scholarly journals Building high-level features using large scale unsupervised learning

Author(s):  
Quoc V. Le
Author(s):  
Georgi Derluguian

The author develops ideas about the origin of social inequality during the evolution of human societies and reflects on the possibilities of its overcoming. What makes human beings different from other primates is a high level of egalitarianism and altruism, which contributed to more successful adaptability of human collectives at early stages of the development of society. The transition to agriculture, coupled with substantially increasing population density, was marked by the emergence and institutionalisation of social inequality based on the inequality of tangible assets and symbolic wealth. Then, new institutions of warfare came into existence, and they were aimed at conquering and enslaving the neighbours engaged in productive labour. While exercising control over nature, people also established and strengthened their power over other people. Chiefdom as a new type of polity came into being. Elementary forms of power (political, economic and ideological) served as a basis for the formation of early states. The societies in those states were characterised by social inequality and cruelties, including slavery, mass violence and numerous victims. Nowadays, the old elementary forms of power that are inherent in personalistic chiefdom are still functioning along with modern institutions of public and private bureaucracy. This constitutes the key contradiction of our time, which is the juxtaposition of individual despotic power and public infrastructural one. However, society is evolving towards an ever more efficient combination of social initiatives with the sustainability and viability of large-scale organisations.


Genetics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 159 (4) ◽  
pp. 1765-1778
Author(s):  
Gregory J Budziszewski ◽  
Sharon Potter Lewis ◽  
Lyn Wegrich Glover ◽  
Jennifer Reineke ◽  
Gary Jones ◽  
...  

Abstract We have undertaken a large-scale genetic screen to identify genes with a seedling-lethal mutant phenotype. From screening ~38,000 insertional mutant lines, we identified >500 seedling-lethal mutants, completed cosegregation analysis of the insertion and the lethal phenotype for >200 mutants, molecularly characterized 54 mutants, and provided a detailed description for 22 of them. Most of the seedling-lethal mutants seem to affect chloroplast function because they display altered pigmentation and affect genes encoding proteins predicted to have chloroplast localization. Although a high level of functional redundancy in Arabidopsis might be expected because 65% of genes are members of gene families, we found that 41% of the essential genes found in this study are members of Arabidopsis gene families. In addition, we isolated several interesting classes of mutants and genes. We found three mutants in the recently discovered nonmevalonate isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway and mutants disrupting genes similar to Tic40 and tatC, which are likely to be involved in chloroplast protein translocation. Finally, we directly compared T-DNA and Ac/Ds transposon mutagenesis methods in Arabidopsis on a genome scale. In each population, we found only about one-third of the insertion mutations cosegregated with a mutant phenotype.


1979 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-72
Author(s):  
T. A. Coffelt ◽  
F. S. Wright ◽  
J. L. Steele

Abstract A new method of harvesting and curing breeder's seed peanuts in Virginia was initiated that would 1) reduce the labor requirements, 2) maintain a high level of germination, 3) maintain varietal purity at 100%, and 4) reduce the risk of frost damage. Three possible harvesting and curing methods were studied. The traditional stack-pole method satisfied the latter 3 objectives, but not the first. The windrow-combine method satisfied the first 2 objectives, but not the last 2. The direct harvesting method satisfied all four objectives. The experimental equipment and curing procedures for direct harvesting had been developed but not tested on a large scale for seed harvesting. This method has been used in Virginia to produce breeder's seed of 3 peanut varieties (Florigiant, VA 72R and VA 61R) during five years. Compared to the stackpole method, labor requirements have been reduced, satisfactory levels of germination and varietal purity have been obtained, and the risk of frost damage has been minimized.


2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (07) ◽  
pp. 649-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Holodniy ◽  
Gina Oda ◽  
Patricia L. Schirmer ◽  
Cynthia A. Lucero ◽  
Yury E. Khudyakov ◽  
...  

