tools, resources, training data and manual annotations, as well as end user and developer documentation, is freely available under an open-source license at http://www.semanticsoftware.info/organism-tagger. witte@semanticsoftware.info.

Spatial Knowledge Infrastructures - Creating Value for Policy Makers and Benefits the Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arnold, L. M.

2016-12-01

The spatial data infrastructure is arguably one of the most significant advancements in the spatial sector. It's been a game changer for governments, providing for the coordination and sharing of spatial data across organisations and the provision of accessible information to the broader community of users. Today however, end-users such as policy-makers require far more from these spatial data infrastructures. They want more than just data; they want the knowledge that can be extracted from data and they don't want to have to download, manipulate and process data in order to get the knowledge they seek. It's time for the spatial sector to reduce its focus on data in spatial data infrastructures and take a more proactive step in emphasising and delivering the knowledge value. Nowadays, decision-makers want to be able to query at will the data to meet their immediate need for knowledge. This is a new value proposal for the decision-making consumer and will require a shift in thinking. This paper presents a model for a Spatial Knowledge Infrastructure and underpinning methods that will realise a new real-time approach to delivering knowledge. The methods embrace the new capabilities afforded through the sematic web, domain and process ontologies and natural query language processing. Semantic Web technologies today have the potential to transform the spatial industry into more than just a distribution channel for data. The Semantic Web RDF (Resource Description Framework) enables meaning to be drawn from data automatically. While pushing data out to end-users will remain a central role for data producers, the power of the semantic web is that end-users have the ability to marshal a broad range of spatial resources via a query to extract knowledge from available data. This can be done without actually having to configure systems specifically for the end-user. All data producers need do is make data accessible in RDF and the spatial analytics does the rest.

The Semantic Automated Discovery and Integration (SADI) Web service Design-Pattern, API and Reference Implementation

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background The complexity and inter-related nature of biological data poses a difficult challenge for data and tool integration. There has been a proliferation of interoperability standards and projects over the past decade, none of which has been widely adopted by the bioinformatics community. Recent attempts have focused on the use of semantics to assist integration, and Semantic Web technologies are being welcomed by this community. Description SADI - Semantic Automated Discovery and Integration - is a lightweight set of fully standards-compliant Semantic Web service design patterns that simplify the publication of services of the type commonly found in bioinformatics and other scientific domains. Using Semantic Web technologies at every level of the Web services "stack", SADI services consume and produce instances of OWL Classes following a small number of very straightforward best-practices. In addition, we provide codebases that support these best-practices, and plug-in tools to popular developer and client software that dramatically simplify deployment of services by providers, and the discovery and utilization of those services by their consumers. Conclusions SADI Services are fully compliant with, and utilize only foundational Web standards; are simple to create and maintain for service providers; and can be discovered and utilized in a very intuitive way by biologist end-users. In addition, the SADI design patterns significantly improve the ability of software to automatically discover appropriate services based on user-needs, and automatically chain these into complex analytical workflows. We show that, when resources are exposed through SADI, data compliant with a given ontological model can be automatically gathered, or generated, from these distributed, non-coordinating resources - a behaviour we have not observed in any other Semantic system. Finally, we show that, using SADI, data dynamically generated from Web services can be explored in a manner very similar to data housed in static triple-stores, thus facilitating the intersection of Web services and Semantic Web technologies. PMID:22024447

The Semantic Automated Discovery and Integration (SADI) Web service Design-Pattern, API and Reference Implementation.

PubMed

Wilkinson, Mark D; Vandervalk, Benjamin; McCarthy, Luke

2011-10-24

The complexity and inter-related nature of biological data poses a difficult challenge for data and tool integration. There has been a proliferation of interoperability standards and projects over the past decade, none of which has been widely adopted by the bioinformatics community. Recent attempts have focused on the use of semantics to assist integration, and Semantic Web technologies are being welcomed by this community. SADI - Semantic Automated Discovery and Integration - is a lightweight set of fully standards-compliant Semantic Web service design patterns that simplify the publication of services of the type commonly found in bioinformatics and other scientific domains. Using Semantic Web technologies at every level of the Web services "stack", SADI services consume and produce instances of OWL Classes following a small number of very straightforward best-practices. In addition, we provide codebases that support these best-practices, and plug-in tools to popular developer and client software that dramatically simplify deployment of services by providers, and the discovery and utilization of those services by their consumers. SADI Services are fully compliant with, and utilize only foundational Web standards; are simple to create and maintain for service providers; and can be discovered and utilized in a very intuitive way by biologist end-users. In addition, the SADI design patterns significantly improve the ability of software to automatically discover appropriate services based on user-needs, and automatically chain these into complex analytical workflows. We show that, when resources are exposed through SADI, data compliant with a given ontological model can be automatically gathered, or generated, from these distributed, non-coordinating resources - a behaviour we have not observed in any other Semantic system. Finally, we show that, using SADI, data dynamically generated from Web services can be explored in a manner very similar to data housed in static triple-stores, thus facilitating the intersection of Web services and Semantic Web technologies.

Adaptive engine injection for emissions reduction

DOEpatents

Reitz, Rolf D. : Sun, Yong

2008-12-16

NOx and soot emissions from internal combustion engines, and in particular compression ignition (diesel) engines, are reduced by varying fuel injection timing, fuel injection pressure, and injected fuel volume between low and greater engine loads. At low loads, fuel is injected during one or more low-pressure injections occurring at low injection pressures between the start of the intake stroke and approximately 40 degrees before top dead center during the compression stroke. At higher loads, similar injections are used early in each combustion cycle, in addition to later injections which preferably occur between about 90 degrees before top dead center during the compression stroke, and about 90 degrees after top dead center during the expansion stroke (and which most preferably begin at or closely adjacent the end of the compression stroke). These later injections have higher injection pressure, and also lower injected fuel volume, than the earlier injections.

Abandon the dead donor rule or change the definition of death?

PubMed

Veatch, Robert M

2004-09-01

Research by Siminoff and colleagues reveals that many lay people in Ohio classify legally living persons in irreversible coma or persistent vegetative state (PVS) as dead that additional respondents, although classifying such patients as living, would be willing to procure organs from them. This paper analyzes possible implications of these findings for public policy. A majority would procure organs from those in irreversible coma or in PVS. Two strategies for legitimizing such procurement are suggested. One strategy would be to make exceptions to the dead donor rule permitting procurement from those in PVS or at least those who are in irreversible coma while continuing to classify them as living. Another strategy would be to further amend the definition of death to classify one or both groups as deceased, thus permitting procurement without violation of the dead donor rule. Permitting exceptions to the dead donor rule would require substantial changes in law--such as authorizing procuring surgeons to end the lives of patients by means of organ procurement--and would weaken societal prohibitions on killing. The paper suggests that it would be easier and less controversial to further amend the definition of death to classify those in irreversible coma and PVS as dead. Incorporation of a conscience clause to permit those whose religious or philosophical convictions support whole-brain or cardiac-based death pronouncement would avoid violating their beliefs while causing no more than minimal social problems. The paper questions whether those who would support an exception to the dead donor rule in these cases and those who would support a further amendment to the definition of death could reach agreement to adopt a public policy permitting organ procurement of those in irreversible coma or PVS when proper consent is obtained.

Mechanisms of masked evaluative priming: task sets modulate behavioral and electrophysiological priming for picture and words differentially.

PubMed

Kiefer, Markus; Liegel, Nathalie; Zovko, Monika; Wentura, Dirk

2017-04-01

Research with the evaluative priming paradigm has shown that affective evaluation processes reliably influence cognition and behavior, even when triggered outside awareness. However, the precise mechanisms underlying such subliminal evaluative priming effects, response activation vs semantic processing, are matter of a debate. In this study, we determined the relative contribution of semantic processing and response activation to masked evaluative priming with pictures and words. To this end, we investigated the modulation of masked pictorial vs verbal priming by previously activated perceptual vs semantic task sets and assessed the electrophysiological correlates of priming using event-related potential (ERP) recordings. Behavioral and electrophysiological effects showed a differential modulation of pictorial and verbal subliminal priming by previously activated task sets: Pictorial priming was only observed during the perceptual but not during the semantic task set. Verbal priming, in contrast, was found when either task set was activated. Furthermore, only verbal priming was associated with a modulation of the N400 ERP component, an index of semantic processing, whereas a priming-related modulation of earlier ERPs, indexing visuo-motor S-R activation, was found for both picture and words. The results thus demonstrate that different neuro-cognitive processes contribute to unconscious evaluative priming depending on the stimulus format. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Multiple Semantic Matching on Augmented N-partite Graph for Object Co-segmentation.

PubMed

Wang, Chuan; Zhang, Hua; Yang, Liang; Cao, Xiaochun; Xiong, Hongkai

2017-09-08

Recent methods for object co-segmentation focus on discovering single co-occurring relation of candidate regions representing the foreground of multiple images. However, region extraction based only on low and middle level information often occupies a large area of background without the help of semantic context. In addition, seeking single matching solution very likely leads to discover local parts of common objects. To cope with these deficiencies, we present a new object cosegmentation framework, which takes advantages of semantic information and globally explores multiple co-occurring matching cliques based on an N-partite graph structure. To this end, we first propose to incorporate candidate generation with semantic context. Based on the regions extracted from semantic segmentation of each image, we design a merging mechanism to hierarchically generate candidates with high semantic responses. Secondly, all candidates are taken into consideration to globally formulate multiple maximum weighted matching cliques, which complements the discovery of part of the common objects induced by a single clique. To facilitate the discovery of multiple matching cliques, an N-partite graph, which inherently excludes intralinks between candidates from the same image, is constructed to separate multiple cliques without additional constraints. Further, we augment the graph with an additional virtual node in each part to handle irrelevant matches when the similarity between two candidates is too small. Finally, with the explored multiple cliques, we statistically compute pixel-wise co-occurrence map for each image. Experimental results on two benchmark datasets, i.e., iCoseg and MSRC datasets, achieve desirable performance and demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed framework.

Temporal and Spatial Patterns of Neural Activity Associated with Information Selection in Open-ended Creativity.

PubMed

Zhou, Siyuan; Chen, Shi; Wang, Shuang; Zhao, Qingbai; Zhou, Zhijin; Lu, Chunming

2018-02-10

Novel information selection is a crucial process in creativity and was found to be associated with frontal-temporal functional connectivity in the right brain in closed-ended creativity. Since it has distinct cognitive processing from closed-ended creativity, the information selection in open-ended creativity might be underlain by different neural activity. To address this issue, a creative generation task of Chinese two-part allegorical sayings was adopted, and the trials were classified into novel and normal solutions according to participants' self-ratings. The results showed that (1) novel solutions induced a higher lower alpha power in the temporal area, which might be associated with the automatic, unconscious mental process of retrieving extensive semantic information, and (2) upper alpha power in both frontal and temporal areas and frontal-temporal alpha coherence were higher in novel solutions than in normal solutions, which might reflect the selective inhibition of semantic information. Furthermore, lower alpha power in the temporal area showed a reduction with time, while the frontal-temporal and temporal-temporal coherence in the upper alpha band appeared to increase from the early to the middle phase. These dynamic changes in neural activity might reflect the transformation from divergent thinking to convergent thinking in the creative progress. The advantage of the right brain in frontal-temporal connectivity was not found in the present work, which might result from the diversity of solutions in open-ended creativity. Copyright © 2017 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

UNSTEADY DISPERSION IN RANDOM INTERMITTENT FLOW

EPA Science Inventory

The longitudinal dispersion coefficient of a conservative tracer was calculated from flow tests in a dead-end pipe loop system. Flow conditions for these tests ranged from laminar to transitional flow, and from steady to intermittent and random. Two static mixers linked in series...

Concentration and Quantification of Somatic and F+ Coliphage from Recreational Waters

EPA Science Inventory

Somatic and F+ coliphages are promising alternative fecal indicators, but current detection methods are hindered by lower levels of coliphages in surface waters compared to traditional bacterial fecal indicators. We evaluated the ability of dead-end hollow fiber ultrafiltration (...

Further differentiating item and order information in semantic memory: students' recall of words from the "CU Fight Song", Harry Potter book titles, and Scooby Doo theme song.

PubMed

Overstreet, Michael F; Healy, Alice F; Neath, Ian

2017-01-01

University of Colorado (CU) students were tested for both order and item information in their semantic memory for the "CU Fight Song". Following an earlier study by Overstreet and Healy [(2011). Item and order information in semantic memory: Students' retention of the "CU fight song" lyrics. Memory & Cognition, 39, 251-259. doi: 10.3758/s13421-010-0018-3 ], a symmetrical bow-shaped serial position function (with both primacy and recency advantages) was found for reconstructing the order of the nine lines in the song, whereas a function with no primacy advantage was found for recalling a missing word from each line. This difference between order and item information was found even though students filled in missing words without any alternatives provided and missing words came from the beginning, middle, or end of each line. Similar results were found for CU students' recall of the sequence of Harry Potter book titles and the lyrics of the Scooby Doo theme song. These findings strengthen the claim that the pronounced serial position function in semantic memory occurs largely because of the retention of order, rather than item, information.

Reanalysis and semantic persistence in native and non-native garden-path recovery.

PubMed

Jacob, Gunnar; Felser, Claudia

2016-01-01

We report the results from an eye-movement monitoring study investigating how native and non-native speakers of English process temporarily ambiguous sentences such as While the gentleman was eating the burgers were still being reheated in the microwave, in which an initially plausible direct-object analysis is first ruled out by a syntactic disambiguation (were) and also later on by semantic information (being reheated). Both participant groups showed garden-path effects at the syntactic disambiguation, with native speakers showing significantly stronger effects of ambiguity than non-native speakers in later eye-movement measures but equally strong effects in first-pass reading times. Ambiguity effects at the semantic disambiguation and in participants' end-of-trial responses revealed that for both participant groups, the incorrect direct-object analysis was frequently maintained beyond the syntactic disambiguation. The non-native group showed weaker reanalysis effects at the syntactic disambiguation and was more likely to misinterpret the experimental sentences than the native group. Our results suggest that native language (L1) and non-native language (L2) parsing are similar with regard to sensitivity to syntactic and semantic error signals, but different with regard to processes of reanalysis.

[Studies on antimicrobial concentrations of flomoxef in serum, pelvic dead space exudate, and pelvic organs/tissues].

PubMed

Obata, T; Koishi, K; Sasaki, J; Eguchi, M; Yamamoto, Y

1987-10-01

To women undergoing radical and total hysterectomy, flomoxef (FMOX, 6315-S) in a dose of 2 g was administered by intravenous drip infusion over 1 hour and drug concentrations in serum and pelvic dead space exudate as well as pelvic organs/tissues were determined over time. The following results were obtained: 1. Serum concentrations of FMOX after intravenous infusion showed the peak value of 92.86 +/- 17.05 micrograms/ml at the end of infusion and then gradually decreased to 29.00 +/- 10.49 micrograms/ml in 1 hour and 1.16 +/- 1.08 micrograms/ml in 6 hours. 2. Concentrations in pelvic dead space exudate, which were 6.54 +/- 3.21 micrograms/ml at the end of intravenous infusion, gradually increased to 31.28 +/- 12.69 micrograms/ml in 30 minutes, and the peak of 35.21 +/- 13.29 micrograms/ml in 1 hour. Exudate concentrations gradually decreased to 11.10 +/- 6.64 micrograms/ml at 6 hours after infusion. 3. The serum concentration at the ligature of uterine artery was 103.21 +/- 51.69 micrograms/ml. Among concentrations in pelvic organ/tissues 37.17 +/- 18.20 micrograms/ml in uterine cervix was the highest, followed by 35.77 +/- 7.68 micrograms/g in portio vaginalis, 26.35 +/- 14.15 micrograms/g in tube, 21.62 +/- 12.15 micrograms/g in ovary, 20.56 +/- 9.82 micrograms/g in myometrium, and 16.45 +/- 8.10 micrograms/g in endometrium, in this order. 4. From an analysis of the two-compartment model, the maximum serum concentration was 92.81 micrograms/ml, which was very high. The time of 50% reduction of concentration in beta phase was 1.21 hours. In the pelvic dead space exudate, the maximum concentration was 32.38 micrograms/ml and the time of 50% reduction was 2.44 hours. The AUC was 147 micrograms.hr/ml in serum and 201 micrograms.hr/ml in the pelvic dead space. The shift to the pelvic dead space was 137% when AUC's were used as the basis of the comparison. 5. Clinically, FMOX was excellently effective against adnexitis caused by Peptostreptococcus asaccharolyticus, intrauterine infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus, cystitis caused by Klebsiella and Escherichia coli, vaginal stump infection caused by Streptococcus and E. coli and many other infections.

Causes of death in long-term lung cancer survivors: a SEER database analysis.

PubMed

Abdel-Rahman, Omar

2017-07-01

Long-term (>5 years) lung cancer survivors represent a small but distinct subgroup of lung cancer patients and information about the causes of death of this subgroup is scarce. The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database (1988-2008) was utilized to determine the causes of death of long-term survivors of lung cancer. Survival analysis was conducted using Kaplan-Meier analysis and multivariate analysis was conducted using a Cox proportional hazard model. Clinicopathological characteristics and survival outcomes were assessed for the whole cohort. A total of 78,701 lung cancer patients with >5 years survival were identified. This cohort included 54,488 patients surviving 5-10 years and 24,213 patients surviving >10 years. Among patients surviving 5-10 years, 21.8% were dead because of primary lung cancer, 10.2% were dead because of other cancers, 6.8% were dead because of cardiac disease and 5.3% were dead because of non-malignant pulmonary disease. Among patients surviving >10 years, 12% were dead because of primary lung cancer, 6% were dead because of other cancers, 6.9% were dead because of cardiac disease and 5.6% were dead because of non-malignant pulmonary disease. On multivariate analysis, factors associated with longer cardiac-disease-specific survival in multivariate analysis include younger age at diagnosis (p < .0001), white race (vs. African American race) (p = .005), female gender (p < .0001), right-sided disease (p = .003), adenocarcinoma (vs. large cell or small cell carcinoma), histology and receiving local treatment by surgery rather than radiotherapy (p < .0001). The probability of death from primary lung cancer is still significant among other causes of death even 20 years after diagnosis of lung cancer. Moreover, cardiac as well as non-malignant pulmonary causes contribute a considerable proportion of deaths in long-term lung cancer survivors.

Not by ANY Means: Doubletalk in the Service of "Humane" Ends.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nystrom, Christine L.

1979-01-01

Shows that many "liberal" educators who are in the thrall of obviously "humane" doctrines oppose semantic tyranny or suppression of free speech by their political antagonists, while failing to descry their own manipulations of language and oppositions to others' rights. (GT)

Multiple effects of sentential constraint on word processing

PubMed Central

Federmeier, Kara D.; Wlotko, Edward W.; De Ochoa-Dewald, Esmeralda; Kutas, Marta

2009-01-01

Behavioral and electrophysiological studies have uncovered different patterns of constraint effects on the processing of words in sentences. Whereas response time measures have indicated a reduced scope of facilitation from strongly constraining contexts, event-related brain potential (ERP) measures have instead revealed enhanced facilitation for semantically related endings in such sentences. Given this disparity, and the concomitant possibility of functionally separable stages of context effects, the current study jointly examined expectancy (cloze probability) and constraint effects on the ERP response to words. Expected and unexpected (but plausible) words completed strongly and weakly constraining sentences; unexpected items were matched for contextual fit across the two levels of constraint and were semantically unrelated to the most expected endings. N400 amplitudes were graded by expectancy but unaffected by constraint and seemed to index the benefit of contextual information. However, a later effect, in the form of increased frontal positivity from 500 to 900 ms post-stimulus-onset, indicated a possible cost associated with the processing of unexpected words in strongly constraining contexts. PMID:16901469

Integration of ceramic membrane and compressed air-assisted solvent extraction (CASX) for metal recovery.

PubMed

Li, Chi-Wang; Chiu, Chun-Hao; Lee, Yu-Cheng; Chang, Chia-Hao; Lee, Yu-Hsun; Chen, Yi-Ming

2010-01-01

In our previous publications, compressed air-assisted solvent extraction process (CASX) was developed and proved to be kinetically efficient process for metal removal. In the current study, CASX with a ceramic MF membrane integrated for separation of spent solvent was employed to remove and recover metal from wastewater. MF was operated either in crossflow mode or dead-end with intermittent flushing mode. Under crossflow mode, three distinct stages of flux vs. TMP (trans-membrane pressure) relationship were observed. In the first stage, flux increases with increasing TMP which is followed by the stage of stable flux with increasing TMP. After reaching a threshold TMP which is dependent of crossflow velocity, flux increases again with increasing TMP. At the last stage, solvent was pushed through membrane pores as indicated by increasing permeate COD. In dead-end with intermittent flushing mode, an intermittent flushing flow (2 min after a 10-min or a 30-min dead-end filtration) was incorporated to reduce membrane fouling by flush out MSAB accumulated on membrane surface. Effects of solvent concentration and composition were also investigated. Solvent concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 1% (w/w) have no adverse effect in terms of membrane fouling. However, solvent composition, i.e. D(2)EHPA/kerosene ratio, shows impact on membrane fouling. The type of metal extractants employed in CASX has significant impact on both membrane fouling and the quality of filtrate due to the differences in their viscosity and water solubility. Separation of MSAB was the limiting process controlling metal removal efficiency, and the removal efficiency of Cd(II) and Cr(VI) followed the same trend as that for COD.

Drying process of fermented inulin fiber concentrate by Bifidobacterium bifidum as a dietary fiber source for cholesterol binder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Susilowati, Agustine; Aspiyanto, Ghozali, Muhammad

2017-11-01

Fermentation on inulin hydrolysate as fructooligosaccharides (FOS) by Bifidobacterium bifidum as a result of hydrolysis by inulase enzyme of Scopulariopsis sp.-CBS1 fungi has been performed to bind cholesterol. Their applications on preparation of fermented pour beverages was conducted via a series of concentration process using dead-end Stirred Ultrafiltration Cell (SUFC) mode at stirrer rotation of 400 rpm, room temperature and pressure of 40 psia for 0 minute (pre-concentration process) as concentrate (A) and 45 minutes as concentrate (B), and drying process using vacuum dryer at 30 °C and 22 cm Hg for 0, 8, 16, 24, 32, 40 and 48 hours. Based on optimization of Total Dietary Fiber (TDF), the best time of drying process was achieved for 40 hours. Long time of drying process would increase TDF and total solids, decreased total acids, and fluctuated dissolved protein and Cholesterol Binding Capacity (CBC). At the optimum condition of drying process was get fermented inulin fiber powder from concentration processes using both UF as pre process (0 minute) as concentrate (A) and UF for 45 minutes as concentrate (B) with compositions of total solids of 92.31 % and 93.67 %, TDF of 59.07 % (dry weight) and 69.28 %, total acids of 7.03 % and 7.5 %, dissolved protein of 3.95 mg/mL and 3.05 mg/mL, and CBC pH 2 15.71 mg/g and 16.8 mg/g, respectively. Concentration process through dead-end SUFC mode gave distribution of particles with better smoothness level than without through dead-end SUFC mode.

Interactive Planning for Capability Driven Air & Space Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-04-30

Time, Routledge and Kegan , London, UK, 1980. [5] A. Bochman, Concerted instant–interval temporal semantics I: Temporal ontologies, Notre Dame Journal...then return true else deleteStatement (X, rj , Y ) end if end for return false Figure 8 shows the search space for instance in Table 2. The green ...nodes are those for which the set of relations cor- responding to the path from the root form a consistent set. A path from root to a green leaf node

The Northern end of the Dead Sea Basin: Geometry from reflection seismic evidence

USGS Publications Warehouse

Al-Zoubi, A. S.; Heinrichs, T.; Qabbani, I.; ten Brink, Uri S.

2007-01-01

Recently released reflection seismic lines from the Eastern side of the Jordan River north of the Dead Sea were interpreted by using borehole data and incorporated with the previously published seismic lines of the eastern side of the Jordan River. For the first time, the lines from the eastern side of the Jordan River were combined with the published reflection seismic lines from the western side of the Jordan River. In the complete cross sections, the inner deep basin is strongly asymmetric toward the Jericho Fault supporting the interpretation of this segment of the fault as the long-lived and presently active part of the Dead Sea Transform. There is no indication for a shift of the depocenter toward a hypothetical eastern major fault with time, as recently suggested. Rather, the north-eastern margin of the deep basin takes the form of a large flexure, modestly faulted. In the N-S-section along its depocenter, the floor of the basin at its northern end appears to deepen continuously by roughly 0.5??km over 10??km distance, without evidence of a transverse fault. The asymmetric and gently-dipping shape of the basin can be explained by models in which the basin is located outside the area of overlap between en-echelon strike-slip faults. ?? 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Experimental evidence for negative turgor pressure in small leaf cells of Robinia pseudoacacia L versus large cells of Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu et W.C.Cheng. 1. Evidence from pressure-volume curve analysis of dead tissue.

PubMed

Yang, Dongmei; Pan, Shaoan; Ding, Yiting; Tyree, Melvin T

2017-03-01

This paper provides a mini-review of evidence for negative turgor pressure in leaf cells starting with experimental evidence in the late 1950s and ending with biomechanical models published in 2014. In the present study, biomechanical models were used to predict how negative turgor pressure might be manifested in dead tissue, and experiments were conducted to test the predictions. The main findings were as follows: (i) Tissues killed by heating to 60 or 80 °C or by freezing in liquid nitrogen all became equally leaky to cell sap solutes and all seemed to pass freely through the cell walls. (ii) Once cell sap solutes could freely pass the cell walls, the shape of pressure-volume curves was dramatically altered between living and dead cells. (iii) Pressure-volume curves of dead tissue seem to measure negative turgor defined as negative when inside minus outside pressure is negative. (iv) Robinia pseudoacacia leaves with small palisade cells had more negative turgor than Metasequoia glyptostroboides with large cells. (v) The absolute difference in negative turgor between R. pseudoacacia and M. glyptostroboides approached as much as 1.0 MPa in some cases. The differences in the manifestation of negative turgor in living versus dead tissue are discussed. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Measurement of Dead Space Fraction Upon ICU Admission Predicts Length of Stay and Clinical Outcomes Following Bidirectional Cavopulmonary Anastomosis.

PubMed

Cigarroa, Claire L; van den Bosch, Sarah J; Tang, Xiaoqi; Gauvreau, Kimberlee; Baird, Christopher W; DiNardo, James A; Kheir, John Nagi

2018-01-01

Increased alveolar dead space fraction has been associated with prolonged mechanical ventilation and increased mortality in pediatric patients with respiratory failure. The association of alveolar dead space fraction with clinical outcomes in patients undergoing bidirectional cavopulmonary anastomosis for single ventricle congenital heart disease has not been reported. We describe an association of alveolar dead space fraction with postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing bidirectional cavopulmonary anastomosis. In a retrospective case-control study, we examined for associations between alveolar dead space fraction ([PaCO2 - end-tidal CO2]/PaCO2), arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation, and transpulmonary gradient upon postoperative ICU admission with a composite primary outcome (requirement for surgical or catheter-based intervention, death, or transplant prior to hospital discharge, defining cases) and several secondary endpoints in infants following bidirectional cavopulmonary anastomosis. Cardiac ICU in a tertiary care pediatric hospital. Patients undergoing bidirectional cavopulmonary anastomosis at our institution between 2011 and 2016. None. Of 191 patients undergoing bidirectional cavopulmonary anastomosis, 28 patients were cases and 163 were controls. Alveolar dead space fraction was significantly higher in the case (0.26 ± 0.09) versus control group (0.17 ± 0.09; p < 0.001); alveolar dead space fraction at admission was less than 0.12 in 0% of cases and was greater than 0.28 in 35% of cases. Admission arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation was significantly lower in the case (77% ± 12%) versus control group (83% ± 9%; p < 0.05). Sensitivity and specificity for future case versus control assignment was best when prebidirectional cavopulmonary anastomosis risk factors, admission alveolar dead space fraction (AUC, 0.74), and arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation (AUC, 0.65) were combined in a summarial model (AUC, 0.83). For a given arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation, the odds of becoming a case increased on average by 181% for every 0.1 unit increase in alveolar dead space fraction. Admission alveolar dead space fraction and arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation were linearly associated with prolonged ICU length of stay, hospital length of stay, duration of mechanical ventilation, and duration of thoracic drainage (p < 0.001 for all). Following bidirectional cavopulmonary anastomosis, alveolar dead space fraction in excess of 0.28 or arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation less than 78% upon ICU admission indicates an increased likelihood of requiring intervention prior to hospital discharge. Increasing alveolar dead space fraction and decreasing arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation are associated with increased lengths of stay.

"People over profits": retailers who voluntarily ended tobacco sales.

PubMed

McDaniel, Patricia A; Malone, Ruth E

2014-01-01

Tobacco retailers are key players in the ongoing tobacco epidemic. Tobacco outlet density is linked to a greater likelihood of youth and adult smoking and greater difficulty quitting. While public policy efforts to address the tobacco problem at the retail level have been limited, some retailers have voluntarily ended tobacco sales. A previous pilot study examined this phenomenon in California, a state with a strong tobacco program focused on denormalizing smoking and the tobacco industry. We sought to learn what motivated retailers in other states to end tobacco sales and how the public and media responded. We conducted interviews with owners, managers, or representatives of six grocery stores in New York and Ohio that had voluntarily ended tobacco sales since 2007. We also conducted unobtrusive observations at stores and analyzed media coverage of each retailer's decision. Grocery store owners ended tobacco sales for two reasons, alone or in combination: health or ethics-related, including a desire to send a consistent health message to employees and customers, and business-related, including declining tobacco sales or poor fit with the store's image. The decision to end sales often appeared to resolve troubling contradictions between retailers' values and selling deadly products. New York retailers attributed declining sales to high state tobacco taxes. All reported largely positive customer reactions and most received media coverage. Forty-one percent of news items were letters to the editor or editorials; most (69%) supported the decision. Voluntary decisions by retailers to abandon tobacco sales may lay the groundwork for mandatory policies and further denormalize tobacco. Our study also suggests that high tobacco taxes may have both direct and indirect effects on tobacco use. Highlighting the contradictions between being a responsible business and selling deadly products may support voluntary decisions by retailers to end tobacco sales.

Postmodernism: A Dead End in Social Work Epistemology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caputo, Richard; Epstein, William; Stoesz, David; Thyer, Bruce

2015-01-01

Postmodernism continues to have a detrimental influence on social work, questioning the Enlightenment, criticizing established research methods, and challenging scientific authority. The promotion of postmodernism by editors of "Social Work" and the "Journal of Social Work Education" has elevated postmodernism, placing it on a…

Hybridization affects life-history traits and host specificity in Diorhabda spp

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Hybridization is an influential evolutionary process that has been viewed alternatively as an evolutionary dead-end or as an important creative evolutionary force. In colonizing species, such as introduced biological control agents, hybridization can negate the effects of bottlenecks and genetic dri...

Maternal Dead-end 1 promotes translation of nanos1 by binding the eIF3 complex.

PubMed

Aguero, Tristan; Jin, Zhigang; Chorghade, Sandip; Kalsotra, Auinash; King, Mary Lou; Yang, Jing

2017-10-15

In the developing embryo, primordial germ cells (PGCs) represent the exclusive progenitors of the gametes, and their loss results in adult infertility. During early development, PGCs are exposed to numerous signals that specify somatic cell fates. To prevent somatic differentiation, PGCs must transiently silence their genome, an early developmental process that requires Nanos activity. However, it is unclear how Nanos translation is regulated in developing embryos. We report here that translation of nanos1 after fertilization requires Dead-end 1 (Dnd1), a vertebrate-specific germline RNA-binding protein. We provide evidence that Dnd1 protein, expression of which is low in oocytes, but increases dramatically after fertilization, directly interacts with, and relieves the inhibitory function of eukaryotic initiation factor 3f, a repressive component in the 43S preinitiation complex. This work uncovers a novel translational regulatory mechanism that is fundamentally important for germline development. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

A Theoretical Study of Phosphoryl Transfers of Tyrosyl-DNA Phosphodiesterase I (Tdp1) and the Possibility of a "Dead-End" Phosphohistidine Intermediate.

PubMed

DeYonker, Nathan J; Webster, Charles Edwin

2015-07-14

Tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase I (Tdp1) is a DNA repair enzyme conserved across eukaryotes that catalyzes the hydrolysis of the phosphodiester bond between the tyrosine residue of topoisomerase I and the 3'-phosphate of DNA. Atomic level details of the mechanism of Tdp1 are proposed and analyzed using a fully quantum mechanical, geometrically constrained model. The structural basis for the computational model is the vanadate-inhibited crystal structure of human Tdp1 (hTdp1, Protein Data Bank entry 1RFF ). Density functional theory computations are used to acquire thermodynamic and kinetic data along the catalytic pathway, including the phosphoryl transfer and subsequent hydrolysis. Located transition states and intermediates along the reaction coordinate suggest an associative phosphoryl transfer mechanism with five-coordinate phosphorane intermediates. Similar to both theoretical and experimental results for phospholipase D, the proposed mechanism for hTdp1 also includes the thermodynamically favorable possibility of a four-coordinate phosphohistidine "dead-end" product.

The dead end of domestic violence: spotlight on children's narratives during forensic investigations following domestic homicide.

PubMed

Katz, Carmit

2014-12-01

The current study provides an in-depth exploration of the narratives of children who witnessed their father killing their mother. This exploration was conducted using a thematic analysis of the children's forensic interviews based on seven investigative interviews that were conducted with children following the domestic homicide. Investigative interviews were selected for study only for substantiated cases and only if the children disclosed the domestic homicide. All of the investigative interviews were conducted within 24h of the domestic homicide. Thematic analysis revealed the following four key categories: the domestic homicide as the dead end of domestic violence, what I did when daddy killed mommy, that one time that daddy killed mommy, and mommy will feel better and will go back home. The discussion examines the multiple layers of this phenomenon as revealed in the children's narratives and its consequences for professionals within the legal and clinical contexts. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Semantic Variability of the Emphatic Construction "koso -e" in Old Japanese

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sano, Kyoko

2017-01-01

There is an interesting emphatic construction (called a "koso -e" construction) in Old Japanese, in which the focus particle "koso" concords with the exclamatory ("-e") sentence ending form. When "koso" focuses on an irrealis/subjunctive conditional clause, the overall sentence expresses a peculiar…

Salt Sensitive Tet-Off-Like Systems to Knockdown Primordial Germ Cell Genes for Repressible Transgenic Sterilization in Channel Catfish, Ictalurus punctatus

PubMed Central

Li, Hanbo; Su, Baofeng; Qin, Guyu; Ye, Zhi; Alsaqufi, Ahmed; Perera, Dayan A.; Shang, Mei; Odin, Ramjie; Vo, Khoi; Drescher, David; Robinson, Dalton; Zhang, Dan; Abass, Nermeen; Dunham, Rex A.

2017-01-01

Repressible knockdown approaches were investigated for transgenic sterilization in channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus. Two primordial germ cell (PGC) marker genes, nanos and dead end, were targeted for knockdown, and an off-target gene, vasa, was monitored. Two potentially salt sensitive repressible promoters, zebrafish adenylosuccinate synthase 2 (ADSS) and zebrafish racemase (Rm), were each coupled with four knockdown strategies: ds-sh RNA targeting the 5′ end (N1) or 3′ end (N2) of channel catfish nanos, full-length cDNA sequence of channel catfish nanos for overexpression (cDNA) and ds-sh RNA targeting channel catfish dead end (DND). Each construct had an untreated group and treated group with sodium chloride as the repressor compound. Spawning rates of full-sibling P1 fish exposed or not exposed to the constructs as treated and untreated embryos were 93% and 59%, respectively, indicating potential sterilization of fish and repression of the constructs. Although the mRNA expression data of PGC marker genes were inconsistent in P1 fish, most F1 individuals were able to downregulate the target genes in untreated groups and repress the knockdown process in treated groups. The results indicate that repressible transgenic sterilization is feasible for reproductive control of fish, but more data from F2 or F3 are needed for evaluation. PMID:28561774

Mining Genotype-Phenotype Associations from Public Knowledge Sources via Semantic Web Querying

PubMed Central

Kiefer, Richard C.; Freimuth, Robert R.; Chute, Christopher G; Pathak, Jyotishman

Gene Wiki Plus (GeneWiki+) and the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) are publicly available resources for sharing information about disease-gene and gene-SNP associations in humans. While immensely useful to the scientific community, both resources are manually curated, thereby making the data entry and publication process time-consuming, and to some degree, error-prone. To this end, this study investigates Semantic Web technologies to validate existing and potentially discover new genotype-phenotype associations in GWP and OMIM. In particular, we demonstrate the applicability of SPARQL queries for identifying associations not explicitly stated for commonly occurring chronic diseases in GWP and OMIM, and report our preliminary findings for coverage, completeness, and validity of the associations. Our results highlight the benefits of Semantic Web querying technology to validate existing disease-gene associations as well as identify novel associations although further evaluation and analysis is required before such information can be applied and used effectively. PMID:24303249

Word Problem Solving in Contemporary Math Education: A Plea for Reading Comprehension Skills Training

PubMed Central

Boonen, Anton J. H.; de Koning, Björn B.; Jolles, Jelle; van der Schoot, Menno

2016-01-01

Successfully solving mathematical word problems requires both mental representation skills and reading comprehension skills. In Realistic Math Education (RME), however, students primarily learn to apply the first of these skills (i.e., representational skills) in the context of word problem solving. Given this, it seems legitimate to assume that students from a RME curriculum experience difficulties when asked to solve semantically complex word problems. We investigated this assumption under 80 sixth grade students who were classified as successful and less successful word problem solvers based on a standardized mathematics test. To this end, students completed word problems that ask for both mental representation skills and reading comprehension skills. The results showed that even successful word problem solvers had a low performance on semantically complex word problems, despite adequate performance on semantically less complex word problems. Based on this study, we concluded that reading comprehension skills should be given a (more) prominent role during word problem solving instruction in RME. PMID:26925012

Word Problem Solving in Contemporary Math Education: A Plea for Reading Comprehension Skills Training.

