206 research outputs found
Architectural/Environmental Handbook for Extraterrestrial Design
Handbook on environmental and space utilization criteria for design of extraterrestrial manned spacecraft and shelter
GAPscreener: An automatic tool for screening human genetic association literature in PubMed using the support vector machine technique
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Synthesis of data from published human genetic association studies is a critical step in the translation of human genome discoveries into health applications. Although genetic association studies account for a substantial proportion of the abstracts in PubMed, identifying them with standard queries is not always accurate or efficient. Further automating the literature-screening process can reduce the burden of a labor-intensive and time-consuming traditional literature search. The Support Vector Machine (SVM), a well-established machine learning technique, has been successful in classifying text, including biomedical literature. The GAPscreener, a free SVM-based software tool, can be used to assist in screening PubMed abstracts for human genetic association studies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The data source for this research was the HuGE Navigator, formerly known as the HuGE Pub Lit database. Weighted SVM feature selection based on a keyword list obtained by the two-way z score method demonstrated the best screening performance, achieving 97.5% recall, 98.3% specificity and 31.9% precision in performance testing. Compared with the traditional screening process based on a complex PubMed query, the SVM tool reduced by about 90% the number of abstracts requiring individual review by the database curator. The tool also ascertained 47 articles that were missed by the traditional literature screening process during the 4-week test period. We examined the literature on genetic associations with preterm birth as an example. Compared with the traditional, manual process, the GAPscreener both reduced effort and improved accuracy.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>GAPscreener is the first free SVM-based application available for screening the human genetic association literature in PubMed with high recall and specificity. The user-friendly graphical user interface makes this a practical, stand-alone application. The software can be downloaded at no charge.</p
How women in the executive influence government stability
Does the gender of prime ministers and cabinet ministers influence cabinet duration? We argue that the risk for early termination of cabinets decreases with women’s presence in the executive. As scholars of social psychology indicate, women apply more consensual and compromise-oriented conflict resolution strategies. Disputes between or within governing parties, which ultimately lead to early termination, should therefore be less likely to emerge and escalate if the government is led by a woman or includes numerous female members. To test this rationale, we analyse a newly compiled, comprehensive dataset covering 676 governments in 27 European countries between 1945 and 2018 by relying on event history analysis. The results suggest that cabinets with a higher proportion of female cabinet members experience a lower risk of early cabinet termination. This article contributes to the study of women as political leaders through additional evidence for the gendered nature of leadership styles
Swiss residents' speciality choices – impact of gender, personality traits, career motivation and life goals
BACKGROUND: The medical specialities chosen by doctors for their careers play an important part in the development of health-care services. This study aimed to investigate the influence of gender, personality traits, career motivation and life goal aspirations on the choice of medical speciality. METHODS: As part of a prospective cohort study of Swiss medical school graduates on career development, 522 fourth-year residents were asked in what speciality they wanted to qualify. They also assessed their career motivation and life goal aspirations. Data concerning personality traits such as sense of coherence, self-esteem, and gender role orientation were collected at the first assessment, four years earlier, in their final year of medical school. Data analyses were conducted by univariate and multivariate analyses of variance and covariance. RESULTS: In their fourth year of residency 439 (84.1%) participants had made their speciality choice. Of these, 45 (8.6%) subjects aspired to primary care, 126 (24.1%) to internal medicine, 68 (13.0%) to surgical specialities, 31 (5.9%) to gynaecology & obstetrics (G&O), 40 (7.7%) to anaesthesiology/intensive care, 44 (8.4%) to paediatrics, 25 (4.8%) to psychiatry and 60 (11.5%) to other specialities. Female residents tended to choose G&O, paediatrics, and anaesthesiology, males more often surgical specialities; the other specialities did not show gender-relevant differences of frequency distribution. Gender had the strongest significant influence on speciality choice, followed by career motivation, personality traits, and life goals. Multivariate analyses of covariance indicated that career motivation and life goals mediated the influence of personality on career choice. Personality traits were no longer significant after controlling for career motivation and life goals as covariates. The effect of gender remained significant after controlling for personality traits, career motivation and life goals. CONCLUSION: Gender had the greatest impact on speciality and career choice, but there were also two other relevant influencing factors, namely career motivation and life goals. Senior physicians mentoring junior physicians should pay special attention to these aspects. Motivational guidance throughout medical training should not only focus on the professional career but also consider the personal life goals of those being mentored
A Review of Gender and Full-Range Leadership Research and Suggestions for Future Research
COOL-LAMPS VIII: Known wide-separation lensed quasars and their host galaxies reveal a lack of evolution in since
Wide-separation lensed quasars (WSLQs) are a rare class of strongly lensed quasars, magnified by foreground massive galaxy clusters, with typically large magnifications of the multiple quasar images. They are a relatively unexplored opportunity for detailed study of quasar host galaxies. The current small sample of known WSLQs has a median redshift of , larger than most other samples of quasar host galaxies studied to date. Here, we derive precise constraints on the properties of six WSLQs and their host galaxies, using parametric surface brightness fitting, measurements of quasar emission lines, and stellar population synthesis of host galaxies in six WSLQ systems. Our results, with significant uncertainty, indicate that these six hosts are a mixture of star-forming and quiescent galaxies. To probe for co-evolution between AGNs and host galaxies, we model the offset from the `local\u27 () M_{\rm{BH}}\unicode{x2013}M_\star relation as a simple power-law in redshift. Accounting for selection effects, a WSLQ-based model for evolution in the M_{\rm{BH}}\unicode{x2013}M_\star relation has a power-law index of , consistent with no evolution. Compared to several literature samples, which mostly probe unlensed quasars at , the WSLQ sample shows less evolution from the local relation, at . We find that selection affects and choices of calibration are the most important systematics in these comparisons. Given that we resolve host galaxy flux confidently even from the ground in some instances, our work demonstrates that WSLQs and highly magnified AGNs are exceptional systems for future AGN\unicode{x2013}host co-evolution studies.Submitted to ApJ. 25 pages + 7-page appendix, 12+4 figures. Key results are shown starting with Figure 6. Comments welcom
Porosity networks and physical properties of fault zones: implication for Fluid, mass and thermal transfer
Porosity networks and physical properties of fault zones: implication for Fluid, mass and thermal transfer
Learning from leading women's experience:towards a sociological understanding
Conceptions of leadership draw largely on the leadership experiences of a limited population, and of those in a restricted range of organizational settings. This article begins to address some of these biases by examining the experiences of six leading women in differing sectors. In researching the `how' of leadership there emerges a web of four inter-related factors that connects these leaders to their community and that plays a foundational role in their lives: upbringing, environment, focus and networks and alliances. The ways in which leadership is experienced and constructed by women, the article therefore argues, can be made more sense of through a sociological lens, and raises questions about how tendencies in research sites lead to gendered and individualistic understandings of leadership. In illuminating the need to make the distinction between representations of leadership and our experience of leadership, the article concludes that leadership is not just about leading people, but is often pioneering and can include the leadership of ideas, communities, and the representation of issue
Two-micron semiconductor disk lasers achieve higher powers
High-quality semiconductor disk lasers at wavelengths above 2µm promise new applications as they produce powers as high as 5W
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