781 research outputs found

    Advanced sequencing technologies applied to human cytomegalovirus

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    The betaherpesvirus human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a ubiquitous viral pathogen. It is the most common cause of congenital infection in infants and of opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients worldwide. The large double-stranded DNA genome of HCMV (236 kb) contains several genes that exhibit a high degree of variation among strains within an otherwise highly conserved sequence. These hypervariable genes encode immune escape, tropism or regulatory factors that may affect virulence. Variation arising from these genes and from an evolutionary history of recombination between strains has been hypothesised to be linked to disease severity. To investigate this, the HCMV genome has been scrutinised in detail over the years using a variety of molecular techniques, most looking only at one or a few of these genes at a time. The advent of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technology 20 years ago then started to enable more in-depth whole-genome analyses. My study extends this field by using both HTS and the more recently developed long-read nanopore technology to determine HCMV genome sequences directly from clinical samples. Firstly, I used an Illumina HTS pipeline to sequence HCMV strains directly from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues. FFPE samples are a valuable repository for the study of relatively rare diseases, such as congenital HCMV (cCMV). However, formalin fixation induces DNA fragmentation and cross-linking, making this a challenging sample type for DNA sequencing. I successfully sequenced five whole HCMV genomes from FFPE tissues. Next, I developed a pipeline utilising the single-molecule, long-read sequencer from Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) to sequence HCMV initially from high-titre cellcultured laboratory strains and then from clinical samples with high HCMV loads. Finally, I utilised a direct RNA sequencing protocol with the ONT sequencer to characterise novel HCMV transcripts produced during infection in cell culture, demonstrating the existence of transcript isoforms with multiple splice sites. Overall, my findings demonstrate how advanced sequencing technologies can be used to characterise the genome and transcriptome of a large DNA virus, and will facilitate future studies on HCMV prognostic factors, novel antiviral targets and vaccine development

    Research on renewable energy power demand forecasting method based on IWOA-SA-BILSTM modeling

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    This paper introduces a novel coupling method to enhance the precision of short- and medium-term renewable energy power load demand forecasting. Firstly, the Tent chaotic mapping incorporates the standard WOA and modifies its internal convergence factor to a nonlinear convergence mode, resulting in an improved IWOA. It is used for the weight optimization part of BILSTM. Then, the SA is introduced to optimize the learning rate, the number of nodes in hidden layers 1 and 2, and the number of iterations of BILSTM, constructing an IWOA-SA-BILSTM prediction model. Finally, through case analysis, the prediction model proposed in this paper has the highest improvement of 76.7%, 74.5%, and 45.9% in terms of Mean Absolute Error, Root Mean Square Error, and R2, respectively, compared to other optimal benchmark models, proving the effectiveness of the model

    Strategy Tripod Perspective on the Determinants of Airline Efficiency in A Global Context: An Application of DEA and Tobit Analysis

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    The airline industry is vital to contemporary civilization since it is a key player in the globalization process: linking regions, fostering global commerce, promoting tourism and aiding economic and social progress. However, there has been little study on the link between the operational environment and airline efficiency. Investigating the amalgamation of institutions, organisations and strategic decisions is critical to understanding how airlines operate efficiently. This research aims to employ the strategy tripod perspective to investigate the efficiency of a global airline sample using a non-parametric linear programming method (data envelopment analysis [DEA]). Using a Tobit regression, the bootstrapped DEA efficiency change scores are further regressed to determine the drivers of efficiency. The strategy tripod is employed to assess the impact of institutions, industry and resources on airline efficiency. Institutions are measured by global indices of destination attractiveness; industry, including competition, jet fuel and business model; and finally, resources, such as the number of full-time employees, alliances, ownership and connectivity. The first part of the study uses panel data from 35 major airlines, collected from their annual reports for the period 2011 to 2018, and country attractiveness indices from global indicators. The second part of the research involves a qualitative data collection approach and semi-structured interviews with experts in the field to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on the first part’s significant findings. The main findings reveal that airlines operate at a highly competitive level regardless of their competition intensity or origin. Furthermore, the unpredictability of the environment complicates airline operations. The efficiency drivers of an airline are partially determined by its type of business model, its degree of cooperation and how fuel cost is managed. Trade openness has a negative influence on airline efficiency. COVID-19 has toppled the airline industry, forcing airlines to reconsider their business model and continuously increase cooperation. Human resources, sustainability and alternative fuel sources are critical to airline survival. Finally, this study provides some evidence for the practicality of the strategy tripod and hints at the need for a broader approach in the study of international strategies

    Climate change: strategies for mitigation and adaptation

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    The sustainability of life on Earth is under increasing threat due to human-induced climate change. This perilous change in the Earth's climate is caused by increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, primarily due to emissions associated with burning fossil fuels. Over the next two to three decades, the effects of climate change, such as heatwaves, wildfires, droughts, storms, and floods, are expected to worsen, posing greater risks to human health and global stability. These trends call for the implementation of mitigation and adaptation strategies. Pollution and environmental degradation exacerbate existing problems and make people and nature more susceptible to the effects of climate change. In this review, we examine the current state of global climate change from different perspectives. We summarize evidence of climate change in Earth’s spheres, discuss emission pathways and drivers of climate change, and analyze the impact of climate change on environmental and human health. We also explore strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation and highlight key challenges for reversing and adapting to global climate change