PubMed

Boonen, Anton J H; de Koning, Björn B; Jolles, Jelle; van der Schoot, Menno

2016-01-01

Successfully solving mathematical word problems requires both mental representation skills and reading comprehension skills. In Realistic Math Education (RME), however, students primarily learn to apply the first of these skills (i.e., representational skills) in the context of word problem solving. Given this, it seems legitimate to assume that students from a RME curriculum experience difficulties when asked to solve semantically complex word problems. We investigated this assumption under 80 sixth grade students who were classified as successful and less successful word problem solvers based on a standardized mathematics test. To this end, students completed word problems that ask for both mental representation skills and reading comprehension skills. The results showed that even successful word problem solvers had a low performance on semantically complex word problems, despite adequate performance on semantically less complex word problems. Based on this study, we concluded that reading comprehension skills should be given a (more) prominent role during word problem solving instruction in RME.

Exploration of SWRL Rule Bases through Visualization, Paraphrasing, and Categorization of Rules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hassanpour, Saeed; O'Connor, Martin J.; Das, Amar K.

Rule bases are increasingly being used as repositories of knowledge content on the Semantic Web. As the size and complexity of these rule bases increases, developers and end users need methods of rule abstraction to facilitate rule management. In this paper, we describe a rule abstraction method for Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) rules that is based on lexical analysis and a set of heuristics. Our method results in a tree data structure that we exploit in creating techniques to visualize, paraphrase, and categorize SWRL rules. We evaluate our approach by applying it to several biomedical ontologies that contain SWRL rules, and show how the results reveal rule patterns within the rule base. We have implemented our method as a plug-in tool for Protégé-OWL, the most widely used ontology modeling software for the Semantic Web. Our tool can allow users to rapidly explore content and patterns in SWRL rule bases, enabling their acquisition and management.

Functional Fixedness in Creative Thinking Tasks Depends on Stimulus Modality.

PubMed

Chrysikou, Evangelia G; Motyka, Katharine; Nigro, Cristina; Yang, Song-I; Thompson-Schill, Sharon L

2016-11-01

Pictorial examples during creative thinking tasks can lead participants to fixate on these examples and reproduce their elements even when yielding suboptimal creative products. Semantic memory research may illuminate the cognitive processes underlying this effect. Here, we examined whether pictures and words differentially influence access to semantic knowledge for object concepts depending on whether the task is close- or open-ended. Participants viewed either names or pictures of everyday objects, or a combination of the two, and generated common, secondary, or ad hoc uses for them. Stimulus modality effects were assessed quantitatively through reaction times and qualitatively through a novel coding system, which classifies creative output on a continuum from top-down-driven to bottom-up-driven responses. Both analyses revealed differences across tasks. Importantly, for ad hoc uses, participants exposed to pictures generated more top-down-driven responses than those exposed to object names. These findings have implications for accounts of functional fixedness in creative thinking, as well as theories of semantic memory for object concepts.

Functional Fixedness in Creative Thinking Tasks Depends on Stimulus Modality

PubMed Central

Chrysikou, Evangelia G.; Motyka, Katharine; Nigro, Cristina; Yang, Song-I; Thompson-Schill, Sharon L.

2015-01-01

Pictorial examples during creative thinking tasks can lead participants to fixate on these examples and reproduce their elements even when yielding suboptimal creative products. Semantic memory research may illuminate the cognitive processes underlying this effect. Here, we examined whether pictures and words differentially influence access to semantic knowledge for object concepts depending on whether the task is close- or open-ended. Participants viewed either names or pictures of everyday objects, or a combination of the two, and generated common, secondary, or ad hoc uses for them. Stimulus modality effects were assessed quantitatively through reaction times and qualitatively through a novel coding system, which classifies creative output on a continuum from top-down-driven to bottom-up-driven responses. Both analyses revealed differences across tasks. Importantly, for ad hoc uses, participants exposed to pictures generated more top-down-driven responses than those exposed to object names. These findings have implications for accounts of functional fixedness in creative thinking, as well as theories of semantic memory for object concepts. PMID:28344724

Divorce and Older Women.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leonard, Frances

Divorce can have traumatic financial and emotional effects on midlife and older women who have fulfilled cultural expectations by becoming homemakers or accepting low-level, dead-end employment because the husband had the "real" career. This "gray paper" therefore addresses the adverse legal consequences of the rise of no-fault…

Towards a Semantic-Based Approach for Affect and Metaphor Detection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Li; Barnden, John

2013-01-01

Affect detection from open-ended virtual improvisational contexts is a challenging task. To achieve this research goal, the authors developed an intelligent agent which was able to engage in virtual improvisation and perform sentence-level affect detection from user inputs. This affect detection development was efficient for the improvisational…

Language Disorders and Prognosis for Reading Disabilities in Developmental Age.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levi, Gabriel; And Others

1982-01-01

Reading levels attained by two groups of language-disordered children at the end of the first year of school were compared. Results confirmed the association between reading disability and language disorders, and yielded group differences: reading achievement was associated with semantic and syntactic competencies. (Author/RD)

Information Retrieval Using UMLS-based Structured Queries

PubMed Central

Fagan, Lawrence M.; Berrios, Daniel C.; Chan, Albert; Cucina, Russell; Datta, Anupam; Shah, Maulik; Surendran, Sujith

2001-01-01

During the last three years, we have developed and described components of ELBook, a semantically based information-retrieval system [1-4]. Using these components, domain experts can specify a query model, indexers can use the query model to index documents, and end-users can search these documents for instances of indexed queries.

Automatic Generation of Mashups for Personalized Commerce in Digital TV by Semantic Reasoning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blanco-Fernández, Yolanda; López-Nores, Martín; Pazos-Arias, José J.; Martín-Vicente, Manuela I.

The evolution of information technologies is consolidating recommender systems as essential tools in e-commerce. To date, these systems have focused on discovering the items that best match the preferences, interests and needs of individual users, to end up listing those items by decreasing relevance in some menus. In this paper, we propose extending the current scope of recommender systems to better support trading activities, by automatically generating interactive applications that provide the users with personalized commercial functionalities related to the selected items. We explore this idea in the context of Digital TV advertising, with a system that brings together semantic reasoning techniques and new architectural solutions for web services and mashups.

Emotional modelling and classification of a large-scale collection of scene images in a cluster environment

PubMed Central

Li, Yanfei; Tian, Yun

2018-01-01

The development of network technology and the popularization of image capturing devices have led to a rapid increase in the number of digital images available, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to identify a desired image from among the massive number of possible images. Images usually contain rich semantic information, and people usually understand images at a high semantic level. Therefore, achieving the ability to use advanced technology to identify the emotional semantics contained in images to enable emotional semantic image classification remains an urgent issue in various industries. To this end, this study proposes an improved OCC emotion model that integrates personality and mood factors for emotional modelling to describe the emotional semantic information contained in an image. The proposed classification system integrates the k-Nearest Neighbour (KNN) algorithm with the Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm. The MapReduce parallel programming model was used to adapt the KNN-SVM algorithm for parallel implementation in the Hadoop cluster environment, thereby achieving emotional semantic understanding for the classification of a massive collection of images. For training and testing, 70,000 scene images were randomly selected from the SUN Database. The experimental results indicate that users with different personalities show overall consistency in their emotional understanding of the same image. For a training sample size of 50,000, the classification accuracies for different emotional categories targeted at users with different personalities were approximately 95%, and the training time was only 1/5 of that required for the corresponding algorithm with a single-node architecture. Furthermore, the speedup of the system also showed a linearly increasing tendency. Thus, the experiments achieved a good classification effect and can lay a foundation for classification in terms of additional types of emotional image semantics, thereby demonstrating the practical significance of the proposed model. PMID:29320579

A funny thing happened on the way to articulation: N400 attenuation despite behavioral interference in picture naming

PubMed Central

Blackford, Trevor; Holcomb, Phillip J.; Grainger, Jonathan; Kuperberg, Gina R.

2013-01-01

We measured Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) and naming times to picture targets preceded by masked words (stimulus onset asynchrony: 80 ms) that shared one of three different types of relationship with the names of the pictures: (1) Identity related, in which the prime was the name of the picture (“socks” – ), (2) Phonemic Onset related, in which the initial segment of the prime was the same as the name of the picture (“log” – ), and (3) Semantically related in which the prime was a co–category exemplar and associated with the name of the picture (“cake” – ). Each type of related picture target was contrasted with an Unrelated picture target, resulting in a 3 × 2 design that crossed Relationship Type between the word and the target picture (Identity, Phonemic Onset and Semantic) with Relatedness (Related and Unrelated). Modulation of the N400 component to related (versus unrelated) pictures was taken to reflect semantic processing at the interface between the picture's conceptual features and its lemma, while naming times reflected the end product of all stages of processing. Both attenuation of the N400 and shorter naming times were observed to pictures preceded by Identity related (versus Unrelated) words. No ERP effects within 600 ms, but shorter naming times, were observed to pictures preceded by Phonemic Onset related (versus Unrelated) words. An attenuated N400 (electrophysiological semantic priming) but longer naming times (behavioral semantic interference) were observed to pictures preceded by Semantically related (versus Unrelated) words. These dissociations between ERP modulation and naming times suggest that (a) phonemic onset priming occurred late, during encoding of the articulatory response, and (b) semantic behavioral interference was not driven by competition at the lemma level of representation, but rather occurred at a later stage of production. PMID:22245030

Emotional modelling and classification of a large-scale collection of scene images in a cluster environment.

PubMed

Cao, Jianfang; Li, Yanfei; Tian, Yun

2018-01-01

The development of network technology and the popularization of image capturing devices have led to a rapid increase in the number of digital images available, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to identify a desired image from among the massive number of possible images. Images usually contain rich semantic information, and people usually understand images at a high semantic level. Therefore, achieving the ability to use advanced technology to identify the emotional semantics contained in images to enable emotional semantic image classification remains an urgent issue in various industries. To this end, this study proposes an improved OCC emotion model that integrates personality and mood factors for emotional modelling to describe the emotional semantic information contained in an image. The proposed classification system integrates the k-Nearest Neighbour (KNN) algorithm with the Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm. The MapReduce parallel programming model was used to adapt the KNN-SVM algorithm for parallel implementation in the Hadoop cluster environment, thereby achieving emotional semantic understanding for the classification of a massive collection of images. For training and testing, 70,000 scene images were randomly selected from the SUN Database. The experimental results indicate that users with different personalities show overall consistency in their emotional understanding of the same image. For a training sample size of 50,000, the classification accuracies for different emotional categories targeted at users with different personalities were approximately 95%, and the training time was only 1/5 of that required for the corresponding algorithm with a single-node architecture. Furthermore, the speedup of the system also showed a linearly increasing tendency. Thus, the experiments achieved a good classification effect and can lay a foundation for classification in terms of additional types of emotional image semantics, thereby demonstrating the practical significance of the proposed model.

Beyond the temporal pole: limbic memory circuit in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia.

PubMed

Tan, Rachel H; Wong, Stephanie; Kril, Jillian J; Piguet, Olivier; Hornberger, Michael; Hodges, John R; Halliday, Glenda M

2014-07-01

Despite accruing evidence for relative preservation of episodic memory in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (previously semantic dementia), the neural basis for this remains unclear, particularly in light of their well-established hippocampal involvement. We recently investigated the Papez network of memory structures across pathological subtypes of behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia and demonstrated severe degeneration of all relay nodes, with the anterior thalamus in particular emerging as crucial for intact episodic memory. The present study investigated the status of key components of Papez circuit (hippocampus, mammillary bodies, anterior thalamus, cingulate cortex) and anterior temporal cortex using volumetric and quantitative cell counting methods in pathologically-confirmed cases with semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (n = 8; 61-83 years; three males), behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia with TDP pathology (n = 9; 53-82 years; six males) and healthy controls (n = 8, 50-86 years; four males). Behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia cases with TDP pathology were selected because of the association between the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia and TDP pathology. Our findings revealed that the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia and behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia show similar degrees of anterior thalamic atrophy. The mammillary bodies and hippocampal body and tail were preserved in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia but were significantly atrophic in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia. Importantly, atrophy in the anterior thalamus and mild progressive atrophy in the body of the hippocampus emerged as the main memory circuit regions correlated with increasing dementia severity in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia. Quantitation of neuronal populations in the cingulate cortices confirmed the selective loss of anterior cingulate von Economo neurons in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia. We also show that by end-stage these neurons selectively degenerate in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia with preservation of neurons in the posterior cingulate cortex. Overall, our findings demonstrate for the first time, severe atrophy, although not necessarily neuronal loss, across all relay nodes of Papez circuit with the exception of the mammillary bodies and hippocampal body and tail in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia. Despite the longer disease course in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia compared with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, we suggest here that the neural preservation of crucial memory relays (hippocampal→mammillary bodies and posterior cingulate→hippocampus) likely reflects the conservation of specific episodic memory components observed in most patients with semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

ARGOS Policy Brief on Semantic Interoperability

PubMed Central

KALRA, Dipak; MUSEN, Mark; SMITH, Barry; CEUSTERS, Werner

2016-01-01

Semantic interoperability is one of the priority themes of the ARGOS Trans-Atlantic Observatory. This topic represents a globally recognised challenge that must be addressed if electronic health records are to be shared among heterogeneous systems, and the information in them exploited to the maximum benefit of patients, professionals, health services, research, and industry. Progress in this multi-faceted challenge has been piecemeal, and valuable lessons have been learned, and approaches discovered, in Europe and in the US that can be shared and combined. Experts from both continents have met at three ARGOS workshops during 2010 and 2011 to share understanding of these issues and how they might be tackled collectively from both sides of the Atlantic. This policy brief summarises the problems and the reasons why they are important to tackle, and also why they are so difficult. It outlines the major areas of semantic innovation that exist and that are available to help address this challenge. It proposes a series of next steps that need to be championed on both sides of the Atlantic if further progress is to be made in sharing and analysing electronic health records meaningfully. Semantic interoperability requires the use of standards, not only for EHR data to be transferred and structurally mapped into a receiving repository, but also for the clinical content of the EHR to be interpreted in conformity with the original meanings intended by its authors. Wide-scale engagement with professional bodies, globally, is needed to develop these clinical information standards. Accurate and complete clinical documentation, faithful to the patient’s situation, and interoperability between systems, require widespread and dependable access to published and maintained collections of coherent and quality-assured semantic resources, including models such as archetypes and templates that would (1) provide clinical context, (2) be mapped to interoperability standards for EHR data, (3) be linked to well specified multi-lingual terminology value sets, and (4) be derived from high quality ontologies. There is need to gain greater experience in how semantic resources should be defined, validated, and disseminated, how users (who increasingly will include patients) should be educated to improve the quality and consistency of EHR documentation and to make full use of it. There are urgent needs to scale up the authorship, acceptance, and adoption of clinical information standards, to leverage and harmonise the islands of standardisation optimally, to assure the quality of the artefacts produced, and to organise end-to-end governance of the development and adoption of solutions. PMID:21893897

Microfluidic devices connected to fused-silica capillaries with minimal dead volume.

PubMed

Bings, N H; Wang, C; Skinner, C D; Colyer, C L; Thibault, P; Harrison, D J

1999-08-01

Fused-silica capillaries have been connected to microfluidic devices for capillary electrophoresis by drilling into the edge of the device using 200-μm tungsten carbide drills. The standard pointed drill bits create a hole with a conical-shaped bottom that leads to a geometric dead volume of 0.7 nL at the junction, and significant band broadening when used with 0.2-nL sample plugs. The plate numbers obtained on the fused-silica capillary connected to the chip were about 16-25% of the predicted numbers. The conical area was removed with a flat-tipped drill bit and the band broadening was substantially eliminated (on average 98% of the predicted plate numbers were observed). All measurements were made while the device was operating with an electrospray from the end of the capillary. The effective dead volume of the flat-bottom connection is minimal and allows microfluidic devices to be connected to a wide variety of external detectors.

"Does Your Dog Bite?": Creating Good Questions for Online Discussions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toledo, Cheri A.

2006-01-01

One of the challenges of asynchronous online discussions is soliciting student responses that involve critical thinking. Too often students answer one another with "I agree" or "That's what I think" and the discussion dead ends. By providing students with models of good questioning techniques instructors will see the class…

Responding to the screwworm outbreak on the Florida Keys

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

What a way to end an International Congress of Entomology! On September 30, 2016 an APHIS colleague, John Welch, and I received an e-mail with attached photographs of dead deer with suspected screwworm myiasis; some of the larvae were suspicious. Later that day the National Veterinary Services Labor...

Suicide Terrorism: Deadly Tactic or Operational Art at Work?

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-05-04

clerical leader, opined in a 1996 interview printed in an Egyptian newspaper that “suicide puts an end to his life out of selfish considerations...attacks in support of their strategic objectives. Following the February 1994 massacre in the Tomb of the Patriarchs-Khalili Mosque perpetrated by

Evidence on the Returns to Secondary Vocational Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meer, Jonathan

2007-01-01

Vocational education in high schools has frequently been stigmatized as an anachronistic, dead-end path for students. We use data from the National Education Longitudinal Survey of 1988 to examine claims that students on a vocational track would benefit from a more academically rigorous education. Clearly, selection bias confounds attempts to…

The use of entomopathogenic nematodes in the US and issues related to genetic degradation

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Research and commercial application of entomopathogenic nematodes in North America has a long history. In the pursuit of commercial viability, there have been a number of success stories, but also quite a number of dead ends. We provide insight into new opportunities for entomopathogenic nematodes...

BOOK REVIEW: HANDBOOK OF URBAN HEALTH: POPULATIONS, METHODS AND PRACTICE

EPA Science Inventory

In Clifford D. Simak's 1952 science fiction classic, City, the metropolis is dead by the end of the 20th century. Cheap atomic power and ubiquitous private helicopters have made concentrated human existence a quaint memory. Simak could not have been more wrong, of course. About h...

Apprenticeship: Which Way Forward?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur les Qualifications, Marseilles (France).

This volume presents the results of a seminar on apprenticeship in Europe entitled "Apprenticeship, Alternance and Dual Systems: Dead-Ends or Highways to the Future" (Marseilles, France, April 1994). It deals with ways in which alternating learning at school and work can provide young people with relevant work skills and facilitate their…

Deadly Lessons.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vail, Kathleen

1996-01-01

In Fox River Grove, Illinois, 7 teenagers were killed the morning of October 25, 1995, when a 620-ton commuter train crashed into the rear end of their school bus. School, transportation, and safety officials have focused on three areas: train crossings and signals, bus-driver training, and school-bus construction. Lists 10 vital lessons for…

Marginalia: Women in the Academic Workforce.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cadet, Nancy

1989-01-01

Looks at the function and status of women faculty at colleges and universities in the United States. Focuses on how the adjunct faculty position when used as an economizing strategy by administrators places women in permanent disadvantaged and dead-end positions. Reviews adjunct faculty organizational efforts to make demands for pay equity and…

Database Creation for Information Processing Methods, Metrics, and Models (DCIPM3)

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-05-01

who is in Student Government Association (SGA), attends a meeting that addresses the lineup of events to have at the pep rally, with other...documented events had some level of importance to the development of similar sequential events of a notional subject, many dead ends and random events

Error-Eliciting Problems: Fostering Understanding and Thinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lim, Kien H.

2014-01-01

Student errors are springboards for analyzing, reasoning, and justifying. The mathematics education community recognizes the value of student errors, noting that "mistakes are seen not as dead ends but rather as potential avenues for learning." To induce specific errors and help students learn, choose tasks that might produce mistakes.…

Sex-Role Stereotyping and Work: Opportunities for the Home Economics Teacher

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McClelland, Jerry

1977-01-01

A discussion of two problems: (1) That career choices of men and women are limited by sex role stereotypes and (2) that occupations related to home economics and other traditionally female occupations tend to be low-pay, dead-end jobs. Some solutions and teaching strategies are offered. (HD)

Use of Lung Allografts From Donation After Cardiac Death Donors: A Single-Center Experience.

PubMed

Costa, Joseph; Shah, Lori; Robbins, Hilary; Raza, Kashif; Sreekandth, Sowmya; Arcasoy, Selim; Sonett, Joshua R; D'Ovidio, Frank

2018-01-01

Lung transplantation remains the only treatment for end-stage lung disease. Availability of suitable lungs does not parallel this growing trend. Centers using donation after cardiac death (DCD) donor lungs report comparable outcomes with those from brain-dead donors. Donor assessment protocols and consistent surgical teams have been advocated when considering using the use of DCD donors. We present our experience using lungs from Maastricht category III DCD donors. Starting 2007 to July 2016, 73 DCD donors were assessed, 44 provided suitable lungs that resulted in 46 transplants. A 2012 to October 2016 comparative cohort of 379 brain-dead donors were assessed. Recipient and donor characteristics and primary graft dysfunction (PGD) and survival were monitored. Seventy-three DCD (40% dry run rate) donors assessed yielded 46 transplants (23 double, 6 right, and 17 left). Comparative cohort of 379 brain-dead donors yielded 237 transplants (112 double, 43 right, and 82 left). One- and 3-year recipient survival was 91% and 78% for recipients of DCD lungs and 91% and 75% for recipients of lungs from brain-dead donors, respectively. PGD 2 and 3 in DCD recipients at 72 hours was 4 of 46 (9%) and 6 of 46 (13%), respectively. Comparatively, brain-dead donor recipient cohort at 72 hours with PGD 2 and 3 was 23 of 237 (10%) and 41 of 237 (17%), respectively. Our experience reaffirms the use of lungs from DCD donors as a viable source with favorable outcomes. Recipients from DCD donors showed equivalent PGD rate at 72 hours and survival compared with recipients from brain-dead donors. Copyright © 2018 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

ROSSBY WAVE INSTABILITY AT DEAD ZONE BOUNDARIES IN THREE-DIMENSIONAL RESISTIVE MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICAL GLOBAL MODELS OF PROTOPLANETARY DISKS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lyra, Wladimir; Mac Low, Mordecai-Mark, E-mail: wlyra@jpl.nasa.gov, E-mail: mordecai@amnh.org

It has been suggested that the transition between magnetorotationally active and dead zones in protoplanetary disks should be prone to the excitation of vortices via Rossby wave instability (RWI). However, the only numerical evidence for this has come from alpha disk models, where the magnetic field evolution is not followed, and the effect of turbulence is parameterized by Laplacian viscosity. We aim to establish the phenomenology of the flow in the transition in three-dimensional resistive-magnetohydrodynamical models. We model the transition by a sharp jump in resistivity, as expected in the inner dead zone boundary, using the PENCIL CODE to simulatemore » the flow. We find that vortices are readily excited in the dead side of the transition. We measure the mass accretion rate finding similar levels of Reynolds stress at the dead and active zones, at the {alpha} Almost-Equal-To 10{sup -2} level. The vortex sits in a pressure maximum and does not migrate, surviving until the end of the simulation. A pressure maximum in the active zone also triggers the RWI. The magnetized vortex that results should be disrupted by parasitical magneto-elliptic instabilities, yet it subsists in high resolution. This suggests that either the parasitic modes are still numerically damped or that the RWI supplies vorticity faster than they can destroy it. We conclude that the resistive transition between the active and dead zones in the inner regions of protoplanetary disks, if sharp enough, can indeed excite vortices via RWI. Our results lend credence to previous works that relied on the alpha-disk approximation, and caution against the use of overly reduced azimuthal coverage on modeling this transition.« less

Dead of night.

PubMed

Balter, Leon

2010-07-01

Dead of Night, the first psychoanalytic horror film, was produced in England in 1945, immediately after the end of World War II--that is, after the English population had suffered systematic Nazi terror from imminent invasion, incessant aerial bombing, and rocket-bombs. This film continued the prewar format of horror films based on themes of the supernatural and the hubris and excesses of science. However, it introduced psychoanalysis as the science in question. The film is structured on two levels: a genteel English country weekend to which witty and urbane guests have been invited; and five horror stories told by the guests. Psychoanalytic insights into this film structure are used here to explain how the film induces horror in the audience.

Synergistic effects of ATP and RNA binding to human DEAD-box protein DDX1.

PubMed

Kellner, Julian N; Reinstein, Jochen; Meinhart, Anton

2015-03-11

RNA helicases of the DEAD-box protein family form the largest group of helicases. The human DEAD-box protein 1 (DDX1) plays an important role in tRNA and mRNA processing, is involved in tumor progression and is also hijacked by several virus families such as HIV-1 for replication and nuclear export. Although important in many cellular processes, the mechanism of DDX1's enzymatic function is unknown. We have performed equilibrium titrations and transient kinetics to determine affinities for nucleotides and RNA. We find an exceptional tight binding of DDX1 to adenosine diphosphate (ADP), one of the strongest affinities observed for DEAD-box helicases. ADP binds tighter by three orders of magnitude when compared to adenosine triphosphate (ATP), arresting the enzyme in a potential dead-end ADP conformation under physiological conditions. We thus suggest that a nucleotide exchange factor leads to DDX1 recycling. Furthermore, we find a strong cooperativity in binding of RNA and ATP to DDX1 that is also reflected in ATP hydrolysis. We present a model in which either ATP or RNA binding alone can partially shift the equilibrium from an 'open' to a 'closed'-state; this shift appears to be not further pronounced substantially even in the presence of both RNA and ATP as the low rate of ATP hydrolysis does not change. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Noninvasive measurement of mean alveolar carbon dioxide tension and Bohr's dead space during tidal breathing.

PubMed

Koulouris, N G; Latsi, P; Dimitroulis, J; Jordanoglou, B; Gaga, M; Jordanoglou, J

2001-06-01

The lack of methodology for measuring the alveolar carbon dioxide tension (PA,CO2) has forced investigators to make several assumptions, such as that PA,CO2 is equal to end-tidal (PET,CO2) and arterial CO2 tension (Pa,CO2). The present study measured the mean PA,CO2 and Bohr's dead space ratio (Bohr's dead space/tidal volume (VD,Bohr/VT)) during tidal breathing. The method used is a new, simple and noninvasive technique, based on the analysis of the expired CO2 volume per breath (VCO2) versus the exhaled VT. This curve was analysed in 21 normal, healthy subjects and 35 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients breathing tidally through a mouthpiece apparatus in the sitting position. It is shown that: 1) PA,CO2 is similar to Pa,CO2 in normal subjects, whilst it is significantly lower than Pa,CO2 in COPD patients; 2) PA,CO2 is significantly higher than PET,CO2 in all subjects, especially in COPD patients; 3) VD,Bohr/VT is increased in COPD patients as compared to normal subjects; and 4) VD,Bohr/VT is lower than the "physiological" dead space ratio (VD,phys/VT) in COPD patients. It is concluded that the expired carbon dioxide versus tidal volume curve is a useful tool for research and clinical work, because it permits the noninvasive and accurate measurement of Bohr's dead space and mean alveolar carbon dioxide tension accurately during spontaneous breathing.

Intraperitoneal insemination and retrograde sperm transport in dairy cows.

PubMed

López-Gatius, F; Yániz, J

2000-03-01

To examine the efficiency of retrograde sperm transport following intraperitoneal insemination, live and dead spermatozoa were used at different concentrations, and sperm recovery from cervical mucus (0.5 ml) 2, 6, 12 and 24 h following insemination was evaluated. Forty lactating Friesian cows, in their second to fourth lactation period, were used in this experiment. Thirty-six cows received intraperitoneally either live or dead spermatozoa. Each group of six cows received one of three total sperm numbers of 30, 45 and 90 million. Four cows were inseminated with 90 million spermatozoa into the uterus and served as a control group. All cows were inseminated towards the end of oestrus. After intrauterine insemination sperm recovery declined, but motile and/or immotile spermatozoa were recovered from all cows at any time. In cows inseminated intraperitoneally, sperm was recovered from the cervix at 6-24 h when 90 million were inseminated. A greater number of spermatozoa was recovered after dead rather than after live sperm inseminations. Only immotile, intact or broken spermatozoa and tail-less heads were recovered after intraperitioneal insemination using either live or dead spermatozoa. No sperm was recovered for 30 and 45 million inseminations. Our results show that, following intraperitoneal insemination, there is passive sperm transport from the peritoneal cavity to the genital tract close to the time of ovulation, and suggest a higher sperm retention in the genital tract when live as opposed to dead spermatozoa are used.

Coding for Communication Channels with Dead-Time Constraints

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moision, Bruce; Hamkins, Jon

2004-01-01

Coding schemes have been designed and investigated specifically for optical and electronic data-communication channels in which information is conveyed via pulse-position modulation (PPM) subject to dead-time constraints. These schemes involve the use of error-correcting codes concatenated with codes denoted constrained codes. These codes are decoded using an interactive method. In pulse-position modulation, time is partitioned into frames of Mslots of equal duration. Each frame contains one pulsed slot (all others are non-pulsed). For a given channel, the dead-time constraints are defined as a maximum and a minimum on the allowable time between pulses. For example, if a Q-switched laser is used to transmit the pulses, then the minimum allowable dead time is the time needed to recharge the laser for the next pulse. In the case of bits recorded on a magnetic medium, the minimum allowable time between pulses depends on the recording/playback speed and the minimum distance between pulses needed to prevent interference between adjacent bits during readout. The maximum allowable dead time for a given channel is the maximum time for which it is possible to satisfy the requirement to synchronize slots. In mathematical shorthand, the dead-time constraints for a given channel are represented by the pair of integers (d,k), where d is the minimum allowable number of zeroes between ones and k is the maximum allowable number of zeroes between ones. A system of the type to which the present schemes apply is represented by a binary- input, real-valued-output channel model illustrated in the figure. At the transmitting end, information bits are first encoded by use of an error-correcting code, then further encoded by use of a constrained code. Several constrained codes for channels subject to constraints of (d,infinity) have been investigated theoretically and computationally. The baseline codes chosen for purposes of comparison were simple PPM codes characterized by M-slot PPM frames separated by d-slot dead times.

Event Semantics, Typeshifting and Teaching the Prepositional and Causative Verbal Endings in Swahili.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salone, Sukari

2000-01-01

Assumes the overall frame work of Extended Standard Theory of grammar, with a focus on the lexicon. It assumes Chomsky's theory that the projection of a verb and its arguments onto syntax is determined by its lexical specifications. Emphasizes a lexical approach to Swahili verbal suffixes. (Author/VWL)

Emotional Language Processing: How Mood Affects Integration Processes during Discourse Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Egidi, Giovanna; Nusbaum, Howard C.

2012-01-01

This research tests whether mood affects semantic processing during discourse comprehension by facilitating integration of information congruent with moods' valence. Participants in happy, sad, or neutral moods listened to stories with positive or negative endings during EEG recording. N400 peak amplitudes showed mood congruence for happy and sad…

76 FR 77203 - Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To Collect Information

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-12

... Web pages created and maintained by component organizations of the NAL. On average, 2 million people... interest collections have established a Web presence with a home page and links to sub-pages that provide... Semantic Differential Scale or multiple choice questions, and no more than 4 open-ended response questions...

ERP Evidence for Telicity Effects on Syntactic Processing in Garden-Path Sentences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malaia, Evguenia; Wilbur, Ronnie B.; Weber-Fox, Christine

2009-01-01

Verbs contain multifaceted information about both the semantics of an action, and potential argument structures. Linguistic theory classifies verbs according to whether the denoted action has an inherent (telic) end-point ("fall," "awaken"), or whether it is considered homogenous, or atelic ("read," "worship"). The aim of our study was to examine…

Behavioural and electrophysiological effects related to semantic violations during braille reading.

PubMed

Glyn, Vania; Lim, Vanessa K; Hamm, Jeff P; Mathur, Ashwin; Hughes, Barry

2015-10-01

This study investigated the potential to detect event related potentials (ERPs) occurring in response to a specific task in braille reading. This would expand current methodologies for studying the cognitive processes underlying braille reading. An N400 effect paradigm was utilised, whereby proficient blind braille readers read congruent- and incongruent-ending braille sentences. Kinematic and electroencephalography (EEG) data were obtained simultaneously and synchronised. The ERPs differed between the incongruent and congruent sentences in a manner consistent with the N400 effect found with a previous sighted reading paradigm, demonstrating that ERPs can be obtained during braille reading. The frequency of finger reversals and the degree of intermittency in the finger velocity were significantly higher when reading incongruent versus congruent sentence endings. Both reversals and the potential N400 effect may reflect processes involved in semantic unification. These findings have significant implications for the modelling of braille reading. The refinement of the technique will enable other ERPs to be identified and related to behavioural responses, to further our understanding of the braille reading process. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantifying Stability in Complex Networks: From Linear to Basin Stability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurths, Jürgen

The human brain, power grids, arrays of coupled lasers and the Amazon rainforest are all characterized by multistability. The likelihood that these systems will remain in the most desirable of their many stable states depends on their stability against significant perturbations, particularly in a state space populated by undesirable states. Here we claim that the traditional linearization-based approach to stability is in several cases too local to adequately assess how stable a state is. Instead, we quantify it in terms of basin stability, a new measure related to the volume of the basin of attraction. Basin stability is non-local, nonlinear and easily applicable, even to high-dimensional systems. It provides a long-sought-after explanation for the surprisingly regular topologies of neural networks and power grids, which have eluded theoretical description based solely on linear stability. Specifically, we employ a component-wise version of basin stability, a nonlinear inspection scheme, to investigate how a grid's degree of stability is influenced by certain patterns in the wiring topology. Various statistics from our ensemble simulations all support one main finding: The widespread and cheapest of all connection schemes, namely dead ends and dead trees, strongly diminish stability. For the Northern European power system we demonstrate that the inverse is also true: `Healing' dead ends by addition of transmission lines substantially enhances stability. This indicates a crucial smart-design principle for tomorrow's sustainable power grids: add just a few more lines to avoid dead ends. Further, we analyse the particular function of certain network motifs to promote the stability of the system. Here we uncover the impact of so-called detour motifs on the appearance of nodes with a poor stability score and discuss the implications for power grid design. Moreover, it will be shown that basin stability enables uncovering the mechanism for explosive synchronization and understanding of evolving networks. Reference: P. Menck, J. Heitzig, N. Marwan, and J. Kurths, Nature Physics 9, 89 (2013) P. Menck, J. Heitzig, J. Kurths, and H. Schellnhuber, Nature Communication 5, 3969 (2014) P. Schultz, J. Heitzig, and J. Kurths, New Journal Physics 16, 125001 (2014) V. Kohar, P. Ji, A. Choudhary, S. Sinha, and J. Kurths, Phys. Rev. E 90, 022812 (2014) Y. Zou, T. Pereira, M. Small, Z. Liu, and J. Kurths, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 114102 (2014)

High-level user interfaces for transfer function design with semantics.

PubMed

Salama, Christof Rezk; Keller, Maik; Kohlmann, Peter

2006-01-01

Many sophisticated techniques for the visualization of volumetric data such as medical data have been published. While existing techniques are mature from a technical point of view, managing the complexity of visual parameters is still difficult for non-expert users. To this end, this paper presents new ideas to facilitate the specification of optical properties for direct volume rendering. We introduce an additional level of abstraction for parametric models of transfer functions. The proposed framework allows visualization experts to design high-level transfer function models which can intuitively be used by non-expert users. The results are user interfaces which provide semantic information for specialized visualization problems. The proposed method is based on principal component analysis as well as on concepts borrowed from computer animation.

Formalization of treatment guidelines using Fuzzy Cognitive Maps and semantic web tools.

