Northwestern University

About: Northwestern University is a education organization based out in Evanston, Illinois, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Medicine. The organization has 75430 authors who have published 188857 publications receiving 9463252 citations. The organization is also known as: Northwestern & NU.

The ninth data release of the sloan digital sky survey: First spectroscopic data from the sdss-iii baryon oscillation spectroscopic survey

Abstract: The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z ~ 0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z ~ 2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in temperature estimates for stars with T eff -0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SEGUE-2. The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the APOGEE along with another year of data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in 2014 December.

The aligned rank transform for nonparametric factorial analyses using only anova procedures

Abstract: Nonparametric data from multi-factor experiments arise often in human-computer interaction (HCI). Examples may include error counts, Likert responses, and preference tallies. But because multiple factors are involved, common nonparametric tests (e.g., Friedman) are inadequate, as they are unable to examine interaction effects. While some statistical techniques exist to handle such data, these techniques are not widely available and are complex. To address these concerns, we present the Aligned Rank Transform (ART) for nonparametric factorial data analysis in HCI. The ART relies on a preprocessing step that "aligns" data before applying averaged ranks, after which point common ANOVA procedures can be used, making the ART accessible to anyone familiar with the F-test. Unlike most articles on the ART, which only address two factors, we generalize the ART to N factors. We also provide ARTool and ARTweb, desktop and Web-based programs for aligning and ranking data. Our re-examination of some published HCI results exhibits advantages of the ART.

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles in biomedical applications

Abstract: This tutorial review provides an outlook on nanomaterials that are currently being used for theranostic purposes, with a special focus on mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSNP) based materials. MSNPs with large surface area and pore volume can serve as efficient carriers for various therapeutic agents. The functionalization of MSNPs with molecular, supramolecular or polymer moieties, provides the material with great versatility while performing drug delivery tasks, which makes the delivery process highly controllable. This emerging area at the interface of chemistry and the life sciences offers a broad palette of opportunities for researchers with interests ranging from sol–gel science, the fabrication of nanomaterials, supramolecular chemistry, controllable drug delivery and targeted theranostics in biology and medicine.

Summary and recommendations of the Fifth International Workshop-Conference on Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.

Abstract: The Fifth International Workshop-Conference on Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) was held in Chicago, IL, 11–13 November 2005 under the sponsorship of the American Diabetes Association. The meeting provided a forum for review of new information concerning GDM in the areas of pathophysiology, epidemiology, perinatal outcome, long-range implications for mother and her offspring, and management strategies. New information and recommendations related to each of these major topics are summarized in the report that follows. The issues regarding strategies and criteria for the detection and diagnosis of GDM were not reviewed or discussed in detail, since it is anticipated that the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) study will provide data in mid-2007 that will foster the development of criteria for the diagnosis of GDM that are based on perinatal outcomes. Thus, for the interim, the participants of the Fifth International Workshop-Conference on GDM endorsed a motion to continue use of the definition, classification criteria, and strategies for detection and diagnosis of GDM that were recommended at the Fourth Workshop-Conference. Those guidelines are reproduced (with minor modifications) in this article in appendix Tables 1 and 2. The invited lectures, topical discussions, and posters presented at the conference and the invited manuscripts that appear in this issue of Diabetes Care served as the basis for the following summary and recommendations. ### Pathophysiology #### General considerations. Current diagnostic criteria assign the diagnosis of GDM to women with glucose levels in the upper ∼5–10% of the population distribution. The hyperglycemia varies in severity from glucose concentrations that would be diagnostic of diabetes outside of pregnancy to concentrations that are asymptomatic and only slightly above normal, but associated with some increased risk of fetal morbidity. Like all forms of hyperglycemia, GDM is characterized by insulin levels that are insufficient to meet insulin demands. The causes of pancreatic β-cell dysfunction that …

Structure mapping in analogy and similarity.

Abstract: ions Keil, 1989 ; Rips, 1989) For example, bats have the perceptual and behavioral characteristics of birds (they are similar to birds in this sense), but they are classified as mammals, because of important (though nonobvious) properties, such as giving birth to live young On the basis of examples like this, similarity's role in categorization has been challenged ; it has been argued that category membership judgments are theory based rather than similarity based (Keil, 1989 ; Murphy & Medin, 1985) The process of alignment and mapping points the way to a reconciliation of similarity-based and theorybased accounts (see also Goldstone, 1994a) If we focus purely on perceptual similarity among objects, we are led to conclude that bats should be categorized with birds On this view, theory-based knowledge (such as why bats are mammals) must intervene from elsewhere to overrule this assignment However, if the similarity computation is assumed to be that ofstructural alignment, then the similarity between two instances will be based riot only on object-level commonalities but also on common relations such as common causal relations and common origins Assuming that our representations include information about theory-based relations, such as that bats bear live young, as well as information about features, then the schism between similarity-based and theory-based categorization may be more apparent than real Developmentally, if we assume that theoretical knowledge is acquired gradually, this view would account for the characteristic-to-defining shift (Keil & Batterman, 1984) in children's interpretations of word meaning from local object features (eg , a taxi is bright yellow and has a checkered sign) to deeper relational commonalities (eg , a taxi is a vehicle that may be hired to transport people) Choice and decision Structural alignment also sheds light on the processes underlying choice behavior Medin, Goldstone, and Markman (1995) reviewed paral lels between phenomena in decision processing and phenomena in comparison processing that suggest an important role for structural alignment in decision making Structural alignment influences which features to pay attention to in choice options Research suggests that alignable differences are given more weight in choice situations than are nonalignable differences (Lindemann & Markman, 1996 ; Markman & Medin, 1995 ; Slovic & MacPhillamy, 1974) For example, Markman and Medin (1995) asked participants to choose between video games and to justify their choices Their justifications were more likely to contain alignable differences than nonalignable differences As another example, Kahneman and Z'versky (1984) described to participants a hypothetical store in which a jacket could be bought for $125 and a calculator for $15 They offered participants the opportunity to go to another store and save $5 on the total purchase Participants who were offered ajacket for $125 and a calculator for $10 were more willing to make the effort to go to another store than those offered a jacket for $120 and a calculator for $15 Even though the monetary reward for going to the other store was the same for both groups, participants were influenced by the alignable difference