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1,477,964 | Coarse-grained architectures (rDPA) are intended for the implementation for algorithms needing word-width data paths (rDPU). As their functional blocks are optimized for large computations and typically comprise word wide arithmetic logic units (ALU), they will perform these computations more quickly and with more power efficiency than a set of interconnected smaller functional units; this is due to the connecting wires being shorter, resulting in less wire capacitance and hence faster and lower power designs. A potential undesirable consequence of having larger computational blocks is that when the size of operands may not match the algorithm an inefficient utilisation of resources can result. Often the type of applications to be run are known in advance allowing the logic, memory and routing resources to be tailored to enhance the performance of the device whilst still providing a certain level of flexibility for future adaptation. Examples of this are domain specific arrays aimed at gaining better performance in terms of power, area, throughput than their more generic finer grained FPGA cousins by reducing their flexibility. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=188371 | 1,477,132 |
1,402,274 | In 1951, Hunsaker stepped down as head of MIT’s Aeronautical Engineering Department and the following year discontinued his regular teaching duties. He remained active as a lecturer in the department and assisted in fund-raising activities for the institution throughout the 1950s and 1960s. In October 1956, he relinquished chairmanship of the NACA, which two years later became the core of the new National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Hunsaker’s book, Aeronautics at the Mid-Century, published in 1952, surveyed advances in aerodynamics propulsion systems, and the evolution of air travel since the turn of the century. He assumed directorships and positions on consulting boards for Goodyear, Chrysler, Shell Oil, Sperry Rand, and McGraw-Hill. In retirement he traveled with his wife Alice and spent more time with his extended family, often at the family’s retreat at St. Hubert’s in the Adirondacks. Alice died in 1966 at the age of 79. Hunsaker lived on in declining health, but enjoying Agatha Christie novels, until his death at his home in Boston’s Beacon Hill on September 10, 1984, at the age of 98. Obituaries appeared in many national newspapers, in the US and elsewhere, including The Times of London. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3956769 | 1,401,487 |
1,092,924 | To calculate the elastic response of a rubber sample, the three chain force models (regimes Ia, Ib and II) and the network morphology must be combined in a micro-mechanical network model. Using the joint probability distribution in equation () and the force extension models, it is possible to devise numerical algorithms to both construct a faithful representative volume element of a network and to simulate the resulting mechanical stress as it is subjected to strain. An iterative relaxation algorithm is used to maintain approximate force equilibrium at each network node as strain is imposed. When the force constant obtained for kinks having 2 or 3 isoprene units (approximately one Kuhn length) is used in numerical simulations, the predicted stress is found to be consistent with experiments. The results of such a calculation are shown in Fig. 1 (dashed red line) for sulfur cross-linked natural rubber and compared with experimental data (solid blue line). These simulations also predict a steep upturn in the stress as network chains become taut and, ultimately, material failure due to bond rupture. In the case of sulfur cross-linked natural rubber, the S-S bonds in the cross-link are much weaker than the C-C bonds on the chain backbone and are the network failure points. The plateau in the simulated stress, starting at a strain of about 7, is the limiting value for the network. Stresses greater than about 7 MPa cannot be supported and the network fails. Near this stress limit, the simulations predict that less than 10% of the chains are taut, i.e. in the high chain extension regime and less than 0.1% of the chains have ruptured. While the very low rupture fraction may seem surprising, it is not inconsistent with our experience of stretching a rubber band until it breaks. The elastic response of the rubber after breaking is not noticeably different from the original. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=7623862 | 1,092,364 |
1,727,456 | The training program aims to be a full pitching-development service, to "develop healthy, high velocity pitchers of any age." It incorporates weighted baseballs and elements of recovery, mechanics and command, as well as the work of other pitching experts, such as Mike Marshall, Tom House, Ron Wolforth, Alan Jaeger and Coop DeRenne. The data-driven program emphasizes command, rehab from injury, pitch design and spin rate. It measures directly what is happening inside a pitcher's body as he throws the ball, breaking it down to help pitchers to best utilize their mechanics. Driveline uses Rapsodo's pitch-tracking camera and TrackMan technology, which uses a military-grade 3D Doppler radar system to capture 20,000 measurements per second, to track a baseball's movement. With a focus on exactly how much torque and turning a pitcher needs to do, pitchers are regularly able to increase the speed of their fastball by 2 to 4 miles per hour. In June 2020, Boddy opened the second Driveline location in Arizona. In early 2021, Boddy opened the third location in Texas | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=52482686 | 1,726,482 |
2,241,375 | The R-2800 powered several types of fighters and medium bombers during the war, including the US Navy's Vought F4U Corsair, with the XF4U-1 first prototype Corsair becoming the first airframe to fly (as originally designed) with the Double Wasp in its XR-2800-4 prototype version on May 29, 1940, and the first single-engine American fighter plane to exceed in level flight during October 1940. The R-2800 also powered the Corsair's naval rival, the Grumman F6F Hellcat, the US Army Air Forces' Republic P-47 Thunderbolt (which uniquely, for single-engined aircraft, used a General Electric turbocharger), the twin-engine Martin B-26 Marauder and Douglas A-26 Invader, as well as the first purpose-built twin-engine radar-equipped night fighter, the Northrop P-61 Black Widow. When the US entered the war in December 1941, designs advanced rapidly, and long-established engines such as the Wright Cyclone and Double Wasp were re-rated on fuel of much higher octane rating (anti-knock value) to give considerably more power. By 1944, versions of the R-2800 powering late-model P-47s (and other aircraft) had a rating (experimental) of on 115-grade fuel with water injection. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=673160 | 2,240,104 |
1,929,439 | Human case reports of "B. pilosicoli" spirochaetosis have been described, suggesting that individuals colonized with "B. pilosicoli" may develop focal colitis and chronic diarrhea, with abdominal pain, flatulence, gastrointestinal bleeding, rectal discharge, watery diarrhea, and pseudoappendicitis. Colonoscopic examination often reveals a normal-appearing mucosa. However, edematous and erythematous mucosal changes have been reported. Following the apparition of any symptoms, intestinal spirochaetosis is confirmed by biopsy. Overall, human intestinal spirochaetosis with "B. pilosicoli" is relatively uncommon and there is a debate in regards to its clinical significance as most cases are asymptomatic. Incidence of colonization is associated with crowded and unhygienic conditions in developing countries and in specific populations such as Australian Aborigines, as well as amongst homosexual males and HIV+ patients in western countries. Of those already colonized, spirochetemia has been observed in individuals with impaired immune defence or injury of the gastrointestinal mucosa. Further evidence of "B. pilosicoli" pathogenicity includes human cases of invasive hepatic infection and hepatitis in chronically ill or immunocompromised individuals where the spirochetemia is likely to have been secondary to the immunosuppression. These cases are likely examples of human infections of pathogenic "B. pilosicoli" from enteric commensal populations as a consequence of increased microorganism virulence or diminished host defenses. It remains unclear as to what extent spirochetemia may contribute to clinical signs in these patients, although some patients have shown multiorgan failure. Nevertheless, spirochetemia also appears to be a relatively rare phenomenon in individuals where fecal carriage has been observed. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=32841803 | 1,928,333 |
1,875,655 | Most historical and sociologists of technology have worked in industrial societies, where ample information about the thoughts and motivations of adopters and users of new technologies exist, and where the social effects of new technologies can be assessed. But how can this be done for the archaeological past, where all anthropologists have are the physical remains of artifacts? Some approaches allow at least some approximations of participant observations. These approaches rest on the concept of technical choices, the idea that any technological product can be fabricated and used in a variety of ways. Technical choices can be made among decisions about raw material, tools used to shape the raw material, the energy sources, the techniques used to manipulate the material, and the chaîne opératoire that produced the artifact. For example, one article by Ottaway sets forth all the variety of technical choices possible in copper-base metal production, and relates these choices to general cultural processes of innovation and specialization. The hope is that once the chaîne opératoire and knowledge of choices is established, then cognitive processes and cultural norms can tentatively be inferred. Establishing the choices made often requires detailed laboratory analysis of the materials to establish the irreducible properties of artifacts. For example, to alloy copper with tin requires one to be able to reach the melting point of copper (1083 °C), but this temperature can be achieved with a variety of crucibles and/or furnace structures, all of which require other technologies and choices to create—crucibles require a certain degree of fire-resistance, providing an air supply requires multiple workers at the same time, with implications for labor organization, and so on. Thus this laboratory analysis can reach beyond the laboratory to garner clues to what Pfaffenberger named the ‘sociotechnical system’, where techniques and material culture are linked to the wider social coordination of labor. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=71498816 | 1,874,578 |
1,718,287 | In 2016 and 2017, two major clinical trials were published in the international journal, Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS). These studies were funded by the European Research Council (Ref: 281096). The first trial, the CREST (Central Retinal Enrichment Supplementation Trials) normal study involved 105 volunteers who underwent a series of complex tests of vision and were supplemented over a 12-month period. Of the 105 subjects, 53 received daily active supplements containing "meso"-zeaxanthin, lutein and zeaxanthin, while 52 subjects received a placebo (the control group). The outcome unequivocally demonstrates that those receiving macular carotenoids – lutein, zeaxanthin and "meso"-zeaxanthin – enjoyed meaningful benefits to their visual function. The improvement recorded was primarily in people’s contrast sensitivity – how much contrast a person needs to see a target (i.e. how faint an object can you see).This work demonstrates important implications for those who rely on their vision for professional reasons, such as high-performance sportspeople (most obviously golfers, cricketers, tennis and baseball players), motorists, train drivers, pilots, and police. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=49287862 | 1,717,317 |
1,659,078 | The power system became operational on 19 June 1891 and was run continuously for the first 30 days. The entire plant required 15 to 20 attendants for its operation. The instruments and controls were rudimentary, solenoid type gravity balance Voltmeters and ammeters mounted on lacquered wooden boards. Workers had to take special care because of the high voltages used. Power was connected by closing simple knife switches and the system was shut down (the electrical circuit "opened") by a worker grabbing a connecting line at the power pole and pulling it out of the arc-light style plug mounted on the pole (a sometime dangerous maneuver that produced 6 to 8 foot (1.83-m to 2.44-m) long high voltage arcs). One continual problem was repairing damage from lightning strikes, a common occurrence at the mountainous location. The alternators were set on paraffin-soaked oak platforms to add insulation and Westinghouse engineers tried various types of lightning arrestors. The alternators were designed with removable parts making the task of repairing them a little easier. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=9838639 | 1,658,145 |
696,585 | Green Infrastructure can be traced as far back as the 17th century in European society beginning in France. France used the presence of nature to provide social and spatial organization to their towns. Originally, nature in cities was used to provide social areas to interact, and plants were grown in these spaces to provide food in close proximity to the inhabitants. In this period, Large open spaces were used to provide a calm setting that could give "sites of power with sites of sanctity" across France. These sites were used by the French elites to bring rural country town house beauty to their new urban houses in a showcase of power and elaborate display of wealth. The French implemented many different types of infrastructure throughout the 17th century that involved incorporating nature in some shape or form. Another example would be the use of promenades that were used by the French elites to flee the unhealthy living conditions of the cities and to avoid the filthy public areas available to the common folks. These areas were lush gardens that had a wide variety of vegetation and foliage that kept the air clean for the wealthy while allowing them to relax away from the poorer members of French society. Again, Mathis goes on to state, "The first cours [or promenades] were established in the capital at the instigation of Marie de Medici: the Mail de l'Arsenal (1604) and above all the Allée du Cours-la-Reine (1616), 1300 mètres long and lined with elms, running along the Seine, from the Tuileries Garden to the high ground of Chaillot," establishing the use of nature as a symbol of power and achievement amongst French royalty and the common people at the time. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=10040229 | 696,221 |
33,020 | The adoption of the 21 cm Nebelwerfer-derived "Werfer-Granate 21" (Wfr. Gr. 21) rocket mortar by the Luftwaffe in mid-August 1943 promised the introduction of a major "stand-off" style of offensive weapon – one strut-mounted tubular launcher was fixed under each wing panel on the Luftwaffe's single-engine fighters, and two under each wing panel of a few twin-engine Bf 110 daylight "Zerstörer" aircraft. However, due to the slow 715 mph velocity and characteristic ballistic drop of the fired rocket (despite the usual mounting of the launcher at about 15° upward orientation), and the small number of fighters fitted with the weapons, the Wfr. Gr. 21 never had a major effect on the combat box formations of Fortresses. The Luftwaffe also fitted heavy-caliber "Bordkanone"-series 37, 50 and even cannon as anti-bomber weapons on twin-engine aircraft such as the special Ju 88P fighters, as well as one model of the Me 410 "Hornisse" but these measures did not have much effect on the American strategic bomber offensive. The Me 262, however, had moderate success against the B-17 late in the war. With its usual nose-mounted armament of four MK 108 cannons, and with some examples later equipped with the R4M rocket, launched from underwing racks, it could fire from outside the range of the bombers' defensive guns and bring an aircraft down with one hit, as both the MK 108's shells and the R4M's warheads were filled with the "shattering" force of the strongly brisant Hexogen military explosive. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4997 | 33,008 |
82,636 | In April 2012, Chief of Naval Operations Greenert said, "You won't send it into an anti-access area," rather groups of two or three ships are intended to be sent into areas where access is jeopardized to perform missions like minesweeping while under the cover of a destroyer. The LCS main purpose is to take up operations such as patrolling, port visits, anti-piracy, and partnership-building exercises to free up high-end surface combatants for increased combat availability. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus clarified that the ship could operate in combat areas while under the protection of other warships. The LCS's utility against high-tech enemies would be when working with and being covered by destroyers, like they do with aircraft carriers. With destroyers providing extended air and missile defense, the cheaper (one-fourth the cost of a destroyer) and more numerous LCS can sweep for mines and deploy more sophisticated submarine detecting sonar. Following the decision to arm the LCS with anti-ship missiles, Navy wargames showed the adversary's risk calculus was radically changed, devoting more reconnaissance assets to trying to locate the smaller ships and sustaining heavier losses. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=460005 | 82,602 |
1,482,006 | Cumana chose to produce a 68008 second processor running the OS-9 operating system that was installed into the 6502 CPU socket, relocating the 6502 to the second processor board itself, and providing 512 KB RAM and its own disk controller. Initial pricing was announced as £695 plus VAT, although subsequent recommended retail prices were around £800 for the upgrade board alone, with "particularly keenly priced" bundles of the board with 10 MB and 20 MB hard drives available for £900 and £1,000 respectively. Performance concerns associated with the 68008, due to experiences with the Sinclair QL, were alleviated through the presence of "plenty of sub processors", these utilised for managing peripherals including control of floppy and SASI-compatible hard drives, coupled with the use of a relatively fast 8 MHz CPU. Due to the method of interfacing the second processor to the host system, the board was also able to give the 68008 direct access to the host machine's user port, 1 MHz bus and analogue port, permitting the development of programs in languages like C to utilise these capabilities. Indeed, Cumana bundled an estimated £3000 worth of software with the board, including assembly language, BASIC, Pascal and C language tools, the "fourth generation language" Sculptor, word processing, spellchecking, mail merge, spreadsheet and database applications, plus a screen editor. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=8881125 | 1,481,172 |
1,487,405 | Certain samples of Moon rock and lunar dust soil from the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 missions, mounted on the wooden plaque displays especially for Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, Honduras, Ireland, Malta, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, West Virginia were later reported missing by many of the recipients. Since 2005 certain entities and key people have made concerted efforts to find the current locations of all the Apollo lunar sample displays with the goodwill Moon rocks. One such person is Joseph Gutheinz (former NASA Office of Inspector General special agent for 10 years), who was a professor at the University of Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. Gutheinz even went to the extreme of having his hundreds of students try to locate all these displays. Another space history expert tracking the goodwill lunar displays is Robert Pearlman, founder and editor of collectSPACE, a website devoted to space-related artifacts and memorabilia. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=37521438 | 1,486,567 |
