cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Dual HLA B*42 and B*81-reactive T cell receptors recognize more diverse HIV Gag escape variants
Creators: name: Funsho  Ogunshola
name: Gursev  Anmole
name: Miller, Rachel L.
name: Goering, Emily
name: Thandeka Nkosi
name: Muema, Daniel
name: Mann, Jaclyn
name: Ismail, Nasreen
name: Chopera, Denis
name: Thumbi Ndung'u
name: Brockman, Mark A.
name: Ndhlovu, Zaza
Publisher: name: AAS Open Research
Year: 2019

description: The class I human leucocyte antigen (HLA) gene is a major determinant of HIV disease progression. Some people have versions of the HLA gene that are associated with better HIV control. One such HLA gene is HLAB*81. However, HLA-B*42 which is closely related to HLA-B*81 genetically is unable to control HIV to the same extent despite targeting the same region of the HIV known as the TL9 epitope. This study sought to examine the mechanism for the observed difference in HIV control by the two HLA genes. We identified an unexpected population of immune cells that target TL9 when presented by B*81 and B*42, even in individuals who lacked one gene. This dual-HLA reactive response was more common in individuals possessing the B*81 gene and it was associated with lower viral loads, indicating that it contributes to control of HIV infection. An in-depth analysis of receptors on immune cells, known as T cell receptors (TCR), uncovered similarities between immune responses derived from B*81 and those from B*42 individuals with dual-HLA responses. Interestingly, we identified viral variants that selectively stimulated dual-reactive responses, suggesting that vaccination with these variants might be more effective for people who possess B*42.
A note on the error analysis of classical Gram-Schmidt
Creators: name: Smoktunowicz, Alicja
name: Barlow, Jesse L.
name: Langou, Julien
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2006
Subjects: subject: Numerical Analysis (math.NA)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 65F05, 65G05

description: An error analysis result is given for classical Gram--Schmidt factorization of a full rank matrix $A$ into $A=QR$ where $Q$ is left orthogonal (has orthonormal columns) and $R$ is upper triangular. The work presented here shows that the computed $R$ satisfies $\normal{R}=\normal{A}+E$ where $E$ is an appropriately small backward error, but only if the diagonals of $R$ are computed in a manner similar to Cholesky factorization of the normal equations matrix. A similar result is stated in [Giraud at al, Numer. Math. 101(1):87--100,2005]. However, for that result to hold, the diagonals of $R$ must be computed in the manner recommended in this work.
description: 12 pages This v2. v1 (from 2006) has not the biliographical reference set (at all). This is the only modification between v1 and v2. If you want to quote this paper, please quote the version published in Numerische Mathematik
Incident HBV Infection in an HIV-1C Treatment Naïve Longitudinal Cohort in Botswana
Creators: name: BB Phinius
name: M Anderson
name: R Bokete
name: T Mbangiwa
name: WT Choga
name: K Baruti
name: JM Makhema
name: RM Musonda
name: JT Blackard
name: M Essex
name: S Moyo
name: R Marlink
name: S Gaseitsiwe
Publisher: name: AAS Open Research
Year: 2019

description: Objectives: Co-infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and HIV results in worse outcomes than having either disease alone. Most healthy adults can clear HBV, but there is limited information on HBV clearance rates in HIV infected adults in sub-Saharan Africa. We sought to estimate the rate of new HBV infections and clearance rates of HBV among HIV-1C infected adults who have not initiated treatment in Botswana.

Methods: Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), a marker for HBV infection, was screened yearly over a four-year period in 435 individuals. HBV viral load, a measure of the amount of virus in the blood, was quantified in HBsAg positive samples.

Results: The initial prevalence of HBV was 4.8%, and 22 new HBV infections were identified throughout the study. Almost 50% of participants were exposed to HBV, and reactivated infections occurred in two participants who had previously cleared the infection. HBV loads were higher in new cases than in chronic infections.

Conclusions: In this study, we reported a high rate of new infections and elevated HBV viral loads in participants, which may result in high transmission rates. This study supports the screening of HBV in households of HBsAg positive cases in order to prevent new infections that can spread quickly.
From Poincaré to May: The Genesis of Discrete Dynamics
Creators: name: Martínez-Castiblanco, Oscar E.
name: Acosta-Humánez, Primitivo B.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: History and Overview (math.HO)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 37C25, 3700

description: In this paper, the origin of discrete dynamics is stated from a historical point of view, as well as its main ideas: fixed and periodic points, chaotic behaviour, bifurcations. This travel will begin with Poincaré's work and will finish with May's work, one of the most important scientific papers of 20th century. This paper is based on the M.Sc. thesis "Simple Permutations, Pasting and Reversing", written by the first author under the guidance of the second author.
description: 21 pages, 28 figures
Saving and naming the garbage : Charles E. Borden and the making of B.C. prehistory, 1945-1960
Creators: name: West, Robert Gerard
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2009

