818 research outputs found
The importance of degree versus type of maltreatment: a cluster analysis of child abuse types
No full textThe author conducted secondary data analysis of 3 previously reported studies (D. J. Higgins & M. P McCabe, 1998, 20(K)b, 2(X)3) to examine whether respondents are best classified according to their experience of separate maltreatment types (sexual abuse, physical abuse, psychological maltreatment, neglect, and witnessing family violence) or whether their experience reflects a single unifying concept: child maltreatment.<br
A Novel Bocavirus Associated with Acute Gastroenteritis in Australian Children
No full textAcute gastroenteritis (AGE) is a common illness affecting all age groups worldwide, causing an estimated three million deaths annually. Viruses such as rotavirus, adenovirus, and caliciviruses are a major cause of AGE, but in many patients a causal agent cannot be found despite extensive diagnostic testing. Proposing that novel viruses are the reason for this diagnostic gap, we used molecular screening to investigate a cluster of undiagnosed cases that were part of a larger case control study into the etiology of pediatric AGE. Degenerate oligonucleotide primed (DOP) PCR was used to non-specifically amplify viral DNA from fecal specimens. The amplified DNA was then cloned and sequenced for analysis. A novel virus was detected. Elucidation and analysis of the genome indicates it is a member of the Bocavirus genus of the Parvovirinae, 23% variant at the nucleotide level from its closest formally recognized relative, the Human Bocavirus (HBoV), and similar to the very recently proposed second species of Bocavirus (HBoV2). Fecal samples collected from case control pairs during 2001 for the AGE study were tested with a bocavirus-specific PCR, and HBoV2 (sequence confirmed) was detected in 32 of 186 cases with AGE (prevalence 17.2%) compared with only 15 controls (8.1%). In this same group of children, HBoV2 prevalence was exceeded only by rotavirus (39.2%) and astrovirus (21.5%) and was more prevalent than norovirus genogroup 2 (13.4%) and adenovirus (4.8%). In a univariate analysis of the matched pairs (McNemar's Test), the odds ratio for the association of AGE with HBoV2 infection was 2.6 (95% confidence interval 1.2–5.7); P = 0.007. During the course of this screening, a second novel bocavirus was detected which we have designated HBoV species 3 (HBoV3). The prevalence of HBoV3 was low (2.7%), and it was not associated with AGE. HBoV2 and HBoV3 are newly discovered bocaviruses, of which HBoV2 is the thirdmost-prevalent virus, after rotavirus and astrovirus, associated with pediatric AGE in this study.Jane L. Arthur, Geoffrey D. Higgins, Geoffrey P. Davidson, Rodney C. Givney and Rodney M. Ratclif
Connecting dynamic vegetation models to data - an inverse perspective
No full textDynamic vegetation models provide process-based explanations of the dynamics and the distribution of plant ecosystems. They offer significant advantages over static, correlative modelling approaches, particularly for ecosystems that are outside their equilibrium due to global change or climate change. A persistent problem, however, is their parameterization. Parameters and processes of dynamic vegetation models (DVMs) are traditionally determined independently of the model, while model outputs are compared to empirical data for validation and informal model comparison only. But field data for such independent estimates of parameters and processes are often difficult to obtain, and the desire to include better descriptions of processes such as biotic interactions, dispersal, phenotypic plasticity and evolution in future vegetation models aggravates limitations related to the current parameterization paradigm. In this paper, we discuss the use of Bayesian methods to bridge this gap. We explain how Bayesian methods allow direct estimates of parameters and processes, encoded in prior distributions, to be combined with inverse estimates, encoded in likelihood functions. The combination of direct and inverse estimation of parameters and processes allows a much wider range of vegetation data to be used simultaneously, including vegetation inventories, species traits, species distributions, remote sensing, eddy flux measurements and palaeorecords. The possible reduction of uncertainty regarding structure, parameters and predictions of DVMs may not only foster scientific progress, but will also increase the relevance of these models for policy advice
M-CSF and GM-CSF influence naïve murine alveolar macrophage differentiation and function in vitro
No full textThis research has been published in Relative Levels of M-CSF and GM-CSF Influence the Specific Generation of Macrophage Populations during Infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Higgins, D et al. in Journal of Immunology, 2008, 180: 4892-4900.The objective of this study was to compare the effect of M-CSF and GM-CSF in their abilities to affect the functional and phenotypical characteristics of AMs. In this study, we harvested naïve uninfected murine alveolar macrophages by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and cultured in the presence of M-CSF, GM-CSF or both. GM-CSF stimulated cell proliferation at a higher rate when measured by relative loss of CFDA-SE dye and had higher phagocytic capacity than M-CSF cultured cells. In contrast, alveolar macrophages cultured in the presence of M-CSF exhibited a dendritic-cell-like morphology and upregulated expression of dendriticcell- associated markers like CCR7, MHC II and DEC205. The dendritic cell character of M-CSF-treated AMs was also manifested in their higher capacity to stimulate CD4+ T cell proliferation in a mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR). This study demonstrates that M-CSF has a strong ability to differentiate AMs into DC-like cells.Highest Honors
Representational Dynamics Simulator
No full textThis app is hosted at Heroku, and is based on the work in Higgins et al. (2022).
