cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Development of an Advanced Molecular Profiling Pipeline for Human Population Screening
Creators: name: Lewis, Matthew
Publisher: name: Imperial College London
Year: 2014

description: The interaction between a human’s genes and their environment is dynamic, producing phenotypes that are subject to variance among individuals and across time. Metabolic interpretation of phenotypes, including the elucidation of underlying biochemical causes and effects for physiological or pathological processes, allows for the potential discovery of biomarkers and diagnostics which are important in understanding human health and disease. The study of large cohorts has been pursued in hopes of gaining sufficient statistical power to observe subtle biochemical processes relevant to human phenotypes. In order to minimise the effects of analytical variance in metabolic profiling and maximise extractable information, it is necessary to develop a refined analytical approach to large scale metabolic profiling that allows for efficient and high quality collection of data, facilitating analysis on a scale appropriate for molecular epidemiology applications. The analytical methods used for the multidimensional separation and detection of metabolic content from complex biofluids must be made fit for this purpose, deriving data with unprecedented reproducibility for direct comparison of metabolic profiles across thousands of individuals. Furthermore, computational methods must be established for collating this data into a form that is suitable for analysis and interpretation without compromising the quality achieved in the raw data. These developments together constitute a pipeline for large scale analysis, the components of which are explored and refined herein with a common thread of improving laboratory efficiency and measurement precision. Complimentary chromatographic methods are developed and implemented in the separation of human urine samples, and further mated to separation and detection by mass spectrometry to provide information rich metabolic maps. This system is optimised to derive precision from sustained analysis, with emphasis on minimisation of sample batching thereby allowing the development of metabolite collation tools that leverage the chromatographic reproducibility. Finally, the challenge of metabolite identification in molecular profiling is conceptually addressed in a manner that does not preclude the further reinvention of the analytical approaches established within this thesis. In summary, the thesis offers a novel and practical analytical pipeline suitable for achieving high quality population phenotyping and metabolome wide association studies.
Tonsillectomy and acute throat infections in children
Creators: name: Koshy, Elizabeth
Publisher: name: Imperial College London
Year: 2015

description: Background: Tonsillectomy is among the most common operations performed on children in the UK. Yet little was known about the socio-demographic profile of children who undergo the operation and how the recent decline in tonsillectomy rates has influenced the rates of severe acute throat infections (ATI). Many children with mild ATI disease also undergo tonsillectomy despite a lack of evidence of its benefit in this group, particularly in the longer-term. The aims of this thesis were to characterise the socio-demographic profile of children who undergo tonsillectomy and investigate the clinical impact of the operation on ATI in primary and secondary care settings. Methods: The clinical spectrum of ATI in relation to tonsillectomy was investigated using a combination of retrospective time-trend analyses and a retrospective cohort study. I analysed routine data from the Hospital Episodes Statistics and Clinical Practice Research Datalink databases to investigate secondary care and primary care settings, respectively. Results: There was a 76% increase in ATI hospital admission rates among children between 1999/2000 and 2009/10 from 107.3 to 188.4 admissions per 100,000 children, respectively. However, the majority of these children did not stay overnight and admission rates for peritonsillar abscess (PTA) remained stable. By contrast, tonsillectomy rates fluctuated over the first three years of the study period, but declined overall from 367 to 294 per 100,000 children during the same study years. In general practice, tonsillectomy only modestly reduced the frequency of subsequent ATI consultations among children with low baseline ATI consultation rates. Conclusions: There does not appear to be a relationship between trends in tonsillectomy operations and admissions for ATI or PTA at a population level, which suggests that clinicians should continue to restrict the operation to children who are more severely affected by ATI disease. Additionally, tonsillectomy does not appear to have a clinically significant benefit in reducing ATI consultations among children with mild ATI disease in the longer-term, which further supports reserving the operation for children with severe ATI disease.
Exploring microRNA Biology using Integrative Bioinformatics
Creators: name: Pomyen, Yotsawat
Publisher: name: Imperial College London
Year: 2014

description: Deregulation of energy metabolism is one of the emerging hallmarks of cancer required for proliferation and metastasis. MicroRNAs are small RNA molecules that have crucial roles in the regulation of biological processes in organisms, including metabolism. Due to recent discovery of miRNAs in humans, roles of miRNAs in metabolism of tumour cells, and effects these have on cancer patients, are still obscure and in need of expansion. Currently, experimental and computational data on the miRNAs are being analysed by a wide range of statistical methods; however, these methods in their original forms posses many limitations. Therefore, new ways of utilising these statistical methods are needed in order to unravel the roles of miRNAs in cancer metabolism. In this thesis, the roles of a specific miRNA, miR-22, and the three metabolic target genes were investigated through the use of classical statistical methods, revealed that miR-22, the metabolic target genes, and the interactions between them, were beneficial to survival outcome of breast cancer patients. Furthermore, novel combinations of the conventional statistical methods were invented in order to investigate the global miRNA regulations on metabolic target genes. These new procedures were demonstrated by using publicly available data sets. In one analysis, it was found that miRNAs could be divided into six clusters according to the metabolic target genes through a novel combination of statistical methods. A new statistical method was also invented to provide a generalised means to test for clustering based on sets of correlations.
Diffusion Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging of in utero and ex utero Human Brain Development
Creators: name: Lockwood Estrin, Georgia
Publisher: name: Imperial College London
Year: 2014

