Inventing Intelligence: On the History of Complex Information Processing and Artificial Intelligence in the United States in the Mid-Twentieth Century

In the mid-1950s, researchers in the United States melded formal theories of problem solving and intelligence with another powerful new tool for control: the electronic digital computer. Several branches of western mathematical science emerged from this nexus, including computer science (1960s–), data science (1990s–) and artificial intelligence (AI). This thesis offers an account of the origins and politics of AI in the mid-twentieth century United States, which focuses on its imbrications in systems of societal control. In an effort to denaturalize the power relations upon which the field came into being, I situate AI’s canonical origin story in relation to the structural and intellectual priorities of the U.S. military and American industry during the Cold War, circa 1952 to 1961. This thesis offers a detailed and comparative account of the early careers, research interests, and key outputs of four researchers often credited with laying the foundations for AI and machine learning—Herbert A. Simon, Frank Rosenblatt, John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky. It chronicles the distinct ways in which each sought to formalise and simulate human mental behaviour using digital electronic computers. Rather than assess their contributions as discontinuous with what came before, as in mythologies of AI's genesis, I establish continuities with, and borrowings from, management science and operations research (Simon), Hayekian economics and instrumentalist statistics (Rosenblatt), automatic coding techniques and pedagogy (McCarthy), and cybernetics (Minsky), along with the broadscale mobilization of Cold War-era civilian-led military science generally. I assess how Minsky’s 1961 paper 'Steps Toward Artificial Intelligence' simultaneously consolidated and obscured these entanglements as it set in motion an initial research agenda for AI in the following two decades. I argue that mind-computer metaphors, and research in complex information processing generally, played an important role in normalizing the small- and large-scale structuring of social behaviour using mathematics in the United States from the second half of the twentieth century onward

Prevalence of emotional, physical and sexual abuse of women in three South African provinces

Introduction. There is growing recognition in the ranks of the South African government that violence against women is a serious problem facing us all. Until now data on the epidemiology of violence against women in South Africa have been scanty. This report presents the findings of the first major community-based prevalence study.Objectives. To describe the prevalence of physical, sexual, financial, and emotional abuse of women.Methods. A cross-sectional study conducted in the Eastern Cape (EC), Mpurnalanga (MP) and the orthern Province (NP). The sample included one randomly selected woman aged 18 - 49 years living in each of 2 232 households. The sample was drawn using stratified, multistage, random methods, and 1 306 questionnaires were completed, giving a,90.3% response rate after adjusting for households without an eligible woman.Results. The prevalences of ever having been physically abused by a current or ex-partner were 26.8% (EC), 28.4% (MP) and 19.1% (NP). The prevalences of abuse in the last year were 10.9% (EC), 11.9% (MP) and 4.5% (NP). The prevalences of rape were 4.5% (EC), 7.2% (MP) and 4.8% (NP). Considerable emotional and financial abuse was also reported, e.g. the prevalences of a partner having boasted about or brought home girlfriends in the previous year were 5.0% (EC), 10.4% (MP) and 7.0% (NP). The prevailences of physical abuse during a pregnancy were 9.1% (BC), 6.7% (MP) and 4.7% (NP). The proportions of abused women who were injured in the year before the survey were 34.5% (EC), 48.0% (MP) and 60% to (NP).Conclusions. This study is the first large-scale, communitybased prevalence study to be undertaken in South Africa The main findings are that emotional, financial and physical abuse are common features of relationships and that many women have been raped. Physical violence often continues during pregnancy and constitutes an important cause of reproductive morbidity. Many women are injured by their partners and considerable health sector resources are expended providing treatment for these injuries

GPM Solar Array Gravity Negated Deployment Testing

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) successfully developed a g-negation support system for use on the solar arrays of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Satellite. This system provides full deployment capability at the subsystem and observatory levels. In addition, the system provides capability for deployed configuration first mode frequency verification testing. The system consists of air pads, a support structure, an air supply, and support tables. The g-negation support system was used to support all deployment activities for flight solar array deployment testing

Slowly varying envelope kinetic simulations of pulse amplification by Raman backscattering

A numerical code based on an eikonal formalism has been developed to simulate laser-plasma interactions, specifically Raman backscatter(RBS). In this code, the dominant laser modes are described by their wave envelopes, avoiding the need to resolve the laser frequency; appropriately time-averaged equations describe particle motion. The code is fully kinetic, and thus includes critical physics such as particle trapping and Landau damping which are beyond the scope of the commonly used fluid three-wave equations. The dominant forces on the particles are included: the ponderomotive force resulting from the beat wave of the forward and backscattered laser fields and the self-consistent plasma electric field. The code agrees well, in the appropriate regimes, with the results from three-wave equations and particle-in-cell simulations. The effects of plasma temperature on RBS amplification are studied. It is found that increasing the plasma temperature results in modification to particle trapping and the saturation of RBS, even before the onset of Landau damping of the plasma wave. This results in a reduction in the coupling efficiency compared to predictions based on the three-wave equations.open192

Carbon reductions and health co-benefits from US residential energy efficiency measures

The United States (US) Clean Power Plan established state-specific carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reduction goals for fossil fuel-fired electricity generating units (EGUs). States may achieve these goals through multiple mechanisms, including measures that can achieve equivalent CO2 reductions such as residential energy efficiency, which will have important co-benefits. Here, we develop state-resolution simulations of the economic, health, and climate benefits of increased residential insulation, considering EGUs and residential combustion. Increasing insulation to International Energy Conservation Code 2012 levels for all single-family homes in the US in 2013 would lead to annual reductions of 80 million tons of CO2 from EGUs, with annual co-benefits including 30 million tons of CO2 from residential combustion and 320 premature deaths associated with criteria pollutant emissions from both EGUs and residential combustion sources. Monetized climate and health co-benefits average $49 per ton of CO2 reduced from EGUs (range across states:$12–$390). State-specific co-benefit estimates can inform development of optimal Clean Power Plan implementation strategies