PubMed

Papageorgiou, Elpiniki I; Roo, Jos De; Huszka, Csaba; Colaert, Dirk

2012-02-01

Therapy decision making and support in medicine deals with uncertainty and needs to take into account the patient's clinical parameters, the context of illness and the medical knowledge of the physician and guidelines to recommend a treatment therapy. This research study is focused on the formalization of medical knowledge using a cognitive process, called Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs) and semantic web approach. The FCM technique is capable of dealing with situations including uncertain descriptions using similar procedure such as human reasoning does. Thus, it was selected for the case of modeling and knowledge integration of clinical practice guidelines. The semantic web tools were established to implement the FCM approach. The knowledge base was constructed from the clinical guidelines as the form of if-then fuzzy rules. These fuzzy rules were transferred to FCM modeling technique and, through the semantic web tools, the whole formalization was accomplished. The problem of urinary tract infection (UTI) in adult community was examined for the proposed approach. Forty-seven clinical concepts and eight therapy concepts were identified for the antibiotic treatment therapy problem of UTIs. A preliminary pilot-evaluation study with 55 patient cases showed interesting findings; 91% of the antibiotic treatments proposed by the implemented approach were in fully agreement with the guidelines and physicians' opinions. The results have shown that the suggested approach formalizes medical knowledge efficiently and gives a front-end decision on antibiotics' suggestion for cystitis. Concluding, modeling medical knowledge/therapeutic guidelines using cognitive methods and web semantic tools is both reliable and useful. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

To predict or not to predict: influences of task and strategy on the processing of semantic relations.

PubMed

Roehm, Dietmar; Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, Ina; Rösler, Frank; Schlesewsky, Matthias

2007-08-01

We report a series of event-related potential experiments designed to dissociate the functionally distinct processes involved in the comprehension of highly restricted lexical-semantic relations (antonyms). We sought to differentiate between influences of semantic relatedness (which are independent of the experimental setting) and processes related to predictability (which differ as a function of the experimental environment). To this end, we conducted three ERP studies contrasting the processing of antonym relations (black-white) with that of related (black-yellow) and unrelated (black-nice) word pairs. Whereas the lexical-semantic manipulation was kept constant across experiments, the experimental environment and the task demands varied: Experiment 1 presented the word pairs in a sentence context of the form The opposite of X is Y and used a sensicality judgment. Experiment 2 used a word pair presentation mode and a lexical decision task. Experiment 3 also examined word pairs, but with an antonymy judgment task. All three experiments revealed a graded N400 response (unrelated > related > antonyms), thus supporting the assumption that semantic associations are processed automatically. In addition, the experiments revealed that, in highly constrained task environments, the N400 gradation occurs simultaneously with a P300 effect for the antonym condition, thus leading to the superficial impression of an extremely "reduced" N400 for antonym pairs. Comparisons across experiments and participant groups revealed that the P300 effect is not only a function of stimulus constraints (i.e., sentence context) and experimental task, but that it is also crucially influenced by individual processing strategies used to achieve successful task performance.

Arab Women Make Inroads in Higher Education but Often Find Dead Ends

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindsey, Ursula

2012-01-01

Since at least the early 1990s, Arab governments have made women's participation in higher education a priority. Across the region, young women fill the crowded lecture halls and bustling courtyards of universities. On many campuses, they outnumber men. But women's increased participation in higher education does not necessarily translate into…

Bootstrapping Cognition from Behavior--A Computerized Thought Experiment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moller, Ralf; Schenck, Wolfram

2008-01-01

We show that simple perceptual competences can emerge from an internal simulation of action effects and are thus grounded in behavior. A simulated agent learns to distinguish between dead ends and corridors without the necessity to represent these concepts in the sensory domain. Initially, the agent is only endowed with a simple value system and…

Apprenticeship, Alternance, Dual System: Dead Ends or Highways to the Future?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bertrand, Olivier; And Others

1994-01-01

In the face of chronic youth unemployment, decision makers in many countries are questioning the role and effectiveness of alternance between school-based vocational training and in-company work experience. This notion applies to three very different realities: training courses offered as an alternative to traditional school-based training for…

Neutron Imaging of Lithium Concentration for Validation of Li-Ion Battery State of Charge Estimation

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-01

2008: Understanding liq- uid water distribution and removal phenomena in an op- erating pemfc via neutron radiography. Journal of The...2008: Measurement of liq- uid water accumulation in a pemfc with dead-ended an- ode. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 155 (11), B1168–B1178

Wrong turns and dead ends

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, Len

2013-12-01

In his book Brilliant Blunders, Mario Livio offers a detailed and fascinating examination of major errors made by five great scientists - Charles Darwin, Linus Pauling, Lord Kelvin, Fred Hoyle and Albert Einstein - as they sought to understand the evolution of life on Earth, the evolution of the Earth itself and the evolution of the universe as a whole.

The Kinetic Mechanism for Cytochrome P450 Metabolism of Type II Binding Compounds: Evidence Supporting Direct Reduction

PubMed Central

Pearson, Joshua; Dahal, Upendra P.; Rock, Daniel; Peng, Chi-Chi; Schenk, James O.; Joswig-Jones, Carolyn; Jones, Jeffrey P.

2011-01-01

The metabolic stability of a drug is an important property that should be optimized during drug design and development. Nitrogen incorporation is hypothesized to increase the stability by coordination of nitrogen to the heme iron of cytochrome P450, a binding mode that is referred to as type II binding. However, we noticed that the type II binding compound 1 has less metabolic stability at subsaturating conditions than a closely related type I binding compound 3. Three kinetic models will be presented for type II binder metabolism; 1) Dead-end type II binding, 2) a rapid equilibrium between type I and II binding modes before reduction, and 3) a direct reduction of the type II coordinated heme. Data will be presented on reduction rates of iron, the off rates of substrate (using surface plasmon resonance) and the catalytic rate constants. These data argue against the dead-end, and rapid equilibrium models, leaving the direct reduction kinetic mechanism for metabolism of the type II binding compound 1. PMID:21530484

Breathing mechanics during exercise with added dead space reflect mechanisms of ventilatory control.

PubMed

Wood, Helen E; Mitchell, Gordon S; Babb, Tony G

2009-09-30

Small increases in external dead space (V(D)) augment the exercise ventilatory response via a neural mechanism known as short-term modulation (STM). We hypothesized that breathing mechanics would differ during exercise, increased V(D) and STM. Men were studied at rest and during cycle exercise (10-50W) without (Control) and with added V(D) (200-600ml). With added V(D), V(T) increased via increased end-inspiratory lung volume (EILV), with no change in end-expiratory lung volume (EELV), indicating recruitment of inspiratory muscles only. With exercise, V(T) increased via both decreased EELV and increased EILV, indicating recruitment of both expiratory and inspiratory muscles. A significant interaction between the effects of exercise and V(D) on mean inspiratory flow indicated that the augmented exercise ventilatory response with added V(D) (i.e. STM) resulted from increased drive to the inspiratory muscles. These results reveal different patterns of respiratory muscle recruitment among experimental conditions. Hence, we conclude that fundamental differences exist in the neural control of ventilatory responses during exercise, increased V(D) and STM.

Point Cloud Classification of Tesserae from Terrestrial Laser Data Combined with Dense Image Matching for Archaeological Information Extraction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poux, F.; Neuville, R.; Billen, R.

2017-08-01

Reasoning from information extraction given by point cloud data mining allows contextual adaptation and fast decision making. However, to achieve this perceptive level, a point cloud must be semantically rich, retaining relevant information for the end user. This paper presents an automatic knowledge-based method for pre-processing multi-sensory data and classifying a hybrid point cloud from both terrestrial laser scanning and dense image matching. Using 18 features including sensor's biased data, each tessera in the high-density point cloud from the 3D captured complex mosaics of Germigny-des-prés (France) is segmented via a colour multi-scale abstraction-based featuring extracting connectivity. A 2D surface and outline polygon of each tessera is generated by a RANSAC plane extraction and convex hull fitting. Knowledge is then used to classify every tesserae based on their size, surface, shape, material properties and their neighbour's class. The detection and semantic enrichment method shows promising results of 94% correct semantization, a first step toward the creation of an archaeological smart point cloud.

Applying Semantic Web technologies to improve the retrieval, credibility and use of health-related web resources.

PubMed

Mayer, Miguel A; Karampiperis, Pythagoras; Kukurikos, Antonis; Karkaletsis, Vangelis; Stamatakis, Kostas; Villarroel, Dagmar; Leis, Angela

2011-06-01

The number of health-related websites is increasing day-by-day; however, their quality is variable and difficult to assess. Various "trust marks" and filtering portals have been created in order to assist consumers in retrieving quality medical information. Consumers are using search engines as the main tool to get health information; however, the major problem is that the meaning of the web content is not machine-readable in the sense that computers cannot understand words and sentences as humans can. In addition, trust marks are invisible to search engines, thus limiting their usefulness in practice. During the last five years there have been different attempts to use Semantic Web tools to label health-related web resources to help internet users identify trustworthy resources. This paper discusses how Semantic Web technologies can be applied in practice to generate machine-readable labels and display their content, as well as to empower end-users by providing them with the infrastructure for expressing and sharing their opinions on the quality of health-related web resources.

Digital Investigations of AN Archaeological Smart Point Cloud: a Real Time Web-Based Platform to Manage the Visualisation of Semantical Queries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poux, F.; Neuville, R.; Hallot, P.; Van Wersch, L.; Luczfalvy Jancsó, A.; Billen, R.

2017-05-01

While virtual copies of the real world tend to be created faster than ever through point clouds and derivatives, their working proficiency by all professionals' demands adapted tools to facilitate knowledge dissemination. Digital investigations are changing the way cultural heritage researchers, archaeologists, and curators work and collaborate to progressively aggregate expertise through one common platform. In this paper, we present a web application in a WebGL framework accessible on any HTML5-compatible browser. It allows real time point cloud exploration of the mosaics in the Oratory of Germigny-des-Prés, and emphasises the ease of use as well as performances. Our reasoning engine is constructed over a semantically rich point cloud data structure, where metadata has been injected a priori. We developed a tool that directly allows semantic extraction and visualisation of pertinent information for the end users. It leads to efficient communication between actors by proposing optimal 3D viewpoints as a basis on which interactions can grow.

Emulsification kinetics during quasi-miscible flow in dead-end pores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Broens, M.; Unsal, E.

2018-03-01

Microemulsions have found applications as carriers for the transport of solutes through various porous media. They are commonly pre-prepared in bulk form, and then injected into the medium. The preparation is done by actively mixing the surfactant, water and oil, and then allowing the mixture to stagnate until equilibrium is reached. The resulting microemulsion characteristics of the surfactant/oil/water system are studied at equilibrium conditions, and perfect mixing is assumed. But in applications like subsurface remediation and enhanced oil recovery, microemulsion formation may occur in the pore space. Surfactant solutions are injected into the ground to solubilize and/or mobilize the non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) by in-situ emulsification. Flow dynamics and emulsification kinetics are coupled, which also contributes to in-situ mixing. In this study, we investigated the nature of such coupling for a quasi-miscible fluid system in a conductive channel with dead-end extensions. A microfluidic setup was used, where an aqueous solution of an anionic, internal olefin sulfonate 20-24 (IOS) surfactant was injected into n-decane saturated glass micromodel. The oil phase was coloured using a solvatochromatic dye allowing for direct visualization of the aqueous and oil phases as well as their microemulsions under fluorescent light. Presence of both conductive and stagnant dead-end channels in a single pore system made it possible to isolate different transport mechanisms from each other but also allowed to study the transitions from one to the other. In the conductive channel, the surfactant was carried with flow, and emulsification was controlled by the localized flow dynamics. In the stagnant zones, the driving force of the mass transfer was driven by the chemical concentration gradient. Some of the equilibrium phase behaviour characteristics of the surfactant/oil/water system were recognisable during the quasi-miscible displacement. However, the equilibrium tests alone were not sufficient to predict the emulsification process under dynamic conditions.

High-flux ceramic membranes with a nanomesh of metal oxide nanofibers.

PubMed

Ke, Xue Bin; Zheng, Zhan Feng; Liu, Hong Wei; Zhu, Huai Yong; Gao, Xue Ping; Zhang, Li Xiong; Xu, Nan Ping; Wang, Huanting; Zhao, Hui Jun; Shi, Jeffrey; Ratinac, Kyle R

2008-04-24

Traditional ceramic separation membranes, which are fabricated by applying colloidal suspensions of metal hydroxides to porous supports, tend to suffer from pinholes and cracks that seriously affect their quality. Other intrinsic problems for these membranes include dramatic losses of flux when the pore sizes are reduced to enhance selectivity and dead-end pores that make no contribution to filtration. In this work, we propose a new strategy for addressing these problems by constructing a hierarchically structured separation layer on a porous substrate using large titanate nanofibers and smaller boehmite nanofibers. The nanofibers are able to divide large voids into smaller ones without forming dead-end pores and with the minimum reduction of the total void volume. The separation layer of nanofibers has a porosity of over 70% of its volume, whereas the separation layer in conventional ceramic membranes has a porosity below 36% and inevitably includes dead-end pores that make no contribution to the flux. This radical change in membrane texture greatly enhances membrane performance. The resulting membranes were able to filter out 95.3% of 60-nm particles from a 0.01 wt % latex while maintaining a relatively high flux of between 800 and 1000 L/m2.h, under a low driving pressure (20 kPa). Such flow rates are orders of magnitude greater than those of conventional membranes with equal selectivity. Moreover, the flux was stable at approximately 800 L/m2.h with a selectivity of more than 95%, even after six repeated runs of filtration and calcination. Use of different supports, either porous glass or porous alumina, had no substantial effect on the performance of the membranes; thus, it is possible to construct the membranes from a variety of supports without compromising functionality. The Darcy equation satisfactorily describes the correlation between the filtration flux and the structural parameters of the new membranes. The assembly of nanofiber meshes to combine high flux with excellent selectivity is an exciting new direction in membrane fabrication.

“People over Profits”: Retailers Who Voluntarily Ended Tobacco Sales

PubMed Central

McDaniel, Patricia A.; Malone, Ruth E.

2014-01-01

Background Tobacco retailers are key players in the ongoing tobacco epidemic. Tobacco outlet density is linked to a greater likelihood of youth and adult smoking and greater difficulty quitting. While public policy efforts to address the tobacco problem at the retail level have been limited, some retailers have voluntarily ended tobacco sales. A previous pilot study examined this phenomenon in California, a state with a strong tobacco program focused on denormalizing smoking and the tobacco industry. We sought to learn what motivated retailers in other states to end tobacco sales and how the public and media responded. Methods We conducted interviews with owners, managers, or representatives of six grocery stores in New York and Ohio that had voluntarily ended tobacco sales since 2007. We also conducted unobtrusive observations at stores and analyzed media coverage of each retailer’s decision. Results Grocery store owners ended tobacco sales for two reasons, alone or in combination: health or ethics-related, including a desire to send a consistent health message to employees and customers, and business-related, including declining tobacco sales or poor fit with the store’s image. The decision to end sales often appeared to resolve troubling contradictions between retailers’ values and selling deadly products. New York retailers attributed declining sales to high state tobacco taxes. All reported largely positive customer reactions and most received media coverage. Forty-one percent of news items were letters to the editor or editorials; most (69%) supported the decision. Conclusion Voluntary decisions by retailers to abandon tobacco sales may lay the groundwork for mandatory policies and further denormalize tobacco. Our study also suggests that high tobacco taxes may have both direct and indirect effects on tobacco use. Highlighting the contradictions between being a responsible business and selling deadly products may support voluntary decisions by retailers to end tobacco sales. PMID:24465682

One life ends, another begins: Management of a brain-dead pregnant mother-A systematic review-

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background An accident or a catastrophic disease may occasionally lead to brain death (BD) during pregnancy. Management of brain-dead pregnant patients needs to follow special strategies to support the mother in a way that she can deliver a viable and healthy child and, whenever possible, also be an organ donor. This review discusses the management of brain-dead mothers and gives an overview of recommendations concerning the organ supporting therapy. Methods To obtain information on brain-dead pregnant women, we performed a systematic review of Medline, EMBASE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). The collected data included the age of the mother, the cause of brain death, maternal medical complications, gestational age at BD, duration of extended life support, gestational age at delivery, indication of delivery, neonatal outcome, organ donation of the mothers and patient and graft outcome. Results In our search of the literature, we found 30 cases reported between1982 and 2010. A nontraumatic brain injury was the cause of BD in 26 of 30 mothers. The maternal mean age at the time of BD was 26.5 years. The mean gestational age at the time of BD and the mean gestational age at delivery were 22 and 29.5 weeks, respectively. Twelve viable infants were born and survived the neonatal period. Conclusion The management of a brain-dead pregnant woman requires a multidisciplinary team which should follow available standards, guidelines and recommendations both for a nontraumatic therapy of the fetus and for an organ-preserving treatment of the potential donor. PMID:21087498

Living Room Pilgrimages: Television's Cyclical Commemoration of the Assassination Anniversary of John F. Kennedy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vande Berg, Leah R.

1995-01-01

Offers a brief overview of V. Turner's syntactic and semantic framework for analyzing pilgrimage social drama. Uses this framework to examine the structure of the JFK assassination anniversary news stories and specials, as well as the fixed symbols which mark the pilgrimage routes from beginning to end. Discusses the individual, societal, and…

Convenience or Credibility? A Study of College Student Online Research Behaviors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Biddix, J. Patrick; Chung, Chung Joo; Park, Han Woo

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate where students turn for course-related assignments, whether an ordered pattern could be described in terms of which sources students turn to and how students evaluated the information they chose to use. Data were drawn from open-ended questionnaires (n = 282). Semantic network analysis was conducted…

Surreptitious, Evolving and Participative Ontology Development: An End-User Oriented Ontology Development Methodology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bachore, Zelalem

2012-01-01

Ontology not only is considered to be the backbone of the semantic web but also plays a significant role in distributed and heterogeneous information systems. However, ontology still faces limited application and adoption to date. One of the major problems is that prevailing engineering-oriented methodologies for building ontologies do not…

The processing of phonological, orthographical, and lexical information of Chinese characters in sentence contexts: an ERP study.

PubMed

Liu, Baolin; Jin, Zhixing; Qing, Zhao; Wang, Zhongning

2011-02-04

In the current work, we aimed to study the processing of phonological, orthographical, and lexical information of Chinese characters in sentence contexts, as well as to provide further evidence for psychological models. In the experiment, we designed sentences with expected, homophonic, orthographically similar, synonymous, and control characters as endings, respectively. The results indicated that P200 might be related to the early extraction of phonological information. Moreover, it might also represent immediate semantic and orthographic lexical access. This suggested that there might be a dual-route in cognitive processing, where the direct access route and the phonologically mediated access route both exist and interact with each other. The increased N400 under the control condition suggested that both phonological and orthographical information would influence semantic integration in Chinese sentence comprehension. The two positive peaks of the late positive shift might represent the semantic monitoring, and orthographical retrieval and reanalysis processing, respectively. Under the orthographically similar condition, orthographical retrieval and reanalysis processing was more difficult in comparison with the other conditions, which suggested that there might be direct access from orthography to semantic representation in cognitive processing. In conclusion, it was shown that the direct access hypothesis or the dual-route hypothesis could better explain cognitive processing in the brain. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Flexible Statechart-to-Model-Checker Translator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rouquette, Nicolas; Dunphy, Julia; Feather, Martin S.

2000-01-01

Many current-day software design tools offer some variant of statechart notation for system specification. We, like others, have built an automatic translator from (a subset of) statecharts to a model checker, for use to validate behavioral requirements. Our translator is designed to be flexible. This allows us to quickly adjust the translator to variants of statechart semantics, including problem-specific notational conventions that designers employ. Our system demonstration will be of interest to the following two communities: (1) Potential end-users: Our demonstration will show translation from statecharts created in a commercial UML tool (Rational Rose) to Promela, the input language of Holzmann's model checker SPIN. The translation is accomplished automatically. To accommodate the major variants of statechart semantics, our tool offers user-selectable choices among semantic alternatives. Options for customized semantic variants are also made available. The net result is an easy-to-use tool that operates on a wide range of statechart diagrams to automate the pathway to model-checking input. (2) Other researchers: Our translator embodies, in one tool, ideas and approaches drawn from several sources. Solutions to the major challenges of statechart-to-model-checker translation (e.g., determining which transition(s) will fire, handling of concurrent activities) are retired in a uniform, fully mechanized, setting. The way in which the underlying architecture of the translator itself facilitates flexible and customizable translation will also be evident.

[Evaluation of temporality semantic knowledge in normal aging and in mild and moderate stages of Alzheimer's disease].

PubMed

Rivasseau Jonveaux, T; Batt, M; Empereur, F; Braun, M; Trognon, A

2015-04-01

Episodic and semantic processes are involved in temporality used in daily life. Episodic memory permits one to place an event on the time axis, while semantic memory makes us aware of the time segmentation and its symbolic representation. Memory of the knowledge connected to the passing of time is materialized on the calendar and can be seen symbolically on the dial of a clock. In AD, semantic memory processes are preserved longer than processes related to episodic memory. We wonder whether the specific field of knowledge about time is altered during AD. We validated a specific evaluation with a control group (354 healthy subjects). Then we applied this battery to assess AD patients to appreciate the feasibility of this tool for this population. We then compared 22 AD patients with a control group matched for age, sex and educational level. Our clinical scale of temporal semantic knowledge consists of four parts: (a) hour reading with a.m. and p.m. hours; (b) using a clock: 12 clock faces with the hour numbers already placed: the patient draws hour and minute hands for various hours; (c) temporal segmentation: exploration of the knowledge on daytime scale and of the calendar; (d) time duration estimation: calculate how long the interview has lasted after indicating the time of its beginning and its end, then the time between 10.40 to 12.00. While age and educational level had an influence on all the scores, in the two groups control and patients, gender did not. Temporal segmentation, independent of the cultural level, revealed the best acquired knowledge in our control population. All the scores differentiated patients from control subjects. The temporal semantic knowledge correlated with the AD severity seemed to be correlated with the attention, verbal comprehension, and some components of executive functions, but was not related to the clock drawing test result. Depression did not have any influence on this scale in our AD group. The temporal semantic knowledge clinical scale shows differential alterations, notably in hour reading and using a clock, and less in temporal segmentation. Temporal semantic knowledge is altered in AD. The diagnosis and follow-up of these alterations allow professionals and caregivers to consider adaptations of the patient's environment according to their needs. Copyright © 2013 L’Encéphale, Paris. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Mobile Phone Detection of Semantic Location and Its Relationship to Depression and Anxiety.

PubMed

Saeb, Sohrab; Lattie, Emily G; Kording, Konrad P; Mohr, David C

2017-08-10

Is someone at home, at their friend's place, at a restaurant, or enjoying the outdoors? Knowing the semantic location of an individual matters for delivering medical interventions, recommendations, and other context-aware services. This knowledge is particularly useful in mental health care for monitoring relevant behavioral indicators to improve treatment delivery. Local search-and-discovery services such as Foursquare can be used to detect semantic locations based on the global positioning system (GPS) coordinates, but GPS alone is often inaccurate. Mobile phones can also sense other signals (such as movement, light, and sound), and the use of these signals promises to lead to a better estimation of an individual's semantic location. We aimed to examine the ability of mobile phone sensors to estimate semantic locations, and to evaluate the relationship between semantic location visit patterns and depression and anxiety. A total of 208 participants across the United States were asked to log the type of locations they visited daily, using their mobile phones for a period of 6 weeks, while their phone sensor data was recorded. Using the sensor data and Foursquare queries based on GPS coordinates, we trained models to predict these logged locations, and evaluated their prediction accuracy on participants that models had not seen during training. We also evaluated the relationship between the amount of time spent in each semantic location and depression and anxiety assessed at baseline, in the middle, and at the end of the study. While Foursquare queries detected true semantic locations with an average area under the curve (AUC) of 0.62, using phone sensor data alone increased the AUC to 0.84. When we used Foursquare and sensor data together, the AUC further increased to 0.88. We found some significant relationships between the time spent in certain locations and depression and anxiety, although these relationships were not consistent. The accuracy of location services such as Foursquare can significantly benefit from using phone sensor data. However, our results suggest that the nature of the places people visit explains only a small part of the variation in their anxiety and depression symptoms. ©Sohrab Saeb, Emily G Lattie, Konrad P Kording, David C Mohr. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 10.08.2017.

Biomedical question answering using semantic relations.

PubMed

Hristovski, Dimitar; Dinevski, Dejan; Kastrin, Andrej; Rindflesch, Thomas C

2015-01-16

The proliferation of the scientific literature in the field of biomedicine makes it difficult to keep abreast of current knowledge, even for domain experts. While general Web search engines and specialized information retrieval (IR) systems have made important strides in recent decades, the problem of accurate knowledge extraction from the biomedical literature is far from solved. Classical IR systems usually return a list of documents that have to be read by the user to extract relevant information. This tedious and time-consuming work can be lessened with automatic Question Answering (QA) systems, which aim to provide users with direct and precise answers to their questions. In this work we propose a novel methodology for QA based on semantic relations extracted from the biomedical literature. We extracted semantic relations with the SemRep natural language processing system from 122,421,765 sentences, which came from 21,014,382 MEDLINE citations (i.e., the complete MEDLINE distribution up to the end of 2012). A total of 58,879,300 semantic relation instances were extracted and organized in a relational database. The QA process is implemented as a search in this database, which is accessed through a Web-based application, called SemBT (available at http://sembt.mf.uni-lj.si ). We conducted an extensive evaluation of the proposed methodology in order to estimate the accuracy of extracting a particular semantic relation from a particular sentence. Evaluation was performed by 80 domain experts. In total 7,510 semantic relation instances belonging to 2,675 distinct relations were evaluated 12,083 times. The instances were evaluated as correct 8,228 times (68%). In this work we propose an innovative methodology for biomedical QA. The system is implemented as a Web-based application that is able to provide precise answers to a wide range of questions. A typical question is answered within a few seconds. The tool has some extensions that make it especially useful for interpretation of DNA microarray results.

The ontology-based answers (OBA) service: a connector for embedded usage of ontologies in applications.

PubMed

Dönitz, Jürgen; Wingender, Edgar

2012-01-01

The semantic web depends on the use of ontologies to let electronic systems interpret contextual information. Optimally, the handling and access of ontologies should be completely transparent to the user. As a means to this end, we have developed a service that attempts to bridge the gap between experts in a certain knowledge domain, ontologists, and application developers. The ontology-based answers (OBA) service introduced here can be embedded into custom applications to grant access to the classes of ontologies and their relations as most important structural features as well as to information encoded in the relations between ontology classes. Thus computational biologists can benefit from ontologies without detailed knowledge about the respective ontology. The content of ontologies is mapped to a graph of connected objects which is compatible to the object-oriented programming style in Java. Semantic functions implement knowledge about the complex semantics of an ontology beyond the class hierarchy and "partOf" relations. By using these OBA functions an application can, for example, provide a semantic search function, or (in the examples outlined) map an anatomical structure to the organs it belongs to. The semantic functions relieve the application developer from the necessity of acquiring in-depth knowledge about the semantics and curation guidelines of the used ontologies by implementing the required knowledge. The architecture of the OBA service encapsulates the logic to process ontologies in order to achieve a separation from the application logic. A public server with the current plugins is available and can be used with the provided connector in a custom application in scenarios analogous to the presented use cases. The server and the client are freely available if a project requires the use of custom plugins or non-public ontologies. The OBA service and further documentation is available at http://www.bioinf.med.uni-goettingen.de/projects/oba.

The ontology-based answers (OBA) service: a connector for embedded usage of ontologies in applications

PubMed Central

Dönitz, Jürgen; Wingender, Edgar

2012-01-01

The semantic web depends on the use of ontologies to let electronic systems interpret contextual information. Optimally, the handling and access of ontologies should be completely transparent to the user. As a means to this end, we have developed a service that attempts to bridge the gap between experts in a certain knowledge domain, ontologists, and application developers. The ontology-based answers (OBA) service introduced here can be embedded into custom applications to grant access to the classes of ontologies and their relations as most important structural features as well as to information encoded in the relations between ontology classes. Thus computational biologists can benefit from ontologies without detailed knowledge about the respective ontology. The content of ontologies is mapped to a graph of connected objects which is compatible to the object-oriented programming style in Java. Semantic functions implement knowledge about the complex semantics of an ontology beyond the class hierarchy and “partOf” relations. By using these OBA functions an application can, for example, provide a semantic search function, or (in the examples outlined) map an anatomical structure to the organs it belongs to. The semantic functions relieve the application developer from the necessity of acquiring in-depth knowledge about the semantics and curation guidelines of the used ontologies by implementing the required knowledge. The architecture of the OBA service encapsulates the logic to process ontologies in order to achieve a separation from the application logic. A public server with the current plugins is available and can be used with the provided connector in a custom application in scenarios analogous to the presented use cases. The server and the client are freely available if a project requires the use of custom plugins or non-public ontologies. The OBA service and further documentation is available at http://www.bioinf.med.uni-goettingen.de/projects/oba PMID:23060901

The deceased child in the psychic and social worlds of bereaved parents during the resolution of grief.

PubMed

Klass, D

1997-01-01

A core dynamic by which grief is resolved by parents in Bereaved Parents, a self-help group, is a series of transformations of the inner representation of the dead child in the parent's inner world and in the parent's social world. As the reality of the child's death as well as the reality of the parent's continuing bond with the child are made part of the socially shared reality, the inner representation of the child can be transformed in the parent's psychic life. The end of grief is not severing the bond with the dead child, but integrating the child into the parent's life in a different way than when the child was alive. This article traces the course of the inner representation of the child in the parent's inner life and social world as the parent progresses through Bereaved Parents. It concludes with some comments on the differences that should be maintained between scholarly and popular understandings of phenomena in the continuing bonds survivors maintain with the dead.

Speech: An Opening or a Dead End for Married Women.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forusz, Judith Pulin

For the American woman, educated and trained in the speech profession, marriage and motherhood induce a shock for which she is unprepared. Society still expects the main responsibility of child rearing to be that of the mother, while the speech profession, which has prepared all students to be teachers and scholars, is uncooperative in providing…

The Never-Ending Siege

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Netzley, Michael

2007-01-01

Citizens of Sarajevo, scared for their lives during the war, fled their homes and crowded into the stadium in hopes of surviving. As the casualties mounted, there was no place to put all the bodies. Those taking refuge in the stadium did the only thing they could do: They buried the dead in the football pitch beside the stadium. Now, as a daily…

29 CFR 1926.251 - Rigging equipment for material handling.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... splices, the U-bolt shall be applied so that the “U” section is in contact with the dead end of the rope... laid grommets and endless slings shall have a minimum circumferential length of 96 times their body... body of the rope using at least two additional tucks (which will require a tail length of approximately...

Body and Soul: The Musical Miseducation of Youth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bayles, Martha

1998-01-01

Considers Allan Bloom's criticism of popular music in "The Closing of the American Mind." An examination of the music popular with young people, including a look at Afro-American music, suggests that it has virtues that will survive and that love for contemporary music is not the moral and cultural dead end Bloom has suggested. (SLD)

29 CFR 1926.251 - Rigging equipment for material handling.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... splices, the U-bolt shall be applied so that the “U” section is in contact with the dead end of the rope... laid grommets and endless slings shall have a minimum circumferential length of 96 times their body... be tapered and spliced into the body of the rope using at least two additional tucks (which will...

29 CFR 1926.251 - Rigging equipment for material handling.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... splices, the U-bolt shall be applied so that the “U” section is in contact with the dead end of the rope... laid grommets and endless slings shall have a minimum circumferential length of 96 times their body... be tapered and spliced into the body of the rope using at least two additional tucks (which will...

Human Capital and Rates of Return: Brilliant Ideas or Ideological Dead Ends?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klees, Steven J.

2016-01-01

Human capital theory and rate of return methodology have long been a dominant framework in comparative and international education and other fields. While there have been criticisms since its inception, it has been ubiquitous and widely accepted as an important mechanism for educational planning, evaluation, and policy making. In this article, I…

Pipelines and Dead Ends: Jobs Held by Minorities and Women in Broadcast News.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stone, Vernon A.

Because of the problem of lack of progress by minorities and women in the newsrooms of television and radio stations, a survey investigated the types of positions held by minority and non-minority men and women in broadcast news. Subjects, 730 news directors from non-satellite commercial TV stations and commercial radio stations, answered…

National Groups Call for Big Changes in Remedial Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mangan, Katherine

2012-01-01

Remedial courses meant to get underprepared students ready for college-level work are often not an on-ramp but a dead end, leaders of four national higher-education groups said, recommending sweeping changes in how such students are brought up to speed. Students required to take a sequence of remedial, or developmental, courses before they can…

Making Agency Matter: Rethinking Infant and Toddler Agency in Educational Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duhn, Iris

2015-01-01

This article engages critically with the concept of agency in infant and toddler educational discourse. It is argued that agency, when conceptualised with emphasis on individuality and the autonomous self, poses a conceptual "dead end" for those who are not-yet-in-language, such as babies and toddlers. In considering agency as an aspect…

Corporate Language: The Blind Spot of Language Policy? Reflections on France's Loi Toubon

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saulière, Jérôme

2014-01-01

This article looks at France's Loi Toubon, which mandates the use of French in private companies, to illustrate how macro-level language planning reaches a dead end if it fails to consider local contexts and involve micro-level agents. The motivations, limitations and contradictions of France's language policy in relation to companies are…

Letters to Silent Teachers in Tzu Chi Medical School: A Spiritual Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Guo-Ming; Chang, Chien; Yu, Tong

2011-01-01

This article examines the spiritual communication between medical students and the donated dead body they anatomized, referred to as the "silent teacher." Data were obtained from the medical school of Tzu Chi University in Taiwan, where students are required to write a letter to the silent teacher at the end of the semester after they…

40 CFR 90.414 - Raw gaseous exhaust sampling and analytical system description.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... savers” or “protectors” with nonreactive diaphragms to reduce dead volumes is permitted. (b) Sample probe. (1) The sample probe must be a straight, closed end, stainless steel, multi-hole probe. The inside... probe may not be greater than 0.10 cm. The fitting that attaches the probe to the exhaust pipe must be...

40 CFR 91.414 - Raw gaseous exhaust sampling and analytical system description.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... “protectors” with nonreactive diaphragms to reduce dead volumes is permitted. (b) Sample probe. (1) The sample probe shall be a straight, closed end, stainless steel, multi-hole probe. The inside diameter shall not be greater than the inside diameter of the sample line + 0.03 cm. The wall thickness of the probe...

40 CFR 90.414 - Raw gaseous exhaust sampling and analytical system description.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... savers” or “protectors” with nonreactive diaphragms to reduce dead volumes is permitted. (b) Sample probe. (1) The sample probe must be a straight, closed end, stainless steel, multi-hole probe. The inside... probe may not be greater than 0.10 cm. The fitting that attaches the probe to the exhaust pipe must be...

40 CFR 91.414 - Raw gaseous exhaust sampling and analytical system description.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... “protectors” with nonreactive diaphragms to reduce dead volumes is permitted. (b) Sample probe. (1) The sample probe shall be a straight, closed end, stainless steel, multi-hole probe. The inside diameter shall not be greater than the inside diameter of the sample line + 0.03 cm. The wall thickness of the probe...

40 CFR 90.414 - Raw gaseous exhaust sampling and analytical system description.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... savers” or “protectors” with nonreactive diaphragms to reduce dead volumes is permitted. (b) Sample probe. (1) The sample probe must be a straight, closed end, stainless steel, multi-hole probe. The inside... probe may not be greater than 0.10 cm. The fitting that attaches the probe to the exhaust pipe must be...

40 CFR 91.414 - Raw gaseous exhaust sampling and analytical system description.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... “protectors” with nonreactive diaphragms to reduce dead volumes is permitted. (b) Sample probe. (1) The sample probe shall be a straight, closed end, stainless steel, multi-hole probe. The inside diameter shall not be greater than the inside diameter of the sample line + 0.03 cm. The wall thickness of the probe...

Renal denervation: What happened, and why?

PubMed

Shishehbor, Mehdi H; Hammad, Tarek A; Thomas, George

2017-09-01

Despite promising results in initial trials, renal denervation failed to achieve its efficacy end points as a treatment for resistant hypertension in the SYMPLICITY HTN-3 trial, the largest trial of this treatment to date (N Engl J Med 2014; 370:1393-1401). Is renal denervation dead, or will future trials and newer technology revive it? Copyright © 2017 Cleveland Clinic.

Entrepreneurship for Women: "Escape from the Pink Collar Ghetto." Occasional Paper No. 121.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Charlotte

The role of small business and entrepreneurship in today's economy is well documented. Entrepreneurship and small business ownership are an especially attractive option for women. Women have been seeking an escape from traditional, low-paying, dead-end jobs by choosing entrepreneurship at a rate five times faster than that of men. Women now own…

A Preparadigmatic Field: A Review of Research on School Vandalism.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zweig, April; Ducey, Michael H.

