Metaplectic cusp forms on the group SL2(Q(i))

The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of genuine cusp forms on the group SL2=Q(i), from a computational point of view. We show, via the generalised Eichler-Shimura-Harder isomorphism, that a genuine cusp form of cohomological type exists at level SL2(Z[i]; 4)SL2(Z). We show, by calculating cohomology groups, that such a form exists at weight (2; 2). Finally, we compute the genuine quotient of the Hecke algebra acting on representations of SL2(Q2(i)) containing non-zero SL2(Z2[i]; 4)SL2(Z2)- xed vectors. When such a representation $corresponds to an unrami ed representation of SL2(Q2(i)), we show that the space of SL2(Z2[i]; 4)SL2(Z2)- xed vectors in$ is a sum of two 1-dimensional components. We determine which 1-dimensional representations arise in this way

Trees, seasons and the poor

SUMMARY Trees play a significant role in poor people's seasonal livelihoods: this has been a neglected subject due to interlocking biases against understanding how the poor secure their incomes, and ignorance of the multipurpose role of trees. Trees play an important seasonal role through their physical characteristics: deep rooting with access to moisture and nutrients year round. Accumulation of stocks in the form of wood and various beneficial environmental effects. Trees seasonally stabilise, protect and support the livelihoods of the rural poor and policies can be designed which reinforce this important role. RESUME Les Arbes, les Saisons et le Pauvre Les arbres jouent un rôle considérable dans les moyens de subsistence saisonniers des populations pauvres: un sujet négligé à cause de connexions complexes entre différents préjugés qui empêchent de comprendre la manière dont le pauvre assure ses revenus, et l'ignorance concernant les rôles et usages multiples des arbres. De part leurs caractéristiques physiques, les arbres jouent un rôle saisonnier important: des racines profondes qui ont accès à l'humidité et aux substances nutritives toute l'année, une saison où ils produisent des fruits et une où ils ensemencent des graines qui s'étendent sur de longues périodes, ils contribuent à une accumulation de stocks en bois, et ont bien d'autres effets bénéfiques sur l'environement. Les arbres, au fil des saisons, stabilisent, protectent et soutiennent les moyens de subsistence des populations rurales pauvres et des mesures peuvent être prises de manière à renforcer ce rôle important. RESUMEN Arboles, estacionalidad y pobres Los árboles desempeñan un papel significativo en la ocupación estacional de las personas pobres, tópico que ha sido descuidado debido a la falta de entendimiento de la forma en que los pobres aseguran su ingreso y a la ignorancia de los múltiples roles de los árboles. Estos juegan un importante papel estacional por sus características físicas: raíces profundas con acceso a la humedad y nutrientes durante todo el año, producción de frutas y semillas distribuida en largos períodos, acumulación de existencias en la forma de madera y varios efectos ambientales beneficiosos. Los árboles estabilizan, protegen y apoyan las ocupaciones de los pobres rurales, pudiendo diseñarse políticas que refuercen este importante rol

AAPT Diagnostic Criteria for Chronic Sickle Cell Disease Pain

Pain in sickle cell disease (SCD) is associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and high health care costs. Although episodic acute pain is the hallmark of this disorder, there is an increasing awareness that chronic pain is part of the pain experience of many older adolescents and adults. A common set of criteria for classifying chronic pain associated with SCD would enhance SCD pain research efforts in epidemiology, pain mechanisms, and clinical trials of pain management interventions, and ultimately improve clinical assessment and management. As part of the collaborative effort between the Analgesic, Anesthetic, and Addiction Clinical Trial Translations Innovations Opportunities and Networks public-private partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the American Pain Society, the Analgesic, Anesthetic, and Addiction Clinical Trial Translations Innovations Opportunities and Networks-American Pain Society Pain Taxonomy initiative developed the outline of an optimal diagnostic system for chronic pain conditions. Subsequently, a working group of experts in SCD pain was convened to generate core diagnostic criteria for chronic pain associated with SCD. The working group synthesized available literature to provide evidence for the dimensions of this disease-specific pain taxonomy. A single pain condition labeled chronic SCD pain was derived with 3 modifiers reflecting different clinical features. Future systematic research is needed to evaluate the feasibility, validity, and reliability of these criteria. Perspective: An evidence-based classification system for chronic SCD pain was constructed for the Analgesic, Anesthetic, and Addiction Clinical Trial Translations Innovations Opportunities and Networks-American Pain Society Pain Taxonomy initiative. Applying this taxonomy may improve assessment and management of SCD pain and accelerate research on epidemiology, mechanisms, and treatments for chronic SCD pain