40,868 | In late 1962, Air Marshal Sir John Nicholls instigated a trial when he flew Spitfire "PM631", a PR Mk 19 in the custody of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, against an English Electric Lightning F 3 (a supersonic jet-engined interceptor) in mock combat at RAF Binbrook. At the time, British Commonwealth forces were involved in possible action against Indonesia over Malaya and Nicholls decided to develop tactics to fight the Indonesian Air Force P-51 Mustang, a fighter that had a similar performance to the PR Mk 19. The first airframe (PM631) developed mechanical issues which removed it from the trial. Another PR Mk 19, "PS853", which is now owned by Rolls-Royce, was on gate-guard duties at Binbrook, having been retired from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) one year before. It had been maintained in running condition by ground crews at Binbrook, and after a short time was participating in the trials. At the end of the trials, RAF pilots found that Firestreak infra-red guided missiles had trouble acquiring the Spitfire due to a low exhaust temperature, and decided that the twin ADEN cannons were the only weapons suited to the task, which was complicated by the tight turning circle of the Spitfire, and the Lightning's proclivity for over-running the Spitfire. It was concluded that the most effective and safest way for a modern jet-engined fighter to attack a piston-engined fighter was to engage full afterburner at an altitude lower than the Spitfire, and circle behind it to perform a hit-and-run attack, contrary to all established fighter-on-fighter doctrine at that time. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=26027181 | 40,853 |
1,784,772 | Information theory was a fashionable scientific approach in the mid '50s. However, pioneer Claude Shannon wrote in 1956 that this trendiness was dangerous. He said, "Our fellow scientists in many different fields, attracted by the fanfare and by the new avenues opened to scientific analysis, are using these ideas in their own problems ... It will be all too easy for our somewhat artificial prosperity to collapse overnight when it is realized that the use of a few exciting words like information, entropy, redundancy, do not solve all our problems." During the next decade, a combination of factors shut down the application of information theory to natural language processing (NLP) problemsin particular machine translation. One factor was the 1957 publication of Noam Chomsky's "Syntactic Structures," which stated, "probabilistic models give no insight into the basic problems of syntactic structure". This accorded well with the philosophy of the artificial intelligence research of the time, which promoted rule-based approaches. The other factor was the 1966 ALPAC report, which recommended that the government should stop funding research into machine translation. ALPAC chairman John Pierce later said that the field was filled with "mad inventors or untrustworthy engineers". He said that the underlying linguistic problems must be solved before attempts at NLP could be reasonably made. These elements essentially halted research in the field. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4561188 | 1,783,768 |
1,897,107 | In the years that followed the research of the late 1920s, more objections to biological control were raised by environmentalists, including the concept that it is risky to introduce any new species to an already compromised ecosystem, even to destroy a previously introduced one. Further, it has been argued that gorse has uses beyond its colonial origins as a fence plant, for example as a source of food for bees in the early spring. Members of Environment Bay of Plenty have noted that gorse is a useful 'nursery' plant for native seedlings; it supplies the shelter and high nitrogen content in the soil that they need to mature, then, being less shade tolerant, gives way when a young native forest has been established. This approach has been applied successfully at Hinewai Reserve on Banks Peninsula, with succession through gorse taking a much shorter time than through the usual mānuka or kānuka. However, experts like ecologist Ian Popay argue that the forest that results is different to that which would have grown without the presence of gorse, and that this alteration is not "natural". Hawke's Bay Regional Council holds the view that cultivating native forest in this fashion is risky and cannot be recommended, although the Department of Conservation provides a practical guide to doing so. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=32939258 | 1,896,023 |
14,939 | Tardigrades are the first known animal to survive after exposure to outer space. In September 2007, dehydrated tardigrades were taken into low Earth orbit on the FOTON-M3 mission carrying the BIOPAN astrobiology payload. For 10 days, groups of tardigrades, some of them previously dehydrated, some of them not, were exposed to the hard vacuum of outer space, or vacuum and solar UV radiation. Back on Earth, more than 68% of the subjects protected from solar UV radiation were reanimated within 30 minutes following rehydration, although subsequent mortality was high; many of these produced viable embryos. In contrast, hydrated samples exposed to the combined effect of vacuum and full solar UV radiation had significantly reduced survival, with only three subjects of "Milnesium tardigradum" surviving. Also, it was found that the space vacuum did not have a significant effect on egg-laying in either R. "coronifer" or M. "tardigradum". However, M. "tardigradum" exposed to UV radiation had a lower egg laying rate. In May 2011, Italian scientists sent tardigrades on board the International Space Station along with extremophiles on STS-134, the final flight of . Their conclusion was that microgravity and cosmic radiation "did not significantly affect survival of tardigrades in flight, and stated that tardigrades represent a useful animal for space research." In November 2011, they were among the organisms to be sent by the U.S.-based Planetary Society on the Russian Fobos-Grunt mission's Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment to Phobos; however, the launch failed. In August 2019, scientists reported that a capsule containing tardigrades in a cryptobiotic state may have survived for a while on the Moon after the April 2019 crash landing of "Beresheet", a failed Israeli lunar lander, but in May 2021 it was reported that they were unlikely to have survived the impact. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=19817681 | 14,934 |
1,560,856 | The Wear Valley District Council along with its local Durham Dales Primary Care Trust in England developed an innovative scheme in an effort to combat the high levels of poor health and obesity in the area. They created a mobile gym with electronic fitness monitoring equipment, which is called "WOW" (Wellness on Wheels). This effort was to persuade as many people as possible to enroll in regular workouts as part of a wider campaign in the district. Barry Nelson, a health editor for the "Northern Echo", in an interview noted a high level of interest generated. The strategy was to take exercise to people's homes rather than waiting for them to use existing leisure facilities. Children and adults, who otherwise wouldn't have exercised, came out to exercise in the mobile gym. Clearly, from this instance, the availability and nearness of a fitness program in a community positively affected the fitness behavior of the residents. As history explains, twenty-three years ago, Mr. Hackleman was named benefits manager. At this time the county had just three health and fitness programs: blood pressure screenings performed by public health nurses, a tennis tournament and some aerobics classes. However, soon after the roster grew to include at least five preventive health screening programs, eight healthy lifestyle and wellness programs, twelve health improvement and risk reduction programs and five family-life education programs. Finally in 2005, Ms. Gibson documented a total of 3,382 participants in the county's health and fitness programs, or 2,283 individuals, representing 41% of the county's population. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3357557 | 1,559,970 |
244,186 | The earliest record of falconry comes from the reign of Sargon II (722–705 BC) in Assyria. Falconry is thought to have made its entry to Europe only after AD 400, brought in from the east after invasions by the Huns and Alans. Starting from the eighth century, numerous Arabic works on the subject and general ornithology were written, as well as translations of the works of ancient writers from Greek and Syriac. In the 12th and 13th centuries, crusades and conquest had subjugated Islamic territories in southern Italy, central Spain, and the Levant under European rule, and for the first time translations into Latin of the great works of Arabic and Greek scholars were made with the help of Jewish and Muslim scholars, especially in Toledo, which had fallen into Christian hands in 1085 and whose libraries had escaped destruction. Michael Scotus from Scotland made a Latin translation of Aristotle's work on animals from Arabic here around 1215, which was disseminated widely and was the first time in a millennium that this foundational text on zoology became available to Europeans. Falconry was popular in the Norman court in Sicily, and a number of works on the subject were written in Palermo. Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194–1250) learned about an falconry during his youth in Sicily and later built up a menagerie and sponsored translations of Arabic texts, among which the popular Arabic work known as the "Liber Moaminus" by an unknown author which was translated into Latin by Theodore of Antioch from Syria in 1240-1241 as the "De Scientia Venandi per Aves", and also Michael Scotus (who had removed to Palermo) translated Ibn Sīnā's "Kitāb al-Ḥayawān" of 1027 for the Emperor, a commentary and scientific update of Aristotle's work which was part of Ibn Sīnā's massive "Kitāb al-Šifāʾ". Frederick II eventually wrote his own treatise on falconry, the "De arte venandi cum avibus", in which he related his ornithological observations and the results of the hunts and experiments his court enjoyed performing. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=42967 | 244,059 |
687,289 | Shen Kuo was much in favor of philosophical Daoist notions which challenged the authority of empirical science in his day. Although much could be discerned through empirical observation and recorded study, Daoism asserted that the secrets of the universe were boundless, something that scientific investigation could merely express in fragments and partial understandings. Shen Kuo referred to the ancient Daoist "I Ching" in explaining the spiritual processes and attainment of foreknowledge that cannot be attained through "crude traces", which he likens to mathematical astronomy. Nathan Sivin proposes that Shen was the first in history to "make a clear distinction between our unconnected experiences and the unitary causal world we postulate to explain them," which Biderman and Scharfstein state is arguably inherent in the works of Heraclitus, Plato, and Democritus as well. Shen was a firm believer in destiny and prognostication, and made rational explanations for the relations between them. Shen held a special interest in fate, mystical divination, bizarre phenomena, yet warned against the tendency to believe that all matters in life were preordained. When describing an event where lightning had struck a house and all the wooden walls did not burn (but simply turned black) and lacquerwares inside were fine, yet metal objects had melted into liquid, Shen Kuo wrote: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1102000 | 686,932 |
305,223 | In 1946, speaking at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, former British prime minister Winston Churchill warned that, "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent." In the months that followed, Josef Stalin continued to solidify a Soviet sphere of influence in eastern Europe. For example, Bulgaria received its new Communist premier, Georgi Dimitrov, in November 1946, a Communist government under Bolesław Bierut had been established in Poland already in 1945, and by 1947, Hungary and Romania had also come under full communist rule. The last democratic government in the eastern bloc, Czechoslovakia, fell to a Communist coup in 1948, and in 1949 the Soviets raised their occupation zone in Germany to become the German Democratic Republic under Walter Ulbricht. To coordinate their new empire, the Soviets established a number of international organisations, first the Cominform to coordinate the policies of the various Communist parties, then the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON), in 1948, to control economic planning, and finally (in response to the entry of the Federal Republic of Germany into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) the Warsaw Pact in 1955, which served as a military alliance against the West. One crack within that sphere of influence emerged after 1948, when Marshal Josip Broz Tito became the president of Yugoslavia. Initial disagreement was over the level of independence claimed by Tito as the only East European Communist ruler commanding a strong domestic majority. Later the gap widened when Tito's government initiated a system of decentralised profit-sharing workers' councils, in effect a self-governing, somewhat market-oriented socialism, which Stalin considered dangerously revisionist. Stalin died in 1953. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=47246185 | 305,060 |
912,374 | Algae biodiesel is still a fairly new technology. Despite the fact that research began over 30 years ago, it was put on hold during the mid-1990s, mainly due to a lack of funding and a relatively low petroleum cost. For the next few years algae biofuels saw little attention; it was not until the gas peak of the early 2000s that it eventually had a revitalization in the search for alternative fuel sources. While the technology exists to harvest and convert algae into a usable source of biodiesel, it still hasn't been implemented into a large enough scale to support the current energy needs. Further research will be required to make the production of algae biofuels more efficient, and at this point it is currently being held back by lobbyists in support of alternative biofuels, like those produced from corn and grain. In 2013, Exxon Mobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson said that after originally committing to spending up to $600 million on development in a joint venture with J. Craig Venter's Synthetic Genomics, algae is "probably further" than "25 years away" from commercial viability, although Solazyme and Sapphire Energy already began small-scale commercial sales in 2012 and 2013, respectively. By 2017, most efforts had been abandoned or changed to other applications, with only a few remaining. It is expected that, due to economies of scale and mechanization, the price of seaweed fuel production costs can still be reduced by up to 100%. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=14205946 | 911,895 |
497,512 | A study done after the Dutch Hunger Winter of 1944-1945 showed that undernutrition during the early stages of pregnancy are associated with hypomethylation of the insulin-like growth factor II (IGF2) gene even after six decades. These individuals had significantly lower methylation rates as compared to their same sex sibling who had not been conceived during the famine. A comparison was done with children conceived prior to the famine so that their mothers were nutrient deprived during the later stages of gestation; these children had normal methylation patterns. The IGF2 stands for insulin-like growth factor II; this gene is a key contributor in human growth and development. IGF2 gene is also maternally imprinted meaning that the mother's gene is silenced. The mother's gene is typically methylated at the differentially methylated region (DMR); however, when hypomethylated, the gene is bi-allelically expressed. Thus, individuals with lower methylation states likely lost some of the imprinting effect. Similar results have been demonstrated in the Nr3c1 and Ppara genes of the offspring of rats fed on an isocaloric protein-deficient diet before starting pregnancy. This further implies that the undernutrition was the cause of the epigenetic changes. Surprisingly, there was not a correlation between methylation states and birth weight. This displayed that birth weight may not be an adequate way to determine nutritional status during gestation. This study stressed that epigenetic effects vary depending on the timing of exposure and that early stages of mammalian development are crucial periods for establishing epigenetic marks. Those exposed earlier in gestation had decreased methylation while those who were exposed at the end of gestation had relatively normal methylation levels. The offspring and descendants of mothers with hypomethylation were more likely to develop cardiovascular disease. Epigenetic alterations that occur during embryogenesis and early fetal development have greater physiologic and metabolic effects because they are transmitted over more mitotic divisions. In other words, the epigenetic changes that occur earlier are more likely to persist in more cells. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=343457 | 497,255 |
414,915 | One important difference to traditional epistemology is that Bayesian epistemology focuses not on the notion of simple belief but on the notion of degrees of belief, so-called "credences". This approach tries to capture the idea of certainty: we believe in all kinds of claims but we are more certain about some, like that the earth is round, than about others, like that Plato was the author of the First Alcibiades. These degrees come in values between 0 and 1. 0 corresponds to full disbelief, 1 corresponds to full belief and 0.5 corresponds to suspension of belief. According to the Bayesian interpretation of probability, credences stand for subjective probabilities. Following Frank P. Ramsey, they are interpreted in terms of the willingness to bet money on a claim. So having a credence of 0.8 (i.e. 80 %) that your favorite soccer team will win the next game would mean being willing to bet up to four dollars for the chance to make one dollar profit. This account draws a tight connection between Bayesian epistemology and decision theory. It might seem that betting-behavior is only one special area and as such not suited for defining such a general notion as credences. But, as Ramsey argues, we bet all the time when understood in the widest sense. For example, in going to the train station, we bet on the train being there on time, otherwise we would have stayed at home. It follows from the interpretation of credence in terms of willingness to make bets that it would be irrational to ascribe a credence of 0 or 1 to any proposition, except for contradictions and tautologies. The reason for this is that ascribing these extreme values would mean that one would be willing to bet anything, including one's life, even if the payoff was minimal. Another negative side-effect of such extreme credences is that they are permanently fixed and cannot be updated anymore upon acquiring new evidence. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=55503854 | 414,712 |
