502 research outputs found
Cell shape analysis of random tessellations based on Minkowski tensors
To which degree are shape indices of individual cells of a tessellation
characteristic for the stochastic process that generates them? Within the
context of stochastic geometry and the physics of disordered materials, this
corresponds to the question of relationships between different stochastic
models. In the context of image analysis of synthetic and biological materials,
this question is central to the problem of inferring information about
formation processes from spatial measurements of resulting random structures.
We address this question by a theory-based simulation study of shape indices
derived from Minkowski tensors for a variety of tessellation models. We focus
on the relationship between two indices: an isoperimetric ratio of the
empirical averages of cell volume and area and the cell elongation quantified
by eigenvalue ratios of interfacial Minkowski tensors. Simulation data for
these quantities, as well as for distributions thereof and for correlations of
cell shape and volume, are presented for Voronoi mosaics of the Poisson point
process, determinantal and permanental point processes, and Gibbs hard-core and
random sequential absorption processes as well as for Laguerre tessellations of
polydisperse spheres and STIT- and Poisson hyperplane tessellations. These data
are complemented by mechanically stable crystalline sphere and disordered
ellipsoid packings and area-minimising foam models. We find that shape indices
of individual cells are not sufficient to unambiguously identify the generating
process even amongst this limited set of processes. However, we identify
significant differences of the shape indices between many of these tessellation
models. Given a realization of a tessellation, these shape indices can narrow
the choice of possible generating processes, providing a powerful tool which
can be further strengthened by density-resolved volume-shape correlations.Comment: Chapter of the forthcoming book "Tensor Valuations and their
Applications in Stochastic Geometry and Imaging" in Lecture Notes in
Mathematics edited by Markus Kiderlen and Eva B. Vedel Jense
Interpreting declines in HIV test positivity: an analysis of routine data from Zimbabwe's national sex work programme, 2009â2019
Introduction
Early diagnosis of HIV is critical for epidemic control. To achieve this, successful testing programmes are essential and test positivity is often used as a marker of their performance. The aim of this study was to analyse trends and predictors of HIV test positivity over time and explore how an understanding of seroconversion rates could build on our interpretation of this indicator among female sex workers in Zimbabwe.
Methods
We analysed HIV test data from Zimbabwe's nationally scaled sex work programme between 2009 and 2019. We defined test positivity as the proportion of all tests that were HIV positive and measured new diagnoses by estimating seroconversion rates among women with repeat tests, defined as an HIV-positive test after at least one HIV-negative test in the programme. We used logistic regression to analyse test positivity over three time-periods: 2009â2013, 2014â2017 and 2018â2019, adjusting for potential confounding by demographic factors and the mediating effects of time since last HIV test. We calculated the seroconversion rates for the same time-periods.
Results
During the 10-year study period, 54,503 tests were recorded in 39,462 women. Between 2009 and 2013, 18% of tests were among women who reported testing in the previous 6 months. By 2018â2019, this had increased to 57%. Between 2018 and 2019, test positivity was 9.6%, compared to 47.9% for 2009â2013 (aOR 6.08 95% CI 5.52â6.70) and 18.8% for 2014â2017 (aOR 2.17 95% CI 2.06â2.28). Adjusting for time since last test reduced effect estimates for 2009â2013 (aOR 4.03 95% CI 3.64â4.45) and 2014â2017 (aOR 1.97 95% CI 1.86â2.09) compared to 2018â2019. Among 7573 women with an initial HIV-negative test in the programme and at least one subsequent test, 464 tested HIV positive at a rate of 3.9 per 100 pyar (95% CI 3.5â4.2).
Conclusions
Test positivity decreased among women testing through the programme over time, while seroconversion rates remained high. These declines were partly driven by changes in individual testing history, reflecting comprehensive coverage of testing services and greater knowledge of HIV status, but not necessarily declining rates of seroconversion. Understanding testing history and monitoring new HIV infections from repeat tests could strengthen the interpretation of test positivity and provide a better understanding of programme performance
Interpreting declines in HIV test positivity: an analysis of routine data from Zimbabwe's national sex work programme, 2009â2019
Introduction
Early diagnosis of HIV is critical for epidemic control. To achieve this, successful testing programmes are essential and test positivity is often used as a marker of their performance. The aim of this study was to analyse trends and predictors of HIV test positivity over time and explore how an understanding of seroconversion rates could build on our interpretation of this indicator among female sex workers in Zimbabwe.
Methods
We analysed HIV test data from Zimbabwe's nationally scaled sex work programme between 2009 and 2019. We defined test positivity as the proportion of all tests that were HIV positive and measured new diagnoses by estimating seroconversion rates among women with repeat tests, defined as an HIV-positive test after at least one HIV-negative test in the programme. We used logistic regression to analyse test positivity over three time-periods: 2009â2013, 2014â2017 and 2018â2019, adjusting for potential confounding by demographic factors and the mediating effects of time since last HIV test. We calculated the seroconversion rates for the same time-periods.
