A Probabilistic Study Of Safety Criteria For Design

National Science Foundation Under Grant GK-1812

Modelling the reliability of search operations within the UK through Bayesian belief networks

This paper uses a Bayesian belief networks (BBN) methodology to assess the reliability of search and rescue (SAR) operations within the UK coastguard (maritime rescue) coordination centers. This is an extension of earlier work, which investigated the rationale of the government's decision to close a number of coordination centers. The previous study made use of secondary data sources and employed a binary logistic regression methodology to support the analysis. This study focused on the collection of primary data through a structured elicitation process, which resulted in the construction of a BBN. The main findings of the study are that approaches such as logistic regression are complementary to BBN's. The former provided a more objective assessment of associations between variables but was restricted in the level of detail that could be explicitly expressed within the model due to lack of available data. The latter method provided a much more detailed model but the validity of the numeric assessments was more questionable. Each method can be used to inform and defend the development of the other. The paper describes in detail the elicitation process employed to construct the BBN and reflects on the potential for bias

Genetics of tension-type headache

The objective of this study was to investigate the importance of genetics in tension-type headache. A MEDLINE search from 1966 to December 2006 was performed for “tension-type headache and prevalence” and “tension-type headache and genetics” The prevalence of tensiontype headache varies from 11 to 93%, with a slight female preponderance. Co-occurrence of migraine increases the frequency of tension-type headache. A family study of chronic tension-type headache suggests that genetic factors are important. A twin study analysing tension-type headache in migraineurs found that genetic factors play a minor role in episodic tension-type headache. Another twin study analysing twin pairs without co-occurrence of migraine showed a significantly higher concordance rate among monozygotic than same-gender dizygotic twin pairs with no or frequent episodic tension-type headache, while the difference was minor in twin pairs with infrequent episodic tensiontype headache. Frequent episodic and chronic tension-type headache is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, while infrequent episodic tensiontype headache is caused primarily by environmental factors

ClimBar : An Integrated Approach to Evaluate and Utilize Genetic Diversity

European agriculture anticipates an unprecedented combination of stress factors, production threats and quality needs due to climate change. Various regions of Europe will be affected differently. Barley & wheat domestication, and landrace formation in Europe, were under very different climates than those emerging now. Alleles needed for sustainable, resilient, quality yields in a changed climate are likely not combined in current haplotypes of elite barley cultivars. These alleles are likely found in diverse landraces and wild relatives in the Mediterranean basin and Fertile Crescent -- areas that prefigure expected climate change. New precision, high-throughput phenotyping tools are essential to find trait-allele associations needed for future-climate breeding. Combining genetics, genomics, modelling, molecular biology, morphology, and physiology, ClimBar takes an interdisciplinary approach to develop a strategy for breeding an increased resilience to climate change in barley. ClimBar, a new project under the framework of FACCE ERA-NET Plus Joint Programming Initiative on Climate Smart Agriculture, will identify genome regions, genes, and alleles conferring the traits needed to breed resilient barley varieties adapted to the climatic conditions predicted for 2070 in different European environments. Adapted, resilient germplasm created using ClimBar data, tools and models will provide food-chain security, economic stability and environmental sustainability. Website: http://plen.ku.dk/english/research/plant_soil/breeding/quality/climbar

Large lepton asymmetry from Q-balls

We propose a scenario which can explain large lepton asymmetry and small baryon asymmetry simultaneously. Large lepton asymmetry is generated through Affleck-Dine (AD) mechanism and almost all the produced lepton numbers are absorbed into Q-balls (L-balls). If the lifetime of the L-balls is longer than the onset of electroweak phase transition but shorter than the epoch of big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), the large lepton asymmetry in the L-balls is protected from sphaleron effects. On the other hand, small (negative) lepton numbers are evaporated from the L-balls due to thermal effects, which are converted into the observed small baryon asymmetry by virtue of sphaleron effects. Large and positive lepton asymmetry of electron type is often requested from BBN. In our scenario, choosing an appropriate flat direction in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM), we can produce positive lepton asymmetry of electron type but totally negative lepton asymmetry.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, ReVTeX