One of 52 theoretical papers on school crime and its relation to poverty, this chapter reviews the various approaches used in the study of school vandalism and attempts to define what is needed now. The main contribution of early research on vandalism is to point out an intellectual dead end. Conventional demographic approaches to the problem, by…

New Norcia Library Lecture: How Many Roads Must a Library Walk down?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Missingham, Roxanne

2012-01-01

Libraries have welcomed the opportunity offered in the twenty-first century to place content on the roads and channels that are now available through the Internet to provide access to our rich and diverse collections. Amidst the enormous amount of information available the great collections sometimes are "dead ends" from a reader's point…

Accessing Information: The Internet--A Highway or a Maze?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoctor, Marge

2005-01-01

The Internet is often called "The Information Highway," a metaphor that implies that there is a straight, clearly mapped path to obtaining information. In reality, it is more like a maze with twists and turns and many dead ends. Efficient navigation strategies must be taught; they will not be acquired through osmosis. Schools with a strong…

Upward Mobility Through Job Restructuring. Personnel Management Series No. 26.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Civil Service Commission, Washington, DC.

The May, 1974, bulletin issued by the Civil Service Commission deals with job restructuring, the process of realigning job duties to develop technician-type or "bridge" jobs in Federal agencies, as a means to provide upward mobility for employees. Besides being highly beneficial to employees in dead end jobs at low grade levels, job restructuring…

Awakening Albia: Feminist Mythologies Beyond Androgyny.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spraggins, Mary Pringle

The term androgyny, with its sex-related etymology, is based on untenable social stereotypes and for feminist critics is a dead end. The androgyny myth, like matriarchal myths and myths which deify women, should be replaced. However, a replacement would have to fill a wide niche in order to allow critics to focus from a propitious vantage point on…

7 CFR 58.219 - High pressure pumps and lines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false High pressure pumps and lines. 58.219 Section 58.219....219 High pressure pumps and lines. High pressure lines may be cleaned-in-place and shall be of such construction that dead ends, valves and the high pressure pumps can be disassembled for hand cleaning. The high...

Atomic resolution x-ray structure of the substrate recognition domain of higher plant rubisco activase

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The rapid release of tight-binding inhibitors from dead-end Rubisco complexes requires the activity of Rubisco activase, an AAA+ ATPase that utilizes chemo-mechanical energy to catalyze the reactivation of Rubisco. Activase is thought to play a central role in coordinating the rate of CO2 fixation w...

Healthcare Crisis: Do Nurses Help or Hurt?

PubMed

Karnick, Paula M

2017-01-01

Healthcare is becoming a tangled web of dead ends, refusal of treatments by insurance companies who continue to report incredible profits, leaving many of the middle class and underserved without benefits, treatment, and care. The nursing profession must rise to this catastrophic state and strive for both in unison and individually so patients receive the care they need and deserve.

Upgrading Licensed Practical Nurse to Registered Nurse Program, September 1971 - June 1973. Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holloway, Sally

Twenty Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) became Registered Nurses (RN) in a pilot program giving partial academic credit for their LPN training and building on their existing skills. The program revolved around three needs: (1) trained nurses; (2) eliminating the notion that jobs were dead-end; and (3) achieving upward mobility for hospital staff.…

A Linked Fusion of Things, Services, and Data to Support a Collaborative Data Management Facility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stephan, Eric G.; Elsethagen, Todd O.; Wynne, Adam S.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of semantic technologies and approaches to seamlessly link things, services, and data in the proposed design of a scientific offshore wind energy research for the U.S. Department of Energy Wind and Water Technology Office of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). By adapting linked community best practices, we were able to design a collaborative facility supporting both operational staff and end users that incorporates off-the-shelf components and overcome traditional barriers between devices, resulting data, and processing services. This was made largely possible through complementary advances in themore » Internet of Things (IoT), semantic web, Linked Services, and Linked Data communities, which provide the foundation for our design.« less

Biomedical data integration - capturing similarities while preserving disparities.

PubMed

Bianchi, Stefano; Burla, Anna; Conti, Costanza; Farkash, Ariel; Kent, Carmel; Maman, Yonatan; Shabo, Amnon

2009-01-01

One of the challenges of healthcare data processing, analysis and warehousing is the integration of data gathered from disparate and diverse data sources. Promoting the adoption of worldwide accepted information standards along with common terminologies and the use of technologies derived from semantic web representation, is a suitable path to achieve that. To that end, the HL7 V3 Reference Information Model (RIM) [1] has been used as the underlying information model coupled with the Web Ontology Language (OWL) [2] as the semantic data integration technology. In this paper we depict a biomedical data integration process and demonstrate how it was used for integrating various data sources, containing clinical, environmental and genomic data, within Hypergenes, a European Commission funded project exploring the Essential Hypertension [3] disease model.

Roles of frontal and temporal regions in reinterpreting semantically ambiguous sentences

PubMed Central

Vitello, Sylvia; Warren, Jane E.; Devlin, Joseph T.; Rodd, Jennifer M.

2014-01-01

Semantic ambiguity resolution is an essential and frequent part of speech comprehension because many words map onto multiple meanings (e.g., “bark,” “bank”). Neuroimaging research highlights the importance of the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and the left posterior temporal cortex in this process but the roles they serve in ambiguity resolution are uncertain. One possibility is that both regions are engaged in the processes of semantic reinterpretation that follows incorrect interpretation of an ambiguous word. Here we used fMRI to investigate this hypothesis. 20 native British English monolinguals were scanned whilst listening to sentences that contained an ambiguous word. To induce semantic reinterpretation, the disambiguating information was presented after the ambiguous word and delayed until the end of the sentence (e.g., “the teacher explained that the BARK was going to be very damp”). These sentences were compared to well-matched unambiguous sentences. Supporting the reinterpretation hypothesis, these ambiguous sentences produced more activation in both the LIFG and the left posterior inferior temporal cortex. Importantly, all but one subject showed ambiguity-related peaks within both regions, demonstrating that the group-level results were driven by high inter-subject consistency. Further support came from the finding that activation in both regions was modulated by meaning dominance. Specifically, sentences containing biased ambiguous words, which have one more dominant meaning, produced greater activation than those with balanced ambiguous words, which have two equally frequent meanings. Because the context always supported the less frequent meaning, the biased words require reinterpretation more often than balanced words. This is the first evidence of dominance effects in the spoken modality and provides strong support that frontal and temporal regions support the updating of semantic representations during speech comprehension. PMID:25120445

Perl Extension to the Bproc Library

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grunau, Daryl W.

2004-06-07

The Beowulf Distributed process Space (Bproc) software stack is comprised of UNIX/Linux kernel modifications and a support library by which a cluster of machines, each running their own private kernel, can present itself as a unified process space to the user. A Bproc cluster contains a single front-end machine and many back-end nodes which receive and run processes given to them by the front-end. Any process which is migrated to a back-end node is also visible as a ghost process on the fron-end, and may be controlled there using traditional UNIX semantics (e.g. ps(1), kill(1), etc). This software is amore » Perl extension to the Bproc library which enables the Perl programmer to make direct calls to functions within the Bproc library. See http://www.clustermatic.org, http://bproc.sourceforge.net, and http://www.perl.org« less

Variability of intertidal foraminferal assemblages in a salt marsh, Oregon, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Milker, Yvonne; Horton, Benjamin P.; Nelson, Alan R.; Engelhart, Simon E.; Witter, Robert C.

2015-01-01

We studied 18 sampling stations along a transect to investigate the similarity between live (rose Bengal stained) foraminiferal populations and dead assemblages, their small-scale spatial variations and the distribution of infaunal foraminifera in a salt marsh (Toms Creek marsh) at the upper end of the South Slough arm of the Coos Bay estuary, Oregon, USA. We aimed to test to what extent taphonomic processes, small-scale variability and infaunal distribution influence the accuracy of sea-level reconstructions based on intertidal foraminifera. Cluster analyses have shown that dead assemblages occur in distinct zones with respect to elevation, a prerequisite for using foraminifera as sea-level indicators. Our nonparametric multivariate analysis of variance showed that small-scale spatial variability has only a small influence on live (rose Bengal stained) populations and dead assemblages. The dissimilarity was higher, however, between live (rose Bengal stained) populations in the middle marsh. We observed early diagenetic dissolution of calcareous tests in the dead assemblages. If comparable post-depositional processes and similar minor spatial variability also characterize fossil assemblages, then dead assemblage are the best modern analogs for paleoenvironmental reconstructions. The Toms Creek tidal flat and low marsh vascular plant zones are dominated by Miliammina fusca, the middle marsh is dominated by Balticammina pseudomacrescens and Trochammina inflata, and the high marsh and upland–marsh transition zone are dominated by Trochamminita irregularis. Analysis of infaunal foraminifera showed that most living specimens are found in the surface sediments and the majority of live (rose Bengal stained) infaunal specimens are restricted to the upper 10 cm, but living individuals are found to depths of 50 cm. The dominant infaunal specimens are similar to those in the corresponding surface samples and no species have been found living solely infaunally. The total numbers of infaunal foraminifera are small compared to the total numbers of dead specimens in the surface samples. This suggests that surface samples adequately represent the modern intertidal environment in Toms Creek.

On the Parallel Deterioration of Lexico-Semantic Processes in the Bilinguals' Two Languages: Evidence from Alzheimer's Disease

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Costa, Albert; Calabria, Marco; Marne, Paula; Hernandez, Mireia; Juncadella, Montserrat; Gascon-Bayarri, Jordi; Lleo, Alberto; Ortiz-Gil, Jordi; Ugas, Lidia; Blesa, Rafael; Rene, Ramon

2012-01-01

In this article we aimed to assess how Alzheimer's disease (AD), which is neurodegenerative, affects the linguistic performance of early, high-proficient bilinguals in their two languages. To this end, we compared the Picture Naming and Word Translation performances of two groups of AD patients varying in disease progression (Mild and Moderate)…

Regional Differences in the Listener's Phonemic Inventory Affect Semantic Processing: A Mismatch Negativity (MMN) Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brunelliere, Angele; Dufour, Sophie; Nguyen, Noel

2011-01-01

Using the mismatch negativity (MMN) response, we examined how Standard French and Southern French speakers access the meaning of words ending in /e/ or /[epsilon]/ vowels which are contrastive in Standard French but not in Southern French. In Standard French speakers, there was a significant difference in the amplitude of the brain response after…

Perception of a Communication Source: An Examination of the Ideal Supervisor and Subordinate within a Military Organization.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hellweg, Susan A.

A study was designed to examine an underlying assumption regarding the use of the semantic differential in measuring the credibility and homophily of a communicator, namely, that responses to an ideal source position themselves at one extreme end of the scale, reflecting the monotonic function of the instrument such that the highest response…

VHDL implementation of feature-extraction algorithm for the PANDA electromagnetic calorimeter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guliyev, E.; Kavatsyuk, M.; Lemmens, P. J. J.; Tambave, G.; Löhner, H.; Panda Collaboration

2012-02-01

A simple, efficient, and robust feature-extraction algorithm, developed for the digital front-end electronics of the electromagnetic calorimeter of the PANDA spectrometer at FAIR, Darmstadt, is implemented in VHDL for a commercial 16 bit 100 MHz sampling ADC. The source-code is available as an open-source project and is adaptable for other projects and sampling ADCs. Best performance with different types of signal sources can be achieved through flexible parameter selection. The on-line data-processing in FPGA enables to construct an almost dead-time free data acquisition system which is successfully evaluated as a first step towards building a complete trigger-less readout chain. Prototype setups are studied to determine the dead-time of the implemented algorithm, the rate of false triggering, timing performance, and event correlations.

DEAE-Dextran in the treatment of primary hypercholesterolemia and/or hypercholesterolemia combined with hypertriglyceridemia. A multicentric randomized study on the efficacy of DEAE-Dextran compared with Cholestyramine.

PubMed

Fedele, F

2003-01-01

This study was carried out to verify the therapeutic homogeneity between DEAE-Dextran and Cholestyramine. Blood levels of total cholesterol, HDL, LDL and triglycerides were evaluated in 202 patients affected by dyslipidemia and treated with DEAD-D at 2.5 g/day or with Cholestyramine at 12 g/day for 30 days. At the end of treatment both drugs caused significant reduction of total cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides blood levels; DEAD-D was generally more effective than Cholestyramine, in particular on triglycerides values (30.6% and 13.7% of reduction respectively), and produced also a significant increase in HDL cholesterol, differently from Cholestyramine that was ineffective on this parameter.

tDCS over the motor cortex improves lexical retrieval of action words in poststroke aphasia.

PubMed

Branscheidt, Meret; Hoppe, Julia; Zwitserlood, Pienie; Liuzzi, Gianpiero

2018-02-01

One-third of stroke survivors worldwide suffer from aphasia. Speech and language therapy (SLT) is considered effective in treating aphasia, but because of time constraints, improvements are often limited. Noninvasive brain stimulation is a promising adjuvant strategy to facilitate SLT. However, stroke might render "classical" language regions ineffective as stimulation sites. Recent work showed the effectiveness of motor cortex stimulation together with intensive naming therapy to improve outcomes in aphasia (Meinzer et al. 2016). Although that study highlights the involvement of the motor cortex, the functional aspects by which it influences language remain unclear. In the present study, we focus on the role of motor cortex in language, investigating its functional involvement in access to specific lexico-semantic (object vs. action relatedness) information in poststroke aphasia. To this end, we tested effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the left motor cortex on lexical retrieval in 16 patients with poststroke aphasia in a sham-controlled, double-blind study design. Critical stimuli were action and object words, and pseudowords. Participants performed a lexical decision task, deciding whether stimuli were words or pseudowords. Anodal tDCS improved accuracy in lexical decision, especially for words with action-related content and for pseudowords with an "action-like" ending ( t 15  = 2.65, P = 0.036), but not for words with object-related content and pseudowords with "object-like" characteristics. We show as a proof-of-principle that the motor cortex may play a specific role in access to lexico-semantic content. Thus motor-cortex stimulation may strengthen content-specific word-to-semantic concept associations during language treatment in poststroke aphasia. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The role of motor cortex (MC) in language processing has been debated in both health and disease. Recent work has suggested that MC stimulation together with speech and language therapy enhances outcomes in aphasia. We show that MC stimulation has a differential effect on object- and action-word processing in poststroke aphasia. We propose that MC stimulation may specifically strengthen word-to-semantic concept association in aphasia. Our results potentially provide a way to tailor therapies for language rehabilitation.

A 300m-width sinkhole threatens the stability of the embankment of a saltpan in Jordan, Dead Sea Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Closson, Damien; Abou Karaki, Najib; Pasquali, Paolo; Riccardi, Paolo

2013-04-01

Since the 1980s, the Dead Sea coastal zone is affected by sinkholes. The dynamic of the salt karst system is attested by a drastic increase of collapse events. The energy available for sub-surface erosion (or cavities genesis) is related to the head difference between the water table and the lake level which drop down at an accelerating rate of more than 1 m/yr. In the region of Ghor Al Haditha, Jordan, the size of the craters increased significantly during the last decade. Up to now, the greatest compound structure observed (association of metric subsidence, decametric sinkholes, and landslides) was about 150-200 m in diameter. End of December 2012, a single circular structure having 250-300 m in diameter was identified within a 10 km x 1.5 km saltpan of the Arab Potash Company. This finding raises questions regarding the origin of the underlying cavity and the capability of prediction of all models developed up to now in Israel and Jordan regarding the Dead Sea sinkholes. The analysis of satellite images of the past shows that the appearance of this unique depression is very recent (probably less than 5 years). Cosmo-SkyMed radar images have been processed to map the associated deformation field. Ground motions attest that the overall diameter could be around 600 m. Currently, this sinkhole is threatening the stability of more than one kilometer of a 12 km long dike holding 90 million m3 of Dead Sea brine. This case study underlines the great fragility of the Dead Sea salt karst and demonstrates the need for the setting up of an early warning system.

Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery tools for exploiting big Earth-Observation data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Espinoza Molina, D.; Datcu, M.

2015-04-01

The continuous increase in the size of the archives and in the variety and complexity of Earth-Observation (EO) sensors require new methodologies and tools that allow the end-user to access a large image repository, to extract and to infer knowledge about the patterns hidden in the images, to retrieve dynamically a collection of relevant images, and to support the creation of emerging applications (e.g.: change detection, global monitoring, disaster and risk management, image time series, etc.). In this context, we are concerned with providing a platform for data mining and knowledge discovery content from EO archives. The platform's goal is to implement a communication channel between Payload Ground Segments and the end-user who receives the content of the data coded in an understandable format associated with semantics that is ready for immediate exploitation. It will provide the user with automated tools to explore and understand the content of highly complex images archives. The challenge lies in the extraction of meaningful information and understanding observations of large extended areas, over long periods of time, with a broad variety of EO imaging sensors in synergy with other related measurements and data. The platform is composed of several components such as 1.) ingestion of EO images and related data providing basic features for image analysis, 2.) query engine based on metadata, semantics and image content, 3.) data mining and knowledge discovery tools for supporting the interpretation and understanding of image content, 4.) semantic definition of the image content via machine learning methods. All these components are integrated and supported by a relational database management system, ensuring the integrity and consistency of Terabytes of Earth Observation data.

End-User Evaluations of Semantic Web Technologies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McCool, Rob; Cowell, Andrew J.; Thurman, David A.

Stanford University's Knowledge Systems Laboratory (KSL) is working in partnership with Battelle Memorial Institute and IBM Watson Research Center to develop a suite of technologies for information extraction, knowledge representation & reasoning, and human-information interaction, in unison entitled 'Knowledge Associates for Novel Intelligence' (KANI). We have developed an integrated analytic environment composed of a collection of analyst associates, software components that aid the user at different stages of the information analysis process. An important part of our participatory design process has been to ensure our technologies and designs are tightly integrate with the needs and requirements of our end users,more » To this end, we perform a sequence of evaluations towards the end of the development process that ensure the technologies are both functional and usable. This paper reports on that process.« less

Reproducing Vulnerability: A Bourdieuian Analysis of Readers Who Struggle in Neoliberal Times

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jaeger, Elizabeth L.

2017-01-01

The neoliberal agenda promotes education as a route toward success in university and career. However, a neoliberal economy requires large numbers of workers willing to accept low-paying, dead-end jobs. The students most likely to take these jobs are those who have struggled with literacy and so schools must, in Bourdieu's terms, re/produce,…

The Workshop on Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming (2nd) Held in Orcas Island, Washington on 2-4 May 1994

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-05-04

gen- word pussies . In Proceedings of the Eighth Na- erate fewer than c clauses so the boundary of the grid tional Conference on Artificial Intelligence...checking. (2) (FC - NI), forward-checking search branches are bundled and visited once. with the advantage of neighborhood inter- If a dead -end occurs

Navigation Aids: 9 Shifts in Practice Smooth the Transition from School to Central Office

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Soelen, Thomas M.; Harden, Debra

2015-01-01

No longer is the central office a place for educators' careers to meet a dead end. Nor can it be where ineffective leaders are transferred to lessen impact. It cannot be "the blob," as coined by William Bennett (Walker, 1987). The Wallace Foundation notes that the central office has never been more important for system and individual…

Scaffolding the Development of Problem-Solving Skills in Chemistry: Guiding Novice Students out of Dead Ends and False Starts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yuriev, Elizabeth; Naidu, Som; Schembri, Luke S.; Short, Jennifer L.

2017-01-01

To scaffold the development of problem-solving skills in chemistry, chemistry educators are exploring a variety of instructional techniques. In this study, we have designed, implemented, and evaluated a problem-solving workflow--''Goldilocks Help''. This workflow builds on work done in the field of problem solving in chemistry and provides…

Good Deeds That Are Most Punished, Part 3: Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perlmutter, David D.

2012-01-01

On the road to producing the best possible work, one encounters dead ends and speed traps that are difficult to avoid because they are disguised as promising, rewarding, or helpful. In this series on "good deeds" that can backfire in one's career, the author does not challenge the virtue of doing good deeds, in theory or in practice. However, some…

Detection of fecal bacteria and source tracking identifiers in environmental waters using rRNA-based RT-qPCR and rDNA-based qPCR assays

EPA Science Inventory

The identification of fecal pollution sources is commonly performed using DNA-based methods. However, there is evidence that DNA can be associated with dead cells or present as “naked DNA” in the environment. To this end, we compared the detection frequency of host specific marke...

Discrete Optimization of Electronic Hyperpolarizabilities in a Chemical Subspace

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-05-01

molecular design. Methods for optimization in discrete spaces have been studied extensively and recently reviewed ( 5). Optimization methods include...integer programming, as in branch-and-bound techniques (including dead-end elimination [ 6]), simulated annealing ( 7), and genetic algorithms ( 8...These algorithms have found renewed interest and application in molecular and materials design (9- 12) . Recently, new approaches have been

Dead end1 is an essential partner of NANOS2 for selective binding of target RNAs in male germ cell development.

PubMed

Suzuki, Atsushi; Niimi, Yuki; Shinmyozu, Kaori; Zhou, Zhi; Kiso, Makoto; Saga, Yumiko

2016-01-01

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play important roles for generating various cell types in many developmental processes, including eggs and sperms. Nanos is widely known as an evolutionarily conserved RNA-binding protein implicated in germ cell development. Mouse NANOS2 interacts directly with the CCR4-NOT (CNOT) deadenylase complex, resulting in the suppression of specific RNAs. However, the mechanisms involved in target specificity remain elusive. We show that another RBP, Dead end1 (DND1), directly interacts with NANOS2 to load unique RNAs into the CNOT complex. This interaction is mediated by the zinc finger domain of NANOS2, which is essential for its association with target RNAs. In addition, the conditional deletion of DND1 causes the disruption of male germ cell differentiation similar to that observed in Nanos2-KO mice. Thus, DND1 is an essential partner for NANOS2 that leads to the degradation of specific RNAs. We also present the first evidence that the zinc finger domain of Nanos acts as a protein-interacting domain for another RBP, providing a novel insight into Nanos-mediated germ cell development. © 2015 The Authors.

Combination of nano-material enrichment and dead-end filtration for uniform and rapid sample preparation in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Wu, Zengnan; Khan, Mashooq; Mao, Sifeng; Lin, Ling; Lin, Jin-Ming

2018-05-01

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) is a fast analysis tool for the detection of a wide range of analytes. However, heterogeneous distribution of matrix/analyte cocrystal, variation in signal intensity and poor experimental reproducibility at different locations of the same spot means difficulty in quantitative analysis. In this work, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were employed as adsorbent for analyte cum matrix on a conductive porous membrane as a novel mass target plate. The sample pretreatment step was achieved by enrichment and dead-end filtration and dried by a solid-liquid separation. This approach enables the homogeneous distribution of analyte in the matrix, good shot-to-shot reproducibility in signals and quantitative detection of peptide and protein at different concentrations with correlation coefficient (R 2 ) of 0.9920 and 0.9909, respectively. The simple preparation of sample in a short time, uniform distribution of analyte, easy quantitative detection, and high reproducibility makes this technique useful and may diversify the application of MALDI-MS for quantitative detection of a variety of proteins. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cable Effects Study. Tangents, Rabbit Holes, Dead Ends, and Valuable Results

DOE PAGES

Ardelean, Emil V.; Babuška, Vít; Goodding, James C.; ...

2014-08-04

Lessons learned during a study on the effects that electrical power and signal wiring harness cables introduce on the dynamic response of precision spacecraft is presented, along with the most significant results. Our study was a three year effort to discover a set of practical approaches for updating well-defined dynamic models of harness-free structures where knowledge of the cable type, position, and tie-down method are known. Although cables are found on every satellite, the focus was on precision, low damping, and very flexible structures. Obstacles encountered, classified as tangents, rabbit holes, and dead ends, offer practical lessons for structural dynamicsmore » research. The paper traces the historical, experiential progression of the project, describing how the obstacles affected the project. Methods were developed to estimate cable properties. Problems were encountered because of the flexible, highly damped nature of cables. A beam was used as a test article to validate experimentally derived cable properties and to refine the assumptions regarding boundary conditions. Furthermore, a spacecraft bus-like panel with cables attached was designed, and finite element models were developed and validated through experiment. Various paths were investigated at each stage before a consistent test and analysis methodology was developed« less

Engineering of benzylglucosinolate in tobacco provides proof-of-concept for dead-end trap crops genetically modified to attract Plutella xylostella (diamondback moth).

PubMed

Møldrup, Morten E; Geu-Flores, Fernando; de Vos, Martin; Olsen, Carl E; Sun, Joel; Jander, Georg; Halkier, Barbara A

2012-05-01

Glucosinolates are biologically active natural products characteristic of crucifers, including oilseed rape, cabbage vegetables and the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Crucifer-specialist insect herbivores, like the economically important pest Plutella xylostella (diamondback moth), frequently use glucosinolates as oviposition stimuli. This suggests that the transfer of a glucosinolate biosynthetic pathway to a non-crucifer would stimulate oviposition on an otherwise non-attractive plant. Here, we demonstrate that stable genetic transfer of the six-step benzylglucosinolate pathway from A. thaliana to Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) results in the production of benzylglucosinolate without causing morphological alterations. Benzylglucosinolate-producing tobacco plants were more attractive for oviposition by female P. xylostella moths than wild-type tobacco plants. As newly hatched P. xylostella larvae were unable to survive on tobacco, these results represent a proof-of-concept strategy for rendering non-host plants attractive for oviposition by specialist herbivores with the long-term goal of generating efficient dead-end trap crops for agriculturally important pests. © 2012 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal © 2012 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Cable Effects Study. Tangents, Rabbit Holes, Dead Ends, and Valuable Results

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ardelean, Emil V.; Babuška, Vít; Goodding, James C.

Lessons learned during a study on the effects that electrical power and signal wiring harness cables introduce on the dynamic response of precision spacecraft is presented, along with the most significant results. Our study was a three year effort to discover a set of practical approaches for updating well-defined dynamic models of harness-free structures where knowledge of the cable type, position, and tie-down method are known. Although cables are found on every satellite, the focus was on precision, low damping, and very flexible structures. Obstacles encountered, classified as tangents, rabbit holes, and dead ends, offer practical lessons for structural dynamicsmore » research. The paper traces the historical, experiential progression of the project, describing how the obstacles affected the project. Methods were developed to estimate cable properties. Problems were encountered because of the flexible, highly damped nature of cables. A beam was used as a test article to validate experimentally derived cable properties and to refine the assumptions regarding boundary conditions. Furthermore, a spacecraft bus-like panel with cables attached was designed, and finite element models were developed and validated through experiment. Various paths were investigated at each stage before a consistent test and analysis methodology was developed« less

Stabilization of flux during dead-end ultra-low pressure ultrafiltration.

PubMed

Peter-Varbanets, Maryna; Hammes, Frederik; Vital, Marius; Pronk, Wouter

2010-06-01

Gravity driven ultrafiltration was operated in dead-end mode without any flushing or cleaning. In contrary to general expectations, the flux value stabilized after about one week of operation and remained constant during an extended period of time (several months). Different surface water types and diluted wastewater were used as feed water and, depending on the feed water composition, stable flux values were in the range of 4-10 L h(-1) m(-2). When sodium azide was added to the feed water to diminish the biological activity, no stabilization of flux occurred, indicating that biological processes play an important role in the flux stabilization process. Confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed the presence of a biofouling layer, of which the structure changed over time, leading to relatively heterogeneous structures. It is assumed that the stabilization of flux is related to the development of heterogeneous structures in the fouling layer, due to biological processes in the layer. The phenomenon of flux stabilization opens interesting possibilities for application, for instance in simple and low-cost ultrafiltration systems for decentralized drinking water treatment in developing and transition countries, independent of energy supply, chemicals, or complex process control. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

GeoSearch: A lightweight broking middleware for geospatial resources discovery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gui, Z.; Yang, C.; Liu, K.; Xia, J.

2012-12-01

With petabytes of geodata, thousands of geospatial web services available over the Internet, it is critical to support geoscience research and applications by finding the best-fit geospatial resources from the massive and heterogeneous resources. Past decades' developments witnessed the operation of many service components to facilitate geospatial resource management and discovery. However, efficient and accurate geospatial resource discovery is still a big challenge due to the following reasons: 1)The entry barriers (also called "learning curves") hinder the usability of discovery services to end users. Different portals and catalogues always adopt various access protocols, metadata formats and GUI styles to organize, present and publish metadata. It is hard for end users to learn all these technical details and differences. 2)The cost for federating heterogeneous services is high. To provide sufficient resources and facilitate data discovery, many registries adopt periodic harvesting mechanism to retrieve metadata from other federated catalogues. These time-consuming processes lead to network and storage burdens, data redundancy, and also the overhead of maintaining data consistency. 3)The heterogeneous semantics issues in data discovery. Since the keyword matching is still the primary search method in many operational discovery services, the search accuracy (precision and recall) is hard to guarantee. Semantic technologies (such as semantic reasoning and similarity evaluation) offer a solution to solve these issues. However, integrating semantic technologies with existing service is challenging due to the expandability limitations on the service frameworks and metadata templates. 4)The capabilities to help users make final selection are inadequate. Most of the existing search portals lack intuitive and diverse information visualization methods and functions (sort, filter) to present, explore and analyze search results. Furthermore, the presentation of the value-added additional information (such as, service quality and user feedback), which conveys important decision supporting information, is missing. To address these issues, we prototyped a distributed search engine, GeoSearch, based on brokering middleware framework to search, integrate and visualize heterogeneous geospatial resources. Specifically, 1) A lightweight discover broker is developed to conduct distributed search. The broker retrieves metadata records for geospatial resources and additional information from dispersed services (portals and catalogues) and other systems on the fly. 2) A quality monitoring and evaluation broker (i.e., QoS Checker) is developed and integrated to provide quality information for geospatial web services. 3) The semantic assisted search and relevance evaluation functions are implemented by loosely interoperating with ESIP Testbed component. 4) Sophisticated information and data visualization functionalities and tools are assembled to improve user experience and assist resource selection.

Ontology Based Quality Evaluation for Spatial Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yılmaz, C.; Cömert, Ç.

2015-08-01

Many institutions will be providing data to the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). Current technical background of the NSDI is based on syntactic web services. It is expected that this will be replaced by semantic web services. The quality of the data provided is important in terms of the decision-making process and the accuracy of transactions. Therefore, the data quality needs to be tested. This topic has been neglected in Turkey. Data quality control for NSDI may be done by private or public "data accreditation" institutions. A methodology is required for data quality evaluation. There are studies for data quality including ISO standards, academic studies and software to evaluate spatial data quality. ISO 19157 standard defines the data quality elements. Proprietary software such as, 1Spatial's 1Validate and ESRI's Data Reviewer offers quality evaluation based on their own classification of rules. Commonly, rule based approaches are used for geospatial data quality check. In this study, we look for the technical components to devise and implement a rule based approach with ontologies using free and open source software in semantic web context. Semantic web uses ontologies to deliver well-defined web resources and make them accessible to end-users and processes. We have created an ontology conforming to the geospatial data and defined some sample rules to show how to test data with respect to data quality elements including; attribute, topo-semantic and geometrical consistency using free and open source software. To test data against rules, sample GeoSPARQL queries are created, associated with specifications.

Left and right basal ganglia and frontal activity during language generation: contributions to lexical, semantic, and phonological processes.

PubMed

Crosson, Bruce; Benefield, Hope; Cato, M Allison; Sadek, Joseph R; Moore, Anna Bacon; Wierenga, Christina E; Gopinath, Kaundinya; Soltysik, David; Bauer, Russell M; Auerbach, Edward J; Gökçay, Didem; Leonard, Christiana M; Briggs, Richard W

2003-11-01

fMRI was used to determine the frontal, basal ganglia, and thalamic structures engaged by three facets of language generation: lexical status of generated items, the use of semantic vs. phonological information during language generation, and rate of generation. During fMRI, 21 neurologically normal subjects performed four tasks: generation of nonsense syllables given beginning and ending consonant blends, generation of words given a rhyming word, generation of words given a semantic category at a fast rate (matched to the rate of nonsense syllable generation), and generation of words given a semantic category at a slow rate (matched to the rate of generating of rhyming words). Components of a left pre-SMA-dorsal caudate nucleus-ventral anterior thalamic loop were active during word generation from rhyming or category cues but not during nonsense syllable generation. Findings indicate that this loop is involved in retrieving words from pre-existing lexical stores. Relatively diffuse activity in the right basal ganglia (caudate nucleus and putamen) also was found during word-generation tasks but not during nonsense syllable generation. Given the relative absence of right frontal activity during the word generation tasks, we suggest that the right basal ganglia activity serves to suppress right frontal activity, preventing right frontal structures from interfering with language production. Current findings establish roles for the left and the right basal ganglia in word generation. Hypotheses are discussed for future research to help refine our understanding of basal ganglia functions in language generation.

Digital patient: Personalized and translational data management through the MyHealthAvatar EU project.

PubMed

Kondylakis, Haridimos; Spanakis, Emmanouil G; Sfakianakis, Stelios; Sakkalis, Vangelis; Tsiknakis, Manolis; Marias, Kostas; Xia Zhao; Hong Qing Yu; Feng Dong

2015-08-01

The advancements in healthcare practice have brought to the fore the need for flexible access to health-related information and created an ever-growing demand for the design and the development of data management infrastructures for translational and personalized medicine. In this paper, we present the data management solution implemented for the MyHealthAvatar EU research project, a project that attempts to create a digital representation of a patient's health status. The platform is capable of aggregating several knowledge sources relevant for the provision of individualized personal services. To this end, state of the art technologies are exploited, such as ontologies to model all available information, semantic integration to enable data and query translation and a variety of linking services to allow connecting to external sources. All original information is stored in a NoSQL database for reasons of efficiency and fault tolerance. Then it is semantically uplifted through a semantic warehouse which enables efficient access to it. All different technologies are combined to create a novel web-based platform allowing seamless user interaction through APIs that support personalized, granular and secure access to the relevant information.

ERP correlates of German Sign Language processing in deaf native signers.

PubMed

Hänel-Faulhaber, Barbara; Skotara, Nils; Kügow, Monique; Salden, Uta; Bottari, Davide; Röder, Brigitte

2014-05-10

The present study investigated the neural correlates of sign language processing of Deaf people who had learned German Sign Language (Deutsche Gebärdensprache, DGS) from their Deaf parents as their first language. Correct and incorrect signed sentences were presented sign by sign on a computer screen. At the end of each sentence the participants had to judge whether or not the sentence was an appropriate DGS sentence. Two types of violations were introduced: (1) semantically incorrect sentences containing a selectional restriction violation (implausible object); (2) morphosyntactically incorrect sentences containing a verb that was incorrectly inflected (i.e., incorrect direction of movement). Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 74 scalp electrodes. Semantic violations (implausible signs) elicited an N400 effect followed by a positivity. Sentences with a morphosyntactic violation (verb agreement violation) elicited a negativity followed by a broad centro-parietal positivity. ERP correlates of semantic and morphosyntactic aspects of DGS clearly differed from each other and showed a number of similarities with those observed in other signed and oral languages. These data suggest a similar functional organization of signed and oral languages despite the visual-spacial modality of sign language.

ERP correlates of German Sign Language processing in deaf native signers

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background The present study investigated the neural correlates of sign language processing of Deaf people who had learned German Sign Language (Deutsche Gebärdensprache, DGS) from their Deaf parents as their first language. Correct and incorrect signed sentences were presented sign by sign on a computer screen. At the end of each sentence the participants had to judge whether or not the sentence was an appropriate DGS sentence. Two types of violations were introduced: (1) semantically incorrect sentences containing a selectional restriction violation (implausible object); (2) morphosyntactically incorrect sentences containing a verb that was incorrectly inflected (i.e., incorrect direction of movement). Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 74 scalp electrodes. Results Semantic violations (implausible signs) elicited an N400 effect followed by a positivity. Sentences with a morphosyntactic violation (verb agreement violation) elicited a negativity followed by a broad centro-parietal positivity. Conclusions ERP correlates of semantic and morphosyntactic aspects of DGS clearly differed from each other and showed a number of similarities with those observed in other signed and oral languages. These data suggest a similar functional organization of signed and oral languages despite the visual-spacial modality of sign language. PMID:24884527

From ontology selection and semantic web to an integrated information system for food-borne diseases and food safety.

PubMed

Yan, Xianghe; Peng, Yun; Meng, Jianghong; Ruzante, Juliana; Fratamico, Pina M; Huang, Lihan; Juneja, Vijay; Needleman, David S

2011-01-01

Several factors have hindered effective use of information and resources related to food safety due to inconsistency among semantically heterogeneous data resources, lack of knowledge on profiling of food-borne pathogens, and knowledge gaps among research communities, government risk assessors/managers, and end-users of the information. This paper discusses technical aspects in the establishment of a comprehensive food safety information system consisting of the following steps: (a) computational collection and compiling publicly available information, including published pathogen genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data; (b) development of ontology libraries on food-borne pathogens and design automatic algorithms with formal inference and fuzzy and probabilistic reasoning to address the consistency and accuracy of distributed information resources (e.g., PulseNet, FoodNet, OutbreakNet, PubMed, NCBI, EMBL, and other online genetic databases and information); (c) integration of collected pathogen profiling data, Foodrisk.org ( http://www.foodrisk.org ), PMP, Combase, and other relevant information into a user-friendly, searchable, "homogeneous" information system available to scientists in academia, the food industry, and government agencies; and (d) development of a computational model in semantic web for greater adaptability and robustness.

