VIPSCAL: A combined vector ideal point model for preference data

In this paper, we propose a new model that combines the vector model and the ideal point model of unfolding. An algorithm is developed, called VIPSCAL, that minimizes the combined loss both for ordinal and interval transformations. As such, mixed representations including both vectors and ideal points can be obtained but the algorithm also allows for the unmixed cases, giving either a complete ideal pointanalysis or a complete vector analysis. On the basis of previous research, the mixed representations were expected to be nondegenerate. However, degenerate solutions still occurred as the common belief that distant ideal points can be represented by vectors does not hold true. The occurrence of these distant ideal points was solved by adding certain length and orthogonality restrictions on the configuration. The restrictions can be used both for the mixed and unmixed cases in several ways such that a number of different models can be fitted by VIPSCAL

Barley landraces are characterized by geographically heterogeneous genomic origins

<p>Genotyping data for landrace and cultivated lines from the National Small Grains Collection.</p> <p>The dataset has been devided in 11 parts. <strong>This is part 04. Make sure to download all 11 parts.</strong></p> <p>Data used in the article: "Barley landraces are characterized by geographically heterogeneous genomic origins". Published in Genome Biology</p> <p>Use the following command to put the pieces together:</p> <p>% cat * >./My_complete_data.txt</p> <p>The scripts used to analyze and plot the data are available in GitHub: https://github.com/AnaPoets/BarleyLandraces</p

The securitization of citizenship in a ‘Segregated City’:A reflection on Rio’s Pacifying Police Units

The Pacification Police Units UPPs implemented in Rio de Janeiro since 2008 have as one of their stated goals the promotion of the integration between the pacified favelas and the formal city, aiming to overcome the view of Rio as a divided city. Intending to problematize the reasoning behind this stated goal in order to question the UPPs very foundations, this article examines the political and sociospatial background in which they were introduced. The implementation and operation of the UPPs is outlined in the context of the militarization of Rios spaces, and especially of its urban poor regions, within an analysis of what assumptions about favelas and slum residents the UPPs imply. The UPPs are analyzed in dialogue with Giorgio Agambens work as a sovereign act of drawing lines of distinction between lives worth living and politically worthless Others. It becomes clear that they are guilty of articulating and reinforcing what Teresa Caldeira has named the talk of crime, a Manicheistic discourse through which Brazilians articulate and cope with their daily encounter with violence. The disjunctive nature of Brazils inclusively inegalitarian democracy, as explored by James Holston, is emphasized. Brazil emerges as a post-dictatorial country, in which neoliberal reforms and democratic opening have simultaneously implied an increasingly authoritarian penal state that targets the urban marginalized as its internal enemies

Best practices for the diagnosis and evaluation of infants with robin sequence:a clinical consensus report

Importance: Robin sequence (RS) is a congenital condition characterized by micrognathia, glossoptosis, and upper airway obstruction. Currently, no consensus exists regarding the diagnosis and evaluation of children with RS. An international, multidisciplinary consensus group was formed to begin to overcome this limitation. Objective: To report a consensus-derived set of best practices for the diagnosis and evaluation of infants with RS as a starting point for defining standards and management. Evidence Review: Based on a literature review and expert opinion, a clinical consensus report was generated. Findings: Because RS can occur as an isolated condition or as part of a syndrome or multiple-anomaly disorder, the diagnostic process for each newborn may differ. Micrognathia is hypothesized as the initiating event, but the diagnosis of micrognathia is subjective. Glossoptosis and upper airway compromise complete the primary characteristics of RS. It can be difficult to judge the severity of tongue base airway obstruction, and the possibility of multilevel obstruction exists. The initial assessment of the clinical features and severity of respiratory distress is important and has practical implications. Signs of upper airway obstruction can be intermittent and are more likely to be present when the infant is asleep. Therefore, sleep studies are recommended. Feeding problems are common and may be exacerbated by the presence of a cleft palate. The clinical features and their severity can vary widely and ultimately dictate the required investigations and treatments. Conclusions and Relevance: Agreed-on recommendations for the initial evaluation of RS and clinical descriptors are provided in this consensus report. Researchers and clinicians will ideally use uniform definitions and comparable assessments. Prospective studies and the standard application of validated assessments are needed to build an evidence base guiding standards of care for infants and children with RS

