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A simplified extension of the Area under the ROC to the multiclass domain | The Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) plot allows a classifier to be evaluated and optimised over all possible operating points. The Area Under the ROC (AUC) has become a standard performance evaluation criterion in two-class pattern recognition problems, used to compare different classification algorithms independently of operating points, priors, and costs. Extending the AUC to the multiclass case is considered in this paper, called the volume under the ROC hypersurface (VUS). A simplified VUS measure is derived that ignores specific intraclass dimensions, and regards inter-class performances only. It is shown that the VUS measure generalises from the 2-class case, but the bounds between random and perfect classification differ, with the lower bound tending towards zero as the dimensionality increases. A number of experiments with known distributions are used to verify the bounds, and to investigate a numerical integration approach to estimating the VUS. Experiments on real data compare several competing classifiers in terms of both error-rate and VUS. It was found that some classifiers compete in terms of error-rate, but have significantly different VUS scores, illustrating the importance of the VUS approach. |
Online Learning of Multiple Perceptual Models for Navigation in Unknown Terrain | Autonomous robots in unknown and unstructured environments must be able to distinguish safe and unsafe terrain in order to navigate effectively. Stereo depth data is effective in the near field, but agents should also be able to observe and learn perceptual models for identifying traversable surfaces and obstacles in the far field. As the robot passes through the environment however, the appearance of ground plane and obstacles may vary, for example in open fields versus tree cover or paved versus gravel or dirt tracks. In this paper we describe a working robot navigation system based primarily on colour imaging, which learns sets of fast, efficient density-based models online. As the robot moves through the environment the system chooses whether to apply current models, discard inappropriate models or acquire new ones. These models operate on complex natural images and are acquired and used in real time as the robot navigates. |
‘We do the rest’: Photography, Labour, and Howellsian Realism | In Suburban Sketches (1871), one of William Dean Howells’ earliest publications, the Sallie family take a boat trip down Boston’s Charles River and along the East Coast. Like an increasing number of bourgeois American families of the 1870s, they memorialise their ‘Day’s Pleasure’ by having a picture taken.1 Waiting for the exposure, they arrange themselves into ‘striking and characteristic attitudes’ for a ‘brief space of time that seems so long’ (Suburban Sketches, p. 150). The photographer turns his back during the exposure ‘as photographers always do, with that air of hiding their tears’ (p. 150). The resulting image, which the reader never sees, may be realistic in the sense of recording what was in front of the lens, but it will be unrealistic in that what it records are the ‘characteristic attitudes’ known as posing. Like Levy and Stevenson, Howells concerned himself with the social implications of posing, though, unlike them, he felt it to be something of a moral and political danger. |
Reexamining the Effectiveness of Vocabulary Learning via Mobile Phones. | The purpose of this study is to reexamine the effectiveness of vocabulary learning via mobile phones. Students (N=78) from two intact classes of sophomores at a Chinese university were assigned to two groups: the SMS group (the experimental group) and the paper group (the control group). Then, they were administered a pretest to identify the level of their prior vocabulary knowledge. The results revealed that there was no significant difference (p>.05) between the SMS group (Mean=33.34, SD=14.30) and the paper group (Mean=37.13, SD=15.21). Next, they were put into two intervention conditions. The SMS group studied a selected list of vocabulary via mobile phone SMS text messages while the paper group worked on the same list of vocabulary through paper material in a self-regulated manner. Results showed that there was a significant difference (p<.05) in the posttests but not in the delayed tests (p>.05) between the two groups. The study concludes that vocabulary learning through these two methods is effective in their own way and that a blended approach to vocabulary learning may better help increase the effectiveness from the perspective of sustained retention rates. Finally, the limitations of this study and suggestions for future studies are discussed. |
Storing and querying ordered XML using a relational database system | XML is quickly becoming the de facto standard for data exchange over the Internet. This is creating a new set of data management requirements involving XML, such as the need to store and query XML documents. Researchers have proposed using relational database systems to satisfy these requirements by devising ways to "shred" XML documents into relations, and translate XML queries into SQL queries over these relations. However, a key issue with such an approach, which has largely been ignored in the research literature, is how (and whether) the ordered XML data model can be efficiently supported by the unordered relational data model. This paper shows that XML's ordered data model can indeed be efficiently supported by a relational database system. This is accomplished by encoding order as a data value. We propose three order encoding methods that can be used to represent XML order in the relational data model, and also propose algorithms for translating ordered XPath expressions into SQL using these encoding methods. Finally, we report the results of an experimental study that investigates the performance of the proposed order encoding methods on a workload of ordered XML queries and updates. |
Perspectives on equality : the second Seamus Heaney lectures | Introduction - Mary Ann Lyons and Fionnuala Waldron 1. The Philosophy and Politics of Equality of Condition - John Baker 2. Multiethnicity and the Idea of Europe - Ash Amin 3. The Challenge of Diversity for Education in Northern Ireland - Alan Smith 4. Equality, Dependency and Disability - Eva Feder Kittay 5. Equality and Education: A Framework for Theory and Action - Kathleen Lynch 6. Give Tongue Its Freedom: Children as Citizens of Irish Civic Society - Mary Shine Thompson 7. Reflections on the Challenges of Inclusive Education: A Response to Eva Feder Kittay's Argument for Equal Dignity - Joseph Travers 8. The Shape of Things to Come: A Reflective Summary of the Seamus Heaney Lecture Series, Perspectives on Equality - Ann Louise Gilligan. |
Study on Welder Training by Means of Haptic Guidance and Virtual Reality for Arc Welding | Gaining and improving welding skill is important for welders. The advent of virtual reality (VR) technology provides a new kind of medium for skill training. In this paper, a haptic arc welding training method is proposed based on VR and haptic guidance. The training method is designed to emulate the presence of a human tutor which feedbacks forces to a welder to show the proper force/position relation within pre-defined trajectories for attaining hand-mind-eye coordination skills in a virtual environment. Three basic welding operation skills, namely maintaining the proper arc length, maintaining the proper electrode angle, and maintaining the proper traverse speed are selected for training. The Phantom haptic device is used as the haptic interface. The haptic guidance is realized with proportional-plus-derivative (PD) feedback control of the error between the current and ideal trajectory. The proposed method is cost-less, effective, and environment-friend for the training of both novice and skilled welders. |
