1,366 research outputs found
Artificially Intelligent Technology for the Margins: A Multidisciplinary Design Agenda
There has been increasing interest in socially just use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in the development of technology that may be extended to marginalized people. However, the exploration of such technologies entails the development of an understanding of how they may increase and/or counter marginalization. The use of AI/ML algorithms can lead to several challenges, such as privacy and security concerns, biases, unfairness, and lack of cultural awareness, which especially affect marginalized people. This workshop will provide a forum to share experiences and challenges of developing AI/ML health and social wellbeing technologies with/for marginalized people and will work towards developing design methods to engage in the re-envisioning of AI/ML technologies for and with marginalized people. In doing so we will create cross-research area dialogues and collaborations. These discussions build a basis to (1) explore potential tools to support designing AI/ML systems with marginalized people, and (2) develop a design agenda for future research and AI/ML technology for and with marginalized people
Frequent use of paracetamol and risk of allergic disease among women in an Ethiopian population
Introduction
The hypothesis that paracetamol might increase the risk of asthma and other allergic diseases have gained support from a range of independent studies. However, in studies based in developed countries, the possibility that paracetamol and asthma are associated through aspirin avoidance is difficult to exclude.
Objectives
To explore this hypothesis among women in a developing country, where we have previously reported aspirin avoidance to be rare.
Methods
In 2005/6 a population based cohort of 1065 pregnant women was established in Butajira, Ethiopia and baseline demographic data collected. At 3 years post birth, an interview-based questionnaire administered to 945 (94%) of these women collected data on asthma, eczema, and hay fever in the past 12 month, frequency of paracetamol use and potential confounders. Allergen skin tests to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and cockroach were also performed. The independent effects of paracetamol use on allergic outcomes were determined using multiple logistic regression analysis.
Findings
The prevalence of asthma, eczema and hay fever was 1.7%, 0.9% and 3.8% respectively; of any one of these conditions 5.5%, and of allergen sensitization 7.8%. Paracetamol use in the past month was reported by 29%, and associations of borderline significance were seen for eczema (adjusted OR (95% CI) = 8.51 (1.68 to 43.19) for 1â3 tablets and 2.19 (0.36 to 13.38) for â„4 tablets, compared to no tablets in the past month; overall p = 0.055) and for âany allergic conditionâ (adjusted OR (95% CI) = 2.73 (1.22 to 6.11) for 1â3 tablets and 1.35 (0.67 to 2.70) for â„4 tablets compared to 0 in the past month; overall p = 0.071).
Conclusions
This study provides further cross-sectional evidence that paracetamol use increases the risk of allergic disease
Clinical Implication of Targeting of Cancer Stem Cells
The existence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) is receiving increasing interest particularly due to its potential ability to enter clinical routine. Rapid advances in the CSC field have provided evidence for the development of more reliable anticancer therapies in the future. CSCs typically only constitute a small fraction of the total tumor burden; however, they harbor self-renewal capacity and appear to be relatively resistant to conventional therapies. Recent therapeutic approaches aim to eliminate or differentiate CSCs or to disrupt the niches in which they reside. Better understanding of the biological characteristics of CSCs as well as improved preclinical and clinical trials targeting CSCs may revolutionize the treatment of many cancers. Copyright (c) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base
The ANTARES Optical Beacon System
ANTARES is a neutrino telescope being deployed in the Mediterranean Sea. It
consists of a three dimensional array of photomultiplier tubes that can detect
the Cherenkov light induced by charged particles produced in the interactions
of neutrinos with the surrounding medium. High angular resolution can be
achieved, in particular when a muon is produced, provided that the Cherenkov
photons are detected with sufficient timing precision. Considerations of the
intrinsic time uncertainties stemming from the transit time spread in the
photomultiplier tubes and the mechanism of transmission of light in sea water
lead to the conclusion that a relative time accuracy of the order of 0.5 ns is
desirable. Accordingly, different time calibration systems have been developed
for the ANTARES telescope. In this article, a system based on Optical Beacons,
a set of external and well-controlled pulsed light sources located throughout
the detector, is described. This calibration system takes into account the
optical properties of sea water, which is used as the detection volume of the
ANTARES telescope. The design, tests, construction and first results of the two
types of beacons, LED and laser-based, are presented.Comment: 21 pages, 18 figures, submitted to Nucl. Instr. and Meth. Phys. Res.
