382 research outputs found
A Bayesian Approach to Deriving Ages of Individual Field White Dwarfs
We apply a self-consistent and robust Bayesian statistical approach to
determining the ages, distances, and ZAMS masses of 28 field DA white dwarfs
with ages of approximately 4 to 8 Gyrs. Our technique requires only quality
optical and near-IR photometry to derive ages with < 15% uncertainties,
generally with little sensitivity to our choice of modern initial-final mass
relation. We find that age, distance, and ZAMS mass are correlated in a manner
that is too complex to be captured by traditional error propagation techniques.
We further find that the posterior distributions of age are often asymmetric,
indicating that the standard approach to deriving WD ages can yield misleading
results.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Assessing the impact of deliberation and information on opinion change: a quasi-experiment in public deliberation
Deliberative democracy has become fashionable for many and it has been used in some places to solve real-world policy problems. However measuring the ‘success’ of deliberative democracy is not clearly achievable. For most ‘success’ is measured in terms of opinion change, but these are only rarely measured against control groups, and in particular there is no way of knowing if the opinion change took place because of the deliberation or because of information they received through the deliberation process. Exercises in deliberation seem to represent one big treatment. But we would want to separate out the component parts of the treatment. This paper outlines the results of an experiment in which deliberation took place in a pilot Citizens’ Assembly in Ireland. As part of this we measured the impact using pre and post-test controls, including a control group given the information the CA participants received, but without the deliberation. The results of the experiment reveal that there is a deliberation effect separate to the information effect
Deliberative democracy in action Irish-style: The 2011 We The Citizens pilot citizens assembly
Dáil reforms since 2011: Pathway to power for the 'puny' parliament?
We know that the Dáil is dominated by the government. From 2010 to 2016 there was a clamour for change, which ultimately led to significant reforms of the Oireachtas, and specifically the Dáil. In this article we show that the basis for the weakness of the Dáil was the government’s control of the legislative agenda. This article tracks the changes that were made, and we make an early assessment of them. However, firm conclusions are difficult to draw because of the extent to which the strengthening of the Dáil is a function of the weak position of the current minority government
Phenotypic plasticity of fine root growth increases plant productivity in pine seedlings
BACKGROUND: The plastic response of fine roots to a changing environment is suggested to affect the growth and form of a plant. Here we show that the plasticity of fine root growth may increase plant productivity based on an experiment using young seedlings (14-week old) of loblolly pine. We use two contrasting pine ecotypes, "mesic" and "xeric", to investigate the adaptive significance of such a plastic response. RESULTS: The partitioning of biomass to fine roots is observed to reduce with increased nutrient availability. For the "mesic" ecotype, increased stem biomass as a consequence of more nutrients may be primarily due to reduced fine-root biomass partitioning. For the "xeric" ecotype, the favorable influence of the plasticity of fine root growth on stem growth results from increased allocation of biomass to foliage and decreased allocation to fine roots. An evolutionary genetic analysis indicates that the plasticity of fine root growth is inducible, whereas the plasticity of foliage is constitutive. CONCLUSIONS: Results promise to enhance a fundamental understanding of evolutionary changes of tree architecture under domestication and to design sound silvicultural and breeding measures for improving plant productivity
Phase II study of the safety and efficacy of the anti-PD-1 antibody balstilimab in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic cervical cancer
Cervical cancer; Checkpoint inhibitor; ImmunotherapyCáncer de cuello uterino; Inhibidor de puntos de control; InmunoterapiaCà ncer cervical; Inhibidor de punts de control; Immunoterà piaObjective
This phase II clinical trial evaluated the safety and antitumor activity of balstilimab, an anti-PD-1 antibody, in patients with previously-treated, recurrent/metastatic cervical cancer.
Methods
Eligible patients were 18 years or older with recurrent and/or metastatic cervical cancer and who had relapsed after a prior platinum-based treatment regimen for advanced disease. Balstilimab was administered intravenously at 3 mg/kg once every two weeks, for up to 24 months. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR, RECIST v1.1) as assessed by an independent review committee.
Results
At data cutoff, 161 women (median age, 53 years [range 25–81]) were enrolled and treated with balstilimab. Of these, 140 had measurable disease at baseline and one prior line of platinum-based therapy in the metastatic, persistent, or recurrent setting; these patients were included in the efficacy analyses. The ORR was 15% (95% CI, 10.0%–21.8%) and included 5 patients with a complete response and 16 with a partial response. The median duration of response was 15.4 months. In patients with PD-L1-positive tumors the ORR was 20%, however patients with PD-L1-negative tumors also responded to balstilimab (ORR, 7.9%). Responses were not restricted to tumors of squamous cell histology, and an ORR of 12.5% was seen in the subset of patients with cervical adenocarcinoma. The disease control rate was 49.3% (95% CI, 41.1%–57.5%). Immune-mediated enterocolitis (3.1%) and diarrhea (1.9%) were the most common grade 3 or higher treatment-related adverse events.
Conclusion
Balstilimab demonstrated meaningful and durable clinical activity, with manageable safety, in patients with previously-treated, recurrent/metastatic cervical cancer.This study was funded by Agenus Inc
EMG amplitude in maximal and submaximal exercise is dependent on signal capture rate
This study analysed the effect of different electromyographic (EMG) capture rates during maximal voluntary contraction, submaximal and maximal dynamic cycling activity on EMG amplitude and signal characteristics. Ten healthy subjects participated in this study. Peak power output (PPO) and maximal isometric force output (MVC) were measured, followed by a progressive cycle ride on a cycle ergometer. Electromyographic (EMG) data were simultaneously captured during the MVC and cycling activities at frequencies of 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024 and 1984 Hz. Significant differences in amplitude were found (p < 0.01) between MVC, submaximal (SUB) and maximal cycling activities (PWATT) for all capture rates. Asymptote values for IEMG amplitude occurred at EMG capture rates of 1604 ± 235.6 Hz during MVC, 503.1 ± 236.2 Hz during PWATT and 326.2 ± 105.4 Hz during SUB cycling activity and were significantly different (p < 0.01). No significant differences were found for force/EMG ratios between PWATT and MVC at 1984 Hz capture rates (3.8 ± 1.7 N/V vs 2.5 ± 0.9 N/V) while significant differences occurred at 32 Hz capture rate (6.2 ± 3.8 vs 16.0 ± 8.0; p < 0.01). Low correlations were found between EMG activity captured at 1984 Hz during PWATT and lean thigh volume (r = 0.36) and MVC (r = 0.32). Asymptote values found on this study suggest that data captured below 326 Hz for SUB, 503 Hz for PWATT and 1604 Hz for MVC are not reliable. Therefore apparatus capturing EMG data at low frequencies from these values cannot be used for quantitative data analyses
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