339,379 | Although they have been pushed into smaller habitats by human settlement expansion, members of the genus have been designated least-concern species by the IUCN, indicating low risk of becoming extinct in their natural environments in the near future. This is due to their high adaptiveness to changing habitat conditions. In fact, many feel the pumas' ability to adapt to different environments explains their current numbers. However, in many large metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, California, pumas' habitats have been fragmented by urban development and massive freeways. These barriers have made it nearly impossible for populations of mountain lions in specific areas of mountain ranges to reach one another to breed and increase genetic diversity. While their numbers still remain at decent levels, the number of kittens that are inbred is rising every year. This poses a threat to these already-reduced communities of mountain lions that are forced to quickly adapt to shrinking habitats and increased run-ins with humans. Many researchers from the National Park Service are using their findings to propose ideas to cities like Los Angeles, which harbors large populations of urban wildlife, to increase conservation efforts in areas on both sides of freeways, and begin the process of building land bridges for wildlife to safely cross freeways. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=9125620 | 339,199 |
2,013,361 | Sea levels in Utah dropped by the start of the Mesozoic, leaving only the western half of the state submerged. Life was abundant in the sea. In Utah's Triassic marine ecosystems, "Meekoceras" was an especially common cephalopod. Its remains were preserved at what is now known as "Cephalopod Gulch" near Salt Lake City. A series of floodplains filled the vacated eastern part of the state. On land, the Triassic life included trees similar to those of Petrified Forest National Park. Local dinosaurs left behind footprints that would later fossilize. For the rest of the Mesozoic sea levels in the state would rise and fall. During a dry spell in the Jurassic the state was covered in sand dunes. Later the sea rose and covered much of the state. This sea was home to ammonites, brachiopods, clams, fish, marine reptiles, and snails. On land, Utah was still home to dinosaurs. During the Middle Jurassic, eastern Utah was home to crocodilians. One small individual preserved in sediments now known as the Entrada Sandstone represents the only vertebrate body fossils known from western North America. The Entrada Sandstone also preserves many footprints of mid-to-large sized carnivorous dinosaurs across more than thirty tracksites in the eastern part of the state. These tracksites form "a single vast expanse of tracks covering an area of over 300 square miles", or roughly 1,000 square kilometers. This is known as the Moab megatracksite. During the Late Jurassic a group of small to mid-sized ornithopods left behind another significant series of trackways that have since fossilized. These parallel trackways were laid down in sediments that would later become the Morrison Formation of the state's southeastern region, near the Arizona border. The tracks provide important clues to dinosaur social behavior. During the Cretaceous significant volcanic activity occurred in Utah. The Cretaceous was also the last period in geologic history that Utah was covered in sea water. During the Early Cretaceous Utah was home to the pliosaurid "Brachauchenius". Western Interior Seaway researcher Michael J. Everhart has called it a "true 'sea monster'" of its time". Nevertheless, most of the fossils from this time are the preserved remains of contemporary local terrestrial life. Later during the ensuing Late Cretaceous epoch the ammonite "Scaphites" was especially common in Utah's marine environments. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=37799157 | 2,012,202 |
575,212 | Once the Phase II information is gathered, a long-range observing plan is developed that covers the entire year, finding appropriate times to schedule individual observations, and at the same time ensuring effective and efficient use of the telescope through the year. Detailed observing schedules are created each week, including, in the case of HST operations, scheduling the data communication paths via the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) and generating the binary command loads for uplink to the spacecraft. Adjustments can be made to both long-range and weekly plans in response to Targets of Opportunity (e.g., for transient events like supernovae or coordination with one-of-a-kind events such as comet impact spacecraft). The STScI uses the Min-conflicts algorithm to schedule observation time on the telescope. The STScI is currently developing similar processes for JWST, although the operational details will be very different due to its different instrumentation and spacecraft constraints, and its location at the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point (~1.5 million km from Earth) rather than the low Earth orbit (~565 km) used by HST. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=177098 | 574,918 |
269,616 | Those with fitting names give differing accounts of the effect of their name on their career choices. Igor Judge, former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, said he has no recollection of anyone commenting on his destined profession when he was a child, adding "I'm absolutely convinced in my case it is entirely coincidental and I can't think of any evidence in my life that suggests otherwise." James Counsell on the other hand, having chosen a career in law just like his father, his sibling, and two distant relatives, reported having been spurred on to join the bar from an early age and he cannot remember ever wanting to do anything else. Sue Yoo, an American lawyer, said that when she was younger people urged her to become a lawyer because of her name, which she thinks may have helped her decision. Weather reporter Storm Field was not sure about the influence of his name; his father, Dr. Frank Field, also a weather reporter, was his driving force. Psychology professor Lewis Lipsitt, a lifelong collector of aptronyms, was lecturing about nominative determinism in class when a student pointed out that Lipsitt himself was subject to the effect since he studied babies' sucking behaviour. Lipsitt said "That had never occurred to me." Church of England vicar Reverend Michael Vickers, who denied being a Vickers had anything to do with him becoming a vicar, suggesting instead that in some cases "perhaps people are actually escaping from their name, rather than moving towards their job". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=2326978 | 269,469 |
272,339 | Among some futurists and within the part of transhumanist movement, mind uploading is treated as an important proposed life extension or immortality technology (known as "digital immortality"). Some believe mind uploading is humanity's current best option for preserving the identity of the species, as opposed to cryonics. Another aim of mind uploading is to provide a permanent backup to our "mind-file", to enable interstellar space travel, and a means for human culture to survive a global disaster by making a functional copy of a human society in a computing device. Whole-brain emulation is discussed by some futurists as a "logical endpoint" of the topical computational neuroscience and neuroinformatics fields, both about brain simulation for medical research purposes. It is discussed in artificial intelligence research publications as an approach to strong AI (artificial general intelligence) and to at least weak superintelligence. Another approach is seed AI, which would not be based on existing brains. Computer-based intelligence such as an upload could think much faster than a biological human even if it were no more intelligent. A large-scale society of uploads might, according to futurists, give rise to a technological singularity, meaning a sudden time constant decrease in the exponential development of technology. Mind uploading is a central conceptual feature of numerous science fiction novels, films, and games. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=162435 | 272,191 |
1,896,124 | Another absolute instrumental approach was also possible with the development of light scattering theory by Albert Einstein, Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, Peter Debye, Bruno H. Zimm, and others. The problem with measurements made using membrane osmometry and sedimentation was that they only characterized the bulk properties of the polymer sample. Moreover, the measurements were excessively time consuming and prone to operator error. In order to gain information about a polydisperse mixture of molar masses, a method for separating the different sizes was developed. This was achieved by the advent of size exclusion chromatography (SEC). SEC is based on the fact that the pores in the packing material of chromatography columns could be made small enough for molecules to become temporarily lodged in their interstitial spaces. As the sample makes its way through a column the smaller molecules spend more time traveling in these void spaces than the larger ones, which have fewer places to "wander". The result is that a sample is separated according to its hydrodynamic volume formula_1. As a consequence, the big molecules come out first, and then the small ones follow in the eluent. By choosing a suitable column packing material it is possible to define the resolution of the system. Columns can also be combined in series to increase resolution or the range of sizes studied. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=16977319 | 1,895,040 |
1,023,490 | Simple atomization techniques are available in which liquid metal is forced through an orifice at a sufficiently high velocity to ensure turbulent flow. The usual performance index used is the Reynolds number R = fvd/n, where f = fluid density, v = velocity of the exit stream, d = diameter of the opening, and n = absolute viscosity. At low R the liquid jet oscillates, but at higher velocities the stream becomes turbulent and breaks into droplets. Pumping energy is applied to droplet formation with very low efficiency (on the order of 1%) and control over the size distribution of the metal particles produced is rather poor. Other techniques such as nozzle vibration, nozzle asymmetry, multiple impinging streams, or molten-metal injection into ambient gas are all available to increase atomization efficiency, produce finer grains, and to narrow the particle size distribution. Unfortunately, it is difficult to eject metals through orifices smaller than a few millimeters in diameter, which in practice limits the minimum size of powder grains to approximately 10 μm. Atomization also produces a wide spectrum of particle sizes, necessitating downstream classification by screening and remelting a significant fraction of the grain boundary. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=495768 | 1,022,957 |
435,270 | Between the years 1980 and 2000, three assumed fossils were discovered on a beach near The Gobbins in Northern Ireland by palaeontologist Roger Byrne. Exact geologic provenance is not reported for any of the specimens, but the very dark colouration of the specimens indicate (through means of comparison to marine fossils in other Northern Irish localities) they hail from Lias Group rocks, likely from either the Planorbis Zone or the Pre-planorbis Zone of the Waterloo Mudstone Formation. The specimens include BELUM K3998, a proximal femur fragment discovered in January 1980; BELUM K12493, the fragment of a tibia shaft discovered in April 1981; and BELUM K2015.1.54, a small pentagonal object discovered in 2000. Histologist Robin Reid recognized the first specimen as dinosaurian due to its bone texture and structure, and reported it as such in 1989, suspecting it may have belonged to "Scelidosaurus" or a similar animal. Byrne then recognized the tibia specimen as dinosaurian using similar identifiers; it was assumed, based on association, the two specimens came from the same animal. The pentagonal specimen was then assumed to be a scelidosaur osteoderm on the same logic. These specimens, alongside another discovered by fossil collector William Gray sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century, were formally studied by Michael J. Simms and colleagues and a study was published on them in the journal "Proceedings of the Geologists' Association" in December 2021. The assignment of the femoral fragment was upheld, with a clear ornithischian identity and with size and morphology specifically very similar to "Scelidosaurus" and unlike close relative "Scutellosaurus". However, the tibia was reinterpreted as that of an indeterminate neotheropod, the pentagonal object as a mere piece of basalt resembling a fossil, and Grey's specimen as belonging to an ichthyosaur. The scelidosaur femur and theropod tibia are the only known remains of dinosaurs from Ireland, which has a poor Mesozoic fossil record entirely consisting of marine localities, and the scelidosaur specimen was the first ever reported from the island. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=2469650 | 435,056 |
465,899 | Transformation via Agrobacterium has been successfully practiced in dicots, i.e. broadleaf plants, such as soybeans and tomatoes, for many years. Recently it has been adapted and is now effective in monocots like grasses, including corn and rice. In general, the "Agrobacterium" method is considered preferable to the gene gun, because of a greater frequency of single-site insertions of the foreign DNA, which allows for easier monitoring. In this method, the tumor inducing (Ti) region is removed from the T-DNA (transfer DNA) and replaced with the desired gene and a marker, which is then inserted into the organism. This may involve direct inoculation of the tissue with a culture of transformed Agrobacterium, or inoculation following treatment with micro-projectile bombardment, which wounds the tissue. Wounding of the target tissue causes the release of phenolic compounds by the plant, which induces invasion of the tissue by Agrobacterium. Because of this, microprojectile bombardment often increases the efficiency of infection with Agrobacterium. The marker is used to find the organism which has successfully taken up the desired gene. Tissues of the organism are then transferred to a medium containing an antibiotic or herbicide, depending on which marker was used. The "Agrobacterium" present is also killed by the antibiotic. Only tissues expressing the marker will survive and possess the gene of interest. Thus, subsequent steps in the process will only use these surviving plants. In order to obtain whole plants from these tissues, they are grown under controlled environmental conditions in tissue culture. This is a process of a series of media, each containing nutrients and hormones. Once the plants are grown and produce seed, the process of evaluating the progeny begins. This process entails selection of the seeds with the desired traits and then retesting and growing to make sure that the entire process has been completed successfully with the desired results. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=22346936 | 465,666 |
651,393 | While the organization of information has been going on since antiquity, bibliographic control as we know it today is a more recent invention. Ancient civilizations recorded lists of books onto tablets and libraries in the Middle Ages kept records of their holdings. With the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, multiple copies of a single book could be produced quickly. Johann Tritheim, a German librarian, was the first to create a bibliography in chronological order with an alphabetical author index. Conrad Gessner followed in his footsteps in the next century as he published an author bibliography and subject index. He added to his bibliography an alphabetical list of authors with inverted names, which was a new practice. He also included references to variant spellings of author's names, a precursor to authority control. Andrew Maunsell further revolutionized bibliographic control by suggesting that a book should be findable based on the author's last name, the subject of the book, and the translator. In the 17th century Sir Thomas Bodley was interested in a catalog arranged alphabetically by author's last name as well as subject entries. Sir Robert Cotton's library catalogued books with busts of famous Romans. The busts were organized by their name, i.e. N for Nero, and then came the shelf with its assigned letter, and then the roman numeral of the title's number. For example, the cataloging for "The Lindisfarne Gospels" reads Nero D IV. Cotton's cataloging method is still in use for his collection in the British Library. In 1697, Frederic Rostgaard called for subject arrangement that was subdivided by both chronology and by size (whereas in the past titles were arranged by their size only), as well as an index of subjects and authors by last name and for word order in titles to be preserved based on the title page. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3185540 | 651,051 |
235,525 | Loss of habitat is the single greatest threat to any species. If an island on which an endemic organism lives becomes uninhabitable for some reason, the species will become extinct. Any type of habitat surrounded by a different habitat is in a similar situation to an island. If a forest is divided into parts by logging, with strips of cleared land separating woodland blocks, and the distances between the remaining fragments exceeds the distance an individual animal is able to travel, that species becomes especially vulnerable. Small populations generally lack genetic diversity and may be threatened by increased predation, increased competition, disease and unexpected catastrophe. At the edge of each forest fragment, increased light encourages secondary growth of fast-growing species and old growth trees are more vulnerable to logging as access is improved. The birds that nest in their crevices, the epiphytes that hang from their branches and the invertebrates in the leaf litter are all adversely affected and biodiversity is reduced. Habitat fragmentation can be ameliorated to some extent by the provision of wildlife corridors connecting the fragments. These can be a river, ditch, strip of trees, hedgerow or even an underpass to a highway. Without the corridors, seeds cannot disperse and animals, especially small ones, cannot travel through the hostile territory, putting populations at greater risk of local extinction. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1596317 | 235,406 |
564,885 | "Lemna minor" has been shown to remove heavy metals like lead, copper, zinc and arsenic very efficiently from waters with non-lethal concentrations. One particular study found, that more than 70% of arsenic was removed after 15 days at initial concentration of 0.5 mg/L. Another one says, that viable "L. minor" biomass removed 85-90% of Pb(NO) with an initial concentration of 5 mg/L. Higher lead concentrations though result in a decrease in relative growth rate of "L. minor". Because "L. minor" is temperature tolerant, shows rapid growth and is easy to harvest, it bears high potential for the cost-efficient use in wastewater treatments. The Devils Lake wastewater treatment, located in North Dakota, USA, utilizes these beneficial properties of "L. minor" and other aquatic plants in the treatment of municipal and industrial wastewater. After a certain growing period, the plants are harvested and used as soil amendment, compost material or protein source for livestock. In industrial affected regions, where heavy metals accumulate in waters, soils and sediments due to anthropogenic activities like mining and burning of fossil fuels, the harvested "L. minor" should not be reused, but disposed accordingly. Because heavy metals have carcinogenic effects in humans, persist long in nature and accumulate in living organisms, their removal from the environment is important. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13151201 | 564,595 |