description: Professional archaeologists firmly control the prehistory of British Columbia (more commonly referred to today as "pre-contact" history). This has been the case since Dr. Charles E. Borden, a German professor at the University of British Columbia, professionalized the archaeological discipline between 1945 and 1960. The purpose of this paper is to critically examine and explain the process by which this monopolization occurred, and to suggest the massive ramifications that have followed. Relevant approaches to the history of archaeology are reviewed, and a "contextual" strategy is adopted as the best way to unravel, but preserve, the richness of the local history of archaeology in B.C. A mixture of narrative and analytical style is employed in explaining the rise Borden and professional archaeology in the 1950s. It is argued that Borden produced knowledge by drawing on an existing network of North American archaeology to create, and substantiate, his authoritative position. In the context of archaeological site destruction, during the 1950s, Borden was able to pull unrelated members of the B.C. populous to his cause, including provincial officials, through the passing of the "Archaeological and Historic Sites Protection Act," in 1960. Amateur archaeologists and Aboriginal people lacked the means to amass the powerful alliances that Borden did, and therefore amateurs and Natives were unable to offer a persuasive alternative to Borden's authority. It is concluded that because of the professional encapsulation of B.C. archaeology, we, as non-specialists, have to put our faith in archaeologists, and assume that the knowledge they produce is truthful and valid It is suggested that professional archaeologists have joined other human scientists in a rapidly spiralling scientification of humanity. This is significant because specialists inform the State about who we are as citizens, and impose identities on us which partly dicate how the State regulates our access to resources. The example of Natives in B.C., who have recently appropriated professional archaeology to their own cause of settling land-claim disputes, is offered to show how alienated components of our identities can be returned to us through political action.
The Minkowski and conformal superspaces
Creators: name: Fioresi, R.
name: Lledo, M. A.
name: Varadarajan, V. S.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2006
Subjects: subject: Rings and Algebras (math.RA)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We define complex Minkowski superspace in 4 dimensions as the big cell inside a complex flag supermanifold. The complex conformal supergroup acts naturally on this super flag, allowing us to interpret it as the conformal compactification of complex Minkowski superspace. We then consider real Minkowski superspace as a suitable real form of the complex version. Our methods are group theoretic, based on the real conformal supergroup and its Lie superalgebra.
description: AMS LaTeX, 44 pages
Markov convexity and local rigidity of distorted metrics
Creators: name: Mendel, Manor
name: Naor, Assaf
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2008
Subjects: subject: Metric Geometry (math.MG)
subject: Functional Analysis (math.FA)
subject: FOS: Mathematics

description: It is shown that a Banach space admits an equivalent norm whose modulus of uniform convexity has power-type p if and only if it is Markov p-convex. Counterexamples are constructed to natural questions related to isomorphic uniform convexity of metric spaces, showing in particular that tree metrics fail to have the dichotomy property.
description: 47 pages, full version, replacing the previous version which was an announcement
Modeling Count Data via Copulas
Creators: name: Safari-Katesari, Hadi
name: Samadi, S. Yaser
name: Zaroudi, Samira
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Methodology (stat.ME)
subject: Applications (stat.AP)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: 60E15, 62p10

description: Copula models have been widely used to model the dependence between continuous random variables, but modeling count data via copulas has recently become popular in the statistics literature. Spearman's rho is an appropriate and effective tool to measure the degree of dependence between two random variables. In this paper, we derived the population version of Spearman's rho correlation via copulas when both random variables are discrete. The closed-form expressions of the Spearman correlation are obtained for some copulas of simple structure such as Archimedean copulas with different marginal distributions. We derive the upper bound and the lower bound of the Spearman's rho for Bernoulli random variables. Then, the proposed Spearman's rho correlations are compared with their corresponding Kendall's tau values. We characterize the functional relationship between these two measures of dependence in some special cases. An extensive simulation study is conducted to demonstrate the validity of our theoretical results. Finally, we propose a bivariate copula regression model to analyze the count data of a \emph{cervical cancer} dataset.
description: 33 pages
Measuring the Three-Dimensional Structure of Galaxy Clusters. II. Are clusters of galaxies oblate or prolate?
Creators: name: Sereno, M.
name: De Filippis, E.
name: Longo, G.
name: Bautz, M. W.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2006
Subjects: subject: Astrophysics (astro-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The intrinsic shape of galaxy clusters can be obtained through a combination of X-ray and Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect observations once cosmological parameters are assumed to be known. In this paper we discuss the feasibility of modelling galaxy clusters as either prolate or oblate ellipsoids. We analyze the intra-cluster medium distribution for a sample of 25 X-ray selected clusters, with measured Sunyaev-Zeldovich temperature decrements. A mixed population of prolate and oblate ellipsoids of revolution fits the data well, with prolate shapes preferred on a 60-76% basis. We observe an excess of clusters nearly aligned along the line of sight, with respect to what is expected from a randomly oriented cluster population, which might imply the presence of a selection bias in our sample. We also find signs that a more general triaxial morphology might better describe the morphology of galaxy clusters. Additional constraints from gravitational lensing could disentangle the degeneracy between an ellipsoidal and a triaxial morphology, and could also allow an unbiased determination of the Hubble constant.
description: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophys. J
Plasmodium falciparum in vivo clearance after artesunate treatment in Mali
Creators: name: A Kone
name: A Dara
name: N Diallo
name: D Ouologuem
name: A Haidara
name: B Sangaré
name: C.O Sangare
name: I Sagara
name: M.A Thera
name: O.K Doumbo
name: A.A Djimde
Publisher: name: AAS Open Research
Year: 2019