Direct Organogenesis of Date Palm ( Phoenix dactylifera L . ) for Propagation of True-to-Type Plants | RAPD analysis This study aimed to develop an efficient method for micrpropagation of true-to-type date palm plants through direct organogenesis. Nodular cultures were obtained from shoot tips on MS medium plus 2 mg/l 2ip and 1 mg/l NAA. Among combinations of 2ip and 2,4-D added to culture medium for direct shoot buds proliferation, 5 mg/l 2ip alone gave the highest organogenesis frequency. For in vitro multiplication, culture medium amended with 5 mg/l 2ip + 2 mg/l Kin gave the maximum shoot bud proliferation and shoot bud length. The response of three (1, 5, and 10 mg/l) concentrations of silver nitrate in the presence of 2ip regarding shoot bud multiplication was examined. Supplementation of culture medium with 5 mg/l silver nitrate was superior to the other concentrations used. For in vitro rooting, NAA (1 mg/l) was the best for in vitro root formation in comparison with IAA or IBA at same concentration. Acclimatization was achieved by transferring the plantlets into pots contained equal volumes of peat moss and vermiculite under high humidity. Tissue cultured plantlets were subjected to assessment of genetic stability using RAPD analyses. The patterns of DNA amplification showed a very high level of genetic similarity between regenerated plants and their mother plant. © 2013 PSCI Publisher All rights reserved. |
Iterative Incremental Clustering of Time Series | We present a novel anytime version of partitional clustering algorithm, such as k-Means and EM, for time series. The algorithm works by leveraging off the multi-resolution property of wavelets. The dilemma of choosing the initial centers is mitigated by initializing the centers at each approximation level, using the final centers returned by the coarser representations. In addition to casting the clustering algorithms as anytime algorithms, this approach has two other very desirable properties. By working at lower dimensionalities we can efficiently avoid local minima. Therefore, the quality of the clustering is usually better than the batch algorithm. In addition, even if the algorithm is run to completion, our approach is much faster than its batch counterpart. We explain, and empirically demonstrate these surprising and desirable properties with comprehensive experiments on several publicly available real data sets. We further demonstrate that our approach can be generalized to a framework of much broader range of algorithms or data mining problems. |
Anticipating the future by watching unlabeled video | In many computer vision applications, machines will need to reason beyond the present, and predict the future. This task is challenging because it requires leveraging extensive commonsense knowledge of the world that is difficult to write down. We believe that a promising resource for efficiently obtaining this knowledge is through the massive amounts of readily available unlabeled video. In this paper, we present a large scale framework that capitalizes on temporal structure in unlabeled video to learn to anticipate both actions and objects in the future. The key idea behind our approach is that we can train deep networks to predict the visual representation of images in the future. We experimentally validate this idea on two challenging “in the wild” video datasets, and our results suggest that learning with unlabeled videos significantly helps forecast actions and anticipate objects. |
Indoor Robot Localization System Using WiFi Signal Measure and Minimizing Calibration Effort | This paper presents a robot localization system for indoor environments using WiFi signal strength measure. We analyse the main causes of the WiFi signal strength variation and we experimentally demonstrate that a localization technique based on a propagation model doesn’t work properly in our test-bed. We have carried out a localization system based on a priori radio-map obtained automatically from a robot navigation in the environment in a semi-autonomous way. We analyse the effect of reducing calibration effort in order to diminish practical barriers to wider adoption of this type of location measurement technique. Experimental results using a real robot moving are shown. Finally, the conclusions and future works are |
Mathematical Models for Local Nontexture Inpaintings | Abstract. Inspired by the recent work of Bertalmio et al. on digital inpaintings [SIGGRAPH 2000], we develop general mathematical models for local inpaintings of nontexture images. On smooth regions, inpaintings are connected to the harmonic and biharmonic extensions, and inpainting orders are analyzed. For inpaintings involving the recovery of edges, we study a variational model that is closely connected to the classical total variation (TV) denoising model of Rudin, Osher, and Fatemi [Phys. D, 60 (1992), pp. 259–268]. Other models are also discussed based on the Mumford–Shah regularity [Comm. Pure Appl. Math., XLII (1989), pp. 577–685] and curvature driven diffusions (CDD) of Chan and Shen [J. Visual Comm. Image Rep., 12 (2001)]. The broad applications of the inpainting models are demonstrated through restoring scratched old photos, disocclusion in vision analysis, text removal, digital zooming, and edge-based image coding. |
Liquid biopsy: monitoring cancer-genetics in the blood | Cancer is associated with mutated genes, and analysis of tumour-linked genetic alterations is increasingly used for diagnostic, prognostic and treatment purposes. The genetic profile of solid tumours is currently obtained from surgical or biopsy specimens; however, the latter procedure cannot always be performed routinely owing to its invasive nature. Information acquired from a single biopsy provides a spatially and temporally limited snap-shot of a tumour and might fail to reflect its heterogeneity. Tumour cells release circulating free DNA (cfDNA) into the blood, but the majority of circulating DNA is often not of cancerous origin, and detection of cancer-associated alleles in the blood has long been impossible to achieve. Technological advances have overcome these restrictions, making it possible to identify both genetic and epigenetic aberrations. A liquid biopsy, or blood sample, can provide the genetic landscape of all cancerous lesions (primary and metastases) as well as offering the opportunity to systematically track genomic evolution. This Review will explore how tumour-associated mutations detectable in the blood can be used in the clinic after diagnosis, including the assessment of prognosis, early detection of disease recurrence, and as surrogates for traditional biopsies with the purpose of predicting response to treatments and the development of acquired resistance. |
