UAG R-268

This study was supported by the Bureau of Land Management through interagency agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under which a multi-year program responding to need of petroleum development of the Alaskan continental shelf is managed by the Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program (OCSEAP) Office. Drawings were done by Debbie Cocci a and Jim Burton. The idea of this project arose during a conversation between George Edwardson, Jr., and one of the Principal Investigators. Rachael Craig and Edna MacLean helped in initiating the project and Mrs. Molly Pederson of the North Slope Borough Inupiaq Language Commission obtained some of the narratives and interviews and provided translations. Teri McClung assisted with transcription of interviews and editing. Finally, the hospitality of the family of Kenneth Toovak during the translation process is gratefully acknowledged.The objective of this program was to extend the data base on ice hazards along the Beaufort Sea coast of Alaska backward in time by using the knowledge and understanding of ice and weather conditions of the local residents. Information for this pilot project was obtained through direct interviews with residents, or from narratives supplied by them. The results of these procedures were evaluated to provide a basis for improving similar efforts in future. Observations of particular interest obtained from these interviews and narratives include (1 ) a description of a major motion of the landfast ice off Harrison Bay in late February, (2) a description of the formation of ice push ridges and ride-up at Cape Halkett during break up, (3) reports of whales traveling inshore of Cross Island during the fall migration and of whales being taken by crews from the Prudhoe Bay area at that time of year, and 4) descriptions of conditions in the nearshore area during summer. In addition information of historical and cultural interest was obtained.Supported by NOAA Contract 03-5-022-55, Task No. 6ABSTRACT -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- TABLE OF CONTENTS : INTRODUCTION ; PROCEDURES ; RESULTS ; DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION -- APPENDIX I -- APPENDIX II -- APPENDIX II

State-space based mass event-history model I: many decision-making agents with one target

A dynamic decision-making system that includes a mass of indistinguishable agents could manifest impressive heterogeneity. This kind of nonhomogeneity is postulated to result from macroscopic behavioral tactics employed by almost all involved agents. A State-Space Based (SSB) mass event-history model is developed here to explore the potential existence of such macroscopic behaviors. By imposing an unobserved internal state-space variable into the system, each individual's event-history is made into a composition of a common state duration and an individual specific time to action. With the common state modeling of the macroscopic behavior, parametric statistical inferences are derived under the current-status data structure and conditional independence assumptions. Identifiability and computation related problems are also addressed. From the dynamic perspectives of system-wise heterogeneity, this SSB mass event-history model is shown to be very distinct from a random effect model via the Principle Component Analysis (PCA) in a numerical experiment. Real data showing the mass invasion by two species of parasitic nematode into two species of host larvae are also analyzed. The analysis results not only are found coherent in the context of the biology of the nematode as a parasite, but also include new quantitative interpretations.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/08-AOAS189 the Annals of Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

A First Examination of Aphasia Using Pupillometry

We use pupillometry to examine the time-course of sentence processing in aphasia, perhaps the first study to do so.  By time-locking pupillary responses to stimulus presentation, we are able to collect a continuous measure of processing load in a participant-friendly and efficient manner.  In this first proof-of-concept effort, we manipulate the thematic fit that occurs between a verb and its arguments. We find that aphasic patients’ pupillary responses are similar to those of their age matched controls as well as healthy college age students, whereby pupil size increases when thematic fit is violated

Thomas-Fermi generalized approach for studying systems under pressure

In a previous work one of the authors proposed a simple model for studying systems under pressure based on the Thomas-Fermi (TF) model of single atom. In this work we intend to extend the previous work to more general Thomas-Fermi models where electronic exchange and correlation are introduced. To do so, we first study numerically the equation obtained by H.W.Lewis (TFDL) which introduces the effects of exchange and correlation into the original TF equation; next the procedure followed in the previous work is extended to the new approach and a specific example is illustrated. Although one could expect that no big differences were produced by the generalized TF model, we show the qualitative as well as quantitative equivalence with detailed numerical results. These results support the robustness of our conclusions with regards to the model proposed in the previous work and give the character of universality (i.e. to pass from one atom to another, the quantities calculated must be simply scaled by a numerical factor) to the properties of compressed systems shown in this work.Comment: 16 pages and 5 figure

Grassroots Flash: A Payment System for Grassroots Cryptocurrencies

The goal of grassroots cryptocurrencies is to provide a foundation with which local digital economies can emerge independently of each other and of global digital platforms and global cryptocurrencies; can form and grow without initial capital or external credit; can trade with each other; and can gradually merge into a global digital economy. Grassroots cryptocurrencies turn mutual trust into liquidity and thus could be a powerful means for 'banking the unbanked'. Grassroots cryptocurrencies have not been provided yet with a payment system, which is the goal of this paper. Here, we present Grassroots Flash, a payment system for grassroots cryptocurrencies that employs the blocklace -- a DAG-like counterpart of the blockchain data structure. We analyze its security (safety, liveness, and privacy) and efficiency, prove that it is indeed grassroots

Language and Communication Deficits in Alzheimer’s Disease: A Review of the Literature on the Progression, Prevention, and Mediation of Language Barriers Experienced by Individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) poses a significant societal problem with regard to the quality of life in the aging population worldwide (Alzheimer’s Association, 2021). One ability that is affected early on in the disease is language processing, which can result in feelings of isolation due to its significant impact on one’s relationships, overall communicative ability, and quality of life (Szatloczki et al., 2015). Thus, it is of great importance to identify evidence-based interventions and preventative measures, as well as communication strategies, helpful to patients and their caregivers. In this review of literature, we examined language difficulties pertaining to semantic verbal fluency, word finding, and discourse markers, while also identifying the neural mechanisms likely responsible (e.g., Arnoff et al., 2006; Chapman et al., 1998; Eriksson et al., 2015; Pakhomov et al., 2018). In addition, we present research on the theory of cognitive reserve as a preventative measure, with a special emphasis on the influence of bilingualism (Bialystok et al., 2007; Gold, 2016; Perani et al., 2017) and music training (Chaddock-Heyman et al., 2021; Lyu et al., 2018). The research supports the efficacy of various interactive music therapies to allow extended communication between caregivers and AD patients, especially since later life music therapy can help preserve or enhance memory and language ability in patients with moderate or severe AD (Clare et al., 2020; Lyu et al., 2018; Wong et al., 2019). Future research could further investigate the long-term effects and applications of language and music interventions. Importantly, incorporating increasingly diverse samples is necessary to increase the generalizability of the research described (Brewster et al., 2018, Ferretti et al., 2018)

The effect of organic versus chemical fertilizers on insect pathogens

Insects such as the black cutworm are a major pest of seedling corn in Corn Belt states. Both the nematode Steinernema carpocapsae and the fungus Beauveria bassiana are potential biological control agents of this pest Because their survivability depends on moisture and they are affected adversely by nitrogen compounds, this project studied the effects of various fertilizers (fresh cow manure, composted cow manure, and urea) on these insect-killing organisms. Results showed that S. carpocapsae is more active in soils with no fertilizer amendment or with composted manure than with fresh manure or chemical fertilizer; B. bassiana is adversely affected by fresh manure. Investigation of factors that may enhance dispersal (which in turn may be a determining factor in the success of biological control) found that dispersal of two species of insect-killing nematodes was increased in the presence of earthworms

The Hall of Mirrors Perceptions and Misperceptions in the Congressional Foreign Policy Process

Explores several factors related to an inconsistency in the voting record by the U.S. Congress on foreign policy issues, compared with the position taken by the public, administration officials, and leaders in business, labor, media, and education