Results
During the 10-year study period, 54,503 tests were recorded in 39,462 women. Between 2009 and 2013, 18% of tests were among women who reported testing in the previous 6 months. By 2018â2019, this had increased to 57%. Between 2018 and 2019, test positivity was 9.6%, compared to 47.9% for 2009â2013 (aOR 6.08 95% CI 5.52â6.70) and 18.8% for 2014â2017 (aOR 2.17 95% CI 2.06â2.28). Adjusting for time since last test reduced effect estimates for 2009â2013 (aOR 4.03 95% CI 3.64â4.45) and 2014â2017 (aOR 1.97 95% CI 1.86â2.09) compared to 2018â2019. Among 7573 women with an initial HIV-negative test in the programme and at least one subsequent test, 464 tested HIV positive at a rate of 3.9 per 100 pyar (95% CI 3.5â4.2).
Conclusions
Test positivity decreased among women testing through the programme over time, while seroconversion rates remained high. These declines were partly driven by changes in individual testing history, reflecting comprehensive coverage of testing services and greater knowledge of HIV status, but not necessarily declining rates of seroconversion. Understanding testing history and monitoring new HIV infections from repeat tests could strengthen the interpretation of test positivity and provide a better understanding of programme performance
Technological enhancements in the teaching and learning of reflective and creative practice in dance
This is an electronic version of an article published in Huxley, M., Doughty, S., Francksen, K. and Leach, M. (2008) Technological enhancements in the teaching and learning of reflective and creative practice in dance. Research in Dance Education. 9 (1), pp.129-146.A team of researchers at De Montfort Universityâs Centre for Excellence in Performance Arts
has explored uses of technology in dance education. The wider context of dance and
technology pedagogy includes research into dance, technologies, learning and teaching and
the relationships between teaching and research. The paper addresses all of these themes. Three
pedagogic research projects are reported on. They address dance and technology in terms of:
(i) teaching the Alexander Technique for dancers, (ii) improvisation, (iii) interactive practice
using the software environment Isadora. Two main themes are highlighted: (1) use of
technology as a means of enabling reflection, and (2) technology as a means of both engaging
in the creative process and as a creative tool. It is argued that student-centred autonomous
learning in dance can be significantly enhanced by an informed application of technologies
Development of a blood-based molecular biomarker test for identification of schizophrenia before disease onset
Recent research efforts have progressively shifted towards preventative psychiatry and prognostic identification of individuals before disease onset. We describe the development of a serum biomarker test for the identification of individuals at risk of developing schizophrenia based on multiplex immunoassay profiling analysis of 957 serum samples.
First, we conducted a meta-analysis of five independent cohorts of 127 first-onset drug-naive schizophrenia patients and 204 controls. Using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression, we identified an optimal panel of 26 biomarkers that best discriminated patients and controls.
Next, we successfully validated this biomarker panel using two independent validation cohorts of 93 patients and 88 controls, which yielded an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.97 (0.95-1.00) for schizophrenia detection.
Finally, we tested its predictive performance for identifying patients before onset of psychosis using two cohorts of 445 pre-onset or at-risk individuals.
The predictive performance achieved by the panel was excellent for identifying USA military personnel (AUC: 0.90 (0.86-0.95)) and help-seeking prodromal individuals (AUC: 0.82 (0.71-0.93)) who developed schizophrenia up to 2 years after baseline sampling. The performance increased further using the latter cohort following the incorporation of CAARMS (Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental State) positive subscale symptom scores into the model (AUC: 0.90 (0.82-0.98)). The current findings may represent the first successful step towards a test that could address the clinical need for early intervention in psychiatry. Further developments of a combined molecular/symptom-based test will aid clinicians in the identification of vulnerable patients early in the disease process, allowing more effective therapeutic intervention before overt disease onset
Inclusive Hadron Production in Photon-Photon Collisions at Next-to-Leading Order
We study inclusive charged-hadron production in collisions of quasireal
photons at NLO in perturbative QCD, using fragmentation functions recently
extracted from PEP and LEP1 data. We superimpose the direct (DD),
single-resolved (DR), and double-resolved (RR) gamma-gamma channels. First, we
confront existing data taken by TASSO at PETRA and by MARK II at PEP with our
NLO calculations. We also make comparisons with the neutral-kaon to
charged-hadron ratio measured by MARK II. Then, we present NLO predictions for
LEP2, a next-generation e+e- linear collider (NLC) in the TESLA design, and a
Compton collider obtained by converting a NLC. We analyze transverse-momentum
and rapidity spectra with regard to the scale dependence, the interplay of the
DD, DR, and RR components, the sensitivity to the gluon density in the resolved
photon, and the influence of gluon fragmentation. It turns out that the
inclusive measurement of small-p_T hadrons at a Compton collider would greatly
constrain the gluon density of the photon and the gluon fragmentation function.Comment: 16 pages, 12 Postscript figure
Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in âs = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector
A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fbâ1 of protonâproton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results
Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment
This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and
W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with
the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and
the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto
the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions
f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV
and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw
> 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour,
are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017
+/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second
include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables,
revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio
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