Discovery of driving patterns by trajectory segmentation | Telematics data is becoming increasingly available due to the ubiquity of devices that collect data during drives, for different purposes, such as usage based insurance (UBI), fleet management, navigation of connected vehicles, etc. Consequently, a variety of data-analytic applications have become feasible that extract valuable insights from the data. In this paper, we address the especially challenging problem of discovering behavior-based driving patterns from only externally observable phenomena (e.g. vehicle's speed). We present a trajectory segmentation approach capable of discovering driving patterns as separate segments, based on the behavior of drivers. This segmentation approach includes a novel transformation of trajectories along with a dynamic programming approach for segmentation. We apply the segmentation approach on a real-word, rich dataset of personal car trajectories provided by a major insurance company based in Columbus, Ohio. Analysis and preliminary results show the applicability of approach for finding significant driving patterns. |
A Dynamic Message-Aware Communication Scheduler for Ceph Storage System | With the proliferation of cloud computing technologies, the Ceph, a distributed object-based storage system has been an attractive alternative to building a storage backend due to its excellent performance, reliability, and scalability. As the storage system processes huge amount data and the network traffic generated from the cloud increases rapidly, designing a high-performance messenger in the storage system has created a lot of challenging issues. Although the async messenger, one of the Ceph's messengers, is known to be efficient and flexible, it contains several performance problems due to its simple round-robin based scheduling scheme that assigns a connection to a worker thread without any consideration for the amount of workloads transferred through the connections. This causes the imbalance of worker threads and adversely affects the performance of the Ceph storage system. This paper proposes a dynamic message-aware communication scheduler for Ceph storage system that balances the workloads of worker threads based on the types of incoming messages, while avoiding unnecessary connection movements among worker threads. We use genetic algorithm (GA) to solve this problem and implement the proposed scheduling algorithm using the async messenger. The benchmarking results show that the proposed approach outperforms the original async messenger by as much as 12.5% under the same workload from clients and 24% under the random workloads from clients. |
The antecedents and consequences of racial/ethnic discrimination during adolescence: does the source of discrimination matter? | In the current study, we examined the precursors and consequences of discrimination for 876 Latino, African American, and Asian American adolescents (Mage = 16.9 years, SD = 0.43). The race/ethnic characteristics of schools and neighborhoods influenced adolescents' perceptions of the race/ethnic climates of these contexts. In turn, adolescents who viewed climates more negatively were more likely to perceive discriminatory treatment by school personnel, peers, and societal institutions. Discrimination from these 3 sources exerted differential influence on developmental outcomes: Greater discrimination from school personnel was associated with poorer academic performance, greater discrimination from peers was associated with more psychological maladjustment, and greater societal discrimination was associated with heightened racial awareness. Relations were consistent across race/ethnic groups and gender. Implications for intervening to reduce racial discrimination and other social stigmas are discussed. |
Communication Efficient Distributed Optimization using an Approximate Newton-type Method | We present a novel Newton-type method for distributed optimization, which is particularly well suited for stochastic optimization and learning problems. For quadratic objectives, the method enjoys a linear rate of convergence which provably improves with the data size, requiring an essentially constant number of iterations under reasonable assumptions. We provide theoretical and empirical evidence of the advantages of our method compared to other approaches, such as one-shot parameter averaging and ADMM. |
Approaches to Measuring the Difficulty of Games in Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment Systems | In this article, three approaches are proposed for measuring difficulty that can be useful in developing Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment (DDA) systems in different game genres. Our analysis of the existing DDA systems shows that there are three ways to measure the difficulty of the game: using the formal model of gameplay, using the features of the game, and direct examination of the player. These approaches are described in this article and supplemented by appropriate examples of DDA implementations. In addition, the article describes the distinction between task complexity and task difficulty in DDA systems. Separating task complexity (especially the structural one) is suggested, which is an objective characteristic of the task, and task difficulty, which is related to the interaction between the task and the task performer. |
A Secure Mechanism for Big Data Collection in Large Scale Internet of Vehicle | As an extension for Internet of Things (IoT), Internet of Vehicles (IoV) achieves unified management in smart transportation area. With the development of IoV, an increasing number of vehicles are connected to the network. Large scale IoV collects data from different places and various attributes, which conform with heterogeneous nature of big data in size, volume, and dimensionality. Big data collection between vehicle and application platform becomes more and more frequent through various communication technologies, which causes evolving security attack. However, the existing protocols in IoT cannot be directly applied in big data collection in large scale IoV. The dynamic network structure and growing amount of vehicle nodes increases the complexity and necessary of the secure mechanism. In this paper, a secure mechanism for big data collection in large scale IoV is proposed for improved security performance and efficiency. To begin with, vehicles need to register in the big data center to connect into the network. Afterward, vehicles associate with big data center via mutual authentication and single sign-on algorithm. Two different secure protocols are proposed for business data and confidential data collection. The collected big data is stored securely using distributed storage. The discussion and performance evaluation result shows the security and efficiency of the proposed secure mechanism. |
Antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of pigments synthesized from microorganisms | Scientists and consumers preference focused on natural colorants due to the emergence of negative health effects of synthetic colorants which is used for many years in foods. Interest in natural colorants is increasing with each passing day as a consequence of their antimicrobial and antioxidant effects. The biggest obstacle in promotion of natural colorants as food pigment agents is that it requires high investment. For this reason, the R&D studies related issues are shifted to processes to reduce cost and it is directed to pigment production from microorganisms with fermentation. Nowadays, there is pigments obtained by commercially microorganisms or plants with fermantation. These pigments can be use for both food colorant and food supplement. In this review, besides colourant and antioxidant properties, antimicrobial properties of natural colorants are discussed. |
