Suppression of zinc dendrites in zinc electrode power cells

Addition of various tetraalkyl quarternary ammonium salts, to alkaline zincate electrolyte of cell, prevents formation of zinc dendrites during charging of zinc electrode. Electrode capacity is not impaired and elimination of dendrites prolongs cell life

Julian Ernst Besag, 26 March 1945 -- 6 August 2010, a biographical memoir

Julian Besag was an outstanding statistical scientist, distinguished for his pioneering work on the statistical theory and analysis of spatial processes, especially conditional lattice systems. His work has been seminal in statistical developments over the last several decades ranging from image analysis to Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. He clarified the role of auto-logistic and auto-normal models as instances of Markov random fields and paved the way for their use in diverse applications. Later work included investigations into the efficacy of nearest neighbour models to accommodate spatial dependence in the analysis of data from agricultural field trials, image restoration from noisy data, and texture generation using lattice models.Comment: 26 pages, 14 figures; minor revisions, omission of full bibliograph

Organic source of nitrogen trials & miscellaneous trials.

1. Nitrogen sources Badgingarra 85BA3 Organic Source of Nitrogen 8SBA4 Interaction of Organic and Inorganic Nitrogen sources 85BAS Miscellaneous Organic Nitrogen Sources 85BA39 Times and Levels of Inorganic Nitrogen Application Lancelin 85M02 Organic sources of nitrogen 85M03 Interaction of Organic and Inorganic Nitrogen Sources 85M04 Miscellaneous Organic Nitrogen Sources 85MOS3 Times and Levels of Inorganic Nitrogen Application Meckering 85N01 Organic Sources of Nitrogen 85N03 Miscellaneous Organic Nitrogen Sources 85NOS9 Times and Levels of Inorganic Nitrogen Application 2. Miscellaneous trials 84M6 Rates of Nitrogen on Wheat - CSIRO Megatrial (E. Harvey) 85M4 Nitrogen and Water on Wheat (with M. Mason) 83WH29 Residual Effects of Crop and Pasture Species on Second Wheat Crop 82WH2 Residual Value of Ripping (4th Year

Predictors and Consequences of Anaemia Among Antiretroviral-Naïve HIV-Infected and HIV-Uninfected Children in Tanzania.

Predictors and consequences of childhood anaemia in settings with high HIV prevalence are not well known. The aims of the present study were to identify maternal and child predictors of anaemia among children born to HIV-infected women and to study the association between childhood anaemia and mortality. Prospective cohort study. Maternal characteristics during pregnancy and Hb measurements at 3-month intervals from birth were available for children. Information was also collected on malaria and HIV infection in the children, who were followed up for survival status until 24 months after birth. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The study sample consisted of 829 children born to HIV-positive women. Advanced maternal clinical HIV disease (relative risk (RR) for stage > or =2 v. stage 1: 1.31, 95 % CI 1.14, 1.51) and low CD4 cell counts during pregnancy (RR for <350 cells/mm3 v. > or =350 cells/mm3: 1.58, 95 % CI 1.05, 2.37) were associated with increased risk of anaemia among children. Birth weight <2500 g, preterm birth (<34 weeks), malaria parasitaemia and HIV infection in the children also increased the risk of anaemia. Fe-deficiency anaemia in children was an independent predictor of mortality in the first two years of life (hazard ratio 1.99, 95 % CI 1.06, 3.72). Comprehensive care including highly active antiretroviral therapy to eligible HIV-infected women during pregnancy could reduce the burden of anaemia in children. Programmes for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and antimalarial treatment to children could improve child survival in settings with high HIV prevalence

Estimating stellar oscillation-related parameters and their uncertainties with the moment method

The moment method is a well known mode identification technique in asteroseismology (where `mode' is to be understood in an astronomical rather than in a statistical sense), which uses a time series of the first 3 moments of a spectral line to estimate the discrete oscillation mode parameters l and m. The method, contrary to many other mode identification techniques, also provides estimates of other important continuous parameters such as the inclination angle alpha, and the rotational velocity v_e. We developed a statistical formalism for the moment method based on so-called generalized estimating equations (GEE). This formalism allows the estimation of the uncertainty of the continuous parameters taking into account that the different moments of a line profile are correlated and that the uncertainty of the observed moments also depends on the model parameters. Furthermore, we set up a procedure to take into account the mode uncertainty, i.e., the fact that often several modes (l,m) can adequately describe the data. We also introduce a new lack of fit function which works at least as well as a previous discriminant function, and which in addition allows us to identify the sign of the azimuthal order m. We applied our method to the star HD181558, using several numerical methods, from which we learned that numerically solving the estimating equations is an intensive task. We report on the numerical results, from which we gain insight in the statistical uncertainties of the physical parameters involved in the moment method.Comment: The electronic online version from the publisher can be found at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9876.2005.00487.

Vitamin D Status and its Association with Morbidity including Wasting and Opportunistic Illnesses in HIV-Infected Women in Tanzania.

