cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
In silico analysis of alternative splicing events implicated in intracellular trafficking during B-lymphocyte differentiation
Creators: name: Heyd, Florian
name: Ostwaldt, Felix
name: Los, Bruna
Publisher: name: Freie Universität Berlin
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: B cell differentiation
subject: memory B cell
subject: Antibody-secreting cells
subject: Secretory Pathway
subject: Alternative Splicing
subject: COPII
subject: NERF/ELF2
subject: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik::570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie::570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie

description: There are multiple regulatory layers that control intracellular trafficking and protein secretion, ranging from transcriptional to posttranslational mechanisms. Finely regulated trafficking and secretion is especially important for lymphocytes during activation and differentiation, as the quantity of secretory cargo increases once the activated cells start to produce and secrete large amounts of cytokines, cytotoxins, or antibodies. However, how the secretory machinery dynamically adapts its efficiency and specificity in general and specifically in lymphocytes remains incompletely understood. Here we present a systematic bioinformatics analysis to address RNA-based mechanisms that control intracellular trafficking and protein secretion during B-lymphocyte activation, and differentiation, with a focus on alternative splicing. Our in silico analyses suggest that alternative splicing has a substantial impact on the dynamic adaptation of intracellular traffic and protein secretion in different B cell subtypes, pointing to another regulatory layer to the control of lymphocyte function during activation and differentiation. Furthermore, we suggest that NERF/ELF2 controls the expression of some COPII-related genes in a cell type-specific manner. In addition, T cells and B cells appear to use different adaptive strategies to adjust their secretory machineries during the generation of effector and memory cells, with antibody secreting B cell specifically increasing the expression of components of the early secretory pathway. Together, our data provide hypotheses how cell type-specific regulation of the trafficking machinery during immune cell activation and differentiation is controlled that can now be tested in wet lab experiments.
title: The Slow Road to Justice: Rectifying a Violation by Germany of the European Convention on Human Rights
Creators: name: Talmon, Stefan
name: Wallenfang, Iria Lores
Publisher: name: Fachinformationsdienst für internationale und interdisziplinäre Rechtsforschung
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: 341

description: GPIL - German Practice in International Law
I-Q relation for rapidly rotating neutron stars
Creators: name: Chakrabarti, Sayan
name: Delsate, Térence
name: Gürlebeck, Norman
name: Steinhoff, Jan
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2013
Subjects: subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We consider a universal relation between moment of inertia and quadrupole moment of arbitrarily fast rotating neutron stars. Recent studies suggest that this relation breaks down for fast rotation. We find that it is still universal among various suggested equations of state for constant values of certain dimensionless parameters characterizing the magnitude of rotation. One of these parameters includes the neutron star radius, leading to a new universal relation expressing the radius through the mass, frequency, and spin parameter. This can become a powerful tool for radius measurements.
description: RevTeX, 6 pages, 5 figures, v2: overall improvement of presentation, extended discussion of prospects for observations, v3: published version
A family of rotation numbers for discrete random dynamics on the circle
Creators: name: Rodrigues, Christian S.
name: Ruffino, Paulo R. C.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2013
Subjects: subject: Dynamical Systems (math.DS)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 37C40, 37E45 (primary), 37E10 (secondary), 37A05

description: We revisit the problem of well-defining rotation numbers for discrete random dynamical systems on the circle. We show that, contrasting with deterministic systems, the topological (i.e. based on Poincaré lifts) approach does depend on the choice of lifts (e.g. continuously for nonatomic randomness). Furthermore, the winding orbit rotation number does not agree with the topological rotation number. Existence and conversion formulae between these distinct numbers are presented. Finally, we prove a sampling in time theorem which recover the rotation number of continuous Stratonovich stochastic dynamical systems on $S^1$ out of its time discretisation of the flow.
description: 15 pages
The Impact of Carbon Monoxide on Endothelial Function
Creators: Cheung, Nicholas
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2023

Endothelial function measured via flow-mediated dilation following mild, acute carbon

monoxide (CO) exposure was quantified in 19 healthy young non-smoking adult participants

(n=10 females). The Schmidt-Prommer rebreathe method for the measurement of blood volume

was used for the CO exposure, and standardized flow-mediated dilation techniques were utilized.