An Attribute-Based Encryption Scheme to Secure Fog Communications | Fog computing is deemed as a highly virtualized paradigm that can enable computing at the Internet of Things devices, residing in the edge of the network, for the purpose of delivering services and applications more efficiently and effectively. Since fog computing originates from and is a non-trivial extension of cloud computing, it inherits many security and privacy challenges of cloud computing, causing the extensive concerns in the research community. To enable authentic and confidential communications among a group of fog nodes, in this paper, we propose an efficient key exchange protocol based on ciphertext-policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) to establish secure communications among the participants. To achieve confidentiality, authentication, verifiability, and access control, we combine CP-ABE and digital signature techniques. We analyze the efficiency of our protocol in terms of security and performance. We also implement our protocol and compare it with the certificate-based scheme to illustrate its feasibility. |
Deep Learning in Drug Discovery. | Artificial neural networks had their first heyday in molecular informatics and drug discovery approximately two decades ago. Currently, we are witnessing renewed interest in adapting advanced neural network architectures for pharmaceutical research by borrowing from the field of "deep learning". Compared with some of the other life sciences, their application in drug discovery is still limited. Here, we provide an overview of this emerging field of molecular informatics, present the basic concepts of prominent deep learning methods and offer motivation to explore these techniques for their usefulness in computer-assisted drug discovery and design. We specifically emphasize deep neural networks, restricted Boltzmann machine networks and convolutional networks. |
Who Believes in “Communication”?: Norman Cousins Lecture 1999 | Nowadays no one doubts that behavior and neuroendocrine output are functionally connected. Most scientists will also agree that nearly every neuroendocrine mediator can modulate activity of the immune system. However, the statement that behavior can modulate the activity of the immune system and consequently influence disease susceptibility and progression still meets with skepticism (or even disbelief ). Reasons for this inconsistency are not clear, but they may, at least partly, involve an emotional response based on the idea that behavior cannot be so powerful as to interfere with ongoing immune responses or pathogenic processes. Perhaps in normal everyday life one would rather avoid the idea that one’s psyche can contribute to disease susceptibility and progression. The aim of my Norman Cousins Lecture was to present evidence that behavior and/or the neuroendocrine system can indeed fine-tune activities of the immune system. The result of this fine-tuning is that the activity of the immune system is set at a certain balance. This balance is not meant to imply that a certain type of behavior or a given neuroendocrine response pattern will automatically have negative consequences for the immune system. In contrast, fine-tuning of immune reactivity as the result of an interaction between behavior and the neuroendocrine and immune systems may well serve an adaptive or homeostatic purpose. The latter assumption implies that this fine-tuning of immune reactivity by behavioral and/or neuroendocrine processes may have important consequences in disease states. Moreover, understanding ways in which immune reactivity can be modulated by behaviorally evoked neuroendocrine signals may lead to more efficient therapeutic strategies to treat somatic diseases by using behavioral therapy and/or neuroendocrine modulating drugs. |
Delphi Technique Theoretical Framework in Qualitative Research | --------------------------------------------------------------ABSTRACT------------------------------------------------------Using specialized knowledge and perspectives of a set in decision-makings about issues that are qualitative is very helpful. Delphi technique is a group knowledge acquisition method, which is also used for qualitative issue decision-makings. Delphi technique can be used for qualitative research that is exploratory and identifying the nature and fundamental elements of a phenomenon is a basis for study. It is a structured process for collecting data during the successive rounds and group consensus. Despite over a half century of using Delphi in scientific and academic studies, there are still several ambiguities about it. The main problem in using the Delphi technique is lack of a clear theoretical framework for using this technique. Therefore, this study aimed to present a comprehensive theoretical framework for the application of Delphi technique in qualitative research. In this theoretical framework, the application and consensus principles of Delphi technique in qualitative research were clearly explained. |
Mining long-term search history to improve search accuracy | Long-term search history contains rich information about a user's search preferences, which can be used as search context to improve retrieval performance. In this paper, we study statistical language modeling based methods to mine contextual information from long-term search history and exploit it for a more accurate estimate of the query language model. Experiments on real web search data show that the algorithms are effective in improving search accuracy for both fresh and recurring queries. The best performance is achieved when using clickthrough data of past searches that are related to the current query. |
A survey of the use of crowdsourcing in software engineering | The term ‘crowdsourcing’ was initially introduced in 2006 to describe an emerging distributed problem-solving model by online workers. Since then it has been widely studied and practiced to support software engineering. In this paper we provide a comprehensive survey of the use of crowdsourcing in software engineering, seeking to cover all literature on this topic. We first review the definitions of crowdsourcing and derive our definition of Crowdsourcing Software Engineering together with its taxonomy. Then we summarise industrial crowdsourcing practice in software engineering and corresponding case studies. We further analyse the software engineering domains, tasks and applications for crowdsourcing and the platforms and stakeholders involved in realising Crowdsourced Software Engineering solutions. We conclude by exposing trends, open issues and opportunities for future research on Crowdsourced Software Engineering. |
Nonlinear controller design for a magnetic levitation device | Various applications of micro-robotic technology suggest the use of new actuator systems which allow motions to be realized with micrometer accuracy. Conventional actuation techniques such as hydraulic or pneumatic systems are no longer capable of fulfilling the demands of hi-tech micro-scale areas such as miniaturized biomedical devices and MEMS production equipment. These applications pose significantly different problems from actuation on a large scale. In particular, large scale manipulation systems typically deal with sizable friction, whereas micro manipulation systems must minimize friction to achieve submicron precision and avoid generation of static electric fields. Recently, the magnetic levitation technique has been shown to be a feasible actuation method for microscale applications. In this paper, a magnetic levitation device is recalled from the authors’ previous work and a control approach is presented to achieve precise motion control of a magnetically levitated object with sub-micron positioning accuracy. The stability of the controller is discussed through the Lyapunov method. Experiments are conducted and showed that the proposed control technique is capable of performing a positioning operation with rms accuracy of 16 lm over a travel range of 30 mm. The nonlinear control strategy proposed in this paper showed a significant improvement in comparison with the conventional control strategies for large gap magnetic levitation systems. |