description: The primary objective of this thesis was to establish quantitative measurements of normal fetal brain tissue across gestation using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); the secondary aim was to compare diffusion metrics in fetuses with normal brain development to those with isolated ventriculomegaly (VM), congenital heart disease and in infants born preterm. Fetal diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) was optimised, and a motion-corrected diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) technique was utilized to produce apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) values across gestation in normal fetal cohorts. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) was utilised to analyse DTI in neonates with isolated VM compared to controls. Diffusion and volumetric MR data in preterm infants were analysed using an objective segmentation approach to characterise ex utero neurodevelopment, and to establish the effects of perinatal clinical factors on brain development. Normative ADC values were established in the fetal brain (n=52) across a large gestational age range. Increased ADC values were found in fetuses (n=24) and neonates (n=22) with isolated VM compared to controls; decreased FA was also demonstrated in neonates with VM. In preterm neonates (n=208), white and deep grey matter exhibited significantly increasing FA, and decreasing ADC, axial and radial diffusivity measures with increasing age at scan. DTI measures in the cortex significantly decreased with increasing age at scan; volume measures increased in all brain regions. Clinical factors including respiratory support and age at birth affected regional DTI and volumetric measures in preterm infants. FA values from a normal fetal cohort using motion-corrected DTI (n=26) were compared to preterm neonates (n=32) and significant differences were found. This thesis produced normal fetal diffusion data comparable to that produced in neonates. Quantifiable MR techniques can be used to explore the relationship between in utero and ex utero brain development and study alterations of normal fetal maturation.
Updating antique Chinese knowledge. Antique Chinese Wisdom Reflects Modern Business Methods More Consciously
Creators: name: Felley, Gabriel
Publisher: name: Business Transformation Academy
Year: 2018
Subjects: subject: Business strategy
subject: Yi Jing
subject: PDCA
subject: China Philosophy
subject: 000 - Allgemeines, Wissenschaft
subject: 100 - Philosophie

description: The Western culture and its established paradigms lead the world economy and structure the global market. The backbone of this culture roots in a technocratic vision of the world, based on the principle of causality. This understanding of the economic and societal reality has shown great success with continuous achievements. Nevertheless, today our society is facing big problems. More specifically, the globalization of markets has substantially complicated the process of making the right decisions. A different approach to problem solving may help design a better solution. This approach has to overstep the too obvious true-false logic and offer a holistic frame for a new way of analyzing the economic and social realms. Looking back at the ancient Chinese philosophers, they had developed an astonishing methodology called the Yi Jing, which was used to support government officials in making the right decisions. This article attempts to link the PDCA Deming cycle to some special elements of this framework
SAHRO KUYCHISI – BERDAQ.
Creators: name: Primqulova, Laziza
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024

description: Qoraqalpoq adabiyotining klassik namoyondasi bo’lgan Berdaq ijodi, xalqimizning uzoq tarixidagi qiyinchiliklarni bugungi kunimiz uchun o’rnak sifatida bitilgan she’rlarini ilmiy va ma’naviy salohiyati, tarbiyaviy ahamiyati haqida fikr mulohaza yuritamiz.
Utilization of Food Quality Labels Included in the European Union Quality Schemes
Creators: name: Sadílek, Tomáš
Publisher: name: International Journal on Food System Dynamics
Year: 2020
Subjects: Keywords: Labels; Quality; DOOR database; EU; Food

description: The paper deals with European Union quality schemes of Protected Designation of Origin, Protected Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed labels. This paper aims to analyse the share of PDO, PGI and TSG labels in EU countries, selected product categories and their structure, and explains the relationships between country of product origin and number of registered product names. Secondary data from the Database of Origin and Registration are used. As the results show, the highest number of product names is registered under the PDO label, followed closely by the PGI label. The dominant country is Italy followed by other Mediterranean countries such as France, Spain, Portugal and Greece.
description: International Journal on Food System Dynamics, Vol 11, No 1 (2020)
Evaluation of transgenic insects for use in the control of insect-borne disease
Creators: name: Winskill, Peter
Publisher: name: Imperial College London
Year: 2014

