On the assimilation of Martian total ozone retrievals

The technique of data assimilation gives us an opportunity to further our understanding of important photochemical processes in the Martian atmosphere, through the creation of a reanalysis product that can be used to investigate the temporal and spatial agreement between model and observations and determine any possible causes of identified differences. In this study [1], we have assimilated, for the first time, total ozone retrievals into a Mars Global Circulation model (GCM) to study the ozone cycle

Horseshoe-based Bayesian nonparametric estimation of effective population size trajectories

Phylodynamics is an area of population genetics that uses genetic sequence data to estimate past population dynamics. Modern state-of-the-art Bayesian nonparametric methods for recovering population size trajectories of unknown form use either change-point models or Gaussian process priors. Change-point models suffer from computational issues when the number of change-points is unknown and needs to be estimated. Gaussian process-based methods lack local adaptivity and cannot accurately recover trajectories that exhibit features such as abrupt changes in trend or varying levels of smoothness. We propose a novel, locally-adaptive approach to Bayesian nonparametric phylodynamic inference that has the flexibility to accommodate a large class of functional behaviors. Local adaptivity results from modeling the log-transformed effective population size a priori as a horseshoe Markov random field, a recently proposed statistical model that blends together the best properties of the change-point and Gaussian process modeling paradigms. We use simulated data to assess model performance, and find that our proposed method results in reduced bias and increased precision when compared to contemporary methods. We also use our models to reconstruct past changes in genetic diversity of human hepatitis C virus in Egypt and to estimate population size changes of ancient and modern steppe bison. These analyses show that our new method captures features of the population size trajectories that were missed by the state-of-the-art methods.Comment: 36 pages, including supplementary informatio

Safety of cephalosporins in penicillin class severe delayed hypersensitivity reactions

Letter to the edito

Perceptions of alcohol health warning labels in a large international cross-sectional survey of people who drink alcohol

Aims This paper aimed to explore perceptions of alcohol health warning labels amongst a large international sample of people who drink alcohol. Methods The Global Drug Survey (GDS) is the world’s largest annual cross sectional survey of drug use. Seven health warning labels were presented (relating to heart disease, liver, cancer, calories, violence, taking two days off and the myth of benefits to moderate drinking). People were asked if they were aware of the information, believed it, if it was personally relevant, and if it would change their drinking. This paper included data from 75,969 respondents from 29 countries/regions who reported the use of alcohol in the last 12 months, collected during November–December 2017 (GDS2018). Results The fact that drinking less can reduce the risk of seven types of cancer was the least well known, and yet was demonstrated to encourage almost 40% of drinkers to consider drinking less. Women and high risk drinkers were more likely to indicate they would reduce their drinking in response to all labels. Personal relevance was identified as a key predictor of individual responses. Conclusion Findings highlight the potential of a range of health messages displayed on alcoholic beverages to raise awareness of alcohol-related harms and potentially support a reduction in drinking. Further research should explore what influences personal relevance of messages as this may be a barrier to effectiveness

Differential Geometry applied to Acoustics : Non Linear Propagation in Reissner Beams

Although acoustics is one of the disciplines of mechanics, its "geometrization" is still limited to a few areas. As shown in the work on nonlinear propagation in Reissner beams, it seems that an interpretation of the theories of acoustics through the concepts of differential geometry can help to address the non-linear phenomena in their intrinsic qualities. This results in a field of research aimed at establishing and solving dynamic models purged of any artificial nonlinearity by taking advantage of symmetry properties underlying the use of Lie groups. The geometric constructions needed for reduction are presented in the context of the "covariant" approach.Comment: Submitted to GSI2013 - Geometric Science of Informatio

De sensatie van een goed leven bij autisme en een verstandelijke beperking

Problemen in de prikkelverwerking staan een ‘goed leven’ voor mensen met autisme en een verstandelijke beperking vaak behoorlijk in de weg. Daarom startte de unit Toegepast GezondheidsOnderzoek (TGO) van het Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen-Gezondheidswetenschappen in 2017 het project De Sensatie van een Goed Leven (SGL, zie verder kader 2). Doel van dit project is het ontwikkelen van een aanpak voor een beter leven voor mensen met autisme en een verstandelijke beperking, via een optimale prikkelbalans. Met prikkelbalans bedoelen we dat iemand optimaal in staat is om zintuiglijke prikkels te verwerken, zonder over- of onderprikkeld te raken. In dit artikel beschrijven we de methode van het project, geven we een kort overzicht van de huidige kennis en laten we zien hoe de in dit project ontwikkelde ‘aanpak’ eruitziet en waar je die kunt vinden