description: Introduction:
Malaria parasite resistance to the current antimalarials (ACTs) is usually due to parasite’s genes changes.
Parasites can overcome the effect of antimalarial drugs by slowing down their growth and restart growing once the drug has been washed out of the body: dormancy. This can lead to treatment failures. In Mali a significant difference in the time that parasite persists in the blood after treatment has been reported between two villages.
Here, we investigate parasite and human factors that account for differences between individuals in the time that the parasite persists in the blood after treatment.
Methodology: On patient with malaria in Faladjé and Bougoula-hameau in Mali, , we plan to i) investigate the
parasite in dormancy after treatment, ii) analyze changes in the parasites genes and iii) measure patients
defense against parasite infection.
Results: 65 patients with malaria have now been analyzed for their defense level against parasite and the
preliminary data from Faladjé shows that parasite persisted less in patients with higher defense level Data
analysis is underway and more results will be presented at the congress.
Conclusions: This study would help in understanding the various factors contributing to the resistance of some malaria parasite resistance to treatment with ACTs in sub-Saharan Africa.
Semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering at small transverse momentum
Creators: name: Bacchetta, Alessandro
name: Diehl, Markus
name: Goeke, Klaus
name: Metz, Andreas
name: Mulders, Piet J.
name: Schlegel, Marc
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2006
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We study the cross section for one-particle inclusive deep inelastic scattering off the nucleon for low transverse momentum of the detected hadron. We decompose the cross section in terms of structure functions and calculate them at tree level in terms of transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution and fragmentation functions. Our results are complete in the one-photon exchange approximation at leading and first subleading twist accuracy, with both beam and target polarization.
description: 27 pages. Uses JHEP3.cls. Minor changes to text. Accepted for publication on JHEP
Determining QMC simulability with geometric phases
Creators: name: Hen, Itay
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Although stoquastic Hamiltonians are known to be simulable via sign-problem-free quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) techniques, the non-stoquasticity of a Hamiltonian does not necessarily imply the existence of a QMC sign problem. We give a sufficient and necessary condition for the QMC-simulability of Hamiltonians in a fixed basis in terms of geometric phases associated with the chordless cycles of the weighted graphs whose adjacency matrices are the Hamiltonians. We use our findings to provide a construction for non-stoquastic, yet sign-problem-free and hence QMC-simulable, quantum many-body models. We also demonstrate why the simulation of truly sign-problematic models using the QMC weights of the stoquasticized Hamiltonian is generally sub-optimal. We offer a superior alternative.
description: 7 pages, 4 figures
Baby and nanny on board: Afrique One-ASPIRE’s emerging policy for supporting women in science
Creators: name: G. I.  Mensah
name: K.  Heitz-Tokpa
name: K. Kreppel
name: B. Bonfoh
Publisher: name: AAS Open Research
Year: 2019

description: Background: Childcare responsibility is noted as a major contributory factor to lack of visibility of women in research and academia. Overburdened with the triple workload of domestic duties, childcare and further education, many women sacrifice the latter. African Science Partnership for Intervention Research (Afrique One-ASPIRE) has 61 fellows (22 female) and 9 staff members (4 female). We sought the perspective of fellows that are, the same time, nursing mothers on the gender climate within the programme.
Methodology: Semi structured one-on-one interviews were conducted with fellows/staff who are or have been nursing mothers. Themes expressed by all were studied for patterns of association.
Results: The cost of travel for both nursing mother fellows and their babies to workshops and conferences was covered in addition to paid nanny service on-site. This policy has ensured that nursing mothers are not left out of research and fellowship training programmes. The awareness of other fellows has also been raised regarding the importance of equitable participation and programme flexibility
Conclusion: There is a strong need for raising awareness of top management leaders and funding agencies to adopt practical supportive approaches and policies to ensure active participation and successful continuation of women in postgraduate education.
Cuestionarios AM y TCMP
Creators: name: Berasategi, Miren
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: 190301 Journalism Studies
subject: FOS: Media and communications

