167 research outputs found
Nonsense mutation in TMEM126A causing autosomal recessive optic atrophy and auditory neuropathy
Prospects of improving agricultural and water productivity through unmanned aerial vehicles
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are an alternative to costly and time-consuming traditional methods to improve agricultural water management and crop productivity through the acquisition, processing, and analyses of high-resolution spatial and temporal crop data at field scale. UAVs mounted with multispectral and thermal cameras facilitate the monitoring of crops throughout the crop growing cycle, allowing for timely detection and intervention in case of any anomalies. The use of UAVs in smallholder agriculture is poised to ensure food security at household level and improve agricultural water management in developing countries. This review synthesises the use of UAVs in smallholder agriculture in the smallholder agriculture sector in developing countries. The review highlights the role of UAV derived normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) in assessing crop health, evapotranspiration, water stress and disaster risk reduction. The focus is to provide more accurate statistics on irrigated areas, crop water requirements and to improve water productivity and crop yield
Erasmus Language students in a British University – a case study
Students’ assessment of their academic experience is actively sought by Higher Education institutions, as evidenced in the National Student Survey introduced in 2005. Erasmus students, despite their growing numbers, tend to be excluded from these satisfaction surveys, even though they, too, are primary customers of a University. This study aims to present results from bespoke questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with a sample of Erasmus students studying languages in a British University. These methods allow us insight into the experience of these students and their assessment as a primary customer, with a focus on language learning and teaching, university facilities and student support. It investigates to what extent these factors influence their levels of satisfaction and what costs of adaptation if any, they encounter. Although excellent levels of satisfaction were found, some costs affect their experience. They relate to difficulties in adapting to a learning methodology based on a low number of hours and independent learning and to a guidance and support system seen as too stifling. The results portray this cohort’s British University as a well-equipped and well-meaning but ultimately overbearing institution, which may indicate that minimising costs can eliminate some sources of dissatisfaction
A detailed clinical and molecular survey of subjects with nonsyndromic USH2A retinopathy reveals an allelic hierarchy of disease-causing variants.
Defects in USH2A cause both isolated retinal disease and Usher syndrome (ie, retinal disease and deafness). To gain insights into isolated/nonsyndromic USH2A retinopathy, we screened USH2A in 186 probands with recessive retinal disease and no hearing complaint in childhood (discovery cohort) and in 84 probands with recessive retinal disease (replication cohort). Detailed phenotyping, including retinal imaging and audiological assessment, was performed in individuals with two likely disease-causing USH2A variants. Further genetic testing, including screening for a deep-intronic disease-causing variant and large deletions/duplications, was performed in those with one likely disease-causing change. Overall, 23 of 186 probands (discovery cohort) were found to harbour two likely disease-causing variants in USH2A. Some of these variants were predominantly associated with nonsyndromic retinal degeneration ('retinal disease-specific'); these included the common c.2276 G>T, p.(Cys759Phe) mutation and five additional variants: c.2802 T>G, p.(Cys934Trp); c.10073 G>A, p.(Cys3358Tyr); c.11156 G>A, p.(Arg3719His); c.12295-3 T>A; and c.12575 G>A, p.(Arg4192His). An allelic hierarchy was observed in the discovery cohort and confirmed in the replication cohort. In nonsyndromic USH2A disease, retinopathy was consistent with retinitis pigmentosa and the audiological phenotype was variable. USH2A retinopathy is a common cause of nonsyndromic recessive retinal degeneration and has a different mutational spectrum to that observed in Usher syndrome. The following model is proposed: the presence of at least one 'retinal disease-specific' USH2A allele in a patient with USH2A-related disease results in the preservation of normal hearing. Careful genotype-phenotype studies such as this will become increasingly important, especially now that high-throughput sequencing is widely used in the clinical setting.European Journal of Human Genetics advance online publication, 4 February 2015; doi:10.1038/ejhg.2014.283
Transport by intermittency in the boundary of the DIII-D tokamak