Hypergraph Partitioning and Clustering | A hypergraph is a generalization of a graph wherein edges can connect more than two vertices and are called hyperedges. Just as graphs naturally represent many kinds of information in mathematical and computer science problems, hypergraphs also arise naturally in important practical problems, including circuit layout, Boolean SATisfiability, numerical linear algebra, etc. Given a hypergraph H , k-way partitioning of H assigns vertices of H to k disjoint nonempty partitions. The k-way partitioning problem seeks to minimize a given cost function of such an assignment. A standard cost function is net cut, which is the number of hyperedges that span more than one partition, or, more generally, the sum of weights of such edges. Constraints are typically imposed on the solution, and make the problem difficult. For example, certain vertices can be fixed in their partitions (fixed constraints) or the total vertex weight in each partition may be limited (balance constraints). With balance constraints, the problem of optimally partitioning a hypergraph is known to be NP-hard [28]. However, since partitioning is critical in several practical applications, heuristic algorithms were developed with near-linear runtime. Such move-based heuristics for k-way hypergraph partitioning appear in [46, 27, 14], with refinements given by [47, 58, 32, 49, 24, 10, 20, 35, 41, 25]. The following is an introduction to partitioning formulations and algorithms, centered on the Fiduccia-Mattheyses heuristic [27] and its derivatives. |
Effectiveness of an Intervention to Increase Pap Test Screening Among Chinese Women in Taiwan | This study assessed the effectiveness of a theory-based direct mail campaign in encouraging non-compliant women, aged 30 and older or younger if married, to obtain a Pap test. Participants were female family members of inpatients admitted to one of the major teaching hospitals in Taiwan during August–September 1999. A total of 424 women were recruited in the randomized intervention trial. Three months following implementation of the intervention, women in the intervention group reported a higher rate of Pap test screening than women in the comparison group (50% versus 32%) (p = 0.002). Women in the intervention group also showed higher perceived pros of a Pap test at follow-up (p = 0.031). Although women in both groups showed an increased knowledge and intention to obtain a Pap, only the intervention group had significantly higher follow-up scores on perceived pros and susceptibility. The results shows that the intervention was effective in increasing Pap test screening among Chinese women within three months. The results also support the use of Intervention Mapping, a systematic program development framework for planning effective interventions. |
Fe-Cr 系合金の耐高温水蒸気酸化性と水素侵入 | High-temperature oxidation of a pure iron, Fe-2Cr alloy, Fe-10Cr alloys and an Fe-10Cr-0.08C steel was examined in both air and steam at 923 K. In case of pure iron, the thickness of the oxide scale formed in steam at 923 K for 360 ks was comparable to that of the scale formed in air. On the other hand, in case of the Fe-Cr binary alloys and the ternary martensitic steel, the oxide scale was much thicker in steam than in air. The amount of hydrogen dissolved into the pure iron and the steels during exposure to the high-temperature steam was measured with thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). It was found that the amount of the dissolved hydrogen in the oxide scale was much larger in both the binary alloys and the ternary ferritic steel than in pure iron, and then it leads to the more accelerated oxidation rate of the binary alloys and the ternary steel in the steam. Furthermore, the martensite structure of the ternary steel exhibited an excellent oxidation resistance in air compared to the ferrite phase in the same steel. This is probably because the martensite phase has a lot of plane defects such as block boundaries for the fast diffusion path of Cr element. |
Healthy work environments and staff nurse retention: the relationship between communication, collaboration, and leadership in the pediatric intensive care unit. | BACKGROUND
A healthy work environment can improve patient outcomes and registered nurse (RN) turnover. Creating cultures of retention and fostering healthy work environments are 2 major challenges facing nurse leaders today.
SPECIFIC AIMS
Examine the effects of the healthy work environment (communication, collaboration, and leadership) on RN turnover from data collected from a research study.
METHODS
Descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational design. Pediatric critical care RNs from 10 pediatric intensive care units (PICU) completed the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index Revised and a subscale of the Intensive Care Unit Nurse-Physician Communication Questionnaire. These staff nurses were asked whether they intend to leave their current job in the next 6 months. Statistical analysis included correlations, multiple linear regression, t tests (2-tailed), and 1-way analysis of variance.
RESULTS
A total of 415 RNs completed the survey. There was a statistically significant relationship between leadership and the intent to leave (P < .05). There was also an inverse relationship between years of experience and intent to leave. None of the communication variables between RNs and among RNs and MDs or collaboration were significantly associated with PICU nurses' intention to leave.
CONCLUSION
Effective leadership in the PICU is important to PICU RNs and significantly influences their decisions about staying in their current job. |
Optimization for Machine Learning | This course teaches an overview of modern optimization methods, for applications in machine learning and data science. In particular, scalability of algorithms to large datasets will be discussed in theory and in implementation. Basic |
A longitudinal qualitative analysis of the factors that influence patient distress within the lung cancer population. | BACKGROUND
The literature consistently shows that lung cancer patients experience both greater number of symptoms and concerns about health and existential issues compared with patients from other cancer populations and that patient distress near diagnosis predicts survival in lung cancer patients. Also evidence suggests that symptom characteristics (e.g. symptom intensity and frequency) influence distress. The relationship between aspects of patients' symptom experiences can be complex and the mechanisms underpinning this association are not fully understood at present.
METHODS
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 lung cancer patients and 15 primary caregivers at four time points: at the beginning of treatment and then subsequently at three, six, and twelve months, providing a total of 44 patient and 32 caregiver interviews. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was employed in the data analysis.
FINDINGS
The analysis presented here concentrates on two areas which was reported to influence distress in this population: (1) patients' perception of symptoms and symptom characteristics and their associated distress; and (2) the relationship between patients' causal reasoning and their distress.
