176 research outputs found
Water budgets, net inflow, and consumptive use estimates for Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
No full textTitle from PDF caption (viewed on April 11, 2019).This archived document is maintained by the State Library of Oregon. It is for informational purposes and may not be suitable for legal purposes.Includes bibliographical references (page 23).Mode of access: Internet from the State Library of Oregon U.S. Government Publications Collection.Text in English
War Trauma in American Literature
No full textabstract: This project is a critical analysis of the works of 6 American war veterans and how they demonstrate trauma in their narratives. The texts covered here are Philip Red Eagle’s Red Earth (2007), John A. Williams’ Captain Blackman (1972), Roy Scranton’s War Porn (2016), Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried (1990), Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), and Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 (1961). (abstract
Historical flows, summary statistics, and streamflow forecasts for the Blitzen River near Frenchglen, Oregon (USGS site no. 10396000)
No full textTitle from PDF caption (viewed on April 11, 2019).This archived document is maintained by the State Library of Oregon. It is for informational purposes and may not be suitable for legal purposes.Mode of access: Internet from the State Library of Oregon U.S. Government Publications Collection.Text in English
Historical flows and summary statistics for Bridge Creek above East Canal, Oregon
No full textTitle from PDF caption (viewed on April 11, 2019).This archived document is maintained by the State Library of Oregon. It is for informational purposes and may not be suitable for legal purposes.Mode of access: Internet from the State Library of Oregon U.S. Government Publications Collection.Text in English
Accuracy of Computer-Assisted Surgery in Segmental Mandibular Resection and Reconstruction
No full textIntroduction:Virtual surgical planning is often used to prepare mandibular segment resection with subsequent reconstruction. Patient-specific cutting guides translate the planned resection and reconstruction osteotomies to the surgery. The accuracy of computer-assisted surgery is currently evaluated by heterogeneous methodologies for post-operative imaging, segmentation, registration, and accuracy measurements. Objective:This thesis aims to develop an objective, reproducible and insightful evaluation methodology. The evaluation methodology will compare planned osteotomies with actual osteotomies in segmental mandibular resection and reconstruction. The designed methodology will be applied in a retrospective study. Method:Actual osteotomies were defined by a plane fitted through manually defined points on the post-operative imaging. The actual osteotomies were aligned to the pre-operative mandible or fibula model. Distance and angular deviation were measured between the planned and actual osteotomies. Resection osteotomy distance deviation was defined as the distance between the centre of mass of the actual and planned intersection of the pre-operative mandible model and the osteotomies. The maximum distance between the intersections was also measured. Reconstruction osteotomy distance deviation was defined as the length difference between the planned and actual fibula segments. Angular deviation of the resection and reconstruction osteotomies were defined by two angular differences based on the saw slot, i.e. the angle across the saw slot (x-axis) and the angle through the saw slot (y-axis). Results:A semi-automatic novel methodology was developed. The intra-observer variation of the osteotomy localisation was ± 0.4 mm for distance deviation and ± 2.1° for the angular deviation. The inter-observer variation was ± 0.8 mm for the distance deviation and ± 2.4° for the angular deviation. Sixteen patients were included in the retrospective study. For the resection osteotomies, the absolute average distance deviation was 2.1 ± 1.9 mm for the centre of mass and 3.1 ± 2.3 mm for the maximum distance. The fibular segments differed by 2.4 ± 2.5 mm in length. Angular deviations around the x-axis were 3.7 ± 3.4° for resection and 6.9 ± 7.1° for reconstruction osteotomies, and deviations around the y-axis were 5.7 ± 5.8°and 9.1 ± 11.4°, respectively.Conclusion:The evaluation methodology provides guidelines for post-operative imaging, segmentation, osteotomy localisation, registration, and osteotomy comparison. The difference in distance deviated was within an absolute average of 3 mm. The angular deviation was significantly larger for the reconstruction osteotomies than for resection osteotomies, requiring further research.Technical Medicin
Schematic visualisation of geographic networks
No full textThe focus of this project is to develop a web application that automates the process of drawing schematic networks from geographical networks. It allows users to upload geographical networks and inspect the schematic representation in the browser. During the two week research phase we found a Master's Thesis which explains a method for modelling railway tracks and junctions and attempts to draw schematics. We improve upon the findings of this thesis. We wrote a transformer that can transform real-world GeoJSON data of railway networks to abstract input usable by our algorithms. If our application is to be extended to other infrastructure networks, a different transformer can be implemented while using the same underlying algorithm. We performed weekly sprints. At the end of each, we presented the improvements to our client to receive feedback. With this feedback we created a sprint plan to assign and prioritise the tasks and responsibilities of the next sprint. The testing of our application is based on extensive unit tests and end-to-end tests. We evaluated the results of our application and documented recommendations for improving the algorithm. Our application serves as a proof-of-concept to our client
