A Syntax for Composable Data Types in Haskell, A User-friendly Syntax for Solving the Expression Problem

The expression problem is the problem of designing a programming language such that it has both extensible data types and extensible sets of functions over those data types. This means that it should be possible to add new functions, new variants to a data type, and function cases for these new variants, without modification or recompilation of existing code. There exist a number of different approaches to solving the expression problem, which have different qualities in expressiveness or simplicity. In this thesis, we have designed a syntax, with an accompanying transformation into compilable code, that acts as a solution to the expression problem in Haskell. By designing this syntax, we can make simplifications that would not be possible for solutions written directly in Haskell. In particular, we can, behind our syntax, abstract away some syntactic overhead that can be generated by the transformation. To demonstrate that our designed syntax is feasible and works as an extension to Haskell, we have implemented the transformation, which transforms code written using our syntax into code that uses the Haskell library compdata. That library is an existing solution to the expression problem, and is based on another solution:Data Types à la Carte. Both of these solutions share many similarities in semantics with our syntax. Similarly to compdata and Data Types à la Carte, data types in our syntax are composable; that is, variants of a data type are manually combined to form a type with a fixed set of possible variants. We introduce a new concept, called categories, with the purpose of grouping variants and compositions of data types and simplifying the syntax into one closer to that of regular data types. This means that compositions of variants can only be formed of variants belonging to the same category, as opposed to freely being able to combine any variants. Again, similar to compdata and Data Types à la Carte, functions over composable data types are extended automatically in our syntax. This means that a function can be used for a variant of the data type as long as the function has a case defined for the variant. Through the introduction of categories and the abstractions possible through the transformation, we are able to conclude that our syntax provides several improvements compared to existing solutions to the expression problem in Haskell

Evaluation of Wolbachia depletion after antibiotic treatment using real-time PCR in Onchocerciasis and Lymphatic Filariasis, and analysis of genetic associations in Lymphatic Filariasis

Two of the major filarial infections, onchocerciasis and LF, affect > 150 million people. Currently, control programs use yearly mass application of drugs that mainly kill microfilaria (Mf) with the aim to prevent uptake by transmitting insect vectors and thus, to block transmission and reduce infections. It has been known for more than 35 years that filarial nematodes contain endosymbiotic bacteria of the genus Wolbachia. The discovery of the essential role of Wolbachia in worm fertility and survival has resulted in the development of antifilarial chemotherapy with doxycycline, which depletes Wolbachia from the worms and leads to long-term worm sterility and macrofilaricidal activity in human LF and onchocerciasis.\par To improve diagnostic methods beside microscopic and histological analysis in filarial infections with Onchocerca volvulus, Wuchereria bancrofti and Brugia malayi, several real-time PCRs were established to: 1) monitor Wolbachia depletion in studies with humans looking at the efficacy of different dosages and treatment times for doxycycline and alternative anti-wolbachial drugs, 2) analyse the effect of Wolbachia depletion by doxycycline on larval development in the insect vector and 3) establish a more sensitive method of identifying amicrofilaremic Brugian infections. To these, the Wolbachia ftsZ single copy gene and the Brugia malayi HhaI gene were quantified by real-time PCR.\f0\par \f1 The second arm of the thesis project was a genetic association study in LF patients. \lang1033 Studies in humans have shown that susceptibility to infection, parasite load and lymphatic pathology cluster in families but only a few studies have looked for genes associated with LF. In total 30 SNPs were analyzed and genotypes were compared between LF patients with MF or LE phenotypes. Two SNPs of the IL-18 gene and two SNPs of the IL-4R gene showed an association to LF phenotypes in a group of patients from Indonesia infected with Brugia timori