description: Cuestionarios administrados en la fase de recogida de datos sobre ansiedad matemática y competencia matemática de estudantes de Comunicación.
Three body kinematic endpoints in SUSY models with non-universal Higgs masses
Creators: name: Lester, C. G.
name: Parker, M. A.
name: White, M. J.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2006
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We derive and present expressions for the kinematic endpoints that arise in the invariant mass distributions of visible decay products of cascade decays featuring a two body decay followed by a three body decay. This is an extension of a current technique that addresses chains of successive two body decays. We then apply these to a supergravity model with Non-Universal Higgs Masses (NUHM), having simulated a data set using the ATLFAST detector simulation. We find that, should such a model be chosen by nature, the endpoints will be visible in ATLAS data, and we discuss the problems associated with mass reconstruction in models with a similar phenomenology.
description: 21 pages, 13 figures, updated the preprint number to reflect status as an ATLAS scientific note
Blind encoding into qudits
Creators: name: Shaari, J. S.
name: Wahiddin, M. R. B.
name: Mancini, S.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2007
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We consider the problem of encoding classical information into unknown qudit states belonging to any basis, of a maximal set of mutually unbiased bases, by one party and then decoding by another party who has perfect knowledge of the basis. Working with qudits of prime dimensions, we point out a no-go theorem that forbids shift operations on arbitrary unknown states. We then provide the necessary conditions for reliable encoding/decoding.
description: To appear in Physics Letters A
Molecular and immunological characterization of selected Plasmodium falciparum gametocyte-specific genes
Creators: name: Kengne-Ouafo, Jonas A.
name: Yaw Aniweh
name: Saikou Y. Bah
name: Collins M. Morang'a
name: Amenga-Etego, Lucas
name: Urban, Britta
name: Awandare, Gordon A.
name: Bismarck Dinko
Publisher: name: AAS Open Research
Year: 2019

description: Objective
The increasing emergence of drug-resistant malaria parasites highlights the need for new interventions to
eliminate malaria. Vaccines would be appropriate; however, the functions of many parasite components are unknown. This study sought to identify proteins that could serve as good antigens for vaccine development.
Methods
Two genes encoding components crucial to the parasite’s survival and with a chance to be found on the
parasite’s surface were selected from existing databases. Analysis of their DNA sequences from the Pf3K
database was done and their mRNA quantified. Peptides corresponding to predicted antibody-binding sites on the protein sequences were purchased and are being used for immunological investigations.
Results
The selected genes were conserved across countries in Africa and South East Asia. Sequencing of total mRNA of field isolate parasites revealed that one of the genes (Pf3D7_0513000) is expressed mostly in gametocytes (playing key role in disease transmission) while the other one, Pf3D_115800 is expressed in the gametocytes and other stages. The findings of this study were consistent with observations with laboratory strains.
Conclusion
The conserved nature of the genes and their expression in gametocytes are an indication that they could be
potential candidates for transmission blocking vaccines. However, findings from immunological work are
valuable to confirm this assertion.
Behind the Decisions: Managing Health Research Capacity Strengthening Consortia
Creators: name: Tagoe, Nadia
name: Sassy Molyneux
name: Pulford, Justin
name: Kinyanjui, Sam
Publisher: name: AAS Open Research
Year: 2019

description: Initiatives aimed at strengthening health research capacity in low and middle-income countries are commonly implemented by consortia. These consortia are increasingly reporting on their programme activities and outputs, but rarely on their management practices. Though investments in such consortia are increasing, there is little evidence in the available literature to guide how they are managed. We thus explored the key management processes adopted by health research capacity strengthening (HRCS) consortia, factors that influence these processes, and their experiences within the DELTAS Africa Programme. We interviewed 23 selected participants: nine consortium directors, ten consortium managers and four funding actors. The consortia had similarities and differences in management processes and practices. Similarities across consortia included factors motivating their establishment and the governing structures used. Differences were observed in decisions related to partner selection, resource sharing and financial management. Consortium leaders often had to tackle diverging alternatives in deciding on appropriate management strategies for their consortia. Understanding the consideration processes and their implications for capacity strengthening can provide guidance for the design and management of HRCS consortia.
Feature selection and processing of turbulence modeling based on an artificial neural network
Creators: name: Yin, Yuhui
name: Yang, Pu
name: Zhang, Yufei
name: Chen, Haixin
name: Fu, Song
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Data-driven turbulence modeling has been considered an effective method for improving the prediction accuracy of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. Related studies aimed to solve the discrepancy of traditional turbulence modeling by acquiring specific patterns from high-fidelity data through machine learning methods, such as artificial neural networks. The present study focuses on the unsmoothness and prediction error problems from the aspect of feature selection and processing. The selection criteria for the input features are summarized, and an effective input set is constructed. The effect of the computation grid on the smoothness is studied. A modified feature decomposition method for the spatial orientation feature of the Reynolds stress is proposed. The improved machine learning framework is then applied to the periodic hill database with notably varying geometries. The results of the modified method show significant enhancement in the prediction accuracy and smoothness, including the shape and size of separation areas and the friction and pressure distributions on the wall, which confirms the validity of the approach.
description: 43 pages, 17 figures
A pedestrian's view on interacting particle systems, KPZ universality, and random matrices
Creators: name: Kriecherbauer, Thomas
name: Krug, Joachim
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2008
Subjects: subject: Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: Probability (math.PR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: FOS: Mathematics

