Quantifying Covid-19 impact on Airbnb hosting: Lisbon as a case study

While Covid-19 impact on tourism and the sharing economy has proven to be significant by plenty of previous research, data and tools to recursively measure financial impact are missing in the current state of knowledge. This paper aims at quantifying the disease’s financial impact on Airbnb prices, bookings and hosting revenues with machine learning. The bottom-up approach used predicts a city’s losses at listing level over time and therefore grants leeway to analyzing impact across various dimensions. The city of Lisbon is used to showcase the model’s performance and versatility of results

Classifying forest land based upon its timber management investment potential| A case study of the Lolo National Forest

Paper published as Bulletin 42 in the UM Bulletin Forestry Series.https://scholarworks.umt.edu/umforestrybulletin/1026/thumbnail.jp

Decreasing sperm quality: a global problem?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Carlsen and coworkers (1992) reviewed 61 heterogeneous observational studies on semen quality published between 1938 and 1990. This review indicates that mean sperm density decreased significantly between 1940 and 1990. An extended meta-analysis with 101 studies confirmed a decline in sperm density for the period from 1934 to 1996 (2000). The key message of the meta-analyses is that sperm counts have decreased globally by about 50% over the past decades. This assessment has been questioned.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>A major methodological problem of the meta-analysis is the use of data collected in different countries, at different times, on different populations and with different methods of semen analysis. Furthermore, the results of studies concerning semen analysis are frequently biased e.g. by selection criteria of volunteers. In most studies on human semen characteristics the populations under study are insufficiently defined and the study participants are not a representative population sample. The incidence of testicular cancer has increased in Caucasian men worldwide. The investigation of common risk factors for male reproductive disorders requires well designed epidemiological studies and the collection of individual data.</p> <p>Summary</p> <p>Former meta-analyses of sperm count data show a global downward trend. This conclusion should be interpreted with caution. The included studies are of great heterogeneity due to geographical and/or ethnical variation, different study designs and different methodological standards. Population-based prospective studies are needed to investigate secular trends in male reproductive disorders.</p

Cross-modal extinction in a boy with severely autistic behaviour and high verbal intelligence

Anecdotal reports from individuals with autism suggest a loss of awareness to stimuli from one modality in the presence of stimuli from another. Here we document such a case in a detailed study of T.M., a 13-year-old boy with autism in whom significant autistic behaviors are combined with an uneven IQ profile of superior verbal and low performance abilities. Although T.M.'s speech is often unintelligible and his behavior is dominated by motor stereotypies and impulsivity, he can communicate by typing or pointing independently within a letter board. A series of experiments using simple and highly salient visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli demonstrated a hierarchy of cross-modal extinction, in which auditory information extinguished other modalities at various levels of processing. T.M. also showed deficits in shifting and sustaining attention. These results provide evidence for mono-channel perception in autism and suggest a general pattern of winner-takes-all processing in which a stronger stimulus-d riven representation dominates behavior, extinguishing weaker representations

System, Zeichen, Person und Geschichte - eine Strukturuntersuchung der Dramen Franz Grillparzers