description: The burden of many vector-borne diseases remains high and for some, such as dengue fever, continues to rise. It is estimated that up to half of the global population is at risk from dengue. Treatment of dengue fever is currently limited to case management and there are, at present, no licensed vaccines available. As a result, the front-line defence against dengue fever remains vector control. Modern approaches to vector control are attempting to push forward new techniques to target the mosquito vectors of dengue. One such technique is the release of transgenic insects that are genetically sterile due to a conditional dominant lethal gene. This modern adaptation of the traditional sterile insect technique is at the forefront of current new vector control solutions. The success of a vector control effort using releases of transgenic insects relies on the technology being efficacious as well as effective in the field. To ensure the effectiveness of field-released sterile insects a deep knowledge of the mosquito biology and ecology must be combined with site-specific, logistical and cost considerations. In order to maximise the potential of this technology the field releases of these insects must be optimised. This work includes a specific focus on the exploration of the dynamics of releasing different life stages, investigations into the biology and ecology of the released insects and the development of applied methodology relating to the release and monitoring of transgenic insects. Novel vector control techniques, such as the use of transgenic insects, have an important role to play in addressing the emergence and spread of dengue fever. In order to utilise these technologies to their full potential they must be optimised to maximise their effectiveness. In this thesis I present work towards this optimisation.
Exploring and improving the escalation of care process for deteriorating patients on surgical wards in UK hospitals
Creators: name: Johnston, Maximilian Joseph
Publisher: name: Imperial College London
Year: 2015

description: Despite impressive progress in technical skills, the rate of adverse events in surgery remains unfavourably high. The variation seen in surgical outcomes may be dependent on the quality of ward-based surgical care provided to post-operative patients with complications, specifically, the recognition, communication and response to patient deterioration. This process can be termed escalation of care and is an under-explored area of surgical research. This thesis demonstrates the impact of delays in the escalation of care process on patient outcome. The facilitators of, and barriers to, escalation of care are then identified and described in the context of the UK surgical department. In order to prioritise areas within the escalation of care process amenable to intervention, a systematic risk assessment was conducted revealing suboptimal communication technology and a lack of human factors education as key failures. To ensure that communication technology intervention was conducted based on evidence, several exploratory studies describe the current methods of communication in surgery and explore areas of innovation and intervention. Following this, a human factors intervention bundle was implemented within a busy surgical department, which successfully improved supervision, escalation of care and safety culture. This thesis describes, for the first time, escalation of care in surgery and outlines important strategies for intervention in this safety-critical process. To date, ward-based care has been one of the most under-researched areas in surgery, despite its clear importance. The tools to improve escalation of care in surgery have been described and initial attempts at implementation have demonstrated great promise. Future use of these strategies should benefit surgeons and other clinical staff of all grades and ultimately, the surgical patient.
Die neue Alkoholregelung im Stadion St. Jakob-Park
Creators: name: Schmid, Holger
Publisher: name: Infodrog
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Grossveranstalung
subject: Polizei
subject: Fanbeauftragte
subject: Alkohol
subject: Gewalt
subject: 360 - Soziale Probleme, Sozialdienste, Versicherungen

description: Grossveranstaltungen wie Fussballspiele in Stadien bieten den Raum für Leidenschaft, Spannung, Gruppenerlebnis und Identifikation. Es scheint, als gehörten Alkohol und Gewalt dazu, was dazu geführt hat, dass verschiedene Regelungen in Bezug auf den Ausschank von Alkohol empfohlen und angewendet werden. Zwei Varianten der Alkoholregelung wurden im Stadion St. Jakob-Park neu umgesetzt. Es zeigten sich kaum Veränderungen im Verhalten der Fans. Was verschiedene Beteiligte hingegen als besonders wichtig einschätzten, waren der Dialog zwischen Fans, Fanbeauftragten und der Polizei sowie das Zusammenspiel zwischen Prävention und Repression.
The Role of Endogenous Inhibitors of Nitric Oxide on Glucose Homeostasis
Creators: name: Piper, Sophie
Publisher: name: Imperial College London
Year: 2014

description: Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthases. ADMA is metabolised by dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH) of which there are two isoforms with the same catalytic activity but different tissue expression patterns. Clinically ADMA is relevant as increased levels are seen in multiple pathologies, most notably cardiovascular disease and renal disease. Recent studies have shown increased plasma levels of ADMA in patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity, although these studies did not distinguish between an associative or causal relationship. In human genetic studies, polymorphisms in both DDAH1 and DDAH2 have been associated with type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, mice overexpressing ddah1 have increased insulin sensitivity and overexpression of DDAH2 has been reported to increase insulin secretion from pancreatic β-cell lines. This thesis aims to investigate the relationship between ADMA and the development of insulin resistance and in particular establish whether there is a causal link between elevation of ADMA and the onset of insulin resistance. My work has utilised DDAH deficient mouse strains to mimic loss of DDAH activity and consequent elevation of ADMA. Thorough analysis of glucose homeostasis in global Ddah1 knockout mice by hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic insulin clamp showed no significant dysfunction in insulin sensitivity in these animals. However on a high fat diet, increased ADMA resulted in enhanced adiposity and enhanced insulin resistance compared to fat fed controls. These differences were linked to increased expression of mTOR and SREBP1c in liver tissue and white adipose tissue. Conversely study of Ddah2 knockout animals showed no obvious change in insulin secretion on a normal diet but a marked difference in response to a high fat diet. Ddah2 knockout mice have higher metabolic rates and reduced fat mass compared to fat fed controls. This increased metabolic rate was associated with striking changes in metabolic markers in the brown adipose tissue of Ddah2 knockouts indicating an increase in mitochondrial number and activity. This work suggests that although ADMA does not alone cause insulin resistance it does alter the body’s response to a high fat diet that increases the pathology of the condition. This work shows, for the first time, clear and independent roles for DDAH1 and DDAH2, with respect to the control of metabolism and energy expenditure.
SEMENTES DE LUZ NA ERA DIGITAL:  TELAS, LIVROS E ESPIRITISMO
Creators: name: DE LIMA, Vagner Lúcio
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Espiritismo
Tela
Era Digital
Evangelização
Tecnologia