139,485 | The International Powerlifting Federation was formed immediately after the contest and so none of the lifts could be yet registered as official world records. The 1973 Worlds was also held in York. This time there were only 47 entrants: one Swedish, one Puerto Rican (Peter Fiore, who was lifting for Zambia), two Canadians, one West Indian, eight British, and the rest Americans. The officiating became increasingly international and included Tony Fitton and Terry Jordan from Britain, a Canadian, and a Zambian. American Bob Crist was the IPF President and another American, Clarence Johnson, was vice-president. 1973 was the first time that the lifts were done in the order now recognized – squat, bench press, deadlift (although still lifting in pounds). Precious Mackenzie won his third World title, easily beating American teenager Lamar Gant. 1974 was the first time that teams had to be selected in advance. With 74 entrants, this was the largest Worlds so far. The 52 kg class was introduced, and nine lifters entered. In 1975, the World Championships was held outside America for the first time, at the town hall in Birmingham, hosted by Vic Mercer. 82 lifters entered. Unusually for a competition, the super-heavyweights lifted first. This was because the television company filming the event was only interested in filming the "big guys". Hoffman sent over tons of equipment for this contest and did not take it back, and local legend says it is all still being used in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands region. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=64223 | 139,428 |
977,394 | The acceleration of research on animal cognition in the last 50 years or so has led to a rapid expansion in the variety of species studied and methods employed. The remarkable behavior of large-brained animals such as primates and cetacea have claimed special attention, but all sorts of animals large and small (birds, fish, ants, bees, and others) have been brought into the laboratory or observed in carefully controlled field studies. In the laboratory, animals push levers, pull strings, dig for food, swim in water mazes, or respond to images on computer screens to get information for discrimination, attention, memory, and categorization experiments. Careful field studies explore memory for food caches, navigation by stars, communication, tool use, identification of conspecifics, and many other matters. Studies often focus on the behavior of animals in their natural environments and discuss the putative function of the behavior for the propagation and survival of the species. These developments reflect an increased cross-fertilization from related fields such as ethology and behavioral ecology. Contributions from behavioral neuroscience are beginning to clarify the physiological substrate of some inferred mental process. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=425938 | 976,883 |
844,235 | In 2015, IUPAC began a project to decide if group 3 should be Sc-Y-La-Ac or Sc-Y-Lu-Lr: it was chaired by Scerri and included (among others) Jensen and Lavelle. It considered the question to be "of considerable importance" for chemists, physicists, and students, noting that the variation in published periodic tables on this point typically puzzled students and instructors. The IUPAC project released a provisional report in 2021. It concluded that the group 3 dispute cannot be decided by any objective means and that that made it more important for IUPAC to decide it as a matter of convention. According to the report, assigning electron configurations to atoms, and similarly assigning elements to blocks, represents an approximation: it makes the point that thorium is universally classified as an f-block element even though it lacks f-electrons. The report points out that if lanthanum and actinium are included in group 3, then the d-block must be split "into two highly uneven portions"; whereas if lutetium and lawrencium are included in group 3, no such split is required. It also points out that if the spaces below yttrium are left blank, then 15 elements occur in the f-block rows, even though by quantum mechanics an f-subshell can accommodate at most 14 electrons. Therefore, the report suggested considering scandium, yttrium, lutetium, and lawrencium as the group 3 elements. The reasons given were to display all elements in order of increasing atomic number, avoid the d-block split, and to have the blocks follow the widths quantum mechanics demands of them (2, 6, 10, and 14): no other possible version achieves all three. The report noted that some practitioners of a specialised branch of relativistic quantum mechanics concerned with the properties of superheavy elements uphold grouping together 15 rather than 14 f-block elements, but it considered that to be "interest-dependence" and stated that such findings "should not be imposed on the majority of users of the periodic table". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=306609 | 843,785 |
167,817 | In 1879, the Dumonts sold their farm in Valença, Rio de Janeiro, and settled in Sítio do Cascavel, in Ribeirão Preto, where they bought the Arindeúva Farm, of José Bento Junqueira, producing 1200 bushels. Until he was 10, he was taught by his older sister, Virginia. From 10 to 12 years old he studied at Colégio Culto à Ciência. He then attended Colégio Kopke in São Paulo, Colégio Morton, and Colégio Menezes Vieira in Rio de Janeiro, and later at the School of Engineering from Minas, without finishing the course. He was not considered an outstanding student, studying only what interested him, and extending his studies independently in his father's library. By this time he already displayed the refined manners that would later become part of his image in France, and an introverted personality. He saw his first human flight in São Paulo at the age of 15, in 1888, when an aeronaut ascended in a spherical balloon and parachuted down. After a family trip to Paris in 1891, he became interested in mechanics, especially the internal combustion engine. From then on, he never stopped searching for alternatives, receiving from the City Council of Ribeirão Preto, according to , of 4 November 1903, a million réis subsidy to continue his researches that, three years later, resulted in the creation of his aeroplane. A newspaper of the time stated that Santos-Dumont would only accept if "...that amount was intended for an aircraft contest prize." | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=152687 | 167,727 |
1,828,213 | In metazoans, defense against disruption of the multicellular life style by such cheaters takes two major forms. First, a consistent feature of the multicellular life cycle is the interposition of a unicellular phase, even among organisms whose major mode of propagation may be via many-celled vegetative propagules. This unicellular phase usually takes the form of a sexually produced zygote. Passage through a unicellular bottleneck assures that each representative of the next generation of organisms represents a distinct clone. Some offspring will carry a large number of deleterious mutations and will die off, while other offspring will carry few. In this manner, the organism bypasses "Muller's ratchet," the process by which the genomes of an asexual population accumulate deleterious mutations in an irreversible manner. The second defense against cheaters is the development of allorecognition mechanisms that guard against invasion by parasitic replicators. Allorecognition acts as an agent of kin selection by restricting fusion and community acceptance to related individuals. If related individuals fuse, the benefits of fusion will still apply, while the costs of competition for shared resources or reproductive opportunities will be reduced by a fraction proportional to the degree of relatedness between the fusing partners. If unrelated individuals fuse, or if a mutated cell arises within an organism that is distinguishable from self by the allorecognition system, a rejection response will be activated. As a general rule, rejection is mediated by the gene products of highly variable loci, which must match (or nearly match) between organisms for fusion to be successful. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=34769236 | 1,827,174 |
535,396 | The development and continual improvement of computers, at first mechanical analog machines and then digital electronic machines, allowed industry to deal with larger and larger amounts of data to facilitate mass production and distribution and communication, and new areas of mathematics were developed to deal with this: Alan Turing's computability theory; complexity theory; Derrick Henry Lehmer's use of ENIAC to further number theory and the Lucas-Lehmer test; Rózsa Péter's recursive function theory; Claude Shannon's information theory; signal processing; data analysis; optimization and other areas of operations research. In the preceding centuries much mathematical focus was on calculus and continuous functions, but the rise of computing and communication networks led to an increasing importance of discrete concepts and the expansion of combinatorics including graph theory. The speed and data processing abilities of computers also enabled the handling of mathematical problems that were too time-consuming to deal with by pencil and paper calculations, leading to areas such as numerical analysis and symbolic computation. Some of the most important methods and algorithms of the 20th century are: the simplex algorithm, the fast Fourier transform, error-correcting codes, the Kalman filter from control theory and the RSA algorithm of public-key cryptography. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=56516812 | 535,117 |
91,404 | The development and continual improvement of computers, at first mechanical analog machines and then digital electronic machines, allowed industry to deal with larger and larger amounts of data to facilitate mass production and distribution and communication, and new areas of mathematics were developed to deal with this: Alan Turing's computability theory; complexity theory; Derrick Henry Lehmer's use of ENIAC to further number theory and the Lucas-Lehmer test; Rózsa Péter's recursive function theory; Claude Shannon's information theory; signal processing; data analysis; optimization and other areas of operations research. In the preceding centuries much mathematical focus was on calculus and continuous functions, but the rise of computing and communication networks led to an increasing importance of discrete concepts and the expansion of combinatorics including graph theory. The speed and data processing abilities of computers also enabled the handling of mathematical problems that were too time-consuming to deal with by pencil and paper calculations, leading to areas such as numerical analysis and symbolic computation. Some of the most important methods and algorithms of the 20th century are: the simplex algorithm, the fast Fourier transform, error-correcting codes, the Kalman filter from control theory and the RSA algorithm of public-key cryptography. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=14220 | 91,364 |
1,363,312 | In addition to the white Thermoplastic PVC and TPO membranes used in many commercial cool roof applications, there is also research in the field of cool asphalt shingles. Asphalt shingles make up the majority of the North American residential roofing market, and consumer preferences for darker colors make creating solar-reflective shingles a particular challenge, causing asphalt shingles to have solar reflectances of only 4%-26%. When these roofs are designed to reflect increased amount of solar radiation, the urban heat island effect can be reduced through the reduced need for cooling costs in the summer. Though a more reflective roof can lead to higher heating costs in the colder months, studies have shown that the increased winter heating costs are still lower than the summer cooling cost savings. To satisfy the consumer demands for darker colors which still reflect significant amounts of sunlight, different materials, coating processes, and pigments are used. Since only 43% of light occurs in the visible light spectrum, reflectance can be improved without affecting color by increasing the reflectance of UV and IR light. High surface roughness can also contribute to the low solar reflectances of asphalt shingles, as these shingles are made of many small approximately spherical granules which have a high surface roughness. To decrease this, other granule materials are being investigated, such as flat rock flakes, which could reduce the reflectance inefficiencies due to surface roughness. Another alternative is to coat the granules using a dual coat process: the outer coating would have the desired color pigment, though it may not be very reflective, while the inner coating is a highly reflective titanium dioxide coating. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3178571 | 1,362,559 |
1,454,386 | The comparison in the table below is only meant to give approximate indications of radioresistance for different species and should be taken with great caution. There are generally big differences in radioresistance for one species among experiments, due to the way radiation affects living tissues and to different experimental conditions. We should for example consider that because radiation impedes cell division, immature organisms are less resistant to radiations than adults, and adults are sterilized at doses much lower than that necessary to kill them. For example, for the insect parasitoid "Habrobracon hebetor", the LD for haploid embryo during cleavage (1–3 hours of age) is 200 R, but about 4 hours later it is of 7,000 R (for X-ray intensity of 110 R/minute), and haploid (= male) embryos are more resistant than diploid (= female) embryos. The mortality of adults "H. hebetor" exposed to a dose of 180,250 R is the same to this of a non-irradiated control group (food was not provided to either groups) (for 6,000 R/minute). However, a lower dose of 102,000 R (for 6,000 R/minute) is sufficient to induce a state of lethargy in "H. hebetor" that is manifested by a complete cessation of activity, including cessation of feeding, and these individuals eventually let themselves starve to death. And an even lower dose of 4,858 R (for 2,650 R/minute) is sufficient to sterilize adult female "H. hebetor" (sterility arises 3 days post-exposure). Other important factors that influence the level of radioresistance include: The length of time during which a dose of radiation is delivered—with doses delivered during longer periods, or at time intervals, being associated with greatly reduced negative effects; | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1659631 | 1,453,566 |
1,632,999 | The first medical schools were established in Lower Canada in the 1820s. These included the Montreal Medical Institution, which is the McGill University Faculty of Medicine today. In the mid-1870s, Sir William Osler changed the face of medical school instruction with the introduction of the hands-on approach. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Upper Canada was established in 1839, and in 1869, it was permanently incorporated. In 1834, William Kelly, a surgeon with the Royal Navy, introduced the idea of preventing the spread of disease via sanitation measures following epidemics of cholera. In 1892, Dr. William Osler wrote the landmark text "The Principles and Practice of Medicine", which dominated medical instruction in the West for the following half century. Around this time, a movement began that called for the improved healthcare for the poor, focusing mainly on sanitation and hygiene. This period saw important advances including the provision of safe drinking water to most of the population, public baths and beaches, and municipal garbage services to remove waste from the city. During this period, medical care was severely lacking for the poor and minorities such as First Nations. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=10620033 | 1,632,077 |
795,607 | As the Kuroshio Current separates from the equatorial current and flows northward, warm water from the Western Pacific Warm Pool segues into the northwest Pacific Ocean Basin. Principal heat flux in the Kuroshio occurs via the Kuroshio Extension between 132°E and 160°E and 30°N to 35°N, depending on the latitude where the extension splits off from the Kuroshio Current along the coast of Japan. The process of warm water injection into the open ocean plays an important role in the formation of North Pacific Subtropical Mode waters and the regulation of sea surface temperatures, affecting moisture transport across the western Pacific Basin. North Pacific subtropical mode waters are created when Kuroshio Extension waters lose large amounts of heat and moisture to the cold and dry northerly winds during boreal wintertime months, creating dense salty surface waters prone to sink and cause convection. The temperature range of the sinking North Pacific Subtropical Mode Waters characteristically falls between 16 °C and 19 °C, however exact temperatures and depths to which these waters sink varies annually depending on the efficiency of water transportation by the extension, which is a function of atmospheric and mesoscale eddy conditions. The resulting homogeneous water mass typically separates the seasonal pycnocline from the surface waters in the mid to late summer months, remaining stratified below the warmer surface waters until shoaling back towards the surface with the mixed layer due to storm perturbation in the fall and winter. The contrast between the temperatures of these stratified vertical layers can be discernable such that the lateral advection of mode water can be traced for thousands of kilometers. Mode water formation is variable and largely dependent on the flow intensity of the Kuroshio Extension and atmospheric heat flux efficiencies. Heat flux processes sometimes experience feedbacks that enhance water temperature contrasts and can cause sea surface temperature features to last well past the end of the boreal winter. For example, with residually cooled surface waters in the late spring and early summer months, warm moist air from the south can cause low cloud formation and reflection of solar radiation, extending temporal sea surface cooling. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=952514 | 795,182 |
1,577,594 | English walnuts (Juglans regia) and black walnuts (Juglans nigra) are two main types of walnuts in the market across the world. Walnuts are utilized as a valuable ingredient due to favorable health attributes, sensory properties and consumer sensation. Shelled walnuts are broadly applied as ingredients in different foods such as salad, ice creams, bread and meat alternative. Walnut oil is introduced as a good source of mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids and tocopherols. And it is adopted as a food ingredient in salad dressings particularly. Walnut hull extract is considered as a dietary supplement and a seasoning in the food industry. In addition, ground walnut shells can be used in industrial field as extenders, carriers, fillers and abrasives for example jet cleaners. Tree nuts are regarded as one of the most common allergenic foods around the world. Allergic reactions from tree nuts can be fierce and life threatening. Individuals with walnut allergies can have result in fatal and near-fatal reactions from the unintended ingestion of walnuts, other tree nuts or possibly contamination of food with the walnuts ingredient. To prevent walnut allergic reactions, the only effective way is to avoid walnuts in the diet. The appropriate labeling of processed foods with walnuts ingredient is critical to protect walnut-allergic consumers. There are a couple of circumstances cause undeclared walnut residues such as sharing equipment between walnut-containing and other formulations and undeclared walnuts in ingredients. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) can be used as the technique to detect walnuts residues with great sensitivity and specificity since walnuts allergic Individuals can have allergic reactions with low (milligram) amounts of walnuts. Several different techniques can be applied to discover walnut residues as well such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method and ELISA method on the basis of polyclonal antisera raised against a particular 2S albumin walnut protein. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=60902291 | 1,576,705 |
