The estimation of cell probabilites in large sparse discrete spaces

Imperial Users onl

Pioneer Women in Fact and Fiction: Kansas Nebraska South Dakota, 1860 - 1900

Using history books, personal accounts, and fiction, this study will focus not only on pioneer life, but also on the role played by women in the settling of the prairie. Furthermore, fictional families who made their homes in Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota between 1068 -1890 will be the primary focus of this study. Historical and personal accounts will serve to validate the imaginative literature and serve as a basis for comparisons of the pioneer experiences. This study by no means attempts to be conclusive, but it does attempt to examine representative literature to determine what the role of women was in the pioneer experience as a whole. Limiting the geographical and chronological setting makes this study regional in nature, and allows for a number of parallel experiences to be examined.Master of ArtsLiberal StudiesUniversity of Michigan-Flinthttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143499/1/Rundell.pd

Pharmacogenomic testing and outcome among depressed patients in a tertiary care outpatient psychiatric consultation practice

The authors tested the hypothesis that pharmacogenomic genotype knowledge is associated with better clinical and cost outcomes in depressed patients, after controlling for other factors that might differentiate tested and non-tested patients. Medical records of 251 patients, seen in the Mayo Clinic Rochester outpatient psychiatric practice, who had patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scores before and after consultation, were reviewed. Comparisons of differences in pre-consultation and post-consultation depression scores and slopes between tested and non-tested patients and between genotype categories of tested patients, were evaluated, along with healthcare cost and utilization comparisons between tested and non-tested patients, using Kruskal–Wallis tests, Wilcoxon rank-sum tests and group mean comparisons, controlling for significant univariate demographic and clinical differences. Tested patients had significantly higher depression diagnosis frequency, baseline PHQ-9 scores, family history of depression, psychiatric hospitalization history, and higher numbers of antidepressant, mood stabilizer and antipsychotic medication trials. After controlling for these differences, there were no differences between tested and non-tested patients in post-baseline depression scores or slopes for CYP genotype categories. For patients with 5-HTTLPR testing, there was significantly more depression score improvement for patients with the long/long genotype at time 4 (N=55, χ2-value=8.0492, P=0.018) and at time 5 (N=44, χ2-value=6.1492, P=0.046). For a subgroup (n=46) with ⩾two pre- and ⩾two post-baseline PHQ-9 scores, the mean difference between pre-baseline and post-baseline PHQ-9 score slopes for tested patients was −0.08 (median −0.01; range −1.20 to 0.15) compared with 0.13 (median 0.02; range −0.18 to 2.16) for non-tested patients (P=0.03). Among genotype categories, mean differences between pre-consultation and post-consultation slopes were significantly better for poor CYP2D6 metabolizers than intermediate or extensive metabolizers (P=0.04); there was a trend for slope differences to be better for 5-HTTLPR long/long genotype patients (P=0.06). Subsets of local tested and consultant-adjusted non-tested controls (n=19), who had 8 years of longitudinal care within the health system, had similar overall mean healthcare costs before and after testing; however, tested patients on average had significantly fewer time-adjusted post-baseline psychiatric admissions (0.8 vs 3.8, P=0.04) and fewer time-adjusted psychiatric consultations and comprehensive mental health-specialty evaluations (4.2 vs 9.9, P=0.03). Prospective study is indicated as to whether and how pharmacogenomic testing in a psychiatric consultation practice may improve clinical and cost outcomes

Humour in Nietzsche's style

Nietzsche's writing style is designed to elicit affective responses in his readers. Humour is one of the most common means by which he attempts to engage his readers' affects. In this article, I explain how and why Nietzsche uses humour to achieve his philosophical ends. The article has three parts. In part 1, I reject interpretations of Nietzsche's humour on which he engages in self‐parody in order to mitigate the charge of decadence or dogmatism by undermining his own philosophical authority. In part 2, I look at how Nietzsche uses humour and laughter as a critical tool in his polemic against traditional morality. I argue that one important way in which Nietzsche uses humour is as a vehicle for enhancing the effectiveness of his ad hominem arguments. In part 3, I show how Nietzsche exploits humour's social dimension in order to find and cultivate what he sees as the right kinds of readers for his works

Everything you always wanted to know about dictionaries (but were afraid to ask): A Massive Open Online Course

© Lexicography in Global Contexts. We have created a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) about dictionaries and dictionary-making, to be hosted by FutureLearn. This paper discusses the design and development of this course, which is pitched at high school and undergraduate level participants as well as language enthusiasts around the world. The MOOC will answer questions such as: how dictionaries are made and how this process has changed over time; what goes into a dictionary and who decides; and what kinds of language evidence underpin the information which dictionaries provide. Participants will be encouraged to compare the quantity and quality of information in different types of dictionary, and will investigate corpus-based and computational lexicographic methods. It will also consider dictionary users' attitudes and common misconceptions, taking into account the requirements and habits of English language learners as well as fluent speakers. By the end of the course, participants will know about some of the latest trends in lexicographic research, the roles of language technology, corpora and crowdsourcing in the dictionary compilation process, the range of possible dictionary entry components, lexicographical choices and computational methods surrounding the selection and ordering of word meanings, and the content and wording of definitions

Eucapnic Voluntary Hyperpnea: Gold Standard for Diagnosing Exercise-Induced Bronchoconstriction in Athletes?