Nocturnal Oximetry-based Evaluation of Habitually Snoring Children

Rationale: The vast majority of children around the world undergoing adenotonsillectomy for obstructive sleep apnea–hypopnea syndrome (OSA) are not objectively diagnosed by nocturnal polysomnography because of access availability and cost issues. Automated analysis of nocturnal oximetry (nSpO2), which is readily and globally available, could potentially provide a reliable and convenient diagnostic approach for pediatric OSA. Methods: DeidentifiednSpO2 recordings froma total of 4,191 children originating from13 pediatric sleep laboratories around the worldwere prospectively evaluated after developing and validating an automated neural network algorithm using an initial set of single-channel nSpO2 recordings from 589 patients referred for suspected OSA. Measurements and Main Results: The automatically estimated apnea–hypopnea index (AHI) showed high agreement with AHI from conventional polysomnography (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.785) when tested in 3,602 additional subjects. Further assessment on the widely used AHI cutoff points of 1, 5, and 10 events/h revealed an incremental diagnostic ability (75.2, 81.7, and 90.2% accuracy; 0.788, 0.854, and 0.913 area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, respectively). Conclusions: Neural network–based automated analyses of nSpO2 recordings provide accurate identification of OSA severity among habitually snoring children with a high pretest probability of OSA. Thus, nocturnal oximetry may enable a simple and effective diagnostic alternative to nocturnal polysomnography, leading to more timely interventions and potentially improved outcomes.Supported in part by project VA037 U16 from the Consejer´ıa de Educacio´ n de la Junta de Castilla y Leo´ n and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), project RTC-2015-3446-1 from the Ministerio de Econom´ıa y Competitividad and FEDER, and project 153/2015 of the Sociedad Espan˜ ola de Neumolog´ıa y Cirug´ıa Tora´ cica (SEPAR). L.K.-G. is supported by NIH grant 1R01HL130984. M.F.P. was supported by a Fellowship Educational grant award from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. D.´A. was in receipt of a Juan de la Cierva grant from the Ministerio de Econom´ıa y Competitividad. The funders played no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation, and writing of the manuscript

The securitization of citizenship in a ‘Segregated City’: a reflection on Rio’s Pacifying Police Units

The Pacification Police Units – UPPs – implemented in Rio de Janeiro since 2008 have as one of their stated goals the promotion of the integration between the pacified favelas and the ‘formal’ city, aiming to overcome the view of Rio as a ‘divided city’. Intending to problematize the reasoning behind this stated goal in order to question the UPPs’ very foundations, this article examines the political and sociospatial background in which they were introduced. The implementation and operation of the UPPs is outlined in the context of the militarization of Rio’s spaces, and especially of its urban poor regions, within an analysis of what assumptions about favelas and slum residents the UPPs imply. The UPPs are analyzed in dialogue with Giorgio Agamben’s work as a sovereign act of ‘drawing lines of distinction’ between lives worth living and politically worthless ‘Others’. It becomes clear that they are guilty of articulating and reinforcing what Teresa Caldeira has named the ‘talk of crime’, a Manicheistic discourse through which Brazilians articulate and cope with their daily encounter with violence. The disjunctive nature of Brazil’s ‘inclusively inegalitarian’ democracy, as explored by James Holston, is emphasized. Brazil emerges as a post-dictatorial country, in which neoliberal reforms and democratic opening have simultaneously implied an increasingly authoritarian penal state that targets the urban marginalized as its ‘internal enemies’

Tactile kinaesthetic methods without abdominal pressure promoting gastrointestinal passage in preterm infants: A scoping review

Background: Tactile kinaesthetic stimulation (TKS) might support enteral feeding and meconium excretion in preterm infants, but volvulus has been linked to abdominal massage. Aim: To map the evidence and to identify knowledge gaps on TKS in preterm infants. Methods: A scoping review was conducted in August 2024 using four databases. Results: Ten studies (totaling 268 infants weighing 1000–2500g at birth) met inclusion criteria. All studies utilized whole-body TKS, involving stroking and movement with moderate to gentle pressure, administered 1 to 3 times daily by staff. Starting TKS in the first days of life seemed to improve meconium excretion, while later interventions were associated with enhanced vagal activity and gastric motility. The effect of TKS on enteral feeding remains unknown. Conclusion: Research gaps exist regarding TKS for promoting enteral feeding and meconium excretion in preterm infants. Optimal methods and adaptations for this vulnerable patient group are uncertain

Setting research priorities to improve global newborn health and prevent stillbirths by 2025.

BACKGROUND: In 2013, an estimated 2.8 million newborns died and 2.7 million were stillborn. A much greater number suffer from long term impairment associated with preterm birth, intrauterine growth restriction, congenital anomalies, and perinatal or infectious causes. With the approaching deadline for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015, there was a need to set the new research priorities on newborns and stillbirth with a focus not only on survival but also on health, growth and development. We therefore carried out a systematic exercise to set newborn health research priorities for 2013-2025. METHODS: We used adapted Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) methods for this prioritization exercise. We identified and approached the 200 most productive researchers and 400 program experts, and 132 of them submitted research questions online. These were collated into a set of 205 research questions, sent for scoring to the 600 identified experts, and were assessed and scored by 91 experts. RESULTS: Nine out of top ten identified priorities were in the domain of research on improving delivery of known interventions, with simplified neonatal resuscitation program and clinical algorithms and improved skills of community health workers leading the list. The top 10 priorities in the domain of development were led by ideas on improved Kangaroo Mother Care at community level, how to improve the accuracy of diagnosis by community health workers, and perinatal audits. The 10 leading priorities for discovery research focused on stable surfactant with novel modes of administration for preterm babies, ability to diagnose fetal distress and novel tocolytic agents to delay or stop preterm labour. CONCLUSION: These findings will assist both donors and researchers in supporting and conducting research to close the knowledge gaps for reducing neonatal mortality, morbidity and long term impairment. WHO, SNL and other partners will work to generate interest among key national stakeholders, governments, NGOs, and research institutes in these priorities, while encouraging research funders to support them. We will track research funding, relevant requests for proposals and trial registers to monitor if the priorities identified by this exercise are being addressed