    Psyche as a Playable Construct in Video Games

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    The aim of this master’s thesis called Psyche as a Playable Construct in Video Games is to explore how the human mind is reflected in video games and how thus the psyche becomes a playable environment. This study also analyzes whether video games as a medium can promote self-reflection and empathy by portraying the psyche and developing narratives around this theme. These set objectives are achieved by performing medium-specific multimodal discourse analysis of three case studies, as well as comparative game analysis. The purpose is to discover how the psyche nowadays becomes an accessible, interactive, and embodied virtual environment through various modern modes of expression. In addition to the topic of the psyche as a game setting the research also looks at the reflection of the psyche in the theories of psychoanalysts, the principles of creating playable virtual spaces and mental landscapes, and the unique manner of video games in representing phenomena. This thesis includes a review of relevant scholarship into game studies, psychoanalysis and multimodal discourse, as well as an examination of three video games of different scales and genres, all of which render the human psyche psyche a playable construct: Nevermind (2015), When the Darkness comes (2019) and Psychonauts 2 (2021). By showing distinctive approaches to representing the psyche and interaction with it, this research highlights the enormous potential of video games to offer their users experiences that cannot be delivered through any other channel. As well, my thesis demonstrates how game design reflects scientific discoveries about the psyche to the present day: as independent but influenceable; chaotic and multi-layered but deterministic. It also proposes future research suggestions in this context on how likely are games set in the human mind to promote compassion, empathy, and self-analysis in a wide audience.Master's Thesis in Digital CultureDIKULT350MAHF-DIKU

    Tradition and Innovation in Construction Project Management

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    This book is a reprint of the Special Issue 'Tradition and Innovation in Construction Project Management' that was published in the journal Buildings

    The Biometric Evolution of Sound and Space

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    Auditoria in the late 20th and 21st centuries have evolved into a series of spatial conventions that are an established and accepted norm. The relationship between space and music now exists in a decoupled condition, and music is no longer reliant on volumetric and material conditions to define its form (Glantz 2000). This thesis looks at a series of novel approaches to investigate how the links between music and space can be reconnected though evolutionary computation, parametric modelling, virtual acoustics and biometric sensing. The thesis describes in detail the experiments undertaken in developing methodologies in linking music, space and the body. The thesis will show how it is possible to develop new form finding and musical generation tools that allow new room shapes and acoustic measures to inform how new acoustic and musical forms can be developed unconsciously and objectively by a listener, in response to sound and site

    中国陝西省南部における伝統的な住宅の冬の省エネルギー設計に関する研究

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    The combination of solar energy and buildings can greatly save energy, and a great deal of practical and theoretical research has been conducted on solar buildings around the world. Rural areas in southern Shaanxi, China, have wet and cold winters. The average room temperature is 4°C and below 2°C at night, which greatly exceeds the range of thermal comfort that the human body can tolerate. In response to a series of problems such as backward heating methods and low heating efficiency in southern Shaanxi, two fully passive heating methods are proposed for traditional houses in the region. They are rooftop solar heating storage systems and thermal storage wall heating systems (TSWHS), respectively. These two systems have been compared with the status quo heating system to confirm the practicality of the new system and to provide an idea for heating and energy saving in traditional houses in rural areas.北九州市立大

    The grammar of immersion: a social semiotic study of nonfiction cinematic virtual reality

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    Cinematic virtual reality (CVR) is an audio-visual form viewed in a virtual reality headset. Its novelty lies in the way it immerses its audience in highly realistic 360° visual representations. Being camera-based, CVR facilitates many of the practices of conventional filmmaking but fundamentally alters them through its lack of a rectangular frame. As such, CVR has garnered scholarly attention as a ‘frameless’ storytelling medium yet to develop its own language. The form has gained traction with producers of nonfiction who recognize CVR’s capacity to transport audiences to remote social worlds, leading to claims that equate CVR’s immersion with a social and emotional response to its filmed subjects. A strand of CVR scholarship has emerged, grounding nonfiction CVR theoretically and critiquing such deterministic claims. Broadly speaking, these parallel strands of inquiry point to a common concern with CVR’s semiotics; as the meaning potential of the 360° format, and the social aspects of its use in documenting reality. Currently however, there appears to be a lack of systematic analyses that foreground CVR’s semiotics. This study addresses this gap by using social semiotic methods to complement these threads of inquiry, subsuming them into a holistic account of CVR’s semantics. Utilizing systemic functional methods, multimodal discourse analyses were performed on nonfiction CVR texts addressing core research objectives. The first objective is the systematic description of CVR as a semiotic technology, and the configuring of discourse through its novel 360° modality. The CVR spectator is described for their role in the real-time construction of low-level meanings. Higher-level concepts further characterize CVR texts as technologically enabled, virtual sites of social discourse. The second research objective concerns clarifying the implications of CVR for nonfiction practitioners. Nonfiction discourse is conceptualized as the negotiation of semiotic autonomy, independence, and control, between viewing spectator, filmed subject, and CVR author respectively. The third objective concerns the development of an analytical approach tailored specifically for CVR. Extant systems from image, text, film, and action analyses are reflexively applied, appraised, and adapted for use in the study of CVR and new frames are presented to cater for the 360° modality. The findings show CVR to be an inherently logical, contextualizing form, where the spectator has a degree of sense-making autonomy in the construction of representational and social meanings. This semantic autonomy is found to camouflage the deeper textual constructions in what appear as ‘reality experiences’. The repercussions for the CVR producer are the indeterminacy of meanings which are ‘at risk’ in particular ways when conventional framing methods cannot be utilized, and when the spectator is given reflexive agency to make meaningful connections across the 360° image. Systemic functional analytical methods prove flexible enough to be applied to the texts, and open enough for the study to present additional systems and frames for a more fulsome approach to the analysis of CVR
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