1,098 research outputs found
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
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
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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
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 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 , , $B \
^1\Sigma_u^+c \ ^3\Pi_uEF \ ^1\Sigma_g^+C \ ^1\Pi_ue \
^3\Sigma_u^+h \ ^3\Sigma_g^+B' \ ^1\Sigma_u^+d \ ^3\Pi_ub \ ^3\Sigma_u^+$ 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
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