description: Como educar os espíritos reencarnados neste século de hiperconexão e distração? Como conciliar o uso crescente das telas com a formação moral, espiritual e afetiva das novas gerações? Essas perguntas inquietantes motivaram a elaboração da série de artigos que compõem Sementes de Luz na Era Digital.

A obra está organizada em três partes complementares:

Parte I – Evangelho, Educação e Família: 12 artigos inspirados em passagens do Evangelho segundo o Espiritismo, refletindo sobre temas como leitura, empatia, limites, atenção e espiritualidade no cotidiano familiar e escolar;

Parte II – O Livro dos Espíritos, Educação e Família: com base nas Leis Morais, os artigos discutem questões como livre-arbítrio, inclusão digital, influência dos espíritos, responsabilidade online e o papel da educação na construção do futuro espiritual;

Parte III – Tecnologia como Instrumento de Luz: a partir de descrições de tecnologias nas colônias espirituais, extraídas de obras psicografadas, mostra-se como a tecnologia pode ser usada para o bem, o consolo e a educação elevada.

Cada artigo segue uma estrutura clara: citação doutrinária, reflexão pedagógica ou espiritual, sugestão prática e conclusão esperançosa. O objetivo é oferecer orientações concisas, inspiradoras e aplicáveis para pais, professores, dirigentes e evangelizadores.

Mais do que um livro sobre tecnologia, trata-se de uma obra sobre escolhas, consciência e transformação interior. Que essas sementes, plantadas nas páginas a seguir, floresçam em você e naqueles que caminham ao seu lado.
Statistical methods for elucidating copy number variation in high-throughput sequencing studies
Creators: name: Bellos, Evangelos
Publisher: name: Imperial College London
Year: 2014

description: Copy number variation (CNV) is pervasive in the human genome and has been shown to contribute significantly to phenotypic diversity and disease aetiology. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies have allowed for the systematic investigation of CNV at an unprecedented resolution. HTS studies offer multiple distinct features that can provide evidence for the presence of CNV. We have developed an integrative statistical framework that jointly analyses multiple sequencing features at the population level to achieve sensitive and precise discovery of CNV. First, we applied our framework to low-coverage whole-genome sequencing experiments and used data from the 1000 Genomes Project to demonstrate a substantial improvement in CNV detection accuracy over existing methods. Next, we extended our approach to targeted HTS experiments, which offer improved cost-efficiency by focusing on a predetermined subset of the genome. Targeted HTS involves an enrichment step that introduces non-uniformity in sequencing coverage across target regions and thus hinders CNV identification. To that end, we designed a customized normalization procedure that counteracts the effects of enrichment bias and enhances the underlying CNV signal. Our extended framework was benchmarked on contiguous capture datasets, where it was shown to outperform competing strategies by a wide margin. Capture sequencing can also generate large amounts of data in untargeted genomic regions. Although these off-target results can be a valuable source of CNV evidence, they are subject to complex enrichment patterns that confound their interpretation. Therefore, we developed the first normalization strategy that can adapt to the highly heterogeneous nature of off-target capture and thus facilitate CNV investigation in untargeted regions. All in all, we present a generalized CNV detection toolset that has been shown to achieve robust performance across datasets and sequencing platforms and can therefore provide valuable insight into the prevalence and impact of CNV.
Local food for local children: the relationships between household agriculture and the health and nutrition of school-age children
Creators: name: Watkins, Kristie Lynn
Publisher: name: Imperial College London
Year: 2014