CONCLUSION
The complexity of the issues involved in the development of symptom distress needs to be recognised by health care professionals in this poor prognosis group of patients. Better patient preparation about symptoms may alleviate some of the symptom distress in lung cancer patients. |
The effects of level of automation and adaptive automation on human performance , situation awareness and workload in a dynamic control task | This paper extends previous research on two approaches to human-centred automation: (1) intermediate levels of automation (LOAs) for maintaining operator involvement in complex systems control and facilitating situation awareness; and (2) adaptive automation (AA) for managing operator workload through dynamic control allocations between the human and machine over time. Some empirical research has been conducted to examine LOA and AA independently, with the objective of detailing a theory of human-centred automation. Unfortunately, no previous work has studied the interaction of these two approaches, nor has any research attempted to systematically determine which LOAs should be used in adaptive systems and how certain types of dynamic function allocations should be scheduled over time. The present research briefly reviews the theory of humancentred automation and LOA and AA approaches. Building on this background, an initial study was presented that attempts to address the conjuncture of these two approaches to human-centred automation. An experiment was conducted in which a dual-task scenario was used to assess the performance, SA and workload effects of low, intermediate and high LOAs, which were dynamically allocated (as part of an AA strategy) during manual system control for various cycle times comprising 20, 40 and 60% of task time. The LOA and automation allocation cycle time (AACT) combinations were compared to completely manual control and fully automated control of a dynamic control task performed in conjunction with an embedded secondary monitoring task. Results revealed LOA to be the driving factor in determining primary task performance and SA. Low-level automation produced superior performance and intermediate LOAs facilitated higher SA, but this was not associated with improved performance or reduced workload. The AACT was the driving factor in perceptions of primary task workload and secondary task performance. When a greater percentage of primary task time was automated, operator perceptual resources were freed-up and monitoring performance on the secondary task improved. Longer automation cycle times than have previously been studied may have benefits for overall human–machine system performance. The combined effect of LOA and AA on all measures did not appear to be ‘additive’ in nature. That is, the LOA producing the best performance (low level automation) did not do so at the AACT, which produced superior performance (maximum cycle time). In general, the results are supportive of intermediate LOAs and AA as approaches to human-centred automation, but each appears to provide different benefits to human–machine system performance. This work provides additional information for a developing theory of human-centred automation. Theor. Issues in Ergon. Sci., 2003, 1–40, preview article |
Feed-forward neural networks | One critical aspect neural network designers face today is choosing an appropriate network size for a given application. Network size involves in the case of layered neural network architectures, the number of layers in a network, the number of nodes per layer, and the number of connections. Roughly speaking, a neural network implements a nonlinear mapping of u=G(x). The mapping function G is established during a training phase where the network learns to correctly associate input patterns x to output patterns u. Given a set of training examples (x, u), there is probably an infinite number of different size networks that can learn to map input patterns x into output patterns u. The question is, which network size is more appropriate for a given problem? Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not always obvious. Many researchers agree that the quality of a solution found by a neural network depends strongly on the network size used. In general, network size affects network complexity, and learning time. It also affects the generalization capabilities of the network; that is, its ability-to produce accurate results on patterns outside its training set.<<ETX>> |
Scale-free brain functional networks. | Functional magnetic resonance imaging is used to extract functional networks connecting correlated human brain sites. Analysis of the resulting networks in different tasks shows that (a) the distribution of functional connections, and the probability of finding a link versus distance are both scale-free, (b) the characteristic path length is small and comparable with those of equivalent random networks, and (c) the clustering coefficient is orders of magnitude larger than those of equivalent random networks. All these properties, typical of scale-free small-world networks, reflect important functional information about brain states. |
Dynamic Video Segmentation Network | In this paper, we present a detailed design of dynamic video segmentation network (DVSNet) for fast and efficient semantic video segmentation. DVSNet consists of two convolutional neural networks: a segmentation network and a flow network. The former generates highly accurate semantic segmentations, but is deeper and slower. The latter is much faster than the former, but its output requires further processing to generate less accurate semantic segmentations. We explore the use of a decision network to adaptively assign different frame regions to different networks based on a metric called expected confidence score. Frame regions with a higher expected confidence score traverse the flow network. Frame regions with a lower expected confidence score have to pass through the segmentation network. We have extensively performed experiments on various configurations of DVSNet, and investigated a number of variants for the proposed decision network. The experimental results show that our DVSNet is able to achieve up to 70.4% mIoU at 19.8 fps on the Cityscape dataset. A high speed version of DVSNet is able to deliver an fps of 30.4 with 63.2% mIoU on the same dataset. DVSNet is also able to reduce up to 95% of the computational workloads. |
dyngraph2vec: Capturing Network Dynamics using Dynamic Graph Representation Learning | Learning graph representations is a fundamental task aimed at capturing various properties of graphs in vector space. The most recent methods learn such representations for static networks. However, real world networks evolve over time and have varying dynamics. Capturing such evolution is key to predicting the properties of unseen networks. To understand how the network dynamics affect the prediction performance, we propose an embedding approach which learns the structure of evolution in dynamic graphs and can predict unseen links with higher precision. Our model, dyngraph2vec, learns the temporal transitions in the network using a deep architecture composed of dense and recurrent layers. We motivate the need of capturing dynamics for prediction on a toy data set created using stochastic block models. We then demonstrate the efficacy of dyngraph2vec over existing state-of-the-art methods on two real world data sets. We observe that learning dynamics can improve the quality of embedding and yield better performance in link prediction. |
Vorticity Particle Method for Simulation of 3D Flow | The new formulation of the stochastic vortex particle method has been presented. Main elements of the algorithms: the construction of the particles, governing equations, stretching modeling and boundary condition enforcement are described. The test case is the unsteady flow past a spherical body. Sample results concerning patterns in velocity and vorticity fields, streamlines, pressure and aerodynamic forces are presented. |
Intranasal salmon calcitonin for the prevention and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis | In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, we have studied the effects of intranasal salmon calcitonin (SCT) on bone mineral density (BMD) and biochemical markers of bone turnover over a period of 2 years. Our study comprised 117 Caucasian postmenopausal women, otherwise healthy apart from reduced bone density. They received either intranasal synthetic SCT (200 IU either three times weekly or daily) or placebo. Compared with placebo, daily intranasal calcitonin resulted in no significant bone loss in the lumbar spine, as assessed by dual photon absorptiometry, over the 2-year study period(P < 0.02). In this group, women more than 5 years postmenopause, with the lowest baseline bone mass, showed the greatest response to this treatment, with a total increase placebo in lumbar spine BMD of 3.1%. Significant spinal bone loss(P < 0.005) occurred in women receiving either placebo or thrice-weekly calcitonin. Although the rates of bone loss in the proximal femur were not significantly different in the three groups, there were differences over time. Whereas bone loss in the daily calcitonin group was insignificant, women who received placebo or thrice-weekly calcitonin experienced significant bone loss(P < 0.001). No significant changes in biochemical markers were observed in any group. Therapy was well tolerated and there were no significant treatment-related adverse events. We conclude that intranasal SCT 200 IU daily is effective and safe for the prevention of bone loss in postmenopausal women with reduced bone mass. |
A randomized placebo-controlled trial of risperidone for the treatment of aggression, agitation, and psychosis of dementia. | BACKGROUND
This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial examined the efficacy and safety of risperidone in the treatment of aggression, agitation, and psychosis in elderly nursing-home patients with dementia.
METHOD
Elderly patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of dementia of the Alzheimer's type, vascular dementia, or a combination of the 2 (i.e., mixed dementia) and significant aggressive behaviors were randomized to receive, for a period of 12 weeks, a flexible dose of either placebo or risperidone solution up to a maximum of 2 mg/day. Outcome measures were the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI), the Behavioral Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease (BEHAVE-AD) rating scale, and the Clinical Global Impression of Severity (CGI-S) and of Change (CGI-C) scales.
