80 research outputs found
The OPERA experiment Target Tracker
The main task of the Target Tracker detector of the long baseline neutrino
oscillation OPERA experiment is to locate in which of the target elementary
constituents, the lead/emulsion bricks, the neutrino interactions have occurred
and also to give calorimetric information about each event. The technology used
consists in walls of two planes of plastic scintillator strips, one per
transverse direction. Wavelength shifting fibres collect the light signal
emitted by the scintillator strips and guide it to both ends where it is read
by multi-anode photomultiplier tubes. All the elements used in the construction
of this detector and its main characteristics are described.Comment: 25 pages, submitted to Nuclear Instrument and Method
The syntax of â-cÄâ (*-kwe) in Ahunavaiti GÄthÄ
This paper seeks to provide a full description of the syntactic behaviour of the enclitic co-ordinate conjunction -cÄ in the earliest stage of the Avestan language. By studying the occurrences of the particle in Ahunavaiti GÄthÄ, a distributive analysis is provided together with an interpretative hypothesis of its distributive dynamics. Two syntactic levels, phrase and sentence, are taken into consideration. Finally, a syntactic domain-based variation is argued and two clitic functional variants are identified as synchronically operating conjunction strategies
Phylogenetic Distribution of Intron Positions in Alpha-Amylase Genes of Bilateria Suggests Numerous Gains and Losses
Most eukaryotes have at least some genes interrupted by introns. While it is well
accepted that introns were already present at moderate density in the last
eukaryote common ancestor, the conspicuous diversity of intron density among
genomes suggests a complex evolutionary history, with marked differences between
phyla. The question of the rates of intron gains and loss in the course of
evolution and factors influencing them remains controversial. We have
investigated a single gene family, alpha-amylase, in 55 species covering a
variety of animal phyla. Comparison of intron positions across phyla suggests a
complex history, with a likely ancestral intronless gene undergoing frequent
intron loss and gain, leading to extant intron/exon structures that are highly
variable, even among species from the same phylum. Because introns are known to
play no regulatory role in this gene and there is no alternative splicing, the
structural differences may be interpreted more easily: intron positions, sizes,
losses or gains may be more likely related to factors linked to splicing
mechanisms and requirements, and to recognition of introns and exons, or to more
extrinsic factors, such as life cycle and population size. We have shown that
intron losses outnumbered gains in recent periods, but that âresetsâ
of intron positions occurred at the origin of several phyla, including
vertebrates. Rates of gain and loss appear to be positively correlated. No phase
preference was found. We also found evidence for parallel gains and for intron
sliding. Presence of introns at given positions was correlated to a strong
protosplice consensus sequence AG/G, which was much weaker in the absence of
intron. In contrast, recent intron insertions were not associated with a
specific sequence. In animal Amy genes, population size and
generation time seem to have played only minor roles in shaping gene
structures
Minor Literature in and of Artistic Reserach
This contribution asks how we can situate literatureâs participation in the artistic research field: is there an advantage to its âbelatednessâ? My thoughts go into three directions: institutional affordances; Marcel Duchampâs effects; and the notion of mi nor literatures. I refer to Aby Warburg, James Joyce, Marcel Duchamp, Gilles Deleuze and FeÌlix Guattari, Dora GarciÌa, Brian OâDoherty, and others. For literature, I see the artistic research debate as an opportunity to work in and with the âminorâ: a call for solidarity among those in the margins. Through its âbelatedness,â literature can avoid normative elements of the artistic research debate and graduate to describing and valuing the diversity that is being created, recouping the âartnessâ of this workâand acting on a systemic level
In vitro investigation into the potential of a mistletoe extract to alleviate adverse effects of cyclophosphamide
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2048662
The potential of a mistletoe (Viscum album L.) extract to alleviate adverse effects of cancer chemotherapy: An in vitro study
Data-driven inference of the reproduction number for COVID-19 before and after interventions for 51 European countries
The reproduction number is broadly considered as a key indicator for the spreading of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its estimated value is a measure of the necessity and, eventually, effectiveness of interventions imposed in various countries. Here we present an online tool for the data-driven inference and quantification of uncertainties for the reproduction number, as well as the time points of interventions for 51 European countries. The study relied on the Bayesian calibration of the SIR model with data from reported daily infections from these countries. The model fitted the data, for most countries, without individual tuning of parameters. We also compared the results of SIR and SEIR models, which give different estimates of the reproduction number, and provided an analytical relationship between the respective numbers. We deployed a Bayesian inference framework with efficient sampling algorithms, to present a publicly available graphical user interface (https://cse-lab.ethz.ch/coronavirus) that allows the user to assess and compare predictions for pairs of European countries. The results quantified the rate of the disease's spread before and after interventions, and provided a metric for the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions in different countries. They also indicated how geographic proximity and the times of interventions affected the progression of the epidemic. © 2020 EMH Swiss Medical Publishers Ltd.. All rights reserved
Connective tissue regeneration in skeletal muscle after eccentric contraction-induced injury
Optimal allocation of limited test resources for the quantification of COVID-19 infections
The systematic identification of infected individuals is critical for the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, the spread of the disease is mostly quantified by the reported numbers of infections, hospitalisations, recoveries and deaths; these quantities inform epidemiology models that provide forecasts for the spread of the epidemic and guide policy making. The veracity of these forecasts depends on the discrepancy between the numbers of reported, and unreported yet infectious, individuals. We combine Bayesian experimental design with an epidemiology model and propose a methodology for the optimal allocation of limited testing resources in space and time, which maximises the information gain for such unreported infections. The proposed approach is applicable at the onset and spread of the epidemic and can forewarn of a possible recurrence of the disease after relaxation of interventions. We examine its application in Switzerland; the open source software is, however, readily adaptable to countries around the world. We find that following the proposed methodology can lead to vastly less uncertain predictions for the spread of the disease, thus improving estimates of the effective reproduction number and the future number of unreported infections. This information can provide timely and systematic guidance for the effective identification of infectious individuals and for decision-making regarding lockdown measures and the distribution of vaccines. © 2020 EMH Swiss Medical Publishers Ltd.. All rights reserved
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