description: The target groups for many nutrition interventions are mothers and children under the age of two, as evidence has shown significant and substantial benefit for these age groups. Less is known about the potential for school-age children to benefit nutritionally from interventions through a complementary, life-cycle approach. The central hypothesis tested here is that nutrition-sensitive interventions can improve growth at school-age and that schools are an effective platform for children to be able to access these interventions. I address this hypothesis by examining three key research questions: 1) whether and to what extent catch-up growth can occur at school age; 2) how household characteristics (agriculture and dietary quantity and quality in particular) are related to nutrition at school age and what entry points may exist for holistic intervention; and 3) how school feeding programs are related to education participation (and thus access to nutritional inputs through programming) and how programs may be strengthened to improve links with local agriculture. Examining the first question, in a review of the potential for catch-up growth at school age, a range of intervention studies counter claims of the irreversibility of pre-school growth faltering with evidence that early deficits can, at least to some extent, be made up in childhood and adolescence. For the second question, in analysis of relationships between school-age nutritional status and household agriculture in Mali, associations were observed between household agricultural production variety and measures of dietary diversity and food variety, but no associations between these measures and school-age child nutrition outcomes were found. In making the link to programming through the third question, no significant associations were found between school feeding and the education participation outcomes measured at the school level in Kenya. I conclude that opportunities for improving the nutrition of school-age children do exist and that understanding the potential for agriculture-nutrition disconnects and the dynamic nature of school feeding programs could help improve the design of multi-sectoral, nutrition-sensitive interventions at school age, including Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF).
Emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction in airport security officers. Work-family conflict mediator in the job demands-resources model
Creators: name: Baeriswyl-Zurbriggen, Sophie
name: Krause, Andreas
name: Schwaninger, Adrian
Publisher: name: Frontiers
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: 150 - Psychologie

description: The growing threat of terrorism has increased the importance of aviation security and the work of airport security officers (screeners). Nonetheless, airport security research has yet to focus on emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction as major determinants of screeners’ job performance. The present study bridges this research gap by applying the job demands–resources (JD–R) model and using work–family conflict (WFC) as an intervening variable to study relationships between work characteristics (workload and supervisor support), emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction in 1,127 screeners at a European airport. Results of structural equation modeling revealed that (a) supervisorsupport as a major job resource predicted job satisfaction among screeners; (b) workload as a major job demand predicted their emotional exhaustion; and (c) WFC proved to be a promising extension to the JD–R model that partially mediated the impact of supervisor support and workload on job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Digitaler Stress? Ressourcen und Belastungen durch Smartphones
Creators: name: Hübscher, Margrit
Publisher: name: Hochschule für Angewandte Psychologie FHNW
Year: 2022
Subjects: Gesundheitsförderung
Prävention
digitaler Stress
Smartphone
Jugendliche
Social Media

description: Die sozialen Interaktionen auf den Smartphones von Jugendlichen bringen Chancen sowie Risiken und können wichtige Faktoren für die psychische Gesundheit sein. Basierend auf der Stresstheorie untersucht diese Arbeit, wie die psychosozialen Ressourcen und Belastungen in Bezug auf die Smartphone-Nutzung von Jugendlichen im Kanton Schaffhausen eingeschätzt werden. Diese Einschätzung wird in Zusammenhang mit der Lebenszufriedenheit und der Handynutzungszeit gesetzt. Weiter wird der Frage nachgegangen, wie diese Belastungen tief gehalten oder reduziert werden können. Die Ergebnisse einer quantitativen Umfrage mit N = 348 Jugendlichen der Sekundarstufe 2 des Kantons Schaffhausen zeigen, dass die Belastungen und Ressourcen im Durchschnitt nicht hoch sind, jedoch signifikant negativ mit der Lebenszufriedenheit und positiv mit der Nutzungsdauer zusammenhängen. Auch ein Zusammenhang der Ressourcen und Belastungen miteinander kann festgestellt werden. Um die Belastungen zu reduzieren, können nebst Selbstreflexion und Achtsamkeit, der Austausch in Gruppen und die Medienkompetenz gefördert werden.
The KdV Equation on the Half-Line: Time-Periodicity and Mass Transport
Creators: name: Bona, Jerry
name: Lenells, Jonatan
Publisher: name: University of Illinois at Chicago
Year: 2022
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: The work presented here emanates from questions arising from experimental observations of the propagation of surface water waves. The experiments in question featured a periodically moving wavemaker located at one end of a flume that generated unidirectional waves of relatively small amplitude and long wavelength when compared with the undisturbed depth. It was observed that the wave profile at any point down the channel very quickly became periodic in time with the same period as that of the wavemaker. One of the questions dealt with here is whether or not such a property holds for model equations for such waves. In the present discussion, this is examined in the context of the Korteweg-de Vries equation using the recently developed version of the inverse scattering theory for boundary-value problems put forward by Fokas and his collaborators. It turns out that solutions of the Korteweg-de Vries equation generated by periodic forcing at the boundary do exhibit asymptotic temporal periodicity at any fixed point down the channel. However, a more subtle issue to do with conservation of mass fails to hold at the second order in a small parameter, which is the typical wave amplitude divided by the undisturbed depth.
Brewing a more Balanced Cup: Supply Chain Perspectives on Gender Transformative Change within the Coffee Value Chain
Creators: name: Bilfield, Alissa
name: Seal, David
name: Rose, Donald
Publisher: name: International Journal on Food System Dynamics
Year: 2020
Subjects: Fair trade; gender; coffee; supply chain; agricultural cooperatives