Bedeutsamkeit der Kommunikation für die Physiotherapie

Der Begriff Kommunikation ist längst ein fester Bestandteil im alltäglichen Sprachgebrauch. Durch die zwischenmenschliche Kommunikation sind wir Menschen in der Lage uns zu unterhalten, zu streiten oder Kompromisse zu finden. In der privaten und beruflichen Kommunikation besteht ein wesentlicher Unterschied. Berufliche Kommunikation ist professioneller und wirkt sich anders auf die Interaktion der Gesprächspartner aus. Dies ist auch in der Physiotherapie der Fall. Ohne eine funktionierende Kommunikation zwischen Physiotherapeut und Patient kann keine professionelle Beziehung aufgebaut werden und die wesentliche Grundlage für eine erfolgreiche Therapie wird nicht erfüllt. In der vorliegenden wissenschaftlichen Arbeit soll die Bedeutsamkeit der Kommunikation in der Physiotherapie untersucht werden. Denn durch eine subjektive Beobachtung konnte festgestellt werden, dass Auszubildende in der Physiotherapie Schwierigkeiten in kommunikativen Interaktion mit ihren Patienten beschreiben. Durch eine systematische Recherche wird erarbeitet, ob diese Beobachtung auch in anderen Ländern erkannt wird. Die Ergebnisse werden analytisch aufgearbeitet und anschließend diskutiert

Evaluating an enhanced thermal response test (ETRT) with high groundwater flow

Enhanced thermal response tests (ETRT) enable the evaluation of depth-specific effective thermal conductivities. Groundwater flow can significantly influence the interpretation of ETRT results. Hence, this study aims to critically evaluate an ETRT with high groundwater flow (> 0.2 m d$^{−1}$). Different approaches in determining the specific heat load of an ETRT are compared. The results show that assuming constant electrical resistance of the heating cable with time can account for an inaccuracy of 12% in the determination of effective thermal conductivities. Adjusting the specific heat loads along the borehole heat exchanger (BHE) depth, the specific heat loads vary within 3%. Applying the infinite line source model (ILS) and Péclet number analysis, a depth–average hydraulic conductivity is estimated to be 3.1 × 10$^{–3}$ m s$^{−1}$, thereby, confirming the results of a pumping test of a previous study. For high Darcy velocities (> 0.6 m d$^{−1}$), the uncertainty is higher due to experimental limitations in ensuring a sufficient temperature increase for the evaluation (ΔT > 0.6 K). In these depths, the convergence criterion of Δλeff/λeff < 0.05/20 h for the ILS sequential forward evaluation cannot be achieved. Thus, it can be concluded that time-averaging of the heat load by monitoring voltage and current during ETRT is essential. Therefore, the specific heat load adjustment along the heating cable is recommended. To improve the estimation of depth-specific effective conductivities with high groundwater flow and to reduce the sensitivity towards temperature fluctuations (ΔT ~ 0.1 K), measures for applying higher specific heat loads during the ETRT are essential, such as actions against overheating of the cable outside the BHE

Determination of thermal properties of grouting materials for borehole heat exchangers (BHE)

Thermal properties of grouting materials for borehole heat exchangers (BHE) are currently analysed with varying measurement methods and analysis procedures, resulting in difficulties when comparing values of different studies. This study therefore provides the first comprehensive investigation of different analysis procedures by systematically comparing the influence of the measurement method and the sample preparation on the determination of the thermal conductivity and the volumetric heat capacity. Seven dissimilar grouting materials with varying water–solid ratios (W/S) and compositions are analysed. The thermal conductivities of the materials range between 0.9 and 1.8 W m$^{−1}$ K$^{−1}$ (transient plane source method, TPS). The volumetric heat capacities range between 3.01 and 3.63 MJ m$^{−3}$ K$^{−1}$ (differential scanning calorimetry, DSC). From the findings of this study, a standardised analysis of grouting materials is provided which suggests mixing of the grouting material at a high mixing speed and sample curing under water for 28 days at room temperature. The benefits of calculating the volumetric heat capacities of grouting materials from the specific heat capacities of dry samples measured with the DSC, the water content and the bulk density are demonstrated. Furthermore, an estimation procedure of volumetric heat capacity from the W/S and suspension density with an uncertainty of smaller ± 5% is provided. Finally, this study contributes to consistency and comparability between existing and future studies on the thermal properties of grouting materials

A multiverse analysis of early attempts to replicate memory suppression with the Think/No-think Task