Implementation of Web Query Languages Reconsidered
No full textVisions of the next generation Web such as the "Semantic Web" or the "Web 2.0" have triggered the emergence of a multitude of data formats. These formats have different characteristics as far as the shape of data is concerned (for example tree- vs. graph-shaped). They are accompanied by a puzzlingly large number of query languages each limited to one data format. Thus, a key feature of the Web, namely to make it possible to access anything published by anyone, is compromised.
This thesis is devoted to versatile query languages capable of accessing data in a variety of Web formats. The issue is addressed from three angles: language design, common, yet uniform semantics, and common, yet uniform evaluation. % Thus it is divided in three parts:
First, we consider the query language Xcerpt as an example of the advocated class of versatile Web query languages. Using this concrete exemplar allows us to clarify and discuss the vision of versatility in detail.
Second, a number of query languages, XPath, XQuery, SPARQL, and Xcerpt, are translated into a common intermediary language, CIQLog. This language has a purely logical semantics, which makes it easily amenable to optimizations. As a side effect, this provides the, to the best of our knowledge, first logical semantics for XQuery and SPARQL. It is a very useful tool for understanding the commonalities and differences of the considered languages.
Third, the intermediate logical language is translated into a query algebra, CIQCAG. The core feature of CIQCAG is that it scales from tree- to graph-shaped data and queries without efficiency losses when tree-data and -queries are considered: it is shown that, in these cases, optimal complexities are achieved. CIQCAG is also shown to evaluate each of the aforementioned query languages with a complexity at least as good as the best known evaluation methods so far. For example, navigational XPath is evaluated with space complexity O(q d) and time complexity O(q n) where q is the query size, n the data size, and d the depth of the (tree-shaped) data.
CIQCAG is further shown to provide linear time and space evaluation of tree-shaped queries for a larger class of graph-shaped data than any method previously proposed. This larger class of graph-shaped data, called continuous-image graphs, short CIGs, is introduced for the first time in this thesis. A (directed) graph is a CIG if its nodes can be totally ordered in such a manner that, for this order, the children of any node form a continuous interval.
CIQCAG achieves these properties by employing a novel data structure, called sequence map, that allows an efficient evaluation of tree-shaped queries, or of tree-shaped cores of graph-shaped queries on any graph-shaped data. While being ideally suited to trees and CIGs, the data structure gracefully degrades to unrestricted graphs. It yields a remarkably efficient evaluation on graph-shaped data that only a few edges prevent from being trees or CIGs
The ethics of globalisation, free trade and fair trade
No full textIn this thesis I take a broadly consequentialist normative position and argue that because fair
trade is an inefficient method of aiding the poor, we should not support it and prefer free trade
goods with an appropriate and equal donation to a charity, designed to aid the poor and
encourage development in the undeveloped and developing world, instead. I also argue that
globalisation is the best means of development and we should support it as well. The thesis
progresses first by considering consequentialism, which I argue is especially suited to the
problem of analysing poverty in applied ethics, and some objections to it, which I briefly attempt
to answer. Following that, I consider fair trade and both some theoretical and practical problems
that it faces which my alternative does not. Then I briefly consider how globalisation results in
development and why it should be supported. Finally, I conclude with a brief chapter where I
respond to a few pertinent objections which arise on the periphery of my discussion that could be
seen as damaging to my position
Cult: A Composite Novel
No full textCult (redacted)
The first component of the thesis is a composite novel called Cult which falls into two parts with seven narratives in each. Part 1 tracks the protagonist, Ellen, from her first involvement with the cult through to her eventually leaving it. Although fiction, the first half of the book answers the kinds of questions the author is asked when people discover that she was once a sannyasin (a follower of the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh). While the experiences of meditation, group therapy and communal living are all faithfully rendered within the stories, the need for strong characters, narrative drive and a lightness of touch takes precedence.