Please cite as: Van Es, M.W.J., Higgins, C., Quinn, A.J., Vidaurre, D., Gould Van Praag, C.D., Fabus, M.S., Woolrich, M.W. (2022). Representational Dynamics Simulator. Zenodo. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.6579997.
In this simulator we illustrate the relationship between the frequency content of a (neural) signal and the subsequent decoding accuracy metrics when we use instantaneous signal decoding.
We simulate two conditions across two channels, each of which are made up out of a maximum two frequency components. The frequencies and the amplitudes in each condition and channel can be changed using the sliders. Example 1/2 can be toggled to see the examples corresponding to figure 2 in Higgins et al (2022). We can see that when we use instantaneous signal decoding, the information content oscillates with twice the original frequency.
App created by Mats W.J. van Es, 2022, Copyright University of Oxford.
Author contributions (CRediT):
Conceptualization: Mats W.J. van Es, Cameron Higgins
Data curation: Mats W.J. van Es
Formal analysis: Mats W.J. van Es
Funding acquisition: Diego Vidaurre, Mark W. Woolrich
Investigation: Mats W.J. van Es, Cameron Higgins
Methodology: Mats W.J. van Es, Cameron Higgins
Project administration: Mats W.J. van Es
Resources: Mats W.J. van Es, Cassandra D. Gould Van Praag, Marco S. Fabus
Software: Mats W.J. van Es, Cassandra D. Gould Van Praag, Marco S. Fabus
Supervision: Mark W. Woolrich
Validation: Mats W.J. van Es, Cameron Higgins, Andrew J. Quinn, Mark W. Woolrich
Visualization: Mats W.J. van Es
Writing - original draft: Mats W.J. van Es
Writing - review & editing: Mats W.J. van Es, Cameron Higgins, Andrew J. Quinn, Diego Vidaurre, Mark W. Woolrich
This research was funded by the Wellcome Trust (106183/Z/14/Z, 215573/Z/19/Z), the New Therapeutics in Alzheimer's Diseases (NTAD) study supported by UK MRC and the Dementia Platform UK (RG94383/RG89702) and the EU-project euSNN (MSCA-ITN H2020-860563), and supported by the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, and the . The Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging is supported by core funding from the Wellcome Trust (203139/Z/16/Z). DV is supported by a Novo Nordisk Emerging Investigator Award (NNF19OC-0054895) and by the European Research Council (ERC-StG-2019-850404)
EXOGEN ultrasound bone healing system for long bone fractures with non-union or delayed healing: a NICE medical technology guidance
No full textOpen Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.A routine part of the process for developing National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) medical technologies guidance is a submission of clinical and economic evidence by the technology manufacturer. The Birmingham and Brunel Consortium External Assessment Centre (EAC; a consortium of the University of Birmingham and Brunel University) independently appraised the submission on the EXOGEN bone healing system for long bone fractures with non-union or delayed healing. This article is an overview of the original evidence submitted, the EAC’s findings, and the final NICE guidance issued.The Birmingham and Brunel Consortium is funded by NICE to act as an External Assessment Centre for the Medical Technologies Evaluation Programme
Labor and women's nutrition : a study of energy expenditure, fertility, and nutritional status in Ghana