In 2001, Anderson and Green [2001. Suppressing unwanted memories by executive control. Nature, 410(6826), 366-369] showed memory suppression using a novel Think/No-think (TNT) task. When participants attempted to prevent studied words from entering awareness, they reported fewer of those words than baseline words in subsequent cued recall (i.e., suppression effect). The TNT literature contains predominantly positive findings and few null-results. Therefore we report unpublished replications conducted in the 2000s (N = 49; N = 36). As the features of the data obtained with the TNT task call for a variety of plausible solutions, we report parallel "universes" of data-analyses (i.e., multiverse analysis) testing the suppression effect. Two published studies (Wessel et al., 2005. Dissociation and memory suppression: A comparison of high and low dissociative individuals' performance on the Think-No think Task. Personality and Individual Differences, 39(8), 1461-1470, N = 68; Wessel et al., 2010. Cognitive control and suppression of memories of an emotional film. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 41(2), 83-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2009.10.005, N = 80) were reanalysed in a similar fashion. For recall probed with studied cues (Same Probes, SP), some tests (sample 3) or all (samples 2 and 4) showed statistically significant suppression effects, whereas in sample 1, only one test showed significance. Recall probed with novel cues (Independent Probes, IP) predominantly rendered non-significant results. The absence of statistically significant IP suppression effects raises problems for inhibition theory and its implication that repression is a viable mechanism of forgetting. The pre-registration, materials, data, and code are publicly available (https://osf.io/qgcy5/).</p

Retarded Onchocerca volvulus L1 to L3 larval development in the Simulium damnosum vector after anti-wolbachial treatment of the human host

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The human parasite <it>Onchocerca volvulus </it>harbours <it>Wolbachia </it>endosymbionts essential for worm embryogenesis, larval development and adult survival. In this study, the development of <it>Wolbachia</it>-depleted microfilariae (first stage larvae) to infective third stage larvae (L3) in the insect vector <it>Simulium damnosum </it>was analysed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Infected volunteers in Cameroon were randomly and blindly allocated into doxycycline (200 mg/day for 6 weeks) or placebo treatment groups. After treatment, blackflies were allowed to take a blood meal on the volunteers, captured and dissected for larval counting and DNA extraction for quantitative real-time PCR analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>PCR results showed a clear reduction in <it>Wolbachia </it>DNA after doxycycline treatment in microfilariae from human skin biopsies with > 50% reduction at one month post-treatment, eventually reaching a reduction of > 80%. Larval stages recovered from the insect vector had similar levels of reduction of endosymbiotic bacteria. Larval recoveries were analysed longitudinally after treatment to follow the kinetics of larval development. Beginning at three months post-treatment, significantly fewer L3 were seen in the blackflies that had fed on doxycycline treated volunteers. Concomitant with this, the proportion of second stage larvae (L2) was significantly increased in this group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Doxycycline treatment and the resulting decline of <it>Wolbachia </it>endobacteria from the microfilaria resulted in retarded development of larvae in the insect vector. Thus, anti-wolbachial treatment could have an additive effect for interrupting transmission by reducing the number of L3 that can be transmitted by blackflies.</p

Real-time PCR detection of the HhaI tandem DNA repeat in pre- and post-patent Brugia malayi infections: a study in Indonesian transmigrants

Background: Lymphatic filariasis caused by Wuchereria bancrofti or Brugia spp. is a public health problem in developing countries. To monitor bancroftian filariasis infections, Circulating Filarial Antigen (CFA) test is commonly used, but for brugian infections only microfilariae (Mf) microscopy and indirect IgG4 antibody analyses are available. Improved diagnostics for detecting latent infections are required. Methods: An optimized real-time PCR targeting the brugian HhaI repeat was validated with plasma from microfilariae negative Mongolian gerbils (jirds) infected with B. malayi. Plasma samples from microfilaremic patients infected with B. malayi or W. bancrofti were used as positive and negative controls, respectively. PCR results of plasma samples from a transmigrant population in a B. malayi endemic area were compared to those of life-long residents in the same endemic area; and to IgG4 serology results from the same population. To discriminate between active infections and larval exposure a threshold was determined by correlation and Receiver-Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve analyses. Results: The PCR detected HhaI in pre-patent (56 dpi) B. malayi infected jirds and B. malayi Mf-positive patients from Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. HhaI was also detected in 9/9 elephantiasis patients. In South Sulawesi 87.4% of the transmigrants and life-long residents (94% Mf-negative) were HhaI PCR positive. Based on ROC-curve analysis a threshold for active infections was set to &gt;53 HhaI copies/μl (AUC: 0.854). Conclusions: The results demonstrate that the HhaI PCR detects brugian infections with greater sensitivity than the IgG4 test, most notably in Mf-negative patients (i.e. pre-patent or latent infections)