description: Shifts in global agriculture have led more women into formal roles in the coffee industry as small-holder producers and cooperative members. Inclusion of women in these institutions, however, does not guarantee a change in historical power relations, or the benefits that might flow from this. A transformative change in gender relations not only requires changes in women's attitudes and capacities and in the relationships between men and women, but also progress at the institutional and structural levels, a topic which has been infrequently studied. To address this gap, this paper explores institutional perspectives of stakeholders in the supply chain of a fair-trade organic coffee federation located in the western highlands of Guatemala. Major themes emerged from the interviews regarding women's inclusion in the industry, gender sensitization, women's empowerment, and supply chain support. The study finds that empowering women as productive cooperative members requires not only technical assistance and support, but also creation of an inclusive social and political environment that supports expanded choices for women and men. The paper expands our understanding of the historical context and current institutional dynamics that are fueling gender transformative change in the coffee industry. The conclusions find that this type of approach may lead to more than just superficial gender integration, and has the potential to result in the genuine integration of women into previously male-dominated organizations and the eventual percolation of society-wide shifts in gender norms, moving towards a more equitable society.
description: International Journal on Food System Dynamics, Vol 11, No 1 (2020)
Face masks increase compliance with physical distancing recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic
Creators: name: Seres, Gyula
name: Balleyer, Anna Helen
name: Cerutti, Nicola
name: Danilov, Anastasia
name: Friedrichsen, Jana
name: Liu, Yiming
name: Süer, Müge
Publisher: name: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: COVID-19
subject: Health policy
subject: Face masks
subject: Risk compensation
subject: Social signaling
subject: Field experiment
subject: 330 Wirtschaft

description: Governments across the world have implemented restrictive policies to slow the spread of COVID-19. Recommended face mask use has been a controversially discussed policy, among others, due to potential adverse effects on physical distancing. Using a randomized field experiment (N = 300), we show that individuals kept a significantly larger distance from someone wearing a face mask than from an unmasked person during the early days of the pandemic. According to an additional survey experiment (N = 456) conducted at the time, masked individuals were not perceived as being more infectious than unmasked ones, but they were believed to prefer more distancing. This result suggests that wearing a mask served as a social signal that led others to increase the distance they kept. Our findings provide evidence against the claim that mask use creates a false sense of security that would negatively affect physical distancing. Furthermore, our results suggest that behavior has informational content that may be affected by policies.
Consumer Personality and Local Food Specialties: The Case of Norway
Creators: name: Gustavsen, Geir Wæhler
name: Hegnes, Atle Wehn
Publisher: name: International Journal on Food System Dynamics
Year: 2020
Subjects: Local Food Specialties; Consumption; Personality; Big Five; graded response model

description: In studies of consumption of local food specialties (LFSs), individual personalities are rarely mentioned. In this article, we want to expand on and provide a nuanced explanation of the characteristics of these consumers of these products, asking: Are there any personality traits that characterize these consumers? We use the Big Five personality model to unpack the relationship between individuals' personalities and choices of LFS in the Norwegian context. The model consists of the following five personal traits: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. These personality traits are latent, but through questions regarding behavior, the traits may be revealed. To construct latent variables to measure these traits, we apply the graded response model. Furthermore, socioeconomic variables are combined with personality traits in logistic regression models to find the relationships between personality and choice of Norwegian LFSs. Our results show that in all models the latent variable Openness to experience was one of the most important predictors of all the choices of LFS made by individuals. Openness to experience is characterized by fantasy, aesthetic sensitivity, attentiveness to inner feelings, preference for variety, and intellectual curiosity. The consequence of the connection between Openness to experience and LFS is that stakeholders may take this into account when seeking to increase sales.
description: International Journal on Food System Dynamics, Vol 11, No 1 (2020)
MPEC 2024-G166 : 2024 GZ3
Creators: name: Minor Planet Center Staff
Publisher: name: The Minor Planet Center
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Small Solar System bodies
valueUri: http://astrothesaurus.org/uat/1469
subject: 2024 GZ3

description: The Minor Planet Electronic Circulars contain information on unusual minor planets, routine data on comets and natural satellites, and occasional editorial announcements.  They are published on behalf of Division F of the International Astronomical Union by the Minor Planet Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
Nerve Growth factor and lower urinary tract dysfunction
Creators: name: Vijaya, Gopalan
Publisher: name: Imperial College London
Year: 2014