No full textEconomic approaches to health and nutrition have focused largely on measures of child nutrition and related variables (such as birth weight) as indicators of household production of nutritional outcomes. But when dealing with adult nutrition, economists have to address an issue that has generated tremendous controversy in the clinical nutrition literature. That issue is heterogeneity in an individual's energy expenditures. Preschoolers'energy expenditure also differs, but the differences are small enough to be ignored. Not so for adults, whose waking hours are devoted mostly to labor activities of which the energy costs vary enormously. Variables measuring time allocation to various types of labor tasks were used to proxy differences in energy expenditure. Parity has also been hypothesized to be an important determinant of female nutritional health in high fertility countries - with rapid reproductive cycling contributing to a cumulative nutritional decline. But the"maternal depletion syndrome"remains controversial. Much of the evidence to date has been impressionistic - or the results of studies based on small, nonrandom cohorts. Higgins and Alderman used a two-step instrumental variables technique to get consistent estimates of the structural parameters. Energy expenditure, as embodied in individual time allocations over the previous seven days, was found to be an important determinant of women's nutritional status. Time devoted to agricultural tasks, in particular, had a strong negative effect. The results also appear to confirm the existence of a maternal depletion syndrome. Perhaps more important, evidence was found of a substantial downward bias of the calorie-elasticity estimate when the energy expenditure proxies were excluded.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Health Economics&Finance,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research
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Deep canine topography: reconnecting with the ‘wild’ through the artistic practice of walking with companion species.
No full textIn recent decades many contemporary walking artists and psychogeographers have sought to engage with landscape as a more-than-human meshwork whilst challenging the legacies of colonialism and capitalism’s exploitation of land and bodies. This has seen the emergence of new strategies which reach beyond psychogeography’s initial concerns of the influence of geographical space on the individual and embrace new-materialist concepts of the fluidity of bodies in motion. Such approaches seek to de-individualise the human by privileging more-than-human agency, assemblages, affects and relations. Within a new-materialist frame, walking-art is re-positioned as a more-than-human practice which challenges notions of human exceptionalism. This thesis introduces the practice of deep canine topography to explore the art of walking with dogs as a more-than-human artistic collaboration. A term coined by the author, deep canine topography asks that we abandon upright, bipedal, ocular-centric human points of view, and embrace the vibrant world of our canine companions through affect, immanence, and playful improvisation. By attending to contact zones between human and canine, the walk or walkies is positioned as a shared, co-authored art practice which re-connects the human with the multiplicity of the more-than-human elements that make a world. Utilising artistic research methodologies, I propose, perform, and reflect upon deep canine topography as a novel and creative multispecies practice. In doing so, I embrace canine navigational skills as an invitation to follow the nose and to engage in a more-than-human exploration of place, space, and time through sensory entanglement, leading to the emergence of new radical cartographies. I propose that such radical cartographies problematise Philosophical Humanist concepts of the animal and the nature-culture divide, contributing to wider dialogues in contemporary walking-art practice, critical animal studies and philosophical
posthumanism
Melitaea mimetica Higgins 1940
