April 2018

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How partial differential equations can unravel information in data

The advance of data science and the solution of big data questions rely heavily on fundamental mathematical techniques. We are surrounded by technology that collects, transmits and manipulates data on an immense scale; the key is the application and development of advanced mathematics for the efficient gathering and manipulation of ‘data’–values of qualitative or quantitative variables–and efficient extraction of ‘information’–the content and meaning present in data.…

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We think we’re the first advanced earthlings—but how do we really know?

Imagine if, many millions of years ago, dinosaurs drove cars through cities of mile-high buildings. A preposterous idea, right? Over the course of tens of millions of years, however, all of the direct evidence of a civilization—its artifacts and remains—gets ground to dust. How do we really know, then, that there weren’t previous industrial civilizations on Earth that rose and fell long before human beings appeared? It’s a compelling thought experiment, and one that Adam Frank, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Rochester, and Gavin Schmidt, the director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, take up in a paper published in the International Journal of Astrobiology.

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Under the microscope: SemStat Elements

A few months ago, Cambridge University Press launched a new set of succinct, yet information-rich products known as SemStat Elements, edited by Ernst Wit, Chair of Statistics and Probability at the University of Groningen.…

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Are All Conflicts Alike?

Public Health Nutrition Editorial Highlight: 'Source of bias in sugar-sweetened beverage research: a systematic review' Authors: Ethan A Litman, Steven L Gortmaker, Cara B Ebbeling and David S Ludwig.

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Successful Academic publishing

On the 6th March, Dan Edwards, Life Sciences journals publisher at Cambridge, presented to a room of Cambridge Librarians, at a time when they are increasingly being asked to support researchers on the publishing process.…

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The end of the universe

Manu Paranjape, author of The Theory and Applications of Instanton Calculations, discusses the potential end of the universe. Recently, reports in the media have warned that our universe could be destroyed abruptly in a collision with a bubble of negative energy, and that the process may have already started!…

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UK Biobank gives unparalleled potential for future biomedical research in mental health

Until now, UK Biobank, a health data resource aiming to help scientists discover why some people develop particular diseases and others do not, had limited mental health data to work with. Following 157,366 responses to an online mental health questionnaire (MHQ) developed by researchers from King’s College London, alongside collaborators from across the UK, it now has unparalleled potential for further biomedical research in mental health, dramatically expanding potential research into mental disorders. The findings have been published in BJPsych Open.

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Assessing the Impact of a Natural Disaster on WIC Providers

Public Health Nutrition Editorial Highlight: 'Superstorm Sandy’s impact on the provision of WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) services in New York State' Authors: Michelle Wemette, Asante Shipp Hilts, Stephanie R Mack, Yunshu Li, Millicent Eidson, Loretta A Santilli, Trang Nguyen and Guthrie S Birkhead discuss their research below.

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