Gegenstand der vorliegenden Arbeit ist eine Untersuchung der grundlegenden Struktur der Dramen Franz Grillparzers sowie ihrer Entwicklung innerhalb des Gesamtoeuvres. Anhand von detaillierten Einzelwerkanalysen im ersten Teil der Arbeit kristallisieren sich korpusrelevante Strukturmerkmale heraus, die dann im zweiten Teil der Arbeit im Hinblick auf eine stärkere Vernetzung auf einem höheren Abstraktionsgrad näher untersucht werden. Hierzu zählen insbesondere die Ursachen bzw. Anzeichen der wiederholt thematisierten Ordnungsverletzungen im Zusammenhang mit einer zunehmend schwieriger werdenden Deutbarkeit der dargestellten Realität sowie die mehr oder weniger gut gelingenden Verfahren der Wiederherstellung einer vermeintlich homogenen Ordnung als Garant für einen Fortbestand in der anzunehmenden Zukunft. Als weiterer wiederholt anzutreffender Komplex lässt sich die implizite Thematisierung einer Geschichtskonzeption ausmachen unter Hervorkehrung des Zufalls als entscheidendem Antriebsmotor jeglicher Entwicklung innerhalb der voranschreitenden Zeit. Dadurch wird ebenfalls eine diesbezügliche Situierung der Dramenproduktion Grillparzers im Kontext anderer und insbesondere auch „revolutionärer“ Geschichtsdramen des gleichen Entstehungszeitraums ermöglicht. Zudem gestattet diese synchrone Vernetzung auch eine Statusbestimmung der zugrundeliegenden Texte innerhalb dessen, was charakteristisch für eine unter dem Terminus „Biedermeier“ zu subsumierende Literaturproduktion anzusehen ist. In diesem Zusammenhang gilt schließlich als wesentliches Ergebnis die Charakterisierung einzelner Dramen als Metatexte einerseits für diesen Zeitraum selbst sowie andererseits für den notwendigen Umbruch am Ende der vorausgehenden Goethezeit

Retrospektive Bestimmung der elektromagnetischen Exposition durch analoge Rundfunksender im Rahmen von KiSS

Im Rahmen einer epidemiologischen Fall-Kontroll-Studie zur Untersuchung eines möglichen Zusammenhangs zwischen der Häufigkeit kindlicher Leukämien und elektromagnetischer Strahlung (,,KiSS&quot; &amp;ndash; &lt;b&gt;Ki&lt;/b&gt;ndliche Leukämien und Expositionen in der Umgebung von hochfrequenten &lt;b&gt;S&lt;/b&gt;ende&lt;b&gt;s&lt;/b&gt;tationen) soll die Exposition durch leistungsstarke analoge Rundfunksender retrospektiv (Zeitraum 1982&amp;ndash;2003) quantifiziert werden. Die zu betrachtenden Sendernetze für AM-Hörfunk, FM-Hörfunk und analoges Fernsehen unterscheiden sich nicht nur hinsichtlich der Modulationsart und der von den Einzelsendern abgestrahlten Leistung, sondern auch in der Netzkonfiguration und den je nach Wellenbereich verschiedenen Strahlungseigenschaften der Sendeantennen. Damit sind bei diesen drei Rundfunkdiensten sowohl die absolute Größe als auch die räumliche Struktur der hervorgerufenen Exposition verschieden. Es wird dargelegt, wie die für die Prognose der Rundfunkversorgung verwendeten Rechenverfahren zur Modellierung der Feldstärke für die Modellierung der Exposition herangezogen und durch Kontrollmessungen validiert werden und wie trotz Wahrung der Vertraulichkeit der dabei unabdingbar zu verwendenden Senderbetriebsdaten eine unerwünschte Beeinflussung der Studienergebnisse durch die Senderbetreiber ausgeschlossen wird

Variabilidad genética para la resistencia a coccidias en alpacas del Centro Experimental Quimsachata INIA

Los camélidos sudamericanos, constituyen un importante recurso ganadero en el sur y centro del Perú; sin embargo, se ven afectados por diversos factores como las enfermedades parasitarias, como la coccidiosis, que ocasiona pérdida de peso y vulnerabilidad a otras enfermedades. El objetivo fue evaluar la variabilidad genética para la resistencia a coccidias en alpacas en el Centro Experimental Quimsachata, que pertenece al distrito de Santa Lucia. Se colectó 996 muestras de heces de alpacas del grupo plantel y animales que tenían parentesco, el recuento de huevos por gramos de heces se realizó utilizando el método de McMaster modificado donde se hizo el recuento y también se consideró niveles de infección como negativos, infección leve, infección moderada e infección elevada, se usó un modelo de regresión lineal mixto para la determinación de la variabilidad genética, componentes de varianza y parámetros genéticos. Como resultado, el recuento de huevos oscila entre 0 a 68900 huevos por gramo de heces. La heredabilidad para Eimeria macusaniensis, Eimeria alpacae, Eimeria lamae y Eimeria punoensis que fueron 0.41, 0.32, 0.16 y 0.27 respectivamente y una heredabilidad promedio de 0.29, se estimaron valores genéticos que oscilaron desde -0,215 a 0.524. Se concluye que los valores estimados para los componentes de varianza y la heredabilidad en general fue 0.29 la cual se considera moderada a baja y los valores genéticos se consideran favorables para la resistencia coccidias en alpacas; de modo que, se podría considerar en programas de mejoramiento genético y realizar otras investigaciones a nivel molecular

