This thesis consists of four papers that broadly concerns two dierent topics. The rsttopic is so-called barycentric Markov processes. By a barycentric Markov process wemean a process that consists of a point/particle system evolving in (discrete) time,whose evolution depends in some way on the mean value of the current points in thesystem. In common for the three rst papers which are on this topicThis thesis consists of four papers that broadly concerns two dierent topics. The rsttopic is so-called barycentric Markov processes. By a barycentric Markov process wemean a process that consists of a point/particle system evolving in (discrete) time,whose evolution depends in some way on the mean value of the current points in thesystem. In common for the three rst papers which are on this topic

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is offered to an increasing number of breast cancer (BC) patients, and comprehensive monitoring of treatment response is of utmost importance. Several imaging modalities are available to follow tumor response, although likely to provide different clinical information. We aimed to examine the association between early radiological response by three conventional imagi

Background: The textile dye mix (TDM) 6.6% pet. contains Disperse Blue (DB) 35, Disperse Yellow 3, Disperse Orange (DO) 1 and 3, Disperse Red 1 and 17, and DB 106 and 124. The most frequent allergen in TDM-positive patients is DO 3. Around 85% of p-phenylenediamine (PPD)-allergic dermatitis patients have shown positive patch test reactions to DO 3. There has been a discussion to exclude DO 3 from

Data presented during the first two decades of this millennium has shed valuable light on how the intraocular pressure (IOP) is linked to glaucomatous progression. Large prospective controlled trials have confirmed that there is a correlation between the change in intraocular pressure (IOP) and the risk for visual field progression. The magnitude of the effect, as indicated by these studies, is a

The success of an evidence-based intervention depends on precise and accurate evaluation of available data and information. Here, the use of robust methods for evidence evaluation is important. Epidemiology, in its conventional form, relies on statistics and mathematics to draw inferences on disease dynamics in affected populations. Interestingly, most of the data used tend to have spatial aspects

The hallmark of sex chromosome evolution is the progressive suppression of recombination which leads to subsequent degeneration of the non-recombining chromosome. In birds, species belonging to the two major clades, Palaeognathae (including tinamous and flightless ratites) and Neognathae (all remaining birds), show distinctive patterns of sex chromosome degeneration. Birds are female heterogametic

Interesting optical properties are obtained if highly ordered interfaces and thin films of large organic molecules are prepared on an atomically flat and clean substrate. Then the optical spectra are very different from those of conventional films and reveal a variety of finestructures. On the basis of one example, quaterthiophene on Ag(111), it is demonstrated that long-range ordered monolayers w

A monolayer of N2O/Ni(111), a submonolayer species, and a monolayer of N2O/Ni\(111\)+O p[2×2] were studied using near-edge x-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy. From the polarization dependence we derive bent N2O molecules for the monolayer species whereas the two other species remain linear upon adsorption. Using the Xα-scattered-wave method the polarization dependence of the three π* res

The modeling of seasonally frozen soils is significant for understanding the hydrological process in cold regions. The water and heat transports of two seasonally frozen sites in northern China were simulated with the process-oriented CoupModel, and a more efficient Monte Carlo based method was employed to identify the uncertainties in multi-site calibration. Results showed that water and heat mea

Freely grazing horses are at risk of infection by parasites such as Parascaris equorum (roundworm), Strongylus spp. (large bloodworms), Cyathostomes (small bloodworms), and Anoplochephala perfoliata (tapeworms). Mixed infections are common and diagnosis is based on demonstrations of eggs in feces followed by identification of larvae after fecal culture. Drug resistance is a growing problem, not le

The characterization of exoplanets and their birth protoplanetary disks has enormously advanced in the last decade. Benefitting from that, our global understanding of the planet formation processes has been substantially improved. In this review, we first summarize the cutting-edge states of the exoplanet and disk observations. We further present a comprehensive panoptic view of modern core accret

The Analog to Digital (A/D) Converters (ADC) are vital components in high-performance radio devices. In the receiver end, the signal received by the analog front-end can not be directly analyzed by the digital core, thus requiring high-performance ADC circuits acting as bridges connecting the analog and digital domain. These circuits are integrated into Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMO

BACKGROUND: Heavy drinking (HD) and binge drinking (BD) exhibit marked differences in their relationships with contextual-level factors imbedded in geographical areas of residence. The objective is to identify sociodemographic factors, both at the individual and at the contextual level, associated with these 2 main hazardous consumption patterns.METHODS: Cross-sectional study using data from the 2

Beam line optics for synchrotron facilities are generally designed from geometric calculations wherein the bending magnet, undulator, or wiggler photon source is approximated by a high divergence point source. In this article we will, however, show that in the case of a synchrotron radiation source with very small divergence (such a source can be encountered at an undulator based third generation