Statistics for sentential co-occurrence

There is a growing trend in linguistics to use large corpora as a tool in the study of language. Through the investigation of the different contexts a word occurs in, it is possible to gain insight in the meanings associated with the word. Concordances are commonly used as a tool in lexicography, but while the study of concordances is fruitful it is also tedious, so statistical methods are gaining grounds in corpus linguistics. Several statistical measures have been introduced to measure the strength in association between two words, e.g. t-score (Barnbrook 1996:97-98), mutual information, MI (Charniak 1993; McEnery & Wilson 1996; Oakes 1998) and Berry-Rogghe’s z-score (1973). Those measures are designed to measure the strength of association between words occurring at a close distance from each other, i.e. immediately next to each other or within a fixed window span. Research that uses the sentence as a linguistic unit of study has also been presented. For example, antonymous concepts have been shown to co-occur in the same sentence more often than chance predicts by Justeson & Katz 1991, 1992 and Fellbaum 1995. A problem using the sentence as unit of study is that the lengths of the sentences vary from sentence to sentence. This has an impact on the statistical calculation – it is more likely to find two given words in a long sentence than in a short one. The probability of finding two given words co-occurring in the same sentence is thus affected. We introduce an exact expression for the calculation of the expected number of sentential co-occurrences. The p-value is calculated assuming that the number of random co-occurrences follows a Poisson distribution. A formal proof justifying this approximation is provided in the appendix. Apart from the statistical methods that account for the variation in sentence length, a case study is presented as an application of the statistical method. The study replicates Justeson and Katz’s 1991 study that shows that English antonyms co-occur sententially more frequently than chance predicts. The results of our study show that the variation in sentence length causes the chance for co-occurrence of two given words to increase. However, the main finding of Justeson & Katz is reinforced: antonyms co-occur significantly more often in the same sentence than expected by chance

Mini-Mental State Exam Status of Community-Dwelling Cognitively Intact Centenarians

Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) scores for 247 community-dwelling, well-functioning individuals in their 60s (n = 88), in their 80s (n = 92), and 100 or older (n = 67) were compared to examine overall and component MMSE differences. The concomitant influences of visual or literacy deficits, gender, education, race, income, and activities of daily living on MMSE performance were analyzed. Mean MMSE scores of 27.8, 27.1, and 24.8, respectively, for the three cohorts were significantly different, even when all concomitant variables were controlled. After the concomitant variables were controlled, results indicated that there were no age group differences on five MMSE items: naming, repeating, listening and obeying, reading and obeying, and writing sentences. Participants with visual or literacy deficits scored 1.5 points lower than other partimcipants, and displayed performance deficits in four items form the Read & Write MMSE division: naming, reading and obeying, writing sentences, and praxis. Education and gender were significant covariates for total and divisional MMSE scores

A flexible, quantitative plasmonic-fluor lateral flow assay for the rapid detection of Orthoebolavirus zairense and Orthoebolavirus sudanense

Filoviruses comprise a family of single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses with a significant impact on human health. Given the risk for disease outbreaks, as highlighted by the recent outbreaks across Africa, there is an unmet need for flexible diagnostic technologies that can be deployed in resource-limited settings. Herein, we highlight the use of plasmonic-fluor lateral flow assays (PF-LFA) for the rapid, quantitative detection of an Ebolavirus-secreted glycoprotein, a marker for infection. Plasmonic fluors are a class of ultrabright reporter molecules that combine engineered nanorods with conventional fluorophores, resulting in improved analytical sensitivity. We have developed a PF-LFA fo

Detection of biomarkers for filoviral infection with a silicon photonic resonator platform

This protocol describes the use of silicon photonic microring resonator sensors for detection of Ebola virus (EBOV) and Sudan virus (SUDV) soluble glycoprotein (sGP). This protocol encompasses biosensor functionalization of silicon microring resonator chips, detection of protein biomarkers in sera, preparing calibration standards for analytical validation, and quantification of the results from these experiments. This protocol is readily adaptable toward other analytes, including cytokines, chemokines, nucleic acids, and viruses. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Qavi et al. (2022)

A randomised phase II study of pegylated arginine deiminase (ADI-PEG 20) in Asian advanced hepatocellular carcinoma patients

