280 research outputs found
Negotiating Jewishness through genetic testing in the State of Israel
In Israel, several hundred thousand citizens form a minority group that wishes to be acknowledged as Jewish by the state authorities. Most of them immigrated from the former Soviet Union and cannot provide sufficient evidence of their maternal ancestors' affiliation with a Jewish community. This has a direct impact on their civil rights. Based on a scientific research article on matrilineal genetic markers among Eastern and Central European Jews, the rabbinical dean of an institute for advanced Jewish studies in Jerusalem proposed to accept, under certain conditions, the presence of specific genetic markers as legal proof of "Jewishness." Genetic testing here is meant to become a tool for empowerment and (re)claiming Jewish status. This case raises many questions concerning a biological understanding of Judaism and shows how genetic ancestry testing could be used to uphold the religious orthodox narrative.In Israel gehören mehrere hunderttausend Bürger einer Minderheit an, die von den staatlichen Behörden als jüdisch anerkannt werden möchte. Die meisten von ihnen stammen aus der ehemaligen Sowjetunion und können keine ausreichenden Beweise für die Zugehörigkeit ihrer Vorfahren mütterlicherseits zu einer jüdischen Gemeinde vorlegen. Das hat direkte Auswirkungen auf ihre Bürgerrechte. Auf der Grundlage eines wissenschaftlichen Forschungsartikels über matrilineare genetische Marker bei ost- und mitteleuropäischen Juden schlug der rabbinische Dekan eines Instituts für jüdische Studien in Jerusalem vor, unter bestimmten Bedingungen das Vorhandensein spezifischer genetischer Marker als rechtlichen Beweis für "Jüdischsein" zu akzeptieren. Gentests sollen hier als Instrument für Empowerment und die (Wieder-)Erlangung des jüdischen Status dienen. Dieser Fall wirft viele Fragen bezüglich eines biologischen Verständnisses von Judentum auf und zeigt, wie genetische Abstammungstests eingesetzt werden könnten, um das religiös-orthodoxe Narrativ aufrechtzuerhalten
Estimation of a function of low local dimensionality by deep neural networks
Deep neural networks (DNNs) achieve impressive results for complicated tasks
like object detection on images and speech recognition. Motivated by this
practical success, there is now a strong interest in showing good theoretical
properties of DNNs. To describe for which tasks DNNs perform well and when they
fail, it is a key challenge to understand their performance. The aim of this
paper is to contribute to the current statistical theory of DNNs. We apply DNNs
on high dimensional data and we show that the least squares regression
estimates using DNNs are able to achieve dimensionality reduction in case that
the regression function has locally low dimensionality. Consequently, the rate
of convergence of the estimate does not depend on its input dimension , but
on its local dimension and the DNNs are able to circumvent the curse of
dimensionality in case that is much smaller than . In our simulation
study we provide numerical experiments to support our theoretical result and we
compare our estimate with other conventional nonparametric regression
estimates. The performance of our estimates is also validated in experiments
with real data
Fabrication of W-band TWT for 5G small cells backhaul
The W-band (92 - 95 GHz) Traveling Wave Tube enabling the first Point to multipoint millimeter wave backhaul wireless network is in final phase of fabrication. The challenge is to build a TWT suitable for large volume fabrication to satisfy the cost constraints of network operators. Performances are targeted to provide coverage on sectors up to 90° with 1 km range. Simulations demonstrate a bandwidth of operation in excess of 5 GHz with a saturated output power of 40 W. The TWT is directly connected to a sector horn antenna
Fabrication of W-band TWT for 5G small cells backhaul
The W-band (92 - 95 GHz) Traveling Wave Tube enabling the first Point to multipoint millimeter wave backhaul wireless network is in final phase of fabrication. The challenge is to build a TWT suitable for large volume fabrication to satisfy the cost constraints of network operators. Performances are targeted to provide coverage on sectors up to 90° with 1 km range. Simulations demonstrate a bandwidth of operation in excess of 5 GHz with a saturated output power of 40 W. The TWT is directly connected to a sector horn antenna
a pilot study
Muscular weakness in myasthenia gravis (MG) is commonly assessed using
Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis Score (QMG). More objective and quantitative
measures may complement the use of clinical scales and might detect
subclinical affection of muscles. We hypothesized that muscular weakness in
patients with MG can be quantified with the non-invasive Quantitative Motor
(Q-Motor) test for Grip Force Assessment (QGFA) and Involuntary Movement
Assessment (QIMA) and that pathological findings correlate with disease
severity as measured by QMG. Methods This was a cross-sectional pilot study
investigating patients with confirmed diagnosis of MG. Data was compared to
healthy controls (HC). Subjects were asked to lift a device (250 and 500 g)
equipped with electromagnetic sensors that measured grip force (GF) and three-
dimensional changes in position and orientation. These were used to calculate
the position index (PI) and orientation index (OI) as measures for involuntary
movements due to muscular weakness. Results Overall, 40 MG patients and 23 HC
were included. PI and OI were significantly higher in MG patients for both
weights in the dominant and non-dominant hand. Subgroup analysis revealed that
patients with clinically ocular myasthenia gravis (OMG) also showed
significantly higher values for PI and OI in both hands and for both weights.
Disease severity correlates with QIMA performance in the non-dominant hand.
Conclusion Q-Motor tests and particularly QIMA may be useful objective tools
for measuring motor impairment in MG and seem to detect subclinical
generalized motor signs in patients with OMG. Q-Motor parameters might serve
as sensitive endpoints for clinical trials in MG
Silicon isotopes in Arctic and sub-Arctic glacial meltwaters:The role of subglacial weathering in the silicon cycle
Glacial environments play an important role in high-latitude marine nutrient cycling, potentially contributing significant fluxes of silicon (Si) to the polar oceans, either as dissolved silicon (DSi) or as dissolvable amorphous silica (ASi). Silicon is a key nutrient in promoting marine primary productivity, contributingto atmosphericCO2 removal.We present the current understanding of Si cycling in glacial systems,focusingontheSiisotope(δ30Si)composition of glacial meltwaters. We combine existing glacial δ30Si data with new measurements from 20 subArctic glaciers, showing that glacial meltwaters consistently export isotopically light DSi compared with non-glacial rivers (+0.16‰ versus +1.38‰). Glacial δ30SiASi composition ranges from −0.05‰ to −0.86‰ but exhibits low seasonal variability. Silicon fluxes and δ30Si composition from glacial systems are not commonly included in global Si budgets and isotopic mass balance calculations at present. We discuss outstanding questions, including the formation mechanism of ASi and the export of glacial nutrients from fjords. Finally, we provide a contextual framework for the recent advances in our understanding of subglacial Si cycling and highlight critical research avenues for assessing potential future changes in these environments
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