Consumer preferences for teledermoscopy screening to detect melanoma early

Introduction: ‘Store and forward’ teledermoscopy is a technology with potential advantages for melanoma screening. Any large-scale implementation of this technology is dependent on consumer acceptance. Aim: To investigate preferences for melanoma screening options compared with skin self-examination in adults considered to be at increased risk of developing skin cancer. Methods: A discrete choice experiment was completed by 35 consumers, all of whom had prior experience with the use of teledermoscopy, in Queensland, Australia. Participants made 12 choices between screening alternatives described by seven attributes including monetary cost. A mixed logit model was used to estimate the relative weights that consumers place on different aspects of screening, along with the marginal willingness to pay for teledermoscopy as opposed to screening at a clinic. Results: Overall, participants preferred screening/diagnosis by a health professional rather than skin self-examination. Key drivers of screening choice were for results to be reviewed by a dermatologist; a higher detection rate; fewer non-cancerous moles being removed in relation to every skin cancer detected; and less time spent away from usual activities. On average, participants were willing to pay AUD110 to have teledermoscopy with dermatologist review available to them as a screening option. Discussion and conclusions: Consumers preferentially value aspects of care that are more feasible with a teledermoscopy screening model, as compared with other skin cancer screening and diagnosis options. This study adds to previous literature in the area which has relied on the use of consumer satisfaction scales to assess the acceptability of teledermoscopy

Unjamming a granular hopper by vibration

We present an experimental study of the outflow of a hopper continuously vibrated by a piezoelectric device. Outpouring of grains can be achieved for apertures much below the usual jamming limit observed for non vibrated hoppers. Granular flow persists down to the physical limit of one grain diameter, a limit reached for a finite vibration amplitude. For the smaller orifices, we observe an intermittent regime characterized by alternated periods of flow and blockage. Vibrations do not significantly modify the flow rates both in the continuous and the intermittent regime. The analysis of the statistical features of the flowing regime shows that the flow time significantly increases with the vibration amplitude. However, at low vibration amplitude and small orifice sizes, the jamming time distribution displays an anomalous statistics

Русская глагольная префиксация: A Rebuttal

Zaliznjak & Mikaèljan 2014 is a critique of the model of Russian aspect found in Janda 2012 and Janda et al. 2013. In this rebuttal I give a brief overview of my model of Russian aspect and then address the criticisms made by Zaliznjak & Mikaèljan. I begin by examining the four assumptions stated by Zaliznjak & Mikaèljan, which I find to be unnecessary and lacking in theoretical gounding. Their assumption that aspectual correlation is uniformly directed from perfective to imperfective is particularly problematic. I compare Zaliznjak & Mikaèljan’s assumption with the single assumption my work is based on, namely that linguistic cognition is not fundamentally different from general cognition, and present the entailments of this assumption and what they mean for an investigation of Russian aspect. I then present four further problems with Zaliznjak & Mikaèljan’s model of Russian aspect: the alleged transfer of meaning from perfective to imperfective, the criteria for identifying prototypical prefixed perfectives, their claim that overlap and emptiness can be equated, and their postulation of deprefixation.Zaliznjak & Mikaèljan 2014 is a critique of the model of Russian aspect found in Janda 2012 and Janda et al. 2013. In this rebuttal I give a brief overview of my model of Russian aspect and then address the criticisms made by Zaliznjak & Mikaèljan. I begin by examining the four assumptions stated by Zaliznjak & Mikaèljan, which I find to be unnecessary and lacking in theoretical gounding. Their assumption that aspectual correlation is uniformly directed from perfective to imperfective is particularly problematic. I compare Zaliznjak & Mikaèljan’s assumption with the single assumption my work is based on, namely that linguistic cognition is not fundamentally different from general cognition, and present the entailments of this assumption and what they mean for an investigation of Russian aspect. I then present four further problems with Zaliznjak & Mikaèljan’s model of Russian aspect: the alleged transfer of meaning from perfective to imperfective, the criteria for identifying prototypical prefixed perfectives, their claim that overlap and emptiness can be equated, and their postulation of deprefixation

