589 research outputs found
Scaling up qualitative data: with Professor Ken Benoit
No full textProfessor Benoit is the Principal Investigator in an ERC funded project QUANTESS developing innovative methods for the quantitative analysis of textual data in the social sciences. He is the co-author with Paul Nulty of the R software package for text analysis “quanteda”, and working on a book Quantitative Text Analysis Using R covering methods for managing, processing, and analysing textual data using the R programming language. He has taught quantitative text analysis extensively and has published research in this area targeting both methodology and political science applications
Amalgamated Shearers' Union of Australasia - Delegates to 5th annual conference
No full textBack Row (L-R): J. Kemp, S.J. Treloar, J. M Toomey, J.J. McCarthy, T. White, W.H. Downey. Middle Row (L-R): A. Rae, W.W. Head, W. Craven, H. McDonald, W.D. Smith, G.F. Grill, J. Slattery, S.Potter, G.A. Andrew (Editor 'Record'). Front Row (L-R): J. Mooney, H. Langwell, G. Cartwright, J. Cumming, A. Murphy, A. Poynton (Treasurer), J.A.Cook (Vice-President), W.G. Spence (President), C. Poynton (Vice-President), D. Temple (Secretary), R. Stevenson, T. Williams, B.H. Stanley, J.R. McDonald, J. Nulty
Solution Structures of TOAC Labeled Trichogin GA IV Peptides from Allowed (g≈2) and Half-Field Electron Spin Resonance
No full textThe recently isolated trichogin GA IV is a 10 amino acid, Aib-rich peptide with potent membrane-modifying properties. The peptide is too short to span lipid bilayers, so the mechanism by which trichogin GA IV interacts with biological membranes is unknown. The crystal structure has been solved, but there is much less information on the peptide's conformation in solution. This problem is addressed by examining the electron spin resonance (ESR) of single and double TOAC-labeled trichogin GA IV analogues, where TOAC is a rigid nitroxide amino acid and serves as an Aib analogue. The doubly labeled peptides, trich-1,4, -4,8 and -1,8, represent all possible trichogin GA IV analogues containing two Aib --> TOAC substitutions. ESR in MeOH at 200 K of the g approximate to 2 spectral region suggests that the N-terminus from residues one through four adopts a helical structure similar to that observed in the crystal. However, the central and C-terminal regions appear to be structurally heterogeneous. To further resolve the solution structure, we performed half-field ESR measurements in a MeOH/EtOH glass at 120 K and referenced them against similar measurements from a series of double TOAC-labeled peptides of known structure. Half-field intensities depend on electron spin dipolar coupling and scale as 1/r(6) where r is the internitroxide distance. The combination of allowed (g approximate to 2) and half-field ESR indicates that the trichogin GA IV C-terminal region is partially alpha-helical, as in the crystal structure, but is in equilibrium with unfolded conformers. It is suggested that the Gly-Gly stretch creates a hinge point between two short but stable helical regions. The combined ESR methods used here represent a new approach for determining the solution structures of partially folded peptides
Industry structure and regulation
No full textAs private firms become increasingly involved in the development of key infrastructure, redefining the role of government from that of serviceprovider to regulator presents both challenges and opportunities. The factors that give rise to sector reforms color how much policymakers invest in regulatory design during the reform process. Nevertheless, two factors are essential to sustainable sector and regulatory reform. First, the right structure must be established for the industry concerned, a structure that allows competition appropriate for that industry. Second, the objectives of regulation must be well defined, with a clear distinction between policymaking, policy implementation, and operations. The extent to which competition can be harnessed to help make regulation efficient, effective, and sustainable depends on the intrinsic technical characteristics of the sector. Each decision affects the sustainability of the regulatory regime in the face of the threat of regulatory capture (both political and commercial). Careful regulatory design is crucial not only for successful sectoral reform but also to balance the interests of various actors (government, consumers, developers, investors, and financiers). One model that has been relatively successful combines new entry, unbundled services, and the unambiguous spelling out of the legal rights and duties for both public and private service providers, administered by an autonomous regulatory authority. Problems with regulation often result as much from inadequate attention to sector structure and fostering competition as from weaknesses in the regulatory authority's institutional capacity. As for the tools of regulation, despite differences in some details between licenses and concessions (and their many contractual variations), these are basically instruments that establish the rights and obligations of contracting parties. Choices about where these rights and obligations are located in the legal hierarchy are shaped by a country's institutional capacity and legal traditions. But the existence of instruments to establish those rights and obligations does not eliminate the need for institutionsto administer them, and thus carry out the regulatory function. Establishing effective sectorwide regulation can be difficult in a developing country, but it is necessary. Policymakers will be able to create effective regulatory regimes where adequate attention is given to sector structure, competition, and institution-building.Environmental Economics&Policies,Trade Finance and Investment,Knowledge Economy,ICT Policy and Strategies,Decentralization,Environmental Economics&Policies,Administrative&Regulatory Law,ICT Policy and Strategies,Water and Industry,Knowledge Economy
quanteda: An R package for the quantitative analysis of textual data
No full textquanteda is an R package providing a comprehensive workflow and toolkit for natural language processing tasks such as corpus management, tokenization, analysis, and visualization. It has extensive functions for applying dictionary analysis, exploring texts using keywords-in-context, computing document and feature similarities, and discovering multi-word expressions through collocation scoring. Based entirely on sparse operations,it provides highly efficient methods for compiling document-feature matrices and for manipulating these or using them in further quantitative analysis. Using C++ and multi-threading extensively, quanteda is also considerably faster and more efficient than other R and Python packages in processing large textual data.
