Manual Evaluation of Robot Performance in Identifying Open Access Articles

Antelman et al. (2005) hand-tested the accuracy of the algorithm that Hajjem et al.'s (2005) software robot used to trawl the web and automatically identify Open Access (OA) and Non-Open-Access (NOA) articles (references derived from the ISI database). Antelman et al. found much lower accuracy than Hajjem et al. Had reported. Hajjem et al. have now re-done the hand-testing on a larger sample (1000) in Biology, and demonstrated that Hajjem et al.'s original estimate of the robot's accuracy was much closer to the correct one. The discrepancy was because both Antelman et al. And Hajjem et al had hand-checked a sample other than the one the robot was sampling. Our present sample, identical with what the robot saw, yielded: d' 2.62, bias 0.68, true OA 93%, false OA 12%. We also checked whether the OA citation advantage (the ratio of the average citation counts for OA articles to the average citation counts for NOA articles in the same journal/issue) was an artifact of false OA: The robot-based OA citation Advantage of OA over NOA for this sample [(OA-NOA)/NOA x 100] was 70%. We partitioned this into the ratio of the citation counts for true (93%) OA articles to the NOA articles versus the ratio of the citation counts for the false (12%) "OA" articles. The "false OA" advantage for this 12% of the articles was 33%, so there is definitely a false OA Advantage bias component in our results. However, the true OA advantage, for 93% of the articles, was 77%. So in fact, we are underestimating the true OA advantage

Acute Induced Scurvy: Implications for COVID-19 and the Cytokine Storm

Using an evolutionary genetic disease model, this review considers Vitamin C (VC) and its potential for treating COVID-19 (CV-19). The model’s validity rests on VC’s potent antioxidant property and the mutation sustained by the primate ancestor (est.) 61 MYA that left humans unable to produce VC. The result is humans cannot -by diet or oral supplementation- achieve plasma VC concentrations typical of vitamin C synthesizers. This may leave humans chronically vulnerable to infectious disease (hypoascorbemia). VC deficiency can become more acute during severe disease (anascorbemia) and, because of the relationship between disease severity and oxidative stress, can intensify the oxidative load and associated inflammation. During acute disease, oxidative stress becomes oxidative distress when highly reactive oxidants are produced at a rate faster than normal homeostatic mechanisms can quench them, such as with the inflammatory cytokine storm characteristic of severe CV-19. Cytokine storms directly underly the most severe complications of CV-19, e.g., acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), sepsis, and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). Infusions of VC into the plasma achieve concentrations that can exceed those of VC synthesizing species. At such concentrations, VC’s action as a non-rate limited antioxidant may lower the probability of a cytokine storm and the risk of tissue injury. I suggest that VC may prove a useful treatment in such contexts. In advance of the resulting ongoing clinical trials, this review will extrapolate a picture of VC’s potential therapeutic impact on the inflammatory cytokine storm and severe complications possible with CV-19

Online Child Sexual Abuse: The French Response

Online child sexual abuse is an increasingly visible problem in society today. The introduction, growth and utilization of information and telecommunication technologies (ICTs) have been accompanied by an increase in illegal activities. With respect to cyberspace the Internet is an attractive environment to sex offenders. In addition to giving them greater access to minors, extending their reach from a limited geographical area to victims all around the world, it allows criminals to alter or conceal their identities. Sexual predators, stalkers, child pornographers and child traffickers can use various concealment techniques to make it more difficult for investigators to identify them and find evidence. Others physically hide removable media and incriminating evidence in rented storage space, impeding an investigator’s job to find the truth. France has given the protection of children from sexual exploitation and abuse a high priority. Traditional laws have been amended to address the challenges of information technology, violence and to bring at the same time the country into line with international conventions on the rights of children. Accordingly this current article will analyze some of the techniques used by offenders to abuse children online, including recent legal and administrative developments in France concerning online children protection

DNS and modeling of the turbulent boundary layer over an evaporating liquid film

In this paper, Direct Numercial Simulation (DNS) is used to study the boundary layer above an evaporating liquid film in the fully developed turbulent channel flow configuration. First, the numerical results of an isothermal flow are compared to the reference results of Kim et al. [1] to check the validity and the accuracy of the present approach. Next, the calculations are repeated for an anisothermal case where hot gas is flowing between cold walls. The numerical results corroborate those of Nicoud [2] and Huang & Coleman [3], introducing modified dimensionless variables. Finally, an evaporating liquid film is added at the walls. The complexity of the interaction between the evaporation process and the boundary layer structure, as well as its strong dependence on the transient thermophysical properties of the mixture are highlighted. As in the anisothermal case, the classical wall units are no longer adapted to build wall functions and new dimensionless variables are proposed. In addition a wall function must be developed for the evaporating species mass fraction, using a new dimensionless wall variable. It is shown that using these new variables allows to derive new wall functions for momentum, temperature and mass that lead to a correct description of the boundary layer when compared to DNS. These new wall functions may be directly implemented in CFD codes to take into account the impact of an evaporating liquid film

