Improving Persian Information Retrieval Systems Using Stemming and Part of Speech Tagging

With the emergence of vast resources of information, it is necessary to develop methods that retrieve the most relevant information according to needs. These retrieval methods may benefit from natural language constructs to boost their results by achieving higher precision and recall rates. In this study, we have used part of speech properties of terms as extra source of information about document and query terms and have evaluated the impact of such data on the performance of the Persian retrieval algorithms. Also the effect of stemming has been experimented as a complement to this research. Our findings indicate that part of speech tags may have small influence on effectiveness of the retrieved results. However, when this information is combined with stemming it improves the accuracy of the outcomes considerably

Thin channel β-Ga2O3 MOSFETs with self-aligned refractory metal gates

We report the first demonstration of self-aligned gate (SAG) β-Ga2O3 metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) as a path toward eliminating source access resistance for low-loss power applications. The SAG process is implemented with a subtractively defined and etched refractory metal, such as Tungsten, combined with ion-implantation. We report experimental and modeled DC performance of a representative SAG device that achieved a maximum transconductance of 35 mS mm-1 and an on-resistance of ∼30 Ω mm with a 2.5 μm gate length. These results highlight the advantage of implant technology for SAG β-Ga2O3 MOSFETs enabling future power switching and RF devices with low parasitic resistance. © Not subject to copyright in the USA. Contribution of Wright-Patterson AFB

Fussy Feeders: Phyllosoma Larvae of the Western Rocklobster (Panulirus cygnus) Demonstrate Prey Preference

The Western Rocklobster (Panulirus cygnus) is the most valuable single species fishery in Australia and the largest single country spiny lobster fishery in the world. In recent years a well-known relationship between oceanographic conditions and lobster recruitment has become uncoupled, with significantly lower recruitment than expected, generating interest in the factors influencing survival and development of the planktonic larval stages. The nutritional requirements and wild prey of the planktotrophic larval stage (phyllosoma) of P. cygnus were previously unknown, hampering both management and aquaculture efforts for this species. Ship-board feeding trials of wild-caught mid-late stage P. cygnus phyllosoma in the eastern Indian Ocean, off the coast of Western Australia, were conducted in July 2010 and August-September 2011. In a series of experiments, phyllosoma were fed single and mixed species diets of relatively abundant potential prey items (chaetognaths, salps, and krill). Chaetognaths were consumed in 2–8 times higher numbers than the other prey, and the rate of consumption of chaetognaths increased with increasing concentration of prey. The highly variable lipid content of the phyllosoma, and the fatty acid profiles of the phyllosoma and chaetognaths, indicated they were from an oligotrophic oceanic food chain where food resources for macrozooplankton were likely to be constrained. Phyllosoma fed chaetognaths over 6 days showed significant changes in some fatty acids and tended to accumulate lipid, indicating an improvement in overall nutritional condition. The discovery of a preferred prey for P. cygnus will provide a basis for future oceanographic, management and aquaculture research for this economically and ecologically valuable species

Past abrupt changes, tipping points and cascading impacts in the Earth system

The geological record shows that abrupt changes in the Earth system can occur on timescales short enough to challenge the capacity of human societies to adapt to environmental pressures. In many cases, abrupt changes arise from slow changes in one component of the Earth system that eventually pass a critical threshold, or tipping point, after which impacts cascade through coupled climate–ecological–social systems. The chance of detecting abrupt changes and tipping points increases with the length of observations. The geological record provides the only long-term information we have on the conditions and processes that can drive physical, ecological and social systems into new states or organizational structures that may be irreversible within human time frames. Here, we use well-documented abrupt changes of the past 30 kyr to illustrate how their impacts cascade through the Earth system. We review useful indicators of upcoming abrupt changes, or early warning signals, and provide a perspective on the contributions of palaeoclimate science to the understanding of abrupt changes in the Earth system