An SVM-Based classifier for estimating the state of various rotating components in agro-industrial machinery with a vibration signal acquired from a single point on the machine chassis

The goal of this article is to assess the feasibility of estimating the state of various rotating components in agro-industrial machinery by employing just one vibration signal acquired from a single point on the machine chassis. To do so, a Support Vector Machine (SVM)-based system is employed. Experimental tests evaluated this system by acquiring vibration data from a single point of an agricultural harvester, while varying several of its working conditions. The whole process included two major steps. Initially, the vibration data were preprocessed through twelve feature extraction algorithms, after which the Exhaustive Search method selected the most suitable features. Secondly, the SVM-based system accuracy was evaluated by using Leave-One-Out cross-validation, with the selected features as the input data. The results of this study provide evidence that (i) accurate estimation of the status of various rotating components in agro-industrial machinery is possible by processing the vibration signal acquired from a single point on the machine structure; (ii) the vibration signal can be acquired with a uniaxial accelerometer, the orientation of which does not significantly affect the classification accuracy; and, (iii) when using an SVM classifier, an 85% mean cross-validation accuracy can be reached, which only requires a maximum of seven features as its input, and no significant improvements are noted between the use of either nonlinear or linear kernels

Absence of Donor-Specific Anti-HLA Antibodies After ABO-Incompatible Heart Transplantation in Infancy: Altered Immunity or Age?

Specific B-cell tolerance toward donor blood group antigens develops in infants after ABO-incompatible heart transplantation, whereas their immune response toward protein antigens such as HLA has not been investigated. We assessed de novo HLA-antibodies in 122 patients after pediatric thoracic transplantation (28 ABO-incompatible) and 36 controls. Median age at transplantation was 1.7 years (1 day to 17.8 year) and samples were collected at median 3.48 years after transplantation. Antibodies were detected against HLA-class I in 21 patients (17.2%), class II in 18 (14.8%) and against both classes in 10 (8.2%). Using single-antigen beads, donor-specific antibodies (DSAs) were identified in six patients (all class II, one additional class I). Patients with DSAs were significantly older at time of transplantation. In patients who had undergone pretransplant cardiac surgeries, class II antibodies were more frequent, although use of homografts or mechanical heart support had no influence. DSAs were absent in ABO-incompatible recipients and class II antibodies were significantly less frequent than in children with ABO-compatible transplants. This difference was present also when comparing only children transplanted below 2 years of age. Therefore, tolerance toward the donor blood group appears to be associated with an altered response to HLA beyond age-related effects.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78721/1/j.1600-6143.2009.02877.x.pd

The relationship between childhood trauma and schizophrenia in the Genomics of Schizophrenia in the Xhosa people (SAX) study in South Africa