Academic freedom: in justification of a universal ideal

This paper examines the justification for, and benefits of, academic freedom to academics, students, universities and the world at large. The paper surveys the development of the concept of academic freedom within Europe, more especially the impact of the reforms at the University of Berlin instigated by Wilhelm von Humboldt. Following from this, the paper examines the reasons why the various facets of academic freedom are important and why the principle should continue to be supported

Preclinical Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Antifungal Activity of Liposomal Amphotericin B

The improved safety profile and antifungal efficacy of liposomal amphotericin B (LAmB) compared to conventional amphotericin B deoxycholate (DAmB) is due to several factors including, its chemical composition, rigorous manufacturing standards, and ability to target and transit through the fungal cell wall. Numerous preclinical studies have shown that LAmB administered intravenously distributes to tissues frequently infected by fungi at levels above the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for many fungi. These concentrations can be maintained from one day to a few weeks, depending upon the tissue. Tissue accumulation is dose-dependent with drug clearance occurring most rapidly from the brain and slowest from the liver and spleen. LAmB localizes in lung epithelial lining fluid, within liver and splenic macrophages and in kidney distal tubules. LAmB has been used successfully in therapeutic and prophylactic animal models to treat many different fungal pathogens, significantly increasin

Clinical Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, Safety and Efficacy of Liposomal Amphotericin B

Since its introduction in the 1990s, liposomal amphotericin B (LAmB) continues to be an important agent for the treatment of invasive fungal diseases caused by a wide variety of yeasts and molds. This liposomal formulation was developed to improve the tolerability of intravenous amphotericin B, while optimizing its clinical efficacy. Since then, numerous clinical studies have been conducted, collecting a comprehensive body of evidence on its efficacy, safety, and tolerability in the preclinical and clinical setting. Nevertheless, insights into the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of LAmB continue to evolve and can be utilized to develop strategies that optimize efficacy while maintaining the compound's safety. In this article, we review the clinical pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, safety, and efficacy of LAmB in a wide variety of patient populations and in different indications, and provide an assessment of areas with a need for further clinical research

Stellar structure and compact objects before 1940: Towards relativistic astrophysics

Since the mid-1920s, different strands of research used stars as "physics laboratories" for investigating the nature of matter under extreme densities and pressures, impossible to realize on Earth. To trace this process this paper is following the evolution of the concept of a dense core in stars, which was important both for an understanding of stellar evolution and as a testing ground for the fast-evolving field of nuclear physics. In spite of the divide between physicists and astrophysicists, some key actors working in the cross-fertilized soil of overlapping but different scientific cultures formulated models and tentative theories that gradually evolved into more realistic and structured astrophysical objects. These investigations culminated in the first contact with general relativity in 1939, when J. Robert Oppenheimer and his students George Volkoff and Hartland Snyder systematically applied the theory to the dense core of a collapsing neutron star. This pioneering application of Einstein's theory to an astrophysical compact object can be regarded as a milestone in the path eventually leading to the emergence of relativistic astrophysics in the early 1960s.Comment: 83 pages, 4 figures, submitted to the European Physical Journal

Extreme Ultra-Violet Spectroscopy of the Lower Solar Atmosphere During Solar Flares

The extreme ultraviolet portion of the solar spectrum contains a wealth of diagnostic tools for probing the lower solar atmosphere in response to an injection of energy, particularly during the impulsive phase of solar flares. These include temperature and density sensitive line ratios, Doppler shifted emission lines and nonthermal broadening, abundance measurements, differential emission measure profiles, and continuum temperatures and energetics, among others. In this paper I shall review some of the advances made in recent years using these techniques, focusing primarily on studies that have utilized data from Hinode/EIS and SDO/EVE, while also providing some historical background and a summary of future spectroscopic instrumentation.Comment: 34 pages, 8 figures. Submitted to Solar Physics as part of the Topical Issue on Solar and Stellar Flare