RESULTS
A total of 345 patients were randomized to treatment with risperidone or placebo, and 337 patients received at least one dose of study drug. The trial was completed by 67% of patients in the placebo group and 73% of patients in the risperidone group. The mean +/- SE dose of risperidone was 0.95 +/- 0.03 mg/day. The primary endpoint of the study, the difference from baseline to endpoint in CMAI total aggression score, showed a significant reduction in aggressive behavior for risperidone versus placebo (p <.001). A similar improvement was also seen for the CMAI total non-aggression subscale (p <.002) and for the BEHAVE-AD total (p <.001) and psychotic symptoms subscale (p =.004). At endpoint, the CGI-S and the CGI-C scores indicated a significantly greater improvement with risperidone compared with placebo (p <.001). Overall, 94% and 92% of the risperidone and placebo groups, respectively, reported at least 1 adverse event. Somnolence and urinary tract infection were more common with risperidone treatment, whereas agitation was more common with placebo. There was no significant difference in the number of patients who reported extrapyramidal symptoms between the risperidone (23%) and placebo (16%) groups.
CONCLUSION
Treatment with low-dose (mean = 0.95 mg/day) risperidone resulted in significant improvement in aggression, agitation, and psychosis associated with dementia. |
Continuous sodium vaiproate or phenobarbitone in the prevention of ' simple ' febrile convulsions Comparison by a double-blind trial | Of the 265 children aged between 6 and 18 months admitted to hospital in a 26-month period each with his first febrile convulsion, there were 64 who satisfied our criteria for a simple febrile convulsion. Ofthese, 43 (random) were entered into a double-blind trial of continuous sodium valproate versus phenobarbitone, and 21 were untreated. The dosage was phenobarbitone 3-6 mg/kg per day; sodium valproate 30-60 mg/kg per day. 39 completed treatment (21 phenobarbitone, 18 sodium valproate), 2 in each group being withdrawn because of unacceptable side effects. Close supervision and random serum drug estimations showed compliance to be good. After a mean treatment period of 12 months (mean age 25 months) there had been one recurrence in the sodium valproate group compared with 7 in the untreated group (P<0 .05), and 4 recurrences in the phenobarbitone group. The difference between treatment and no treatment was significant (P<0 .05). These results suggest that in simple febrile convulsions occurring between 6 and 18 months of age sodium valproate is as effective as phenobarbitone in preventing recurrence and that either treatmenis better than none. |
Prevalence and health correlates of prostitution among patients entering treatment for substance use disorders. | CONTEXT
Studies of prostitution have focused largely on individuals involved in the commercial sex trade, with an emphasis on understanding the public health effect of this behavior. However, a broader understanding of how prostitution affects mental and physical health is needed. In particular, the study of prostitution among individuals in substance use treatment would improve efforts to provide comprehensive treatment.
OBJECTIVES
To document the prevalence of prostitution among women and men entering substance use treatment, and to test the association between prostitution, physical and mental health, and health care utilization while adjusting for reported history of childhood sexual abuse, a known correlate of prostitution and poor health outcomes.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
Cross-sectional, secondary data analysis of 1606 women and 3001 men entering substance use treatment in the United States who completed a semistructured intake interview as part of a larger study.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Self-reported physical health (respiratory, circulatory, neurological, and internal organ conditions, bloodborne infections) and mental health (depression, anxiety, psychotic symptoms, and suicidal behavior), and use of emergency department, clinic, hospital, or inpatient mental health services within the past year.
RESULTS
Many participants reported prostitution in their lifetime (50.8% of women and 18.5% of men) and in the past year (41.4% of women and 11.2% of men). Prostitution was associated with increased risk for bloodborne viral infections, sexually transmitted diseases, and mental health symptoms. Prostitution was associated with use of emergency care in women and use of inpatient mental health services for men.
CONCLUSIONS
Prostitution was common among a sample of individuals entering substance use treatment in the United States and was associated with higher risk of physical and mental health problems. Increased efforts toward understanding prostitution among patients in substance use treatment are warranted. Screening for prostitution in substance use treatment could allow for more comprehensive care to this population. |
Randomized Algorithms and NLP: Using Locality Sensitive Hash Functions for High Speed Noun Clustering | In this paper, we explore the power of randomized algorithm to address the challenge of working with very large amounts of data. We apply these algorithms to generate noun similarity lists from 70 million pages. We reduce the running time from quadratic to practically linear in the number of elements to be computed. |
A brief survey on deep belief networks and introducing a new object oriented MATLAB toolbox (DeeBNet) | Nowadays, this is very popular to use the deep architectures in machine learning. Deep Belief Networks (DBNs) are deep architectures that use stack of Restricted Boltzmann Machines (RBM) to create a powerful generative model using training data. DBNs have many ability like feature extraction and classification that are used in many applications like image processing, speech processing and etc. This paper introduces a new object oriented MATLAB toolbox with most of abilities needed for the implementation of DBNs. According to the results of the experiments conducted on MNIST (image), ISOLET (speech), and 20 Newsgroups (text) datasets, it was shown that the toolbox can learn automatically a good representation of the input from unlabeled data with better discrimination between different classes. Also on all datasets, the obtained classification errors are comparable to those of state of the art classifiers. In addition, the toolbox supports different sampling methods (e.g. Gibbs, CD, PCD and our new FEPCD method), different sparsity methods (quadratic, rate distortion and our new normal method), different RBM types (generative and discriminative), using GPU, etc. The toolbox is a user-friendly open source software and is freely available on the website http://ceit.aut.ac.ir/~keyvanrad/DeeBNet%20Toolbox.html . |
Wideband Spurious-Free Lithium Niobate RF-MEMS Filters | This paper reports on the demonstration of wideband spurious-free radio frequency micromechanical systems filters based on one-port shear horizontal (SH0) mode lithium niobate (LiNbO<sub>3</sub>) laterally vibrating resonators (LVRs). The fabricated filter has been demonstrated with an unprecedented spectral range of spurious-free response (290% of the center frequency), a low insertion loss of 2.1 dB, an excellent 30-dB shape factor of 1.48, and a 3-dB fractional bandwidth of 8.9%. The spurious free response is achieved by optimizing the building blocks of the filters, namely the LVRs, and employing a spurious mitigation design based on arraying single resonators with only two electrodes. The low loss and excellent shape factor are enabled by the demonstrated high electromechanical coupling (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathit {k}_{t}^{2}=16.1$ </tex-math></inline-formula>%), high quality factor (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${Q} =1093$ </tex-math></inline-formula>), and high figure of merit (FoM = 154) of the fabricated resonator arrays. [2016-0250] |
Use of force platform variables to quantify the effects of chiropractic manipulation on gait symmetry. | The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether force platform measurements can be used to objectively assess short-term effects of spinal manipulation on patients with diagnosed, chronic unilateral "sacroiliac dyskinesia," here defined as decreased interarticular mobility of the sacroiliac joint. Nine patients walked across a force platform, were than manipulated by a chiropractor and then repeated the gait trials. Temporal and kinetic gait variables from the force platform measurements were analyzed for changes in the symmetry of the subjects' gait before and after treatment sessions. There was a distinct tendency towards improved gait symmetry after treatment in those cases where the gait was asymmetric prior to the treatment. This result indicated that force platform measurements may be used successfully to assess the effects of spinal manipulations on the gait of patients with sacroiliac dyskinesia. |
Whole-body versus segmental bioelectrical impedance analysis in patients with edema of the upper limb after breast cancer treatment. | AIM
The purpose of this study was to compare whole-body (50 kHz alternating current) and segmental (5 kHz alternating current) bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) in the assessment of manifested edema of the upper limbs.
