Course construction and innovation of information organization science

New technological revolutions have brought a series reforms and innovations to the education of information management in this information age. There has been a great leap in establishing and reforming information organization science. In teaching practice, evolutions involving research target, course content, course system and structure have accordingly brought forth great changes of teaching environment, teaching methods and approaches. With the birth of knowledge economy, information organization will develop to an even higher stage-knowledge organization and foster new reforms.     

Heptachlor epoxide in marine mammals

The presence of heptachlor epoxide in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) has been confirmed by chemical derivatization and mass spectrometric analyses. An unknown compound at a retention time close to that of heptachlor epoxide interfered in the determination by electron capture detector—gas chromatography. On a WCOT CP-Sil 7 column programmed from 85 to 175°C two poorly separated peaks could be detected. Heptachlor epoxide contents up to 1.7 mg/kg (on a fat basis) were obtained, which were about 200 times lower than the PCB levels. The same ratio was also observed in fish from the same area.     

Immune‐Informed Mucin Hydrogels Evade Fibrotic Foreign Body Response In Vivo

The immune‐mediated foreign body response to biomaterial implants can trigger the formation of insulating fibrotic capsules that can compromise implant function. To address this challenge, the intrinsic bioactivity of the mucin biopolymer, a heavily glycosylated protein that forms the protective mucus gel covering mucosal epithelia, is leveraged. By using a bioorthogonal inverse electron demand Diels–Alder reaction, mucins are crosslinked into implantable hydrogels. It is shown that mucin hydrogels (Muc‐gels) modulate the immune response driving biomaterial‐induced fibrosis. Muc‐gels do not elicit fibrosis 21 days after implantation in the peritoneal cavity of C57Bl/6 mice, whereas medical‐grade alginate hydrogels are covered by fibrous tissues. Further, Muc‐gels dampen the recruitment of innate and adaptive immune cells to the gel and trigger a pattern of very mild activation marked by a noticeably low expression of the fibrosis‐stimulating transforming growth factor beta 1 cytokine. Macrophages recruited to Muc‐gels upregulate the gene expression of the protein inhibitor of activated STAT 1 (PIAS1) and SH2‐containing phosphatase 1 (SHP‐1) cytokine regulatory proteins, which likely contributes to their low cytokine expression profiles. With this advance in mucin materials, an essential tool is provided to better understand mucin bioactivities and to initiate the development of new mucin‐based and mucin‐inspired “immune‐informed” materials for implantable devices subject to fibrotic encapsulation.     

Determination of accurate television usage profiles: a U.S. case study

In order to project the potential energy savings from implementing energy efficiency policy, realistic usage profiles are essential. In the case of televisions (TVs), these usage profiles can be complex due to the range of functions TVs provide, the increasing number of TVs per household, the increasing hours of TV viewing, and the changing usage of a TV over its lifetime. Calculating the energy use of a TV over its lifetime is a challenge because, when a new TV is purchased, the old TV is often maintained and used less frequently in another room in the home, rather than being disposed of. Due to limited access to comprehensive usage data, previous analyses have either assumed a single static usage value, based on either metered or survey data, or estimated a usage profile adjusted from measured values to account for possible increases in future viewing. In this analysis, we investigate detailed TV usage over time using historical metered TV use data from more than 12,000 U.S. households, collected by The Nielsen Company. We found that the main TV in a household is used for 7.2 h per day, while other TVs are used for 2.5 h per day or less. We also found that 65 % of TVs in the total stock are considered the “main” TV. Combining this information, we determined the mean hours per day per TV to be 5.5.     

Oxygen permeability,electron spin resonance,differential scanning calorimetry and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy studies of uniaxially deformed linear low‐density polyethylene film

Linear low‐density polyethylene (PE‐LLD) films were mechanically deformed at room temperature in both parallel and perpendicular directions to their initial orientation obtained during the manufacturing process. The degree of deformation ${\lambda}$ , defined as ${\lambda} = l/l_{0}, l$ and l₀ being the length of the deformed and relaxed samples, respectively, was varied from 1.0 to 2.0. Oxygen transport was investigated by a manometric method and the results were correlated with differential scanning calorimetry and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy measurements in order to investigate the contribution of various factors that influence the permeability of deformed PE‐LLD films. An electron spin resonance spin‐probe method was employed to determine the influence of uniaxial deformation on the chain segmental mobility in the amorphous phase. The results show that the deformation process reduces oxygen permeability and diffusion coefficients. It was found that the reduction is a combined effect of an increased crystallinity and reduced fractional free volume. The decrease of the chain segmental mobility with deformation plays an important role in the gas diffusion mechanism. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Reducing the mean squared error of quantile-based estimators by smoothing