A Computational Method for Building Spherical Pictures and Theoretic Results from Explicit Constructions

Let H be a cyclically-presented group on n generators with a single defining relator. Attempts have been made to classify such groups by their order, their status as a 3-manifold group, and the asphericity status of their presentations. For groups with a defining relator of length 3 these classifications are nearly complete, with only two groups, H(9,4) and H(9,7), representing outstanding cases in each classification. We complete the asphericity classification for the presentations of these two groups and show that H(9,4) is not a 3-manifold group. We also determine that H(9,7) is a 3-manifold group if and only if it is cyclic of order 37. We consider a relative presentation P for a natural degree-n split extension E of H, and apply a practical computational method to find reduced relative spherical pictures (a type of graph) over P. Our method uses a depth-first search to construct pictures region-by-region (i.e., face-by-face) from a pre-chosen starting region. New regions are typically added directly adjacent to the newest and oldest regions with available edges. This gives a construction of relative picture in a spiral ordering centered on the initial region. The addition of regions outside of this spiral ordering is sometimes required, but is done only in a limited capacity. Some user-defined limitations are also applied to prevent the search from continuing indefinitely down non-viable branches of the search graph. The method terminates when all edges have been connected--resulting in a complete picture--or when the search backs up and can no longer continue from the initial region. We successfully apply our method to the split extensions arising from H(9,4) and H(9,7). In each case, the resulting symmetric picture reveals interesting relations in the group extension E. In particular, these relations can establish that the relative presentation P for E is not relatively aspherical, and hence the presentation for the cyclically-presented group H is not aspherical in each case. One of these two cyclically-presented groups, H(9,7), is also shown to contain a torsion element. The question of whether these groups are infinite remains unresolved

Correlation of Clinical Neuromusculoskeletal and Central Somatosensory Performance: Variability in Controls and Patients With Severe and Mild Focal Hand Dystonia

Focal hand dystonia (FHd) is a recalcitrant, disabling movement disorder, characterized by involuntary co-contractions of agonists and antagonists, that can develop in patients who overuse or misuse their hands. The aim of this study was to document clinical neuromusculoskeletal performance and somatosensory responses (magnetoencephalography) in healthy controls and in FHd subjects with mild versus severe hand dystonia. The performance of healthy subjects (n = 17) was significantly better than that of FHd subjects (n = 17) on all clinical parameters. Those with mild dystonia (n = 10) demonstrated better musculoskeletal skills, task-specific motor performance, and sensory discrimination, but the performance of sensory and fine motor tasks was slower than that of patients with severe dystonia. In terms of somatosensory evoked field responses (SEFs), FHd subjects demonstrated a significant difference in the location of the hand representation on the x and y axes, lower amplitude of SEFs integrated across latency, and a higher ratio of mean SEF amplitude to latency than the controls. Bilaterally,. those with FHd (mild and severe) lacked progressive sequencing of the digits from inferior to superior. On the affected digits, subjects with severe dystonia had a significantly higher ratio of SEF amplitude to latency and a significantly smaller mean volume of the cortical hand representation than those with mild dystonia. Severity of dystonia positively correlated with the ratio of SEF mean amplitude to latency (0.9029 affected, 0.8477 unaffected; p<0.01). The results of the present study strengthen the evidence that patients with FHd demonstrate signs of somatosensory degradation of the hand that correlates with clinical sensorimotor dysfunction, with characteristics of the dedifferentiation varying by the severity of hand dystonia. If these findings represent aberrant learning, then effective rehabilitation must incorporate the principles of neuroplasticity. Training must be individualized to each patient to rebalance the sensorimotor feedback loop and to restore normal fine motor control