No full textMelitaea mimetica Higgins, 1940 Figs 1C–D, 3A – G, 4F – I, 6–8, 16D – H, 18F – I, 29C, E, 30; Table 1 Melitaea lukto [sic] mimetica Higgins, 1940: 52. Type locality: “ Balochistan, Khojak” [Pakistan, Balochistan, Khojak Pass]. “ Melitaea deleréi nov. spec. ” Heydemann, 1954: 415, pl. 35 fig. 9 (holotype ♀), pl. 35 fig. 8 (allotype ♂), fig. 10 [genitalia]. Type locality: “ Kabul Umgebung” [Afghanistan, Kabul vicinity]. Remarks The taxon delerei was described from two specimens: 1 ♀ (holotype) and 1 ♂ (allotype). The butterflies were collected in the vicinity of Kabul on 23 May 1951 and 28 Apr. 1953, respectively. The text contains photos of the holotype ♀ and the allotype ♂ (Heydemann 1954). The author of the original description does not mention the existence or number of other type specimens. Van Oorschot & Coutsis (2014) provide other data on the type material of delerei, and these are quoted here without changes: “Type material: ♂ holotype, 4 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀ paratypes (coll. Görgner, including ♂ with yellow label stating “Kabul, ♂, 23.5.1951, leg Delere, Heydemann, Kiel”, ♂ with orange label stating “ ♂, Mel. dodgsoni delerei, Hdm. ”, ♂ with red label stating “male, Holotypus Mel. delerei Hdm. 11.54.)”. The type material is stored in the Ernst Görgner collection (Cosswig Anhalt, Germany). We do not know the reason for such a serious discrepancy in the data on the type material of the taxon delerei. Type material The taxon mimetica is described based on the holotype, allotype, and 10 paratypes from Balochistan (Pakistan) from the following localities: Khojak, Ziarat Rd., Zaghun, Gawar, Sheik Wazil, Urak and Quetta (Higgins 1940). The number and the gender of specimens for each collection point are not specified. According to Smith (1988) the type material stored in the BMNH consists of 3 ♂♂, 1 ♀ with the labels “ Pakistan, Zaghun, 6000 ft. ” and 1 ♀ with the label “Gawar”. The storage location of the type specimens from Sheik Wasil, Urak and Quetta is unknown. The type locality of the holotype is mentioned by Higgins as Khojak Pass, and the place of capture of the allotype is mentioned as “ Ziarat Rd. ” (Higgins 1940). However, in the work devoted to the bibliography and catalog of type specimens of taxa described by Higgins (Smith 1988), it is indicated that the specimen marked by Higgins as an allotype has the label “Khojak”, and the holotype, on the contrary, has the label “Ziarat Rd.” In accordance with recommendation 76A.1.3. (ICZN 2004), the holotype should be considered a specimen caught on the Khojak Pass. Paratype (Fig. 1C–D) We have photos of the paratype (allotype), ♀, with the following labels: “Holotype [!]” (printed label); “ Ziarat Rd. / Balochistan, 6000 w. / 20.04.31” (handwritten label); “Roth. B.-1” (printed label); “ Melitaea lutko mimetica / type ♂, L. G. Higgins ” (handwritten label); “ Melitaea lutko / mimetica Higgins / C. R. Smith det. 1986, Holotype (!)” (handwritten + printed label); BMNH. Notes on diagnosis The taxon delerei was considered as a synonym of the taxon mimetica based on external features and the structure of the genitalia (Higgins & Wiltshire 1956), or together with the taxon mimetica as a synonym of M. lutko (van Oorschot & Coutsis 2014). In the latter case, they were able to study the genital apparatus of the paratype of the taxon delerei, whose structure in their opinion is transitional between M. lutko and M. timandra. However, the description of M. delerei clearly states that one of the features of the male is a very long and thin harpe without teeth on the inner side, which is a characteristic feature of M. mimetica. In general, the genital apparatus of the male delerei, an image of which is given by Heydemann (1954), is characterized by a thin caudal process of the valva with 2–3 teeth located distally on the dorsal side and a long braid-shaped harpe. Judging from the image, the male and female have a well-expressed postdiscal pale area on the UPF. In this case, we agree with Higgins’ opinion and believe that the taxon delerei has all the distinctive features of M. mimetica and should be treated with the latter as a synonym. We do not exclude the subspecies status of the