description: These notes are based on lectures delivered by the authors at a Langeoog seminar of SFB/TR12 "Symmetries and universality in mesoscopic systems" to a mixed audience of mathematicians and theoretical physicists. After a brief outline of the basic physical concepts of equilibrium and nonequilibrium states, the one-dimensional simple exclusion process is introduced as a paradigmatic nonequilibrium interacting particle system. The stationary measure on the ring is derived and the idea of the hydrodynamic limit is sketched. We then introduce the phenomenological Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation and explain the associated universality conjecture for surface fluctuations in growth models. This is followed by a detailed exposition of a seminal paper of Johansson that relates the current fluctuations of the totally asymmetric simple exclusion process (TASEP) to the Tracy-Widom distribution of random matrix theory. The implications of this result are discussed within the framework of the KPZ conjecture.
description: 52 pages, 4 figures; to appear in J. Phys. A: Math. Theor
Detection of extensively drug resistant tuberculosis among drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates in Botswana
Creators: name: Tuelo Mogashoa
name: B.  Derendinger
name: P. Melamu
name: T. Iketleng
name: L. Mupfumi
name: N. Kelentse
name: M. Mokomane
name: E.M. Streicher
name: S.D. Ley
name: I. Kasvosve
name: S. Moyo
name: R.  Warren
name: S. Gaseitsiwe
Publisher: name: AAS Open Research
Year: 2019

description: The occurrence and spread of Tuberculosis (TB) that is resistant to most available medicines is a danger to controlling TB. Furthermore, we need to assess treatment outcomes of these patients in order to determine if the TB control programmes are working well. This study was done to find out how common TB which is resistant to treatment with effective drugs called flouroquinolones (FLQ) and second line injectable drugs (SLIDs) is in Botswana and to look at treatment outcomes of patients who have drug resistant TB. Fifty-seven samples were tested for resistance to FLQ and SLIDs using a commercially available kit. Treatment outcomes were extracted from patient files. Fifty-seven samples were tested, of these29%, 58%, 7% and 5% were difficult to treat with one, two, three and four drugs respectively. Of the 57 TB patients 32 (56%) were successfully treated, 5 (9%) died, 1 (2%) defaulted, 3 (5%) failed treatment, 12 (21%) were lost to follow up and 4 (7%) did not start treatment. This study shows the importance of routinely testing patients to see if they have TB which is resistant to some of the TB drugs so that patients can be given correct treatments.
Mickelsson algebras and Zhelobenko operators
Creators: name: Khoroshkin, S.
name: Ogievetsky, O.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2006
Subjects: subject: Quantum Algebra (math.QA)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We construct a family of automorphisms of Mickelsson algebra, satisfying braid group relations. The construction uses 'Zhelobenko cocycle' and includes the dynamical Weyl group action as a particular case.
Experience of introducing monitoring research activities to promote quality research among MUII-Plus trainees
Creators: name: Mirriam Akello
name: S. Coutinho
name: M.G.  Mboowa
name: V. Bukirwa
name: S.  Cose
name: A.M. Elliott
Publisher: name: AAS Open Research
Year: 2019