Background. Evidence from high-income countries suggests that childhood trauma is associated with schizophrenia. Studies of childhood trauma and schizophrenia in low and middle income (LMIC) countries are limited. This study examined the prevalence of childhood traumatic experiences among cases and controls and the relationship between specific and cumulative childhood traumatic experiences and schizophrenia in a sample in South Africa. Methods. Data were from the Genomics of Schizophrenia in the South African Xhosa people study. Cases with schizophrenia and matched controls were recruited from provincial hospitals and clinics in the Western and Eastern Cape regions in South Africa. Childhood traumatic experiences were measured using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Adjusted logistic regression models estimated associations between individual and cumulative childhood traumatic experiences and schizophrenia. Results. Traumatic experiences were more prevalent among cases than controls. The odds of schizophrenia were 2.44 times higher among those who experienced any trauma than those who reported no traumatic experiences (95% CI 1.77–3.37). The odds of schizophrenia were elevated among those who experienced physical/emotional abuse (OR 1.59, CI 1.28–1.97), neglect (OR 1.39, CI 1.16–1.68), and sexual abuse (OR 1.22, CI 1.03–1.45) compared to those who did not. Cumulative physical/emotional abuse and neglect experiences increased the odds of schizophrenia as a dose–response relationship. Conclusion. Childhood trauma is common in this population. Among many other benefits, interventions to prevent childhood trauma may contribute to a decreasing occurrence of schizophrenia

Incarceration history and risk of HIV and hepatitis C virus acquisition among people who inject drugs: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background People who inject drugs (PWID) experience a high prevalence of incarceration and might be at high risk of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection during or after incarceration. We aimed to assess whether incarceration history elevates HIV or HCV acquisition risk among PWID. Methods In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO databases for studies in any language published from Jan 1, 2000 until June 13, 2017 assessing HIV or HCV incidence among PWID. We included studies that measured HIV or HCV incidence among community-recruited PWID. We included only studies reporting original results and excluded studies that evaluated incident infections by self-report. We contacted authors of cohort studies that met the inclusion or exclusion criteria, but that did not report on the outcomes of interest, to request data. We extracted and pooled data from the included studies using random-effects meta-analyses to quantify the associations between recent (past 3, 6, or 12 months or since last follow-up) or past incarceration and HIV or HCV acquisition (primary infection or reinfection) risk among PWID. We assessed the risk of bias of included studies using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Between-study heterogeneity was evaluated using the I2 statistic and the P-value for heterogeneity. Findings We included published results from 20 studies and unpublished results from 21 studies. These studies originated from Australasia, western and eastern Europe, North and Latin America, and east and southeast Asia. Recent incarceration was associated with an 81% (relative risk [RR] 1·81, 95% CI 1·40–2·34) increase in HIV acquisition risk, with moderate heterogeneity between studies (I2=63·5%; p=0·001), and a 62% (RR 1·62, 95% CI 1·28–2·05) increase in HCV acquisition risk, also with moderate heterogeneity between studies (I2=57·3%; p=0·002). Past incarceration was associated with a 25% increase in HIV (RR 1·25, 95% CI 0·94–1·65) and a 21% increase in HCV (1·21, 1·02–1·43) acquisition risk. Interpretation Incarceration is associated with substantial short-term increases in HIV and HCV acquisition risk among PWID and could be a significant driver of HCV and HIV transmission among PWID. These findings support the need for developing novel interventions to minimise the risk of HCV and HIV acquisition, including addressing structural risks associated with drug laws and excessive incarceration of PWID

Dynamic biogeochemical provinces in the global ocean

In recent decades, it has been found useful to partition the pelagic environment using the concept of biogeochemical provinces, or BGCPs, within each of which it is assumed that environmental conditions are distinguishable and unique at global scale. The boundaries between provinces respond to features of physical oceanography and, ideally, should follow seasonal and interannual changes in ocean dynamics. But this ideal has not been fulfilled except for small regions of the oceans. Moreover, BGCPs have been used only as static entities having boundaries that were originally established to compute global primary production. In the present study, a new statistical methodology based on non-parametric procedures is implemented to capture the environmental characteristics within 56 BGCPs. Four main environmental parameters (bathymetry, chlorophyll a concentration, surface temperature, and salinity) are used to infer the spatial distribution of each BGCP over 1997–2007. The resulting dynamic partition allows us to integrate changes in the distribution of BGCPs at seasonal and interannual timescales, and so introduces the possibility of detecting spatial shifts in environmental conditions