Quantitative and qualitative research across cultures and languages: cultural metrics and their application.

PubMed

Wagner, Wolfgang; Hansen, Karolina; Kronberger, Nicole

2014-12-01

Growing globalisation of the world draws attention to cultural differences between people from different countries or from different cultures within the countries. Notwithstanding the diversity of people's worldviews, current cross-cultural research still faces the challenge of how to avoid ethnocentrism; comparing Western-driven phenomena with like variables across countries without checking their conceptual equivalence clearly is highly problematic. In the present article we argue that simple comparison of measurements (in the quantitative domain) or of semantic interpretations (in the qualitative domain) across cultures easily leads to inadequate results. Questionnaire items or text produced in interviews or via open-ended questions have culturally laden meanings and cannot be mapped onto the same semantic metric. We call the culture-specific space and relationship between variables or meanings a 'cultural metric', that is a set of notions that are inter-related and that mutually specify each other's meaning. We illustrate the problems and their possible solutions with examples from quantitative and qualitative research. The suggested methods allow to respect the semantic space of notions in cultures and language groups and the resulting similarities or differences between cultures can be better understood and interpreted.

An Improved Model of Nonuniform Coleochaete Cell Division.

PubMed

Wang, Yuandi; Cong, Jinyu

2016-08-01

Cell division is a key biological process in which cells divide forming new daughter cells. In the present study, we investigate continuously how a Coleochaete cell divides by introducing a modified differential equation model in parametric equation form. We discuss both the influence of "dead" cells and the effects of various end-points on the formation of the new cells' boundaries. We find that the boundary condition on the free end-point is different from that on the fixed end-point; the former has a direction perpendicular to the surface. It is also shown that the outer boundaries of new cells are arc-shaped. The numerical experiments and theoretical analyses for this model to construct the outer boundary are given.

Phonological Interpretation into Preordered Algebras

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kubota, Yusuke; Pollard, Carl

We propose a novel architecture for categorial grammar that clarifies the relationship between semantically relevant combinatoric reasoning and semantically inert reasoning that only affects surface-oriented phonological form. To this end, we employ a level of structured phonology that mediates between syntax (abstract combinatorics) and phonology proper (strings). To notate structured phonologies, we employ a lambda calculus analogous to the φ-terms of [8]. However, unlike Oehrle's purely equational φ-calculus, our phonological calculus is inequational, in a way that is strongly analogous to the functional programming language LCF [10]. Like LCF, our phonological terms are interpreted into a Henkin frame of posets, with degree of definedness ('height' in the preorder that interprets the base type) corresponding to degree of pronounceability; only maximal elements are actual strings and therefore fully pronounceable. We illustrate with an analysis (also new) of some complex constituent-order phenomena in Japanese.

Investigating the high school students' cognitive structures about the work concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tavukçuoǧlu, Erdem; Özcan, Özgür

2018-02-01

The purpose of this study is to determine the high school students' cognitive structures related to the concepts of work. The participants of the study were composed of the students enrolled in 11. and 12. class of an Anatolian high school in Turkey. The data were collected via word association test related to the key concept to determine the students' cognitive structures. The collected data were analyzed according to the content analysis method. In the data analysis process, we determined firstly the number of words, the number of answers and the semantic relations between the words written by students. The words having semantic connections were grouped under the same category. Thus, at the end of the study, high school students' cognitive structures and some alternative conceptions were determined related to concepts of work.

Application of dead space fraction to titrate optimal positive end-expiratory pressure in an ARDS swine model.

PubMed

Bian, Weishuai; Chen, Wei; Chao, Yangong; Wang, Lan; Li, Liming; Guan, Jian; Zang, Xuefeng; Zhen, Jie; Sheng, Bo; Zhu, Xi

2017-04-01

This study aimed to apply the dead space fraction [ratio of dead space to tidal volume (VD/VT)] to titrate the optimal positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) in a swine model of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Twelve swine models of ARDS were constructed. A lung recruitment maneuver was then conducted and the PEEP was set at 20 cm H 2 O. The PEEP was reduced by 2 cm H 2 O every 10 min until 0 cm H 2 O was reached, and VD/VT was measured after each decrement step. VD/VT was measured using single-breath analysis of CO 2 , and calculated from arterial CO 2 partial pressure (PaCO 2 ) and mixed expired CO 2 (PeCO 2 ) using the following formula: VD/VT = (PaCO 2 - PeCO 2 )/PaCO 2 . The optimal PEEP was identified by the lowest VD/VT method. Respiration and hemodynamic parameters were recorded during the periods of pre-injury and injury, and at 4 and 2 cm H 2 O below and above the optimal PEEP (Po). The optimal PEEP in this study was found to be 13.25±1.36 cm H 2 O. During the Po period, VD/VT decreased to a lower value (0.44±0.08) compared with that during the injury period (0.68±0.10) (P<0.05), while the intrapulmonary shunt fraction reached its lowest value. In addition, a significant change of dynamic tidal respiratory compliance and oxygenation index was induced by PEEP titration. These results indicate that minimal VD/VT can be used for PEEP titration in ARDS.

Beyond Time: Temporal and Extra-Temporal Functions of Tense and Aspect Marking in Totela, a Bantu Language of Zambia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crane, Thera Marie

2011-01-01

This dissertation aims to characterize the relationship between the temporal and information-structuring functions of tense and aspect marking in Totela, an endangered Bantu language of Zambia and Namibia. To that end, I investigate and describe in detail the semantics and pragmatics of selected tense and aspect markers, showing for each that a…

"Facilis Descensus Averni" Mind, Brain, Education, and Ethics: Highway to Hell, Stairway to Heaven, or Passing Dead End?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

della Chiesa, Bruno

2010-01-01

Are human beings born unequal when it comes to ethics? Or are ethical standards acquired? Or both nature and nurture? Neuroscience is on its way to discovering biological underpinnings of ethics in our brains. Whatever the upcoming findings on this front will be, our philosophical, political, and educational views, and even the way we look at…

Rebuilding Job Training from the Ground Up: Workforce System Reform After 9/11.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fischer, David Jason; Kleiman, Neil Scott

Since September 11, 2001, New York City (NYC) has lost over 130,000 jobs, unemployment in the boroughs is around 9% and unemployment benefits have run out for many. NYC has long neglected workforce development, viewing it as a social service to distribute federal funds and train entry workers for dead-end jobs. To create a workforce system from…

End-point diameter and total length coarse woody debris models for the United States

Treesearch

C.W. Woodall; J.A. Westfall; D.C. Lutes; S.N. Oswalt

2008-01-01

Coarse woody debris (CWD) may be defined as dead and down trees of a certain minimumsize that are an important forest ecosystem component (e.g., wildlife habitat, carbon stocks, and fuels). Due to field efficiency concerns, some natural resource inventories only measure the attributes of CWD pieces at their point of intersection with a sampling transect (e.g., transect...

The Road to Poverty: A Report on the Economic Status of Midlife and Older Women in America. Mother's Day Report 1988.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Older Women's League, Washington, DC.

Women of all ages continue to enter the work force in greater numbers while the work force participation rate for males is declining. Women are disproportionately concentrated in low-paying, dead-end jobs. Employment discrimination continues to be a significant problem. Job interruptions necessitated by family responsibilities are a major factor…

A century of typhus, lice and Rickettsia.

PubMed

Andersson, J O; Andersson, S G

2000-03-01

At the beginning of the 20th century, it was discovered at the Pasteur Institute in Tunis that epidemic typhus is transmitted by the human body louse. The complete genome sequence of its causative agent, Rickettsia prowazekii, was determined at Uppsala University in Sweden at the end of the century. In this mini-review, we discuss insights gained from the genome sequence of this fascinating and deadly organism.

Fee-for-Service Is Dead. Long Live Fee for Service?

PubMed

Greene, Jan

2017-09-01

The move to a value-based payment system was supposed to end perverse incentives that pay doctors more for delivering often unnecessary services. But things are changing slowly and the market is still 95% fee for service. There's talk of reworking the Medicare fee schedule so docs are paid more for the things that work, and less for those that don't.

Multiple independent origins of auto-pollination in tropical orchids (Bulbophyllum) in light of the hypothesis of selfing as an evolutionary dead end.

PubMed

Gamisch, Alexander; Fischer, Gunter Alexander; Comes, Hans Peter

2015-09-16

The transition from outcrossing to selfing has long been portrayed as an 'evolutionary dead end' because, first, reversals are unlikely and, second, selfing lineages suffer from higher rates of extinction owing to a reduced potential for adaptation and the accumulation of deleterious mutations. We tested these two predictions in a clade of Madagascan Bulbophyllum orchids (30 spp.), including eight species where auto-pollinating morphs (i.e., selfers, without a 'rostellum') co-exist with their pollinator-dependent conspecifics (i.e., outcrossers, possessing a rostellum). Specifically, we addressed this issue on the basis of a time-calibrated phylogeny by means of ancestral character reconstructions and within the state-dependent evolution framework of BiSSE (Binary State Speciation and Extinction), which allowed jointly estimating rates of transition, speciation, and extinction between outcrossing and selfing. The eight species capable of selfing occurred in scattered positions across the phylogeny, with two likely originating in the Pliocene (ca. 4.4-3.1 Ma), one in the Early Pleistocene (ca. 2.4 Ma), and five since the mid-Pleistocene (ca. ≤ 1.3 Ma). We infer that this scattered phylogenetic distribution of selfing is best described by models including up to eight independent outcrossing-to-selfing transitions and very low rates of speciation (and either moderate or zero rates of extinction) associated with selfing. The frequent and irreversible outcrossing-to-selfing transitions in Madagascan Bulbophyllum are clearly congruent with the first prediction of the dead end hypothesis. The inability of our study to conclusively reject or support the likewise predicted higher extinction rate in selfing lineages might be explained by a combination of methodological limitations (low statistical power of our BiSSE approach to reliably estimate extinction in small-sized trees) and evolutionary processes (insufficient time elapsed for selfers to go extinct). We suggest that, in these tropical orchids, a simple genetic basis of selfing (via loss of the 'rostellum') is needed to explain the strikingly recurrent transitions to selfing, perhaps reflecting rapid response to parallel and novel selective environments over Late Quaternary (≤ 1.3 Ma) time scales.

The Dead Sea

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2006-01-01

The Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth at 418 meters below sea level, and also one of the saltiest bodies of water on Earth with a salinity of about 300 parts-per-thousand (nine times greater than ocean salinity). It is located on the border between Jordan and Israel, and is fed by the Jordan River. The Dead Sea is located in the Dead Sea Rift, formed as a result of the Arabian tectonic plate moving northward away from the African Plate. The mineral content of the Dead Sea is significantly different from that of ocean water, consisting of approximately 53% magnesium chloride, 37% potassium chloride and 8% sodium chloride. In the early part of the 20th century, the Dead Sea began to attract interest from chemists who deduced that the Sea was a natural deposit of potash and bromine. From the Dead Sea brine, Israel and Jordan produce 3.8 million tons potash, 200,000 tons elemental bromine, 45,000 tons caustic soda, 25, 000 tons magnesium metal, and sodium chloride. Both countries use extensive salt evaporation pans that have essentially diked the entire southern end of the Dead Sea.

With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet.

ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products.

The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping, and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud morphology and physical properties; wetlands evaluation; thermal pollution monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils and geology; and measuring surface heat balance.

The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

Size: 18.5 by 48.1 kilometers (11.5 by 29.8 miles) Location: 31.4 degrees North latitude, 35.4 degrees East longitude Orientation: North at top Image Data: ASTER bands 3, 2, and 1 Original Data Resolution: 15 meters (49.2 feet) Dates Acquired: May 3, 2005

The prevalence of mind-body dualism in early China.

PubMed

Slingerland, Edward; Chudek, Maciej

2011-07-01

We present the first large-scale, quantitative examination of mind and body concepts in a set of historical sources by measuring the predictions of folk mind-body dualism against the surviving textual corpus of pre-Qin (pre-221 BCE) China. Our textual analysis found clear patterns in the historically evolving reference of the word xin (heart/heart-mind): It alone of the organs was regularly contrasted with the physical body, and during the Warring States period it became less associated with emotions and increasingly portrayed as the unique locus of "higher" cognitive abilities. We interpret this as a semantic shift toward a shared cognitive bias in response to a vast and rapid expansion of literacy. Our study helps test the proposed universality of folk dualism, adds a new quantitative approach to the methods used in the humanities, and opens up a new and valuable data source for cognitive scientists: the record of dead minds. Copyright © 2011 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Synoptic conditions of fine-particle transport to the last interglacial Red Sea -Dead Sea from Nd-Sr compositions of sediment cores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stein, M.; Palchan, D.; Goldstein, S. L.; Almogi-Labin, A.; Tirosh, O.; Erel, Y.

2017-12-01

The last interglacial peak, Marine Isotope Stage 5e (MIS 5e), was associated with stronger northern hemisphere insolation, higher global sea levels and higher average global temperatures compared to the Holocene, and is considered as an analogue for a future warming world. In this perspective the present-day areas of the Sahara - Arabia deserts (the "desert belt") are of special interest since their margins are densely inhabited and global climate models predict enhanced aridity in these regions due to future warming. The Red Sea situated at the midst of the desert belt and the Dead Sea at the northern fringe of the desert belt comprise sensitive monitors for past hydroclimate changes in the Red Sea-Levant regions as global climate shifted from glacial to interglacial conditions. Here, we reconstruct the synoptic conditions that controlled desert dust transport to the Red Sea and the Dead Sea during MIS5e. The reconstruction is based on Nd-Sr isotopes and chemical composition of carbonate-free detritus recovered from sediment cores drilled at the deep floors of these water-bodies combined with data of contemporaneous dust storms transporting dust to the lake and sea floors. During Termination 2 ( 134-130 ka) the Sahara, Nile River desiccated and the Dead Sea watershed were under extreme dry conditions manifested by lake level drop, deposition of salt and enhanced transport of Sahara dusts to the entire studied transect. At the peak of the interglacial MIS 5e ( 130-120 ka), enhanced flooding activity mobilized local fine detritus from the surroundings of the Red Sea and the Dead Sea watershed into the water-bodies. This interval coincided with the Sapropel event S5 in the Mediterranean that responded to enhanced monsoon rains at the heads of the Blue Nile River. At the end of MIS 5e ( 120-116 ka) the effect of the regional floods faded and the Dead Sea and Red Sea areas re-entered sever arid conditions with salt deposition at the Dead Sea. Overall, the desert margins were under turbulent climate regime during the last interglacial period, fluctuating between contraction and expansions manifested with extreme enhanced flooding and extreme arid spells.

Oscillating side-branch enhancements of thermoacoustic heat exchangers

DOEpatents

Swift, Gregory W.

2003-05-13

A regenerator-based engine or refrigerator has a regenerator with two ends at two different temperatures, through which a gas oscillates at a first oscillating volumetric flow rate in the direction between the two ends and in which the pressure of the gas oscillates, and first and second heat exchangers, each of which is at one of the two different temperatures. A dead-end side branch into which the gas oscillates has compliance and is connected adjacent to one of the ends of the regenerator to form a second oscillating gas flow rate additive with the first oscillating volumetric flow rate, the compliance having a volume effective to provide a selected total oscillating gas volumetric flow rate through the first heat exchanger. This configuration enables the first heat exchanger to be configured and located to better enhance the performance of the heat exchanger rather than being confined to the location and configuration of the regenerator.

Emotional language processing: how mood affects integration processes during discourse comprehension.

PubMed

Egidi, Giovanna; Nusbaum, Howard C

2012-09-01

This research tests whether mood affects semantic processing during discourse comprehension by facilitating integration of information congruent with moods' valence. Participants in happy, sad, or neutral moods listened to stories with positive or negative endings during EEG recording. N400 peak amplitudes showed mood congruence for happy and sad participants: endings incongruent with participants' moods demonstrated larger peaks. Happy and neutral moods exhibited larger peaks for negative endings, thus showing a similarity between negativity bias (neutral mood) and mood congruence (happy mood). Mood congruence resulted in differential processing of negative information: happy mood showed larger amplitudes for negative endings than neutral mood, and sad mood showed smaller amplitudes. N400 peaks were also sensitive to whether ending valence was communicated directly or as a result of inference. This effect was moderately modulated by mood. In conclusion, the notion of context for discourse processing should include comprehenders' affective states preceding language processing. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An Advanced IoT-based System for Intelligent Energy Management in Buildings.

PubMed

Marinakis, Vangelis; Doukas, Haris

2018-02-16

The energy sector is closely interconnected with the building sector and integrated Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) solutions for effective energy management supporting decision-making at building, district and city level are key fundamental elements for making a city Smart. The available systems are designed and intended exclusively for a predefined number of cases and systems without allowing for expansion and interoperability with other applications that is partially due to the lack of semantics. This paper presents an advanced Internet of Things (IoT) based system for intelligent energy management in buildings. A semantic framework is introduced aiming at the unified and standardised modelling of the entities that constitute the building environment. Suitable rules are formed, aiming at the intelligent energy management and the general modus operandi of Smart Building. In this context, an IoT-based system was implemented, which enhances the interactivity of the buildings' energy management systems. The results from its pilot application are presented and discussed. The proposed system extends existing approaches and integrates cross-domain data, such as the building's data (e.g., energy management systems), energy production, energy prices, weather data and end-users' behaviour, in order to produce daily and weekly action plans for the energy end-users with actionable personalised information.

"Fragment errors" in deep dysgraphia: further support for a lexical hypothesis.

PubMed

Bormann, Tobias; Wallesch, Claus-W; Blanken, Gerhard

2008-07-01

In addition to various lexical errors, the writing of patients with deep dysgraphia may include a large number of segmental spelling errors, which increase towards the end of the word. Frequently, these errors involve deletion of two or more letters resulting in so-called "fragment errors". Different positions have been brought forward regarding their origin, including rapid decay of activation in the graphemic buffer and an impairment of more central (i.e., lexical or semantic) processing. We present data from a patient (M.D.) with deep dysgraphia who showed an increase of segmental spelling errors towards the end of the word. Several tasks were carried out to explore M.D.'s underlying functional impairment. Errors affected word-final positions in tasks like backward spelling and fragment completion. In a delayed copying task, length of the delay had no influence. In addition, when asked to recall three serially presented letters, a task which had not been carried out before, M.D. exhibited a preference for the first and the third letter and poor performance for the second letter. M.D.'s performance on these tasks contradicts the rapid decay account and instead supports a lexical-semantic account of segmental errors in deep dysgraphia. In addition, the results fit well with an implemented computational model of deep dysgraphia and segmental spelling errors.

Design of a web portal for interdisciplinary image retrieval from multiple online image resources.

PubMed

Kammerer, F J; Frankewitsch, T; Prokosch, H-U

2009-01-01

Images play an important role in medicine. Finding the desired images within the multitude of online image databases is a time-consuming and frustrating process. Existing websites do not meet all the requirements for an ideal learning environment for medical students. This work intends to establish a new web portal providing a centralized access point to a selected number of online image databases. A back-end system locates images on given websites and extracts relevant metadata. The images are indexed using UMLS and the MetaMap system provided by the US National Library of Medicine. Specially developed functions allow to create individual navigation structures. The front-end system suits the specific needs of medical students. A navigation structure consisting of several medical fields, university curricula and the ICD-10 was created. The images may be accessed via the given navigation structure or using different search functions. Cross-references are provided by the semantic relations of the UMLS. Over 25,000 images were identified and indexed. A pilot evaluation among medical students showed good first results concerning the acceptance of the developed navigation structures and search features. The integration of the images from different sources into the UMLS semantic network offers a quick and an easy-to-use learning environment.

Association of affect with vertical position in L1 but not in L2 in unbalanced bilinguals

PubMed Central

Li, Degao; Liu, Haitao; Ma, Bosen

2015-01-01

After judging the valence of the positive (e.g., happy) and the negative words (e.g., sad), the participants' response to the letter (q or p) was faster and slower, respectively, when the letter appeared at the upper end than at the lower end of the screen in Meier and Robinson's (2004) second experiment. To compare this metaphorical association of affect with vertical position in Chinese-English bilinguals' first language (L1) and second language (L2) (language), we conducted four experiments in an affective priming task. The targets were one set of positive or negative words (valence), which were shown vertically above or below the center of the screen (position). The primes, presented at the center of the screen, were affective words that were semantically related to the targets, affective words that were not semantically related to the targets, affective icon-pictures, and neutral strings in Experiment 1–4, respectively. In judging the targets' valence, the participants showed different patterns of interactions between language, valence, and position in reaction times across the experiments. We concluded that metaphorical association between affect and vertical position works in L1 but not in L2 for unbalanced bilinguals. PMID:26074847

An Advanced IoT-based System for Intelligent Energy Management in Buildings

PubMed Central

Doukas, Haris

2018-01-01

The energy sector is closely interconnected with the building sector and integrated Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) solutions for effective energy management supporting decision-making at building, district and city level are key fundamental elements for making a city Smart. The available systems are designed and intended exclusively for a predefined number of cases and systems without allowing for expansion and interoperability with other applications that is partially due to the lack of semantics. This paper presents an advanced Internet of Things (IoT) based system for intelligent energy management in buildings. A semantic framework is introduced aiming at the unified and standardised modelling of the entities that constitute the building environment. Suitable rules are formed, aiming at the intelligent energy management and the general modus operandi of Smart Building. In this context, an IoT-based system was implemented, which enhances the interactivity of the buildings’ energy management systems. The results from its pilot application are presented and discussed. The proposed system extends existing approaches and integrates cross-domain data, such as the building’s data (e.g., energy management systems), energy production, energy prices, weather data and end-users’ behaviour, in order to produce daily and weekly action plans for the energy end-users with actionable personalised information. PMID:29462957

Spontaneous Gender Categorization in Masking and Priming Studies: Key for Distinguishing Jane from John Doe but Not Madonna from Sinatra

PubMed Central

Habibi, Ruth; Khurana, Beena

2012-01-01

Facial recognition is key to social interaction, however with unfamiliar faces only generic information, in the form of facial stereotypes such as gender and age is available. Therefore is generic information more prominent in unfamiliar versus familiar face processing? In order to address the question we tapped into two relatively disparate stages of face processing. At the early stages of encoding, we employed perceptual masking to reveal that only perception of unfamiliar face targets is affected by the gender of the facial masks. At the semantic end; using a priming paradigm, we found that while to-be-ignored unfamiliar faces prime lexical decisions to gender congruent stereotypic words, familiar faces do not. Our findings indicate that gender is a more salient dimension in unfamiliar relative to familiar face processing, both in early perceptual stages as well as later semantic stages of person construal. PMID:22389697

Content-Based Discovery for Web Map Service using Support Vector Machine and User Relevance Feedback

PubMed Central

Cheng, Xiaoqiang; Qi, Kunlun; Zheng, Jie; You, Lan; Wu, Huayi

2016-01-01

Many discovery methods for geographic information services have been proposed. There are approaches for finding and matching geographic information services, methods for constructing geographic information service classification schemes, and automatic geographic information discovery. Overall, the efficiency of the geographic information discovery keeps improving., There are however, still two problems in Web Map Service (WMS) discovery that must be solved. Mismatches between the graphic contents of a WMS and the semantic descriptions in the metadata make discovery difficult for human users. End-users and computers comprehend WMSs differently creating semantic gaps in human-computer interactions. To address these problems, we propose an improved query process for WMSs based on the graphic contents of WMS layers, combining Support Vector Machine (SVM) and user relevance feedback. Our experiments demonstrate that the proposed method can improve the accuracy and efficiency of WMS discovery. PMID:27861505

Content-Based Discovery for Web Map Service using Support Vector Machine and User Relevance Feedback.

PubMed

Hu, Kai; Gui, Zhipeng; Cheng, Xiaoqiang; Qi, Kunlun; Zheng, Jie; You, Lan; Wu, Huayi

2016-01-01

Many discovery methods for geographic information services have been proposed. There are approaches for finding and matching geographic information services, methods for constructing geographic information service classification schemes, and automatic geographic information discovery. Overall, the efficiency of the geographic information discovery keeps improving., There are however, still two problems in Web Map Service (WMS) discovery that must be solved. Mismatches between the graphic contents of a WMS and the semantic descriptions in the metadata make discovery difficult for human users. End-users and computers comprehend WMSs differently creating semantic gaps in human-computer interactions. To address these problems, we propose an improved query process for WMSs based on the graphic contents of WMS layers, combining Support Vector Machine (SVM) and user relevance feedback. Our experiments demonstrate that the proposed method can improve the accuracy and efficiency of WMS discovery.

Facilitators of community participation in an Aboriginal sexual health promotion initiative.

PubMed

Hulme Chambers, Alana; Tomnay, Jane; Stephens, Kylie; Crouch, Alan; Whiteside, Mary; Love, Pettina; McIntosh, Leonie; Waples Crowe, Peter

2018-04-01

Community participation is a collaborative process aimed at achieving community-identified outcomes. However, approaches to community participation within Aboriginal health promotion initiatives have been inconsistent and not well documented. Smart and Deadly was a community-led initiative to develop sexual health promotion resources with young Aboriginal people in regional Victoria, Australia. The principles of community-centred practice, authentic participatory processes and respect for the local cultural context guided the initiative. The aim of this article is to report factors that facilitated community participation undertaken in the Smart and Deadly initiative to inform future projects and provide further evidence in demonstrating the value of such approaches. A summative evaluation of the Smart and Deadly initiative was undertaken approximately 2 years after the initiative ended. Five focus groups and 13 interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 32 participants who were involved with Smart and Deadly in one of the following ways: project participant, stakeholder or project partner, or project developer or designer. A deductive content analysis was undertaken and themes were compared to the YARN model, which was specifically created for planning and evaluating community participation strategies relating to Aboriginal sexual health promotion. A number of factors that facilitated community participation approaches used in Smart and Deadly were identified. The overarching theme was that trust was the foundation upon which the facilitators of community participation ensued. These facilitators were cultural safety and cultural literacy, community control, and legacy and sustainability. Whilst the YARN model was highly productive in identifying these facilitators of community participation, the model did not have provision for the element of trust between workers and community. Given the importance of trust between the project team and the Aboriginal community in the Smart and Deadly initiative, a suggested revision to the YARN model is that trust is included as the basis upon which YARN model factors are predicated. Adding trust to the YARN model as a basis upon which YARN model factors are grounded assists future Aboriginal health promotion projects in ensuring community participation approaches are more likely to be acceptable to the Aboriginal community.

AlzPharm: integration of neurodegeneration data using RDF.

PubMed

Lam, Hugo Y K; Marenco, Luis; Clark, Tim; Gao, Yong; Kinoshita, June; Shepherd, Gordon; Miller, Perry; Wu, Elizabeth; Wong, Gwendolyn T; Liu, Nian; Crasto, Chiquito; Morse, Thomas; Stephens, Susie; Cheung, Kei-Hoi

2007-05-09

Neuroscientists often need to access a wide range of data sets distributed over the Internet. These data sets, however, are typically neither integrated nor interoperable, resulting in a barrier to answering complex neuroscience research questions. Domain ontologies can enable the querying heterogeneous data sets, but they are not sufficient for neuroscience since the data of interest commonly span multiple research domains. To this end, e-Neuroscience seeks to provide an integrated platform for neuroscientists to discover new knowledge through seamless integration of the very diverse types of neuroscience data. Here we present a Semantic Web approach to building this e-Neuroscience framework by using the Resource Description Framework (RDF) and its vocabulary description language, RDF Schema (RDFS), as a standard data model to facilitate both representation and integration of the data. We have constructed a pilot ontology for BrainPharm (a subset of SenseLab) using RDFS and then converted a subset of the BrainPharm data into RDF according to the ontological structure. We have also integrated the converted BrainPharm data with existing RDF hypothesis and publication data from a pilot version of SWAN (Semantic Web Applications in Neuromedicine). Our implementation uses the RDF Data Model in Oracle Database 10g release 2 for data integration, query, and inference, while our Web interface allows users to query the data and retrieve the results in a convenient fashion. Accessing and integrating biomedical data which cuts across multiple disciplines will be increasingly indispensable and beneficial to neuroscience researchers. The Semantic Web approach we undertook has demonstrated a promising way to semantically integrate data sets created independently. It also shows how advanced queries and inferences can be performed over the integrated data, which are hard to achieve using traditional data integration approaches. Our pilot results suggest that our Semantic Web approach is suitable for realizing e-Neuroscience and generic enough to be applied in other biomedical fields.

AlzPharm: integration of neurodegeneration data using RDF

PubMed Central

Lam, Hugo YK; Marenco, Luis; Clark, Tim; Gao, Yong; Kinoshita, June; Shepherd, Gordon; Miller, Perry; Wu, Elizabeth; Wong, Gwendolyn T; Liu, Nian; Crasto, Chiquito; Morse, Thomas; Stephens, Susie; Cheung, Kei-Hoi

2007-01-01

Background Neuroscientists often need to access a wide range of data sets distributed over the Internet. These data sets, however, are typically neither integrated nor interoperable, resulting in a barrier to answering complex neuroscience research questions. Domain ontologies can enable the querying heterogeneous data sets, but they are not sufficient for neuroscience since the data of interest commonly span multiple research domains. To this end, e-Neuroscience seeks to provide an integrated platform for neuroscientists to discover new knowledge through seamless integration of the very diverse types of neuroscience data. Here we present a Semantic Web approach to building this e-Neuroscience framework by using the Resource Description Framework (RDF) and its vocabulary description language, RDF Schema (RDFS), as a standard data model to facilitate both representation and integration of the data. Results We have constructed a pilot ontology for BrainPharm (a subset of SenseLab) using RDFS and then converted a subset of the BrainPharm data into RDF according to the ontological structure. We have also integrated the converted BrainPharm data with existing RDF hypothesis and publication data from a pilot version of SWAN (Semantic Web Applications in Neuromedicine). Our implementation uses the RDF Data Model in Oracle Database 10g release 2 for data integration, query, and inference, while our Web interface allows users to query the data and retrieve the results in a convenient fashion. Conclusion Accessing and integrating biomedical data which cuts across multiple disciplines will be increasingly indispensable and beneficial to neuroscience researchers. The Semantic Web approach we undertook has demonstrated a promising way to semantically integrate data sets created independently. It also shows how advanced queries and inferences can be performed over the integrated data, which are hard to achieve using traditional data integration approaches. Our pilot results suggest that our Semantic Web approach is suitable for realizing e-Neuroscience and generic enough to be applied in other biomedical fields. PMID:17493287

"It Is Hard to Stay in England": Itineraries, Routes, and Dead Ends--An (Im)mobility Study of Nurses Who Became Carers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cuban, Sondra

2010-01-01

This article presents findings from an Economic Social Research Council (ESRC) study on the roles of education in the trajectories of health care professionals who migrated to England and became carers. The study looks at the downward mobility and deskilling of these women, and their struggles to reverse their bungled career paths. The author maps…

These Honored Dead: The Battle of Rivers Bridge and Civil War Combat Casualties. Teaching with Historic Places.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bell, Dan

Encountering the U.S. Civil War on a smaller, human scale makes the conflict more approachable, vivid, and real. Rivers Bridge State Historic Site (South Carolina) offers a glimpse of the Civil War on such a scale. The small area allows visitors to comprehend the entire battlefield, its tactics, and to see how veteran troops near the end of the…

Better Red than Dead--Putting an End to the Social Irrelevance of Postwar Philosophy of Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howard, Don

2009-01-01

This paper asks what is necessary in a theory of science adequate to the task of empowering philosophers of science to participate in public debate about science in a social context. It is argued that an adequate theory of science must be capable of theorizing the role of values and motives in science and that it must take seriously the…

Synchronization for Optical PPM Signals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vilnrotter, V. A.

1985-01-01

Method based on statistical properties of weak pulse-positionmodulated (PPM) signal enables synchronization of receiver clock with received-signal time base. Method applies to weak optical M-ary PPM signals, for which there is only one pulse of length Tp transmitted during one of timeslots of length T in each successive interval of M timeslots. Method requires small dead time, Td, at beginning and end of each timeslot, during which pulse amplitude is zero.

From "Civilising the Young" to a "Dead-End Job": Gender, Teaching, and the Politics of Colonial Rule in Hong Kong (1841-1970)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, Anita Kit-wa

2012-01-01

The feminisation of teaching is an important topic in education and gender studies. Discussions have been enriched by comparative and international studies as well as a gendering perspective in which a complicated view of the role of the state has emerged. In colonial Hong Kong, although the government was limited in its support of teacher…

Counting the DEAD: Did the Dinosaurs and Their Contemporaries Die Out with a Bang or a Whimper?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monastersky, Richard

1992-01-01

Researchers who study the fossil record are seeking to determine whether the impact made by a comet or meteor really did decimate up to half of the life on this planet at the end of the Cretaceous period. Questions whether the extinction of plant and animal life was abrupt, started before the impact, or was a gradual change. (KR)

Suicide Bombers in CONUS

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-05-07

example, the 1972 attack at Tel Aviv’s Lod airport by three Japanese Red Army members (24 dead, 78 wounded) would not qualify as suicide terrorism, since...such actions as the massive Japanese kamikaze (divine wind) campaign near the end of World War II. To put the kamikaze effort in perspective, in...casualties as were suffered during the Pearl Harbor and 9/11 attacks combined. However, the Japanese tactic of using suicidal attackers was regarded

Differential equations in airplane mechanics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carleman, M T

1922-01-01

In the following report, we will first draw some conclusions of purely theoretical interest, from the general equations of motion. At the end, we will consider the motion of an airplane, with the engine dead and with the assumption that the angle of attack remains constant. Thus we arrive at a simple result, which can be rendered practically utilizable for determining the trajectory of an airplane descending at a constant steering angle.

The Arctic Ocean as a dead end for floating plastics in the North Atlantic branch of the Thermohaline Circulation

PubMed Central

Cózar, Andrés; Martí, Elisa; Duarte, Carlos M.; García-de-Lomas, Juan; van Sebille, Erik; Ballatore, Thomas J.; Eguíluz, Victor M.; González-Gordillo, J. Ignacio; Pedrotti, Maria L.; Echevarría, Fidel; Troublè, Romain; Irigoien, Xabier

2017-01-01

The subtropical ocean gyres are recognized as great marine accummulation zones of floating plastic debris; however, the possibility of plastic accumulation at polar latitudes has been overlooked because of the lack of nearby pollution sources. In the present study, the Arctic Ocean was extensively sampled for floating plastic debris from the Tara Oceans circumpolar expedition. Although plastic debris was scarce or absent in most of the Arctic waters, it reached high concentrations (hundreds of thousands of pieces per square kilometer) in the northernmost and easternmost areas of the Greenland and Barents seas. The fragmentation and typology of the plastic suggested an abundant presence of aged debris that originated from distant sources. This hypothesis was corroborated by the relatively high ratios of marine surface plastic to local pollution sources. Surface circulation models and field data showed that the poleward branch of the Thermohaline Circulation transfers floating debris from the North Atlantic to the Greenland and Barents seas, which would be a dead end for this plastic conveyor belt. Given the limited surface transport of the plastic that accumulated here and the mechanisms acting for the downward transport, the seafloor beneath this Arctic sector is hypothesized as an important sink of plastic debris. PMID:28439534

Response of “Alamo” switchgrass tissue chemistry and biomass to nitrogen fertilization in West Tennessee, USA

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Garten, Charles T.; Brice, Deanne J.; Castro, Hector F.

2011-01-01

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is a perennial, warm-season grass that has been identified as a potential biofuel feedstock over a large part of North America. We examined above- and belowground responses to nitrogen fertilization in “Alamo” switchgrass grown in West Tennessee, USA. The fertilizer study included a spring and fall sampling of 5-year old switchgrass grown under annual applications of 0, 67, and 202 kg N ha -1 (as ammonium nitrate). Fertilization changed switchgrass biomass allocation as indicated by root:shoot ratios. End-of-growing season root:shoot ratios (mean ± SE) declined significantly (P ≤ 0.05) at the highest fertilizer nitrogen treatment (2.16 ±more » 0.08, 2.02 ± 0.18, and 0.88 ± 0.14, respectively, at 0, 67, and 202 kg N ha -1). Fertilization also significantly increased above- and belowground nitrogen concentrations and decreased plant C:N ratios. Data are presented for coarse live roots, fine live roots, coarse dead roots, fine dead roots, and rhizomes. At the end of the growing season, there was more carbon and nitrogen stored in belowground biomass than aboveground biomass. Finally, fertilization impacted switchgrass tissue chemistry and biomass allocation in ways that potentially impact soil carbon cycle processes and soil carbon storage.« less

The Arctic Ocean as a dead end for floating plastics in the North Atlantic branch of the Thermohaline Circulation.