[[abstract]]Background:Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells are largely deficient of argininosuccinate synthetase and thus auxotrophic for arginine. This study aims to investigate the efficacy and pharmacodynamics of pegylated arginine deiminase (ADI-PEG 20), a systemic arginine deprivation agent, in Asian HCC patients. Methods:Patients with advanced HCC who were not candidates for local therapy were eligible and randomly assigned to receive weekly intramuscular injections of ADI-PEG 20 at doses of 160 or 320 IU m-2. The primary end point was disease-control rate (DCR). Results:Of the 71 accruals, 43.6% had failed previous systemic treatment. There were no objective responders. The DCR and the median overall survival (OS) of the intent-to-treat population were 31.0% (95% confidence interval (CI): 20.5-43.1) and 7.3 (95% CI: 4.7-9.9) months respectively. Both efficacy parameters were comparable between the two study arms. The median OS of patients with undetectable circulating arginine for more than or equal to and <4 weeks was 10.0 (95% CI: 2.1-17.9) and 5.8 (95% CI: 1.4-10.1) months respectively (P=0.251, log-rank test). The major treatment-related adverse events were grades 1-2 local and/or allergic reactions. Conclusions:ADI-PEG 20 is safe and efficacious in stabilising the progression of heavily pretreated advanced HCC in an Asian population, and deserves further exploration.British Journal of Cancer advance online publication, 31 August 2010; doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6605856 www.bjcancer.com

Towards a Muon Collider

A muon collider would enable the big jump ahead in energy reach that is needed for a fruitful exploration of fundamental interactions. The challenges of producing muon collisions at high luminosity and 10 TeV centre of mass energy are being investigated by the recently-formed International Muon Collider Collaboration. This Review summarises the status and the recent advances on muon colliders design, physics and detector studies. The aim is to provide a global perspective of the field and to outline directions for future work.Comment: 118 pages, 103 figure

Towards a muon collider

A muon collider would enable the big jump ahead in energy reach that is needed for a fruitful exploration of fundamental interactions. The challenges of producing muon collisions at high luminosity and 10 TeV centre of mass energy are being investigated by the recently-formed International Muon Collider Collaboration. This Review summarises the status and the recent advances on muon colliders design, physics and detector studies. The aim is to provide a global perspective of the field and to outline directions for future work

Physical, cognitive, social and mental health in near-centenarians and centenarians living in New York City: findings from the Fordham Centenarian Study

BACKGROUND: Despite their strong increase, the population of the very old, including near-centenarians and centenarians, represent an unstudied and underserved population. Available studies mostly concentrate on predictors of exceptional longevity, but rarely extend their focus to other areas of functioning. Also, little is known about what contributes to experiencing a quality life in very old age. The present population-based study aims at providing a comprehensive picture of key domain of functioning, including physical, cognitive, social and mental function in very old individuals and to determine predictors of mental health indicators. METHODS: A total of 119 individuals aged 95 to 107 living in private dwellings and residential care facilities were recruited based on the New York City Voters Registry. Participants answered questions regarding their health and activities of daily living. Their cognitive functioning was determined using the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Global Deterioration Scale. Social resources were measured with number of children and the Lubben Scale. Mental health was assessed with the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. RESULTS: An unexpectedly large proportion of the sample lived in the community. On average, cognitive functioning was high. Although five diseases were reported on average, participants reported good health. Functional status was reduced. Most participants had at least one person for communication/social support. On average, depression was below cut-off, and most participants reported high life satisfaction. Regression analyses indicated that individual differences in depression were associated with subjective health, IADL and relatives support. For life satisfaction, subjective health, ADL and number of children were most important. Demographic characteristics, number of illnesses or cognitive status were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Despite reduced levels of physical functioning and social resources, very old participants were in good mental health suggesting high resilience and ability to adapt to age-associated challenges. That a large proportion of them lived in the community further highlights their desire for leading an autonomous life, which may have been facilitated by New York service culture. More research is necessary to provide guidance for the development of well-suited services for this very old population

Towards a muon collider

A muon collider would enable the big jump ahead in energy reach that is needed for a fruitful exploration of fundamental interactions. The challenges of producing muon collisions at high luminosity and 10 TeV centre of mass energy are being investigated by the recently-formed International Muon Collider Collaboration. This Review summarises the status and the recent advances on muon colliders design, physics and detector studies. The aim is to provide a global perspective of the field and to outline directions for future work