1,720,952 research outputs found
MANOVA modelling of a chiropractic longitudinal study using multiple imputation
Get PDFThe purpose of this report is to present the detailed statistical analysis of a randomised, placebo-controlled trial comparing two different treatment modalities to an intervention of no known benefit for people with acute or subacute thoracic spine pain.
The therapy arms consist of Spinal Manipulative Therapy (SMT) and Graston Technique (GT) and the placebo is a non-functional ultrasound. A placebo group was utilised because at present there are no proven treatments for non-specific thoracic pain. This trial is registered with the Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry. Ethics approval has been granted by Murdoch University Human Research and Ethics Committee, number 2007/274.
The aim of this three arm trial was to test the efficacy of SMT and GT as independent modalities compared to detuned ultrasound for the outcomes of pain and disability. The latter were measured using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and a modified Oswestry Back Pain Disability Index. The study was conducted at the Murdoch University Chiropractic student clinic in Perth, Australia, and the protocol published in Crothers et al (2008).
In this report, Section 2 provides an initial exploratory analysis of the data, Section 3 outlines the statistical models used in the final analysis, Section 4 defines these models in mathematical terms, Section 5 discusses the management of missing values via multiple imputation and Section 6 presents the results of the statistical modelling and hypothesis tests. The clinical study will be published in full elsewhere
Estimating selection pressures on HIV-1 using phylogenetic likelihood models
No full textHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) can rapidly evolve due to selection pressures exerted by HIV-specific immune responses, antiviral agents, and to allow the virus to establish infection in different compartments in the body. Statistical models applied to HIV-1 sequence data can help to elucidate the nature of these selection pressures through comparisons of non-synonymous (or amino acid changing) and synonymous (or amino acid preserving) substitution rates. These models also need to take into account the non-independence of sequences due to their shared evolutionary history. We review how we have developed these methods and have applied them to characterize the evolution of HIV-1 in vivo. To illustrate our methods, we present an analysis of compartment-specific evolution of HIV-1 em) in blood and cerebrospinal fluid and of site-to-site variation in the gag gene of subtype C HIV-1. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Impact of Violated High-Dose Refuge Assumptions on Evolution of Bt-Resistance
No full textTransgenic crops expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins have been widely and successfully deployed for the control of target pests, while allowing a substantial reduction of insecticide use. The evolution of resistance (a heritable decrease in susceptibility to Bt toxins) can pose a threat to sustained control of target pests, but a high-dose refuge (HDR) management strategy has been key to delaying countervailing evolution of Bt resistance. The HDR strategy relies on the mating frequency between susceptible and resistant individuals, so either partial dominance of resistant alleles or non-random mating in the pest population itself could elevate the pace of resistance evolution. Using classic Wright-Fisher genetic models, we investigated the impact of deviations from standard refuge model assumptions on resistance evolution in the pest populations. We show that when Bt selection is strong, even deviations from random mating and/or strictly recessive resistance that are below the threshold of detection can yield dramatic increases in the pace of resistance evolution. Resistance evolution is hastened whenever the order of magnitude of model violations exceeds the initial frequency of resistant alleles. We also show that existence of a fitness cost for resistant individuals on the refuge crop cannot easily overcome the effect of violated HDR assumptions. We propose a parametrically explicit framework that enables both comparison of various field situations and model inference. Using this model, we propose novel empiric estimators of the pace of resistance evolution (and time to loss of control), whose simple calculation relies on the observed change in resistance allele frequency.Peer reviewe
The ‘Peter Principle’ revisited – reflections on science, surgery and research
Get PDFRevisiting the eponymous “Peter Principle,” in this article the author reflects upon a professional lifetime as a clinician, surgeon and researcher, and summarises his efforts to improve contemporary understanding of oral cancer development, refine diagnostic procedure and facilitate efficacious, early treatment intervention to halt the process of carcinogenesis. The author reviews the principles underpinning effective translational research. Utilising his own work in oral epithelial cell science, interventional surgery and potentially malignant disorder patient management and surveillance, a number of significant advances in our knowledge base and their specific clinical application and potential impact are discussed. Research remains an active and ongoing process, however, and the author believes it essential for future relevance that hypotheses should always be initiated, led and mentored by experienced clinical practitioners
Low-Frequency Hydrodynamic Modeling of a 12 MW Semi-Submersible Wind Turbine
No full textEuropean Wind Energy Masters (EWEM) | Offshore and Dredging Engineerin
The Impact of ICT on Economic Sectors
Get PDFAs the author could not find a reassuring mathematical and statistical method in the literature for studying the effect of information communication technologyon enterprises, the author suggested a new research andanalysis method that he also used to study the Hungarian economic sectors. The question of what factors have an effecton their net income is vital for enterprises. The highest increment of specific Gross Value Added was produced by thefields of ‘Manufacturing’, ‘Electricity, gas and water supply’,‘Transport, storage and communication’ and ‘Financialintermediation’. With the exception of ‘Electricity, gas andwater supply’, the other economic sectors belong to the groupof underdeveloped branches (below 50%).On the other hand, ‘Construction’, ‘Health and social work’and‘Hotels and restaurants’ can be seen as laggards, so theygot into the lower left part of the coordinate system.‘Agriculture, hunting and forestry’ can also be classified as alaggard economic sector, but as the effect of the compoundindicator on the increment of Gross Value Added was lesssignificant, it can be found in the upper left part of thecoordinate system. Drawing a trend line on the points, it can bemade clear that it shows a positive gradient, that is, the higherthe usage of ICT devices, the higher improvement can bedetected in the specific Gross Value Added
Managing processes and information technology in mergers - the integration of finance processes and systems
Get PDFMany companies use mergers to achieve their growth goals or target technology position. To realise synergies that justify the merger transaction, an integration of the merged companies is often necessary. Such integartion takes place across company business areas (such as finance or sales) and across the layers of management consideration, which are strategy, human resources, organisation, processes, and information technology.