It was hypothesized that CO would increase endothelial-dependent vasodilation in vascular

smooth muscle, potentially by modulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase, intracellular NO

release, or the dilatory cGMP pathway. While carboxyhemoglobin (COHb%) was elevated

following the rebreathe (5.64±1.24%), mean arterial pressure, heart rate, blood flow, brachial

artery diameter, and forearm vascular conduction were not significantly different following the

CO rebreathe protocol. FMD and FMD%, as well as shear corrected FMD:ssAUC and

FMD%:ssAUC were also not significantly different following CO rebreathe. These results

suggest mildly elevated COHb% does not impact resting vascular and hemodynamic parameters,

or impact endothelial-dependent vasodilation. Further research exploring CO release from

hemoglobin to tissue could provide insight into endothelial cell exposure of CO following mild,

acute exposure.
An exciton-polariton mediated all-optical router
Creators: name: Flayac, H.
name: Savenko, I. G.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2013
Subjects: subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We propose an all-optical nonlinear router based on a double barrier gate connected to periodically modulated guides. A semiconductor microcavity is driven nonresonantly in-between the barriers to form an exciton-polariton condensate on a discrete state that is subject to the exciton blueshift. The subsequent coherent optical signal is allowed to propagate through a guide provided that the condensate energy is resonant with a miniband or is blocked if it faces a gap. While a symmetric sample operates as an optical switch, its asymmetric counterpart embodies a router turned to be polarization selective under applied magnetic field.
description: Manuscript: 5 pages + 4 figures
Soft Tissue Facial Changes in Patients 7-11 years of age having Maxillary Expansion
Creators: Molla, Nafisa
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2023

Introduction: Maxillary transverse discrepancies are typically treated with palatal expansion treatment modalities. In addition to skeletal and dental changes with maxillary segment width enhancement, maxillary expansion may also impact the facial soft tissues, and past studies have shown varied results. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of maxillary expansion on facial soft tissues in children aged 7-11 years, utilizing both CBCTs and 3D facial scans.

Methods: Data was collected from 32 patients, consisting of two groups: control and treatment (Hyrax expansion via RME, 1 turn/day). The inclusion criteria were as follows: patients 7-11 years of age presenting with a maxillary transverse deficiency of at least 5mm or bilateral posterior crossbite. The exclusion criteria were as follows: patients with any previous history of craniofacial diseases or syndromes and any previous history of orthodontic therapy or maxillary expansion. Each patient in each group underwent CBCTs, 3D facial scans and hand-wrist radiographs at two time points: pre-treatment (T0, before maxillary expansion), after the completion of expansion at post-retention (T1, 12 months after). CBCTs were assessed using 3D Slicer software and 3D facial scans were assessed using OrthoInsight 3D software. The soft tissue measurements evaluated included the following: alar width, alar base width, mouth width, philtrum width, nasal tip prominence, nasolabial angle, upper lip to E-line, lower lip to E-line, upper lip height, height of vermillion of upper lip, lower lip height, height of nose, lower facial height and intercanthal width.

Results: Children aged 7-11 years who have undergone rapid maxillary expansion experience facial soft tissue changes comparable to patients who have not undergone any expansion, in regards to both CBCTs and 3D facial scans, with no statistically significant differences found between the two groups over the one-year observation period. However, when comparing the two modalities utilized in this study (CBCT imaging and 3D facial scanning), the correlation was not as optimal for specific outcome variables such as alar base width and intercanthal width, potentially due to anatomic, imaging protocols and patient related factors.

Conclusion:

The findings of this research study suggest that children between the ages of 7-11 years affected with maxillary transverse deficiency treated by rapid maxillary expansion using a Hyrax expansion device experience facial soft tissue changes similar to those of patients without any expansion, over a period of one year, in regards to both CBCTs and 3D facial scans. However, given the limitations with regard to imaging protocols and sample size, the results must be interpreted with caution.

 
Additional file 2 of Adding epitope compatibility to deceased donor kidney allocation criteria: recommendations from a pan-Canadian online public deliberation
Creators: name: Edwards, Louisa
name: Bentley, Colene
name: Burgess, Michael
name: Sapir-Pichhadze, Ruth
name: Hartell, David
name: Keown, Paul
name: Bryan, Stirling
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Neuroscience
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: Marine Biology
subject: Computational Biology

description: Additional file 2.
Evaluation of Periodontal Changes after Miniscrew Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion in Adults
Creators: Tanara, Ali
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2023

Introduction:

Miniscrew Assisted Rapid Palatal Expanders (MARPE) have been recently utilized in adult patients to correct maxillary transverse deficiency. Clinical research on the effect of different MARPE designs on periodontium of neighbouring teeth has been limited. The aim of this research was to compare the Moon expander and the Dresden appliance in terms of their respective effects on periodontium of neighbouring teeth. Changes in risk factors attributed to gingival recession was also analyzed.

Methods:

In this retrospective study, Cone Beam Computer Tomography (CBCT) records, intraoral scan records (STL), and intraoral photographs were taken from patients undergoing expansion with either Moon or Dresden appliances. Records were taken at T1 (pre-expansion) and T2 (post-expansion) timepoints. Maxillary first molars (mid-mesiobuccal root), first premolars (mid-buccal root) and second premolars (mid-buccal root) were analyzed. Changes in buccal bone marginal level, buccal bone thickness at 3 and 6 mm from CEJ, buccal gingival level, and gingival thickness at 2mm from CEJ were analyzed using CBCT and superimposed STL data.