29,001 | Following criticisms over the aesthetic value of the device, the FIA revealed plans to allow teams some design freedom in the final version of the halo, with the teams permitted to attach a thin single-plane wing atop the halo to control airflow over the top of the car and into the airbox to assist with engine cooling. Where the test models of the halo had been attached to an existing monocoque structure, teams were required to incorporate the final build of the halo into the chassis design from its inception rather than attached once the design was completed. The minimum weight of the chassis was raised to , in order to accommodate the additional weight of the halo. The mandatory crash tests that each chassis must pass were adjusted to include a new static load test. In order to simulate a serious accident, a tyre was mounted to a hydraulic ram and fired at the crash structure; to pass the test, the chassis and the mounting points for the halo had to remain intact. In order to prevent teams from exploiting the halo for aerodynamic gain and potentially compromising its purpose, the FIA banned teams from developing their own devices and instead required them to purchase pre-fabricated models from approved suppliers. The technical regulations were updated mid-season to allow teams to mount rear view mirrors to the halo instead of affixing them to the bodywork. The changes were introduced in response to criticism that the halo obstructed the driver's view of the mirrors; however, halo-mounted designs were also criticised for allowing teams to exploit a loophole and introduce aerodynamic device, in the form of winglets above the mirrors, into an area where aerodynamic development was prohibited under the pretense of improving driver visibility, and the regulations were rewritten once more to ban the practice of mounting anything besides mirrors on the halo. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=52639993 | 28,991 |
2,029,657 | The viola concerto has been highly praised by music critics. Reviewing the world premiere, Fiona Maddocks of "The Observer" described the piece as an "inventive, three-movement piece" and said it "exploits fully the lyrical qualities of the instrument, launching with a rhapsodic solo ascent and finding bold colours via some hushed string harmonics, dissonances and glissandi. Bright sounds of harp, xylophone, vibraphone and tubular bells offset some more mellow string sounds, including those from the soloist's 400-year-old instrument." He continued, "The work, a major contribution to the repertory, is full of musical debate, not least between the solo viola and the four front-desk players of the viola and cello section, but has little in the way of show-off virtuosity for its own sake. In an unexpected gesture, the soloist finishes fractionally ahead of everyone else after some spectacular, rapid string crossing, leaving his comrades to play two final chords. Counter to its ponderous image, the viola triumphantly proves its fleet-footed ability to gallop home first." Ivan Hewett of "The Daily Telegraph" called it "a hugely ambitious piece, which summoned starkly opposed worlds of feeling, and forced them into anguished confrontations." David Nice of "The Arts Desk" also lauded the concerto, saying "the more introspective passages proved haunting in a very MacMillanesque way." The "London Evening Standard" wrote, "In several respects, MacMillan's concerto refuses to conform to expectations. Muted, brooding timbres make for a surprising opening but suit the viola very well, and a frequently recurring quartet of two violas and two cellos enhances the atmosphere. Similarly resourceful scoring occurs in the finale, where a solo flute invokes the sound world of the Japanese shakuhachi. Also unconventional is the explosive opening of what is otherwise a lyrical slow movement and the viola’s disappearing act at its close." | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=50706725 | 2,028,489 |
1,948,887 | The European environmental research and innovation policy has a multidisciplinary character and involve efforts across many different sectors to provide safe, economically feasible, environmentally sound and socially acceptable solutions along the entire value chain of human activities. To reduce resource use and environmental impacts whilst increasing competitiveness requires a decisive societal and technological transition to an economy based on a sustainable relationship between nature and human well-being. The availability of sufficient raw materials is addressed as well as the creation of opportunities for growth and new jobs. Innovative options are developed in policies ranging across science, technology, economy, regulations, society and citizens’ behavior, and governance. Research and innovation activities improve the understanding and forecasting of climate and environmental change in a systemic and cross-sectoral perspective, reduce uncertainties, identify and assess vulnerabilities, risks, costs, mitigation measures and opportunities, as well as expand the range and improve the effectiveness of societal and policy responses and solutions. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=47556865 | 1,947,769 |
630,691 | The first organisms that showed similar characteristics of Crocodilians were the Crurotarsi, who appeared during the early Triassic 250 million years ago. This quickly gave rise to the Eusuchia clade 220 million years ago, which would eventually lead to the order of Crocodilians, the first of which arose about 85 million years ago during the late Cretaceous. The earliest fossil evidence of eusuchians is of the genus "Isisfordia". Early species mainly fed on fish and vegetation. They were land-based, most having long legs (when compared to modern crocodiles) and many were bipedal. As diversification increased, many apex predators arose, all of which are now extinct. Modern Crocodilia arose through specific evolutionary traits. The complete loss of bipedalism was traded for a generally low quadrupedal stance for an easy and less noticeable entrance to bodies of water. The shape of the skull/jaw changed to allow more grasp along with upward-pointing nostrils and eyes. Mimicry is evident, as the backs of all crocodilia resemble some type of floating log and their general color scheme of brown and green mimics moss or wood. Their tail also took on a paddle shape to increase swimming speed. The only remaining groups of this order are the alligators, caimans, crocodiles, gharials, and false gharials. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=30600763 | 630,353 |
2,060,441 | In January 1925, "Century" published Meiklejohn's plan for a new and "experimental" college, "A New College: Notes on a Next Step in Higher Education". The proposed college would have a "unified" two-year curriculum and closer ties between faculty and students, who were to be "coequal partners". Meiklejohn called for a small school with a maximum of 35 professors and 300 students, with tutorial as the chief means of instruction. The planned program eschewed division by academic discipline and preferred holistic study of human civilization, particularly ancient Athens and the contemporary United States. The school sought to foster students who understood themselves in the context of their surrounding society as a "total human undertaking". Meiklejohn wanted students who would independently volunteer to live in self-governance. Meiklejohn biographer Adam Nelson wrote that for the 1920s, this idea of voluntary interest in study "seemed almost laughable". The augmented liberal arts program was a departure from vocational education trends of the time, as was its emphasis on smaller classes in a time of large lectures for burgeoning college populations. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=41013618 | 2,059,254 |
1,864,289 | In 1997, Percy Schmeiser discovered that canola growing on his farm was genetically modified to be resistant to Roundup although he had not planted GM seed. He had initially discovered that some canola growing by a roadside along one of his fields was Roundup resistant when he was killing weeds along the road; this led him to spray a 3- to 4‑acre section of his adjacent field and 60% of the canola survived. Schmeiser harvested the seed from the surviving, Roundup resistant plants, and planted the seed in 1998. Monsanto sued Schmeiser for patent infringement for the 1998 planting. Schmeiser claimed that because the 1997 plants grew from seed that was blown into his field from neighboring fields, that he owned the harvest and was entitled to do with it whatever he wished, including saving the seeds from the 1997 harvest and planting them in 1998. The case ("Monsanto Canada Inc v Schmeiser") went to the Supreme Court which held for Monsanto by a 5‑4 vote in late May 2004. The case is widely cited or referenced by the anti-GM community in the context of a fear of a company claiming ownership of a farmer's crop based on the inadvertent presence of GM pollen grain or seed. "The court record shows, however, that it was not just a few seeds from a passing truck, but that Mr Schmeiser was growing a crop of 95–98% pure Roundup Ready plants, a commercial level of purity far higher than one would expect from inadvertent or accidental presence. The judge could not account for how a few wayward seeds or pollen grains could come to dominate hundreds of acres without Mr Schmeiser's active participation, saying '. . .none of the suggested sources could reasonably explain the concentration or extent of Roundup Ready canola of a commercial quality evident from the results of tests on Schmeiser's crop'" – in other words, the original presence of Monsanto seed on his land in 1997 was indeed inadvertent, but the crop in 1998 was entirely purposeful. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=8160680 | 1,863,217 |
1,331,573 | Growing up in dysfunctional family environments or experiencing social isolation can atrophy the 'emotional' areas of the brain. For example, toxic parent-child attachments involving verbal/physical abuse, and regular angry interactions impairs the child's sense of agency, coherence, and affectivity in interactions with others. Parents with unresolved personal issues may project these emotions onto their children. Internally, elevated cortisol in the limbic region coincides with suboptimal attachment experiences that can kill neurons and alter genes in the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA), which controls stress hormone release. The regulatory molecules that control gene expression can be changed by stress, leading to the accelerated pruning and restructuring of neural networks, increasing latent vulnerability to attachment and mental disorders."" Altogether, depending on the healthiness of the child-caregiver relationship, distinct attachment styles identified in clinical observation will be promoted within the child, including secure attachment, anxious-ambivalent attachment, and anxious-avoidant/dismissive-avoidant attachment. Children lacking a secure attachment with their caregiver are more prone to mental illness. Siegel asserts that too few inhibitory fibres connect the middle prefrontal cortex to the amygdala in people with bipolar disorder. An 8-year-old with 900 fibers going connecting to their amygdala to calm it down, needs 600 to make it work well."" But during adolescence, high stress levels (as well as probably being genetically induced) can prune half the inhibitory fibres, leading to symptoms (such as mood swings). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=63045052 | 1,330,844 |
733,992 | No new consensus has emerged to replace the documentary hypothesis, but since roughly the mid-1980s an influential theory has emerged which relates the emergence of the Pentateuch to the situation in Judah in the 5th century BCE under Persian imperial rule. The central institution in the post-Exilic Persian province of Yehud (the Persian name for the former kingdom of Judah) was the reconstructed Second Temple, which functioned both as the administrative centre for the province and as the means through which Yehud paid taxes to the central government. The central government was willing to grant autonomy to local communities throughout the empire, but it was first necessary for the would-be autonomous community to present the local laws for imperial authorisation. This provided a powerful incentive for the various groups that constituted the Jewish community in Yehud to come to an agreement. The major groups were the landed families who controlled the main sources of wealth, and the priestly families who controlled the Temple. Each group had its own history of origins that legitimated its prerogatives. The tradition of the landowners was based on the old Deuteronomistic tradition, which had existed since at least the 6th century BCE and had its roots even earlier; that of the priestly families was composed to "correct" and "complete" the landowners' composition. In the final document Genesis 1-11 lays the foundations, Genesis 12-50 defines the people of Israel, and the books of Moses define the community's laws and relationship to its God. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1365728 | 733,605 |
953,221 | Eckert and Mauchly were uncertain about the reliability of digital logic circuits and little was known about them at the time. The UNIVAC I was designed with parallel computation circuits and result comparison. In practice, only failing components yielded comparison faults as their circuit designs were very reliable. Tricks were used to manage the reliability of tubes. Prior to use in the machine, large lots of the predominant tube type 25L6 were burned in and carefully tested. Often half of a production lot would be thrown away. Technicians installed a tested and burned-in tube in an easily diagnosed location such as the memory recirculate amplifiers. Then, when aged further, this "golden" tube was sent to stock to be used in a difficult to diagnose logic position. It took about 30 minutes to turn on the computer as all filament power supplies were stepped up to operating value over that time, to reduce in-rush current and thermal stress on the tubes. As a result, uptimes (MTBF) of many days to weeks were obtained on the processor. The UNISERVO did not have vacuum columns but springs and strings to buffer tape from the reels to the capstan. These were a frequent source of failures. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=142981 | 952,716 |
644,412 | The above description assumes that the waveform of the transmitter being exploited possesses a usable radar ambiguity function and hence cross-correlation yields a useful result. Some broadcast signals, such as analogue television, contain a structure in the time domain that yields a highly ambiguous or inaccurate result when cross-correlated. In this case, the processing described above is ineffective. If the signal contains a continuous wave (CW) component, however, such as a strong carrier tone, then it is possible to detect and track targets in an alternative way. Over time, moving targets will impose a changing Doppler shift and direction of arrival on the CW tone that is characteristic of the location, speed and heading of the target. It is therefore possible to use a non-linear estimator to estimate the state of the target from the time history of the Doppler and bearing measurements. Work has been published that has demonstrated the feasibility of this approach for tracking aircraft using the vision carrier of analogue television signals. However, track initiation is slow and difficult, and so the use of narrowband signals is probably best considered as an adjunct to the use of illuminators with better ambiguity surfaces. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1766338 | 644,072 |
1,119,061 | To test the notion that attention plays a vital role in visual perception, Treisman and Schmidt (1982) designed an experiment to show that features may exist independently of one another early in processing. Participants were shown a picture involving four objects hidden by two black numbers. The display was flashed for one-fifth of a second followed by a random-dot masking field that appeared on screen to eliminate "any residual perception that might remain after the stimuli were turned off". Participants were to report the black numbers they saw at each location where the shapes had previously been. The results of this experiment verified Treisman and Schmidt's hypothesis. In 18% of trials, participants reported seeing shapes "made up of a combination of features from two different stimuli", even when the stimuli had great differences; this is often referred to as an illusory conjunction. Specifically, illusory conjunctions occur in various situations. For example, you may identify a passing person wearing a red shirt and yellow hat and very quickly transform him or her into one wearing a yellow shirt and red hat. The feature integration theory provides explanation for illusory conjunctions; because features exist independently of one another during early processing and are not associated with a specific object, they can easily be incorrectly combined both in laboratory settings, as well as in real life situations. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1695035 | 1,118,488 |
1,691,810 | Psychosurgery is a surgical operation that destroys brain tissue in order to alleviate the symptoms of mental disorder. The lesions are usually, but not always, made in the frontal lobes. Tissue may be destroyed by cutting, burning, freezing, electric current or radiation. The first systematic attempt at psychosurgery is commonly attributed to the Swiss psychiatrist Gottlieb Burckhardt who operated on six patients in 1888. In 1889 Thomas Claye Shaw reported mental improvement in a case of General Paralysis of the Insane after a neurosurgical intervention. This led to a lively debate in the "British Medical Journal" on the usefulness of neurosurgery for the treatment of insanity. In the 1930s the Portuguese neurologist Egas Moniz developed a surgical technique for the treatment of mental illness and called it "leucotomy" or "psychosurgery". Moniz' technique was adapted and promoted by American neurologist Walter Freeman and his neurosurgeon colleague James W. Watts. They called their operation, where burr holes are drilled in the side of the skull and the white matter is sliced through in order to sever the connections between the frontal lobes and deeper structures in the brain, lobotomy. In the United Kingdom it became known as the standard Freeman-Watts prefrontal leucotomy. British psychiatrist William Sargant met Freeman on a visit to the United States and on his return to England encouraged doctors at the Burden Neurological Institute in Bristol to instigate a programme of psychosurgery. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=16036540 | 1,690,859 |
2,154,890 | Between 1992 and 1996 Lightfoot worked with the Moroccan-American Project at Sijilmasa to map the city plan of the Sijilmasa archaeological site and study the environmental history of the Tafilalt Oasis and changes to the historical landscape that reflect changes in the cityscape and population of medieval Sijilmasa. Another study in southern Morocco employed multi-methods field research, mapping from aerial photographs, and transportation modeling using GIS network analysis to show that the adaptive, communal system of traditional canals continues to serve the needs of villages with an efficiency of distribution that comes close to a modern, engineer-designed canal network. In a paper published in 2009, Lightfoot discussed the reliability of interview data in the context of monitoring and mapping groundwater. He drew comparisons between water table depths reported by users of traditional wells and data collected independently from monitoring wells for the years 1985, 1995, 2000, and 2005. He found that the correlation between well water depths is at least 0.9 and the regression coefficient is between 0.80 and 0.87, demonstrating the reliability of oral reporting from traditional wells to monitor groundwater conditions in the absence of hydrological well monitoring. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=66682935 | 2,153,659 |
