Recurring types of variability and transitions in the ∼620 kyr record of climate change from the Chew Bahir basin, southern Ethiopia

The Chew Bahir Drilling Project (CBDP) aims to test possible linkages between climate and hominin evolution in Africa through the analysis of sediment cores that have recorded environmental changes in the Chew Bahir basin (CHB). In this statistical project we used recurrence plots (RPs) together with a recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) to distinguish two types of variability and transitions in the Chew Bahir aridity record and compare them with the ODP Site 967 wetness index from the eastern Mediterranean. The first type of variability is one of slow variations with cycles of ∼20 kyr, reminiscent of the Earth's precession cycle, and subharmonics of this orbital cycle. In addition to these cyclical wet-dry fluctuations in the area, extreme events often occur, i.e. short wet or dry episodes, lasting for several centuries or even millennia, and rapid transitions between these wet and dry episodes. The second type of variability is characterized by relatively low variation on orbital time scales, but significant century-millennium-scale variations with progressively increasing frequencies. Within this type of variability there are extremely fast transitions between dry and wet within a few decades or years, in contrast to those within Type 1 with transitions over several hundreds of years. Type 1 variability probably reflects the influence of precessional forcing in the lower latitudes at times with maximum values of the long (400 kyr) eccentricity cycle of the Earth's orbit around the sun, with the tendency towards extreme events. Type 2 variability seems to be linked with minimum values of this cycle. There does not seem to be a systematic correlation between Type 1 or Type 2 variability with atmospheric CO2 concentration. The different types of variability and the transitions between those types had important effects on the availability of water, and could have transformed eastern Africa's environment considerably, which would have had important implications for the shaping of the habitat of H. sapiens and the direct ancestors of this species

The substantive and practical significance of citation impact differences between institutions: Guidelines for the analysis of percentiles using effect sizes and confidence intervals

In our chapter we address the statistical analysis of percentiles: How should the citation impact of institutions be compared? In educational and psychological testing, percentiles are already used widely as a standard to evaluate an individual's test scores - intelligence tests for example - by comparing them with the percentiles of a calibrated sample. Percentiles, or percentile rank classes, are also a very suitable method for bibliometrics to normalize citations of publications in terms of the subject category and the publication year and, unlike the mean-based indicators (the relative citation rates), percentiles are scarcely affected by skewed distributions of citations. The percentile of a certain publication provides information about the citation impact this publication has achieved in comparison to other similar publications in the same subject category and publication year. Analyses of percentiles, however, have not always been presented in the most effective and meaningful way. New APA guidelines (American Psychological Association, 2010) suggest a lesser emphasis on significance tests and a greater emphasis on the substantive and practical significance of findings. Drawing on work by Cumming (2012) we show how examinations of effect sizes (e.g. Cohen's d statistic) and confidence intervals can lead to a clear understanding of citation impact differences

Culture shapes how we look at faces

Background: Face processing, amongst many basic visual skills, is thought to be invariant across all humans. From as early as 1965, studies of eye movements have consistently revealed a systematic triangular sequence of fixations over the eyes and the mouth, suggesting that faces elicit a universal, biologically-determined information extraction pattern. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we monitored the eye movements of Western Caucasian and East Asian observers while they learned, recognized, and categorized by race Western Caucasian and East Asian faces. Western Caucasian observers reproduced a scattered triangular pattern of fixations for faces of both races and across tasks. Contrary to intuition, East Asian observers focused more on the central region of the face. Conclusions/Significance: These results demonstrate that face processing can no longer be considered as arising from a universal series of perceptual events. The strategy employed to extract visual information from faces differs across cultures

Multiscale methods for the solution of the Helmholtz and Laplace equations

This paper presents some numerical results about applications of multiscale techniques to boundary integral equations. The numerical schemes developed here are to some extent based on the results of the papers [6]—[10]. Section 2 deals with a short description of the theory of generalized Petrov-Galerkin methods for elliptic periodic pseudodifferential equations in $\mathbb{R}^n$ covering classical Galerkin schemes, collocation, and other methods. A general setting of multiresolution analysis generated by periodized scaling functions as well as a general stability and convergence theory for such a framework is outlined. The key to the stability analysis is a local principle due to one of the authors. Its applicability relies here on a sufficiently general version of a so-called discrete commutator property of wavelet bases (see [6]). These results establish important prerequisites for developing and analysing methods for the fast solution of the resulting linear systems (Section 2.4). The crucial fact which is exploited by these methods is that the stiffness matrices relative to an appropriate wavelet basis can be approximated well by a sparse matrix while the solution to the perturbed problem still exhibits the same asymptotic accuracy as the solution to the full discrete problem. It can be shown (see [7]) that the amount of the overall computational work which is needed to realize a required accuracy is of the order $\mathcal{O}(N(\log N)^b)$, where $N$ is the number of unknowns and $b \geq 0$ is some real number