PubMed

Cózar, Andrés; Martí, Elisa; Duarte, Carlos M; García-de-Lomas, Juan; van Sebille, Erik; Ballatore, Thomas J; Eguíluz, Victor M; González-Gordillo, J Ignacio; Pedrotti, Maria L; Echevarría, Fidel; Troublè, Romain; Irigoien, Xabier

2017-04-01

The subtropical ocean gyres are recognized as great marine accummulation zones of floating plastic debris; however, the possibility of plastic accumulation at polar latitudes has been overlooked because of the lack of nearby pollution sources. In the present study, the Arctic Ocean was extensively sampled for floating plastic debris from the Tara Oceans circumpolar expedition. Although plastic debris was scarce or absent in most of the Arctic waters, it reached high concentrations (hundreds of thousands of pieces per square kilometer) in the northernmost and easternmost areas of the Greenland and Barents seas. The fragmentation and typology of the plastic suggested an abundant presence of aged debris that originated from distant sources. This hypothesis was corroborated by the relatively high ratios of marine surface plastic to local pollution sources. Surface circulation models and field data showed that the poleward branch of the Thermohaline Circulation transfers floating debris from the North Atlantic to the Greenland and Barents seas, which would be a dead end for this plastic conveyor belt. Given the limited surface transport of the plastic that accumulated here and the mechanisms acting for the downward transport, the seafloor beneath this Arctic sector is hypothesized as an important sink of plastic debris.

Assessment of yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi) as a surrogate host for the production of southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) seed via spermatogonial germ cell transplantation.

PubMed

Bar, Ido; Smith, Andre; Bubner, Erin; Yoshizaki, Goro; Takeuchi, Yutaka; Yazawa, Ryosuke; Chen, Ben Nan; Cummins, Scott; Elizur, Abigail

2016-10-01

Germ cell transplantation is an innovative technology for the production of interspecies surrogates, capable of facilitating easier and more economical management of large-bodied broodstock, such as the bluefin tuna. The present study explored the suitability of yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi) as a surrogate host for transplanted southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) spermatogonial cells to produce tuna donor-derived gametes upon sexual maturity. Germ cell populations in testes of donor T. maccoyii males were described using basic histology and the molecular markers vasa and dead-end genes. The peripheral area of the testis was found to contain the highest proportions of dead-end-expressing transplantable Type A spermatogonia. T. maccoyii Type A spermatogonia-enriched preparations were transplanted into the coelomic cavity of 6-10-day-old post-hatch S. lalandi larvae. Fluorescence microscopy and polymerase chain reaction analysis detected the presence of tuna cells in the gonads of the transplanted kingfish fingerlings at 18, 28, 39 and 75 days after transplantation, indicating that the transplanted cells migrated to the genital ridge and had colonised the developing gonad. T. maccoyii germ cell-derived DNA or RNA was not detected at later stages, suggesting that the donor cells were not maintained in the hosts' gonads.

Recovery of diverse microbes in high turbidity surface water samples using dead-end ultrafiltration

PubMed Central

Mull, Bonnie; Hill, Vincent R.

2015-01-01

Dead-end ultrafiltration (DEUF) has been reported to be a simple, field-deployable technique for recovering bacteria, viruses, and parasites from large-volume water samples for water quality testing and waterborne disease investigations. While DEUF has been reported for application to water samples having relatively low turbidity, little information is available regarding recovery efficiencies for this technique when applied to sampling turbid water samples such as those commonly found in lakes and rivers. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a DEUF technique for recoveringMS2 bacteriophage, enterococci, Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens, and Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in surface water samples having elevated turbidity. Average recovery efficiencies for each study microbe across all turbidity ranges were: MS2 (66%), C. parvum (49%), enterococci (85%), E. coli (81%), and C. perfringens (63%). The recovery efficiencies for MS2 and C. perfringens exhibited an inversely proportional relationship with turbidity, however no significant differences in recovery were observed for C. parvum, enterococci, or E. coli. Although ultrafilter clogging was observed, the DEUF method was able to process 100-L surface water samples at each turbidity level within 60 min. This study supports the use of the DEUF method for recovering a wide array of microbes in large-volume surface water samples having medium to high turbidity. PMID:23064261

Recovery of diverse microbes in high turbidity surface water samples using dead-end ultrafiltration.

PubMed

Mull, Bonnie; Hill, Vincent R

2012-12-01

Dead-end ultrafiltration (DEUF) has been reported to be a simple, field-deployable technique for recovering bacteria, viruses, and parasites from large-volume water samples for water quality testing and waterborne disease investigations. While DEUF has been reported for application to water samples having relatively low turbidity, little information is available regarding recovery efficiencies for this technique when applied to sampling turbid water samples such as those commonly found in lakes and rivers. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a DEUF technique for recovering MS2 bacteriophage, enterococci, Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens, and Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in surface water samples having elevated turbidity. Average recovery efficiencies for each study microbe across all turbidity ranges were: MS2 (66%), C. parvum (49%), enterococci (85%), E. coli (81%), and C. perfringens (63%). The recovery efficiencies for MS2 and C. perfringens exhibited an inversely proportional relationship with turbidity, however no significant differences in recovery were observed for C. parvum, enterococci, or E. coli. Although ultrafilter clogging was observed, the DEUF method was able to process 100-L surface water samples at each turbidity level within 60 min. This study supports the use of the DEUF method for recovering a wide array of microbes in large-volume surface water samples having medium to high turbidity. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Pervasive brain monitoring and data sharing based on multi-tier distributed computing and linked data technology

PubMed Central

Zao, John K.; Gan, Tchin-Tze; You, Chun-Kai; Chung, Cheng-En; Wang, Yu-Te; Rodríguez Méndez, Sergio José; Mullen, Tim; Yu, Chieh; Kothe, Christian; Hsiao, Ching-Teng; Chu, San-Liang; Shieh, Ce-Kuen; Jung, Tzyy-Ping

2014-01-01

EEG-based Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) are facing basic challenges in real-world applications. The technical difficulties in developing truly wearable BCI systems that are capable of making reliable real-time prediction of users' cognitive states in dynamic real-life situations may seem almost insurmountable at times. Fortunately, recent advances in miniature sensors, wireless communication and distributed computing technologies offered promising ways to bridge these chasms. In this paper, we report an attempt to develop a pervasive on-line EEG-BCI system using state-of-art technologies including multi-tier Fog and Cloud Computing, semantic Linked Data search, and adaptive prediction/classification models. To verify our approach, we implement a pilot system by employing wireless dry-electrode EEG headsets and MEMS motion sensors as the front-end devices, Android mobile phones as the personal user interfaces, compact personal computers as the near-end Fog Servers and the computer clusters hosted by the Taiwan National Center for High-performance Computing (NCHC) as the far-end Cloud Servers. We succeeded in conducting synchronous multi-modal global data streaming in March and then running a multi-player on-line EEG-BCI game in September, 2013. We are currently working with the ARL Translational Neuroscience Branch to use our system in real-life personal stress monitoring and the UCSD Movement Disorder Center to conduct in-home Parkinson's disease patient monitoring experiments. We shall proceed to develop the necessary BCI ontology and introduce automatic semantic annotation and progressive model refinement capability to our system. PMID:24917804

Pervasive brain monitoring and data sharing based on multi-tier distributed computing and linked data technology.

PubMed

Zao, John K; Gan, Tchin-Tze; You, Chun-Kai; Chung, Cheng-En; Wang, Yu-Te; Rodríguez Méndez, Sergio José; Mullen, Tim; Yu, Chieh; Kothe, Christian; Hsiao, Ching-Teng; Chu, San-Liang; Shieh, Ce-Kuen; Jung, Tzyy-Ping

2014-01-01

EEG-based Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) are facing basic challenges in real-world applications. The technical difficulties in developing truly wearable BCI systems that are capable of making reliable real-time prediction of users' cognitive states in dynamic real-life situations may seem almost insurmountable at times. Fortunately, recent advances in miniature sensors, wireless communication and distributed computing technologies offered promising ways to bridge these chasms. In this paper, we report an attempt to develop a pervasive on-line EEG-BCI system using state-of-art technologies including multi-tier Fog and Cloud Computing, semantic Linked Data search, and adaptive prediction/classification models. To verify our approach, we implement a pilot system by employing wireless dry-electrode EEG headsets and MEMS motion sensors as the front-end devices, Android mobile phones as the personal user interfaces, compact personal computers as the near-end Fog Servers and the computer clusters hosted by the Taiwan National Center for High-performance Computing (NCHC) as the far-end Cloud Servers. We succeeded in conducting synchronous multi-modal global data streaming in March and then running a multi-player on-line EEG-BCI game in September, 2013. We are currently working with the ARL Translational Neuroscience Branch to use our system in real-life personal stress monitoring and the UCSD Movement Disorder Center to conduct in-home Parkinson's disease patient monitoring experiments. We shall proceed to develop the necessary BCI ontology and introduce automatic semantic annotation and progressive model refinement capability to our system.

Development and Validation of a Tool to Evaluate the Evolution of Clinical Reasoning in Trauma Using Virtual Patients.

PubMed

Fleiszer, David; Hoover, Michael L; Posel, Nancy; Razek, Tarek; Bergman, Simon

Undergraduate medical students at a large academic trauma center are required to manage a series of online virtual trauma patients as a mandatory exercise during their surgical rotation. Clinical reasoning during undergraduate medical education can be difficult to assess. The purpose of the study was to determine whether we could use components of the students' virtual patient management to measure changes in their clinical reasoning over the course of the clerkship year. In order to accomplish this, we decided to determine if the use of scoring rubrics could change the traditional subjective assessment to a more objective evaluation. Two groups of students, one at the beginning of clerkship (Juniors) and one at the end of clerkship (Seniors), were chosen. Each group was given the same virtual patient case, a clinical scenario based on the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) Primary Trauma Survey, which had to be completed during their trauma rotation. The learner was required to make several key patient management choices based on their clinical reasoning, which would take them along different routes through the case. At the end of the case they had to create a summary report akin to sign-off. These summaries were graded independently by two domain "Experts" using a traditional subjective surgical approach to assessment and by two "Non-Experts" using two internally validated scoring rubrics. One rubric assessed procedural or domain knowledge (Procedural Rubric), while the other rubric highlighted semantic qualifiers (Semantic Rubric). Each of the rubrics was designed to reflect established components of clinical reasoning. Student's t-tests were used to compare the rubric scores for the two groups and Cohen's d was used to determine effect size. Kendall's τ was used to compare the difference between the two groups based on the "Expert's" subjective assessment. Inter-rater reliability (IRR) was determined using Cronbach's alpha. The Seniors did better than the Juniors with respect to "Procedural" issues but not for "Semantic" issues using the rubrics as assessed by the "Non-Experts". The average Procedural rubric score for the Senior group was 59% ± 13% while for the junior group, it was 51% ± 12% (t (80) = 2.715; p = 0.008; Cohen's d = 1.53). The average Semantic rubric score for the Senior group was 31% ± 15% while for the Junior group, it was 28% ± 14% (t (80) = 1.010; p = .316, ns). There was no statistical difference in the marks given to the Senior versus Junior groups by the "Experts" (Kendall's τ = 0.182, p = 0.07). The IRR between the "Non-Experts" using the rubrics was higher than the IRR of the "Experts" using the traditional surgical approach to assessment. The Cronbach's alpha for the Procedural and Semantic rubrics was 0.94 and 0.97, respectively, indicating very high IRR. The correlation between the Procedural rubric scores and "Experts" assessment was approximately r = 0.78, and that between the Semantic rubric and the "Experts" assessment was roughly r = 0.66, indicating high concurrent validity for the Procedural rubric and moderately high validity for the Semantic rubric. Clinical reasoning, as measured by some of its "procedural" features, improves over the course of the clerkship year. Rubrics can be created to objectively assess the summary statement of an online interactive trauma VP for "procedural" issues but not for "semantic" issues. Using IRR as a measure, the quality of assessment is improved using the rubrics. The "Procedural" rubric appears to measure changes in clinical reasoning over the course of 3rd-year undergraduate clinical studies. Copyright © 2017 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Perception of conversations: the importance of semantics and intonation in children's development.

PubMed

Keitel, Anne; Prinz, Wolfgang; Friederici, Angela D; von Hofsten, Claes; Daum, Moritz M

2013-10-01

In conversations, adults readily detect and anticipate the end of a speaker's turn. However, little is known about the development of this ability. We addressed two important aspects involved in the perception of conversational turn taking: semantic content and intonational form. The influence of semantics was investigated by testing prelinguistic and linguistic children. The influence of intonation was tested by presenting participants with videos of two dyadic conversations: one with normal intonation and one with flattened (removed) intonation. Children of four different age groups--two prelinguistic groups (6- and 12-month-olds) and two linguistic groups (24- and 36-month-olds)--and an adult group participated. Their eye movements were recorded, and the frequency of anticipated turns was analyzed. Our results show that (a) the anticipation of turns was reliable only in 3-year-olds and adults, with younger children shifting their gaze between speakers regardless of the turn taking, and (b) only 3-year-olds anticipated turns better if intonation was normal. These results indicate that children anticipate turns in conversations in a manner comparable (but not identical) to adults only after they have developed a sophisticated understanding of language. In contrast to adults, 3-year-olds rely more strongly on prosodic information during the perception of conversational turn taking. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Lexical prediction via forward models: N400 evidence from German Sign Language.

PubMed

Hosemann, Jana; Herrmann, Annika; Steinbach, Markus; Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, Ina; Schlesewsky, Matthias

2013-09-01

Models of language processing in the human brain often emphasize the prediction of upcoming input-for example in order to explain the rapidity of language understanding. However, the precise mechanisms of prediction are still poorly understood. Forward models, which draw upon the language production system to set up expectations during comprehension, provide a promising approach in this regard. Here, we present an event-related potential (ERP) study on German Sign Language (DGS) which tested the hypotheses of a forward model perspective on prediction. Sign languages involve relatively long transition phases between one sign and the next, which should be anticipated as part of a forward model-based prediction even though they are semantically empty. Native speakers of DGS watched videos of naturally signed DGS sentences which either ended with an expected or a (semantically) unexpected sign. Unexpected signs engendered a biphasic N400-late positivity pattern. Crucially, N400 onset preceded critical sign onset and was thus clearly elicited by properties of the transition phase. The comprehension system thereby clearly anticipated modality-specific information about the realization of the predicted semantic item. These results provide strong converging support for the application of forward models in language comprehension. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enabling interoperability in planetary sciences and heliophysics: The case for an information model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hughes, J. Steven; Crichton, Daniel J.; Raugh, Anne C.; Cecconi, Baptiste; Guinness, Edward A.; Isbell, Christopher E.; Mafi, Joseph N.; Gordon, Mitchell K.; Hardman, Sean H.; Joyner, Ronald S.

2018-01-01

The Planetary Data System has developed the PDS4 Information Model to enable interoperability across diverse science disciplines. The Information Model is based on an integration of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) level standards for trusted digital archives, information model development, and metadata registries. Where controlled vocabularies provides a basic level of interoperability by providing a common set of terms for communication between both machines and humans the Information Model improves interoperability by means of an ontology that provides semantic information or additional related context for the terms. The information model was defined by team of computer scientists and science experts from each of the diverse disciplines in the Planetary Science community, including Atmospheres, Geosciences, Cartography and Imaging Sciences, Navigational and Ancillary Information, Planetary Plasma Interactions, Ring-Moon Systems, and Small Bodies. The model was designed to be extensible beyond the Planetary Science community, for example there are overlaps between certain PDS disciplines and the Heliophysics and Astrophysics disciplines. "Interoperability" can apply to many aspects of both the developer and the end-user experience, for example agency-to-agency, semantic level, and application level interoperability. We define these types of interoperability and focus on semantic level interoperability, the type of interoperability most directly enabled by an information model.

A system for the automated data-acquisition of fast transient signals in excitable membranes.

PubMed

Bustamante, J O

1988-01-01

This paper provides a description of a system for the acquisition of fast transient currents flowing across excitable membranes. The front end of the system consists of a CAMAC crate with plug-in modules. The modules provide control of CAMAC operations, analog to digital conversion, electronic memory storage and timing of events. The signals are transferred under direct memory access to an IBM PC microcomputer through a special-purpose interface. Voltage levels from a digital to analog board in the microcomputer are passed through multiplexers to produce the desired voltage pulse patterns to elicit the transmembrane currents. The dead time between consecutive excitatory voltage pulses is limited only by the computer data bus and the software characteristics. The dead time between data transfers can be reduced to the order of milliseconds, which is sufficient for most experiments with transmembrane ionic currents.

Variable displacement blower

DOEpatents

Bookout, Charles C.; Stotts, Robert E.; Waring, Douglass R.; Folsom, Lawrence R.

1986-01-01

A blower having a stationary casing for rotatably supporting a rotor assembly having a series of open ended chambers arranged to close against the surrounding walls of the casing. Pistons are slidably mounted within each chamber with the center of rotation of the pistons being offset in regard to the center of rotation of the rotor assembly whereby the pistons reciprocate in the chambers as the rotor assembly turns. As inlet port communicates with the rotor assembly to deliver a working substance into the chamber as the pistons approach a top dead center position in the chamber while an outlet port also communicates with the rotor to exhaust the working substance as the pistons approach a bottom dead center position. The displacement of the blower is varied by adjusting the amount of eccentricity between the center of rotation of the pistons and the center of rotation of the rotor assembly.

Kinase-dead ATM protein causes genomic instability and early embryonic lethality in mice.

PubMed

Yamamoto, Kenta; Wang, Yunyue; Jiang, Wenxia; Liu, Xiangyu; Dubois, Richard L; Lin, Chyuan-Sheng; Ludwig, Thomas; Bakkenist, Christopher J; Zha, Shan

2012-08-06

Ataxia telangiectasia (A-T) mutated (ATM) kinase orchestrates deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage responses by phosphorylating numerous substrates implicated in DNA repair and cell cycle checkpoint activation. A-T patients and mouse models that express no ATM protein undergo normal embryonic development but exhibit pleiotropic DNA repair defects. In this paper, we report that mice carrying homozygous kinase-dead mutations in Atm (Atm(KD/KD)) died during early embryonic development. Atm(KD/-) cells exhibited proliferation defects and genomic instability, especially chromatid breaks, at levels higher than Atm(-/-) cells. Despite this increased genomic instability, Atm(KD/-) lymphocytes progressed through variable, diversity, and joining recombination and immunoglobulin class switch recombination, two events requiring nonhomologous end joining, at levels comparable to Atm(-/-) lymphocytes. Together, these results reveal an essential function of ATM during embryogenesis and an important function of catalytically inactive ATM protein in DNA repair.

Lithospheric strength variations as a control on new plate boundaries: examples from the northern Red Sea region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steckler, Michael S.; ten Brink, Uri S.

1986-08-01

The complex plate boundary between Arabia and Africa at the northern end of the Red Sea includes the Gulf of Suez rift and the Gulf of Aqaba—Dead Sea transform. Geologic evidence indicates that during the earliest phase of rifting the Red Sea propagated NNW towards the Mediterranean Sea creating the Gulf of Suez. Subsequently, the majority of the relative movement between the plates shifted eastward to the Dead Sea transform. We propose that an increase in the strength of the lithosphere across the Mediterranean continental margin acted as a barrier to the propagation of the rift. A new plate boundary, the Dead Sea transform formed along a zone of minimum strength. We present an analysis of lithospheric strength variations across the Mediterranean continental margin. The main factors controlling these variations are the geotherm, crustal thickness and composition, and sediment thickness. The analysis predicts a characteristic strength profile at continental margins which consists of a marked increase in strength seaward of the hinge zone and a strength minimum landward of the hinge zone. This strength profile also favors the creation of thin continental slivers such as the Levant west of the Dead Sea transform and the continental promontory containing Socotra Island at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden. Calculations of strength variations based on changes of crustal thickness, geotherm and sediment thickness can be extended to other geologic settings as well. They can explain the location of rerifting events at intracratonic basins, of backarc basins and of major continental strike-slip zones.

Registry of the Japanese society of lung and heart-lung transplantation: the official Japanese lung transplantation report 2012.

PubMed

Oto, Takahiro; Okada, Yoshinori; Bando, Toru; Minami, Masato; Shiraishi, Takeshi; Nagayasu, Takeshi; Chida, Masayuki; Okumura, Meinoshin; Date, Hiroshi; Miyoshi, Shinichiro; Kondo, Takashi

2013-04-01

The Japanese Organ Transplant Law was amended, and the revised law took effect in July 2010 to overcome extreme donor shortage and to increase the availability of donor organs from brain-dead donors. It is now possible to procure organs from children. The year 2011 was the first year that it was possible to examine the results of this first extensive revision of the Japanese Organ Transplant Law, which took effect in 1997. Currently, seven transplant centers, including Tohoku, Dokkyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Okayama, Fukuoka and Nagasaki Universities, are authorized to perform lung transplantation in Japan, and by the end of 2011, a total of 239 lung transplants had been performed. The number of transplants per year and the ratio of brain-dead donor transplants increased dramatically after the revision of the Japanese Organ Transplant Law. The survival rates for lung transplant recipients registered with the Japanese Society for Lung and Heart-lung Transplantation were 93.3 % at 1 month, 91.5 % at 3 months, 86.3 % at 1 year, 79.0 % at 3 years, and 73.1 % at 5 years. The survival curves for brain-dead donor and living-donor lung transplantation were similar. The survival outcomes for both brain-dead and living-donor lung transplants were better than those reported by the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. However, donor shortage remains a limitation of lung transplantation in Japan. The lung transplant centers in Japan should continue to make a special effort to save critically ill patients waiting for lung transplantation.

A note on the correlation between geophysical observations and seismicity in the Arava/(Araba) Valley at the southern part of the Dead Sea fault

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rybakov, M.; Shapira, A.; Al-Zoubi, A.; ten Brink, Uri S.; Hofstetter, R.; Kraeva, N.; Feldman, L.

2006-01-01

The spatial distribution of the earthquakes in the Arava Valley, a 150-km section of the Dead Sea Transform, is compared for the first time with the local subsurface geological features derived from geophysical and geological data. Gravity data suggested that the Gharandal, Timna, and Elat basins were filled by low-density young sediments. These features were confirmed by seismic reflection profiles and high-resolution aeromagnetic (HRAM) survey. The HRAM survey delineated the trace of the Dead Sea Transform (DST), which separates magnetic anomalies in the eastern and western parts of the valley, and revealed the occurrence of the unknown deep magmatics. Overall, the earthquake activity appears to be strongly related to the Dead Sea Transform. However, on a local scale, there is no apparent correlation between the seismicity and the mapped fault segments comprising the DST fault system. Absence of the correlation may be a result of insufficient accuracy of the earthquake localization and/or the inclined fault plane. However, in spite of such inaccuracy, it is clearly observed that the large clusters of the low-magnitude earthquakes coincide well with the sedimentary basins. Two pronounced clusters appear to coincide with the subsurface magmatics. We assume that the subsurface geology predetermines areas of stress accumulation and earthquakes. These areas can be the end of faults, or fault jogs, which sometimes create basins. Magmatism can also be affected by the stress field and predetermine the stress and earthquakes' allocation. ?? 2007 Science From Israel/LPPLtd.

The death assemblage as a marker for habitat and an indicator of climate change: Georges Bank, surfclams and ocean quahogs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Powell, Eric N.; Kuykendall, Kelsey M.; Moreno, Paula

2017-06-01

A comprehensive dataset for the Georges Bank region is used to directly compare the distribution of the death assemblage and the living community at large spatial scales and to assess the application of the death assemblage in tracking changes in species' distributional pattern as a consequence of climate change. Focus is placed on the biomass-dominant clam species of the northwest Atlantic continental shelf: the surfclam Spisula solidissima and the ocean quahog Arctica islandica, for which extensive datasets exist on the distributions of the living population and the death assemblage. For both surfclams and ocean quahogs, the distribution of dead shells, in the main, tracked the distribution of live animals relatively closely. Thus, for both species, the presence of dead shells was a positive indicator of present, recent, or past occupation by live animals. Shell dispersion within habitat was greater for surfclams than for ocean quahogs either due to spatial time averaging, animals not living in all habitable areas all of the time, or parautochthonous redistribution of shell. The regional distribution of dead shell differed from the distribution of live animals, for both species, in a systematic way indicative of range shifts due to climate change. In each case the differential distribution was consistent with warming of the northwest Atlantic. Present-day overlap of live surfclams with live ocean quahogs was consistent with the expectation that the surfclam's range is shifting into deeper water in response to the recent warming trend. The presence of locations devoid of dead shells where live surfclams nevertheless were collected measures the recentness of this event. The presence of dead ocean quahog shells at shallower depths than live ocean quahogs offers good evidence that a range shift has occurred in the past, but prior to the initiation of routine surveys in 1980. Possibly, this range shift tracks initial colonization at the end of the Little Ice Age.

Attitudes towards end-of-life decisions and the subjective concepts of consciousness: an empirical analysis.

PubMed

Lotto, Lorella; Manfrinati, Andrea; Rigoni, Davide; Rumiati, Rino; Sartori, Giuseppe; Birbaumer, Niels

2012-01-01

People have fought for their civil rights, primarily the right to live in dignity. At present, the development of technology in medicine and healthcare led to an apparent paradox: many people are fighting for the right to die. This study was aimed at testing whether different moral principles are associated with different attitudes towards end-of-life decisions for patients with a severe brain damage. We focused on the ethical decisions about withdrawing life-sustaining treatments in patients with severe brain damage. 202 undergraduate students at the University of Padova were given one description drawn from four profiles describing different pathological states: the permanent vegetative state, the minimally conscious state, the locked-in syndrome, and the terminal illness. Participants were asked to evaluate how dead or how alive the patient was, and how appropriate it was to satisfy the patient's desire. We found that the moral principles in which people believe affect not only people's judgments concerning the appropriateness of the withdrawal of life support, but also the perception of the death status of patients with severe brain injury. In particular, we found that the supporters of the Free Choice (FC) principle perceived the death status of the patients with different pathologies differently: the more people believe in the FC, the more they perceived patients as dead in pathologies where conscious awareness is severely impaired. By contrast, participants who agree with the Sanctity of Life (SL) principle did not show differences across pathologies. These results may shed light on the complex aspects of moral consensus for supporting or rejecting end-of-life decisions.

The Semantic Distance Task: Quantifying Semantic Distance with Semantic Network Path Length

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kenett, Yoed N.; Levi, Effi; Anaki, David; Faust, Miriam

2017-01-01

Semantic distance is a determining factor in cognitive processes, such as semantic priming, operating upon semantic memory. The main computational approach to compute semantic distance is through latent semantic analysis (LSA). However, objections have been raised against this approach, mainly in its failure at predicting semantic priming. We…

Blood vessels segmentation of hatching eggs based on fully convolutional networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geng, Lei; Qiu, Ling; Wu, Jun; Xiao, Zhitao

2018-04-01

FCN, trained end-to-end, pixels-to-pixels, predict result of each pixel. It has been widely used for semantic segmentation. In order to realize the blood vessels segmentation of hatching eggs, a method based on FCN is proposed in this paper. The training datasets are composed of patches extracted from very few images to augment data. The network combines with lower layer and deconvolution to enables precise segmentation. The proposed method frees from the problem that training deep networks need large scale samples. Experimental results on hatching eggs demonstrate that this method can yield more accurate segmentation outputs than previous researches. It provides a convenient reference for fertility detection subsequently.

Server-Controlled Identity-Based Authenticated Key Exchange

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Hua; Mu, Yi; Zhang, Xiyong; Li, Zhoujun

We present a threshold identity-based authenticated key exchange protocol that can be applied to an authenticated server-controlled gateway-user key exchange. The objective is to allow a user and a gateway to establish a shared session key with the permission of the back-end servers, while the back-end servers cannot obtain any information about the established session key. Our protocol has potential applications in strong access control of confidential resources. In particular, our protocol possesses the semantic security and demonstrates several highly-desirable security properties such as key privacy and transparency. We prove the security of the protocol based on the Bilinear Diffie-Hellman assumption in the random oracle model.

Lake Erie walleyes--again on the upswing?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Seldon, Charles P.; Van Meter, Harry D.

1960-01-01

SUMMARY The effect of DDT dust on wildlife was studied at Camp Bullis, Bexar County, Texas, in the summer of 1947. Studies were made on a 206.6 acre plot that was treated with DDT for experimental control of the Lone Star tick (Amblyomrna americanum). A dust consisting of one part of DDT to nine parts of pyrophyllite was applied at an average rate of 4.4 pounds of DDT per acre. The limits of DDT concentration that affected wildlife cannot be stated exactly because of a heavy rain that fell near the end of the dusting, and because of irregularity in DDT deposition. Since absolute uniformity of dusting could not be expected in any large scale DDT application, the effects observed in these trials were probably fairly representative. However, continued dry weather would have permitted longer exposure to DDT, possibly with more severe effects than those found in this study. The vegetation of the experimental area was roughly 70 percent ungrazed tall-grass prairie and 30 percent trees and shrubs. Ground and bush feeding birds were severely affected. Cardinals, lark sparrows, field sparrows, Bewick's wrens, Carolina wrens, Kentucky warblers, yellow-breasted chats, blue grosbeaks, and painted buntings were nearly or entirely eliminated from the treated area. Birds affected, but less drastically reduced in numbers, were yellow-billed cuckoo, black and white warbler, yellow-throated vireo, and white-eyed vireo. Birds found dead in the DDT area were 9 cardinals, 2 painted buntings, 2 lark sparrows, 1 yellow-breasted chat, and 1 white-eyed vireo. Bird mortality had begun by the day after dusting and was largely over by the end of the fifth day. Census of deer in DDT and check areas before and after treatment showed no reduction in deer numbers and no diminution in use of the DDT area. No deer or fawns were found dead or affected. Box-trapping of raccoons in DDT and check areas before and after treatment showed no effects that could be attributed to DDT. Limited observations on armadillos, striped skunks, and rabbits gave no indication of pronounced damage to these forms. No mammals of any kind were found dead or affected in or near the DDT area. Four rough green snakes and one Texan spiny lizard were found dead in the DDT area. Mortality was probably high among insectivorous reptiles.

Wildlife effects of DDT dust used for tick control on a Texas prairie

USGS Publications Warehouse

George, J.L.; Stickel, W.H.

1949-01-01

SUMMARY The effect of DDT dust on wildlife was studied at Camp Bullis, Bexar County, Texas, in the summer of 1947. Studies were made on a 206.6 acre plot that was treated with DDT for experimental control of the Lone Star tick (Amblyomrna americanum). A dust consisting of one part of DDT to nine parts of pyrophyllite was applied at an average rate of 4.4 pounds of DDT per acre. The limits of DDT concentration that affected wildlife cannot be stated exactly because of a heavy rain that fell near the end of the dusting, and because of irregularity in DDT deposition. Since absolute uniformity of dusting could not be expected in any large scale DDT application, the effects observed in these trials were probably fairly representative. However, continued dry weather would have permitted longer exposure to DDT, possibly with more severe effects than those found in this study. The vegetation of the experimental area was roughly 70 percent ungrazed tall-grass prairie and 30 percent trees and shrubs. Ground and bush feeding birds were severely affected. Cardinals, lark sparrows, field sparrows, Bewick's wrens, Carolina wrens, Kentucky warblers, yellow-breasted chats, blue grosbeaks, and painted buntings were nearly or entirely eliminated from the treated area. Birds affected, but less drastically reduced in numbers, were yellow-billed cuckoo, black and white warbler, yellow-throated vireo, and white-eyed vireo. Birds found dead in the DDT area were 9 cardinals, 2 painted buntings, 2 lark sparrows, 1 yellow-breasted chat, and 1 white-eyed vireo. Bird mortality had begun by the day after dusting and was largely over by the end of the fifth day. Census of deer in DDT and check areas before and after treatment showed no reduction in deer numbers and no diminution in use of the DDT area. No deer or fawns were found dead or affected. Box-trapping of raccoons in DDT and check areas before and after treatment showed no effects that could be attributed to DDT. Limited observations on armadillos, striped skunks, and rabbits gave no indication of pronounced damage to these forms. No mammals of any kind were found dead or affected in or near the DDT area. Four rough green snakes and one Texan spiny lizard were found dead in the DDT area. Mortality was probably high among insectivorous reptiles.

Detritus feeding as a buffer to extinction at the end of the Cretaceous

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sheehan, P.M.; Hansen, T.A.

1986-10-01

At the end of the Cretaceous the principal animals that became extinct, such as dinosaurs, marine animals that lived in the water column, and benthic filter feeders, were in food chains tied directly to living plant matter. Animal groups less affected by extinction, including marine benthic scavengers and deposit feeders, small insectivorous mammals, and members of stream communities, were in food chains dependent on dead plant material. The proposal that an asteroid or comet impact at the end of the Cretaceous produced a dust cloud that cut off photosynthesis for several months is consistent with this pattern of extinction. Foodmore » chains dependent on living plant matter crashed, while food chains based on detritus were buffered from extinction because there was a food supply adequate for the interval when photosynthesis was halted.« less

Semantic Memory in the Clinical Progression of Alzheimer Disease.

PubMed

Tchakoute, Christophe T; Sainani, Kristin L; Henderson, Victor W

2017-09-01

Semantic memory measures may be useful in tracking and predicting progression of Alzheimer disease. We investigated relationships among semantic memory tasks and their 1-year predictive value in women with Alzheimer disease. We conducted secondary analyses of a randomized clinical trial of raloxifene in 42 women with late-onset mild-to-moderate Alzheimer disease. We assessed semantic memory with tests of oral confrontation naming, category fluency, semantic recognition and semantic naming, and semantic density in written narrative discourse. We measured global cognition (Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale, cognitive subscale), dementia severity (Clinical Dementia Rating sum of boxes), and daily function (Activities of Daily Living Inventory) at baseline and 1 year. At baseline and 1 year, most semantic memory scores correlated highly or moderately with each other and with global cognition, dementia severity, and daily function. Semantic memory task performance at 1 year had worsened one-third to one-half standard deviation. Factor analysis of baseline test scores distinguished processes in semantic and lexical retrieval (semantic recognition, semantic naming, confrontation naming) from processes in lexical search (semantic density, category fluency). The semantic-lexical retrieval factor predicted global cognition at 1 year. Considered separately, baseline confrontation naming and category fluency predicted dementia severity, while semantic recognition and a composite of semantic recognition and semantic naming predicted global cognition. No individual semantic memory test predicted daily function. Semantic-lexical retrieval and lexical search may represent distinct aspects of semantic memory. Semantic memory processes are sensitive to cognitive decline and dementia severity in Alzheimer disease.

Planning Assembly Of Large Truss Structures In Outer Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

De Mello, Luiz S. Homem; Desai, Rajiv S.

1992-01-01

Report dicusses developmental algorithm used in systematic planning of sequences of operations in which large truss structures assembled in outer space. Assembly sequence represented by directed graph called "assembly graph", in which each arc represents joining of two parts or subassemblies. Algorithm generates assembly graph, working backward from state of complete assembly to initial state, in which all parts disassembled. Working backward more efficient than working forward because it avoids intermediate dead ends.

Geographic Unified Commands (GUCs): A Necessary Step Towards Achieving Unified Action

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-10-23

in more than 150,000 dead or missing, and millions more homeless by the end of the first day17. The enormity of the crisis and lack of applicable... lacking appropriate representation), are never corrected and the ability to execute the plan is significantly impacted. Department of State and other...governmental agency planning organizations typically lack the depth of military personnel, with required joint expertise, that are needed to

Beyond College for All: Career Paths for the Forgotten Half. A Volume in the American Sociological Association's Rose Series in Sociology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenbaum, James E.

This book discusses problems facing U.S. high school graduates who do not continue their education, noting that many cannot find jobs, and those who do are often stuck in low-wage, dead-end positions. At the same time, employers complain that high school graduates lack the necessary skills for today's workplace. The book looks at new studies of…

End-of-Life Dreams and Visions: A Qualitative Perspective From Hospice Patients.

PubMed

Nosek, Cheryl L; Kerr, Christopher W; Woodworth, Julie; Wright, Scott T; Grant, Pei C; Kuszczak, Sarah M; Banas, Anne; Luczkiewicz, Debra L; Depner, Rachel M

2015-05-01

End-of-life dreams and visions (ELDVs) are well documented throughout history and across cultures with impact on the dying person and their loved ones having profound meaning. Published studies on ELDVs are primarily based on surveys or interviews with clinicians or families of dead persons. This study uniquely examined patient dreams and visions from their personal perspective. This article reports the qualitative findings from dreams and visions of 63 hospice patients. Inductive content analysis was used to examine the content and subjective significance of ELDVs. Six categories emerged: comforting presence, preparing to go, watching or engaging with the deceased, loved ones waiting, distressing experiences, and unfinished business. © The Author(s) 2014.