description: Research monitoring is the most effective way to ensure compliance, but is not routinely offered to trainees at African Institutions. Here we share our experences of introducing monitoring in research activities. We reviewed investigator site files, signed informed consent documents, source documents, case report forms and in addition, toured the facilities where projects were carried out. We scheduled four monitoring visits for each trainee, one at site initiation, two interim visits and at the end of the study. We found a 20% compliance rate during the site initiation visit, improving to 45% at the 1st interim visit, 65% at 2nd interim visit, and 80% compliance at the end of the study. This indicates that most of the compliance issues raised in previous monitoring visits were resolved. All trainees had good work ethics and practices, and appropriate facilities. Initially, trainee’s files lacked essential documents, and informed consent processes needed to be improved. We recommend internal monitoring as essential for all studies. We recommend routine GCP/GCLP training for all new MUII-Plus trainees, before commencing their projects. We recommend that institutional higher degrees and research ethics committees enforce the requirement for GCP training before project approval. Implementation will reduce non-compliance and enhance research quality.
BEAST begins: Sample characteristics and survey performance of the B-star Exoplanet Abundance Study
Creators: name: Janson, Markus
name: Squicciarini, Vito
name: Delorme, Philippe
name: Gratton, Raffaele
name: Bonnefoy, Mickael
name: Reffert, Sabine
name: Mamajek, Eric E.
name: Eriksson, Simon C.
name: Vigan, Arthur
name: Langlois, Maud
name: Engler, Natalia
name: Chauvin, Gael
name: Desidera, Silvano
name: Mayer, Lucio
name: Marleau, Gabriel-Dominique
name: Bohn, Alexander J.
name: Samland, Matthias
name: Meyer, Michael
name: d'Orazi, Valentina
name: Henning, Thomas
name: Quanz, Sascha
name: Kenworthy, Matthew
name: Carson, Joseph C.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: While the occurrence rate of wide giant planets appears to increase with stellar mass at least up through the A-type regime, B-type stars have not been systematically studied in large-scale surveys so far. It therefore remains unclear up to what stellar mass this occurrence trend continues. The B-star Exoplanet Abundance Study (BEAST) is a direct imaging survey with the extreme adaptive optics instrument SPHERE, targeting 85 B-type stars in the young Scorpius-Centaurus (Sco-Cen) region with the aim to detect giant planets at wide separations and constrain their occurrence rate and physical properties. The statistical outcome of the survey will help determine if and where an upper stellar mass limit for planet formation occurs. In this work, we describe the selection and characterization of the BEAST target sample. Particular emphasis is placed on the age of each system, which is a central parameter in interpreting direct imaging observations. We implement a novel scheme for age dating based on kinematic sub-structures within Sco-Cen, which complements and expands upon previous age determinations in the literature. We also present initial results from the first epoch observations, including the detections of ten stellar companions, of which six were previously unknown. All planetary candidates in the survey will need follow up in second epoch observations, which are part of the allocated observational programme and will be executed in the near future.
description: 22 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in A&A
Using a ‘field population’ of mosquito vectors to explore the tripartite relationship between mosquito, parasite and bacteria.
Creators: name: Jewelna  Akorli
name: King, Sandra A.
name: Namaali, Philomena Asor
name: Ametsi, Godwin Williams
name: Richardson K.  Egyirifa
name: Pels, Nana Adjoa
Publisher: name: AAS Open Research
Year: 2019

description: Bacteria that live in the gut of mosquitoes affect the ability of mosquitoes to support the development of parasites. Most studies that have been conducted to understand this have used laboratory strains. However, laboratory colonization of mosquitoes changes the bacteria profiles in the gut compared to those in the field/natural population. We studied the possibility of having a laboratory-maintained population of the malaria vector, without drastically changing the gut bacteria composition they originally had when collected from the field. The effect of two bacteria species on malaria parasite was also studied in the female adult mosquitoes that emerged from the field collections. Mosquitoes were fed with antibiotics to reduce the bacteria in the midgut, then the bacterium of interest was reintroduced through a sugar meal, and allowed to feed on malaria infected blood. The mosquitoes were dissected after 7 days and the number of developed parasites were counted. The ‘natural’ field-derived bacteria can be conserved by 50% in laboratory-maintained mosquitoes. Parasites reduced significantly (P< 0.0001) in mosquitoes in which the test bacteria was introduced, confirming the ability to affect parasite development in field-derived mosquitoes. Further analyses using sequencing are expected to show genes involved in this bacteria-parasite relationship in the malaria vector.
Gravitational collapse of a susy star
Creators: name: Clavelli, L.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2006
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The evidence for a positive vacuum energy in our universe suggests that we might be living in a false vacuum destined to ultimately decay to a true vacuum free of dark energy. At present the simplest example of such a universe is one that is exactly supersymmetric (susy). It is expected that the nucleation rate of critically sized susy bubbles will be enhanced in regions of high density such as in degenerate stars. The consequent release of energy stored in Pauli towers provides a possible model for gamma ray bursts. Whether or not all or any of the currently observed bursts are due to this mechanism, it is important to define the signatures of this susy phase transition. After such a burst, due to the lifting of degeneracy pressure, the star would be expected to collapse into a black hole even though its mass is below the Chandrasekhar limit. Previous studies have treated the star as fully releasing its stored energy before the collapse. In this article we make an initial investigation of the effects of the collapse during the gamma ray emission.
description: 13 pages, 7 figures
Nonrepetitive graph colouring
Creators: name: Wood, David R.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Combinatorics (math.CO)
subject: Discrete Mathematics (cs.DM)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: A vertex colouring of a graph $G$ is "nonrepetitive" if $G$ contains no path for which the first half of the path is assigned the same sequence of colours as the second half. Thue's famous theorem says that every path is nonrepetitively 3-colourable. This paper surveys results about nonrepetitive colourings of graphs. The goal is to give a unified and comprehensive presentation of the major results and proof methods, as well as to highlight numerous open problems.
Connecting Communities with Health Research and Policy in Africa
Creators: name: Alibu, Vincent Pius
name: Adou Djane, A
name: Kathrin, H. Tokpa K.T.
name: G. Adama
name: B Bonfoh
Publisher: name: AAS Open Research
Year: 2019