Vitamin D has a potential role in preventing HIV-related complications, based on its extensive involvement in immune and metabolic function, including preventing osteoporosis and premature cardiovascular disease. However, this association has not been examined in large studies or in resource-limited settings. Vitamin D levels were assessed in 884 HIV-infected pregnant women at enrollment in a trial of multivitamin supplementation (excluding vitamin D) in Tanzania. Information on HIV related complications was recorded during follow-up (median, 70 months). Proportional hazards models and generalized estimating equations were used to assess the relationship of vitamin D status with these outcomes. Women with low vitamin D status (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D<32 ng/mL) had 43% higher risk of reaching a body mass index (BMI) less than 18 kg/m(2) during the first 2 years of follow-up, compared to women with adequate vitamin D levels (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.43; 95% confidence intervals: [1.03-1.99]). The relationship between continuous vitamin D levels and risk of BMI less than 18 kg/m(2) during follow-up was inverse and linear (p=0.03). Women with low vitamin D levels had significantly higher incidence of acute upper respiratory infections (HR: 1.27 [1.04-1.54]) and thrush (HR: 2.74 [1.29-5.83]) diagnosed during the first 2 years of follow-up. Low vitamin D status was a significant risk factor for wasting and HIV-related complications such as thrush during follow-up in this prospective cohort in Tanzania. If these protective associations are confirmed in randomized trials, vitamin D supplementation could represent a simple and inexpensive method to improve health and quality of life of HIV-infected patients, particularly in resource-limited settings

Population health and the economy: Mortality and the Great Recession in Europe

We analyze the evolution of mortality‐based health indicators in 27 European countries before and after the start of the Great Recession. We find that in the countries where the crisis has been particularly severe, mortality reductions in 2007–2010 were considerably bigger than in 2004–2007. Panel models adjusted for space‐invariant and time‐invariant factors show that an increase of 1 percentage point in the national unemployment rate is associated with a reduction of 0.5% (p < .001) in the rate of age‐adjusted mortality. The pattern of mortality oscillating procyclically is found for total and sex‐specific mortality, cause‐specific mortality due to major causes of death, and mortality for ages 30–44 and 75 and over, but not for ages 0–14. Suicides appear increasing when the economy decelerates—countercyclically—but the evidence is weak. Results are robust to using different weights in the regression, applying nonlinear methods for detrending, expanding the sample, and using as business cycle indicator gross domestic product per capita or employment‐to‐population ratios rather than the unemployment rate. We conclude that in the European experience of the past 20 years, recessions, on average, have beneficial short‐term effects on mortality of the adult population.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142224/1/hec3495_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142224/2/hec3495.pd

No Rise in Incidence but Geographical Heterogeneity in the Occurrence of Primary Biliary Cirrhosis in North East England

In this study, we examined temporal changes in the incidence of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and investigated associations between PBC incidence and sociodemographic factors and spatial clustering. We included 982 patients aged ≥40 years from North East England with incident PBC diagnosed during 1987–2003. Age-standardized incidence rates with 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Negative binomial regression was used to analyze incidence and socioeconomic deprivation. Clustering analysis was performed using point process methods, testing the null hypothesis that disease risk does not vary spatially and that PBC cases occur independently. The age-standardized incidence rate was 53.50 per million persons per year (95% confidence interval: 48.65, 58.35) in 1987–1994 and 45.09 per million persons per year (95% confidence interval: 41.10, 49.07) in 1995–2003. Risk of PBC increased in areas with higher levels of socioeconomic deprivation (P = 0.035). More specifically, risk increased in areas with higher levels of overcrowded homes (P = 0.040), higher levels of households without cars (P < 0.001), and higher levels of non-owner-occupied homes (P < 0.001). Overall, there was evidence of spatial clustering (P = 0.001). The findings confirm that overall incidence of PBC did not rise over time, but sociodemographic variations suggest that certain aspects of deprivation are involved in its etiology

Non-linear regression models for Approximate Bayesian Computation

Approximate Bayesian inference on the basis of summary statistics is well-suited to complex problems for which the likelihood is either mathematically or computationally intractable. However the methods that use rejection suffer from the curse of dimensionality when the number of summary statistics is increased. Here we propose a machine-learning approach to the estimation of the posterior density by introducing two innovations. The new method fits a nonlinear conditional heteroscedastic regression of the parameter on the summary statistics, and then adaptively improves estimation using importance sampling. The new algorithm is compared to the state-of-the-art approximate Bayesian methods, and achieves considerable reduction of the computational burden in two examples of inference in statistical genetics and in a queueing model.Comment: 4 figures; version 3 minor changes; to appear in Statistics and Computin

New approaches to measuring anthelminthic drug efficacy: parasitological responses of childhood schistosome infections to treatment with praziquantel

By 2020, the global health community aims to control and eliminate human helminthiases, including schistosomiasis in selected African countries, principally by preventive chemotherapy (PCT) through mass drug administration (MDA) of anthelminthics. Quantitative monitoring of anthelminthic responses is crucial for promptly detecting changes in efficacy, potentially indicative of emerging drug resistance. Statistical models offer a powerful means to delineate and compare efficacy among individuals, among groups of individuals and among populations.; We illustrate a variety of statistical frameworks that offer different levels of inference by analysing data from nine previous studies on egg counts collected from African children before and after administration of praziquantel.; We quantify responses to praziquantel as egg reduction rates (ERRs), using different frameworks to estimate ERRs among population strata, as average responses, and within strata, as individual responses. We compare our model-based average ERRs to corresponding model-free estimates, using as reference the World Health Organization (WHO) 90 % threshold of optimal efficacy. We estimate distributions of individual responses and summarize the variation among these responses as the fraction of ERRs falling below the WHO threshold.; Generic models for evaluating responses to anthelminthics deepen our understanding of variation among populations, sub-populations and individuals. We discuss the future application of statistical modelling approaches for monitoring and evaluation of PCT programmes targeting human helminthiases in the context of the WHO 2020 control and elimination goals