Objective.To determine whether improper high-level disinfection practices during endoscopy procedures resulted in bloodborne viral infection transmission.Design.Retrospective cohort study.Setting.Four Veterans Affairs medical centers (VAMCs).Patients.Veterans who underwent colonoscopy and laryngoscopy (ear, nose, and throat [ENT]) procedures from 2003 to 2009.Methods.Patients were identified through electronic health record searches and serotested for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and hepatitis B virus (HBV). Newly discovered case patients were linked to a potential source with known identical infection, whose procedure occurred no more than 1 day prior to the case patient's procedure. Viral genetic testing was performed for case/proximate pairs to determine relatedness.Results.Of 10,737 veterans who underwent endoscopy at 4 VAMCs, 9,879 patients agreed to viral testing. Of these, 90 patients were newly diagnosed with 1 or more viral bloodborne pathogens (BBPs). There were no case/proximate pairings found for patients with either HIV or HBV; 24 HCV case/proximate pairings were found, of which 7 case patients and 8 proximate patients had sufficient viral load for further genetic testing. Only 2 of these cases, both of whom underwent laryngoscopy, and their 4 proximates agreed to further testing. None of the 4 remaining proximate patients who underwent colonoscopy agreed to further testing. Mean genetic distance between the 2 case patients and 4 proximate patients ranged from 13.5% to 19.1%.Conclusions.Our investigation revealed that exposure to improperly reprocessed ENT endoscopes did not result in viral transmission in those patients who had viral genetic analysis performed. Any potential transmission of BBPs from colonoscopy remains unknown.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed A. Farag ◽  
Moamen M. Elmassry ◽  
Masahiro Baba ◽  
Renée Friedman

Abstract Previous studies have shown that the Ancient Egyptians used malted wheat and barley as the main ingredients in beer brewing, but the chemical determination of the exact recipe is still lacking. To investigate the constituents of ancient beer, we conducted a detailed IR and GC-MS based metabolite analyses targeting volatile and non-volatile metabolites on the residues recovered from the interior of vats in what is currently the world’s oldest (c. 3600 BCE) installation for large-scale beer production located at the major pre-pharaonic political center at Hierakonpolis, Egypt. In addition to distinguishing the chemical signatures of various flavoring agents, such as dates, a significant result of our analysis is the finding, for the first time, of phosphoric acid in high level probably used as a preservative much like in modern beverages. This suggests that the early brewers had acquired the knowledge needed to efficiently produce and preserve large quantities of beer. This study provides the most detailed chemical profile of an ancient beer using modern spectrometric techniques and providing evidence for the likely starting materials used in beer brewing.


Author(s):  
Lucas Meyer de Freitas ◽  
Oliver Schuemperlin ◽  
Milos Balac ◽  
Francesco Ciari

This paper shows an application of the multiagent, activity-based transport simulation MATSim to evaluate equity effects of a congestion charging scheme. A cordon pricing scheme was set up for a scenario of the city of Zurich, Switzerland, to conduct such an analysis. Equity is one of the most important barriers toward the implementation of a congestion charging system. After the challenges posed by equity evaluations are examined, it is shown that agent-based simulations with heterogeneous values of time allow for an increased level of detail in such evaluations. Such detail is achieved through a high level of disaggregation and with a 24-h simulation period. An important difference from traditional large-scale models is the low degree of correlation between travel time savings and welfare change. While traditional equity analysis is based on travel time savings, MATSim shows that choice dimensions not included in traditional models, such as departure time changes, can also play an important role in equity effects. The analysis of the results in light of evidence from the literature shows that agent-based models are a promising tool to conduct more complete equity evaluations not only of congestion charges but also of transport policies in general.


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (17) ◽  
pp. 6743-6762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Naud ◽  
Derek J. Posselt ◽  
Susan C. van den Heever

Abstract The distribution of cloud and precipitation properties across oceanic extratropical cyclone cold fronts is examined using four years of combined CloudSat radar and CALIPSO lidar retrievals. The global annual mean cloud and precipitation distributions show that low-level clouds are ubiquitous in the postfrontal zone while higher-level cloud frequency and precipitation peak in the warm sector along the surface front. Increases in temperature and moisture within the cold front region are associated with larger high-level but lower mid-/low-level cloud frequencies and precipitation decreases in the cold sector. This behavior seems to be related to a shift from stratiform to convective clouds and precipitation. Stronger ascent in the warm conveyor belt tends to enhance cloudiness and precipitation across the cold front. A strong temperature contrast between the warm and cold sectors also encourages greater post-cold-frontal cloud occurrence. While the seasonal contrasts in environmental temperature, moisture, and ascent strength are enough to explain most of the variations in cloud and precipitation across cold fronts in both hemispheres, they do not fully explain the differences between Northern and Southern Hemisphere cold fronts. These differences are better explained when the impact of the contrast in temperature across the cold front is also considered. In addition, these large-scale parameters do not explain the relatively large frequency in springtime postfrontal precipitation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Demczuk ◽  
Tarah Lynch ◽  
Irene Martin ◽  
Gary Van Domselaar ◽  
Morag Graham ◽  
...  