description: In Africa, there are difficulties in implementing health interventions that research has shown to be cost effective. This is due to inability to identify and use research evidence, the weakness of health systems, and a lack of access to evidence by the relevant stakeholders. Community and Policy Engagement (CPE) in research requires a knowledgeable public that can discuss issues. We aim to: 1. encourage the public to become more involved in the research process 2. urge scientists to communicate and discuss their work with the public 3. provide policy makers and researchers with communication channels. We employed two regional policy facilitators who developed a three-year strategic plan for community and policy engagement. We held fellows training workshops on knowledge transfer (KT) and on Community and Public Engagement. We plan to carry out a systematic review of published literature to facilitate the capture of key fndings that may be translated to policy. We also plan to use interactive media to give lay people a clear perception of the research process. We have developed a Community and Policy Engagement strategy. Postgraduate fellows have been trained in KT and CPE methods. Afrique One ASPIRE has facilitated progress towards rabies elimination in Côte d’Ivoire.
Some addition formulae for Abelian functions for elliptic and hyperelliptic curves of cyclotomic type
Creators: name: Eilbeck, J. C.
name: Matsutani, S.
name: Onishi, Y.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2008
Subjects: subject: Algebraic Geometry (math.AG)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 14H45, 14H52

description: We discuss a family of multi-term addition formulae for Weierstrass functions on specialized curves of genus one and two with many automorphisms. In the genus one case we find new addition formulae for the equianharmonic and lemniscate cases, and in genus two we find some new addition formulae for a number of curves, including the Burnside curve.
description: 19 pages. We have extended the Introduction, corrected some typos and tidied up some proofs, and inserted extra material on genus 3 curves
Magnetic skyrmion binning
Creators: name: Kind, Charles
name: Foster, David
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: When spin polarised electrons flow through a magnetic texture a transfer torque is generated. We examine the effect of this torque on skyrmions and skyrmion bags, skyrmionic structures of arbitrary integer topological degree, in thin ferromagnetic films. Using micromagnetic simulations and analysis from the well known Thiele equation we explore the potential for sorting or binning skyrmions of varying degrees mechanically. We investigate the applicability of the Thiele equation to problems of this nature and derive a theory of skyrmion deflection ordered by topological degree.
description: 6 pages, 3 figures
Reducing Cybersickness in 360-degree Virtual Reality
Creators: name: Arshad, Iqra
name: Mello, Paulo De
name: Ender, Martin
name: McEwen, Jason D.
name: Ferré, Elisa R.
Publisher: name: Brill Online
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: 170112 Sensory Processes, Perception and Performance
subject: FOS: Psychology

description: Despite the technological advancements in Virtual Reality (VR), users are constantly combating feelings of nausea and disorientation, the so-called cybersickness. Cybersickness symptoms cause severe discomfort and hinder the immersive VR experience. Here we investigated cybersickness in 360-degree head-mounted display VR. In traditional 360-degree VR experiences, translational movement in the real world is not reflected in the virtual world, and therefore self-motion information is not corroborated by matching visual and vestibular cues, which may trigger symptoms of cybersickness. We have evaluated whether a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) software designed to supplement the 360-degree VR experience with artificial six-degrees-of-freedom motion may reduce cybersickness. Explicit (simulator sickness questionnaire and FMS rating) and implicit (heart rate) measurements were used to evaluate cybersickness symptoms during and after 360-degree VR exposure. Simulator sickness scores showed a significant reduction in feelings of nausea during the AI-supplemented six-degrees-of-freedom motion VR compared to traditional 360-degree VR. However, six-degrees-of-freedom motion VR did not reduce oculomotor or disorientation measures of sickness. No changes have been observed in FMS and heart rate measures. Improving the congruency between visual and vestibular cues in 360-degree VR, as provided by the AI-supplemented six-degrees-of-freedom motion system considered, is essential to provide a more engaging, immersive and safe VR, which is critical for educational, cultural and entertainment applications.
Measurement of the Top Quark Mass using Template Methods on Dilepton Events in Proton-Antiproton Collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV
Creators: name: Abulencia, A.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2006
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We describe a measurement of the top quark mass from events produced in proton-antiproton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV, using the Collider Detector at Fermilab. We identify top-antitop candidates where both W bosons from the top quarks decay into leptons (electron, muon, or tau plus neutrino) from a data sample of 360 inverse picobarns. The top quark mass is reconstructed in each event separately by three different methods, which draw upon simulated distributions of the neutrino pseudorapidity, top-antitop longitudinal momentum, or neutrino azimuthal angle in order to extract probability distributions for the top quark mass. For each method, representative mass distributions, or templates, are constructed from simulated samples of signal and background events, and parameterized to form continuous probability density functions. A likelihood fit incorporating these parameterized templates is then performed on the data sample masses in order to derive a final top quark mass. Combining the three template methods, taking into account correlations in their statistical and systematic uncertainties, results in a top quark mass measurement of 170.1 +/- 6.0 (stat) +/- 4.1 (syst) GeV/c^2.
description: 52 pages, 23 figures, 5 tables. Submitted to Physical Review D
title: Μέθοδοι σχεδιασμού-βελτιστοποίησης στις στροβιλομηχανές βασισμένες στους εξελικτικούς αλγόριθμους
titleType: AlternativeTitle
title: Evolutionary algorithm-based design-optimization methods in turbomachinery
Creators: name: Kyriacou, Stylianos A.
Publisher: name: National Technological University of Athens
Year: 2013
Subjects: Βελτιστοποίηση
Στροβιλομηχανές
Εξελικτικοί αλγόριθμοι
Σχεδιασμός στη Βάση Αρχειοθετημένης Γνώσης
Ανάλυση σε κύριες συνιστώσες
Κακώς τοποθετημένα προβήματα βελτιστοποίησης
Optimization
Evolutionary Algorithms
Knowledge Based Methods
Principal component analysis
Ill-Posed Ootimization problems
Turbomachinery

