Data-driven prognosis for COVID-19 patients based on symptoms and age

In this article, we develop an algorithm and a computational code to extract, analyze and compress the relevant information from the publicly available database of Canadian COVID-19 patients. We digitize the symptoms, that is, we assign a label/code as an integer variable for all possible combinations of various symptoms. We introduce a digital code for individual patient and divide all patients into a myriad of groups based on symptoms and age. In addition, we develop an electronic application (app) that allows for a rapid digital prognosis of COVID-19 patients, and provides individual patient prognosis on chance of recovery, average recovery period, etc. using the information, extracted from the database. This tool is aimed to assist health specialists in their decision regarding COVID-19 patients, based on symptoms and age of the patient. This novel approach can be used to develop similar applications for other diseases.

Reproducibility in plant pathology: where do we stand and a way forward.

Open research practices have been highlighted extensively during the last ten years in many fields of scientific study as essential standards needed to promote transparency and reproducibility of scientific results. Scientific claims can only be evaluated based on how protocols, materials, equipment and methods were described; data were collected and prepared; and, analyses were conducted. Openly sharing protocols, data and computational code is central for current scholarly dissemination and communication, but in many fields, including plant pathology, adoption of these practices has been slow. We randomly selected 300 articles published from 2012 to 2018 across 21 journals representative of the plant pathology discipline and assigned them scores reflecting their openness and reproducibility. We found that most of the articles were not following protocols for open science, and were failing to share data or code in a reproducible way. We also propose that use of open-source tools facilitates reproducible work and analyses benefitting not just readers, but the authors as well. Finally, we also provide ideas and tools to promote open, reproducible research practices among plant pathologists.

Are my measures comparable across groups? A unified item- and scale-score-level approach to quantifying scalar non-invariance bias

When scalar invariance does not hold, which is often the case in application scenarios, the amount of non-invariance bias may either be consequential for observed mean comparisons or not. So far, only a few attempts have been made to quantify the extent of bias due to measurement non-invariance. Building on Millsap and Olivera-Aguilar (2012), we derived a new effect size measure, called Measurement Invariance Violation Index (MIVI), from first principles. MIVI merely assumes partial scalar invariance for a set of items forming a scale and quantifies the intercept difference of one non-invariant item (at the item-score level) or several non-invariant items (at the scale-score level) as the share (i.e., proportion) of the total observed scale score difference between groups. One can inspect the cancelation effects of item bias at the scale-score level when using directional instead of absolute terms. We provide computational code and exemplify MIVI in simulated contexts.

Mapping the discursive dimensions of the reproducibility crisis: A mixed methods analysis

To those involved in discussions about rigor, reproducibility, and replication in science, conversation about the “reproducibility crisis” appear ill-structured. Seemingly very different issues concerning the purity of reagents, accessibility of computational code, or misaligned incentives in academic research writ large are all collected up under this label. Prior work has attempted to address this problem by creating analytical definitions of reproducibility. We take a novel empirical, mixed methods approach to understanding variation in reproducibility discussions, using a combination of grounded theory and correspondence analysis to examine how a variety of authors narrate the story of the reproducibility crisis. Contrary to expectations, this analysis demonstrates that there is a clear thematic core to reproducibility discussions, centered on the incentive structure of science, the transparency of methods and data, and the need to reform academic publishing. However, we also identify three clusters of discussion that are distinct from the main body of articles: one focused on reagents, another on statistical methods, and a final cluster focused on the heterogeneity of the natural world. Although there are discursive differences between scientific and popular articles, we find no strong differences in how scientists and journalists write about the reproducibility crisis. Our findings demonstrate the value of using qualitative methods to identify the bounds and features of reproducibility discourse, and identify distinct vocabularies and constituencies that reformers should engage with to promote change.

Experimental and numerical investigation of Armox 500T armor steel perforation process

This paper presents the results of an experimental and numerical study of the perforation of Armox 500T armoured steel. The plate perforation was performed with a pneumatic gun using three types of penetrators. Sharp, spherical and blunt penetrators were used. The use of different geometries of penetrators causes the process of perforation and destruction of plates in a different state of stress and strain, which leads to the appearance of three basic modes of failure. Numerical analyses of the perforation process have been carried out using the Ls-Dyna computational code with an advanced constitutive model of the material and the integrated failure model. The obtained experimental and numerical results were analysed and compared. The failure shape, the level of plastic deformation and the parameters of stress and strain state were analysed.

Examination of Hydrologic Computer Programs DHM and EDHM

The Diffusion Hydrodynamic Model or DHM is a coupled one- and two-dimensional (2-D) surface flow model based upon a diffusion formulation of the well-known Navier–Stokes equations, developed by research hydrologists of the USGS (United States Geological Survey) for use in modeling floodplains and dam-break situations. The Fortran 77 source code and various applications were published in 1987 by the USGS as a Technical Report authored by Hromadka and Yen. The DHM program led to the development of several subsequent computational programs such as the FLO-2D computational model and other similar programs. The original DHM program had a limit of applications to problems with no more than 250 nodes and modeling grids. That limitation was recently removed by a program version named EDHM (Extended DHM), which provides for 9999 nodes and grids. However, the computational code is preserved in order that the baseline code algorithmic procedures are untouched. In this paper, the DHM and EDHM are rigorously compared and examined to identify any variations between the two Fortran codes. It is concluded from this investigation that the two sets of algorithm codes are identical, and outcomes from either program are similar for appropriately sized applications.

Numerical Simulations of Bird Strikes with the Use of Various Equations of State

The paper presents results of numerical analyses of the collision of various bird models (dummies) with a helicopter windshield. Three different numerical bird models were elaborated. According to the subject literature, applying an appropriate equation of state has an influence on impact parameters. The author used the LS_DYNA software package. This is a computational code designed to analyse fast-changing phenomena by means of the finite-element method. SPH method has been used for bird strike simulations. In the research, three different equations of state have been used: Grüneisen's, polynomial and tabulated.