The application of interactive graphics to large time-dependent hydrodynamics problems

A written companion of a movie entitled "Interactive Graphics at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory" was presented. While the movie presents the actual graphics terminal and the functions performed on it, the paper attempts to put in perspective the complexity of the application code and the complexity of the interaction that is possible

Next challenges for adaptive learning systems

Learning from evolving streaming data has become a 'hot' research topic in the last decade and many adaptive learning algorithms have been developed. This research was stimulated by rapidly growing amounts of industrial, transactional, sensor and other business data that arrives in real time and needs to be mined in real time. Under such circumstances, constant manual adjustment of models is in-efficient and with increasing amounts of data is becoming infeasible. Nevertheless, adaptive learning models are still rarely employed in business applications in practice. In the light of rapidly growing structurally rich 'big data', new generation of parallel computing solutions and cloud computing services as well as recent advances in portable computing devices, this article aims to identify the current key research directions to be taken to bring the adaptive learning closer to application needs. We identify six forthcoming challenges in designing and building adaptive learning (pre-diction) systems: making adaptive systems scalable, dealing with realistic data, improving usability and trust, integrat-ing expert knowledge, taking into account various application needs, and moving from adaptive algorithms towards adaptive tools. Those challenges are critical for the evolving stream settings, as the process of model building needs to be fully automated and continuous.</jats:p

Helminth infections, atopy, asthma and allergic diseases: protocol for a systematic review of observational studies worldwide.

INTRODUCTION: Childhood infections, particularly those caused by helminths are considered to be important environmental exposures influencing the development of allergic diseases. However, epidemiological studies focusing on the relationship between helminth infections and risk of allergic diseases, performed worldwide, show inconsistent findings. Previous systematic reviews of observational studies published 10 or more years ago showed conflicting findings for effects of helminths on allergic diseases. Over the past 10 years there has been growing literature addressing this research area and these need to be considered in order to appreciate the most contemporary evidence. The objective of the current systematic review will be to provide an up-to-date synthesis of findings of observational studies investigating the influence of helminth infections on atopy, and allergic diseases. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This systematic review protocol was registered at PROSPERO. We will search Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, ISI Web of Science, WHO Global Health Library, Scielo, IndMed, PakMediNet, KoreaMed, Ichushi for published studies from 1970 to January 2020. Bibliographies of all eligible studies will be reviewed to identify additional studies. Unpublished and ongoing research will also be searched in key databases. There will be no language or geographical restrictions regarding publications. Critical Appraisal Skills Programme quality assessment tool will be used to appraise methodological quality of included studies. A descriptive summary with data tables will be constructed, and if adequate, meta-analysis using random-effects will be performed. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses checklist will be followed for reporting of the systematic review. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Since this systematic review will be only based on published and retrievable literature, no ethics approval will be sought. The multidisciplinary team performing this systematic review will participate in relevant dissemination activities. Findings will be presented at scientific meetings and publish the systematic review in international, peer-reviewed, open-access journals. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020167249

Human Dynamics: The Correspondence Patterns of Darwin and Einstein

While living in different historical era, Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and Albert Einstein (1879-1955) were both prolific correspondents: Darwin sent (received) at least 7,591 (6,530) letters during his lifetime while Einstein sent (received) over 14,500 (16,200). Before email scientists were part of an extensive university of letters, the main venue for exchanging new ideas and results. But were the communication patterns of the pre-email times any different from the current era of instant access? Here we show that while the means have changed, the communication dynamics has not: Darwin's and Einstein's pattern of correspondence and today's electronic exchanges follow the same scaling laws. Their communication belongs, however, to a different universality class from email communication, providing evidence for a new class of phenomena capturing human dynamics.Comment: Supplementary Information available at http://www.nd.edu/~network

a retrospective study of eighteen years

Leptospirosis, an under-recognized public health problem, needs to be confirmed through specific laboratory diagnosis. We describe herein a series of 4618 symptomatic patients for whom a microagglutination test (MAT) serology was available, representing a unique picture of human leptospirosis in central mainland Portugal and the Azores islands of São Miguel and Terceira, over eighteen- and twelve-year periods, respectively. The distribution of the 1024 (22%) cases identified was an average 57 cases per year, with higher frequency in males (67%). These represent the majority of leptospirosis notifications in Portugal, with a higher annual incidence rate in the islands, compared to the central mainland (11.1 and 1.7/100,000 population, respectively). Middle-aged adults (25-54 years) were most frequently infected (45%). Cases occurred mainly in December and January. Serovars from nine presumptive serogroups caused infection, with a predominance of Icterohaemorrhagiae, Pomona, and Ballum, accounting for 66% of cases. Seropositivity was associated with both anicteric and icteric leptospirosis. Several risk factors and a higher transmission risk in certain areas were emphasized. Leptospirosis was confirmed as a steadily increasing public health problem; good surveillance, communication, and laboratory support are thus necessary to reduce the impact of leptospirosis in areas at risk.publishersversionpublishe