493 research outputs found
Measuring Wikipedia
No full textWikipedia, an international project that uses Wiki software to collaboratively create an encyclopaedia, is becoming more and more popular. Everyone can directly edit articles and every edit is recorded. The version history of all articles is freely available and allows a multitude of examinations. This paper gives an overview on Wikipedia research. Wikipedia’s fundamental components, i.e. articles, authors, edits, and links, as well as content and quality are analysed. Possibilities of research are explored including examples and first results. Several
characteristics that are found in Wikipedia, such as exponential growth and scale-free networks are already known in other context. However the Wiki architecture also possesses some intrinsic specialities. General trends are measured that are typical for all Wikipedias but vary between languages in detail
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Oriental enlightenment: the problematic military experiences and cultural claims of Count Maurice Auguste comte de Benyowsky in Formosa during 1771
No full textMaurice Benyowsky's colourful version of his global adventures during the heady, expansive days of the late-Enlightenment remains still as an historical account, and is perhaps destined for reification at a time of romantic, postmodernist cultural affirmation. Yet this paper argues that within it there lies a virile and possibly dangerous Orientalism, one at least partially based upon a lurid, opportunistic and self-seeking fabrication of his visit to Taiwan (Formosa) in the year 1771. This paper examines the veracity, provenance and historiography of the Benyowsky account of late-eighteenth century Formosa, both as an exercise in one facet of Taiwanese history and as some exploration of the origin and maintenance of European views of the "other" and of the "orient" as they were transforming during the late-Enlightenment period. Furthermore a principal task is to provide an historiographical analysis that illustrates both the initial reasons for the acceptance of Benyowsky's lurid account as well as the wider contexts of its long life as a seemingly reliable and authentic tale. Questions remain as to the cultural contexts of any general acceptance of otherwise doubtful stories, experiments, claims and "adventures". Here there is little doubt that the original Memoirs were given greater credence by Benyowsky's talent in self-fashioning his character and status as those of a reliable gentleman
A de novo reference transcriptome for Bolitoglossa vallecula, an Andean mountain salamander in Colombia
No full text© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Arenas Gomez, C. M., Woodcock, M. R., Smith, J. J., Voss, S. R., & Delgado, J. P. A de novo reference transcriptome for Bolitoglossa vallecula, an Andean mountain salamander in Colombia. Data in Brief, 29, (2020): 105256, doi:10.1016/j.dib.2020.105256.The amphibian order Caudata, contains several important model species for biological research. However, there is need to generate transcriptome data from representative species of the primary salamander families. Here we describe a de novo reference transcriptome for a terrestrial salamander, Bolitoglossa vallecula (Caudata: Plethodontidae). We employed paired-end (PE) illumina RNA sequencing to assemble a de novo reference transcriptome for B. vallecula. Assembled transcripts were compared against sequences from other vertebrate taxa to identify orthologous genes, and compared to the transcriptome of a close plethodontid relative (Bolitoglossa ramosi) to identify commonly expressed genes in the skin. This dataset should be useful to future comparative studies aimed at understanding important biological process, such as immunity, wound healing, and the production of antimicrobial compounds.This work was funded by a research grant from COLCIENCIAS 569 (GRANT 027-2103) and CODI (Programa Sostenibilidad) 2013–2014 of the University of Antioquia. A PhD fellowship to the first author, Claudia Arenas was funded by the COLCIENCIAS 567 Grant. We thank the lab of Juan Fernando Alzate from the University of Antioquia for their help in developing our bioinformatic methodological approach. We thank Andrea Gómez and Melisa Hincapie for their help in animal collection and husbandry
Virulence of malaria is associated with differential expression of Plasmodium falciparum var gene subgroups in a case-control study
No full textPlasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) is a major pathogenicity factor in falciparum malaria that mediates cytoadherence. PfEMP1 is encoded by approximately 60 var genes per haploid genome. Most var genes are grouped into 3 subgroups: A, B, and C. Evidence is emerging that the specific expression of these subgroups has clinical significance. Using field samples from children from Papua New Guinea with severe, mild, and asymptomatic malaria, we compared proportions of transcripts of var groups, as determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. We found a significantly higher proportion of var group B transcripts in children with clinical malaria (mild and severe), whereas a large proportion of var group C transcripts was found in asymptomatic children. These data from naturally infected children clearly show that major differences exist in var gene expression between parasites causing clinical disease and those causing asymptomatic infections. Furthermore, parasites forming rosettes showed a significant up-regulation of var group A transcripts
Effects of biocompatible versus standard fluid on peritoneal dialysis outcomes
No full textThe clinical benefits of using "biocompatible" neutral pH solutions containing low levels of glucose degradation products for peritoneal dialysis compared with standard solutions are uncertain. In this multicenter, open-label, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial, we randomly assigned 185 incident adult peritoneal dialysis patients with residual renal function to use either biocompatible or conventional solution for 2 years. The primary outcome measure was slope of renal function decline. Secondary outcome measures comprised time to anuria, fluid volume status, peritonitis-free survival, technique survival, patient survival, and adverse events. We did not detect a statistically significant difference in the rate of decline of renal function between the two groups as measured by the slopes of GFR: -0.22 and -0.28 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) per month (P=0.17) in the first year in the biocompatible and conventional groups, respectively, and, -0.09 and -0.10 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) per month (P=0.9) in the second year. The biocompatible group exhibited significantly longer times to anuria (P=0.009) and to the first peritonitis episode (P=0.01). This group also had fewer patients develop peritonitis (30% versus 49%) and had lower rates of peritonitis (0.30 versus 0.49 episodes per year, P=0.01). In conclusion, this trial does not support a role for biocompatible fluid in slowing the rate of GFR decline, but it does suggest that biocompatible fluid may delay the onset of anuria and reduce the incidence of peritonitis compared with conventional fluid in peritoneal dialysis.David W. Johnson, Fiona G. Brown, Margaret Clarke, Neil Boudville, Tony J. Elias, Marjorie W.Y. Foo, Bernard Jones, Hemant Kulkarni, Robyn Langham, Dwarakanathan Ranganathan, John Schollum, Michael Suranyi, Seng H. Tan and David Voss on behalf of the balANZ Trial Investigator