Influence of salicylic acid on phytochelatin synthesis in Zea mays during Cd stress

Abstract: Presoaking maize (Zea mays) seeds in salicylic acid (SA) reduces damage caused by cadmium. In the present work the possible role of phytochelatins (PCs) in SA-mediated protection against Cd toxicity was investigated. Seeds were presoaked in 0.5 mM SA, and seedlings were grown in hydroponic solution containing 0, 0.01, 0.015, or 0.025 mM Cd. Treatment with Cd increased the PC levels in maize roots, but only slight changes were observed in the leaves. Long-term exposure to Cd decreased the phytochelatin synthase (PCS) activity in the roots and led to an increase in PCS and glutathione reductase (GR) activities in maize leaves. Although presoaking seeds in SA solution before exposure to Cd may reduce the level of heavy metal injury and has an effect on the composition of individual PCs, this protection is not directly connected with the altered regulation of PCs

Basel II, External Ratings and Adverse Selection

This paper will describe and analyse the development of Basel II Capital Accord and will focus on the use of external ratings in the Standardized Approach in Basel II. Furthermore it will examine the problem of adverse selection which appears in Basel II as a result from the proposal for the use of external ratings in determining the risk weights in the standardized approach. The paper will also attempt to find possible solutions to the adverse selection problem by discussing two similar models, and derive implications from them.Basel II, external ratings, adverse selection, rating agencies, standardized approach

The shape of jamming arches in two-dimensional deposits of granular materials

We present experimental results on the shape of arches that block the outlet of a two dimensional silo. For a range of outlet sizes, we measure some properties of the arches such as the number of particles involved, the span, the aspect ratio, and the angles between mutually stabilizing particles. These measurements shed light on the role of frictional tangential forces in arching. In addition, we find that arches tend to adopt an aspect ratio (the quotient between height and half the span) close to one, suggesting an isotropic load. The comparison of the experimental results with data from numerical models of the arches formed in the bulk of a granular column reveals the similarities of both, as well as some limitations in the few existing models.Comment: 8 pages; submitted to Physical Review

Intruder mobility in a vibrated granular packing

We study experimentally the dynamics of a dense intruder sinking under gravity inside a vibrated 2D granular packing. The surrounding flow patterns are characterized and the falling trajectories are interpreted in terms of an effectivive friction coefficient related to the intruder mean descent velocity (flow rules). At higher confining pressures i.e. close to jamming, a transition to intermittent dynamics is evidenced and displays anomalous "on-off" blockade statistics. A systematic analysis of the flow rules, obtained for different intruder sizes, either in the flowing regime or averaged over the flowing and blockade regimes, strongly suggest the existence of non-local properties for the vibrated packing rheology.

Holomorphic anomaly equations and the Igusa cusp form conjecture

Let $S$ be a K3 surface and let $E$ be an elliptic curve. We solve the reduced Gromov-Witten theory of the Calabi-Yau threefold $S \times E$ for all curve classes which are primitive in the K3 factor. In particular, we deduce the Igusa cusp form conjecture. The proof relies on new results in the Gromov-Witten theory of elliptic curves and K3 surfaces. We show the generating series of Gromov-Witten classes of an elliptic curve are cycle-valued quasimodular forms and satisfy a holomorphic anomaly equation. The quasimodularity generalizes a result by Okounkov and Pandharipande, and the holomorphic anomaly equation proves a conjecture of Milanov, Ruan and Shen. We further conjecture quasimodularity and holomorphic anomaly equations for the cycle-valued Gromov-Witten theory of every elliptic fibration with section. The conjecture generalizes the holomorphic anomaly equations for ellliptic Calabi-Yau threefolds predicted by Bershadsky, Cecotti, Ooguri, and Vafa. We show a modified conjecture holds numerically for the reduced Gromov-Witten theory of K3 surfaces in primitive classes.Comment: 68 page