To assess for changes in risks for further recession, photo-analysis was performed on the photographs taken at T1 and T2. Changes in gingival recession, keratinized tissue thickness, gingival inflammation, and keratinized tissue width were scored. Data were compared between the two groups and analyzed.

Results:

Data obtained from nine adult patients treated using the Dresden appliance and eleven adult patients treated with the Moon expander were analyzed. The results showed that after maxillary expansion, the buccal bone thickness at 6mm from the CEJ was reduced by 0.31mm around the first maxillary molars (p-value <0.03), regardless of the type of appliance used. Changes in other osseous and gingival dimensional parameters (from T1 to T2) were not statistically different between the two appliance groups. Changes in buccal bone thickness at 3mm from CEJ correlated with gingival thickness changes at 2mm from CEJ around the second premolars in the Dresden appliance group. Nevertheless, changes in other gingival parameters did not correlate with changes in osseous parameters in both groups. Findings also indicated that incidence of gingival inflammation and recession increased in both treatment groups. However, distribution of changes in factors associated with development of gingival recession was not statistically significant between the two groups.

Conclusion

Within timeframe of this study, while buccal bone thickness at 6mm from CEJ was reduced around maxillary first molars after maxillary expansion, effect of appliance design was not found to be significant for any of the measured parameters. Both appliances equally affect the scored risk factors for further gingival recession.
New separation protocol reveals spray painting as a neglected source of microplastics in soils
Creators: name: Xu, Yaqi
name: Rillig, Matthias C.
name: Waldman, Walter R.
Publisher: name: Freie Universität Berlin
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Paint microplastic
subject: Spray paint
subject: Infrared
subject: Separation
subject: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik::570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie::570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie

description: Microplastics are recently discovered contaminants, yet knowledge on their sources and analysis is limited. For instance, paint microplastics are poorly known because soil separation protocols using flotation solutions cannot separate paint microplastics due to the higher density of paint microplastic versus common microplastics. Here, we designed a new two-step density separation protocol for paint microplastics, allowing paint microplastics to be separated from the soil without digestion. Paint particles were separated from soil samples collected around the graffiti wall at the Mauerpark, Berlin, then quantified according to their shape and color characteristic. The presence of polymers as binders in the paint particles was verified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Results show concentrations from 1.1 × 105 to 2.9 × 105 microplastics per Kg of dry soil, representing the highest microplastic concentration ever reported in the literature. Particle concentrations decreased and the median size increased with soil depth. Our results provide first evidence that spray painting, a technique with a wide range of applications from industry to art, leaves a legacy of environmental microplastic in soils that has so far gone unnoticed.
Novel shape evolution in exotic Ni isotopes and configuration-dependent shell structure
Creators: name: Tsunoda, Y.
name: Otsuka, T.
name: Shimizu, N.
name: Honma, M.
name: Utsuno, Y.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2013
Subjects: subject: Nuclear Theory (nucl-th)
subject: Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The shapes of neutron-rich exotic Ni isotopes are studied. Large-scale shell model calculations are performed by advanced Monte Carlo Shell Model (MCSM) for the $pf$-$g_{9/2}$-$d_{5/2}$ model space. Experimental energy levels are reproduced well by a single fixed Hamiltonian. Intrinsic shapes are analyzed for MCSM eigenstates. Intriguing interplays among spherical, oblate, prolate and gamma-unstable shapes are seen including shape fluctuations, $E$(5)-like situation, the magicity of doubly-magic $^{56,68,78}$Ni, and the coexistence of spherical and strongly deformed shapes. Regarding the last point, strong deformation and change of shell structure can take place simultaneously, being driven by the combination of the tensor force and changes of major configurations within the same nucleus.
description: 5 pages, 4 figures
Root colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi is reduced in tomato plants sprayed with fungicides
Creators: name: Okiobe, Simon T. Thierry
name: Meidl, Peter
name: Koths, Timon
name: Olschewsky, Dustin
name: Rillig, Matthias C.
name: Lammel, Daniel R.
Publisher: name: Freie Universität Berlin
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
subject: root colonization
subject: Pesticides
subject: fungicides
subject: Tomato
subject: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik::570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie::570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie

description: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) form symbioses with many agricultural crops and can improve plant biomass and health. The performance of the AM symbiosis is context dependent, for example, usually the inoculation of the AMF Rhizophagus irregularis benefits plant biomass, but benefits can be suppressed by high soil fertility levels. Nevertheless, the importance of many other agricultural management practices on AMF, such as fungicides application, is poorly understood. Also, pesticide regulations usually neglect a comprehensive safety testing of fungicides on AMF and lawmakers require empirical support to improve such laws. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of spraying fungicides on tomato plants and the subsequent root colonization of plants grown in natural soil containing AMF and inoculated with R. irregularis. We detected that the inoculation of R. irregularis increased the total root colonization of the control plants that did not receive fungicides and that spraying the plants with the fungicides Signum® and Topas® reduced total root colonization. The effect on specific AM fungal structures was variable according to the product. Signum® reduced the occurrence of arbuscules, while Topas® reduced the occurrence of AM hyphae in the colonized roots. Cuprozin® did not reduce total root colonization but reduced the occurrence of AM vesicles. Sampling time was also relevant. Effects were detected at 90 days, but not at 35 days. Our results show that fungicides safety should be evaluated for their effects on root colonization of crops in non-sterilized soils and at adequate sampling time.
Additional file 3 of Adding epitope compatibility to deceased donor kidney allocation criteria: recommendations from a pan-Canadian online public deliberation
Creators: name: Edwards, Louisa
name: Bentley, Colene
name: Burgess, Michael
name: Sapir-Pichhadze, Ruth
name: Hartell, David
name: Keown, Paul
name: Bryan, Stirling
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Neuroscience
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: Marine Biology
subject: Computational Biology

description: Additional file 3.
On Efficient Planning in Large Action Spaces with Applications to Cooperative Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning
Creators: Tkachuk, Volodymyr
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2023

A practical challenge in reinforcement learning is large action spaces that make planning computationally demanding. For example, in cooperative multi-agent reinforcement learning, a potentially large number of agents jointly optimize a global reward function, which leads to a blow-up in the action space as the number of agents increases. Building on recent work in planning with local access to a simulator and linear function approximation, we propose efficient algorithms for this setting that lead to polynomial compute and query complexity in all relevant problem parameters. As a minimal requirement, we assume access to an argmax oracle that allows to efficiently compute the greedy policy for any q-function in the model class. For the special case where the feature decomposition is additive, we further improve the bounds if the dimension of the feature space is large relative to the number of additive terms in the feature decomposition. To the best of our knowledge, this work provides the first computationally efficient algorithms with theoretical guarantees for the reinforcement learning problem, when the action space is large and we have access to a simulator.
Charge transport in InAs nanowire Josephson junctions
Creators: name: Abay, Simon
name: Persson, Daniel
name: Nilsson, Henrik
name: Wu, Fan
name: Xu, H. Q.
name: Fogelström, Mikael
name: Shumeiko, Vitaly
name: Delsing, Per
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2013
Subjects: subject: Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con)
subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We present an extensive experimental and theoretical study of the proximity effect in InAs nanowires connected to superconducting electrodes. We fabricate and investigate devices with suspended gate-controlled nanowires and nonsuspended nanowires, with a broad range of lengths and normal-state resistances. We analyze the main features of the current-voltage characteristics: the Josephson current, excess current, and subgap current as functions of length, temperature, magnetic field, and gate voltage, and compare them with theory. The Josephson critical current for a short-length device, L = 30 nm, exhibits a record high magnitude of 800 nA at low temperature that comes close to the theoretically expected value. The critical current in all other devices is typically reduced compared to the theoretical values. The excess current is consistent with the normal resistance data and agrees well with the theory. The subgap current shows a large number of structures; some of them are identified as subharmonic gap structures generated by multiple Andreev reflection. The other structures, detected in both suspended and nonsuspended devices, have the form of voltage steps at voltages that are independent of either the superconducting gap or length of the wire. By varying the gate voltage in suspended devices, we are able to observe a crossover from typical tunneling transport at large negative gate voltage, with suppressed subgap current and negative excess current, to pronounced proximity junction behavior at large positive gate voltage, with enhanced Josephson current and subgap conductance as well as a large positive excess current.
description: 12 pages, 15 figures
Understanding health behaviours in context: A systematic review and meta-analysis of ecological momentary assessment studies of five key health behaviours
Creators: name: Perski, Olga
name: Keller, Jan
name: Kale, Dimitra
name: Asare, Bernard Yeboah-Asiamah
name: Schneider, Verena
name: Powell, Daniel
name: Naughton, Felix
name: Ten Hoor, Gill
name: Verboon, Peter
name: Kwasnicka, Dominika
Publisher: name: Freie Universität Berlin
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Ambulatory assessment
subject: ecological momentary assessment
subject: experience sampling
subject: health psychology
subject: systematic review
subject: meta-analysis
subject: 100 Philosophie und Psychologie::150 Psychologie::150 Psychologie