Legacy2Drupal - Conversion of an existing oceanographic relational database to a semantically enabled Drupal content management system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maffei, A. R.; Chandler, C. L.; Work, T.; Allen, J.; Groman, R. C.; Fox, P. A.

2009-12-01

Content Management Systems (CMSs) provide powerful features that can be of use to oceanographic (and other geo-science) data managers. However, in many instances, geo-science data management offices have previously designed customized schemas for their metadata. The WHOI Ocean Informatics initiative and the NSF funded Biological Chemical and Biological Data Management Office (BCO-DMO) have jointly sponsored a project to port an existing, relational database containing oceanographic metadata, along with an existing interface coded in Cold Fusion middleware, to a Drupal6 Content Management System. The goal was to translate all the existing database tables, input forms, website reports, and other features present in the existing system to employ Drupal CMS features. The replacement features include Drupal content types, CCK node-reference fields, themes, RDB, SPARQL, workflow, and a number of other supporting modules. Strategic use of some Drupal6 CMS features enables three separate but complementary interfaces that provide access to oceanographic research metadata via the MySQL database: 1) a Drupal6-powered front-end; 2) a standard SQL port (used to provide a Mapserver interface to the metadata and data; and 3) a SPARQL port (feeding a new faceted search capability being developed). Future plans include the creation of science ontologies, by scientist/technologist teams, that will drive semantically-enabled faceted search capabilities planned for the site. Incorporation of semantic technologies included in the future Drupal 7 core release is also anticipated. Using a public domain CMS as opposed to proprietary middleware, and taking advantage of the many features of Drupal 6 that are designed to support semantically-enabled interfaces will help prepare the BCO-DMO database for interoperability with other ecosystem databases.

Using latent semantic analysis and the predication algorithm to improve extraction of meanings from a diagnostic corpus.

PubMed

Jorge-Botana, Guillermo; Olmos, Ricardo; León, José Antonio

2009-11-01

There is currently a widespread interest in indexing and extracting taxonomic information from large text collections. An example is the automatic categorization of informally written medical or psychological diagnoses, followed by the extraction of epidemiological information or even terms and structures needed to formulate guiding questions as an heuristic tool for helping doctors. Vector space models have been successfully used to this end (Lee, Cimino, Zhu, Sable, Shanker, Ely & Yu, 2006; Pakhomov, Buntrock & Chute, 2006). In this study we use a computational model known as Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) on a diagnostic corpus with the aim of retrieving definitions (in the form of lists of semantic neighbors) of common structures it contains (e.g. "storm phobia", "dog phobia") or less common structures that might be formed by logical combinations of categories and diagnostic symptoms (e.g. "gun personality" or "germ personality"). In the quest to bring definitions into line with the meaning of structures and make them in some way representative, various problems commonly arise while recovering content using vector space models. We propose some approaches which bypass these problems, such as Kintsch's (2001) predication algorithm and some corrections to the way lists of neighbors are obtained, which have already been tested on semantic spaces in a non-specific domain (Jorge-Botana, León, Olmos & Hassan-Montero, under review). The results support the idea that the predication algorithm may also be useful for extracting more precise meanings of certain structures from scientific corpora, and that the introduction of some corrections based on vector length may increases its efficiency on non-representative terms.

GFD-Net: A novel semantic similarity methodology for the analysis of gene networks.

PubMed

Díaz-Montaña, Juan J; Díaz-Díaz, Norberto; Gómez-Vela, Francisco

2017-04-01

Since the popularization of biological network inference methods, it has become crucial to create methods to validate the resulting models. Here we present GFD-Net, the first methodology that applies the concept of semantic similarity to gene network analysis. GFD-Net combines the concept of semantic similarity with the use of gene network topology to analyze the functional dissimilarity of gene networks based on Gene Ontology (GO). The main innovation of GFD-Net lies in the way that semantic similarity is used to analyze gene networks taking into account the network topology. GFD-Net selects a functionality for each gene (specified by a GO term), weights each edge according to the dissimilarity between the nodes at its ends and calculates a quantitative measure of the network functional dissimilarity, i.e. a quantitative value of the degree of dissimilarity between the connected genes. The robustness of GFD-Net as a gene network validation tool was demonstrated by performing a ROC analysis on several network repositories. Furthermore, a well-known network was analyzed showing that GFD-Net can also be used to infer knowledge. The relevance of GFD-Net becomes more evident in Section "GFD-Net applied to the study of human diseases" where an example of how GFD-Net can be applied to the study of human diseases is presented. GFD-Net is available as an open-source Cytoscape app which offers a user-friendly interface to configure and execute the algorithm as well as the ability to visualize and interact with the results(http://apps.cytoscape.org/apps/gfdnet). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Some further clarifications on age-related differences in Stroop interference.

PubMed

Augustinova, Maria; Clarys, David; Spatola, Nicolas; Ferrand, Ludovic

2018-04-01

Both the locus and processes underlying the age-related differences in Stroop interference are usually inferred from changes in magnitudes of standard (i.e., overall) Stroop interference. Therefore, this study addressed these still-open issues directly. To this end, a sample of younger (18-26 years old) and healthy older (72-97 years old) was administered the semantic Stroop paradigm (that assesses the relative contribution of semantic compared to response conflict both of which contribute to overall Stroop interference) combined with a single-letter coloring and cuing (SLCC) procedure. Independently of an increased attentional focus on the relevant color dimension of Stroop words induced by SLCC (as compared to all letters colored and cued, ALCC), greater magnitudes of standard Stroop interference were observed in older (as compared to younger) adults. These differences were due to greater magnitudes of response conflict whereas magnitudes of semantic conflict remained significant and unchanged by healthy aging and SLCC. Thus, this direct evidence places the locus of age-related differences in Stroop interference at the level of response conflict (as opposed to semantic and/or both conflicts). In terms of processes underlying these differences, the reported evidence shows that both age-groups are equally (in)efficient in (a) focusing on the relevant color dimension and (b) suppressing the meaning of the irrelevant word-dimension of Stroop words. Healthy older adults are simply less efficient in suppressing the (pre-)response activity primed by the fully processed meaning of the irrelevant word-dimension. Standard interpretations of age-related differences in Stroop interference and a more general issue of how attentional selectivity actually operates in the Stroop task are therefore reconsidered in this paper.

Semantics in NETMAR (open service NETwork for MARine environmental data)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leadbetter, Adam; Lowry, Roy; Clements, Oliver

2010-05-01

Over recent years, there has been a proliferation of environmental data portals utilising a wide range of systems and services, many of which cannot interoperate. The European Union Framework 7 project NETMAR (that commenced February 2010) aims to provide a toolkit for building such portals in a coherent manner through the use of chained Open Geospatial Consortium Web Services (WxS), OPeNDAP file access and W3C standards controlled by a Business Process Execution Language workflow. As such, the end product will be configurable by user communities interested in developing a portal for marine environmental data, and will offer search, download and integration tools for a range of satellite, model and observed data from open ocean and coastal areas. Further processing of these data will also be available in order to provide statistics and derived products suitable for decision making in the chosen environmental domain. In order to make the resulting portals truly interoperable, the NETMAR programme requires a detailed definition of the semantics of the services being called and the data which are being requested. A key goal of the NETMAR programme is, therefore, to develop a multi-domain and multilingual ontology of marine data and services. This will allow searches across both human languages and across scientific domains. The approach taken will be to analyse existing semantic resources and provide mappings between them, gluing together the definitions, semantics and workflows of the WxS services. The mappings between terms aim to be more general than the standard "narrower than", "broader than" type seen in the thesauri or simple ontologies implemented by previous programmes. Tools for the development and population of ontologoies will also be provided by NETMAR as there will be instances in which existing resources cannot sufficiently describe newly encountered data or services.

Alteration of glacigenic landforms by gravitational mass movements, Ragnarbreen and Ebbabreen, Svalbard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ewertowski, Marek; Pleskot, Krzysztof; Tomczyk, Aleksandra

2015-04-01

The extensive recession of Svalbard's glaciers exposed areas containing large amount of dead-ice covered by relatively thin - usually less than a couple of meters - veneer of debris. This landscape can be very dynamic, mainly due to the mass movement processes and dead-ice melting. Continuous redistribution of sediments causes several phases of debris transfer and relief inversion. Hence, the primary glacial deposits released from ice are subsequently transferred by mass movement processes, until they finally reach more stable position. Investigations of dynamics of the mass movement and the way in which they alter the property of glacigenic sediments are therefore cruicial for proper understanding of sedimentary records of previous glaciations. The main objectives of this study were to: (1) quantify short-term dynamic of mass wasting processes; (2) investigate the transformation of the sediment's characteristic by mass wasting processes; (3) asses the contribution of different process to the overall dynamic of proglacial landscape. We focused on the mass-wasting processes in the forelands of two glaciers, Ebbabreen and Ragnarbreen, located near the Petuniabukta at the northern end of the Billefjorden, Spitsbergen. Repetitive topographic scanning was combined with sedimentological analysis of: grain size, clast shape in macro and micro scale and thin sections. Debris falls, slides, rolls and flows were the most important processes leading to reworking of glacigenic sediments and altering their properties. Contribution of different processes to the overall dynamic of the landforms was related mainly to the local conditions. Four different morphological types of sites were identified: (1) near vertical ice-cliffs covered with debris, transformed mainly due to dead-ice backwasting and debris falls and slides, (2) steep debris slopes with exposed ice-cores dominated by debris slides, (3) gentle sediment-mantled slopes transformed due to debris flows, and (4) non-active debris-mantled areas transformed only by dead-ice downwasting. The amount of volume loss due to the active mass movement processes and dead-ice melting (including both backwasting and downwasting) was up to more than 1.8 m a-1. In comparison, the amount of volume loss due to the dead-ice downwasting only was significantly lower at a maximum of 0.3 m a-1. The spatial and temporal distribution of volume changes, however, was quite diverse and for the most part related to local geomorphic conditions (e.g. slope gradient, occurrence of streams, and meltwater channels). We proposed a simplified model of spatio-temporal switching between stable and active conditions within the forelands of the studied glaciers. Transformations of landforms were attributed to the period of deglaciation and debris cover development. Stage 1 - shortly after deglaciation when the debris cover is thin (thinner than the permafrost active layer's thickness) mass movement processes become fairly common. They are facilitated by the dead-ice melting and steepness of the slopes. This stage can be observed in many lateral moraines, which are characterised by steep slopes, abundance of active mass movement processes, and by consequence a high degree of transformation. Stage 2 - ongoing mass-wasting processes lead to the transfer of sediments from steep slopes to more stable positions. As the thickness of the sediments increases, the debris cover starts to protect the dead-ice from melting and also contribute to the decrease in slope gradient. Thus, the resulting landscape is relatively stable and in equilibrium with current climatic and topographic conditions. This stage characterises most parts of the frontal (end) moraine complex of the studied glaciers; thus, their transformation rates are either very low or close to zero. Stage 3 - some parts of this stable landscape can be subsequently transformed again into an unstable state, mainly due to the effect of external factors such as streams or meltwater channels. This can lead to the development of mass movement processes and further slope instability, which could facilitate subsequent generation of debris flows. Stages described above can occur in a sort of spatio-temporal cycle, and, depending on local and external factors, the changes between stabilization of landforms and activation of mass flows can be repeated several times for any given area until the dead-ice is completely melted.

Ontology-Driven Provenance Management in eScience: An Application in Parasite Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahoo, Satya S.; Weatherly, D. Brent; Mutharaju, Raghava; Anantharam, Pramod; Sheth, Amit; Tarleton, Rick L.

Provenance, from the French word "provenir", describes the lineage or history of a data entity. Provenance is critical information in scientific applications to verify experiment process, validate data quality and associate trust values with scientific results. Current industrial scale eScience projects require an end-to-end provenance management infrastructure. This infrastructure needs to be underpinned by formal semantics to enable analysis of large scale provenance information by software applications. Further, effective analysis of provenance information requires well-defined query mechanisms to support complex queries over large datasets. This paper introduces an ontology-driven provenance management infrastructure for biology experiment data, as part of the Semantic Problem Solving Environment (SPSE) for Trypanosoma cruzi (T.cruzi). This provenance infrastructure, called T.cruzi Provenance Management System (PMS), is underpinned by (a) a domain-specific provenance ontology called Parasite Experiment ontology, (b) specialized query operators for provenance analysis, and (c) a provenance query engine. The query engine uses a novel optimization technique based on materialized views called materialized provenance views (MPV) to scale with increasing data size and query complexity. This comprehensive ontology-driven provenance infrastructure not only allows effective tracking and management of ongoing experiments in the Tarleton Research Group at the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases (CTEGD), but also enables researchers to retrieve the complete provenance information of scientific results for publication in literature.

Feasibility study of cytokine removal by hemoadsorption in brain-dead humans.

PubMed

Kellum, John A; Venkataraman, Ramesh; Powner, David; Elder, Michele; Hergenroeder, Georgene; Carter, Melinda

2008-01-01

Inflammatory cytokines occur in the circulation and in the tissues after brain death and have been associated with dysfunction of donor organs before and after transplantation. To determine the feasibility of removing cytokines using a hemoadsorption device. Two-center, randomized, open-label, feasibility study in which brain-dead subjects were randomized to two treatment groups. Two U.S. academic hospitals. Eight brain-dead subjects deemed unsuitable for organ donation by respective organ procurement organizations. After obtaining consent from families, subjects were treated with hemoadsorption for 4 hrs using CytoSorb. Effects on cytokines (tumor necrosis factor, interleukin [IL]-6, and IL-10) were assessed both across the device and in the plasma over time. Feasibility for cytokine removal was assessed using objective criteria. Cytokine removal across the CytoSorb device ranged from 4% to 30% and was not significantly different from 1 hr to 4 hrs. Overall removal was greatest for IL-6, 28% (p = .006), and least for tumor necrosis factor, 8.5% (p = .13). Plasma concentrations of both IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor, but not IL-10, were significantly reduced after the first hour of therapy; mean differences were -13% +/- 7% for IL-6 (p = .039), -23% +/- 9% for tumor necrosis factor (p = .02), and -2% +/- 7% of IL-10 (p = 23). However, plasma concentrations for all three cytokines increased over time and were above baseline by the end of the intervention. No adverse effects of therapy were observed. However, removal of cortisol and triiodothyronine was similar to removal of cytokines. Hemoadsorption for removal of cytokines in brain-dead subjects is feasible. Evaluation of possible clinical benefit will require controlled trials in actual donors. However, the significant capacity for cytokine removal and absence of adverse events suggest that such trials are warranted.

Late Quaternary environmental and human events at En Gedi, reflected by the geology and archaeology of the Moringa Cave (Dead Sea area, Israel)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lisker, Sorin; Porat, Roi; Davidovich, Uri; Eshel, Hanan; Lauritzen, Stein-Erik; Frumkin, Amos

2007-09-01

The Moringa Cave within Pleistocene sediments in the En Gedi area of the Dead Sea Fault Escarpment contains a sequence of various Pleistocene lacustrine deposits associated with higher-than-today lake levels at the Dead Sea basin. In addition it contains Chalcolithic remains and 5th century BC burials attributed to the Persian period, cemented and covered by Late Holocene travertine flowstone. These deposits represent a chain of Late Pleistocene and Holocene interconnected environmental and human events, echoing broader scale regional and global climate events. A major shift between depositional environments is associated with the rapid fall of Lake Lisan level during the latest Pleistocene. This exposed the sediments, providing for cave formation processes sometime between the latest Pleistocene (ca. 15 ka) and the Middle Holocene (ca. 4500 BC), eventually leading to human use of the cave. The Chalcolithic use of the cave can be related to a relatively moist desert environment, probably related to a shift in the location of the northern boundary of the Saharo-Arabian desert belt. The travertine layer was U-Th dated 2.46 ± 0.10 to 2.10 ± 0.04 ka, in agreement with the archaeological finds from the Persian period. Together with the inner consistency of the dating results, this strongly supports the reliability of the radiometric ages. The 2.46-2.10 ka travertine deposition within the presently dry cave suggests a higher recharge of the Judean Desert aquifer, correlative to a rising Dead Sea towards the end of the 1st millennium BC. This suggests a relatively moist local and regional climate facilitating human habitation of the desert.

Repressible Transgenic Sterilization in Channel Catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, by Knockdown of Primordial Germ Cell Genes with Copper-Sensitive Constructs.

PubMed

Li, Hanbo; Su, Baofeng; Qin, Guyu; Ye, Zhi; Elaswad, Ahmed; Alsaqufi, Ahmed; Perera, Dayan A; Qin, Zhenkui; Odin, Ramji; Vo, Khoi; Drescher, David; Robinson, Dalton; Dong, Sheng; Zhang, Dan; Shang, Mei; Abass, Nermeen; Das, Sanjay K; Bangs, Max; Dunham, Rex A

2018-06-01

Repressible knockdown approaches were investigated to manipulate for transgenic sterilization in channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus. Two primordial germ cell (PGC) marker genes, nanos and dead end, were targeted for knockdown and an off-target gene, vasa, was monitored. Two potentially copper-sensitive repressible promoters, yeast ctr3 (M) and ctr3-reduced (Mctr), were coupled with four knockdown strategies separately including: ds-sh RNA targeting the 5' end (N1) or 3' end (N2) of channel catfish nanos, full-length cDNA sequence of channel catfish nanos for overexpression (cDNA), and ds-sh RNA-targeting channel catfish dead end (DND). Each construct had an untreated group and treated group with copper sulfate as the repressor compound. Spawning rates of full-sibling P 1 fish exposed or not exposed to the constructs as treated and untreated embryos were 85 and 54%, respectively, indicating potential sterilization of fish and repression of the constructs. In F 1 fish, mRNA expressions of PGC marker genes for most constructs were downregulated in the untreated group and the knockdown was repressed in the treated group. Gonad development in transgenic, untreated F 1 channel catfish was reduced compared to non-transgenic fish for MctrN2, MN1, MN2, and MDND. For 3-year-old adults, gonad size in the transgenic untreated group was 93.4% smaller than the non-transgenic group for females and 92.3% for males. However, mean body weight of transgenic females (781.8 g) and males (883.8 g) was smaller than of non-transgenic counterparts (984.2 and 1254.3 g) at 3 years of age, a 25.8 and 41.9% difference for females and males, respectively. The results indicate that repressible transgenic sterilization is feasible for reproductive control of fish, but negative pleiotropic effects can result.

Minimally invasive estimation of ventricular dead space volume through use of Frank-Starling curves.

PubMed

Davidson, Shaun; Pretty, Chris; Pironet, Antoine; Desaive, Thomas; Janssen, Nathalie; Lambermont, Bernard; Morimont, Philippe; Chase, J Geoffrey

2017-01-01

This paper develops a means of more easily and less invasively estimating ventricular dead space volume (Vd), an important, but difficult to measure physiological parameter. Vd represents a subject and condition dependent portion of measured ventricular volume that is not actively participating in ventricular function. It is employed in models based on the time varying elastance concept, which see widespread use in haemodynamic studies, and may have direct diagnostic use. The proposed method involves linear extrapolation of a Frank-Starling curve (stroke volume vs end-diastolic volume) and its end-systolic equivalent (stroke volume vs end-systolic volume), developed across normal clinical procedures such as recruitment manoeuvres, to their point of intersection with the y-axis (where stroke volume is 0) to determine Vd. To demonstrate the broad applicability of the method, it was validated across a cohort of six sedated and anaesthetised male Pietrain pigs, encompassing a variety of cardiac states from healthy baseline behaviour to circulatory failure due to septic shock induced by endotoxin infusion. Linear extrapolation of the curves was supported by strong linear correlation coefficients of R = 0.78 and R = 0.80 average for pre- and post- endotoxin infusion respectively, as well as good agreement between the two linearly extrapolated y-intercepts (Vd) for each subject (no more than 7.8% variation). Method validity was further supported by the physiologically reasonable Vd values produced, equivalent to 44.3-53.1% and 49.3-82.6% of baseline end-systolic volume before and after endotoxin infusion respectively. This method has the potential to allow Vd to be estimated without a particularly demanding, specialised protocol in an experimental environment. Further, due to the common use of both mechanical ventilation and recruitment manoeuvres in intensive care, this method, subject to the availability of multi-beat echocardiography, has the potential to allow for estimation of Vd in a clinical environment.

Transplantation of donor hearts after circulatory or brain death in a rat model.

PubMed

Li, Shiliang; Loganathan, Sivakkanan; Korkmaz, Sevil; Radovits, Tamás; Hegedűs, Peter; Zhou, Yan; Karck, Matthias; Szabó, Gábor

2015-05-01

Heart transplantation represents the only curative treatment for end-stage heart failure. Presently, the donor pool is restricted to brain-dead donors. Based on the lack of suitable donors and the increasing number of patients, we investigated some molecular pathomechanisms of the potential use of hearts after circulatory determination of death (DCDD) in transplantation. Rats were either maintained brain death for 5 h by inflation of a subdurally placed balloon catheter (n = 6) or subjected to cardiac arrest by exsanguinations (n = 6). Additionally, a control group was used (n = 9). Then the hearts were perfused with a cold preservation solution (Custodiol), explanted, stored at 4°C in Custodiol, and heterotopically transplanted. Brain death was associated with decreased left-ventricular contractility (dP/dtmax: 4895 ± 505 versus 8037 ± 565 mm Hg/s; ejection fraction: 27 ± 5 versus 44 ± 5%; Emax: 2.2 ± 0.3 versus 4.2 ± 0.3 mm Hg/μL; preload recruitable stroke work: 59 ± 5 versus 96 ± 6 mm Hg; 5 h after brain death versus before brain death; P < 0.05) and impaired cardiac relaxation (dP/dtmin: -4734 ± 575 versus -9404 ± 550 mm Hg/s and prolonged Tau, P < 0.05) compared with controls. After transplantation, significantly decreased systolic function and prolonged Tau were observed in brain-dead and DCDD groups compared with those in controls. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha, cyclooxygenase-2, nuclear factor-κB, inducible-NOS, and caspase-3 messenger RNA and protein-levels were significantly increased in the brain-dead compared with both control and DCDD groups. Additionally, marked myocardial inflammatory cell infiltration, edema, necrosis, and DNA-strand breaks were observed in the brain-dead group. Our results show that despite the similar functional outcome in DCDD and brain-dead groups, brain-dead hearts showed marked myocardial inflammatory cell infiltration, edema, necrosis, DNA-strand breaks, and increased transcriptional and posttranscriptional expression for markers of apoptosis and inflammatory signaling pathways. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Undergraduate nursing students' transformational learning during clinical training.

PubMed

Melin-Johansson, Christina; Österlind, Jane; Hagelin, Carina Lundh; Henoch, Ingela; Ek, Kristina; Bergh, Ingrid; Browall, Maria

2018-04-02

Undergraduate nursing students encounter patients at the end of life during their clinical training. They need to confront dying and death under supportive circumstances in order to be prepared for similar situations in their future career. To explore undergraduate nursing students' descriptions of caring situations with patients at the end of life during supervised clinical training. A qualitative study using the critical incident technique was chosen. A total of 85 students wrote a short text about their experiences of caring for patients at the end of life during their clinical training. These critical incident reports were then analysed using deductive and inductive content analysis. The theme 'students' transformational learning towards becoming a professional nurse during clinical training' summarises how students relate to patients and relatives, interpret the transition from life to death, feel when caring for a dead body and learn end-of-life caring actions from their supervisors. As a preparation for their future profession, students undergoing clinical training need to confront death and dying while supported by trained supervisors and must learn how to communicate about end-of-life issues and cope with emotional stress and grief.

JPRS Report, Soviet Union, International Affairs

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-02-09

and space arms in Geneva were just marking time and in essence had reached a dead end. The arms race was continuing. It had become obvious that the...will be reduced to one-fourth. Decentralization of the management of the country’s national economy is the essence of administrative restructuring...bringing home to everyone the essence of the questions put to the popular vote, with the result that many awoke to their responsibility for the fate of

Recasting NATO’s Strategic Concept. Possible Directions for the United States

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-01

the end of the Cold War, these missions have proven more and more challenging for the alliance as their distance from Brus - sels increases. Meanwhile...www.basicint.org/europe/NATO/afghanistan.pdf Sherwood-Randall, Elizabeth , Alliances and American National Security, Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War...Huffington Post, April 1, 2008. As of July 14, 2009: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ elizabeth -sherwoodrandall/is-nato-dead-or alive_b_94469.html Sky, Emma

The Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) dead end gene is suitable as a specific molecular marker of type A spermatogonia.

PubMed

Yazawa, Ryosuke; Takeuchi, Yutaka; Morita, Tetsuro; Ishida, Masashi; Yoshizaki, Goro

2013-10-01

We developed a spermatogonial transplantation technique to produce donor-derived gametes in surrogate fish. Our ultimate aim is to establish surrogate broodstock that can produce bluefin tuna. We previously determined that only type A spermatogonia (ASG) could colonize recipient gonads in salmonids. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a precise molecular marker that can distinguish ASG in order to develop efficient spermatogonial transplantation methods. In this study, the Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) dead end (BFTdnd) gene was identified as a specific marker for ASG. In situ hybridization and RT-PCR analysis with various types of spermatogenic cell populations captured by laser microdissection revealed that localization of BFTdnd mRNA was restricted to ASG, and not detected in other differentiated spermatogenic cells. In order to determine if BFTdnd can be used as a molecular marker to identify germ cells with high transplantability, transplantation of dissociated testicular cells isolated from juvenile, immature, and mature Pacific bluefin tuna, which have different proportions of dnd-positive ASG, were performed using chub mackerel as the surrogate recipient species. Colonization of transplanted donor germ cells was only successful with testicular cells from immature Pacific Bluefin tuna, which contained higher proportions of dnd-positive ASG than juvenile and mature fish. Thus, BFTdnd is a useful tool for identifying highly transplantable ASG for spermatogonial transplantation. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Repeated evolution and reversibility of self-fertilization in the volvocine green algae.

PubMed

Hanschen, Erik R; Herron, Matthew D; Wiens, John J; Nozaki, Hisayoshi; Michod, Richard E

2018-02-01

Outcrossing and self-fertilization are fundamental strategies of sexual reproduction, each with different evolutionary costs and benefits. Self-fertilization is thought to be an evolutionary "dead-end" strategy, beneficial in the short term but costly in the long term, resulting in self-fertilizing species that occupy only the tips of phylogenetic trees. Here, we use volvocine green algae to investigate the evolution of self-fertilization. We use ancestral-state reconstructions to show that self-fertilization has repeatedly evolved from outcrossing ancestors and that multiple reversals from selfing to outcrossing have occurred. We use three phylogenetic metrics to show that self-fertilization is not restricted to the tips of the phylogenetic tree, a finding inconsistent with the view of self-fertilization as a dead-end strategy. We also find no evidence for higher extinction rates or lower speciation rates in selfing lineages. We find that self-fertilizing species have significantly larger colonies than outcrossing species, suggesting the benefits of selfing may counteract the costs of increased size. We speculate that our macroevolutionary results on self-fertilization (i.e., non-tippy distribution, no decreased diversification rates) may be explained by the haploid-dominant life cycle that occurs in volvocine algae, which may alter the costs and benefits of selfing. © 2017 The Author(s). Evolution © 2017 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Amino-Functionalized Ceramic Capillary Membranes for Controlled Virus Retention.

PubMed

Bartels, Julia; Souza, Marina N; Schaper, Amelie; Árki, Pál; Kroll, Stephen; Rezwan, Kurosch

2016-02-16

A straightforward chemical functionalization strategy using aminosilanes for high-flux yttria-stabilized zirconia capillary membranes is presented (macroporous, d50 = 144 nm, open porosity =49%, membrane flux ∼150 L/(m(2)hbar)). Three different aminosilanes with one, two or three amino groups per silane molecule, namely 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES), N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (AE-APTES) and N-(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl)diethylenetriamine (TPDA), are used to generate the amino-functionalized membranes. With a higher number of amino groups per silane molecule increased loading capacities between 0.44 and 1.01 accessible amino groups/nm(2) membrane are achieved. Streaming potential measurements confirm that the zeta-potential of the membrane surface is converted from negative (non-functionalized) to positive (amino-functionalized). By operation in dead-end filtration mode using the model virus MS2 (diameter = 25 nm, IEP = 3.9) the virus retention capacity of the amino-functionalized membranes is significantly increased and log reduction values (LRVs) of up to 9.6 ± 0.3 (TPDA) are obtained whereas a LRV < 0.3 is provided by the non-functionalized membranes. Long-term dead-end filtration experiments for 1 week reveal a high stability of immobilized aminosilanes (TPDA), being robust against leaching. By iterative backflushing with desorption buffer MS2-loaded membranes are successfully regenerated being reusable for a new filtration cycle. The presented functionalization platform is highly promising for controlled virus retention.

Understanding decimal proportions: discrete representations, parallel access, and privileged processing of zero.

PubMed

Varma, Sashank; Karl, Stacy R

2013-05-01

Much of the research on mathematical cognition has focused on the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, with considerably less attention paid to more abstract number classes. The current research investigated how people understand decimal proportions--rational numbers between 0 and 1 expressed in the place-value symbol system. The results demonstrate that proportions are represented as discrete structures and processed in parallel. There was a semantic interference effect: When understanding a proportion expression (e.g., "0.29"), both the correct proportion referent (e.g., 0.29) and the incorrect natural number referent (e.g., 29) corresponding to the visually similar natural number expression (e.g., "29") are accessed in parallel, and when these referents lead to conflicting judgments, performance slows. There was also a syntactic interference effect, generalizing the unit-decade compatibility effect for natural numbers: When comparing two proportions, their tenths and hundredths components are processed in parallel, and when the different components lead to conflicting judgments, performance slows. The results also reveal that zero decimals--proportions ending in zero--serve multiple cognitive functions, including eliminating semantic interference and speeding processing. The current research also extends the distance, semantic congruence, and SNARC effects from natural numbers to decimal proportions. These findings inform how people understand the place-value symbol system, and the mental implementation of mathematical symbol systems more generally. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Relearning and Retaining Personally-Relevant Words using Computer-Based Flashcard Software in Primary Progressive Aphasia.

PubMed

Evans, William S; Quimby, Megan; Dickey, Michael Walsh; Dickerson, Bradford C

2016-01-01

Although anomia treatments have often focused on training small sets of words in the hopes of promoting generalization to untrained items, an alternative is to directly train a larger set of words more efficiently. The current case study reports on a novel treatment for a patient with semantic variant Primary Progressive Aphasia (svPPA), in which the patient was taught to make and practice flashcards for personally-relevant words using an open-source computer program (Anki). Results show that the patient was able to relearn and retain a large subset of her studied words for up to 20 months, the full duration of the study period. At the end of treatment, she showed good retention for 139 words. While only a subset of the 591 studied overall, this is still far more words than is typically targeted in svPPA interventions. Furthermore, she showed evidence of generalization to perceptually distinct stimuli during confrontation naming and temporary gains in semantic fluency, suggesting limited gains in semantic knowledge as a result of training. This case represents a successful example of patient-centered treatment, where the patient used a computer-based intervention independently at home. It also illustrates how data captured from computer-based treatments during routine clinical care can provide valuable "practice-based evidence" for motivating further treatment research.

Relearning and Retaining Personally-Relevant Words using Computer-Based Flashcard Software in Primary Progressive Aphasia

PubMed Central

Evans, William S.; Quimby, Megan; Dickey, Michael Walsh; Dickerson, Bradford C.

2016-01-01

Although anomia treatments have often focused on training small sets of words in the hopes of promoting generalization to untrained items, an alternative is to directly train a larger set of words more efficiently. The current case study reports on a novel treatment for a patient with semantic variant Primary Progressive Aphasia (svPPA), in which the patient was taught to make and practice flashcards for personally-relevant words using an open-source computer program (Anki). Results show that the patient was able to relearn and retain a large subset of her studied words for up to 20 months, the full duration of the study period. At the end of treatment, she showed good retention for 139 words. While only a subset of the 591 studied overall, this is still far more words than is typically targeted in svPPA interventions. Furthermore, she showed evidence of generalization to perceptually distinct stimuli during confrontation naming and temporary gains in semantic fluency, suggesting limited gains in semantic knowledge as a result of training. This case represents a successful example of patient-centered treatment, where the patient used a computer-based intervention independently at home. It also illustrates how data captured from computer-based treatments during routine clinical care can provide valuable “practice-based evidence” for motivating further treatment research. PMID:27899886

The influence of language deprivation in early childhood on L2 processing: An ERP comparison of deaf native signers and deaf signers with a delayed language acquisition.

PubMed

Skotara, Nils; Salden, Uta; Kügow, Monique; Hänel-Faulhaber, Barbara; Röder, Brigitte

2012-05-03

To examine which language function depends on early experience, the present study compared deaf native signers, deaf non-native signers and hearing German native speakers while processing German sentences. The participants watched simple written sentences while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. At the end of each sentence they were asked to judge whether the sentence was correct or not. Two types of violations were introduced in the middle of the sentence: a semantically implausible noun or a violation of subject-verb number agreement. The results showed a similar ERP pattern after semantic violations (an N400 followed by a positivity) in all three groups. After syntactic violations, native German speakers and native signers of German sign language (DGS) with German as second language (L2) showed a left anterior negativity (LAN) followed by a P600, whereas no LAN but a negativity over the right hemisphere instead was found in deaf participants with a delayed onset of first language (L1) acquisition. The P600 of this group had a smaller amplitude and a different scalp distribution as compared to German native speakers. The results of the present study suggest that language deprivation in early childhood alters the cerebral organization of syntactic language processing mechanisms for L2. Semantic language processing instead was unaffected.

Semantic Stability is More Pleasurable in Unstable Episodic Contexts. On the Relevance of Perceptual Challenge in Art Appreciation.

PubMed

Muth, Claudia; Raab, Marius H; Carbon, Claus-Christian

2016-01-01

Research in the field of psychological aesthetics points to the appeal of stimuli which defy easy recognition by being "semantically unstable" but which still allow for creating meaning-in the ongoing process of elaborative perception or as an end product of the entire process. Such effects were reported for hidden images (Muth and Carbon, 2013) as well as Cubist artworks concealing detectable-although fragmented-objects (Muth et al., 2013). To test the stability of the relationship between semantic determinacy and appreciation across different episodic contexts, 30 volunteers evaluated an artistic movie continuously on visual determinacy or liking via the Continuous Evaluation Procedure (CEP, Muth et al., 2015b). The movie consisted of five episodes with emerging Gestalts. In the first between-participants condition, the hidden Gestalts in the movie episodes were of increasing determinacy, in the second condition, the episodes showed decreasing determinacies of hidden Gestalts. In the increasing-determinacy group, visual determinacy was rated higher and showed better predictive quality for liking than in the decreasing-determinacy group. Furthermore, when the movie started with low visual determinacy of hidden Gestalts, unexpectedly strong increases in visual determinacy had a bigger effect on liking than in the condition which allowed for weaker Gestalt recognition after having started with highly determinate Gestalts. The resulting pattern calls for consideration of the episodic context when examining art appreciation.

Maximal likelihood correspondence estimation for face recognition across pose.

PubMed

Li, Shaoxin; Liu, Xin; Chai, Xiujuan; Zhang, Haihong; Lao, Shihong; Shan, Shiguang

2014-10-01

Due to the misalignment of image features, the performance of many conventional face recognition methods degrades considerably in across pose scenario. To address this problem, many image matching-based methods are proposed to estimate semantic correspondence between faces in different poses. In this paper, we aim to solve two critical problems in previous image matching-based correspondence learning methods: 1) fail to fully exploit face specific structure information in correspondence estimation and 2) fail to learn personalized correspondence for each probe image. To this end, we first build a model, termed as morphable displacement field (MDF), to encode face specific structure information of semantic correspondence from a set of real samples of correspondences calculated from 3D face models. Then, we propose a maximal likelihood correspondence estimation (MLCE) method to learn personalized correspondence based on maximal likelihood frontal face assumption. After obtaining the semantic correspondence encoded in the learned displacement, we can synthesize virtual frontal images of the profile faces for subsequent recognition. Using linear discriminant analysis method with pixel-intensity features, state-of-the-art performance is achieved on three multipose benchmarks, i.e., CMU-PIE, FERET, and MultiPIE databases. Owe to the rational MDF regularization and the usage of novel maximal likelihood objective, the proposed MLCE method can reliably learn correspondence between faces in different poses even in complex wild environment, i.e., labeled face in the wild database.

Semantic-Web Architecture for Electronic Discharge Summary Based on OWL 2.0 Standard.

