Alternative Basis Research Articles

Galerkin approximation of dynamical quantities using trajectory data.

Understanding chemical mechanisms requires estimating dynamical statistics such as expected hitting times, reaction rates, and committors. Here, we present a general framework for calculating these dynamical quantities by approximating boundary value problems using dynamical operators with a Galerkin expansion. A specific choice of basis set in the expansion corresponds to the estimation of dynamical quantities using a Markov state model. More generally, the boundary conditions impose restrictions on the choice of basis sets. We demonstrate how an alternative basis can be constructed using ideas from diffusion maps. In our numerical experiments, this basis gives results of comparable or better accuracy to Markov state models. Additionally, we show that delay embedding can reduce the information lost when projecting the system's dynamics for model construction; this improves estimates of dynamical statistics considerably over the standard practice of increasing the lag time.

Social Rights between Hard Law and Soft Law. A case study from European Union

After the Lisbon Summit of 2009, the whole matter of fundamental rights in the European Union has taken a new connotation. Local economic interests and social protests – in opposition to the “neoliberal agenda” of EU institutions – have played an important role in stopping the enforcement of the “Constitutional Treaty” and boosted an anti-Euro mobilization. In the meanwhile, the European bodies and transnational corporations have continued to settle a new and alternative basis for the integration. A radical shift can be observed, from the research of synthetic set of principles – as those established on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights – to a deeply technical and detailed normative production. The regulation on safety and healthy workplaces is one of the best point of view to study this change. Far from calling into question the unbalanced positions between the parties in contemporary labour relationships, the European strategy for workers’ protection move through procedural issues and voluntary obedience to the soft law instruments. In the past, the legal doctrine described the creation of a multilevel architecture of institutions, sometimes implemented in a top-down approach. Along with this, recently, it was implemented the establishment of common organizational standards associated to a specific system of corporate governance to pursue a better integration between business and fundamental rights.

The Neurophilosophical Case for an Evolutionary Turn in Neuroeconomics

The canonical model of neuroeconomics centres on the notion of subjective value and analyses choice along the lines of neoclassical economics. Recently, this model has been challenged by approaches that introduce selectionist models of parallel and distributed neural networks. This perspective was already developed by Hayek in his book ‘The Sensory Order’ which is recognized as a precursor to modern theories of neuronal selectionism, such as Edelman’s ‘Neural Darwinism’. This paper argues that Hayek’s approach offers an alternative philosophical and conceptual basis for neuroeconomics and elaborates its basic features based on recent developments in the brain sciences. Starting out from empirical evidence for selectionism, I sketch a framework in terms of Marr’s methodology for the cognitive sciences and take a closer look at the concepts of the ‘predictive brain’ and the ‘social brain’. Evolutionary neuroeconomics pursues two main explanatory strategies: The first is analysing choice as a dynamic selectionist process, and the second is grounding neurobiological hypotheses about behaviour on the evolutionary history of the human species. These two are linked by exploring co-evolutionary linkages between internal neurobiological processes and external cultural evolution, thus relating evolutionary neuroeconomics with the subdisciplines of social and cultural neuroscience.

Between the Polar Code and Article 234: The Balance in Canada’s Arctic Shipping Safety and Pollution Prevention Regulations

In January 2017, the Polar Code entered into force and prompted the adoption, in Canada, of the Arctic Shipping Safety and Pollution Prevention Regulations (ASSPPR). The latter incorporate the Polar Code with a view to maintaining or increasing the preexisting level of protection. Consequently, a balancing act plays out in the ASSPPR, which are partly based on the Polar Code and partly on an alternative jurisdictional basis, arguably Article 234 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The objective of this article is to map out and put into historic perspective the balance chosen by Canada in the ASSPPR.

Put the Pedal to the METTL1: Adding Internal m7G Increases mRNA Translation Efficiency and Augments miRNA Processing.

Complementary papers by Zhang, Liu, and colleagues (Zhang etal., 2019) and Pandolfini, Barbieri, and colleagues (Pandolfini etal., 2019) develop new sequencing techniques that reveal that METTL1 N7-methylates internal guanosines in mRNAs and miRNAs to increase translation efficiency and miRNA processing, respectively.