A271 TRANSPORT BY INTERMITTENCY IN THE BOUNDARY OF THE DIII-D TOKAMAK. Intermittent plasma objectives (IPOs) featuring higher pressure than the surrounding plasma, are responsible for {approx} 50% of the E x B{sub T} radial transport in the scrape off layer (SOL) of the DIII-D tokamak in L- and H-mode discharges. Conditional averaging reveals that the IPOs are positively charged and feature internal poloidal electric fields of up to 4000 V/m. The IPOs move radially with E x B{sub T}/B{sup 2} velocities of {approx} 2600 m/s near the last closed flux surface (LCFS), and {approx} 330 m/s near the wall. The IPOs slow down as they shrink in radial size from 4 cm at the LCFS to 0.5 cm near the wall. The skewness (i.e. asymmetry of fluctuations from the average) of probe and beam emission spectroscopy (BES) data indicate IPO formation at or near the LCFS and the existence of positive and negative IPOs which move in opposite directions. The particle content of the IPOs at the LCFS is linearly dependent on the local density and decays over {approx} 3 cm into the SOL while their temperature decays much faster ({approx} 1 cm)
Diversity in collaborative research communities: a multicultural, multidisciplinary thesis writing group in public health
Writing groups for doctoral students are generally agreed to provide valuable learning spaces for Ph.D. candidates. Here an academic developer and the eight members of a writing group formed in a Discipline of Public Health provide an account of their experiences of collaborating in a multicultural, multidisciplinary thesis writing group. We consider the benefits of belonging to such a group for Ph.D. students who are operating in a research climate in which disciplinary boundaries are blurring and where an increasing number of doctoral projects are interdisciplinary in nature; in which both academic staff and students come from enormously diverse cultural and language backgrounds; and in which teamwork, networking and collaboration are prized but not always proactively facilitated. We argue that doctoral writing groups comprising students from diverse cultural and disciplinary backgrounds can be of significant value for postgraduates who wish to collaborate on their own academic development to improve their research writing and communication skills; at the same time, such collaborative work effectively builds an inclusive, dynamic research community.Cally Guerin, Vicki Xafis, Diana V. Doda, Marianne H. Gillam, Allison J. Larg, Helene Luckner, Nasreen Jahan, Aris Widayati and Chuangzhou X
Gabapentin for tinnitus: a systematic review.
PURPOSE: The main aim of this study was to assess the effect of gabapentin on tinnitus via a systematic review. METHOD: An electronic search of literature as well as a hand search were conducted. Only double-blind randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that met all of the inclusion criteria were included in this review. The Cochrane Collaboration tool for risk of bias assessment was used to investigate the validity of the included studies. Meta-analysis was not appropriate due to inadequate details in reporting the data in the included studies. Hence, qualitative synthesis and interpretation of the data were carried out. RESULTS: Two studies that met the inclusion criteria were included in the review. Fourteen studies were excluded. There were substantive within-study clinical heterogeneities with regard to the baseline tinnitus handicap scores, duration of tinnitus, and severity of hearing loss in the included double-blind RCTs. CONCLUSION: The authors of both studies reported that gabapentin was not superior to placebo in their primary outcomes. However, following the assessment of risk of bias and within-study clinical heterogeneities, this review concludes that there is insufficient evidence regarding the effect of gabapentin on tinnitus
The Size Ellect on the Infrared Spectra of Condensed Media Under Conditions of ID, 2D and 3D Dielectric Confinement
A general expression for the dielectric loss spectrum of an absorbing composite medium was obtained from a Maxwell-Garnett general equation. This expression was simplified for the cases of one, two and three dimensional dielectric confinement in both ordered and disordered thin layers, rods (wires) and spheres of absorbing medium which are considered as mesoparticles or mesoscopic molecules. This theoretical approach was verified experimentally using high purity organic liquids with strong absorption bands in the infrared range. Three organic liquids, namely benzene, chloroform and carbon disulphide, were measured in various dielectric confinement configurations using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy with a Grazing Angle attachment GATRTM. A significant shift of the resonant absorption band of liquid mesoparticles was observed for various dielectric confinement geometries which is in good agreement with theoretical predictions. Possible applications of this work include investigations of industrial smoke, toxic aerosols and liquid droplets
Gravity Amplitudes from a Gaussian Matrix Model
We reformulate MHV scattering amplitudes in 4D gauge theory and supergravity
as correlation functions of bilinear operators in a supersymmetric gaussian
matrix model. The model retains the symmetries of an S(4) of radius L and the
matrix variables are represented as linear operators acting on a
finite-dimensional Hilbert space. Bilinear fields of the model generate a
current algebra. In the large N double scaling limit where l_pl ~ L / sqrt(N)
is held fixed, there is an emergent flat 4D space-time with a built in short
distance cutoff.Comment: v3: 55 pages, 4 figures, clarifications adde
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