Part 2 picks up Ellen’s story some twenty or so years later and explores what becomes of her in middle age. It also looks at other groups in society, such as academia, the law and the internet dating community which each have their own jargon, hierarchies, rituals and rules but are not considered to be cults.
The book examines the question raised in the Epigraph, ‘how do we be together when we feel so alone’ with a focus on relationships other than the familial and the romantic.
Collisions, Chasms and Connections: a Performative Exploration of the Composite Novel Form
The second part of the thesis is both a critical and creative response to three contemporary American books: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout; A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan; and Legend of a Suicide by David Vann. The critical element comprises a close reading of the three books; a chronological reconstruction of their overarching storylines; and a consideration of what their authors have said about writing the books. It concludes that, in the composite novel, the simultaneous presentation of multiple views and storylines operate much like a 3D image to give the impression of depth to the characters and situations rendered. The creative element of the essay is a playful and personal response to the texts
Increased isoform-specific phosphodiesterase 4D expression is associated with pathology and cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s disease
No full textPharmacological phosphodiesterase 4D (PDE4D) inhibition shows therapeutic potential to restore memory function in Alzheimer's disease (AD), but will likely evoke adverse side effects. As PDE4D encodes multiple isoforms, targeting specific isoforms may improve treatment efficacy and safety. Here, we investigated whether PDE4D isoform expression and PDE4D DNA methylation is affected in AD and whether expression changes are associated with severity of pathology and cognitive impairment. In post-mortem temporal lobe brain material from AD patients (n = 42) and age-matched controls (n = 40), we measured PDE4D isoform expression and PDE4D DNA (hydroxy)methylation using quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Illumina 450k Beadarrays, respectively. Linear regression revealed increased PDE4D1, -D3, -D5, and -D8 expression in AD with concurrent (hydroxy)methylation changes in associated promoter regions. Moreover, increased PDE4D1 and-D3 expression was associated with higherplaque and tau pathology levels, higher Braak stages, and progressed cognitive impairment. Future studies should indicate functional roles of specific PDE4D isoforms and the efficacy and safety of their selective inhibition to restore memory function in AD. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.This work was financially supported by grants from ISAO/Alzheimer Nederland WE.03-2016-07, Young European Research Universities Network (YERUN), and the Baeter Laeve foundation. Additional funds have been provided by the Internationale Stichting Alzheimer Onderzoek (ISAO)/Alzheimer Netherlands (Award #11532; Funded by the Dorpmans-Wigmans Foundation) (DvdH), and by the Joint ProgrammeeNeurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) for the EPI-AD consortium (http://www.neurodegenerationresearch.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Factsheet_EPI-AD.pdf).The project is supported through the following funding organizations under the aegis of JPND; The Netherlands, The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw); United Kingdom, Medical Research Council; Germany, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF); Luxembourg, National Research Fund (FNR). This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 643417.Prickaerts, J (corresponding author), Maastricht Univ, Dept Psychiat & Neuropsychol, Sch Mental Hlth & Neurosci, POB 616, NL-6200 MD Maastricht, Netherlands.
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