820,115 | In 1944, the Sukhoi design bureau (OKB) began designing a twin-engined fighter powered by two Lyulka TR-1 turbojets, known internally as the Samolyet or Izdeliye (item or product) K. The ultimate design was very probably influenced by a captured Messerschmitt Me 262, but the Su-9 was not a copy of the German aircraft. The Su-9 had an oval cross-section, all-metal stressed skin monocoque fuselage that housed a single cockpit. The pilot was protected by armor plates to his front, an armored seat back and a bulletproof windscreen for the bubble canopy. He was provided with an ejection seat, copied from that used in the Heinkel He 162. The aircraft carried a total of of fuel in two bladder tanks, one each ahead and behind the pilot. The low-mounted, straight wing had a single-spar and a slight dihedral of 4°20'. The outer flaps were split and could act as air brakes. The Su-9 was the first Soviet aircraft to use hydraulic-powered controls. A Soviet copy of the Junkers Jumo 004B turbojet, known as the RD-10, was hung under each wing in a streamlined nacelle. The aircraft had a tricycle undercarriage that retracted into the fuselage. The Su-9 was designed with a very high wing loading which increased the aircraft's speed and reduced its dimensions. This consequently increased the take-off and landing speeds so it was equipped with a provision for two JATO bottles (11.27 kN (530 lbf) thrust for 8 seconds) mounted on the sides of the fuselage. These reduced the take-off distance by nearly 50 percent and a braking parachute was fitted to reduce the landing distance. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1247260 | 819,674 |
15,380 | The American Psychiatric Association's "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision" (DSM-5-TR), released in 2022, is the current version of the DSM. The fifth edition, DSM-5, released in May 2013, was the first to define ASD as a single diagnosis, which is continued in DSM-5-TR. ASD encompasses previous diagnoses which included Asperger syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, PDD-NOS, and the range of diagnoses which included the word "autism". Rather than distinguishing between these diagnoses, the DSM-5 and DSM-5-TR adopt a dimensional approach to diagnosing disorders that fall underneath the autism spectrum umbrella in one diagnostic category. Within this category, the DSM-5 and the DSM includes a framework that differentiates each individual by dimensions of symptom severity, as well as by associated features (i.e., the presence of other disorders or factors which likely contribute to the symptoms, other neurodevelopmental or mental disorders, intellectual disability, or language impairment). The symptom domains are social communication and restricted, repetitive behaviors, with the option of a separate severity - the negative impact of the symptoms on the individual - being specified for each domain, rather than an overall severity. Prior to the DSM-5, the DSM separated social deficits and communication deficits into two domains. Further, the DSM-5 changed to an onset age in the early developmental period, with a note that symptoms may manifest later when social demands exceed capabilities, rather than the previous, more restricted 3 years of age. These changes continue in the DSM-5-TR. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=29113700 | 15,375 |
256,771 | Each January, before the beginning of second-semester classes, the campus holds an interim period called Paideia (drawn from the Greek, meaning 'education'). Originally conceived and approved by the faculty in 1968 for unstructured independent study or "UIS," Paideia ran for the full month of January from 1969 to 1981, supervised by a committee of faculty, staff and students. This festival of learning takes the form of classes and seminars put on by anyone who wishes to teach, including students, professors, staff members, and outside educators invited on-campus by members of the Reed Community. The classes are intended to be informal, yet intellectual activities free of the usual academic pressure endemic to Reed. Many such classes are explicitly trivial (one long-running tradition is to hold an underwater basket weaving class), while others are trivially academic (such as "Giant Concrete Gnome Construction," a class that, incidental to building monolithic gnomes, includes some content relating to the construction of pre-Christian monoliths). More structured classes (such as martial arts seminars and mini-classes on obscure academic topics), tournaments, and film festivals round out the schedule, which is different every year. The objective of Paideia is not only to learn new (possibly non-useful) things, but to turn the tables on students and encourage them to teach. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=25417 | 256,637 |
934,507 | Sudden changes in the atmosphere's vertical moisture content and temperature profiles can on random occasions make UHF, VHF and microwave signals propagate hundreds of kilometers (miles) up to about —and for ducting mode even farther—beyond the normal radio-horizon. The inversion layer is mostly observed over high pressure regions, but there are several tropospheric weather conditions which create these randomly occurring propagation modes. Inversion layer's altitude for non-ducting is typically found between and for ducting about , and the duration of the events are typically from several hours up to several days. Higher frequencies experience the most dramatic increase of signal strengths, while on low-VHF and HF the effect is negligible. Propagation path attenuation may be below free-space loss. Some of the lesser inversion types related to warm ground and cooler air moisture content occur regularly at certain times of the year and time of day. A typical example could be the late summer, early morning tropospheric enhancements that bring in signals from distances up to few hundred kilometers (miles) for a couple of hours, until undone by the Sun's warming effect. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=271195 | 934,015 |
1,558,856 | Kazakhstan has 76.5 Mha agricultural land, 10 Mha forest and 185 Mha steppe grasslands providing abundant biomass wastes and residues which have the potential to generate arrange of bioenergy services. Kazakhstan produces and exports crops such as wheat (winter and spring), rye (winter), maize (for grain), barley (winter and spring), oats, millet, buckwheat, rice and pulses, with an average grain yield of 17.5–20 Mt, which equates to roughly 12–14Mt of biomass wastes.<ref name="http://www.fao.org/home/en/"></ref> Biomass wastes are currently poorly exploited and only ~10% of the total volume of the residues issued, mostly as a feed additive for livestock; the proportion of rural households using biomass cook stoves for cooking and heating is currently unknown. Organic wastes are also a potential source of energy and at least 400,000 households are known to keep cattle, horses and sheep. It has been estimated that electricity generation potential in Kazakhstan from biomass is 35 billion kWh per year and heat generation potential is 44 million Gcal per year.<ref name="http://www.energypartner.kz/"></ref> Various external funding agencies (UNDP, GEF, HIVOS Foundation) have supported the development of biogas initiatives including the Biogas Training Centre at the Eco-museum in Karanga (2002–2003) and the ‘Azure Flame’ Central Kazakhstan Biogas Education Centre (2004–2005) however despite this promotion there is only one large scale biogas unit currently in operation in the country which is a 360 kWe biogas plant run at Vostok village in the Kostanai region. The Vostok biogas unit consists of two 2400 m digesters operating with a feedstock of 40 t/day of cow, sheep and camel manure, grain residues and 1t/day of slaughterhouse waste. The plant was installed in 2011 by Karaman-K Ltd. and Zorg Biogas with an aim of delivering 3 million kWh of electricity annually.<ref name="http://zorg-biogas.com/?lang=en"></ref> | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=50433642 | 1,557,971 |
8,214 | When experimental psychology came to Britain, Francis Galton was a leading practitioner. By virtue of his procedures for measuring reaction time and sensation, he is considered an inventor of modern mental testing (also known as "psychometrics"). James McKeen Cattell, a student of Wundt and Galton, brought the idea of psychological testing to the United States, and in fact coined the term "mental test". In 1901, Cattell's student Clark Wissler published discouraging results, suggesting that mental testing of Columbia and Barnard students failed to predict academic performance. In response to 1904 orders from the Minister of Public Instruction, French psychologists Alfred Binet and Théodore Simon developed and elaborated a new test of intelligence in 1905–1911. They used a range of questions diverse in their nature and difficulty. Binet and Simon introduced the concept of mental age and referred to the lowest scorers on their test as "idiots". Henry H. Goddard put the Binet-Simon scale to work and introduced classifications of mental level such as "imbecile" and "feebleminded". In 1916, (after Binet's death), Stanford professor Lewis M. Terman modified the Binet-Simon scale (renamed the Stanford–Binet scale) and introduced the intelligence quotient as a score report. Based on his test findings, and reflecting the racism common to that era, Terman concluded that intellectual disability "represents the level of intelligence which is very, very common among Spanish-Indians and Mexican families of the Southwest and also among negroes. Their dullness seems to be racial." | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=22921 | 8,211 |
866,019 | The earliest significant use of aleatory features is found in many of the compositions of American Charles Ives in the early 20th century. Henry Cowell adopted Ives's ideas during the 1930s, in such works as the "Mosaic Quartet" (String Quartet No. 3, 1934), which allows the players to arrange the fragments of music in a number of different possible sequences. Cowell also used specially devised notations to introduce variability into the performance of a work, sometimes instructing the performers to improvise a short passage or play "ad libitum". Later American composers, such as Alan Hovhaness (beginning with his "Lousadzak" of 1944) used procedures superficially similar to Cowell's, in which different short patterns with specified pitches and rhythm are assigned to several parts, with instructions that they be performed repeatedly at their own speed without coordination with the rest of the ensemble. Some scholars regard the resultant blur as "hardly aleatory, since exact pitches are carefully controlled and any two performances will be substantially the same" although, according to another writer, this technique is essentially the same as that later used by Witold Lutosławski. Depending on the vehemence of the technique, Hovhaness's published scores annotate these sections variously, for example as "Free tempo / humming effect" and "Repeat and repeat ad lib, but not together". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=99234 | 865,559 |
1,544,422 | CERES spatial resolution at nadir view (equivalent diameter of the footprint) is 10 km for CERES on TRMM, and 20 km for CERES on Terra and Aqua satellites. Perhaps of greater importance for missions such as CERES is calibration stability, or the ability to track and partition instrumental changes from Earth data so it tracks true climate change with confidence. CERES onboard calibration sources intended to achieve this for channels measuring reflected sunlight include solar diffusers and tungsten lamps. However the lamps have very little output in the important ultraviolet wavelength region where degradation is greatest and they have been seen to drift in energy by over 1.4% in ground tests, without a capability to monitor them on-orbit (Priestley et al. (2001)). The solar diffusers have also degraded greatly in orbit such that they have been declared unusable by Priestley et al. (2011). A pair of black body cavities that can be controlled at different temperatures are used for the Total and WN channels, but these have not been proved stable to better than 0.5%/decade. Cold space observations and internal calibration are performed during normal Earth scans. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=471126 | 1,543,548 |
217,566 | Dewar's design was quickly transformed into a commercial item in 1904 as two German glassblowers, Reinhold Burger and Albert Aschenbrenner, discovered that it could be used to keep cold drinks cold and warm drinks warm and invented a more robust flask design, which was suited for everyday use. The Dewar flask design had never been patented but the German men who discovered the commercial use for the product named it "Thermos", and subsequently claimed both the rights to the commercial product and the trademark to the name. In his subsequent attempt to claim the rights to the invention, Dewar instead lost a court case to the company. The manufacturing and performance of the Thermos bottle was significantly improved and refined by the Viennese inventor and merchant Gustav Robert Paalen, who designed various types for domestic use, which he also patented, and distributed widely, through the Thermos Bottle Companies in the United States, Canada and the UK, which bought licences for respective national markets. The American Thermos Bottle Company built up a mass production in Norwich, CT, which brought prices down and enabled the wide distribution of the product for at-home use. Over time, the company expanded the size, shapes and materials of these consumer products, primarily used for carrying coffee on the go and carrying liquids on camping trips to keep them either hot or cold. Eventually other manufacturers produced similar products for consumer use. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=143689 | 217,458 |
673,453 | Cryostats are used in medicine to cut histological slides. They are usually used in a process called frozen section histology (see Frozen section procedure). The cryostat is essentially an ultrafine "deli-slicer", called a microtome, placed in a freezer. The cryostat is usually a stationary upright freezer, with an external wheel for rotating the microtome. The temperature can be varied, depending on the tissue being cut usually from minus 20 to minus 30 degree Celsius. The freezer is either powered by electricity, or by a refrigerant like liquid nitrogen. Small portable cryostats are available and can run off generators or vehicle inverters. To minimize unnecessary warming all necessary mechanical movements of the microtome can be achieved by hand via a wheel mounted outside the chamber. Newer microtomes have electric push button advancement of the tissue. The precision of the cutting is in micrometres. Tissue are sectioned as thin as 1 micrometre. Usual histology slides are mounted with a thickness of about 7 micrometres. Specimens that are soft at room temperature are mounted on a cutting medium (often made of egg white) on a metal "chuck", and frozen to cutting temperature (for example at -20 degrees C). Once frozen, the specimen on the chuck is mounted on the microtome. The crank is rotated and the specimen advances toward the cutting blade. Once the specimen is cut to a satisfactory quality, it is mounted on a warm (room temperature) clear glass slide, where it will instantaneously melt and adhere. The glass slide and specimen is dried with a dryer or air dried, and stained. The entire process from mounting to reading the slide takes from 10 to 20 minutes, allowing rapid diagnosis in the operating room, for the surgical excision of cancer. The cryostat can be used to cut histology and tissue slide (e.g., for enzyme localization) outside of medicine, but the quality of the section is poor compared to standard fixed section wax mounted histology. Newer technology such as the Compresstome, a type of vibrating microtome, utilizes agarose tissue embedding instead of an optimal cutting temperature compound to eliminate the need for traditional cryostat freezing and may be used for improved quality sectioning. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=978840 | 673,101 |
897,057 | According to the WHO, the "precautionary principle" is "a risk management policy applied in circumstances with a high degree of scientific uncertainty, reflecting the need to take action for a potentially serious risk without awaiting the results of scientific research." Other less stringent recommended approaches are prudent avoidance principle and as low as reasonably practicable. Although all of these are problematic in application, due to the widespread use and economic importance of wireless telecommunication systems in modern civilization, there is an increased popularity of such measures in the general public, though also evidence that such approaches may increase concern. They involve recommendations such as the minimization of usage, the limitation of use by at-risk population (e.g., children), the adoption of phones and microcells with as low as reasonably practicable levels of radiation, the wider use of hands-free and earphone technologies such as Bluetooth headsets, the adoption of maximal standards of exposure, RF field intensity and distance of base stations antennas from human habitations, and so forth. Overall, public information remains a challenge as various health consequences are evoked in the literature and by the media, putting populations under chronic exposure to potentially worrying information. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1272748 | 896,585 |
1,237,581 | In August 1954, Congress authorized the government to begin development of a satellite to be launched for the International Geophysical Year. Each of the military services sought to compete to launch a satellite from their service for the competition, however the Department of Defense directed that it not detract from the Air Force Western Development Division's ballistic missile development program. The initially IGY scientific satellite was intended to establish the legal doctrine of "freedom of space," enabling spacecraft to fly over any country. The Army Ordnance Corps and Office of Naval Research jointly proposed Project Orbiter, which was led by Army Major General John Bruce Medaris and Army scientist Wernher von Braun. The Army was responsible for developing the booster, based on the PGM-19 Jupiter, while the Navy was responsible for the satellite, tracking facilities, and data analysis. The Naval Research Laboratory, however, proposed the single-service Project Vanguard, developing the Vanguard rocket and satellite, along with the Minitrack satellite tracking network. The Air Force Western Development Division initially declined to participate, focusing on military space programs rather than scientific endeavors, but was directed by the Department of Defense to put forward a proposal — an SM-65C Atlas booster with an Aerobee-Hi space probe. Ultimately, the Defense Department selected the Navy's Project Vanguard, and although it thought that the Western Development Divisions's proposal showed great promise, it did not want to interfere with the development of the Atlas ICBM. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=66185637 | 1,236,917 |
1,924,572 | Individuals presenting with the PAL form of DLBCL-CI have typically been elderly males (male to female ratio 4:1 to 12:1) with a median age of 67 years (range 46–86 years). Most of these individuals have been Japanese with a long (median 37 years) history of pyothorax due to tuberculosis previously treated with a pneumothorax. However, uncommon cases of PAT have been reported in Western Countries, in non-Japanese individuals, in individuals who were not threatened with a pneumothorax, and/or in individuals who had other causes than tuberculosis for their pyothorax. Patients with PAL commonly present with back and/or chest pain, coughing, fever, shortness of breath, and radiological evidence of a pleural space tumor which may be very large. The tumor may extend into the chest wall, ribs, lung tissue, lymph nodes of the mediastinum, and diaphragm but usually has not disseminated beyond these areas, i.e. examinations of the peripheral blood, bone marrow, and distal lymph nodes typically do not show evidence of the disease. Individuals with non-PAL forms of DLBCL-CI present with tumorous growths in or around bone infections, skin ulcers, venous ulcers, metallic implants, artificial heart valves, intrauterine birth control devices, and implanted surgical mesh. The presentation of these cases is similar to that of PAL: afflicted individuals are most often middle-aged or elderly males who have a long-standing (almost always >10 years) history of inflammation, have recently developed pain and localized swelling, and on radiological examination have a discrete, sometimes large, tumor mass at the involved site. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=63301487 | 1,923,469 |
