Exposing knowledge: providing a real-time view of the domain under study for students

With the amount of information that exists online, it is impossible for a student to find relevant information or stay focused on the domain under study. Research showed that search engines have deficiencies that might prevent students from finding relevant information. To this end, this research proposes a technical solution that takes the personal search history of a student into consideration and provides a holistic view of the domain under study. Based on algorithmic approaches to assert semantic similarity, the proposed framework makes use of a user interface to dynamically assist students through aggregated results and wordcloud visualizations. The effectiveness of our approach is finally evaluated through the use of commonly used datasets and compared in line with existing research

Comparison between PI and PR Current Controllers in Grid Connected PV Inverters

This paper presents a comparison between Proportional Integral (PI) and Proportional Resonant (PR) current controllers used in Grid Connected Photovoltaic (PV) Inverters. Both simulation and experimental results will be presented. A 3kW Grid-Connected PV Inverter was designed and constructed for this research

Ghajn Klieb, (Rabat, Malta)

Between October and December 1999 a team of local and foreign undergraduates from the University of Malta carried out a survey of the site at Ghajn Klieb outside Rabat. The exercise constituted the practical part of a unit on the Principles of Archaeological Surveying directed by Dr Nicholas Vella of the Department of Classics & Archaeology. For the survey the team was joined by Hanna Stager, a graduate of the same department, who also researched some of the references used in this article. Initial reconnaissance of the site was carried out on 15 October 1999 with Nathaniel Cutajar and Michelle B uhagiar, Curator and Assistant Curator respectively at the National Museum of Archaeology. The scatter of surface ceramics and the existence of previously known and unknown features revealed the extent and potential of the site. It was decided that the locality of Ghajn Klieb warranted systematic study that could be carried out in various stages, with the longterm aim being an assessment of human activity and cultural behaviour at the site. The Museums Department gave the go-ahead for this project, and permission to collect the surface ceramics was granted. This short report is intended to give an outline of the work undertaken to date. Emphasis is placed on the field methods adopted and on the presentation of what we believe to be worth talking about at this stage. An effort is here made by the senior author to unravel the collaborative nature of the exercise by lending weight to individual thoughts and interpretations that arose while work progressed in the field.peer-reviewe

Effect of X-ray and artificial aging on parchment

In this study, the employment of the X-ray irradiation as bioremediation method to treat parchment has been deeply investigated. In particular, the effect of the irradiation doses on the structural stability of collagen, the main constituent of parchment, has been evaluated on a series of modern parchment samples by means of different opto-thermal and spectroscopic techniques in order to obtain the dose-dependent effect of irradiation on collagen. Moreover, the long-term behavior of the irradiated parchment has been considered by analyzing the same series of samples after being hygrothermally artificially aged. Characterizations by light transmission analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the ultraviolet-visible-near infrared (UV-Vis-NIR) reflectance one have been performed for the identification of the radio-induced effect on the parchment structure even in a dose range much wider than the need for sterilization. The obtained results have proved the safeness of the method in the short and long term confirming the applicability of this emerging procedure

Mental health in UK Biobank - development, implementation and results from an online questionnaire completed by 157 366 participants: a reanalysis

Background UK Biobank is a well-characterised cohort of over 500 000 participants including genetics, environmental data and imaging. An online mental health questionnaire was designed for UK Biobank participants to expand its potential. Aims Describe the development, implementation and results of this questionnaire. Method An expert working group designed the questionnaire, using established measures where possible, and consulting a patient group. Operational criteria were agreed for defining likely disorder and risk states, including lifetime depression, mania/hypomania, generalised anxiety disorder, unusual experiences and self-harm, and current post-traumatic stress and hazardous/harmful alcohol use. Results A total of 157 366 completed online questionnaires were available by August 2017. Participants were aged 45–82 (53% were ≥65 years) and 57% women. Comparison of self-reported diagnosed mental disorder with a contemporary study shows a similar prevalence, despite respondents being of higher average socioeconomic status. Lifetime depression was a common finding, with 24% (37 434) of participants meeting criteria and current hazardous/harmful alcohol use criteria were met by 21% (32 602), whereas other criteria were met by less than 8% of the participants. There was extensive comorbidity among the syndromes. Mental disorders were associated with a high neuroticism score, adverse life events and long-term illness; addiction and bipolar affective disorder in particular were associated with measures of deprivation. Conclusions The UK Biobank questionnaire represents a very large mental health survey in itself, and the results presented here show high face validity, although caution is needed because of selection bias. Built into UK Biobank, these data intersect with other health data to offer unparalleled potential for crosscutting biomedical research involving mental health

BCR-ABL1 doubling-times and halving-times may predict CML response to tyrosine kinase inhibitors

In Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), successful treatment requires accurate molecular monitoring to evaluate disease response and provide timely interventions for patients failing to achieve the desired outcomes. We wanted to determine whether measuring BCR-ABL1 mRNA doubling-times (DTs) could distinguish inconsequential rises in the oncogene’s expression from resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Thus, we retrospectively examined BCR-ABL1 evolution in 305 chronic-phase CML patients receiving imatinib mesylate (IM) as a first line treatment. Patients were subdivided in two groups: those with a confirmed rise in BCR-ABL1 transcripts without MR3.0 loss and those failing IM. We found that the DTs of the former patients were significantly longer than those of patients developing IM resistance (57.80 vs. 41.45 days, p = 0.0114). Interestingly, the DT values of individuals failing second-generation (2G) TKIs after developing IM resistance were considerably shorter than those observed at the time of IM failure (27.20 vs. 41.45 days; p = 0.0035). We next wanted to establish if decreases in BCR-ABL1 transcripts would identify subjects likely to obtain deep molecular responses. We therefore analyzed the BCR-ABL1 halving-times (HTs) of a different cohort comprising 174 individuals receiving IM in first line and observed that, regardless of the time point selected for our analyses (6, 12, or 18 months), HTs were significantly shorter in subjects achieving superior molecular responses (p = 0.002 at 6 months; p < 0.001 at 12 months; p = 0.0099 at 18 months). Moreover, 50 patients receiving 2G TKIs as first line therapy and obtaining an MR3.0 (after 6 months; p = 0.003) or an MR4.0 (after 12 months; p = 0.019) displayed significantly shorter HTs than individuals lacking these molecular responses. Our findings suggest that BCR-ABL1 DTs and HTs are reliable tools to, respectively, identify subjects in MR3.0 that are failing their assigned TKI or to recognize patients likely to achieve deep molecular responses that should be considered for treatment discontinuation

Green chemiluminescence from a bis-cyclometalated iridium(III) complex with an ancillary bathophenanthroline disulfonate ligand

The reaction of a fluorinated iridium complex with cerium(IV) and organic reducing agents generates an intense emission with a significant hypsochromic shift compared to contemporary chemically-initiated luminescence from metal complexes

Morphometric analysis of structural MRI using schizophrenia meta-analytic priors distinguish patients from controls in two independent samples and in a sample of individuals with high polygenic risk

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is associated with structural brain changes, with considerable variation in the extent to which these cortical regions are influenced. We present a novel metric that summarises individual structural variation across the brain, while considering prior effect sizes, established via meta-analysis. We determine individual participant deviation from a within-sample-norm across structural MRI regions of interest (ROIs). For each participant, we weight the normalised deviation of each ROI by the effect size (Cohen’s d) of the difference between SCZ/control for the corresponding ROI from the SCZ Enhancing Neuroimaging Genomics through Meta-Analysis working group. We generate a morphometric risk score (MRS) representing the average of these weighted deviations. We investigate if SCZ-MRS is elevated in a SCZ case/control sample (N(CASE) = 50; N(CONTROL) = 125), a replication sample (N(CASE) = 23; N(CONTROL) = 20) and a sample of asymptomatic young adults with extreme SCZ polygenic risk (N(HIGH-SCZ-PRS) = 95; N(LOW-SCZ-PRS) = 94). SCZ cases had higher SCZ-MRS than healthy controls in both samples (Study 1: β = 0.62, P < 0.001; Study 2: β = 0.81, P = 0.018). The high liability SCZ-PRS group also had a higher SCZ-MRS (Study 3: β = 0.29, P = 0.044). Furthermore, the SCZ-MRS was uniquely associated with SCZ status, but not attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), whereas an ADHD-MRS was linked to ADHD status, but not SCZ. This approach provides a promising solution when considering individual heterogeneity in SCZ-related brain alterations by identifying individual’s patterns of structural brain-wide alterations

Benchmark Calculations of Electron Impact Electronic Excitation of the Hydrogen Molecule

We present benchmark integrated and differential cross-sections for electron collisions with H$_2$ using two different theoretical approaches, namely, the R-matrix and molecular convergent close-coupling (MCCC). This is similar to comparative studies conducted on electron-atom collisions for H, He and Mg. Electron impact excitation to the $b \ ^3\Sigma_u^+$, $a \ ^3\Sigma_g^+$, $B \ ^1\Sigma_u^+$,$c \ ^3\Pi_u$,$EF \ ^1\Sigma_g^+$,$C \ ^1\Pi_u$,$e \ ^3\Sigma_u^+$,$h \ ^3\Sigma_g^+$,$B' \ ^1\Sigma_u^+$and$d \ ^3\Pi_u$excited electronic states are considered. Calculations are presented in both the fixed nuclei and adiabatic nuclei approximations, where the latter is shown only for the$b \ ^3\Sigma_u^+$ state. Good agreement is found for all transitions presented. Where available, we compare with existing experimental and recommended data.Comment: 21 pages, 25 figure

Evaluation of the irradiation treatment effects on ancient parchment samples

In this work, the effect of X-ray irradiation as a disinfection treatment in original ancient parchment samples, belonging to a discarded book cover of a 16th-century archival register, has been evaluated. Specifically, the bacterial and fungal species isolated from the book cover have been characterized and then irradiated with increasing doses of X-rays with the aim to evaluate the effectiveness of the antimicrobial protocol on the isolated microorganisms. The deterioration effects induced by the X-ray treatment as well as the natural aging on the collagen matrix of the parchment sample have been tested by employing several techniques, namely, Light Transmission Analysis, Fiber Optic Reflectance Spectroscopy, Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transformed Infrared spectroscopy, UV Resonant Raman spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy. The results reveal that the irradiation treatment applied to our ancient parchment samples deteriorated by biological attack and other naturally occurring phenomena, possibly associated with inappropriate conservation conditions, does not seem to induce further damage factors even when large doses of irradiation are employed. The X-rays-based disinfection treatment effects are limited on the collagen support and this confirms the potential of this method in mass disinfection of library and archival materials