СТРУКТУРНЫЙ СИНТЕЗ САМОУСТАНАВЛИВАЮЩИХСЯ МЕХАНИЗМОВ ПРОМЫШЛЕННЫХ РОБОТОВ С ПАРАЛЛЕЛЬНОЙ КИНЕМАТИКОЙ

The aim of this work is an analysis of excess ties in handler closed kinematics and development of the structural synthesis procedure for self-aligning gears of industrial robots with parallel kinematics. The design of a structure flowchart of a gear without excess ties in the procedure offered is carried out by means of prototype mechanism updating and includes the following stages: the reveal and analysis of excess ties, excess ties elimination, correctness checkup of excess ties elimination. For the excess ties analysis and solution check-up a structural analysis is carried out. At that a handler is presented as a hierarchal structure described by some structural models. The ways for excess ties elimination: the substitution of one kinematic pair for another one with a higher number of mobility; the introduction of an additional link and one kinematic pair into a kinematics; the elimination from the kinematics an extra link with two kinematic pairs; the substitution in the kinematics a flat hinge parallelogram for a forward pair. There are developed some versions of structural diagrams of self-aligning handlers on the basis of an ortho- glide gear. The procedure offered allows defining the number and a type of excess ties in the kinematics of a gear, eliminating excess ties and forming structural diagrams of self-aligning gears with the conservation of basic operating properties on the alternative basis. The application of structural diagrams of handlers without contour excess ties is one of the ways to increase reliability and manufacturability of designs of industrial robots with parallel kinematics.

Os desenvolvimentos da Mecânica Analítica que culminaram na elaboração de F=ma

A lei de Newton e F = ma são princípios diferentes. Cerca de sessenta anos de desenvolvimentos conceituais e matemáticos foram necessários para que a Segunda Lei do Movimento fosse elaborada, em 1752-1776, pelas mãos de Leonhard Euler. Neste trabalho, são discutidos os principais desses fatores adjacentes à construção dessa lei, sem os quais não seria possível Euler, e nenhum outro, obter a Segunda Lei do Movimento, como a conhecemos hoje. Será discutido o que estava sendo feito na mecânica no início do século XVIII e que contribuiu para que bases conceituais fossem elaboradas para que então fosse possível a emergência da Segunda Lei do Movimento como um princípio geral da mecânica, como a busca pela generalização de princípios, a introdução da mecânica analítica, com novas técnicas e ferramentais matemáticos, o estudo de determinados tipos de problemas, a unificação de conceitos e a elaboração de bases alternativas para a mecânica, como os princípios variacionais. Essas realizações contribuíram para que a lei proposta por Newton fosse aperfeiçoada e ampliada por Euler para uma classe muito maior de problemas.

Not taking debt at face value, or market value or amortized cost: Policy value as a measure of the burden of public debt

AbstractPublic debt is sometimes measured at its market value or amortized cost, the measurement bases prescribed by international accounting standards and statistical guidelines. But an overview of 191 countries and a closer investigation of 19 shows that public debt is most often measured at face value. An analysis of the three measurement bases and the discount rates on which they explicitly or implicitly depend shows that all are unsatisfactory as indicators of the burden that the debt imposes on the government. On the one hand, face value is manipulable: governments can borrow as much as they wish while reporting virtually no debt at all at face value. Though no government has done this, there is some, inconclusive evidence that a few may have exploited the manipulability of face value to slow the growth of reported debt. On the other hand, market value and amortized cost are unsatisfactory because they vary with the government's creditworthiness. Thus, for example, the market value of a government's debt declines as the government becomes financially distressed. An alternative measurement basis is proposed here that does not suffer from these problems, namely policy value, which is the value of the debt conditional on the government's carrying out its policy toward the debt, or the present value of planned debt payments at the debt's market interest rate less any credit‐risk premium in that rate.

Прогнозування прееклампсії (Огляд літератури)

One of the main causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality around the world is hypertensive disorder during pregnancy. After diagnosis of severe preeclampsia it is necessary of accurate risk assessment and management for both T.the mother and the fetus at different times. The prognostic model is an alternative basis for clinical practice, for predicting patient’s future outcomes and for making decisions to improve them. The article presents models based on the using of anamnestic, general clinical examination (blood pressure, proteinuria, doplerometry of vessels of the fetoplacental complex), serologic biomarkers both independently and in combination with other methods. Also, the predictive value and specificity of these models for their possible introduction into practice are presented. An overview of the practical recommendations of the main world profile organizations on the use of prognostic models. Key words: preeclampsia, prediction, pregnancy, maternal mortality, hypertension.