In athletes, a secure diagnos is of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) is dependent on objective testing. Evaluating spirometric indices of airflow before and following an exercise bout is intuitively the optimal means for the diagnosis; however, this approach is recognized as having several key limitations. Accordingly, alternative indirect bronchoprovocation tests have been recommended as surrogate means for obtaining a diagnosis of EIB. Of these tests, it is often argued that the eucapnic voluntary hyperpnea (EVH) challenge represents the ‘gold standard’. This article provides a state-of-the-art review of EVH, including an overview of the test methodology and its interpretation. We also address the performance of EVH against the other functional and clinical approaches commonly adopted for the diagnosis of EIB. The published evidence supports a key role for EVH in the diagnostic algorithm for EIB testing in athletes. However, its wide sensitivity and specificity and poor repeatability preclude EVH from being termed a ‘gold standard’ test for EIB

Imitators of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction

Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) is described by transient narrowing of the airways after exercise. It occurs in approximately 10% of the general population, while athletes may show a higher prevalence, especially in cold weather and ice rink athletes. Diagnosis of EIB is often made on the basis of self-reported symptoms without objective lung function tests, however, the presence of EIB can not be accurately determined on the basis of symptoms and may be under-, over-, or misdiagnosed. The goal of this review is to describe other clinical entities that mimic asthma or EIB symptoms and can be confused with EIB

Corpora as open educational resources for language teaching

Corpora, large electronic collections of texts, have been used in language teaching for several decades. Also known as Data‐Driven Learning (DDL), this method has been gaining popularity because empirical research has consistently shown its effectiveness for learning. However, corpora are still underutilized, especially with learners of languages other than English, at lower proficiency levels, and in non‐university contexts. This is regrettable because DDL has a great potential for developing modular flipped content, especially for hybrid, remote, and online courses. This article first provides an overview of DDL applications and findings of empirical research. Next, it outlines obstacles to wider DDL implementation as well as available and possible solutions. Corpus user guides and exercise collections tied to specific corpora are discussed as one promising direction, and an example of such new open educational resources for teaching German is presented. The article concludes with a discussion of implications and future directions

Reproducibility of the airway response to an exercise protocol standardized for intensity, duration, and inspired air conditions, in subjects with symptoms suggestive of asthma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Exercise testing to aid diagnosis of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) is commonly performed. Reproducibility of the airway response to a standardized exercise protocol has not been reported in subjects being evaluated with mild symptoms suggestive of asthma but without a definite diagnosis. This study examined reproducibility of % fall in FEV₁and area under the FEV₁time curve for 30 minutes in response to two exercise tests performed with the same intensity and duration of exercise, and inspired air conditions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Subjects with mild symptoms of asthma exercised twice within approximately 4 days by running for 8 minutes on a motorized treadmill breathing dry air at an intensity to induce a heart rate between 80-90% predicted maximum; reproducibility of the airway response was expressed as the 95% probability interval.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 373 subjects challenged twice 161 were positive (≥10% fall FEV₁on at least one challenge). The EIB was mild and 77% of subjects had <15% fall on both challenges. Agreement between results was 76.1% with 56.8% (212) negative (< 10% fall FEV₁) and 19.3% (72) positive on both challenges. The remaining 23.9% of subjects had only one positive test. The 95% probability interval for reproducibility of the % fall in FEV₁and AUC_0-30min was ± 9.7% and ± 251% for all 278 adults and ± 13.4% and ± 279% for all 95 children. The 95% probability interval for reproducibility of % fall in FEV₁and AUC_{0-30 min}for the 72 subjects with two tests ≥10% fall FEV₁was ± 14.6% and ± 373% and for the 34 subjects with two tests ≥15% fall FEV₁it was ± 12.2% and ± 411%. Heart rate and estimated ventilation achieved were not significantly different either on the two test days or when one test result was positive and one was negative.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Under standardized, well controlled conditions for exercise challenge, the majority of subjects with mild symptoms of asthma demonstrated agreement in test results. Performing two tests may need to be considered when using exercise to exclude or diagnose EIB, when prescribing prophylactic treatment to prevent EIB and when designing protocols for clinical trials.</p