description: The polypeptide nerve growth factor (NGF) has been explored extensively over the span of six decades since its detection with amazing discoveries from its neurotrophic action to tissue healing properties. In lower urinary tract there is substantial evidence linking NGF and lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD). Over recent years the role of urinary NGF [UrNGF] in diagnosing LUTD as well as monitoring treatment response has been investigated extensively. However, the available studies report conflicting data regarding an association between lower urinary tract symptoms [LUTS] and UrNGF, and there is limited evidence for the validity and reliability of urinary NGF assays. In a quest to explore the role of UrNGF as a LUTS biomarker, levels were measured in patients with LUTD, prolapse and asymptomatic controls. This thesis hypotheses that measurement of NGF is of no value in LUTD and prolapse. Therefore the aims were to evaluate the diagnostic and discriminant ability of UrNGF measurement in LUTD and to test the reliability of NGF assays. The other objective was to study the association between UrNGF levels and cystoscopic and histology findings of bladder inflammation in women with overactive bladder [OAB] to explore the link between NGF and inflammation. Change in UrNGF levels after cystocele repair was studied, since bladder wall stretching has been postulated as one of the causes for increased NGF levels. Finally UrNGF levels before and after antibiotic treatment for refractory OAB were measured with the aim to evaluate its role to assess treatment response. On test retest reliability analysis of 13 samples there was almost perfect reliability with an Intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.889; 95%[C.I=0.676-0.965; p<0.001]. Urinary NGF was significantly but non-specifically increased in symptomatic patients [n=205] when compared to controls [n=31](13.33 vs. 2.05 ng NGF/ g Cr, Mann Whitney test; p <0.001) However ROC analysis, demonstrated poor discriminant ability between either different symptomatic groups or urodynamic groups. Using a cut off of 13.0 ng NGF/ g creatinine the test provides a sensitivity of 81%, but a specificity of only 39 % for overactive bladder. UrNGF levels were not associated with cystoscopic or histology findings of inflammation and did not improve after anterior repair in women who had an improvement in OAB symptoms. However in the study done to explore the role of urinary NGF as a biomarker to assess treatment response, NGF levels were found to decrease significantly after six weeks of antibiotic therapy in women with refractory OAB symptoms [n=35 patients] (Wilcoxon Signed rank test; p=0.015). This was associated with improvement in OAB symptoms. UrNGF does not appear to be a good diagnostic biomarker but may have a role as a marker of treatment response, hence may have limited role in assessment of women with LUTD.
Solitary-wave solutions of Benjamin-Ono and other systems for internal waves. II. dynamics
Creators: name: Bona, Jerry L.
name: Durán, Angel
name: Mitsotakis, Dimitrios
Publisher: name: University of Illinois at Chicago
Year: 2022
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Considered here are systems of partial differential equations arising in internal wave theory. The systems are asymptotic models describing the two-way propagation of long-crested interfacial waves in the Benjamin-Ono and the Intermediate Long-Wave regimes. Of particular interest will be solitary-wave solutions of these systems. Several methods of numerically approximating these solitary waves are put forward and their performance compared. The output of these schemes is then used to better understand some of the fundamental properties of these solitary waves. The spatial structure of the systems of equations is non-local, like that of their one-dimensional, unidirectional relatives, the Benjamin-Ono and the Intermediate Long-Wave equations. As the non-local aspect is comprised of Fourier multiplier operators, this suggests the use of spectral methods for the discretization in space. Three iterative methods are proposed and implemented for approximating traveling-wave solutions. In addition to Newton-type and Petviashvili iterations, an interesting wrinkle on the usual Petviashvili method is put forward which appears to offer advantages over the other two techniques. The performance of these methods is checked in several ways, including using the approximations they generate as initial data in time-dependent codes for obtaining solutions of the Cauchy problem. Attention is then turned to determining speed versus amplitude relations of these families of waves and their dependence upon parameters in the models. There are also provided comparisons between the unidirectional and bidirectional solitary waves. It deserves remark that while small-amplitude solitary-wave solutions of these systems are known to exist, our results suggest the amplitude restriction in the theory is artificial.
Digital transformation of everyday lives of older Swiss adults. Use of and attitudes toward current and future digital services
Creators: name: Seifert, Alexander
name: Charness, Neil
Publisher: name: Springer
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: ICT
subject: Digital services
subject: Technology acceptance
subject: Older adults
subject: 003 - Systeme