Many univariate robust estimators are based on quantiles. As already theoretically pointed out by Fernholz (in J. Stat. Plan. Inference 57(1), 29–38, 1997), smoothing the empirical distribution function with an appropriate kernel and bandwidth can reduce the variance and mean squared error (MSE) of some quantile-based estimators in small data sets. In this paper we apply this idea on several robust estimators of location, scale and skewness. We propose a robust bandwidth selection and bias reduction procedure. We show that the use of this smoothing method indeed leads to smaller MSEs, also at contaminated data sets. In particular, we obtain better performances for the medcouple which is a robust measure of skewness that can be used for outlier detection in skewed distributions.     

Assessment of the Phytotoxic Potential of <Emphasis Type="Italic">m</Emphasis>-Tyrosine in Laboratory Soil Bioassays

The significance of soil-allelochemical interactions was addressed in this paper through studies conducted with m-tyrosine, an amino acid analogue and a potent plant growth inhibitor, in a series of laboratory assays performed in field soil or growth media. The studies were performed as a basis for further evaluation of m-tyrosine activity in field soils containing living plant roots. Here, we examined the role of common soil amendments, including ammonium nitrate fertilizer and activated carbon, in overcoming plant growth inhibition in soils in a laboratory setting by using lettuce as a sensitive indicator of plant toxicity. The phytotoxicity of m-tyrosine was not influenced significantly by soil N amendment; however, when significant amounts of activated carbon were added to the soil medium, growth inhibition in treated lettuce seedlings was strongly reduced. Soil texture did not influence the bioavailability or activity of m-tyrosine, as activity in high organic growth media was similar to that of sand and soil mixtures. Similar to other purported allelochemicals, soil persistence of m-tyrosine was limited, with a predicted half life of less than 1 day in soil in a controlled laboratory setting. Rapid degradation of this molecule likely was due to microbial activity but degradation did not appear to be influenced significantly by soil N amendment. Given the observed activity of m-tyrosine in soil and growth media on seedling growth, potential may exist for development of m-tyrosine as a soil applied herbicide if formulations can be stabilized under soil conditions.     

Performance prediction of high-pressure coolant assisted turning of Ti-6Al-4V

The present study focuses on the development of predictive models of average surface roughness, chip-tool interface temperature, chip reduction coefficient, and average tool flank wear in turning of Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The cutting speed, feed rate, cutting conditions (dry and high-pressure coolant), and turning forces (cutting force and feed force) were the input variables in modeling the first three quality parameters, while in modeling tool wear, the machining time was the only variable. Notably, the machining environment influences the machining performance; yet, very few models exist wherein this variable was considered as input. Herein, soft computing-based modeling techniques such as artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector machines (SVM) were explored for roughness, temperature, and chip coefficient. The prediction capability of the formulated models was compared based on the lowest mean absolute percentage error. For surface roughness and cutting temperature, the ANN and, for chip reduction coefficient, the SVM revealed the lowest error, hence recommended. In addition, empirical models were constructed by using the experimental data of tool wear. The adequacy and good fit of tool wear models were justified by a coefficient of determination value greater than 0.99.     

Public Perceptions of High-rise Building Emergency Evacuation Preparedness

In light of the events of September 11, 2001, a concern in the fire safety community is that the public attitudes toward emergency evacuation procedures and preparedness may have changed and that current assumptions about occupant behavior may no longer be valid. In 2006, a survey of high-rise building occupants was conducted to explore their knowledge of high-rise building safety and emergency evacuation procedures and their attitudes and perceptions about high-rise safety and emergency evacuation procedures. Some 244 residential building occupants in Chicago, New York City and San Francisco and 228 commercial building occupants in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, and Philadelphia were surveyed. The study revealed that the events of September 11, 2001 have heightened occupants concerns about safety in high-rise buildings. Eight in ten commercial building respondents participated in a fire drill in the last year, compared to 18% of residential building respondents. Among both survey respondents, the most frequent top-of-mind suggestion to building management to improve safety was “more fire drills.” Almost all occupants know where the fire exits are. And, keeping with conventional wisdom, most occupants believe using elevators is unsafe during a fire, however, 28% also believe that going to the roof is a possible alternative to using the stairs. These findings support the need for continued public education about emergency evacuations procedures in high-rise buildings.