Search for CP violation in decays
A model-independent search for direct CP violation in the Cabibbo suppressed
decay in a sample of approximately 370,000 decays is
carried out. The data were collected by the LHCb experiment in 2010 and
correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35 pb. The normalized Dalitz
plot distributions for and are compared using four different
binning schemes that are sensitive to different manifestations of CP violation.
No evidence for CP asymmetry is found.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Measurement of the ratio of branching fractions BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma)/BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma)
The ratio of branching fractions of the radiative B decays B0 -> K*0 gamma
and Bs0 -> phi gamma has been measured using 0.37 fb-1 of pp collisions at a
centre of mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, collected by the LHCb experiment. The
value obtained is BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma)/BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma) = 1.12 +/- 0.08
^{+0.06}_{-0.04} ^{+0.09}_{-0.08}, where the first uncertainty is statistical,
the second systematic and the third is associated to the ratio of fragmentation
fractions fs/fd. Using the world average for BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma) = (4.33 +/-
0.15) x 10^{-5}, the branching fraction BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma) is measured to be
(3.9 +/- 0.5) x 10^{-5}, which is the most precise measurement to date.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, 2 table
Search for CP violation in D+âÏÏ+ and D+sâK0SÏ+ decays
A search for CP violation in D + â ÏÏ + decays is performed using data collected in 2011 by the LHCb experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fbâ1 at a centre of mass energy of 7 TeV. The CP -violating asymmetry is measured to be (â0.04 ± 0.14 ± 0.14)% for candidates with K â K + mass within 20 MeV/c 2 of the Ï meson mass. A search for a CP -violating asymmetry that varies across the Ï mass region of the D + â K â K + Ï + Dalitz plot is also performed, and no evidence for CP violation is found. In addition, the CP asymmetry in the D+sâK0SÏ+ decay is measured to be (0.61 ± 0.83 ± 0.14)%
Differential branching fraction and angular analysis of the decay B0âKâ0ÎŒ+ÎŒâ
The angular distribution and differential branching fraction of the decay B 0â K â0 ÎŒ + ÎŒ â are studied using a data sample, collected by the LHCb experiment in pp collisions at sâ=7 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fbâ1. Several angular observables are measured in bins of the dimuon invariant mass squared, q 2. A first measurement of the zero-crossing point of the forward-backward asymmetry of the dimuon system is also presented. The zero-crossing point is measured to be q20=4.9±0.9GeV2/c4 , where the uncertainty is the sum of statistical and systematic uncertainties. The results are consistent with the Standard Model predictions
Observation of two new baryon resonances
Two structures are observed close to the kinematic threshold in the mass spectrum in a sample of proton-proton collision data, corresponding
to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb recorded by the LHCb experiment.
In the quark model, two baryonic resonances with quark content are
expected in this mass region: the spin-parity and
states, denoted and .
Interpreting the structures as these resonances, we measure the mass
differences and the width of the heavier state to be
MeV,
MeV,
MeV, where the first and second
uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. The width of the
lighter state is consistent with zero, and we place an upper limit of
MeV at 95% confidence level. Relative
production rates of these states are also reported.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure
Measurement of the CKM angle Îł from a combination of B±âDh± analyses
A combination of three LHCb measurements of the CKM angle Îł is presented. The decays B±âD K± and
B±âDϱ are used, where D denotes an admixture of D0 and D0 mesons, decaying into K+Kâ, Ï+Ïâ, K±Ïâ, K±ÏâϱÏâ, K0SÏ+Ïâ, or K0S K+Kâ ïŹnal states. All measurements use a dataset corresponding to 1.0 fbâ1 of integrated luminosity. Combining results from B±âD K± decays alone a best-ïŹt value of
Îł =72.0⊠is found, and conïŹdence intervals are set
Îł â [56.4,86.7]⊠at 68% CL,
Îł â [42.6,99.6]⊠at 95% CL.
The best-ïŹt value of Îł found from a combination of results from B±âDϱ decays alone, is Îł =18.9âŠ,
and the conïŹdence intervals
Îł â [7.4,99.2]⊠âȘ [167.9,176.4]⊠at 68% CL
are set, without constraint at 95% CL. The combination of results from B± â D K± and B± â Dϱ
decays gives a best-ïŹt value of Îł =72.6⊠and the conïŹdence intervals
Îł â [55.4,82.3]⊠at 68% CL,
Îł â [40.2,92.7]⊠at 95% CL
are set. All values are expressed modulo 180âŠ, and are obtained taking into account the effect of D0âD0
mixing
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