Hyperthyroidism as a reversible cause of right ventricular overload and congestive heart failure

We describe a case of severe congestive heart failure and right ventricular overload associated with overt hyperthyroidism, completely reversed with antithyroid therapy in a few week. It represents a very unusual presentation of overt hyperthyroidism because of the severity of right heart failure. The impressive right ventricular volume overload made mandatory to perform transesophageal echo and angio-TC examination to exclude the coexistence of ASD or anomalous pulmonary venous return. Only a few cases of reversible right heart failure, with or without pulmonary hypertension, have been reported worldwide. In our case the most striking feature has been the normalization of the cardiovascular findings after six weeks of tiamazole therapy

Recognition without identification, erroneous familiarity, and déjà vu

Déjà vu is characterized by the recognition of a situation concurrent with the awareness that this recognition is inappropriate. Although forms of déjà vu resolve in favor of the inappropriate recognition and therefore have behavioral consequences, typical déjà vu experiences resolve in favor of the awareness that the sensation of recognition is inappropriate. The resultant lack of behavioral modification associated with typical déjà vu means that clinicians and experimenters rely heavily on self-report when observing the experience. In this review, we focus on recent déjà vu research. We consider issues facing neuropsychological, neuroscientific, and cognitive experimental frameworks attempting to explore and experimentally generate the experience. In doing this, we suggest the need for more experimentation and amore cautious interpretation of research findings, particularly as many techniques being used to explore déjà vu are in the early stages of development.PostprintPeer reviewe

Persistence of Mycoplasma genitalium Following Azithromycin Therapy

BACKGROUND: To determine clinical outcomes and cure rates for M.genitalium genital infection in men and women following azithromycin 1 g. METHODOLOGY: Patients attending Melbourne Sexual Health Centre between March 2005 and November 2007 with urethritis/epididymitis, cervicitis/pelvic inflammatory disease and sexual contacts of M.genitalium were tested for M.genitalium by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). M.genitalium-infection was treated with 1 g of azithromycin and a test-of-cure (toc) was performed one month post-azithromycin. Response to azithromycin, and response to moxifloxacin (400 mg daily for 10 days) in individuals with persistent infection post-azithromycin, was determined. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Of 1538 males and 313 females tested, 161 males (11%) and 30 females (10%) were infected with M.genitalium. A toc was available on 131 (69%) infected individuals (median = 36 days [range 12-373]). Of 120 individuals prescribed azithromycin only pre-toc, M.genitalium was eradicated in 101 (84%, 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 77-90%) and persisted in 19 (16%, 95% CI: 10-23%). Eleven individuals with persistent infection (9%, 95% CI: 5-15%) had no risk of reinfection from untreated-partners, while eight (7%, 95% CI: 3-12%) may have been at risk of reinfection from doxycycline-treated or untreated-partners. Moxifloxacin was effective in eradicating persistent infection in all cases not responding to azithromycin. Patients with persistent-M.genitalium were more likely to experience persistent symptoms (91%), compared to patients in whom M.genitalium was eradicated (17%), p<0.0001. CONCLUSION: Use of azithromycin 1 g in M.genitalium-infected patients was associated with unacceptable rates of persistent infection, which was eradicated with moxifloxacin. These findings highlight the importance of follow-up in M.genitalium-infected patients prescribed azithromycin, and the need to monitor for the development of resistance. Research to determine optimal first and second-line therapeutic agents for M.genitalium is needed

Low frequency of defective mismatch repair in a population-based series of upper urothelial carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Upper urothelial cancer (UUC), i.e. transitional cell carcinomas of the renal pelvis and the ureter, occur at an increased frequency in patients with hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC). Defective mismatch repair (MMR) specifically characterizes HNPCC-associated tumors, but also occurs in subsets of some sporadic tumors, e.g. in gastrointestinal cancer and endometrial cancer. METHODS: We assessed the contribution of defective MMR to the development of UUC in a population-based series from the southern Swedish Cancer Registry, through microsatellite instability (MSI) analysis and immunohistochemical evaluation of expression of the MMR proteins MLH1, PMS2, MSH2, and MSH6. RESULTS: A MSI-high phenotype was identified in 9/216 (4%) successfully analyzed patients and a MSI-low phenotype in 5/216 (2%). Loss of MMR protein immunostaining was found in 11/216 (5%) tumors, and affected most commonly MSH2 and MSH6. CONCLUSION: This population-based series indicates that somatic MMR inactivation is a minor pathway in the development of UUC, but tumors that display defective MMR are, based on the immunohistochemical expression pattern, likely to be associated with HNPCC