description: Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) involves repeated, real-time sampling of health behaviours in context. We present the state-of-knowledge in EMA research focused on five key health behaviours (physical activity and sedentary behaviour, dietary behaviour, alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, sexual health), summarising theoretical (e.g., psychological and contextual predictors) and methodological aspects (e.g., study characteristics, EMA adherence). We searched Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO and Web of Science until February 2021. We included studies focused on any of the aforementioned health behaviours in adult, non-clinical populations that assessed ≥1 psychological/contextual predictor and reported a predictor-behaviour association. A narrative synthesis and random-effects meta-analyses of EMA adherence were conducted. We included 633 studies. The median study duration was 14 days. The most frequently assessed predictors were ‘negative feeling states’ (21%) and ‘motivation and goals’ (16.5%). The pooled percentage of EMA adherence was high at 81.4% (95% CI = 80.0%, 82.8%, k = 348) and did not differ by target behaviour but was somewhat higher in student (vs. general population) samples, when EMAs were delivered via mobile phones/smartphones (vs. handheld devices), and when event contingent (vs. fixed) sampling was used. This review showcases how the EMA method has been applied to improve understanding and prediction of health behaviours in context.
Ascaris suum excretory/secretory products differentially modulate porcine dendritic cell subsets
Creators: name: Hamid, Benjamin
name: Ebner, Friederike
name: Bechtold, Lalita
name: Kundik, Arkadi
name: Rausch, Sebastian
name: Hartmann, Susanne
Publisher: name: Freie Universität Berlin
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Ascaris suum
subject: blood
subject: dendritic cells
subject: excretory/secretory products
subject: helminth
subject: immunomodulation
subject: pigs
subject: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften::630 Landwirtschaft::630 Landwirtschaft und verwandte Bereiche

description: Helminths produce excretory/secretory products (E/S) which can modulate the immune responses of their hosts. Dendritic cells (DC) are essential for initiating the host T cell response and are thus potential targets for modulation by helminth E/S. Here we study immunomodulation of porcine peripheral blood DC subsets following ex vivo stimulation with E/S from Ascaris suum, a common helminth of pigs with considerable public health and economic importance. Our data showed that the relative frequencies of DC subsets in porcine blood differ, with plasmacytoid DC (pDC) being the most prominent in healthy 6-month-old pigs. pDC are an important cytokine source, and we found that A. suum E/S suppressed production of the type 1 cytokines IL-12p40 and TNF-α by this subset following toll-like receptor (TLR) ligation. In contrast, conventional DC (cDC) are more efficient antigen presenters, and the expression of CD80/86, costimulatory molecules essential for efficient antigen presentation, were modulated differentially by A. suum E/S between cDC subsets. CD80/86 expression by type 1 cDC (cDC1) following TLR ligation was greatly suppressed by the addition of A. suum E/S, while CD80/86 expression by type 2 cDC (cDC2) was upregulated by A. suum E/S. Further, we found that IFN-γ production by natural killer (NK) cells following IL-12 and IL-18 stimulation was suppressed by A. suum E/S. Finally, in the presence of E/S, IFN-γ production by CD4+ T cells co-cultured with autologous blood-derived DC was significantly impaired. Together, these data provide a coherent picture regarding the regulation of type 1 responses by A. suum E/S. Responsiveness of pDC and cDC1 to microbial ligands is reduced in the presence of E/S, effector functions of Th1 cells are impaired, and cytokine-driven IFN-γ release by NK cells is limited.
Ankle-Foot Orthoses for Young Children with Cerebral Palsy
Creators: Firouzeh, Pegah
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2023

Cerebral palsy occurs due to brain injury during the fetal period or after birth resulting in movement and posture impairments that affect the individual’s functional ability in daily life. Ankle Foot Orthoses are often prescribed, in combination with other interventions, for children with cerebral palsy before the age of six years to prevent gastrocnemius-soleus muscle shortening, tendo-achilles contracture, and improve walking performance. Despite routine use in clinical practice, there is a low level of evidence about how AFOs affect children’s functional abilities and limited information about parents’ experiences with early AFO use. Prescription practices would be informed by a more in-depth understanding of how parents experience their young children’s AFO use so that clinicians can be more knowledgeable about the barriers and challenges faced by families.