947,705 | Reliability engineers, whether using quantitative or qualitative methods to describe a failure or hazard, rely on language to pinpoint the risks and enable issues to be solved. The language used must help create an orderly description of the function/item/system and its complex surrounding as it relates to the failure of these functions/items/systems. Systems engineering is very much about finding the correct words to describe the problem (and related risks), so that they can be readily solved via engineering solutions. Jack Ring said that a systems engineer's job is to "language the project." (Ring et al. 2000) For part/system failures, reliability engineers should concentrate more on the "why and how", rather that predicting "when". Understanding "why" a failure has occurred (e.g. due to over-stressed components or manufacturing issues) is far more likely to lead to improvement in the designs and processes used than quantifying "when" a failure is likely to occur (e.g. via determining MTBF). To do this, first the reliability hazards relating to the part/system need to be classified and ordered (based on some form of qualitative and quantitative logic if possible) to allow for more efficient assessment and eventual improvement. This is partly done in pure language and proposition logic, but also based on experience with similar items. This can for example be seen in descriptions of events in fault tree analysis, FMEA analysis, and hazard (tracking) logs. In this sense language and proper grammar (part of qualitative analysis) plays an important role in reliability engineering, just like it does in safety engineering or in-general within systems engineering. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1724836 | 947,202 |
556,671 | The late 1990s and early 2000s presented many obstacles for the newly developed rockets. Both flight number 5 and 8 of the H-II rocket failed at launch, as well as the launch of the fourth M-V rocket. Another notable situation was that of the Nozomi probe, which failed to enter Mars orbit. These failures along with recent administrative reforms prompted the government to propose a motion to integrate the several space agencies of the time into a single organization. In the process, a plan was set forward to strengthen cooperation between these organizations, emphasize functionality above all, and improve the efficacy of the organizational structure. During this time the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science issued an apology for the unsuccessful H-II launches, then proceeded to start the development of the rocket all over again, with special focus on the simplicity of the new design. The new model, denominated H-IIA, was launched successfully in 2001. Despite these new efforts made by all three space agencies, including NASDA, NAL, and ISAS, the organizations ended up being merged into what is today's Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which was officially established on October 1, 2003. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=30764115 | 556,382 |
2,201,938 | Studies have shown that normal lung sounds have distinctive characteristics that can be differentiated from abnormal lung sounds, thus supporting the potential clinical value of acoustic lung imaging. By using the VRI that simultaneously records the vibration energy from 40 points over 12 seconds and presents all of the derived information in a single image the physician can be less dependent on memory. Another advantage of using this method is the ability to store and later compare the data to subsequent recordings. Finally, the VRI examination is harmless, doesn't emit any energy, and is non-invasive and radiation-free, unlike potentially harmful radiologic studies. It is important to note that even though a lot of literature has been published on the VRI method, it is still fairly new and as such has its limitations. Clinical value is limited to afore mentioned studies, and crucial elements such a complete patient work-up, that includes extensive patient history, medication and present presentation of symptoms are invaluable to the decision making process as to how any physician will proceed with the patients' treatment. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=25572054 | 2,200,685 |
2,743 | The triggering event for the security hearing happened on November 7, 1953, when William Liscum Borden, who until earlier in the year had been the executive director of the United States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, sent a letter to Hoover which said that "more probably than not J. Robert Oppenheimer is an agent of the Soviet Union." Eisenhower never exactly believed the allegations within the letter, but felt compelled to move forward with an investigation, and on December 3 he ordered that a "blank wall" be placed between Oppenheimer and any government or military secrets. On December 21, 1953, Strauss told Oppenheimer that his security clearance had been suspended, pending resolution of a series of charges outlined in a letter, and discussed his resigning by way of requesting termination of his consulting contract with the AEC. Oppenheimer chose not to resign and requested a hearing instead. The charges were outlined in a letter from Kenneth D. Nichols, General Manager of the AEC. The hearing that followed in April–May 1954, which was held in secret, focused on Oppenheimer's past communist ties and his association during the Manhattan Project with suspected disloyal or communist scientists. It then continued with an examination of Oppenheimer's opposition to the H-bomb and stances in subsequent projects and study groups. A transcript of the hearings was published in June 1954, with some redactions. The US Department of Energy made public the full text of the transcript in October 2014. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39034 | 2,743 |
1,019,561 | In June 2014 ecological artist Lloyd Godman, with structural engineer Stuart Jones and environmental scientist Grant Harris collaborated to install an experiment using Tillandsia plants in extreme outdoor conditions at levels 92, 91, 65 and 56 on Eureka Tower in Melbourne, Australia. The selected air plants are extremely light, and are able to grow with no soil or watering system, and the plants have been checked at regular intervals since their installation and are still growing and flowering. One species; Tillandsia bergeri, has grown from a single shoot to several thriving colonies. The project is now titled Tillandsia SWARM and has been expanded to include many other buildings across Australia, including Federation Square, National Gallery of Victoria and Essendon Airport. Godman has also experimented with Tillandsia plant screens that can be moved across skylights to create shade in summer and to allow in sun during winter. Temperature readings taken on a 40°C day in summer revealed that the surface temperature on the roof had reached 84°C, while the shadows cast by the plants had reduced the surface temperature on the roof to 51°C. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=192025 | 1,019,034 |
1,598,631 | The nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are members of a superfamily of ligand-gated ion channels that mediate fast signal transmission at synapses. The nAChRs are thought to be hetero-pentamers composed of homologous subunits. The proposed structure for each subunit is a conserved N-terminal extracellular domain followed by three conserved transmembrane domains, a variable cytoplasmic loop, a fourth conserved transmembrane domain, and a short C-terminal extracellular region. The protein encoded by this gene forms a homo-oligomeric channel, displays marked permeability to calcium ions and is a major component of brain nicotinic receptors that are blocked by, and highly sensitive to, alpha-bungarotoxin. Once this receptor binds acetylcholine, it undergoes an extensive change in conformation that affects all subunits and leads to opening of an ion-conducting channel across the plasma membrane. This gene is located in a region identified as a major susceptibility locus for juvenile myoclonic epilepsy and a chromosomal location involved in the genetic transmission of schizophrenia. An evolutionarily recent partial duplication event in this region results in a hybrid containing sequence from this gene and a novel FAM7A gene. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=14477915 | 1,597,731 |
1,973,554 | In a more recent work Efimov and Nogovitsin showed that an alternative renormalization technique originating from QFT, based on the concept of "tadpole renormalization", can be a very effective approach for computing functional integrals arising in statistical mechanics of classical many-particle systems (Efimov 1996). They demonstrated that the main contributions to classical partition function integrals are provided by low-order tadpole-type Feynman diagrams, which account for divergent contributions due to particle self-interaction. The renormalization procedure performed in this approach effects on the self-interaction contribution of a charge (like e.g. an electron or an ion), resulting from the static polarization induced in the vacuum due to the presence of that charge (Baeurle 2007). As evidenced by Efimov and Ganbold in an earlier work (Efimov 1991), the procedure of tadpole renormalization can be employed very effectively to remove the divergences from the action of the basic field-theoretic representation of the partition function and leads to an alternative functional integral representation, called the Gaussian equivalent representation (GER). They showed that the procedure provides functional integrals with significantly ameliorated convergence properties for analytical perturbation calculations. In subsequent works Baeurle et al. developed effective low-cost approximation methods based on the tadpole renormalization procedure, which have shown to deliver useful results for prototypical polymer and PE solutions (Baeurle 2006a, Baeurle 2006b, Baeurle 2007a). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=19668009 | 1,972,419 |
594,899 | Other species pairs which consist of a well-armored marine form and a smaller, unarmored freshwater form are being studied in ponds and lakes in south-central Alaska that were once marine habitats such as those uplifted during the 1964 Alaska earthquake. The evolutionary dynamics of these species pairs are providing a model for the processes of speciation which has taken place in less than 20 years in at least one lake. In 1982, a chemical eradication program intended to make room for trout and salmon at Loberg Lake, Alaska, killed the resident freshwater populations of sticklebacks. Oceanic sticklebacks introduced through nearby Cook Inlet recolonized the lake. In just 12 years beginning in 1990, the frequency of the oceanic form dropped steadily, from 100% to 11%, while a variety with fewer plates increased to 75% of the population, with various intermediate forms making up another small fraction. This rapid evolution is thought to be possible through genetic variations that confer competitive advantages for survival in fresh water when conditions shift rapidly from salt to fresh water. However, the actual molecular basis of this evolution still remains unknown. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=489642 | 594,594 |
1,388,379 | Hrdlička was born at Humpolec house 393 on 30 March 1869 and baptized Catholic the next day at the . His mother, Karolína Hrdličková, educated her child herself; his skills and knowledge made it possible to skip the primary level of school. When he was 13, Hrdlička arrived in New York with his father Maxmilian Hrdlička on 10 September 1881 via the SS "Elbe" from Bremen. His mother and three younger siblings emigrated to the U.S. separately. After arrival, the promised job brought only a disappointment to his father who started working in a cigar factory along with teenaged Alois to earn living for the family with six other children. Young Hrdlička attended evening courses to improve his English, and at the age of 18, he decided to study medicine since he had suffered from tuberculosis and experienced the treatment difficulties of those times. In 1889, Hrdlička began studies at Eclectic Medical College and then continued at Homeopatic College in New York. To finish his medical studies, Hrdlička sat for exams in Baltimore in 1894. At first, he worked in the Middletown asylum for mentally affected where he learnt of anthropometry. In 1896, Hrdlička left for Paris, where he started to work as an anthropologist with other experts of then establishing field of science. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1811400 | 1,387,611 |
861,719 | DOTS stands for "Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course" and is a major plank in the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Plan to Stop TB. The DOTS strategy focuses on five main points of action. The first element involves creating increased sustainable financial services and a short and long-term plan provided by the government, dedicated to eliminating tuberculosis. The World Health Organization helps encourage mobilized funding to reduce poverty standards that will prevent tuberculosis. The second component of the DOTS strategy is case detection, which involves improving the accuracy of laboratory tests for bacteriology and improving communication from labs to doctors and patients. Case detection means that laboratories that detect and test for bacteriology are accurate and communicative to its doctors and patients. The third strategy is to provide standard treatment and patient support. The guidelines to adhere to adequate treatment is to provide pharmaceutical drugs that will help eliminate tuberculosis and follow-up check-ups to ensure that tuberculosis is not a deterring factor in a patient's life. There are many cultural barriers as many patients might continue to work under unsanitary living conditions or not have enough money to pay for the treatments. Programs that provide stipends and incentives to allow citizens to seek treatment are also necessary. The fourth element to DOTS is to have a management program that supplies a sustainable long-term supply of reliable antibiotics. Lastly, the fifth component is to record and monitor treatment plans to ensure that the DOTS approach is effective. DOTS not only aims to provide structure for tuberculosis programs, but also to ensure that citizens diagnosed with tuberculosis adhere to protocols which will prevent future bacterial infections. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1330683 | 861,260 |
338,276 | The site, Riggs Quarry 13, is located on a small hill later known as Riggs Hill; it is today marked by a plaque. More "Brachiosaurus" fossils are reported on Riggs Hill, but other fossil finds on the hill have been vandalized. During excavation of the specimen, Riggs misidentified the humerus as a deformed femur due to its great length, and this seemed to be confirmed when an equally-sized, well-preserved real femur of the same skeleton was discovered. In 1904 Riggs noted: "Had it not been for the unusual size of the ribs found associated with it, the specimen would have been discarded as an Apatosaur, too poorly preserved to be of value." It was only after preparation of the fossil material in the laboratory that the bone was recognized as a humerus. The excavation attracted large numbers of visitors, delaying the work and forcing Menke to guard the site to prevent bones from being looted. On August 17, the last bone was jacketed in plaster. After a concluding ten-day prospecting trip, the expedition returned to Grand Junction and hired a team and wagon to transport all fossils to the railway station, during five days; another week was spent to pack them in thirty-eight crates with a weight of . On September 10, Riggs left for Chicago by train, arriving on the 15th; the railroad companies let both passengers and cargo travel for free, as a public relations gesture. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20598015 | 338,096 |
634,120 | As the championship continued on to Latin America, the world began to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the Rally Mexico began as planned, the final leg of the rally was cancelled to allow teams enough time to return to their home bases in Europe before travel restrictions came into effect. This meant the rally was shortened to two legs. Tänak and Järveoja were leading the first leg until suspension damage saw them drop over forty seconds. Neuville and Gilsoul were running third overall, but they had to retire from the day with electrical problem. Hyundai's third entry of Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio suffered a radiator pipe issue on the morning loop of Friday which lost them five minutes, and they ultimately retired with a terminal engine fault. Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm also retired when their Fiesta caught fire. Ogier and Ingrassia enjoyed a trouble-free weekend and won their first rally of the season. With a consistent performance in the early season, the six-time world champions took an early lead in the championships. The result also saw Toyota expand their lead in the manufacturers' championship, twenty-one points ahead of defending manufacturer champions Hyundai. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=60663941 | 633,782 |
540,519 | In traditional healthcare, doctors conducted medical practices with a limited number of tools, and got more experienced over time. Since becoming a doctor required experience and knowledge, very few took up the profession. The lack of communication between people in different places caused new technology to spread slowly. Since doctors were seen as experts in their fields, patients would have very little decision on how they were treated. Although there's been an extensive change in technology, the current health care system doesn't reflect on the changes in treatments. During the 2010s, healthcare knowledge continued to grow rapidly, and patients began to get frustrated due to the vast knowledge out there that physicians didn't know or use. The number of and the cost to treat chronic illnesses increased, and the World Health Organization estimated that there was a worldwide shortage of 4.3 million healthcare workers. During the transition from traditional healthcare to digital health, the amount of access to high quality health technology and medical records and studies increased. The transition also gave patients the option of self-care because not only did it change the technology accessible to patients, but also the patients' ability to choose their way of treatment. Although this new way of treatment has given patients a role in treatment, it has led to difficulty with patients choosing the best treatment options. According to the article, Digital Health is a Cultural Transformation of Traditional Healthcare from the National Library of Medicine, "The success of providing care depends on collaboration, empathy and shared decision making. What is needed for this is a newly defined co-operation between patients and their caregivers." In this quote, health care experts explain that they need to collaborate with patients and respect their decisions in choosing treatment options for them. The article then explains how a strong relationship between physicians and patients help influence what treatment options they choose, and how empathy is an important characteristic for physicians to have. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=37451236 | 540,239 |