Decolonizing nature/knowledge: indigenous environmental thought and feminist praxis

This faculty-student collaborative article is a result of a graduate seminar on ‘Environmental Education’ taught at the Aga Khan University’s Institute for Educational Development in Karachi, and it illuminates new perspectives and pedagogies of nature from the global South, specifically South Asia. Drawing inspiration from feminist and indigenous thought, the narratives of ecology shared here center the place of emotions, experience, memory and spiritual intimacy, offering one means of decolonizing environmental studies and expanding our understanding of ‘environmental consciousness’. These narratives defy ontologies of nature-human separation, capturing not just the co-existence of animals, spirits and humans but their co-constitution. Such indigenous ecologies of knowledge and wisdom, we argue, offer a timely corrective to fragmented and exploitative constructions of the natural environment as mere resource, pleasure, or commodity, while providing a profound, alternative basis for a richly layered, spirited, environmental education.
 
 How to cite this article: 
 ALI, Nosheen; SAMNANI, Binish; WALI KHAN, Abdul; KHATOON, Najmi; ALI, Barkat; ASFUNDYAR, Sadia; ASLAM, Muhammad; AMIRALI, Sumaira. Decolonizing nature/knowledge: indigenous environmental thought and feminist praxis. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the South. v. 3, n. 1, p. 77-91, Apr. 2019. Available at: https://sotl-south-journal.net/?journal=sotls&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=80&path%5B%5D=36
 
 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
 To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

ЗАРУБІЖНЕ ЗАКОНОДАВСТВО ПРО ЗВІЛЬНЕННЯ ВІД ВІДБУВАННЯ ПОКАРАННЯ ВАГІТНИХ ЖІНОК І ЖІНОК, ЯКІ МАЮТЬ ДІТЕЙ

The article is devoted to a comparative analysis of legislation on exemption from punishment for pregnant women and women with children. The criminal laws of Eastern European and post-Soviet countries were analyzed using a methodological approach to considering a particular type of exemption from punishment, which includes five characteristics of the development of criminal law relations that exist between this woman and the state: prerequisite, basis, order, conditions and criminal legal consequences. exemption from punishment. In many countries, these norms are formulated as a deferment of punishment. At the same time, the legislation of individual countries allows such an extension both during the court’s sentencing and in the process of serving it. Only in the Criminal Code of Tajikistan these regulations are formulated as an exemption from punishment. In foreign countries, the common cause for all is the occurrence of pregnancy in a convicted woman. In addition, in some countries the second alternative basis is defined differently. In some countries, such a reason is the birth of a child by a woman while serving a sentence, in others, the very fact that a woman has a child, regardless of whether she was born during or before the beginning of serving a sentence. Moreover, in different countries the maximum age of such a child is determined differently. In addition, attention is drawn to the fact that in most of the studied foreign criminal codes, pregnancy or childbirth are self-sufficient grounds for the release of a convicted person from punishment or postponement of his execution.

WM1-2 SFX-01 after subarachnoid haemorrhage: protocol of a multi-centre, phase II, double-blinded, randomised controlled trial

ObjectivesTo assess the safety and efficacy of SFX-01 after subarachnoid haemorrhage.DesignSFX-01 is a synthetic agent that contains sulforaphane that has been shown to be neuroprotective in animal models of subarachnoid haemorrhage. This is a phase II double-bilinded, placebo-controlled randomised clinical trial.SubjectsTarget of 90 patients with fisher 3 or 4 subarachnoid haemorrhage.MethodsPatients admitted to the three recruiting centres within 48 hours of ictus will be randomly allocated to placebo or SFX-01. The randomisation is stratified into WFNS 1–3 or 4–5. Participants will receive the trial medication in a capsule format twice-daily for 28 days. Patients will have transcranial dopplers (TCD) on alternate daily basis for at least 7 days. The maximum mean MCA flow velocity as well as safety are the two primary end-points. All patients will have paired blood and CSF taken at day 7 either through an LP or via EVD sampling. Follow-ups are performed at day 28, 3 months and 6 months which include safety bloods, functional questionnaires, mRS, GOSE and MRI.Results64 (71% of the target) patients have been enrolled. 35 patients have completed the study. Statistical analysis of the TCD data will be performed at the end of the trial. The mortality is at 9.5% (6). DSMB have met twice since the start of the trial and there have been no safety concerns.ConclusionsThe trial is recruiting on the planned trajectory and at this rate we are projected to complete the trial by the end of the year.