A large-scale, whole-genome comparison of CanadianNeisseria gonorrhoeaeisolates with high-level cephalosporin MICs was used to demonstrate a genomic epidemiology approach to investigate strain relatedness and dynamics. Although current typing methods have been very successful in tracing short-chain transmission of gonorrheal disease, investigating the temporal evolutionary relationships and geographical dissemination of highly clonal lineages requires enhanced resolution only available through whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Phylogenomic cluster analysis grouped 169 Canadian strains into 12 distinct clades. While someN. gonorrhoeaemultiantigen sequence types (NG-MAST) agreed with specific phylogenomic clades or subclades, other sequence types (ST) and closely related groups of ST were widely distributed among clades. Decreased susceptibility to extended-spectrum cephalosporins (ESC-DS) emerged among a group of diverse strains in Canada during the 1990s with a variety of nonmosaicpenAalleles, followed in 2000/2001 with thepenAmosaic X allele and then in 2007 with ST1407 strains with thepenAmosaic XXXIV allele. Five genetically distinct ESC-DS lineages were associated withpenAmosaic X, XXXV, and XXXIV alleles and nonmosaic XII and XIII alleles. ESC-DS with coresistance to azithromycin was observed in 5 strains with 23S rRNA C2599T or A2143G mutations. As the costs associated with WGS decline and analysis tools are streamlined, WGS can provide a more thorough understanding of strain dynamics, facilitate epidemiological studies to better resolve social networks, and improve surveillance to optimize treatment for gonorrheal infections.


Author(s):  
Oleksii Hutsaliuk ◽  
◽  
Tatiana Obniavko ◽  

Since the beginning of the third millennium, ecological safety has become of paramount importance for Ukraine. The cumulative deterioration of the environment, fixed by the annual official reports on the ecological situation in the country, is fraught with irreparable consequences not only for the present generations, but also for descendants. The authors propose to consider the enterprises of the defence-industrial complex (DIC) of Ukraine as those that make a significant contribution to the development of the economy of the country, while not only not destroying the environment, but also contributing to sustainable development. The defence-industrial complex of Ukraine is the basis of the high-tech sector of the Ukrainian economy, which determines its key importance for the functioning and development of the entire national economy, in the current period of change of technological modes, as the enterprises of the Ukrainian defence-industrial complex have a high level of innovation. One of the key features of the domestic defence-industrial complex is that it has the potential to concentrate various types of resources to achieve breakthrough results not only in addressing the issues of creating the latest weapons and military equipment, but also for implementing large-scale projects of national economic importance. This potential for breakthrough development currently remains underutilized, requiring adjustments not only in industrial, but also in state economic policy as a whole. The current state of development of defence industry enterprises is characterized by insufficient economic and environmental sustainability and requires modernization based on global experience in the greening of the military-defence sphere and NATO environmental standards, which will have environmental and economic effects. The obstacles of economic and ecological transformation of enterprises of the defence-industrial complex of Ukraine were identified and a number of managerial decisions that can become drivers to accelerate the economic and ecological transformation of the defence-industrial complex of Ukraine were proposed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (07) ◽  
pp. 12862-12869
Author(s):  
Shiwen Zhang ◽  
Sheng Guo ◽  
Limin Wang ◽  
Weilin Huang ◽  
Matthew Scott

In this work, we propose Knowledge Integration Networks (referred as KINet) for video action recognition. KINet is capable of aggregating meaningful context features which are of great importance to identifying an action, such as human information and scene context. We design a three-branch architecture consisting of a main branch for action recognition, and two auxiliary branches for human parsing and scene recognition which allow the model to encode the knowledge of human and scene for action recognition. We explore two pre-trained models as teacher networks to distill the knowledge of human and scene for training the auxiliary tasks of KINet. Furthermore, we propose a two-level knowledge encoding mechanism which contains a Cross Branch Integration (CBI) module for encoding the auxiliary knowledge into medium-level convolutional features, and an Action Knowledge Graph (AKG) for effectively fusing high-level context information. This results in an end-to-end trainable framework where the three tasks can be trained collaboratively, allowing the model to compute strong context knowledge efficiently. The proposed KINet achieves the state-of-the-art performance on a large-scale action recognition benchmark Kinetics-400, with a top-1 accuracy of 77.8%. We further demonstrate that our KINet has strong capability by transferring the Kinetics-trained model to UCF-101, where it obtains 97.8% top-1 accuracy.


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