This thesis aimed to provide evidence-based, family-centered clinical practice recommendations for prescribing and monitoring AFOs for young children with cerebral palsy. This objective was addressed in three separate studies: 1) a scoping review to describe research on outcomes associated with early AFO use, AFO use patterns, and parent and clinician perspectives on AFO use among young children with cerebral palsy, 2) a qualitative study to understand parent experience with AFO use by their young children, and 3) a Delphi study to develop core clinical considerations for AFO prescription and monitoring. Although improving participation outcomes is a primary goal of rehabilitation, the scoping review revealed that activity and participation outcomes are often ignored in pediatric orthotics research. In the second study, I interviewed parents of young children with cerebral palsy who used AFOs to explore their experiences with their children’s early AFO use. Parents reflected on their challenges with the adjustment period to AFOs, the perceived stigma of using AFOs in public,

the perceived benefits of wearing AFOs, and the need to work collaboratively with clinicians to determine optimal AFO dosage and wear recommendations. The final study combined the data from the scoping review and qualitative study with an expanded search of the literature to integrate research, clinicians’ views, and family perspectives into a consensus-based list of core considerations for AFO prescription and monitoring for young children with cerebral palsy. The core considerations for AFO (timing of initial prescription, selection of type and construction, communication with families, frequency and duration of use, outcomes associated with AFO use, and clinical team functioning) are intended to support clinicians in aligning their practices with the priorities of families to optimize AFO use.
Hypothesis testing for high-dimensional sparse binary regression
Creators: name: Mukherjee, Rajarshi
name: Pillai, Natesh S.
name: Lin, Xihong
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2013
Subjects: subject: Statistics Theory (math.ST)
subject: Computation (stat.CO)
subject: Methodology (stat.ME)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: In this paper, we study the detection boundary for minimax hypothesis testing in the context of high-dimensional, sparse binary regression models. Motivated by genetic sequencing association studies for rare variant effects, we investigate the complexity of the hypothesis testing problem when the design matrix is sparse. We observe a new phenomenon in the behavior of detection boundary which does not occur in the case of Gaussian linear regression. We derive the detection boundary as a function of two components: a design matrix sparsity index and signal strength, each of which is a function of the sparsity of the alternative. For any alternative, if the design matrix sparsity index is too high, any test is asymptotically powerless irrespective of the magnitude of signal strength. For binary design matrices with the sparsity index that is not too high, our results are parallel to those in the Gaussian case. In this context, we derive detection boundaries for both dense and sparse regimes. For the dense regime, we show that the generalized likelihood ratio is rate optimal; for the sparse regime, we propose an extended Higher Criticism Test and show it is rate optimal and sharp. We illustrate the finite sample properties of the theoretical results using simulation studies.
description: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/14-AOS1279 the Annals of Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org)
Small area estimation of health insurance coverage for Kenyan counties
Creators: name: Mutai, Noah Cheruiyot
Publisher: name: Freie Universität Berlin
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Binary M‑quantile
subject: Direct estimation
subject: Health insurance coverage
subject: Universal Health Care
subject: Taylor series linearization
subject: 300 Sozialwissenschaften::330 Wirtschaft::330 Wirtschaft

description: Health insurance is important in disease management, access to quality health care and attaining Universal Health Care. National and regional data on health insurance coverage needed for policy making is mostly obtained from household surveys; however, estimates at lower administrative units like at the county level in Kenya are highly variable due to small sample sizes. Small area estimation combines survey and census data using a model to increases the effective sample size and therefore provides more precise estimates. In this study we estimate the health insurance coverage for Kenyan counties using a binary M‑quantile small area model for women (n=14,730) and men (n=12,007) aged 15 to 49 years old. This has the advantage that we avoid specifying the distribution of the random effects and distributional robustness is automatically achieved. The response variable is derived from the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2014 and auxiliary data from the Kenya Population and Housing Census 2009. We estimate the mean squared error using an analytical approach based on Taylor series linearization. The national direct health insurance coverage estimates are 18% and 21% for women and men respectively. With the current health insurance schemes, coverage remains low across the 47 counties. These county-level estimates are helpful in formulating decentralized policies and funding models.
Phase structure of two-dimensional QED at zero temperature with flavor-dependent chemical potentials and the role of multidimensional theta functions
Creators: name: Lohmayer, Robert
name: Narayanan, Rajamani
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2013
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
subject: High Energy Physics - Lattice (hep-lat)
subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We consider QED on a two-dimensional Euclidean torus with $f$ flavors of massless fermions and flavor-dependent chemical potentials. The dependence of the partition function on the chemical potentials is reduced to a $(2f-2)$-dimensional theta function. At zero temperature, the system can exist in an infinite number of phases characterized by certain values of traceless number densities and separated by first-order phase transitions. Furthermore, there exist many points in the $(f-1)$-dimensional space of traceless chemical potentials where two or three phases can coexist for $f=3$ and two, three, four or six phases can coexist for $f=4$. We conjecture that the maximal number of coexisting phases grows exponentially with increasing $f$.
description: 14 pages, 8 figures, revised version has minor changes based on the referee report
Health‐related quality of life of children born to childhood cancer survivors in Germany
Creators: name: Balcerek, Magdalena
name: Sommerhäuser, Greta
name: Schilling, Ralph
name: Hölling, Heike
name: Klco‐Brosius, Stephanie
name: Borgmann‐Staudt, Anja
Publisher: name: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: childhood cancer
subject: health-related quality of life
subject: offspring
subject: oncology
subject: survivors
subject: well-being
subject: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften::610 Medizin und Gesundheit::610 Medizin und Gesundheit