In the shadow of the Australian legend: Re-reading Australian literature
No full textThe Australian legend worked as a romantic myth of survival, a foundational grand narrative that legitimised white Australian belonging to the land. The construction of an identity based on the bush ethos and on those values and characteristics recognised as quintessentially Australian helped in the creation of an imagined community. This myth carried a racist underpinning which limited the typical Australian to the category 'white'. Drawing on Foucault 18s discourse analysis I argue that the legend is a discourse, grounded in an untheorised whiteness which defines Australianness. The national identity was modelled on the exclusion of the 'other' from any sense of belonging because Australianness was simply a substitute for whiteness. This exclusion worked on two levels; while it ensured cohesion among whites against a common enemy, it also provided a sense of belonging that could not be questioned because the 'real' Australians, the indigenous people as the common enemy, were left out of a definition of Australianness. Over time this discourse evolved slightly, altering its characteristics, but maintaining its power position and ensuring that its core whiteness remained unaltered. Despite the current claim of a multicultural nation, in fact, the legend is still central to Australian identity and still constitutes the defining characteristic of Australianness. Thus even in a multicultural context where 'white' Australians claim to be just one category among others, they are the ones who define the 'rules' that govern who belongs and who may be granted recognition. In this thesis the evolution of the Australian legend is analysed through readings of key literary texts. While before Federation literature was the major instrument for the construction of the legend and a sense of national identity through an uncritical celebration of the foundational myth, later writing engaged in a critique of the legend and the discourses constructed around it. Contemporary white authors have exposed the discourses of terra nullius and the violence at the foundation of the nation, thus deconstructing the legend. However, their critique is still influenced by their privileged white perspective so that even in their dismantling of the legend there is an implicit celebration of it. It is only when indigenous authors challenge the legend that we find a more radical challenge to the legend and the discourse of whiteness which underpin it. Even then, as argued in this thesis, the legend permeates Australian life and continues to play a role in one 18s understanding of 'Australianness'
Erratum: Direct Lifetime Measurements of the Excited States in 72Ni (Physical Review Letters (2016) 116 (122502) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.122502)
No full textThis paper was published online on 22 March 2016 with an incorrect author affiliation. The affiliation of the fifth author, M. Al-Shudifat, should read as “Department of Physics, Al-abayt University, Mafraq 25113, Jordan”. Subsequently, the following affiliation indicators should be changed to 8–13. The affiliations have been corrected as of 8 May 2020. The affiliations are incorrect in the printed version of the journal
Measurement of the polarization amplitudes and triple product asymmetries in the B0s → Φ Φ decay
No full text<p>Using 1.0 fb−1 of pp collision data collected at a centre-of-mass energy of s√=7 TeV with the LHCb detector, measurements of the polarization amplitudes, strong phase difference and triple product asymmetries in the B0s→ϕϕ decay mode are presented. The measured values are</p>
<p>|A0|2=0.365±0.022(stat)±0.012(syst),|A⊥|2=0.291±0.024(stat)±0.010(syst),cos(δ∥)=−0.844±0.068(stat)±0.029(syst),AU=−0.055±0.036(stat)±0.018(syst),AV=0.010±0.036(stat)±0.018(syst).</p>
A well-conserved Plasmodium falciparum var gene shows an unusual stage-specific transcript pattern
No full textThe var multicopy gene family encodes Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) variant antigens, which, through their ability to adhere to a variety of host receptors, are thought to be important virulence factors. The predominant expression of a single cytoadherent PfEMP1 type on an infected red blood cell, and the switching between different PfEMP1 types to evade host protective antibody responses, are processes thought to be controlled at the transcriptional level. Contradictory data have been published on the timing of var gene transcription. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) data suggested that transcription of the predominant var gene occurs in the later (pigmented trophozoite) stages, whereas Northern blot data indicated such transcripts only in early (ring) stages. We investigated this discrepancy by Northern blot, with probes covering a diverse var gene repertoire. We confirm that almost all var transcript types were detected only in ring stages. However, one type, the well-conserved varCSA transcript, was present constitutively in different laboratory parasites and does not appear to undergo antigenic variation. Although varCSA has been shown to encode a chondroitin sulphate A (CSA)-binding PfEMP1, we find that the presence of full-length varCSA transcripts does not correlate with the CSA-binding phenotype
Measurement of the inclusive φ cross-section in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV
No full textThe cross-section for inclusive φ meson production in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7 TeV has been measured with the LHCb detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The differential cross-section is measured as a function of the φ transverse momentum pT and rapidity y in the region 0.6< pT <5.0 GeV/c and 2.44< y <4.06. The cross-section for inclusive φ production in this kinematic range is σ(pp→φX)=1758±19(stat) +43−14(syst)±182(scale) μb, where the first systematic uncertainty depends on the pT and y region and the second is related to the overall scale. Predictions based on the Pythia 6.4 generator underestimate the cross-section
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