taxon delerei, but a final decision can be made only after the identification and study of the holotype and additional material from Afghanistan. Material examined PAKISTAN – Balochistan • 2 ♂♂ (all dissected), 2 ♀♀ (all dissected); Quetta, Urak; alt. 2400–2700 m; 10–14 May 1983; Eckweiler leg.; EDMSU • 1 ♂; Ziarat; alt. 2400–2700 m; 17–23 May 1983; Eckweiler leg.; EDMSU. AFGHANISTAN – Bamian Prov. • 6 ♂♂ (5 dissected); 10 km S of Bamian t., Hushkak v. vicinity; alt. 2700–2800 m; 2 Jun. 2012; O. Pak leg.; EDMSU • 7 ♂♂ (5 dissected), 3 ♀♀ (all dissected); Punjub Distr., 10 km NE of Varas v.; alt. 2400 m; 20 may 2012; I. Pljushtch leg.; EDMSU • 1 ♀ (dissected); 8 km S of Bamian, Koh-e-Baba Mts, Dara-e-Khushkak; alt. 2930 m; 12 Jun. 2016; I. Pljustsh leg.; EDMSU • 7 ♂♂; Panjub Distr.; 10 km NE of Varas vil.; alt. 2400 m; 21 May 2012; I. Pljushtch leg.; coll. I. Pljushtch • 13 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀; Panjub Distr., Varas vil.; alt. 2400 m; 21 May 2012; I. Pljushtch leg.; coll. I. Pljushtch. – Ghor Prov. • 7 ♂♂ (5 dissected), 2 ♀♀ (1 dissected); 17 km E of Changcharan, 15 km S of Bandi-Ali, Gazak Mts; alt. 2400 m; 26 May 2012; O. Pak leg; EDMSU • 3 ♂♂ (all dissected), 1 ♀ (dissected); 16 km E of Changcharan, Bandi-Ali v. vicinity; alt. 2400 m; 26 May 2012; I. Pljushtch leg.; EDMSU • 1 ♂ (dissected), 1 ♀ (dissected); Bayan Ridge, 15 km S of Changcharan, Kindival valley; alt. 2800 m, 27 May 2012; I. Pljushtch leg.; EDMSU • 1 ♂; Bayan Ridge, Changcharan circ., Kindaval valley; alt. 2800 m; 27 May 2012; I. Pljushtch leg.; coll. I. Pljushtch • 4 ♂♂; 16 km E of Changcharan, Bandi-Ali vil.; alt. 2400 m; 26 May 2012; I. Pljushtch leg.; coll. I. Pljushtch. – Kabul Prov. • 1 ♀; Gargha; alt. 2000 m; 1 Jun. 2010; I. Pljushtch leg.; coll. I. Pljushtch. Redescription Male (Fig. 6A–D, I–L) WINGS. FW length is 17.5–19 mm, the paratype is 18 mm. UPS ground color is yellow-orange or pale orange-red; UPS black marginal border is thin with well-defined marginal spots along the outer edge of the wings; UPS submarginal row represented by small pointed black lunules; UPF discal row is formed by expanded black spots fused with each other near the costa; UPF postdiscal pale-yellowish area, located behind the black discal spots, is well expressed along the entire length and contrasts with the general background. There is a pale-yellowish spot in the distal part of the discoidal cell; UPH discal row is usually reduced; UPH basal suffusion covers no more than ⅓ of the surface of the wing. UNF ground color is pale orange-red, with a well-defined pale area of the outer edge of the wing between the veins Sc and Cu1 and in postdiscal area between veins Sc and M1. UNH ground color is white without the admixture of dark scales. UNH lunules forming the proximal edge of submarginal orange fascia outwardly concave and sharply pointed between veins M3 and Cu2. MALE GENITALIA (FigS 3A–G, 16D–H, 18F–I, 29C, E). The valva is oval with a slender caudal process, usually with one small spine (or without it) on the dorsal surface in the distal part. The long harpe is narrow, without spines (or in rare cases with one or two weakly developed spines) on the inner side. The aedeagus is curved in the central part, distally with a rounded convex dorsal edge. The posterior part of the aedeagus is mostly located at an angle to the anterior part and is directed downward. There is often a well-marked protrusion on the ventral side at the junction of the two parts of the aedeagus. The wide saccus is rounded distally, its length being 1.5 times greater than the width. Female (Fig. 6E–H, M–P) WINGS. FW length is 20–21 mm. UPS ground color is pale orange-red. UPF postdiscal pale area is well expressed and represented by whitish-yellow spots fused to the costal edge and contrasting well with the wing ground color. UPF well-marked pale macule is present in the discoidal cell. UPF submarginal