Towards engineering ontologies for cognitive profiling of agents on the semantic web

Research shows that most agent-based collaborations suffer from lack of flexibility. This is due to the fact that most agent-based applications assume pre-defined knowledge of agents’ capabilities and/or neglect basic cognitive and interactional requirements in multi-agent collaboration. The highlight of this paper is that it brings cognitive models (inspired from cognitive sciences and HCI) proposing architectural and knowledge-based requirements for agents to structure ontological models for cognitive profiling in order to increase cognitive awareness between themselves, which in turn promotes flexibility, reusability and predictability of agent behavior; thus contributing towards minimizing cognitive overload incurred on humans. The semantic web is used as an action mediating space, where shared knowledge base in the form of ontological models provides affordances for improving cognitive awareness

Deep Interarytenoid Notch in Young Children Managed with Systematic Thickener Wean and Injection Laryngoplasty

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine.A deep interarytenoid notch (DIN) is a normal congenital variation of the larynx where the interarytenoid notch height is below average. It is frequently found in young children and often associated with dysphagia and aspiration. The Aerodigestive Clinic (ADC) at PCH reported that 30% of young patients presenting with dysphagia and aspiration in 2013 were diagnosed with DIN. There exists both functional management with thickeners2 and surgical management with injection laryngoplasty (IL) 3-5. Thickener Wean Protocol (TWP) is a PCH developed 6 month protocol where thickening agents are systematically reduced on a weekly basis while clinical signs of aspiration, respiratory health, and oral motor skills are monitored to ensure safety with the least restrictive diet. An initial modified barium swallow (MBS) score is used in equivalence of thickener level, and patients do not repeat MBS during TWP. A gel (IL) is injected into the interarytenoid notch to close the anatomical gap. Our objective was to evaluate DIN patients who were managed with both thickeners and IL.This item is part of the College of Medicine - Phoenix Scholarly Projects 2019 collection. For more information, contact the Phoenix Biomedical Campus Library at [email protected]

PARETO-IMPROVING WATER MANAGEMENT OVER SPACE AND TIME

Proposals for marginal cost water pricing have often been found to be politically infeasible because current users will have to pay a higher price even though future users will be better off. We show how efficiency pricing can be rendered Pareto-improving, and thus politically feasible, by compensating the users suffering a loss due to higher prices. We also provide a method for determining efficient spatial and inter-temporal water management for a system with consumption at significantly different elevations supplied from a renewable coastal aquifer, which is subject to salinity if over-extracted.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Integrated Prevention and Control of Invasive Species

An emerging problem for environmental policy is how to design efficient strategies for the prevention and control of invasive species. However, the literature has mostly focused either on pre-introduction prevention or post-introduction control of an invasive. The benefits of prevention cannot be understood or estimated without knowing the costs of post-introduction control. This paper provides an integrated framework where optimal prevention is combined with optimal pest removal.Environmental Economics and Policy,

WATERSHED CONSERVATION AND EFFICIENT GROUNDWATER PRICING

Conserving the watershed can help to preserve the groundwater supplies by avoiding loss of recharge. Preventing overuse of available water through pricing reforms can also substantially increase benefits from groundwater stock. Since efficiency prices are generally higher than the inefficient, status quo prices, efficiency pricing may be politically infeasible and watershed conservation may be considered as an alternative. Using Pearl Harbor water district as an example, we find that pricing reform yields large welfare improvement (about $900 million) and is welfare-superior to watershed conservation unless the latter prevents over 10% loss of recharge. In addition, watershed conservation is more valuable at efficiency pricing than at the status quo prices.watershed conservation, water pricing, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, D62, H21, H23,

EFFICIENT GROUNDWATER PRICING AND WATERSHED CONSERVATION FINANCE: THE HONOLULU CASE

Several studies have documented that intertemporal water allocation in Hawaii (as elsewhere) is inefficient (see e.g., Moncur et. al., 1998). The result is widely expected to be early depletion of groundwater resources and the resulting need for using expensive and exotic technologies such as desalination. The problem is further complicated by the presence of saltwater underneath most of the freshwater lenses in Hawaii. Increasing groundwater extraction over time will drive the freshwater head levels lower until the existing well installations will start to pump out saltwater. Once the wells become saline, it is very hard to reverse the process. The consequences of these conditions, in terms of the economic value of waste, are unknown. Moreover, recharge of groundwater aquifer is affected by the condition of forested watersheds. Amount and nature of vegetation cover affects the rate of recharge and the amount of groundwater stored in an aquifer available for pumping. Many communities have given watersheds a practice of protective zoning that eliminated the worst threats, including road construction and subsequent urbanization that significantly reduce permeability and recharge rates. Zoning alone may no longer be sufficient for meeting the increasing demand for fresh water, however. Increasing threats to forest quality, including change in forest composition due to the rapidly growing problem of invasive species, may justify significant conservation expenditures. Maintenance of watersheds needs to be considered in an integrated framework in order to assess the size of the problem and the potential gains from policy reforms. The overall objective of this paper is to combine existing hydrological, engineering, and economic knowledge in order to estimate efficient water use in the Honolulu aquifer zone on Oahu, HI. We compare welfare gains under efficient pricing and usage with welfare under current pricing and usage. In addition, we incorporate the effects of watershed conservation in the form of probabilistic changes in recharge. We then compare the welfare gains from efficient pricing without water conservation to that with watershed conservation. Finally, we articulate practical pricing schemes (particularly block pricing) for achieving efficient use with return of water pricing revenue back to the consumers. We derive efficient water use and prices over time for the study area with and without the watershed conservation plan proposed by the state Department of Land and Natural Resource (DLNR). Present values of status-quo (pricing-at-cost), efficiency pricing alone, and efficiency pricing with additional conservation spending are compared. We show that efficiency pricing alone provides substantial welfare gains over status-quo. Efficiency pricing combined with watershed conservation improves the welfare further. Under plausible parameter values, the fall in efficiency prices afforded by conservation is more than enough to finance the conservation expenditures. This is a 'win-win-win' for water consumers, taxpayers, and environment.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Evaluating codon bias perspective in barbiturase gene using multivariate analysis

Barbiturases exist solely in bacteria and encompass an undistinguished protein family. s-Triazine compound introduction into the environment owing to recent industrial practices have revitalized barbiturases. Codon usage patterns were analysed in this study for 17 barbiturase genes encoded by 16 bacterial species. Multivariate and correspondence study of amino acid and codon usage was employed for detecting the cause of variation in the gene content. GC3 of synonymously variable codons, RSCU, NC and CAI were estimated with statistical softwares. Examination of DNA composition along with codon usage was done to reveal dynamics of gene evolution and expression of this enzyme.Keywords: Codon usage, barbiturase gene, multivariate statistical analysisAfrican Journal of Biotechnology, Vol. 13(2), pp. 194-201, 8 January, 201

Optimal Green Taxation with Both Emission and Commodity Taxes

Several authors have argued that the second-best environmental tax on a "dirty good" is less than the marginal emission damage associated with its consumption. These studies limit their analysis to cases in which emissions can only be reduced by a proportional reduction of the "dirty" good. With a more general specification of technology that allows emissions to be directly as well as indirectly taxed, we show that the direct emission tax cannot be less than its marginal emission damage, regardless of the normalization.Environmental Economics and Policy,