Youth Spending and Geodemographics: A Review of Research into Adolescent Consumers

Our research seeks to undertake an exploratory analysis of adolescents’ consumer data. Our primary aim is to understand how variations in youth spending and earnings vary by demographics, and also by their neighbourhood characteristics. As the vast majority of consumer datasets focus on adults, little is known about how adolescents interact with the retail market as they age. The eventual aim is that the findings from our future research can be used to guide the production of youth geodemographic datasets using data pooled from a range of sources

Exercise tolerance and quality of life in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is known to impact on patients’ physical and mental health. The relationship between performance on treadmill exercise tolerance test (ETT) and health-related quality of life (HRQL)has never been specifically investigated in the setting of CAD. Methods: Consecutive patients undergoing an ETT with the Bruce protocol during a diagnostic workup for CAD (n = 1,631, age 55 ± 12 years) were evaluated. Exercise-related indices were recorded. Detailed information on cardiovascular risk factors and past medical history were obtained. HRQLwas assessed with the use of the validated 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36) questionnaire. Results: Increasing age and the presence of cardiovascular risk factors and comorbidities correlated with lower scores on the physical and mental health component of SF-36(all P < 0.05). Subjects with arrhythmias during exercise and slow recovery of systolic blood pressure had lower scores on the physical health indices or the Social Role Functioning component (P < 0.05). Achieved target heart rate and good exercise tolerance were independently associated with better scores of the physical and mental health domains of SF-36 and overall HRQLscores (β = 0.05 for target HR and PCS-36, β = 1.86 and β = 1.66 per increasing stage of exercise tolerance and PCS-36 and MCS-36, respectively, P < 0.001 for all associations). Ischemic ECG changes were associated with worse scores on Physical Functioning (β = − 3.2, P = 0.02) and Bodily Pain (β = − 4.55, P = 0.026). Conclusion: ETT parameters are associated with HRQL indices in patients evaluated for possible CAD. Physical conditioning may increase patient well-being and could serve as a complementary target in conjunction with cardiovascular drug therapy

Answering SPARQL queries over databases under OWL 2 QL entailment regime

We present an extension of the ontology-based data access platform Ontop that supports answering SPARQL queries under the OWL 2 QL direct semantics entailment regime for data instances stored in relational databases. On the theoretical side, we show how any input SPARQL query, OWL 2 QL ontology and R2RML mappings can be rewritten to an equivalent SQL query solely over the data. On the practical side, we present initial experimental results demonstrating that by applying the Ontop technologies—the tree-witness query rewriting, T-mappings compiling R2RML mappings with ontology hierarchies, and T-mapping optimisations using SQL expressivity and database integrity constraints—the system produces scalable SQL queries

Vacuum-ultraviolet interconfigurational 4f3 → 4f 25d absorption and emission studies of the Nd3+ ion in KYF, YF, and YLF crystal hosts

The laser-induced vacuum-ultraviolet fluorescence spectra of KY 3F10:Nd3+ (KYF:Nd) and YF3:Nd 3+ (YF:Nd) single crystals pumped by a pulsed-discharge molecular F2 laser at 157 nm were obtained. A number of new fluorescence peaks were observed and were assigned to the 4f 25d → 4f3 dipole-allowed transitions of the Nd3+ ion. The absorption spectra of LiYF4:Nd3+ (YLF:Nd), KYF:Nd, and YF:Nd crystal samples in the vacuumultraviolet spectral regions were also obtained. Finally, the splitting of the states of the 4f25d configuration of the Nd 3+ ion, which is due to the crystal field, was observed in all the crystal samples. © 1995 Optical Society of America

VUV and UV fluorescence and absorption studies of tb3+ and tm3+ trivalent ions in liyf4 single crystal hosts

The laser induced fluorescence spectra of LiYF4: Tb3+ (YLF: Tb) and LiYF4:Tm3+ (YLF: Tm) single crystals, pumped by an F2 pulsed discharge molecular laser at 157 nm, were obtained in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) and ultraviolet (UV) regions of the spectrum, at room temperature. A number of new fluorescence peaks were observed for the first time. They were assigned to the dipole allowed transitions 4f75d→4f8 and 4f115d→4f12 of Tb3+ and Tm3+ ions respectively. The absorption spectra of the same crystal samples in the VUV and UV regions were taken as well. The edge (onset) and the energy of the states with 4fN-1 5d configuration were determined. © 1994 Taylor and Francis Ltd

Systematic documentation and analysis of human genetic variation in hemoglobinopathies using the microattribution approach

We developed a series of interrelated locus-specific databases to store all published and unpublished genetic variation related to hemoglobinopathies and thalassemia and implemented microattribution to encourage submission of unpublished observations of genetic variation to these public repositories. A total of 1,941 unique genetic variants in 37 genes, encoding globins and other erythroid proteins, are currently documented in these databases, with reciprocal attribution of microcitations to data contributors. Our project provides the first example of implementing microattribution to incentivise submission of all known genetic variation in a defined system. It has demonstrably increased the reporting of human variants, leading to a comprehensive online resource for systematically describing human genetic variation in the globin genes and other genes contributing to hemoglobinopathies and thalassemias. The principles established here will serve as a model for other systems and for the analysis of other common and/or complex human genetic diseases

Gray matter imaging in multiple sclerosis: what have we learned?

At the early onset of the 20th century, several studies already reported that the gray matter was implicated in the histopathology of multiple sclerosis (MS). However, as white matter pathology long received predominant attention in this disease, and histological staining techniques for detecting myelin in the gray matter were suboptimal, it was not until the beginning of the 21st century that the true extent and importance of gray matter pathology in MS was finally recognized. Gray matter damage was shown to be frequent and extensive, and more pronounced in the progressive disease phases. Several studies subsequently demonstrated that the histopathology of gray matter lesions differs from that of white matter lesions. Unfortunately, imaging of pathology in gray matter structures proved to be difficult, especially when using conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. However, with the recent introduction of several more advanced MRI techniques, the detection of cortical and subcortical damage in MS has considerably improved. This has important consequences for studying the clinical correlates of gray matter damage. In this review, we provide an overview of what has been learned about imaging of gray matter damage in MS, and offer a brief perspective with regards to future developments in this field