Search results for "58"

Methods of spatial cluster detection in rare childhood cancers: Benchmarking data and results from a simulation study on nephroblastoma

2021

Abstract The potential existence of spatial clusters in childhood cancer incidence is a debated topic. Identification of rare disease clusters in general may help to better understand disease etiology and develop preventive strategies against such entities. The incidence of newly diagnosed childhood malignancies under 15 years of age is 140/1,000,000. In this context, the subgroup of nephroblastoma represents an extremely rare entity with an annual incidence of 7/1,000,000. We evaluated widely used statistical approaches for spatial cluster detection in childhood cancer (Ref. [22] Schundeln et al., 2021, Cancer Epidemiology). For the simulation study, random high risk clusters of 1 to 50 ad…

proTRAC - a software for probabilistic piRNA cluster detection, visualization and analysis

2012

Abstract Background Throughout the metazoan lineage, typically gonadal expressed Piwi proteins and their guiding piRNAs (~26-32nt in length) form a protective mechanism of RNA interference directed against the propagation of transposable elements (TEs). Most piRNAs are generated from genomic piRNA clusters. Annotation of experimentally obtained piRNAs from small RNA/cDNA-libraries and detection of genomic piRNA clusters are crucial for a thorough understanding of the still enigmatic piRNA pathway, especially in an evolutionary context. Currently, detection of piRNA clusters relies on bioinformatics rather than detection and sequencing of primary piRNA cluster transcripts and the stringency …

Bi-Sobolev extensions

2022

We give a full characterization of circle homeomorphisms which admit a homeomorphic extension to the unit disk with finite bi-Sobolev norm. As a special case, a bi-conformal variant of the famous Beurling-Ahlfors extension theorem is obtained. Furthermore we show that the existing extension techniques such as applying either the harmonic or the Beurling-Ahlfors operator work poorly in the degenerated setting. This also gives an affirmative answer to a question of Karafyllia and Ntalampekos.

Freedom’s Right. The Social Foundations of Democratic Life

2015

The Problem of the First Belief: Group Agents and Responsibility

2020

Abstract Attributing moral responsibility to an agent requires that the agent is a capable member of a moral community. Capable members of a moral community are often thought of as moral reasoners (or moral persons) and, thus, to attribute moral responsibility to collective agents would require showing that they are capable of moral reasoning. It is argued here that those theories that understand collective reasoning and collective moral agency in terms of collective decision-making and commitment – as is arguably the case with Christian List and Philip Pettit’s theory of group agency – face the so-called “problem of the first belief” that threatens to make moral reasoning impossible for gr…

Extending the semiotics of embodied interaction to blended spaces.

2015

In this paper, we develop a new way of understanding interactions in blended spaces. We do this by developing ideas about embodied semiotics and then apply these ideas to the analysis of interaction in mixed-reality blended spaces (where the physical world and digital world are blended deliberately to provide new forms of interaction). We discuss how blended spaces provide a new medium within which people have experiences. The semiotic analysis reveals how blended spaces are constructed across the physical and the digital, highlighting the ontology, topology, volatility, and agency present within them. It shows how people move between the physical and digital spaces through the objects and …

DETECTING FALLS AT HOME: USER-CENTERED DESIGN OF A PERVASIVE TECHNOLOGY

2016

Falling is the main cause of domestic accidents and fatal injuries to seniors at home. In this paper, we describe the design process for a new pervasive technology (CIRDO). The aim of this technology is to detect falls (via audio and video sensors) and to alert the elderly's family or caregivers. Two complementary studies were performed. Firstly, the actual risk situations of older adults were analyzed. Secondly, social acceptance was investigated for the different homecare field stakeholders. Our results highlight the tensions among social actors towards the tool and their impacts on technology acceptance by the elderly. Also, we show a significant change in the fall process due to the dev…

The individuals’ interest in preventing everyday accidents and crises : A Swedish explorative study of the importance of motivation

2014

This explorative study presents an empirical examination of the connection between motivation and the measures individuals take to prevent everyday accidents and prepare for crises. Positional factors (age and gender) and situational factors (education, size of locality, and household composition) are included because the literature highlights their importance. The study used data gathered in a 2010/2011 poll of randomly selected Swedish residents aged 16–75 (N = 2000; 44.8% response rate). A factor analysis reduced the theoretical model for situational motivation (Guay, Vallerand, & Blanchard, 2000) from four to two dimensions: motivation and amotivation. Subsequent regression analyses sta…

Why Study Online in Upper Secondary School? Qualitative Analysis of Online Learning Experiences

2015

In Finland, online learning has become more common in recent years. In this study, we examined why adult students chose to study online for upper secondary school. The research also focused on the support needed for learning from a special education perspective. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected using an electronic questionnaire. In total, 58 students responded. Data were analyzed qualitatively using the content analysis technique. The findings indicate that the main reasons for online studies are similar in Finland to those found internationally: flexibility of timetables, the student’s health condition, and family situations. The findings also indicate that a student’s…

Codesigning technology for a voluntary-sector organization

2019

© 2019 Khushnood Naqshbandi, Simon Hoermann, David Milne, Dorian Peters, Benjamin Davies, Sophie Potter, & Rafael A. Calvo. This paper presents an investigation into the experiences and perceptions of volunteers and community managers of an Australian voluntary-sector organization that supports young help-seeking people. The process focused specifically on the design of a chat tool, a rudimentary version of which was conceptualized and tested during a trial completed prior to this study. The process explored the motivations and experiences of these volunteers using a codesign approach, which led to the development of specific features of the chat tool that were tailored to the nature of the…