description: Objective: Rising childhood cancer survival rates have increased the importance of health-related quality of life (HRQL) assessment. While survivors show comparable HRQL to peers, concerns that cancer treatment could impact the health of prospective children were reported. No previous publications address HRQL of childhood cancer survivor offspring. Methods: We assessed survivor offspring HRQL using the parental KINDL questionnaire. Matched-pair analysis was conducted with data from the general population (KiGGS study) using age, gender and education (1:1, n = 1206 cases). Multivariate analyses were conducted to detect the influence of parental diagnose and treatment on offspring HRQL. Results: Overall, within KINDL dimensions, survivors reported comparable to higher HRQL for their children than the general population. Survivor parents reported significantly (p < 0.001) higher psychological (86.7% vs. 83.0%, Cohen's d = 0.3) and self-esteem (79.1% vs. 73.3%, Cohen's d = 0.5) well-being scores for younger children (3-6-year-olds). As time since diagnosis increased, parents reported higher well-being scores. Accordingly, recently diagnosed survivors reported significantly lower psychological well-being scores (p = 0.28; OR = 0.457; 95% CI = 0.228-0.918) for their children. With increasing age, average HRQL scores decreased in both cohorts; yet, this drop was less pronounced for survivor offspring. The biggest difference between age groups (7-10- vs. 14-17-year-olds) was found for school-specific well-being (6.2-point drop in survivor offspring vs. 18.2-point drop in KiGGS offspring). Conclusion: Comparable to higher parentally assessed HRQL was reported for survivor offspring compared to peers. These findings are reassuring and consistent with self-reported HRQL in childhood cancer survivors. Type of parental cancer diagnosis and treatment showed no negative impact on offspring HRQL.
The Métis experience at the Chimney Coulee site (DjOe-6): A historical archaeology investigation into a 19th-century hivernant site in the Cypress Hills
Creators: Tebby, Eric
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2023

The Chimney Coulee site (DjOe-6) is a locally well-known historic site and provincial recreation area a few kilometers north of the town of Eastend, Saskatchewan in the southwestern corner of the province. Located along the eastern slopes of the Cypress Hills, the site has a deep history as people from various cultures and eras have called this place home. This thesis uses historical archaeology to delve into the Métis cultural experience at this site which they used to call “Foot of the Mountain” (Pied de la Montagne). It was visited and occupied by various Métis individuals and families between the years of 1870 and 1882. This thesis investigates Métis hivernant component to the site to better understand the residents of this cabin and their lifeways through historical archaeology. The historical analysis provides the context to the lives and kinship connections of the individuals and families who called this area their home. The archaeological analysis of a cabin feature helps to give a better understanding to when it was occupied and some context into the daily lives of these individuals. Together, it is argued that this site was occupied by the Métis during three distinct periods. The first was between the years of 1870 and 1874 when it was primarily occupied on an infrequent basis by mostly hunters and traders based from nearby settlements. The second occupation period was between 1874 and 1878 when 70 families settled on the site and in various other ravines and coulees in the area. With perhaps as much as 400 people occupying the site and surrounding areas, it could have been among the largest Métis hivernant settlements in this part of the country. The final occupation period was during a period between 1878 and 1882 when members of the Laframboise family were the main occupants at the site. The 2017 archaeological field season found remains of a cabin wall with many historic and domestic associated artifacts mainly concentrated on one side of this wall. The 2018 field season confirmed these trends. The artifacts are distinctly associated as being Métis in style and highly reflect an archaeological dataset that parallels other findings at previously investigated hivernant sites. Many daily activities such as beading, sewing, and tea consumption are well represented among such artifacts. Remains of personal and decorative items show a highly decorative and artistic lifestyle practiced during the long prairie winters. The domestic nature of the artifacts and diagnostic dates acquired suggests the cabin was primarily occupied in the second occupation period (1874-1878) and into the third occupation period (1878-1882). This cabin reflects a highly domesticated space of a Métis hivernant family living at the site for several winters during these timeframes.
Illness representations, coping and anxiety among men with localized prostate cancer over an 18‐months period: A parallel vs. level‐contrast mediation approach
Creators: name: Otto, Isabella
name: Hilger, Caren
name: Magheli, Ahmed
name: Stadler, Gertraud
name: Kendel, Friederike
Publisher: name: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: active surveillance
subject: anxiety
subject: common sense model
subject: consequences
subject: coping
subject: curative treatment
subject: illness representations
subject: mediation
subject: oncology
subject: prostate cancer
subject: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften::610 Medizin und Gesundheit::610 Medizin und Gesundheit