The package is designed for R users needing to apply natural language processing to texts,from documents to final analysis. Its capabilities match or exceed those provided in many end-user software applications, many of which are expensive and not open source. The package is therefore of great benefit to researchers, students, and other analysts with fewer financial resources. While using quanteda requires R programming knowledge, its API is designed to enable powerful, efficient analysis with a minimum of steps. By emphasizing consistent design, furthermore, quanteda lowers the barriers to learning and using NLP and quantitative text analysis even for proficient R programmers
Collagen supplementation augments strength training-induced gains in tendon size and rate of force development in elite female Master field hockey athletes
No full textWe investigated the effect of 8-weeks’ eccentric resistance exercise (RE) with hydrolysed collagen (HC) supplementation on patellar tendon (PT) cross sectional area (CSA), vastus lateralis (VL) muscle size, maximum voluntary force (MVF) and peak rate of force development (pRFD) in international female field hockey Master athletes. Twenty-two premenopausal women (37±2 years, 68.9±8.0 kg; 1.68±0.04 m) were randomly assigned to collagen (COL, n=10) and placebo (PLA, n=12) cohorts in a triple-blind design. They completed three eccentric RE sessions per week for eight weeks in addition to their regular hockey training. Before each RE session, participants ingested 30g HC (COL) or 30g maltodextrin (PLA), together with 500 mg vitamin C. Pre- and post-intervention, we assessed MVF and pRFD during a voluntary multi-joint isometric muscle contraction, and countermovement jump (CMJ) height, while VL thickness and PT CSA were measured with ultrasonography. MVF increased from 892±366 to 1,011±420 N (P=0.020) and VL thickness from 21±3 to 22±3 mm (P=0.015), with no group×time interactions (P>0.05), while CMJ height did not change (P=0.238). PT CSA increased in both groups (P<0.001) but more in COL (116±12 to 121±13 mm2) than PLA (109±22 to 111±22 mm2, P=0.014). Similarly, pRFD increased in both groups (P=0.002) but more in COL (7.9±1.3 to 10.1±2.4 kN∙s-1) than PLA 8.2 ± 2.4 to 9.6 ± 2.9 kN∙s-1, P=0.039). Therefore, HC supplementation enhanced gains in PT CSA and pRFD following eight weeks’ eccentric RE in elite female field hockey Master athletes, thus providing an effective strategy to improve physical performance in this under-researched population
Habitual dietary collagen intake is lower in women and older Irish adults compared to younger men
No full textBackground: Collagen ingestion is purported to benefit connective tissues, such as skin, bone, muscle, tendon, and ligament. However, the quantity of collagen intake in the diet of European adults is unknown. Objective: To investigate collagen intake in the habitual diets of Irish adults, and whether it differed according to sex and/or age. Methods: We conducted secondary analysis of the Irish National Adult Nutrition Survey, which assessed typical dietary intake using a four-day food diary in 1,500 adults, aged 18-90 years. We categorized participants into three age groups: young (18-39 years, n=630), middle-aged (40-64 years, n=644), and older (≥65 years, n=226) adults. Collagen composition of each individual food item in the database was determined by applying a percentage collagen value from analytical sources, allowing computation of collagen mean daily intake (MDI), collagen MDI relative to body mass, and collagen/total protein MDI. Differences in intakes between age groups and sexes were evaluated using physical activity level as a covariate. Results: Collagen MDI for the entire population was 3.2±2.0 g∙day-1, representing 3.6±1.9% total protein intake. Men had higher absolute and relative collagen MDI than women, regardless of age (4.0±2.1 g∙day-1 vs. 2.3±1.4 g∙day-1, p<0.001), while older adults had lower absolute collagen MDI than middle-aged adults (2.9±1.8 g∙day-1 vs. 3.3±2.0g∙day-1, p=0.021). Conclusions: Collagen intake in the Irish adult population was considered low (relative to total protein intake and to dose-response studies), particularly in women and older individuals. Increasing daily collagen intake may therefore be warranted to optimise the health of collagen-rich tissues
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