description: Digital (consumer) services, such as ticket machines, self-checkout, and online reservations, have become increasingly important in modern society. Studies on adoption of these services and openness to using future public digital services (e.g., online voting, online taxes, electronic patient records) have mostly focused on younger adults or nonrepresentative samples among older adults. Therefore, two important questions remain that can best be addressed with representative sampling: To what extent do older adults use or are willing to use current and future digital services in their everyday lives? How do older adults evaluate the ease of use of these services?. The study included data on use of current and future digital services among a large Swiss sample of 1149 people age 65 years and older (mean age: 74.1 years, SD: 6.69). Descriptive and multivariate analyses showed that (a) established services such as cash machines were used more often than new services, such as self-checkout apps or machines. (b) Perceived ease of use is related to age, socioeconomic status, health, and interest in technology. (c) Only 8.9% had an overall positive attitude toward these digital services, and this attitude was predicted by age, gender, socioeconomic status, and interest in technology. (d) Participants were more often open to filing taxes online than voting online, and openness was predicted by age, income, and interest in technology. Today, mainly older adults with a high interest in technology use digital services. Nevertheless, potential for greater use is evident.
NEOCONSTITUTIONALISM AND PRIVATE LAW: A SYSTEMICAUTOPOIETIC APPROACH OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE AUTONOMY OF THE WILL ON CONTRACTS
Creators: name: MATEUS DE OLIVEIRA FORNASIER
name: LUCIANO VAZ FERREIRA
name: CARLA FROENER FERREIRA
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Law
subject: FOS: Law

description: This article approaches the changes in the juridical interpretation of contractual autonomy of will. The problem that has guided it was: how to understand, from a sociological (and evolving) legal perspective, the neoconstitutionalism, which can be defined herein, in advance, especially as the influence (or even defining) of the constitutional principles on civil law – and what does this influence lead to the autonomy of the contract will? As a hypothesis, it shows that Law is a communicative, social, autopoietic system, and therefore, cognitively open, but structurally closed. Its open cognition allows its internal irritation from the observation of the social environment, in a reflexive understanding of communications in society. Either if it is a reflection of changes in laws, or a self-perceived inner necessity from the observation of the environment, the modification of an order is not isolated, being constituted as responsive evolution to historical movements occurred in society. The constitutionalization of the contractual autonomy of will is therefore a responsive internal reflection to the complexity of the environment, which is learned by the Law system. Its development takes place in three stages: 1) observation of constitutionalization of Private Law from the theory of autopoietic systems, making it from the study of the internal complexity of the law system in a reflexive response to the increasing complexity of the environment; 2) approach to the formation and development of the legal concept of autonomy of will; 3) study of the neoconstitutionalism in Brazilian Law and, in particular, its influence on the contractual autonomy of will. The systemic-constructivist methodology is used.
Additional file 2 of FK228 sensitizes radioresistant small cell lung cancer cells to radiation
Creators: name: Li, Hong
name: Ma, Liying
name: Bian, Xing
name: Lv, Yang
name: Lin, Wenchu
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biophysics
Molecular Biology
Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
Developmental Biology
Cancer
Hematology

description: Additional file 2. a Western blot analysis of phospho-proteins downstream of PI3K signaling in SCLC cell lines following 24-hour drug treatment. BEZ235, 100 nM; SAHA, 1 mM; FK228, 10 nM. b Western blot analysis showing the change of acetylated Ku70 in SCLC cell lines after FK228 for 24 h.
Wissensmanagement bei GKS Architekten Generalplaner AG
Creators: name: Jutz, Martin
Publisher: name: Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz FHNW
Year: 2018
Subjects: BIM

description: Wissensmanagement beruht auf den drei Schwerpunkten Technik, Organisation und Mensch. In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden die Grundbegriffe zum Wissensmanagement erläutert. Mit einem Ist-Zustand zur Informationsbereitstellung und Umfragen zum Wissensmanagement werden mögliche Handlungsfelder aufgezeigt.
CCWI2017: F74 'Data Setup for Water Distribution System Supervision'
Creators: name: Pérez, Ramon
name: Grau, Sergi
name: Jiménez, Víctor
name: Martínez, Xavier
name: Tomàs, Ricard
Publisher: name: The University of Sheffield
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: 90599 Civil Engineering not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Civil engineering

description: The availability of on-line data coming from the water distribution systems (WDS) allows the monitoring of such critical infrastructures. Nevertheless the huge amount of data that come to the control centre implies an enormous processing challenge [4]. The use of data avoids any physical theory and relies on statistical correlations and inferences. Nevertheless the previous efforts in modelling the networks encourage the companies to fusion information coming from both sources. Models help validating data and data update these models. This paper presents the first stage of an ongoing project focused in the integration of data and models. Data are collected, harmonised and validated using the models so that they will be used in following stages of the project for the supervision of the WDS (water balance and quality). A tool is being developed in R where the different modules will be integrated.
Additional file 1 of UTRN inhibits melanoma growth by suppressing p38 and JNK/c-Jun signaling pathways
Creators: name: Zhou, Sitong
name: Ouyang, Wen
name: Zhang, Xi
name: Liao, Lexi
name: Pi, Xiaobing
name: Yang, Ronghua
name: Mei, Baiqiang
name: Xu, Huaiyuan
name: Xiang, Shijian
name: Li, Jiehua
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Medicine
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Molecular Biology
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Developmental Biology
subject: Cancer

description: Additional file 1: Table S1. Clinical characteristics of melanoma patients.