181,379 | Before the development of viscous-drive and electric fans, engines were fitted with simple fixed fans that drew air through the radiator at all times. Vehicles whose design required the installation of a large radiator to cope with heavy work at high temperatures, such as commercial vehicles and tractors would often run cool in cold weather under light loads, even with the presence of a thermostat, as the large radiator and fixed fan caused a rapid and significant drop in coolant temperature as soon as the thermostat opened. This problem can be solved by fitting a radiator blind (or radiator shroud) to the radiator that can be adjusted to partially or fully block the airflow through the radiator. At its simplest the blind is a roll of material such as canvas or rubber that is unfurled along the length of the radiator to cover the desired portion. Some older vehicles, like the World War I-era S.E.5 and SPAD S.XIII single-engined fighters, have a series of shutters that can be adjusted from the driver's or pilot's seat to provide a degree of control. Some modern cars have a series of shutters that are automatically opened and closed by the engine control unit to provide a balance of cooling and aerodynamics as needed. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=21600868 | 181,284 |
1,201,918 | In their first "Neurospora" paper, published in the November 15, 1941, edition of the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences", Beadle and Tatum noted that it was "entirely tenable to suppose that these genes which are themselves a part of the system, control or regulate specific reactions in the system either by acting directly as enzymes or by determining the specificities of enzymes", an idea that had been suggested, though with limited experimental support, as early as 1917; they offered new evidence to support that view, and outlined a research program that would enable it to be explored more fully. By 1945, Beadle, Tatum and others, working with "Neurospora" and other model organisms such as "E. coli", had produced considerable experimental evidence that each step in a metabolic pathway is controlled by a single gene. In a 1945 review, Beadle suggested that "the gene can be visualized as directing the final configuration of a protein molecule and thus determining its specificity." He also argued that "for reasons of economy in the evolutionary process, one might expect that with few exceptions the final specificity of a particular enzyme would be imposed by only one gene." At the time, genes were widely thought to consist of proteins or nucleoproteins (although the Avery–MacLeod–McCarty experiment and related work was beginning to cast doubt on that idea). However, the proposed connection between a single gene and a single protein enzyme outlived the protein theory of gene structure. In a 1948 paper, Norman Horowitz named the concept the "one gene–one enzyme hypothesis". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20971660 | 1,201,276 |
135,329 | Jean Piaget was a Swiss scholar who began his studies in intellectual development in the 1920s. Piaget's first interests were those that dealt with the ways in which animals adapt to their environments and his first scientific article about this subject was published when he was 10 years old. This eventually led him to pursue a Ph.D. in zoology, which then led him to his second interest in epistemology. Epistemology branches off from philosophy and deals with the origin of knowledge. Piaget believed the origin of knowledge came from Psychology, so he travelled to Paris and began working on the first "standardized intelligence test" at Alfred Binet laboratories; this influenced his career greatly. As he carried out this intelligence testing he began developing a profound interest in the way children's intellectualism works. As a result, he developed his own laboratory and spent years recording children's intellectual growth and attempted to find out how children develop through various stages of thinking. This led Piaget to develop four important stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2), preoperational stage (age 2 to 7), concrete-operational stage (ages 7 to 12), and formal-operational stage (ages 11 to 12, and thereafter). Piaget concluded that adaption to an environment (behaviour) is managed through schemes and adaption occurs through "assimilation" and "accommodation". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=9627698 | 135,274 |
500,296 | The quantitative revolution responded to the regional geography paradigm that was dominant at the time. Debates raged predominantly (although not exclusively) in the U.S., where regional geography was the major philosophical school. In the early 1950s, there was a growing sense that the existing paradigm for geographical research was not adequate in explaining how physical, economic, social, and political processes are spatially organized, ecologically related, or how outcomes generated by them are evidence for a given time and place. A growing number of geographers started to express their dissatisfaction with the traditional paradigm of the discipline and its focus on regional geography, deeming the work as too descriptive, fragmented, and non-generalizable. To address these concerns, early critics such as Ackerman suggested the systematization of the discipline. Soon thereafter, a series of debates regarding methodological approaches in geography took place. One of the first illustrations of this was the Schaefer vs. Hartshorne debate. In 1953 "Exceptionalism in geography: A Methodological Examination" was published. In this work, Schaefer rejected Hartshorne's exceptionalist interpretations about the discipline of geography and having the region as its central object of study. Instead, Schaefer envisioned as the discipline's main objective the establishment of morphological laws through scientific inquiry, i.e. incorporating laws and methods from other disciplines in the social sciences that place a greater emphasis on processes. Hartshorne, on the other hand, addressed Schaefer's criticism in a series of publications, where he dismissed Schaefer's views as subjective and contradictory. He also stressed the importance of describing and classifying places and phenomena, yet admitted that there was room for employing laws of generic relationships in order to maximize scientific understanding. In his view, however, there should be no hierarchy between these two approaches. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=2519712 | 500,039 |
1,244,451 | At the organismic level, mechanical stress has a profound impact on extracellular matrix integrity and probably causes induction of a number of ECM genes for repair and remodeling of ECM in tissue stroma and basement membranes. One study examined the in vitro effects of pressure on global gene transcription using a microarray approach and a cell stretching system meant to simulate intraocular pressure in the lamina cribosa (connective tissue) of the optic nerve head. Their findings were that perlecan and several other proteoglycans were upregulated in response to the stretching stimulus. TGF-β2 and VEGF were induced as well, possibly contributing to the upregulation of the perlecan transcript and protein. It has been shown that autocrine TGF-β signaling is a compensatory result of mechanical stress in vitro in endothelial cells. Using a similar cell stretching mechanism to mimic arterial pressure, this investigation showed that perlecan production increased in response to mechanical strain. This is contingent upon TGF-β autocrine signaling in a positive feedback loop with p38 and ERK. This endothelial cell increase in production of VSMC growth inhibitors (i.e. heparin) is reversed in VSMCs, where mechanical stress induces proliferation. Deformation of VSMC cells in culture leads to perlecan upregulation, with a significant increase in sulfation of the heparan sulfate chains. This is not in contrast to the data shown where perlecan expression is constant beyond e19 in rat VSMC, which suggested that perlecan plays an antiproliferative role for VSMCs. In this case, it seems that the molecule's signaling function is the operative upregulated factor, especially due to the increase in sulfation of the heparan sulfate chains. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4328716 | 1,243,778 |
23,501 | One of the most striking disorders of consciousness goes by the name anosognosia, a Greek-derived term meaning 'unawareness of disease'. This is a condition in which patients are disabled in some way, most commonly as a result of a stroke, but either misunderstand the nature of the problem or deny that there is anything wrong with them. The most frequently occurring form is seen in people who have experienced a stroke damaging the parietal lobe in the right hemisphere of the brain, giving rise to a syndrome known as hemispatial neglect, characterized by an inability to direct action or attention toward objects located to the left with respect to their bodies. Patients with hemispatial neglect are often paralyzed on the left side of the body, but sometimes deny being unable to move. When questioned about the obvious problem, the patient may avoid giving a direct answer, or may give an explanation that doesn't make sense. Patients with hemispatial neglect may also fail to recognize paralyzed parts of their bodies: one frequently mentioned case is of a man who repeatedly tried to throw his own paralyzed right leg out of the bed he was lying in, and when asked what he was doing, complained that somebody had put a dead leg into the bed with him. An even more striking type of anosognosia is Anton–Babinski syndrome, a rarely occurring condition in which patients become blind but claim to be able to see normally, and persist in this claim in spite of all evidence to the contrary. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=5664 | 23,492 |
2,629 | In contrast to prior upgrades, Increment 3.2 for Block 30/35 aircraft emphasized air combat capabilities and was a two-part process. 3.2A focused on electronic warfare, communications and identification, while 3.2B included geolocation improvements and full integration of the AIM-9X and AIM-120D; fleet releases began in 2013 and 2019, respectively. Concurrent with Increment 3.2, Update 5 in 2016 added automatic ground collision avoidance system (GCAS), datalink updates, and more. Update 6, deployed in tandem with 3.2B, incorporated cryptographic and avionics stability enhancements. Alongside 3.2B, an open mission system (OMS) processor module and architecture were added and an agile software development process was implemented to enable faster enhancements from additional vendors. The Multifunctional Information Distribution System-Joint Tactical Radio System (MIDS-JTRS) for Mode 5 IFF and Link 16 traffic was installed starting in 2021, and the airplane can also use the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) as a two-way communication gateway. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=66299 | 2,629 |
546,949 | In cochlear implants, the sound is picked up by a microphone and transmitted to the behind-the-ear external processor to be converted to the digital data. The digitized data is then modulated on a radio frequency signal and transmitted to an antenna inside a headpiece. The data and power carrier are transmitted through a pair of coupled coils to the hermetically sealed internal unit. By extracting the power and demodulating the data, electric current commands are sent to the cochlea to stimulate the auditory nerve through microelectrodes. The key point is that the internal unit does not have a battery and it should be able to extract the required energy. Also to reduce the infection, data is transmitted wirelessly along with power. Inductively coupled coils are good candidates for power and data telemetry, although radio-frequency transmission could provide better efficiency and data rates. Parameters needed by the internal unit include the pulse amplitude, pulse duration, pulse gap, active electrode, and return electrode that are used to define a biphasic pulse and the stimulation mode. An example of the commercial devices include Nucleus 22 device that utilized a carrier frequency of 2.5 MHz and later in the newer revision called Nucleus 24 device, the carrier frequency was increased to 5 MHz. The internal unit in the cochlear implants is an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) chip that is responsible to ensure safe and reliable electric stimulation. Inside the ASIC chip, there is a forward pathway, a backward pathway, and control units. The forward pathway recovers digital information from the RF signal which includes stimulation parameters and some handshaking bits to reduce the communication error. The backward pathway usually includes a back telemetry voltage | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=29803004 | 546,663 |
2,012,488 | Genetic and environmental studies alone fail to explain the importance the developmental stressor timing exposure to the phenotypic changes associated with PTSD. Epigenetic modification is the environmentally induced change in DNA that alters the function rather than the structure of the gene. The biological mechanism of epigenetic modification typically involves the methylation of cytosine within a gene that produces decreased transcription of that segment of DNA. The neuroendocrine alteration seen in animal models parallel those of PTSD in which low basal cortisol and enhanced suppression of cortisol in response to synthetic glucocorticoid becomes hereditary. Lower levels of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) mRNA have been demonstrated in the hippocampus of suicide victims with histories of childhood abuse. It has not been possible to monitor the state of methylation over time, however the interpretation is early developmental methylation changes are long-lasting and enduring. It is hypothesized that epigenetic-mediated changes in the HPA axis could be associated with an increased vulnerability to PTSD following traumatic events. These findings support the mechanism in which early life trauma strongly validates as a risk factor for PTSD development in adulthood by recalibrating the set point and stress-responsivity of the HPA axis. Studies have reported an increased risk for PTSD and low cortisol levels in the offspring of female holocaust survivors with PTSD. Epigenetic mechanisms may also be relevant to the intrauterine environment. Mothers with PTSD produced infants with lower salivary cortisol levels only if the traumatic exposure occurred during the third trimester of gestation. These changes occur via transmission of hormonal responses to the fetus leading to a reprogramming of the glucocorticoid responsivity in the offspring. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=44631723 | 2,011,335 |
112,235 | The difference in gravity may negatively affect human health by weakening bones and muscles. There is also risk of osteoporosis and cardiovascular problems. Current rotations on the International Space Station put astronauts in zero gravity for six months, a comparable length of time to a one-way trip to Mars. This gives researchers the ability to better understand the physical state that astronauts going to Mars would arrive in. Once on Mars, surface gravity is only 38% of that on Earth. Microgravity affects the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and neurovestibular (central nervous) systems. The cardiovascular effects are complex. On Earth, blood within the body stays 70% below the heart, but in microgravity this is not the case due to nothing pulling the blood down. This can have several negative effects. Once entering into microgravity, the blood pressure in the lower body and legs is significantly reduced. This causes legs to become weak through loss of muscle and bone mass. Astronauts show signs of a puffy face and chicken legs syndrome. After the first day of reentry back to earth, blood samples showed a 17% loss of blood plasma, which contributed to a decline of erythropoietin secretion. On the skeletal system which is important to support our body's posture, long space flight and exposure to microgravity cause demineralization and atrophy of muscles. During re-acclimation, astronauts were observed to have a myriad of symptoms including cold sweats, nausea, vomiting and motion sickness. Returning astronauts also felt disoriented. Journeys to and from Mars being six months is the average time spent at the ISS. Once on Mars with its lesser surface gravity (38% percent of Earth's), these health effects would be a serious concern. Upon return to Earth, recovery from bone loss and atrophy is a long process and the effects of microgravity may never fully reverse. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1744360 | 112,190 |
1,093,528 | "Neurospora" was used by Edward Tatum and George Wells Beadle in the experiments for which they won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1958. The results of these experiments led directly to the "one gene, one enzyme" hypothesis that specific genes code for specific proteins. This concept launched molecular biology. Sexual fruiting bodies (perithecia) can only be formed when two cells of different mating type come together (see Figure). Like other Ascomycetes, "N. crassa" has two mating types that, in this case, are symbolized by "A" and "a". There is no evident morphological difference between the "A" and "a" mating type strains. Both can form abundant protoperithecia, the female reproductive structure (see Figure). Protoperithecia are formed most readily in the laboratory when growth occurs on solid (agar) synthetic medium with a relatively low source of nitrogen. Nitrogen starvation appears to be necessary for expression of genes involved in sexual development. The protoperithecium consists of an ascogonium, a coiled multicellular hypha that is enclosed in a knot-like aggregation of hyphae. A branched system of slender hyphae, called the trichogyne, extends from the tip of the ascogonium projecting beyond the sheathing hyphae into the air. The sexual cycle is initiated (i.e. fertilization occurs) when a cell, usually a conidium, of opposite mating type contacts a part of the trichogyne (see Figure). Such contact can be followed by cell fusion leading to one or more nuclei from the fertilizing cell migrating down the trichogyne into the ascogonium. Since both "A" and "a" strains have the same sexual structures, neither strain can be regarded as exclusively male or female. However, as a recipient, the protoperithecium of both the "A" and "a" strains can be thought of as the female structure, and the fertilizing conidium can be thought of as the male participant. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4350664 | 1,092,968 |
71,613 | The first aircraft to put this theory to the test was the RB-36D specialized photo-reconnaissance version of the B-36D. It was outwardly identical to the standard B-36D, but carried a crew of 22 rather than 15, the additional crew members being needed to operate and maintain the photo-reconnaissance equipment that was carried. The forward bomb bay in the bomber was replaced by a pressurized, manned compartment that was filled with 14 cameras. This compartment included a small darkroom, where a photo technician could develop the film. The second bomb bay contained up to 80 T-86 photoflash bombs, while the third bay could carry an extra , droppable fuel tank. The fourth bomb bay carried electronic countermeasure equipment. The defensive armament of 16 M-24A-1 20-mm cannons was retained. The extra fuel tanks increased the flight endurance to up to 50 hours. It had an operational ceiling of . Later, a lightweight version of this aircraft, the RB-36-III, could even reach . RB-36s were distinguished by the bright aluminum finish of the camera compartment (contrasting with the dull magnesium of the rest of the fuselage) and by a series of radar domes under the aft fuselage, varying in number and placement. When developed, it was the only American aircraft having enough range to fly over the Eurasian land mass from bases in the United States, and large enough to carry the bulky, high-resolution cameras of the day. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=385077 | 71,586 |
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