Nonlinear propagation equations in fibers with multiple modes—Transitions between representation bases

The transverse pattern of the field that propagates in a fiber supporting multiple modes can always be described as a superposition of the patterns of the individual fiber modes. Yet, the use of other bases is often found to be more convenient, with the most famous example being that of linearly polarized modes in weakly guiding fibers. The nonlinear propagation equations contain coefficients that involve overlap integrals between the lateral profiles of multiple propagation modes. A fundamental question that has been raised in this context is whether it is legitimate to compute these coefficients from the overlap integrals between elements of alternative bases for the field representation. In this paper, we show that the answer to this question is positive in the most general sense. This result is significant in the context of space-division multiplexed transmission in multi-mode and multi-core fibers.

Screens in bed: visual art, sleep and handheld screen devices

This article seeks an understanding of sleeping and waking life in bed in relation to the use of handheld screen devices. The bedtime use of these devices has come to public attention through the involvement of this practice in the construction of two contemporary crises of sleep: Sleep science’s crisis of chronic sleep deprivation and the wider cultural crisis of the invasion of sleep by fast capitalism, as proposed by Jonathan Crary. Visual art is employed to gain insights into the two related understandings of sleep: one concerned with individual sleep self-regulation and the other with the corporeal commonality of sleep. The sociology of sleep, based on Michele Foucault’s concept of ‘biopower’, is augmented by philosophical insights from Jean-Luc Nancy and Gilles Deleuze to reconfigure the sleeping body beyond the bounds of disciplinary regimes and permit a reassessment of the affective potential of sleep. Works of digital media art, together with ethnographic and cultural studies on the use of mobile devices, are employed to tease out the entanglement of these screen devices with waking and sleeping bedroom life. An ontology of sleep as a pre-individual affective state is proposed as an alternative basis for resisting the appropriation of sleep by the always-waking world accessed through the use of smartphones and tablets.

Административное устройство Тамбовской духовной семинарии в 1867–1884 гг.

A special role in the public life of the Tambov province was occupied by the seminary. Particular importance in its development was attached to the administrative structure, a prototype of which is the current organization of higher educational institutions. The election of the rector was held on an alternative basis. The collegial body of management was the pedagogical assembly from 1867–1884. A new phenomenon for this period the seminary functioning was the general as-sembly, which included pedagogical (membership of 6 years) and regulatory (membership of 3 years). The pedagogical assembly was held once a month. Regulatory – once a week. The deci-sion was made by a majority of votes. This experience of introducing an elective element in the Tambov Seminary has had a useful influence on its activities. Unfortunately, not everywhere this practice led to positive results, which later seemed to be the reason for the abolition of this norm during the reforms of 1884, when it was decided that the Holy Synod nominate candidates for such important posts as rector and seminary inspector. It should be noted that similar reforms or “counter-reforms” carried out in the reign of Emperor Alexander III affected all educational institutions of the Russian Empire, including universities, where they toughened some norms of the university statute and, in particular, abolished the current provision according to which rector was elected for his post on an alternative basis.

Heat‐Tolerant QTLs Associated with Grain Yield and Its Components in Spring Bread Wheat under Heat‐Stressed Environments of Sudan and Egypt

Heat stress decreases photosynthesis, pollen viability, and grain number and weight and hence lowers yield and quality of wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) by variable amounts among different cultivars and genotypes. The present study was performed to determine genetic variability of spring bread wheat genotypes for yield and other agronomic traits under heat‐stressed (Wad Medani, Sudan) and high‐yielding (Sids, Egypt) environments and to identify linked single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers through association mapping. A heat association panel of 197 spring wheat genotypes from ICARDA was evaluated for yield and agronomic traits at Wad Medani and Sids stations for 2 yr (2014–2015). A total of 111 significant marker‐trait associations were detected. The wsnp_Ex_c12812_20324622 marker on chromosome 4A was significantly correlated with yield at both locations. At Wad Medani, wsnp_Ex_c2526_4715978 on chromosome 5A was significantly correlated with grain yield. Wheat genotypes carrying the cytosine base at the wsnp_Ex_c12812_20324622 and wsnp_Ex_c2526_4715978 markers outyielded the ones carrying the alternative bases by 15%, whereas genotypes carrying the cytosine base at only one of the two markers increased their yield by 7.9 to 10%, suggesting the importance of using these markers for marker‐assisted selection in breeding programs to increase yield under heat stress. The top 20 high‐yielding and heat‐tolerant genotypes identified in this study have been distributed to the national research systems of Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) and sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) for potential direct release and/or use as parents after local adaptation trials.

How is mindreading really like reading?

I suggest an alternative basis for Heyes' analogy between cultural learning of mindreading and text reading. Unlike text reading, mindreading does not entail decoding of observable stimuli. Like text reading, mindreading requires relevant inferences. Identification of relevant inferences is a deeply challenging problem, and the most important contribution of cultural learning to mindreading may be an apprenticeship in thinking like a mindreader.