Cotranslational Folding Stimulates Programmed Ribosomal Frameshifting in the Alphavirus Structural Polyprotein

Viruses maximize their genetic coding capacity through a variety of biochemical mechanisms, including programmed ribosomal frameshifting (PRF), which facilitates the production of multiple proteins from a single mRNA transcript. PRF is typically stimulated by structural elements within the mRNA that generate mechanical tension between the transcript and ribosome. However, in this work, we show that the forces generated by the cotranslational folding of the nascent polypeptide chain can also enhance PRF. Using an array of biochemical, cellular, and computational techniques, we first demonstrate that the Sindbis virus structural polyprotein forms two competing topological isomers during its biosynthesis at the ribosome-translocon complex. We then show that the formation of one of these topological isomers is linked to PRF. Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations reveal that the translocon-mediated membrane integration of a transmembrane domain upstream from the ribosomal slip site generates a force on the nascent polypeptide chain that scales with observed frameshifting. Together, our results indicate that cotranslational folding of this viral protein generates a tension that stimulates PRF. To our knowledge, this constitutes the first example in which the conformational state of the nascent polypeptide chain has been linked to PRF. These findings raise the possibility that, in addition to RNA-mediated translational recoding, a variety of cotranslational folding or binding events may also stimulate PRF

Estimating State-Specific Contributions to PM2.5- and O3-Related Health Burden from Residential Combustion and Electricity Generating Unit Emissions in the United States

BACKGROUND: Residential combustion (RC) and electricity generating unit (EGU) emissions adversely impact air quality and human health by increasing ambient concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone (O3). Studies to date have not isolated contributing emissions by state of origin (source-state), which is necessary for policy makers to determine efficient strategies to decrease health impacts. OBJECTIVES: In this study, we aimed to estimate health impacts (premature mortalities) attributable to PM2.5 and O3 from RC and EGU emissions by precursor species, source sector, and source-state in the continental United States for 2005. METHODS: We used the Community Multiscale Air Quality model employing the decoupled direct method to quantify changes in air quality and epidemiological evidence to determine concentration-response functions to calculate associated health impacts. RESULTS: We estimated 21,000 premature mortalities per year from EGU emissions, driven by sulfur dioxide emissions forming PM2.5. More than half of EGU health impacts are attributable to emissions from eight states with significant coal combustion and large downwind populations. We estimate 10,000 premature mortalities per year from RC emissions, driven by primary PM2.5 emissions. States with large populations and significant residential wood combustion dominate RC health impacts. Annual mortality risk per thousand tons of precursor emissions (health damage functions) varied significantly across source-states for both source sectors and all precursor pollutants. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reinforce the importance of pollutant-specific, location-specific, and source-specific models of health impacts in design of health-risk minimizing emissions control policies. Citation: Penn SL, Arunachalam S, Woody M, Heiger-Bernays W, Tripodis Y, Levy JI. 2017. Estimating state-specific contributions to PM2.5- and O3-related health burden from residential combustion and electricity generating unit emissions in the United States. Environ Health Perspect 125:324-332; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP550

Genetic Engineering in Streptomyces roseosporus to Produce Hybrid Lipopeptide Antibiotics

SummaryDaptomycin is a lipopeptide antibiotic produced by a nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) in Streptomyces roseosporus. The holoenzyme is composed of three subunits, encoded by the dptA, dptBC, and dptD genes, each responsible for incorporating particular amino acids into the peptide. We introduced expression plasmids carrying dptD or NRPS genes encoding subunits from two related lipopeptide biosynthetic pathways into a daptomycin nonproducing strain of S. roseosporus harboring a deletion of dptD. All constructs successfully complemented the deletion in trans, generating three peptide cores related to daptomycin. When these were coupled with incomplete methylation of 1 amino acid and natural variation in the lipid side chain, 18 lipopeptides were generated. Substantial amounts of nine of these compounds were readily obtained by fermentation, and all displayed antibacterial activity against gram-positive pathogens

Selectivity of mass extinctions: Patterns, processes, and future directions

A central question in the study of mass extinction is whether these events simply intensify background extinction processes and patterns versus change the driving mechanisms and associated patterns of selectivity. Over the past two decades, aided by the development of new fossil occurrence databases, selectivity patterns associated with mass extinction have become increasingly well quantified and their differences from background patterns established. In general, differences in geographic range matter less during mass extinction than during background intervals, while differences in respiratory and circulatory anatomy that may correlate with tolerance to rapid change in oxygen availability, temperature, and pH show greater evidence of selectivity during mass extinction. The recent expansion of physiological experiments on living representatives of diverse clades and the development of simple, quantitative theories linking temperature and oxygen availability to the extent of viable habitat in the oceans have enabled the use of Earth system models to link geochemical proxy constraints on environmental change with quantitative predictions of the amount and biogeography of habitat loss. Early indications are that the interaction between physiological traits and environmental change can explain substantial proportions of observed extinction selectivity for at least some mass extinction events. A remaining challenge is quantifying the effects of primary extinction resulting from the limits of physiological tolerance versus secondary extinction resulting from the loss of taxa on which a given species depended ecologically. The calibration of physiology-based models to past extinction events will enhance their value in prediction and mitigation efforts related to the current biodiversity crisis