Voices of deficit: Mental health, criminal victimisation and epistemic injustice

People who endure mental and emotional distress experience a plethora of negative experiences beyond the effects of the symptoms themselves. For centuries, the designation of labels of difference; that is, those which transgress approved social norms, have affected the lived experiences of those individuals, and more widely in structuring responses, engagements with, and attitudes between society and the individual. Understanding the creation of tainted identities, particularly of those with experience of mental and emotional distress have been well rehearsed in the sociological literature of the second half of the twentieth century. Central to much of this analysis has been to understand the nature of the manufacture of deviant identities, how they are sustained and the impact of these identities on those who experience them. This paper explores the experience of those with mental and emotional distress as a victim of crime. The interconnectedness of matters of identity created though the application of a diagnosis of illness/disorder is addressed as is the crisis of criminal victimisation. This is achieved via an exploration of contemporary concerns surrounding victims of crime with experience of mental and emotional distress, including the (further) loss of voice and agency when interfacing with agencies of the State

The prevention and reduction of weight loss in an acute tertiary care setting: Protocol for a pragmatic stepped wedge randomised cluster trial (the PRoWL Project)

Background: Malnutrition, with accompanying weight loss, is an unnecessary risk in hospitalised persons and often remains poorly recognised and managed. The study aims to evaluate a hospital-wide multifaceted intervention co-facilitated by clinical nurses and dietitians addressing the nutritional care of patients, particularly those at risk of malnutrition. Using the best available evidence on reducing and preventing unplanned weight loss, the intervention (introducing universal nutritional screening; the provision of oral nutritional supplements; and providing red trays and additional support for patients in need of feeding) will be introduced by local ward teams in a phased way in a large tertiary acute care hospital. Methods/Design: A pragmatic stepped wedge randomised cluster trial with repeated cross section design will be conducted. The unit of randomisation is the ward, with allocation by a random numbers table. Four groups of wards (n = 6 for three groups, n = 7 for one group) will be randomly allocated to each intervention time point over the trial. Two trained local facilitators (a nurse and dietitian for each group) will introduce the intervention. The primary outcome measure is change in patient’s body weight, secondary patient outcomes are: length of stay, all-cause mortality, discharge destinations, readmission rates and ED presentations. Patient outcomes will be measured on one ward per group, with 20 patients measured per ward per time period by an unblinded researcher. Including baseline, measurements will be conducted at five time periods. Staff perspectives on the context of care will be measured with the Alberta Context Tool. Discussion: Unplanned and unwanted weight loss in hospital is common. Despite the evidence and growing concern about hospital nutrition there are very few evaluations of system-wide nutritional implementation programs. This project will test the implementation of a nutritional intervention across one hospital system using a staged approach, which will allow sequential rolling out of facilitation and project support. This project is one of the first evidence implementation projects to use the stepped wedge design in acute care and we will therefore be testing the appropriateness of the stepped wedge design to evaluate such interventions.Alison L Kitson, Timothy J Schultz, Leslye Long, Alison Shanks, Rick Wiechula, Ian Chapman and Stijn Soene

Efficiency of Ontario primary care physicians across payment models : a stochastic frontier analysis

Objective The study examines the relationship between the primary care model that a physician belongs to and the efficiency of the primary care physician in Ontario, Canada. Methods Survey data were collected from 183 self-selected physicians and linked to administrative databases to capture the provision of services to the patients served for the 12 month period ending June 30, 2013, and the characteristics of the patients at the beginning of the study period. Two stochastic frontier regression models were used to estimate efficiency scores and parameters for two separate outputs: the number of distinct patients seen and the number of visits. Results Because of missing data, only 165 physicians were included in the analyses. The average efficiency was 0.72 for both outputs with scores varying from 4 % to 93 % for the visits and 5 % to 94 % for the number of patients seen. We observed that there were both very low and very high efficiency scores within each model. These variations were larger than variations in average scores across models