Identifying Principles for the Construction of an Ontology-Based Knowledge Base: A Case Study Approach.

BackgroundOntologies are key enabling technologies for the Semantic Web. The Web Ontology Language (OWL) is a semantic markup language for publishing and sharing ontologies.ObjectiveThe supply of customizable, computable, and formally represented molecular genetics information and health information, via electronic health record (EHR) interfaces, can play a critical role in achieving precision medicine. In this study, we used cystic fibrosis as an example to build an Ontology-based Knowledge Base prototype on Cystic Fibrobis (OntoKBCF) to supply such information via an EHR prototype. In addition, we elaborate on the construction and representation principles, approaches, applications, and representation challenges that we faced in the construction of OntoKBCF. The principles and approaches can be referenced and applied in constructing other ontology-based domain knowledge bases.MethodsFirst, we defined the scope of OntoKBCF according to possible clinical information needs about cystic fibrosis on both a molecular level and a clinical phenotype level. We then selected the knowledge sources to be represented in OntoKBCF. We utilized top-to-bottom content analysis and bottom-up construction to build OntoKBCF. Protégé-OWL was used to construct OntoKBCF. The construction principles included (1) to use existing basic terms as much as possible; (2) to use intersection and combination in representations; (3) to represent as many different types of facts as possible; and (4) to provide 2-5 examples for each type. HermiT 1.3.8.413 within Protégé-5.1.0 was used to check the consistency of OntoKBCF.ResultsOntoKBCF was constructed successfully, with the inclusion of 408 classes, 35 properties, and 113 equivalent classes. OntoKBCF includes both atomic concepts (such as amino acid) and complex concepts (such as “adolescent female cystic fibrosis patient”) and their descriptions. We demonstrated that OntoKBCF could make customizable molecular and health information available automatically and usable via an EHR prototype. The main challenges include the provision of a more comprehensive account of different patient groups as well as the representation of uncertain knowledge, ambiguous concepts, and negative statements and more complicated and detailed molecular mechanisms or pathway information about cystic fibrosis.ConclusionsAlthough cystic fibrosis is just one example, based on the current structure of OntoKBCF, it should be relatively straightforward to extend the prototype to cover different topics. Moreover, the principles underpinning its development could be reused for building alternative human monogenetic diseases knowledge bases.

Group Theoretical Lines of Nodes in Triplet Chiral Superconductor Sr2RuO4

Cooper pair wavefunctions for chiral triplet (p-wave) superconductor Sr2RuO4 were considered making use of the spin-space group approach, and the states similar to A and B phases of 3He belonging to IRs (irreducible representations) of D4h group are constructed making use of projection operator technique. Group theoretical lines of nodes were obtained for space-group analog of B phase. In this case nodal and nodeless one-dimensional states belong to the same IR, and differ by spin projection on vertical plane. Four chiral states, similar to A phase and belonging to complex IR Eu, are classified by the label of one-dimensional even IR. These states are non-unitary and differ by nodal structures and momentum projections on vertical axis. It was obtained that for each vertical plane of symmetry nodal and nodeless chiral states of Eu symmetry are possible. This means that there are no so called symmetry protected lines of nodes on vertical planes for chiral Eu states, but experimental vertical lines of nodes in Sr2RuO4 do not contradict with general group theoretical consideration. The results are in agreement with experimental nodal structure and may be used as alternative initial basis in microscopic and phenomenological theories of superconductivity in Sr2RuO4.

Error-Controlled Model Approximation for Gaussian Process Morphable Models

Gaussian Process Morphable Models (GPMMs) unify a variety of non-rigid deformation models for surface and image registration. Deformation models, such as B-splines, radial basis functions, and PCA models are defined as a probability distribution using a Gaussian process. The method depends heavily on the low-rank approximation of the Gaussian process, which is mandatory to obtain a parametric representation of the model. In this article, we propose the use of the pivoted Cholesky decomposition for this task, which has the following advantages: (1) Compared to the current state of the art used in GPMMs, it provides a fully controllable approximation error. The algorithm greedily computes new basis functions until the user-defined approximation accuracy is reached. (2) Unlike the currently used approach, this method can be used in a black-box-like scenario, whereas the method automatically chooses the amount of basis functions for a given model and accuracy. (3) We propose the Newton basis as an alternative basis for GPMMs. The proposed basis does not need an SVD computation and can be iteratively refined. We show that the proposed basis functions achieve competitive registration results while providing the mentioned advantages for its computation.