In merger integration techniques, there is a significant gap regarding the management of operational level issues. Yet, especially for the finance business area, an integration of processes and information technology is of high importance and often required swiftly after the merger. The author therefore presents an approach designed for managing the operational level merger in the finance business area.
To close the gap in considering operational level issues, the author has developed a model for integraring finance processes and information technology of merging companies. For such model development, literature resources have been used along with merger experiences of the author, and interviews with merger experts. Validation of the developed model has been conducted by using in-depth case studies for showing the effects of applying the model. Further validation interviews have been conducted to support the generality of the approach.
Accommodating the significant increase of task complexity during mergers compared to normal business operation, the presented approach focuses on managing interdependencies instead of project detail. Features of this approach comprise:
An organisational proposal to settinmg up merger programme management;
An interdependency model, vertically interconnecting the finance business area with strategic and organisational merger decisions, and horizontally interconnecting the finance business area with other business areas.
It could be shown that the presented model improves merger integration quality by reducing complexity of merger management. The model is most applicable for larger companies, and can be used in any merger phase
Reading acts of narrative appropriation: four instances of fraudulent memoir
No full textPhDThis thesis examines acts of narrative appropriation, the telling of purportedly‘authentic’ life stories by those for whom the stories are not theirs to tell. This
misuse or subversion of genre - the discipline of historical writing and the category
of autobiography - becomes a means for cultural, social and political dissimulation,
and the analysis focuses both on the act: the event, trespass, or ‘theft’ of another’s
life story, and on the cultural meaning that this event reveals. These narrative acts
are approached theoretically through discussions of what it means to be an author, a
reader, and through the consideration of literary and social genre, category and form.
In exploring identities at particular risk of appropriation, this thesis shows how
fraudulent appropriated narratives affect our reading of the world, and in turn
influence our perception of already marginalized social groups. My primary
examples include prostitution ‘narratives’, Native North American ‘memoir,’ and
fraudulent Holocaust survivor ‘testimony,’ with each text providing decoded
evidence of ‘genre-bending’ exhibiting a social and political intent. These works
seek to be read as authentic personal narratives, as autobiography, and that is how
they have been presented to the reader. However, they are imposters – fictional tales
desiring the elevated status of historical authenticity and willing to bend the rules
and contracts of genre to achieve their end. Here the appearance of authenticity is
achieved through the use of cultural and social ‘myth,’ or perceptions of cultural
identity, and as such its fraudulent construction is first and foremost a social act,
with a social and economic motivation. As this thesis concludes, these texts are
most successful when their own political and social ideologies echo and confirm that
of the readership; when their subjects, the fraudulent ‘I’ at the center of the text is
also a performative elaboration of cultural belief
Mundanity and Spirituality
No full textMundanity and spirituality are two important key words in bricolage. However, with the development of the times, mudnanity and spirituality have taken on a new dimension. For mundanity, people's right to creative freedom in their everyday lives has been greatly restricted. In the case of spirituality, the complexities of the present age are also becoming increasingly apparent. This project aims to discuss how these two points can be reflected in the design.[1]Rossi, Aldo, and Peter Eisenman. The architecture of the city. Cambridge, MA: MIT press, 1982. [2]Pallasmaa, Juhani. The eyes of the skin: Architecture and the senses. John Wiley & Sons, 2012. [3]Lvi-Strauss, Claude. The savage mind. University of Chicago Press, 1966. [4]Johnson, Galen A. “The Merleau-Ponty aesthetics reader: philosophy and painting.” (1993). [5]Hellerman, Jason. “Listen to Orson Welles Narrate Plato’s Cave to Inspire Your Screenwriting.” No Film School. No Film School, July 14, 2020. https://nofilmschool. com/platos-cave. [6]Cézanne, Paul. “Mont Sainte Victoire 06.” 651mm by 838mm, 1904. Musée d’Orsay. [7]Sloterdijk, Peter. “Critique of cynical reason.” (1988). [8]Pallasmaa, Juhani. The thinking hand: Existential and embodied wisdom in architecture. Chichester: Wiley, 2009. [9]Zhang, Weiwei. The process of scientific research versus the blind man feeling the elephant, 2013. http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-847068-692745.html. [10]Antonio Jiménez Torrecillas’ lecture in Tongji University [11]Hejduk, John. “Evening in Llano.” The Architect 4 (2007): 17. [12]Zumthor, Peter. Thinking architecture. Lars Müller, 1998. [13] Irénée Scalbert’s lecture Difference matters , Delft University of Technology, 2020Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences | Building Technolog
Respect for life: counting what Singer finds of no account
Get PDFIncludes bibliographical references (pages 267-268).Though to be commended for his concern for animals, Peter Singer has an inadequate environmental ethic. Beyond the higher animals, Singer insists, "there is nothing to be taken into account." In fact, most of the biological world has yet to be taken into account: lower animals, insects, microbes, plants, species, ecosystems and their processes, and the global system of life on Earth. A deeper respect for life must value more directly all living things and the generative processes that sustain life at all its levels, from the genetic to the global
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