description: Objective: Men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer (lPCa) are confronted with the decision for a treatment strategy, potentially experiencing treatment side effects and psychological distress. The Common Sense Model proposes that coping with such challenges is related to illness representations: Beliefs regarding consequences, coherence, timeline, and controllability of the illness. We analyzed the interplay of illness representations, coping and anxiety over an 18-month period among men with lPCa undergoing different treatment options (Active Surveillance, curative treatment). Methods: In this longitudinal study, 183 men (age M = 66.83) answered a questionnaire before starting treatment, and 6, 12, and 18 months later. We analyzed time trajectories with growth curve modeling and conducted mediation analyses to evaluate the influence of coping on the association of illness representations and anxiety. Using a novel methodological approach, we compared a classic parallel mediation model with a level-contrast approach for the correlated mediators problem- and emotion-focused coping. Results: Independent of treatment (b = 1.31, p = 0.200) men reported an elevated level of anxiety after diagnosis which declined considerably within the following 6 months (b = -1.87, p = 0.009). The perceived seriousness of consequences was significantly associated with greater anxiety, at baseline (β = 0.471) and over time (all β ≥ 0.204). This association was mediated by coping: Using more emotion-than problem-focused coping was associated with higher anxiety. Conclusions: Receiving a lPCa diagnosis is associated with a phase of increased anxiety. In order to reduce anxiety, information provision should be accompanied by developing concrete action plans to enable problem-focused coping strategies.
Additional file 1 of Time of insemination in relation to pregnancy rates in beef cattle after oestrus detection with automated activity monitoring system
Creators: name: Haadem, Caroline Sorknes
name: Holmøy, Ingrid Hunter
name: Nødtvedt, Ane
name: Martin, Adam Dunstan
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Science Policy

description: Additional file 1: Fig. S1. Flow chart of eligiblestudy herds. Fig. S2. Flow chart showingincluded and excluded observations/inseminations and reasons from exclusionfrom the study.
Phase-space shapes of clusters and rich groups of galaxies
Creators: name: Wojtak, Radoslaw
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2013
Subjects: subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Clusters and groups of galaxies are highly aspherical, with shapes approximated by nearly prolate ellipsoids of revolution. An equally fundamental property is the shape of these objects in velocity space which is the anisotropy of the global velocity dispersion tensor. Here we make use of kinematical data comprising around 600 nearby clusters and rich groups of galaxies from the SDSS to place constraints on the phase-space shapes of these objects, i.e. their shapes in both position and velocity space. We show that the line of sight velocity dispersion normalised by a mass dependent velocity scale correlates with the apparent elongation, with circular (elongated) clusters exhibiting an excessive (decremental) normalised velocity dispersion. This correlation holds for dynamically young or old clusters and, therefore, it originates from projecting their intrinsic phase-space shapes rather than from dynamical evolution. It signifies that clusters are preferentially prolate not only in position space, but also in velocity space. The distribution of the axial ratios in position space is found to be well approximated by a Gaussian with a mean 0.66+/-0.01 and a dispersion 0.07+/-0.008. The velocity ellipsoids representing the shapes in velocity space are more spherical, with a mean axial ratio of 0.78+/-0.03. This finding has important implications for mass measurements based on the line of sight velocity dispersion profiles in individual clusters. For typical axial ratios of the velocity ellipsoids in the analysed cluster sample, systematic errors on the mass estimates inferred from the line of sight velocity dispersions become comparable to statistical uncertainties for galaxy clusters with as few as 40 spectroscopic redshifts.
description: 9 pages, 7 figures; published in A&A; typo in eq. 5 corrected
Sensitivity-based adaptive procedure (SAP) for optimal rehabilitation of sewer systems
Creators: name: Cai, Xiatong
name: Shirkhani, Hamidreza
name: Mohammadian, Abdolmajid
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Space Science
subject: Medicine
subject: Biotechnology
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: 80699 Information Systems not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: 19999 Mathematical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Mathematics

description: Urban flood resilience requires high-performance sewer systems, and multi-objective optimization methods are widely used to improve sewer system efficiency. A non-polynomial complete (NP complete) optimization problem may exist in urban sewer rehabilitation, which may cause low efficiency in optimizing large network systems. In this research, a sensitivity-based adaptive procedure (SAP) is proposed, which can be integrated with optimization algorithms. SAP was integrated with Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) and Multiple Objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MOPSO) methods. We further used the Hydraulics and Risk Combined Model (HRCM), which is a risk-informed multi-objective optimization model designed for drainage system rehabilitation to validate the performance of SAP procedure. Results showed that SAP can improve the optimizing performance, and SAP-NSGA-II exhibited superior performance in solving the combined problems of pipe breakage and overflooding.