PubMed

Tahmasebian, Shahram; Langarizadeh, Mostafa; Ghazisaeidi, Marjan; Safdari, Reza

2016-06-01

Patients' electronic medical record contains all information related to treatment processes during hospitalization. One of the most important documents in this record is the record summary. In this document, summary of the whole treatment process is presented which is used for subsequent treatments and other issues pertaining to the treatment. Using suitable architecture for this document, apart from the aforementioned points we can use it in other fields such as data mining or decision making based on the cases. In this study, at first, a model for patient's medical record summary has been suggested using semantic web-based architecture. Then, based on service-oriented architecture and using Java programming language, a software solution was designed and run in a way to generate medical record summary with this structure and at the end, new uses of this structure was explained. in this study a structure for medical record summaries along with corrective points within semantic web has been offered and a software running within Java along with special ontologies are provided. After discussing the project with the experts of medical/health data management and medical informatics as well as clinical experts, it became clear that suggested design for medical record summary apart from covering many issues currently faced in the medical records has also many advantages including its uses in research projects, decision making based on the cases etc.

A Joint Investigation of Semantic Facilitation and Semantic Interference in Continuous Naming

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scaltritti, Michele; Peressotti, Francesca; Navarrete, Eduardo

2017-01-01

When speakers name multiple semantically related items, opposing effects can be found. Semantic facilitation is found when naming 2 semantically related items in a row. In contrast, semantic interference is found when speakers name semantically related items separated by 1 or more intervening unrelated items. This latter form of interference is…

Interoperable End-to-End Remote Patient Monitoring Platform Based on IEEE 11073 PHD and ZigBee Health Care Profile.

PubMed

Clarke, Malcolm; de Folter, Joost; Verma, Vivek; Gokalp, Hulya

2018-05-01

This paper describes the implementation of an end-to-end remote monitoring platform based on the IEEE 11073 standards for personal health devices (PHD). It provides an overview of the concepts and approaches and describes how the standard has been optimized for small devices with limited resources of processor, memory, and power that use short-range wireless technology. It explains aspects of IEEE 11073, including the domain information model, state model, and nomenclature, and how these support its plug-and-play architecture. It shows how these aspects underpin a much larger ecosystem of interoperable devices and systems that include IHE PCD-01, HL7, and BlueTooth LE medical devices, and the relationship to the Continua Guidelines, advocating the adoption of data standards and nomenclature to support semantic interoperability between health and ambient assisted living in future platforms. The paper further describes the adaptions that have been made in order to implement the standard on the ZigBee Health Care Profile and the experiences of implementing an end-to-end platform that has been deployed to frail elderly patients with chronic disease(s) and patients with diabetes.

Driver face tracking using semantics-based feature of eyes on single FPGA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Ying-Hao; Chen, Ji-An; Ting, Yi-Siang; Kwok, Ngaiming

2017-06-01

Tracking driver's face is one of the essentialities for driving safety control. This kind of system is usually designed with complicated algorithms to recognize driver's face by means of powerful computers. The design problem is not only about detecting rate but also from parts damages under rigorous environments by vibration, heat, and humidity. A feasible strategy to counteract these damages is to integrate entire system into a single chip in order to achieve minimum installation dimension, weight, power consumption, and exposure to air. Meanwhile, an extraordinary methodology is also indispensable to overcome the dilemma of low-computing capability and real-time performance on a low-end chip. In this paper, a novel driver face tracking system is proposed by employing semantics-based vague image representation (SVIR) for minimum hardware resource usages on a FPGA, and the real-time performance is also guaranteed at the same time. Our experimental results have indicated that the proposed face tracking system is viable and promising for the smart car design in the future.

Effects of plausibility on structural priming.

PubMed

Christianson, Kiel; Luke, Steven G; Ferreira, Fernanda

2010-03-01

We report a replication and extension of Ferreira (2003), in which it was observed that native adult English speakers misinterpret passive sentences that relate implausible but not impossible semantic relationships (e.g., The angler was caught by the fish) significantly more often than they do plausible passives or plausible or implausible active sentences. In the experiment reported here, participants listened to the same plausible and implausible passive and active sentences as in Ferreira (2003), answered comprehension questions, and then orally described line drawings of simple transitive actions. The descriptions were analyzed as a measure of structural priming (Bock, 1986). Question accuracy data replicated Ferreira (2003). Production data yielded an interaction: Passive descriptions were produced more often after plausible passives and implausible actives. We interpret these results as indicative of a language processor that proceeds along differentiated morphosyntactic and semantic routes. The processor may end up adjudicating between conflicting outputs from these routes by settling on a "good enough" representation that is not completely faithful to the input.

Ontology-Based Information Extraction for Business Intelligence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saggion, Horacio; Funk, Adam; Maynard, Diana; Bontcheva, Kalina

Business Intelligence (BI) requires the acquisition and aggregation of key pieces of knowledge from multiple sources in order to provide valuable information to customers or feed statistical BI models and tools. The massive amount of information available to business analysts makes information extraction and other natural language processing tools key enablers for the acquisition and use of that semantic information. We describe the application of ontology-based extraction and merging in the context of a practical e-business application for the EU MUSING Project where the goal is to gather international company intelligence and country/region information. The results of our experiments so far are very promising and we are now in the process of building a complete end-to-end solution.

Seasonal variations of natural ventilation and radon-222 exhalation in a slightly rising dead-end tunnel.

PubMed

Perrier, Frédéric; Richon, Patrick; Gautam, Umesh; Tiwari, Dilli Ram; Shrestha, Prithvi; Sapkota, Soma Nath

2007-01-01

The concentration activity of radon-222 has been monitored, with some interruptions, from 1997 to 2005 in the end section of a slightly rising, dead-end, 38-m long tunnel located in the Phulchoki hill, near Kathmandu, Nepal. While a high concentration varying from 6 x 10(3) Bq m(-3) to 10 x 10(3) Bq m(-3) is observed from May to September (rainy summer season), the concentration remains at a low level of about 200 Bq m(-3) from October to March (dry winter season). This reduction of radon concentration is associated with natural ventilation of the tunnel, which, contrary to expectations for a rising tunnel, takes place mainly from October to March when the outside air temperature drops below the average tunnel temperature. This interpretation is supported by temperature measurements in the atmosphere of the tunnel, a few meters away from the entrance. The temporal variations of the diurnal amplitude of this temperature indeed follow the ventilation rate deduced from the radon measurements. In the absence of significant ventilation (summer season), the radon exhalation flux at the rock surface into the tunnel atmosphere can be inferred; it exhibits a yearly variation with additional transient reductions associated with heavy rainfall, likely to be due to water infiltration. No effect of atmospheric pressure variations on the radon concentration is observed in this tunnel. This experiment illustrates how small differences in the location and geometry of a tunnel can lead to vastly different behaviours of the radon concentration versus time. This observation has consequences for the estimation of the dose rate and the practicability of radon monitoring for tectonic purposes in underground environments.

History of Planning Structure Development in Irkutsk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kulakov, A. I.; Ree, A. U.

2017-11-01

The development of Irkutsk was spontaneous; the first streets represented a rather complex system of streets, dead ends, lanes. Throughout the history of the city, several general plans and development projects have been implemented (but not completely). Unlike other large Siberian cities (Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk), Irkutsk managed to preserve its historical appearance, architecture and initial planning. During its history the city has passed five stages of the planning structure development. The first stage of the city’s history coincides with the formation of the Russian settlements network in Eastern Siberia from the middle of the 17th to the end of the 18th centuries. Like many other Siberian cities, Irkutsk began its evolution from a fortified stockaded town. By the end of the 17th century a trading quarter appeared outside its walls. Currently, the city is developing and growing, so, a relevant issue of the further development direction of the Irkutsk planning structure naturally arises.

Wireline tool cable head overload apparatus

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roessler, D.E.

1990-05-29

This patent describes a cable head adapted to support a sonde in a well borehole. It comprises: an upper end assembly adapted for connection with a cable extending into a well borehole; a lower end assembly adapted for connection to a sonde to be supported by the cable in the well borehole; yieldable means joining the upper and lower assemblies together in a fixed but yieldable relationship wherein a controllable and variable load is imparted to the cable there above during movement and variations in load on the cable are maintained within specified limits; the yieldable means further including deadmore » weight adjustable means notwithstanding variations in the dead weight of the load, and the yieldable means includes resilient means permitting movements within a desired range dependent on the adjustment thereof and bracketing a selected relative position of the upper and lower end assemblies; and an electrical contact.« less

Testing the attentional boundary conditions of subliminal semantic priming: the influence of semantic and phonological task sets

PubMed Central

Adams, Sarah C.; Kiefer, Markus

2012-01-01

Recent studies challenged the classical notion of automaticity and indicated that even unconscious automatic semantic processing is under attentional control to some extent. In line with our attentional sensitization model, these data suggest that a sensitization of semantic pathways by a semantic task set is necessary for subliminal semantic priming to occur while non-semantic task sets attenuate priming. In the present study, we tested whether masked semantic priming is also reduced by phonological task sets using the previously developed induction task paradigm. This would substantiate the notion that attention to semantics is necessary for eliciting unconscious semantic priming. Participants first performed semantic and phonological induction tasks that should either activate a semantic or a phonological task set. Subsequent to the induction task, a masked prime word, either associated or non-associated with the following lexical decision target word, was presented. Across two experiments, we varied the nature of the phonological induction task (word phonology vs. letter phonology) to assess whether the attentional focus on the entire word vs. single letters modulates subsequent masked semantic priming. In both experiments, subliminal semantic priming was only found subsequent to the semantic induction task, but was attenuated following either phonological induction task. These results indicate that attention to phonology attenuates subsequent semantic processing of unconsciously presented primes whether or not attention is directed to the entire word or to single letters. The present findings therefore substantiate earlier evidence that an attentional orientation toward semantics is necessary for subliminal semantic priming to be elicited. PMID:22952461

Psycholinguistic studies on the syntactic behavior of idioms.

PubMed

Gibbs, R W; Nayak, N P

1989-01-01

Six experiments examined why some idioms can be syntactically changed and still retain their figurative meanings (e.g., John laid down the law can be passivized as The law was laid down by John), while other idioms cannot be syntactically altered without losing their figurative meanings (e.g., John kicked the bucket cannot be passivized into The bucket was kicked by John). Our thesis was that the syntactic behavior of idioms is determined, to a large extent, but speakers' assumptions about the way in which parts of idioms contribute to their figurative interpretations as a whole. The results of our studies indicated that idioms whose individual semantic components contribute to their overall figurative meanings (e.g., go out on a limb) were judged as more syntactically flexible or productive than nondecomposable phrases (e.g., kick the bucket). These findings suggested that idioms do not form a unique class of linguistic items (e.g., as "dead" metaphors), but can share many of the same compositional properties normally associated with more "literal" language. The implications of these data for theories of syntactic productivity of idioms and for models of idiom comprehension are discussed.

Dreissenid mussels are not a "dead end" in Great Lakes food webs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Madenijan, Charles P.; Pothoven, Steven A.; Schneeberger, Philip J.; Ebener, Mark P.; Mohr, Lloyd C.; Nalepa, Thomas F.; Bence, James R.

2010-01-01

Dreissenid mussels have been regarded as a “dead end” in Great Lakes food webs because the degree of predation on dreissenid mussels, on a lakewide basis, is believed to be low. Waterfowl predation on dreissenid mussels in the Great Lakes has primarily been confined to bays, and therefore its effects on the dreissenid mussel population have been localized rather than operating on a lakewide level. Based on results from a previous study, annual consumption of dreissenid mussels by the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) population in central Lake Erie averaged only 6 kilotonnes (kt; 1 kt = one thousand metric tons) during 1995–2002. In contrast, our coupling of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) population models with a lake whitefish bioenergetics model revealed that lake whitefish populations in Lakes Michigan and Huron consumed 109 and 820 kt, respectively, of dreissenid mussels each year. Our results indicated that lake whitefish can be an important predator on dreissenid mussels in the Great Lakes, and that dreissenid mussels do not represent a “dead end” in Great Lakes food webs. The Lake Michigan dreissenid mussel population has been estimated to be growing more than three times faster than the Lake Huron dreissenid mussel population during the 2000s. One plausible explanation for the higher population growth rate in Lake Michigan would be the substantially higher predation rate by lake whitefish on dreissenid mussels in Lake Huron.

Intermittent balneotherapy at the Dead Sea area for patients with knee osteoarthritis.

PubMed

Sherman, Gilad; Zeller, Lior; Avriel, Avital; Friger, Michael; Harari, Marco; Sukenik, Shaul

2009-02-01

Balneotherapy, traditionally administered during a continuous stay at the Dead Sea area, has been shown to be effective for patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis. To evaluate the effectiveness of an intermittent regimen of balneotherapy at the Dead Sea for patients with knee osteoarthritis. Forty-four patients with knee osteoarthritis were included in a prospective randomized single-blind controlled study. The patients were divided into two groups: a treatment group (n=24), which were treated twice weekly for 6 consecutive weeks in a sulfur pool heated to 35-36 degrees C, and a control group (n=20) treated in a Jacuzzi filled with tap water heated to 35-36 degrees C. Participants were assessed by the Lequesne index of osteoarthritis severity, the WOMAC index, the SF-36 quality of health questionnaire, VAS scales for pain (completed by patients and physicians), and physical examination. A statistically significant improvement, lasting up to 6 months, was observed in the treatment group for most of the clinical parameters. In the control group the only improvements were in the SF-36 bodily pain scale at 6 months, the Lequesne index at 1 month and the WOMAC pain score at the end of the treatment period. Although the patients in the control group had milder disease, the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant. Intermittent balneotherapy appears to be effective for patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Zoonoses-with friends like this, who needs enemies?

PubMed

Baum, Stephen G

2008-01-01

Zoonoses are infections that are spread from animals to humans. Most often, humans are "dead-end" hosts, meaning that there is no subsequent human-to-human transmission. If one considers most of the emerging infections that were recognized at the end of the last century and the beginning of this century, they would fall into the category of zoonoses. One of the most important common traits exhibited by infections that have been or can be eliminated from the face of the earth (e.g. smallpox, measles, polio) is the absence of any host other than humans. Therefore, zoonses represent infections that can never be eliminated and must be considered as permanent and recurrent factors to be dealt with in protecting human health.

The semantic distance task: Quantifying semantic distance with semantic network path length.

PubMed

Kenett, Yoed N; Levi, Effi; Anaki, David; Faust, Miriam

2017-09-01

Semantic distance is a determining factor in cognitive processes, such as semantic priming, operating upon semantic memory. The main computational approach to compute semantic distance is through latent semantic analysis (LSA). However, objections have been raised against this approach, mainly in its failure at predicting semantic priming. We propose a novel approach to computing semantic distance, based on network science methodology. Path length in a semantic network represents the amount of steps needed to traverse from 1 word in the network to the other. We examine whether path length can be used as a measure of semantic distance, by investigating how path length affect performance in a semantic relatedness judgment task and recall from memory. Our results show a differential effect on performance: Up to 4 steps separating between word-pairs, participants exhibit an increase in reaction time (RT) and decrease in the percentage of word-pairs judged as related. From 4 steps onward, participants exhibit a significant decrease in RT and the word-pairs are dominantly judged as unrelated. Furthermore, we show that as path length between word-pairs increases, success in free- and cued-recall decreases. Finally, we demonstrate how our measure outperforms computational methods measuring semantic distance (LSA and positive pointwise mutual information) in predicting participants RT and subjective judgments of semantic strength. Thus, we provide a computational alternative to computing semantic distance. Furthermore, this approach addresses key issues in cognitive theory, namely the breadth of the spreading activation process and the effect of semantic distance on memory retrieval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Getting connected: Both associative and semantic links structure semantic memory for newly learned persons.

PubMed

Wiese, Holger; Schweinberger, Stefan R

2015-01-01

The present study examined whether semantic memory for newly learned people is structured by visual co-occurrence, shared semantics, or both. Participants were trained with pairs of simultaneously presented (i.e., co-occurring) preexperimentally unfamiliar faces, which either did or did not share additionally provided semantic information (occupation, place of living, etc.). Semantic information could also be shared between faces that did not co-occur. A subsequent priming experiment revealed faster responses for both co-occurrence/no shared semantics and no co-occurrence/shared semantics conditions, than for an unrelated condition. Strikingly, priming was strongest in the co-occurrence/shared semantics condition, suggesting additive effects of these factors. Additional analysis of event-related brain potentials yielded priming in the N400 component only for combined effects of visual co-occurrence and shared semantics, with more positive amplitudes in this than in the unrelated condition. Overall, these findings suggest that both semantic relatedness and visual co-occurrence are important when novel information is integrated into person-related semantic memory.

Options for reducing HIV transmission related to the dead space in needles and syringes.

PubMed

Zule, William A; Pande, Poonam G; Otiashvili, David; Bobashev, Georgiy V; Friedman, Samuel R; Gyarmathy, V Anna; Des Jarlais, Don C

2018-01-15

When shared by people who inject drugs, needles and syringes with different dead space may affect the probability of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission differently. We measured dead space in 56 needle and syringe combinations obtained from needle and syringe programs across 17 countries in Europe and Asia. We also calculated the amounts of blood and HIV that would remain in different combinations following injection and rinsing. Syringe barrel capacities ranged from 0.5 to 20 mL. Needles ranged in length from 8 to 38 mm. The average dead space was 3 μL in low dead space syringes with permanently attached needles, 13 μL in high dead space syringes with low dead space needles, 45 μL in low dead space syringes with high dead space needles, and 99 μL in high dead space syringes with high dead space needles. Among low dead space designs, calculated volumes of blood and HIV viral burden were lowest for low dead space syringes with permanently attached needles and highest for low dead space syringes with high dead space needles. The dead space in different low dead space needle and syringe combinations varied substantially. To reduce HIV transmission related to syringe sharing, needle and syringe programs need to combine this knowledge with the needs of their clients.

A pool of pairs of related objects (POPORO) for investigating visual semantic integration: behavioral and electrophysiological validation.

PubMed

Kovalenko, Lyudmyla Y; Chaumon, Maximilien; Busch, Niko A

2012-07-01

Semantic processing of verbal and visual stimuli has been investigated in semantic violation or semantic priming paradigms in which a stimulus is either related or unrelated to a previously established semantic context. A hallmark of semantic priming is the N400 event-related potential (ERP)--a deflection of the ERP that is more negative for semantically unrelated target stimuli. The majority of studies investigating the N400 and semantic integration have used verbal material (words or sentences), and standardized stimulus sets with norms for semantic relatedness have been published for verbal but not for visual material. However, semantic processing of visual objects (as opposed to words) is an important issue in research on visual cognition. In this study, we present a set of 800 pairs of semantically related and unrelated visual objects. The images were rated for semantic relatedness by a sample of 132 participants. Furthermore, we analyzed low-level image properties and matched the two semantic categories according to these features. An ERP study confirmed the suitability of this image set for evoking a robust N400 effect of semantic integration. Additionally, using a general linear modeling approach of single-trial data, we also demonstrate that low-level visual image properties and semantic relatedness are in fact only minimally overlapping. The image set is available for download from the authors' website. We expect that the image set will facilitate studies investigating mechanisms of semantic and contextual processing of visual stimuli.

A Semantic Analysis Method for Scientific and Engineering Code

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stewart, Mark E. M.

1998-01-01

This paper develops a procedure to statically analyze aspects of the meaning or semantics of scientific and engineering code. The analysis involves adding semantic declarations to a user's code and parsing this semantic knowledge with the original code using multiple expert parsers. These semantic parsers are designed to recognize formulae in different disciplines including physical and mathematical formulae and geometrical position in a numerical scheme. In practice, a user would submit code with semantic declarations of primitive variables to the analysis procedure, and its semantic parsers would automatically recognize and document some static, semantic concepts and locate some program semantic errors. A prototype implementation of this analysis procedure is demonstrated. Further, the relationship between the fundamental algebraic manipulations of equations and the parsing of expressions is explained. This ability to locate some semantic errors and document semantic concepts in scientific and engineering code should reduce the time, risk, and effort of developing and using these codes.

The Role of Simple Semantics in the Process of Artificial Grammar Learning.

PubMed

Öttl, Birgit; Jäger, Gerhard; Kaup, Barbara

2017-10-01

This study investigated the effect of semantic information on artificial grammar learning (AGL). Recursive grammars of different complexity levels (regular language, mirror language, copy language) were investigated in a series of AGL experiments. In the with-semantics condition, participants acquired semantic information prior to the AGL experiment; in the without-semantics control condition, participants did not receive semantic information. It was hypothesized that semantics would generally facilitate grammar acquisition and that the learning benefit in the with-semantics conditions would increase with increasing grammar complexity. Experiment 1 showed learning effects for all grammars but no performance difference between conditions. Experiment 2 replicated the absence of a semantic benefit for all grammars even though semantic information was more prominent during grammar acquisition as compared to Experiment 1. Thus, we did not find evidence for the idea that semantics facilitates grammar acquisition, which seems to support the view of an independent syntactic processing component.

Lexical-semantic processing in the semantic priming paradigm in aphasic patients.

PubMed

Salles, Jerusa Fumagalli de; Holderbaum, Candice Steffen; Parente, Maria Alice Mattos Pimenta; Mansur, Letícia Lessa; Ansaldo, Ana Inès

2012-09-01

There is evidence that the explicit lexical-semantic processing deficits which characterize aphasia may be observed in the absence of implicit semantic impairment. The aim of this article was to critically review the international literature on lexical-semantic processing in aphasia, as tested through the semantic priming paradigm. Specifically, this review focused on aphasia and lexical-semantic processing, the methodological strengths and weaknesses of the semantic paradigms used, and recent evidence from neuroimaging studies on lexical-semantic processing. Furthermore, evidence on dissociations between implicit and explicit lexical-semantic processing reported in the literature will be discussed and interpreted by referring to functional neuroimaging evidence from healthy populations. There is evidence that semantic priming effects can be found both in fluent and in non-fluent aphasias, and that these effects are related to an extensive network which includes the temporal lobe, the pre-frontal cortex, the left frontal gyrus, the left temporal gyrus and the cingulated cortex.

Semantic Networks and Social Networks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Downes, Stephen

2005-01-01

Purpose: To illustrate the need for social network metadata within semantic metadata. Design/methodology/approach: Surveys properties of social networks and the semantic web, suggests that social network analysis applies to semantic content, argues that semantic content is more searchable if social network metadata is merged with semantic web…

An individual differences approach to semantic cognition: Divergent effects of age on representation, retrieval and selection.

PubMed

Hoffman, Paul

2018-05-25

Semantic cognition refers to the appropriate use of acquired knowledge about the world. This requires representation of knowledge as well as control processes which ensure that currently-relevant aspects of knowledge are retrieved and selected. Although these abilities can be impaired selectively following brain damage, the relationship between them in healthy individuals is unclear. It is also commonly assumed that semantic cognition is preserved in later life, because older people have greater reserves of knowledge. However, this claim overlooks the possibility of decline in semantic control processes. Here, semantic cognition was assessed in 100 young and older adults. Despite having a broader knowledge base, older people showed specific impairments in semantic control, performing more poorly than young people when selecting among competing semantic representations. Conversely, they showed preserved controlled retrieval of less salient information from the semantic store. Breadth of semantic knowledge was positively correlated with controlled retrieval but was unrelated to semantic selection ability, which was instead correlated with non-semantic executive function. These findings indicate that three distinct elements contribute to semantic cognition: semantic representations that accumulate throughout the lifespan, processes for controlled retrieval of less salient semantic information, which appear age-invariant, and mechanisms for selecting task-relevant aspects of semantic knowledge, which decline with age and may relate more closely to domain-general executive control.

Semantics, Pragmatics, and the Nature of Semantic Theories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spewak, David Charles, Jr.

2013-01-01

The primary concern of this dissertation is determining the distinction between semantics and pragmatics and how context sensitivity should be accommodated within a semantic theory. I approach the question over how to distinguish semantics from pragmatics from a new angle by investigating what the objects of a semantic theory are, namely…

Modulation of task demands suggests that semantic processing interferes with the formation of episodic associations

PubMed Central

Long, Nicole M.; Kahana, Michael J.

2016-01-01

Although episodic and semantic memory share overlapping neural mechanisms, it remains unclear how our pre-existing semantic associations modulate the formation of new, episodic associations. When freely recalling recently studied words, people rely on both episodic and semantic associations, shown through temporal and semantic clustering of responses. We asked whether orienting participants toward semantic associations interferes with or facilitates the formation of episodic associations. We compared electroencephalographic (EEG) activity recorded during the encoding of subsequently recalled words that were either temporally or semantically clustered. Participants studied words with or without a concurrent semantic orienting task. We identified a neural signature of successful episodic association formation whereby high frequency EEG activity (HFA, 44 – 100 Hz) overlying left prefrontal regions increased for subsequently temporally clustered words, but only for those words studied without a concurrent semantic orienting task. To confirm that this disruption in the formation of episodic associations was driven by increased semantic processing, we measured the neural correlates of subsequent semantic clustering. We found that HFA increased for subsequently semantically clustered words only for lists with a concurrent semantic orienting task. This dissociation suggests that increased semantic processing of studied items interferes with the neural processes that support the formation of novel episodic associations. PMID:27617775

Modulation of task demands suggests that semantic processing interferes with the formation of episodic associations.

PubMed

Long, Nicole M; Kahana, Michael J

2017-02-01

Although episodic and semantic memory share overlapping neural mechanisms, it remains unclear how our pre-existing semantic associations modulate the formation of new, episodic associations. When freely recalling recently studied words, people rely on both episodic and semantic associations, shown through temporal and semantic clustering of responses. We asked whether orienting participants toward semantic associations interferes with or facilitates the formation of episodic associations. We compared electroencephalographic (EEG) activity recorded during the encoding of subsequently recalled words that were either temporally or semantically clustered. Participants studied words with or without a concurrent semantic orienting task. We identified a neural signature of successful episodic association formation whereby high-frequency EEG activity (HFA, 44-100 Hz) overlying left prefrontal regions increased for subsequently temporally clustered words, but only for those words studied without a concurrent semantic orienting task. To confirm that this disruption in the formation of episodic associations was driven by increased semantic processing, we measured the neural correlates of subsequent semantic clustering. We found that HFA increased for subsequently semantically clustered words only for lists with a concurrent semantic orienting task. This dissociation suggests that increased semantic processing of studied items interferes with the neural processes that support the formation of novel episodic associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Network Frontier Workshop 2013

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-11-11

between Resources on Nodes and Weighted Connections 3:45 – 4:15 Coffee Break Schedule 4:15 – 5:00 Bruce J . West (Army Research Office, USA)Tutorial...of Boolean Networks: The Joint Effect of Topology and Update Rules 3:40 – 4:10 Coffee Break 4:10 – 4:45 Peter J . Mucha (University of North Carolina...indicates a crucial smart design principle for tomorrow’s sustainable power grids: add just a few more lines to avoid dead ends. Reference: P. Menck, J

Integral finned heater and cooler for stirling engines

DOEpatents

Corey, John A.

1984-01-01

A piston and cylinder for a Stirling engine and the like having top and bottom meshing or nesting finned conical surfaces to provide large surface areas in close proximity to the working gas for good thermal (addition and subtraction of heat) exchange to the working gas and elimination of the usual heater and cooler dead volume. The piston fins at the hot end of the cylinder are perforated to permit the gas to pass into the piston interior and through a regenerator contained therein.

A Study as to the Feasibility of the Department of Defense Mandating its Supplier Base Adopt Total Quality Management

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-12-01

leadership for change. 3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. 4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag. 5. Improve...training on the job. 7. Institute leadership . The aim of supervision should be to help people do a better job. 8. Eliminate fear from the workplace...and the deadly diseases and the obstacles. Only then may they place themselves in roles of leadership . (Deming, p. 119) The same screening and

Time resolved analysis of water drainage in porous asphalt concrete using neutron radiography.

PubMed

Poulikakos, L D; Sedighi Gilani, M; Derome, D; Jerjen, I; Vontobel, P

2013-07-01

Porous asphalt as a road surface layer controls aquaplaning as rain water can drain through its highly porous structure. The process of water drainage through this permeable layer is studied using neutron radiography. Time-resolved water configuration and distribution within the porous structure are reported. It is shown that radiography depicts the process of liquid water transport within the complex geometry of porous asphalt, capturing water films, filled dead end pores and water islands. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Relations between the Soviet Union and its Eastern European Allies: A Survey

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-11-01

and its "Muscovite" wing by the internationally famous George Dimitrov , who was the unquestioned leader of the Party. Each in his own way seems...By the end of 19A9 both Kostov and Dimitrov were dead. Kostov was executed in Sofia after one of the most notorious show trials, and... Dimitrov died of alleged natural causes but in mysterious circumstances in Moscow. This was a psychological blow the BCP took many years to recover

Geochemical characterization of fluids along the Dead Sea Rift: implications for fluids sources and regional geodynamic setting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inguaggiato, Claudio; Censi, Paolo; D'Alessandro, Walter; Zuddas, Pierpaolo

2016-04-01

The Dead Sea Fault where a lateral displacement between the African and Arabian plates occurs is characterized by anomalous heat flux in the northern Israel area close to the border with Syria and Jordan (Shalev et al., 2012). The concentrations of He and CO2, and isotopic composition of He and total dissolved inorganic carbon were studied in cold and thermal waters collected along the Dead Sea Fault, in order to investigate the source of volatiles and their relationship with the tectonic framework of the Dead Sea Fault. The waters with higher temperature (up to 57.2 ° C) are characterized by higher amounts of CO2and helium (up to 55.72 and 1.91*10-2 cc l-1, respectively). Helium isotopic data (R/Ra from 0.11 to 2.14) and 4He/20Ne ratios (0.41 - 106.86) show the presence of deep-deriving fluids consisting of a variable mixture of mantle and crust end-members, with the former reaching up to 35%. Carbon isotope signature of total dissolved carbon from hot waters falls within the range of magmatic values, suggesting the delivery of deep-seated CO2. The geographical distribution of helium isotopic data and isotopic carbon (CO2) values coupled with (CO2/3He ratios) indicate a larger contribution of mantle-derived fluids affecting the northern part of the investigated area, where the waters reach the highest temperature and anomalous heat flux was recognized by Shalev et al. (2012). Such occurrence is probably favoured by the peculiar tectonic framework recognized in the northern part of Israel (Segev et al., 2006), including a Moho discontinuity up-rise and/or the presence of a deep fault system coupled with the recent magmatic activity. References: Segev, A., Rybakov, M., Lyakhovsky, V, Hofstetter, A, Tibor, G., Goldshmidt, V., 2006. The structure, isostasy and gravity field of the Levant continental margin and the southeast Mediterranean area. Tectonophysics 425, 137-157. Shalev, E., Lyakhosky, V., Weinstein, Y., Ben-Avraham, Z., 2013. The thermal structure of Israel and Dead Sea Fault. Tectonophysics 602, 69-77.

40 CFR Appendix II to Part 1068 - Emission-Related Parameters and Specifications

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... dimension. 4. Camshaft timing. a. Valve opening—intake exhaust (degrees from top-dead center or bottom-dead center). b. Valve closing—intake exhaust (degrees from top-dead center or bottom-dead center). c. Valve... (degrees from top-dead center or bottom-dead center). c. Closing timing (degrees from top-dead center or...

40 CFR Appendix II to Part 1068 - Emission-Related Parameters and Specifications

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... dimension. 4. Camshaft timing. a. Valve opening—intake exhaust (degrees from top-dead center or bottom-dead center). b. Valve closing—intake exhaust (degrees from top-dead center or bottom-dead center). c. Valve... (degrees from top-dead center or bottom-dead center). c. Closing timing (degrees from top-dead center or...

Semantic memory in object use.

PubMed

Silveri, Maria Caterina; Ciccarelli, Nicoletta

2009-10-01

We studied five patients with semantic memory disorders, four with semantic dementia and one with herpes simplex virus encephalitis, to investigate the involvement of semantic conceptual knowledge in object use. Comparisons between patients who had semantic deficits of different severity, as well as the follow-up, showed that the ability to use objects was largely preserved when the deficit was mild but progressively decayed as the deficit became more severe. Naming was generally more impaired than object use. Production tasks (pantomime execution and actual object use) and comprehension tasks (pantomime recognition and action recognition) as well as functional knowledge about objects were impaired when the semantic deficit was severe. Semantic and unrelated errors were produced during object use, but actions were always fluent and patients performed normally on a novel tools task in which the semantic demand was minimal. Patients with severe semantic deficits scored borderline on ideational apraxia tasks. Our data indicate that functional semantic knowledge is crucial for using objects in a conventional way and suggest that non-semantic factors, mainly non-declarative components of memory, might compensate to some extent for semantic disorders and guarantee some residual ability to use very common objects independently of semantic knowledge.

Semantic memory is impaired in patients with unilateral anterior temporal lobe resection for temporal lobe epilepsy.

PubMed

Lambon Ralph, Matthew A; Ehsan, Sheeba; Baker, Gus A; Rogers, Timothy T

2012-01-01

Contemporary clinical and basic neuroscience studies have increasingly implicated the anterior temporal lobe regions, bilaterally, in the formation of coherent concepts. Mounting convergent evidence for the importance of the anterior temporal lobe in semantic memory is found in patients with bilateral anterior temporal lobe damage (e.g. semantic dementia), functional neuroimaging and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation studies. If this proposal is correct, then one might expect patients with anterior temporal lobe resection for long-standing temporal lobe epilepsy to be semantically impaired. Such patients, however, do not present clinically with striking comprehension deficits but with amnesia and variable anomia, leading some to conclude that semantic memory is intact in resection for temporal lobe epilepsy and thus casting doubt over the conclusions drawn from semantic dementia and linked basic neuroscience studies. Whilst there is a considerable neuropsychological literature on temporal lobe epilepsy, few studies have probed semantic memory directly, with mixed results, and none have undertaken the same type of systematic investigation of semantic processing that has been conducted with other patient groups. In this study, therefore, we investigated the semantic performance of 20 patients with resection for chronic temporal lobe epilepsy with a full battery of semantic assessments, including more sensitive measures of semantic processing. The results provide a bridge between the current clinical observations about resection for temporal lobe epilepsy and the expectations from semantic dementia and other neuroscience findings. Specifically, we found that on simple semantic tasks, the patients' accuracy fell in the normal range, with the exception that some patients with left resection for temporal lobe epilepsy had measurable anomia. Once the semantic assessments were made more challenging, by probing specific-level concepts, lower frequency/more abstract items or measuring reaction times on semantic tasks versus those on difficulty-matched non-semantic assessments, evidence of a semantic impairment was found in all individuals. We conclude by describing a unified, computationally inspired framework for capturing the variable degrees of semantic impairment found across different patient groups (semantic dementia, temporal lobe epilepsy, glioma and stroke) as well as semantic processing in neurologically intact participants.

Semantic memory is impaired in patients with unilateral anterior temporal lobe resection for temporal lobe epilepsy

PubMed Central

Ehsan, Sheeba; Baker, Gus A.; Rogers, Timothy T.

2012-01-01

Contemporary clinical and basic neuroscience studies have increasingly implicated the anterior temporal lobe regions, bilaterally, in the formation of coherent concepts. Mounting convergent evidence for the importance of the anterior temporal lobe in semantic memory is found in patients with bilateral anterior temporal lobe damage (e.g. semantic dementia), functional neuroimaging and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation studies. If this proposal is correct, then one might expect patients with anterior temporal lobe resection for long-standing temporal lobe epilepsy to be semantically impaired. Such patients, however, do not present clinically with striking comprehension deficits but with amnesia and variable anomia, leading some to conclude that semantic memory is intact in resection for temporal lobe epilepsy and thus casting doubt over the conclusions drawn from semantic dementia and linked basic neuroscience studies. Whilst there is a considerable neuropsychological literature on temporal lobe epilepsy, few studies have probed semantic memory directly, with mixed results, and none have undertaken the same type of systematic investigation of semantic processing that has been conducted with other patient groups. In this study, therefore, we investigated the semantic performance of 20 patients with resection for chronic temporal lobe epilepsy with a full battery of semantic assessments, including more sensitive measures of semantic processing. The results provide a bridge between the current clinical observations about resection for temporal lobe epilepsy and the expectations from semantic dementia and other neuroscience findings. Specifically, we found that on simple semantic tasks, the patients’ accuracy fell in the normal range, with the exception that some patients with left resection for temporal lobe epilepsy had measurable anomia. Once the semantic assessments were made more challenging, by probing specific-level concepts, lower frequency/more abstract items or measuring reaction times on semantic tasks versus those on difficulty-matched non-semantic assessments, evidence of a semantic impairment was found in all individuals. We conclude by describing a unified, computationally inspired framework for capturing the variable degrees of semantic impairment found across different patient groups (semantic dementia, temporal lobe epilepsy, glioma and stroke) as well as semantic processing in neurologically intact participants. PMID:22287382