row on the is represented by dark pointed spots, and on the UPH by thin black lunules. UPH black distal row is absent or weakly expressed. UNH pattern is similar to that of males. FEMALE GENITALIA (Fig. 4F–I). The postvaginal plate is rounded-trapezoidal in shape. The antevaginal plate is expanded in the dorsoventral direction, its outer edge noticeably extends beyond the boundaries of the bend of the postvaginal plate (auricules). Preimaginal stages: eggs (Fig. 7, Table 1) Material examined: 10 eggs from 1 ♀; Afghanistan, Ghor Prov., 16 km E of Changcharan, Bandi-Ali v. vicinity, alt. 2400 m. The egg is barrel-shaped. The height of the eggs is from 624.0 µm to 626.6 µm, the width is from 598.0 µm to 603.5 µm. The sculpture of the micropile region is formed from four to five rows of pentahexagonal cells of various lengths and widths. The diameter of the micropile rosette in the widest part varies from 37 µm to 41 µm. The micropile rosette is formed by 8–9 primary quatro-pentahedral cells 5.0 µm to 16.0 µm wide and 9.0 µm to 23.0 µm long. The micropile is rounded in shape with an average diameter of 6.6 µm. There are 23–24 lateral longitudinal ribs that limit the micropile area and decrease to ⅓ of the egg surface. The transverse ribs are weakly expressed. Below the lateral ribs the chorion is relatively smooth. A distinctive feature of the morphology of eggs of M. mimetica is their well-defined barrel shape. In addition, M. mimetica has the smallest eggs among the representatives of the lutko group. Their maximum height is 626.6 µm. However, the egg of M. timandra, which is oval with a slight narrowing in the apical region (Kolesnichenko & Kotlobay 2020), has a height of about 850 µm, whereas that of M. shahvarica sp. nov., whose eggs are pear-shaped, has an average height of about 700 µm. In addition, the M. mimetica micropile rosette is formed by 8–9 primary cells, while in the M. timandra egg the micropile rosette is formed by 9–10 cells, and in the M. shahvarica egg the micropile is surrounded by 7–8 primary cells. Distribution (Fig. 8) Pakistan: Balochistan, Punjab; Afghanistan: Panjshir Gorge, Koh-i-Baba Ridge, mountains in the vicinity of Punjab, Bandi-Bayan Ridge.Published as part of Kolesnichenko, Kirill A. & Kotlobay, Anatoly A., 2022, Review of the fritillary species systematically close to Melitaea lutko Evans, 1932 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) with analysis of their geographic distribution and interrelations with host plants, pp. 1-60 in European Journal of Taxonomy 830 (1) on pages 11-15, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2022.830.1865, http://zenodo.org/record/683984
Atlantic Guardian, vol. 01, no. 08 (September 1945)
No full textWho owns Labrador? / Gordon F. Higgins -- Oh, the little cargo boats! / H. M. Heath -- What about Gander? / D. W. S. Ryan -- The St. John's Players / P. Lloyd Soper -- Jawtam Report / H. A. Quinn -- Guardian angles -- Ten thousand dollars -- Newfoundland newsletter / Ted Meaney -- Pointed paragraphs -- The editor's page.A popular magazine covering Newfoundland news and human interest stories with features such as Newfoundlanders Abroad, the Baby of the Month and community profiles, as well as poetry and short stories. Heavily illustrated with photographs. -- "Atlantic Guardian's platform: to make Newfoundland better known at home and abroad; to promote trade and travel in the Island; to encourage development of the Island's natural resources; to foster good relations between Newfoundland and her neighbors" (on all title pages after vol. 1, no. 4).Published monthly 1945-57, thereafter absorbed by the Atlantic Advocate (1952-92); suspended publication: October 1952-May 1953. Missing issues: vol. 14, nos. 7-8. -- An index to vols. 1-10 by author and/or article type is in vol. 11, no. 1 (January-February 1954), p. 33-48
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