73 research outputs found
Effects of network topology on the OpenAnswerâs Bayesian model of peer assessment
The paper investigates if and how the topology of the peer assessment network can affect the performance of the Bayesian model adopted in Ope
nAnswer. Performance is evaluated in terms of the comparison of predicted grades with actual teacherâs grades. The global network is built by interconnecting smaller subnetworks, one for each student, where intra subnetwork nodes represent student's characteristics, and peer assessment assignments make up inter subnetwork connections and determine evidence propagation. A possible subset of teacher graded answers is dynamically determined by suitable selec
tion and stop rules. The research questions addressed are: RQ1) âdoes the topology (diameter) of the network negatively influence the precision of predicted
grades?âÌ in the affirmative case, RQ2) âare we able to reduce the negative effects of high diameter networks through an appropriate choice of the subset of
students to be corrected by the teacher?â We show that RQ1) OpenAnswer is less effective on higher diameter topologies, RQ2) this can be avoided if the subset of corrected students is chosen considering the network topology
Ricci Flow Gravity
A theory of gravitation is proposed, modeled after the notion of a Ricci
flow. In addition to the metric an independent volume enters as a fundamental
geometric structure. Einstein gravity is included as a limiting case. Despite
being a scalar-tensor theory the coupling to matter is different from
Jordan-Brans-Dicke gravity. In particular there is no adjustable coupling
constant. For the solar system the effects of Ricci flow gravity cannot be
distinguished from Einstein gravity and therefore it passes all classical
tests. However for cosmology significant deviations from standard Einstein
cosmology will appear.Comment: 15 pages. V2: improved presentation, in particular Jordan vs.
Brans-Dicke and on viability. Added section on physical interpretation. V3:
more references. Reworked to agree with published versio
The possible role of local air pollution in climate change in West Africa
The climate of West Africa is characterized by a sensitive monsoon system that is associated with marked natural precipitation variability. This region has been and is projected to be subject to substantial global and regional-scale changes including greenhouse-gas-induced warming and sea-level rise, land-use and land-cover change, and substantial biomass burning. We argue that more attention should be paid to rapidly increasing air pollution over the explosively growing cities of West Africa, as experiences from other regions suggest that this can alter regional climate through the influences of aerosols on clouds and radiation, and will also affect human health and food security. We need better observations and models to quantify the magnitude and characteristics of these impacts
Nutraceutical therapies for atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting large and medium arteries and is considered to be a major underlying cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although the development of pharmacotherapies to treat CVD has contributed to a decline in cardiac mortality in the past few decades, CVD is estimated to be the cause of one-third of deaths globally. Nutraceuticals are natural nutritional compounds that are beneficial for the prevention or treatment of disease and, therefore, are a possible therapeutic avenue for the treatment of atherosclerosis. The purpose of this Review is to highlight potential nutraceuticals for use as antiatherogenic therapies with evidence from in vitro and in vivo studies. Furthermore, the current evidence from observational and randomized clinical studies into the role of nutraceuticals in preventing atherosclerosis in humans will also be discussed
Analysis of whole genome sequencing for the Escherichia coli O157:H7 typing phages
Background:
Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli O157 can cause severe bloody diarrhea and haemolytic uraemic syndrome. Phage typing of E. coli O157 facilitates public health surveillance and outbreak investigations, certain phage types are more likely to occupy specific niches and are associated with specific age groups and disease severity. The aim of this study was to analyse the genome sequences of 16 (fourteen T4 and two T7) E. coli O157 typing phages and to determine the genes responsible for the subtle differences in phage type profiles.
Results:
The typing phages were sequenced using paired-end Illumina sequencing at The Genome Analysis Centre and the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency and bioinformatics programs including Velvet, Brig and Easyfig were used to analyse them. A two-way Euclidian cluster analysis highlighted the associations between groups of phage types and typing phages. The analysis showed that the T7 typing phages (9 and 10) differed by only three genes and that the T4 typing phages formed three distinct groups of similar genomic sequences: Group 1 (1, 8, 11, 12 and 15, 16), Group 2 (3, 6, 7 and 13) and Group 3 (2, 4, 5 and 14). The E. coli O157 phage typing scheme exhibited a significantly modular network linked to the genetic similarity of each group showing that these groups are specialised to infect a subset of phage types.
Conclusion:
Sequencing the typing phage has enabled us to identify the variable genes within each group and to determine how this corresponds to changes in phage type.Public Health EnglandNational Institute for Health Research scientific research development fundBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC
Impact of the shedding level on transmission of persistent infections in Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP)
Super-shedders are infectious individuals that contribute a disproportionate amount of infectious pathogen load to the environment. A super-shedder host may produce up to 10 000 times more pathogens than other infectious hosts. Super-shedders have been reported for multiple human and animal diseases. If their contribution to infection dynamics was linear to the pathogen load, they would dominate infection dynamics. We here focus on quantifying the effect of super-shedders on the spread of infection in natural environments to test if such an effect actually occurs in Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). We study a case where the infection dynamics and the bacterial load shed by each host at every point in time are known. Using a maximum likelihood approach, we estimate the parameters of a model with multiple transmission routes, including direct contact, indirect contact and a background infection risk. We use longitudinal data from persistent infections (MAP), where infectious individuals have a wide distribution of infectious loads, ranging upward of three orders of magnitude. We show based on these parameters that the effect of super-shedders for MAP is limited and that the effect of the individual bacterial load is limited and the relationship between bacterial load and the infectiousness is highly concave. A 1000-fold increase in the bacterial contribution is equivalent to up to a 2â3 fold increase in infectiousness.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13567-016-0323-
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