Characteristic and Defining Markers of PCOS

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most frequently occurring endocrine disorders in women. The syndrome is diagnosed through a heterogeneous combination of androgen excess, anovulation, and ovarian dysfunction and is characterized by a host of resulting markers. This paper will paint the overall diagnostic picture of the condition and review a number of these markers to build an essential picture of PCOS. It will concentrate first on its principal metabolic markers then describe its physical, neurological and psychobehavioral markers. Each section will then abstract an essential picture from the data it presents. Finally, the review will conclude with a consolidation of the conclusions drawn in each section. The central theme that emerges is the inter-potentiated nature of PCOS markers

Identity Theft in Cyberspace: Issues and Solutions

Cet article présente et analyse la menace grandissante que représente le vol d’identité dans le cyberespace. Le développement, dans la dernière décennie, du commerce électronique ainsi que des transactions et des communications numériques s’accélère. Cette progression non linéaire a généré une myriade de risques associés à l’utilisation des technologies de l’information et de la communication (les TIC) dans le cyberespace, dont un des plus importants est sans conteste la menace du vol d’identité. Cet article vise à donner un aperçu des enjeux et des risques relatifs au vol d’identité et cherche à offrir certaines solutions basées sur la nécessité d’opter pour une politique à trois volets qui englobe des approches stratégiques et règlementaires, techniques et culturelles.This article addresses and analyses the growing threat of identity theft in cyberspace. E-commerce and digital transactions and communications have, over the past decade, been increasingly transpiring at an accelerated rate. This non-linear progression has generated a myriad of risks associated with the utilization of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in cyberspace communications, amongst the most important of which is: the threat of identity theft. On such account, this article aims to provide an overview of the issues and risks pertinent to identity theft and seeks to offer some solutions based on the necessity of pursuing a tri-fold policy encompassing strategic and regulatory, technical, and cultural approaches

Transitory powder flow dynamics during emptying of a continuous mixer

This article investigates the emptying process of a continuous powder mixer, from both experimental and modelling points of view. The apparatus used in this work is a pilot scale commercial mixer Gericke GCM500, for which a specific experimental protocol has been developed to determine the hold up in the mixer and the real outflow. We demonstrate that the dynamics of the process is governed by the rotational speed of the stirrer, as it fixes characteristic values of the hold-up weight, such as a threshold hold-up weight. This is integrated into a Markov chain matrix representation that can predict the evolution of the hold-up weight, as well as that of the outflow rate during emptying the mixer. Depending on the advancement of the process, the Markov chain must be considered as non-homogeneous. The comparison of model results with experimental data not used in the estimation procedure of the parameters contributes to validating the viability of this model. In particular, we report results obtained when emptying the mixer at variable rotational speed, through step changes

Self-selected or mandated, open access increases citation impact for higher quality research

Articles whose authors make them Open Access (OA) by self-archiving them online are cited significantly more than articles accessible only to subscribers. Some have suggested that this "OA Advantage" may not be causal but just a self-selection bias, because authors preferentially make higher-quality articles OA. To test this we compared self-selective self-archiving with mandatory self-archiving for a sample of 27,197 articles published 2002-2006 in 1,984 journals. The OA Advantage proved just as high for both. Logistic regression showed that the advantage is independent of other correlates of citations (article age; journal impact factor; number of co-authors, references or pages; field; article type; country or institution) and greatest for the most highly cited articles. The OA Advantage is real, independent and causal, but skewed. Its size is indeed correlated with quality, just as citations themselves are (the top 20% of articles receive about 80% of all citations). The advantage is greater for the more citeable articles, not because of a quality bias from authors self-selecting what to make OA, but because of a quality advantage, from users self-selecting what to use and cite, freed by OA from the constraints of selective accessibility to subscribers only. [See accompanying RTF file for responses to feedback. Four PDF files provide Supplementary Analysis.

Curriculum Method Grounded on Didactic Engineering to Expertise Physical Education Program Proposal

The purpose of this article is to identify and understand the reasons of actors of the neosphere and those of the scientific literature for the implementation of the pole vault practice in physical education program. The case of a didactic transposition for teaching pole vaulting practice at school is presented and the relationships between teachers and learners of this discipline are identified. Epistemological analyses of the practice of pole vaulting as well as a transpositive study of its implementation were useful to curry on the practice framework of the discipline. This background allowed quantitative and qualitative analyses for professional learning of pole vaulting. These allowed identifying global and generic trends of adapted and integrated study sections. Reports of crossing and separation between the practice of pole vaulting and the learner’s skills were highlighted. Difficulties related to contextual factors were identified. The synthetic didactical training analysis led to propose practical teaching programs for pole vaulting at school. Keywords: Curriculum, Physical Education and Sports, Pole Vaulting, Knowledge Taught, Learn to Teach