Search results for "STING"

Ramadan Exposure In Utero and Child Mortality in Burkina Faso: Analysis of a Population-Based Cohort Including 41,025 Children.

2017

Ramadan exposure in utero can be regarded as a natural experiment with which to study how nutritional conditions in utero influence susceptibility to disease later in life. We analyzed data from rural Burkina Faso on 41,025 children born between 1993 and 2012, of whom 25,093 were born to Muslim mothers. Ramadan exposure was assigned on the basis of overlap between Ramadan dates and gestation, creating 7 exclusive categories. We used proportional hazards regression with difference-in-differences analysis to estimate the association between Ramadan exposure at different gestational ages and mortality among children under 5 years of age. Under-5 mortality was 32 deaths per 1,000 child-years. U…

AP5Z1/SPG4 8 frequency in autosomal recessive and sporadic spastic paraplegia

2014

Hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSP) constitute a rare and highly heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative disorders, defined clinically by progressive lower limb spasticity and pyramidal weakness. Autosomal recessive HSP as well as sporadic cases present a significant diagnostic challenge. Mutations in AP5Z1, a gene playing a role in intracellular membrane trafficking, have been recently reported to be associated with spastic paraplegia type 48 (SPG48). Our objective was to determine the relative frequency and clinical relevance of AP5Z1 mutations in a large cohort of 127 HSP patients. We applied a targeted next-generation sequencing approach to analyze all coding exons of the AP5Z1 gene. …

Electromechanical characterization of a bimorph piezo for Energy Harvesting applications in road infrastructures

2012

Piezoelectric materials can be used as a means of transforming ambient vibrations into electrical energy that can be stored and used to power other devices. With the recent surge of micro scale devices, piezoelectric power generation can provide a convenient alternative to traditional power sources used to operate certain types of sensors/actuators, telemetry, and MEMS devices. However, the energy produced by these materials is, in many cases, far too small to directly power an electrical device. In the present study, piezoelectric devices will be investigated and experimentally tested to determine each of their abilities to transform ambient vibration into electrical energy. Tested piezoel…

2014

Sales forecasting is an essential task in retailing. In particular, consumer-oriented markets such as fashion and electronics face uncertain demands, short life cycles and a lack of historical sales data which strengthen the challenges of producing accurate forecasts. This survey paper presents state-of-the-art methods in the sales forecasting research with a focus on fashion and new product forecasting. This study also reviews different strategies to the predictive value of user-generated content and search queries.

Comment améliorer la prévision des ventes pour le marketing ? Les apports de la théorie du chaos

2013

National audience; La littérature en marketing constate un décalage entre les avancées réalisées par les chercheurs qui développent de nouvelles méthodes de prévision des ventes, et l'usage massif de méthodes traditionnelles reposant sur l'hypothèse de linéarité des processus analysés. Cette recherche expose la contribution poten¬tielle de la théorie du chaos à l'amélioration de la prévision des ventes. Une illustration de ces apports est proposée avec une application à la prévision des ventes de consoles de jeux vidéo au Japon. Les résultats mettent en évidence la capacité de la méthode proposée à détecter la présence de chaos dans la série et montrent la possibilité de préciser l'horizon …

Infrared based saliva screening test for COVID‐19

2021

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in an unprecedented need for diagnostic testing that is critical in controlling the spread of COVID-19. We propose a portable infrared spectrometer with purpose-built transflection accessory for rapid point-of-care detection of COVID-19 markers in saliva. Initially, purified virion particles were characterized with Raman spectroscopy, synchrotron infrared (IR) and AFM-IR. A data set comprising 171 transflection infrared spectra from 29 subjects testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-qPCR and 28 testing negative, was modeled using Monte Carlo Double Cross Validation with 50 randomized test and model sets. The testing se…

Potential Non-Invasive Biomarkers for Early Diagnosis of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

2021

This study aimed to investigate the role of a panel of salivary cytokines as biomarkers for early detection oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), comparing their levels among healthy individuals, patients with oral leukoplakia (OL), and malignant lesions. Cytokine profiling analysis performed in a minimally invasive sample was correlated with clinicopathological variables in our patient cohorts. Unstimulated saliva was obtained from subjects with OSCC at early (n = 33) and advanced (n = 33) disease, OL with homogeneous (n = 33) and proliferative verrucous (n = 33) clinical presentations, and healthy controls (n = 25). Salivary IL-1α, IL-6, IL-8, IP-10, MCP-1, TNF-α, HCC-1, and PF-4 levels we…

The Influence of Friction on Design of the Type of Bracket and Its Relation to OHRQoL in Patients Who Use Multi-Bracket Appliances: A Randomized Clin…

2021

Background and objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of friction on design of the type of bracket, patients’ perception of pain and the impact on their oral health-related quality of life. Materials and Methods: A randomized clinical trial was carried out with 90 patients (62.2% women and 37.8% men) with three kinds of fixed multi-bracket appliances: Conventional (GC), fixed multi-bracket low friction (GS) and self-ligating (GA). The VAS (Visual Analogue Scale) was used to determine pain during the first seven days of treatment at different points in time. The patients were also given the OHIP-14 (Oral Health Impact Profile) questionnaire to analyse their oral heal…

Assisted Self-Adapted Testing: A Comparative Study

2004

Abstract: A new type of self-adapted test (S-AT), called Assisted Self-Adapted Test (AS-AT), is presented. It differs from an ordinary S-AT in that prior to selecting the difficulty category, the computer advises examinees on their best difficulty category choice, based on their previous performance. Three tests (computerized adaptive test, AS-AT, and S-AT) were compared regarding both their psychometric (precision and efficiency) and psychological (anxiety) characteristics. Tests were applied in an actual assessment situation, in which test scores determined 20% of term grades. A sample of 173 high school students participated. Neither differences in posttest anxiety nor ability were obta…

An interlaboratory study as useful tool for proficiency testing of chemical oxygen demand measurements using solid substrates and liquid samples with…

2009

In 2008, the first Proficiency Testing Scheme of Chemical Oxygen Demand (1stCOD-PTADG) was conducted to assess the results obtained for different research groups whose field work is mainly anaerobic digestion. This study was performed using four samples, two solid samples as raw materials and two solid samples to prepare high concentration suspended solid solutions. Invitations were sent to a large number of laboratories, mainly to anaerobic digestion research groups. Finally, thirty labs from sixteen countries agreed to participate, but for different reasons four participants could not send any data. In total, twenty-six results were reported to the COD-PT coordinator. This study showed th…