205 research outputs found
Whatcom Creek hydropower: environmental impact assessment
The primary proposal is the installation of a small hydroelectric system at the end of a 48 pipeline that was formerly used to supply the now-defunct Georgia Pacific paper mill with water. The power generation unit will run at full capacity year round and generate an estimated 1480 kW of electricity
Value Kaleidoscope: Engaging AI with Pluralistic Human Values, Rights, and Duties
Human values are crucial to human decision-making. Value pluralism is the
view that multiple correct values may be held in tension with one another
(e.g., when considering lying to a friend to protect their feelings, how does
one balance honesty with friendship?). As statistical learners, AI systems fit
to averages by default, washing out these potentially irreducible value
conflicts. To improve AI systems to better reflect value pluralism, the
first-order challenge is to explore the extent to which AI systems can model
pluralistic human values, rights, and duties as well as their interaction.
We introduce ValuePrism, a large-scale dataset of 218k values, rights, and
duties connected to 31k human-written situations. ValuePrism's contextualized
values are generated by GPT-4 and deemed high-quality by human annotators 91%
of the time. We conduct a large-scale study with annotators across diverse
social and demographic backgrounds to try to understand whose values are
represented.
With ValuePrism, we build Kaleido, an open, light-weight, and structured
language-based multi-task model that generates, explains, and assesses the
relevance and valence (i.e., support or oppose) of human values, rights, and
duties within a specific context. Humans prefer the sets of values output by
our system over the teacher GPT-4, finding them more accurate and with broader
coverage. In addition, we demonstrate that Kaleido can help explain variability
in human decision-making by outputting contrasting values. Finally, we show
that Kaleido's representations transfer to other philosophical frameworks and
datasets, confirming the benefit of an explicit, modular, and interpretable
approach to value pluralism. We hope that our work will serve as a step to
making more explicit the implicit values behind human decision-making and to
steering AI systems to make decisions that are more in accordance with them
Defining normal IgG changes throughout pregnancy
Immunoglobulin G (IgG) is the major serum immunoglobulin, accounting for roughly 75% of all immunoglobulin. IgG is the only class of immunoglobulin that crosses the placenta and it serves as the main immunologic barrier between the fetus and external environments. There has not been a clear consensus on what the normal values of IgG are throughout pregnancy. The aim of this study is to measure serum immunoglobulin G in each trimester of the pregnant female to determine a normal IgG profile throughout all trimesters in normal pregnancy
Recommended from our members
Basic Research Needs for the Hydrogen Economy. Report of the Basic Energy Sciences Workshop on Hydrogen Production, Storage and Use, May 13-15, 2003
The coupled challenges of a doubling in the world's energy needs by the year 2050 and the increasing demands for ''clean'' energy sources that do not add more carbon dioxide and other pollutants to the environment have resulted in increased attention worldwide to the possibilities of a ''hydrogen economy'' as a long-term solution for a secure energy future
Spin dynamics in semiconductors
This article reviews the current status of spin dynamics in semiconductors
which has achieved a lot of progress in the past years due to the fast growing
field of semiconductor spintronics. The primary focus is the theoretical and
experimental developments of spin relaxation and dephasing in both spin
precession in time domain and spin diffusion and transport in spacial domain. A
fully microscopic many-body investigation on spin dynamics based on the kinetic
spin Bloch equation approach is reviewed comprehensively.Comment: a review article with 193 pages and 1103 references. To be published
in Physics Reports
On the Effect of Nb on the Microstructure and Properties of Next Generation Polycrystalline Powder Metallurgy Ni-Based Superalloys
Abstract
The effect of Nb on the properties and microstructure of two novel powder metallurgy (P/M) Ni-based superalloys was evaluated, and the results critically compared with the Rolls-Royce alloy RR1000. The Nb-containing alloy was found to exhibit improved tensile and creep properties as well as superior oxidation resistance compared with both RR1000 and the Nb-free variant tested. The beneficial effect of Nb on the tensile and creep properties was due to the microstructures obtained following the post-solution heat treatments, which led to a higher γ′ volume fraction and a finer tertiary γ′ distribution. In addition, an increase in the anti-phase-boundary energy of the γ′ phase is also expected with the addition of Nb, further contributing to the strength of the material. However, these modifications in the γ′ distribution detrimentally affect the dwell fatigue crack-growth behavior of the material, although this behavior can be improved through modified heat treatments. The oxidation resistance of the Nb-containing alloy was also enhanced as Nb is believed to accelerate the formation of a defect-free Cr2O3 scale. Overall, both developmental alloys, with and without the addition of Nb, were found to exhibit superior properties than RR1000.This work was supported by the Rolls-Royce/EPSRC Strategic Partnership under EP/H022309/1, EP/H500375/1 and EP/ M005607/1
Hair follicles are required for optimal growth during lateral skin expansion
The hair follicles and the interfollicular epidermis of intact mature skin are maintained by distinct stem cell populations. Upon wounding, however, emigration of hair follicle keratinocytes to the interfollicular epidermis plays a role in acute stages of healing. In addition to this repair function, rapidly cycling cells of the upper hair follicle have been observed transiting to the interfollicular epidermis in neonatal skin. Here we report that an absence of hair follicle development leads to shortening and kinking of the mouse tail. These skeletal defects are reduced by stimulating keratinocyte proliferation, suggesting that they arise from impaired epidermal expansion. We confirm that rapidly cycling cells of the hair follicle emigrate to the interfollicular epidermis of the neonatal tail. These results suggest that an absence of hair follicles results in impaired skin growth that is unable to keep pace with the rapidly elongating axial skeleton of the tail. Thus, in addition to their role in wound repair, hair follicles can make a significant contribution to lateral expansion of the interfollicular epidermis in the absence of trauma
Biomarkers in T cell therapy clinical trials
T cell therapy represents an emerging and promising modality for the treatment of both infectious disease and cancer. Data from recent clinical trials have highlighted the potential for this therapeutic modality to effect potent anti-tumor activity. Biomarkers, operationally defined as biological parameters measured from patients that provide information about treatment impact, play a central role in the development of novel therapeutic agents. In the absence of information about primary clinical endpoints, biomarkers can provide critical insights that allow investigators to guide the clinical development of the candidate product. In the context of cell therapy trials, the definition of biomarkers can be extended to include a description of parameters of the cell product that are important for product bioactivity
- …