description: 255 σ.
description: Σκοπός της διδακτορικής διατριβής είναι να εμπλουτίσει και να επεκτείνει υπάρχουσες μεθόδους (και λογισμικό) βελτιστοποίησης το οποίο βασίζεται στους εξελικτικούς αλγορίθμους (ΕΑ). Στόχος του νέου λογισμικού είναι, όταν αυτό χρησιμοποιείται σε πραγματικά μεγάλης κλίμακας προβλήματα της βιομηχανίας, να μειώνεται σημαντικά ο χρόνος ολοκλήρωσης του έργου, κάνοντας τη διαδικασία σχεδιασμού-βελτιστοποίησης ελκυστική για χρήση σε βιομηχανικό περιβάλλον. Οι προτεινόμενες μέθοδοι και το προγραμματισθέν λογισμικό εφαρμόζονται σε ένα φάσμα εφαρμογών σχεδιασμού-βελτιστοποίησης στις στροβιλομηχανές, θερμικές και υδροδυναμικές, οι περισσότερες από τις οποίες είναι βιομηχανικού ενδιαφέροντος.
description: The scope of this PhD thesis is to propose a set of improvements to existing shape design-optimization methods in fluid dynamics based on Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) and demonstrate their effciency in real-world applications. Though the proposed method and the developed EA-based software are both generic, this thesis focuses on applications in the felds of hydraulic and thermal turbomachines. With the proposed algorithmic variants, the optimization turn-around time is noticeably reduced with respect to that of conventional (reference,background) methods.
CF$^+$ excitation in the interstellar medium
Creators: name: Desrousseaux, Benjamin
name: Lique, François
name: Goicoechea, Javier R.
name: Quintas-Sánchez, Ernesto
name: Dawes, Richard
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The detection of CF$^+$ in interstellar clouds potentially allows astronomers to infer the elemental fluorine abundance and the ionization fraction in ultraviolet-illuminated molecular gas. Because local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) conditions are hardly fulfilled in the interstellar medium (ISM), the accurate determination of the CF$^+$ abundance requires one to model its non-LTE excitation via both radiative and collisional processes. Here, we report quantum calculations of rate coefficients for the rotational excitation of CF$^+$ in collisions with para- and ortho-H2 (for temperatures up to 150 K). As an application, we present non-LTE excitation models that reveal population inversion in physical conditions typical of ISM photodissociation regions (PDRs). We successfully applied these models to fit the CF$^+$ emission lines previously observed toward the Orion Bar and Horsehead PDRs. The radiative transfer models achieved with these new rate coefficients allow the use of CF$^+$ as a powerful probe to study molecular clouds exposed to strong stellar radiation fields.
Ecology and technological properties of Streptococcus infantarius subsp. infantarius (Sii) in the dairy value chain in Korhogo, Côte d’Ivoire
Creators: name: A.R Sanhoun
name: S.G Traoré
name: C.A Houngbedji
name: C. Jans
name: P. Renault
name: S.G Mfinanga
name: M. Koussemon
name: B. Bonfoh
Publisher: name: AAS Open Research
Year: 2019

description: Objectives
Streptococcus infantarius (Sii) bacteria are associated with human and animal diseases. They are found in fermented milk. However, the sources of the Sii in the milk are unknown. We aim to enhance the quality of traditional dairy products and livelihoods of milk dependent populations by identifying the sources of Sii in the dairy environment and by identifying factors of predominance of Sii during milk fermentation. Methods
We administered questionnaires assessing the knowledge of 94 dairy stakeholders in Korhogo, Côte d’Ivoire.
We further collected milk samples and swabs from animals, human, environment for analysis and conducted
fermentation. Sii-like coccoid bacteria were characterized. Molecular analyses are underway through specific PCRs and will be completed by Bioinformatics.
Results
Presumptive Sii were present in samples originating from animals, humans, environment and milk. No strains were found in the air but in the handling utensils, soil and in calves’ saliva. Antimicrobial residues were found in 25% of individual raw milk samples and in more than half of the pooled raw milk and may interact with Sii fermentation capabilities.
Conclusions
Presumptive Sii were present in most of the targeted sources at this stage except air, demonstrating that Sii in the poor hygiene conditions could enter the production process at any stage.