PATIENTS AND METHODS
Whole-body and segmental BIA were performed in 30 patients with edema of the upper limb following breast cancer treatment.
RESULTS
Pearson correlation coefficient comparing both measurements was 0.8891 (p-value <0.0001) with corresponding least squares (r(2)) of 0.7904.
CONCLUSION
Whole-body BIA seems to be a suitable method in the assessment of manifested edema of the upper limbs. |
Lifetime Probability Of Default Modeling For Hungarian Corporate Debt Instruments | The paper attempts to provide forecast methodological framework and concrete models to estimate long run probability of default term structure for Hungarian corporate debt instruments, in line with IFRS 9 requirements. Long run probability of default and expected loss can be estimated by various methods and has fifty-five years of history in literature. After studying literature and empirical models, the Markov chain approach was selected to accomplish lifetime probability of default modeling for Hungarian corporate debt instruments. Empirical results reveal that both discrete and continuous homogeneous Markov chain models systematically overestimate the long term corporate probability of default. However, the continuous nonhomogeneous Markov chain gives both intuitively and empirically appropriate probability of default trajectories. The estimated term structure mathematically and professionally properly expresses the probability of default element of expected loss that can realistically occur in the long-run in Hungarian corporate lending. The elaborated models can be easily implemented at Hungarian corporate financial institutions. |
A tensor-based deep learning framework | This paper presents an unsupervised deep learning framework that derives spatio-temporal features for human-robot interaction. The respective models extract high-level features from low-level ones through a hierarchical network, viz. the Hierarchical Temporal Memory (HTM), providing at the same time a solution to the curse of dimensionality in shallow techniques. The presented work incorporates the tensor-based framework within the operation of the nodes and, thus, enhances the feature derivation procedure. This is due to the fact that tensors allow the preservation of the initial data format and their respective correlation and, moreover, attain more compact representations. The computational nodes form spatial and temporal groups by exploiting the multilinear algebra, subsequently express the samples according to those groups in terms of proximity. This generic framework may be applied in a diverse of visual data, whilst it has been examined on sequences of color and depth images, exhibiting remarkable performance. |
Planar transmission line transformer using coupled microstrip lines | A novel and simple configuration of the planar transmission line transformer using coupled microstrip lines is proposed. A design methodology is also presented. The simulated and measured results demonstrate broadband impedance transformation with good efficiency for RF and microwave circuit design. The effects of the deviation from the optimal characteristic impedance and transformation ratio are investigated as well. |
Coronary artery bypass graft surgery: socioeconomic inequalities in access and in 30 day mortality. A population-based study in Rome, Italy. | OBJECTIVES
To evaluate whether coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is equally provided among different socioeconomic status (SES) groups in accordance with need. To estimate the association between SES and mortality occurring 30 days after CABG surgery.
DESIGN
Individual socioeconomic index assigned with respect to the characteristics of the census tract of residence (level I = highest SES; level IV = lowest SES). Comparison of age adjusted hospital admission rates of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and CABG surgery among four SES groups. Retrospective cohort study of all patients who underwent CABG surgery during 1996-97.
SETTING
Rome (2 685 890 inhabitants) and the seven cardiac surgery units in the city.
PARTICIPANTS
All residents in Rome aged 35 years or more. A cohort of 1875 CABG patients aged 35 years or more.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Age adjusted hospitalisation rates for CABG and IHD and rate of CABG per 100 IHD hospitalisations by SES group, taking level I as the reference group. Odds ratios of 30 day mortality after CABG surgery, adjusted for age, gender, illness severity at admission, and type of hospital where CABG was performed.
RESULTS
People in the lowest SES level experienced an excess in the age adjusted IHD hospitalisation rates compared with the highest SES level (an excess of 57% among men, and of 94% among women), but the rate of CABG per 100 IHD hospitalisations was lower, among men, in the most socially disadvantaged level (8.9 CABG procedures per 100 IHD hospital admissions in level IV versus 14.1 in level I rate ratio= 0.63; 95% CI 0.44, 0.89). The most socially disadvantaged SES group experienced a higher risk of 30 day mortality after CABG surgery (8. 1%) than those in the highest SES group (4.8%); this excess in mortality was confirmed even when initial illness severity was taken into account (odds ratio= 2.89; 95% CI 1.44, 5.80).
CONCLUSIONS
The universal coverage of the National Health Service in Italy does not guarantee equitable access to CABG surgery for IHD patients. Factors related to SES are likely to influence poor prognosis after CABG surgery. |
Vestibular papillomatosis: case report and literature review. | Sir, The origin of vestibular papillomatosis (VP) is controversial. VP describes the condition of multiple papillae that may cover the entire surface of the vestibule (1). Our literature search for vestibular papillomatosis revealed 13 reports in gynaecological journals and only one in a dermatological journal. Furthermore, searching for vulvar squamous papillomatosis revealed 6 reports in gynaecological journals and again only one in a dermatological journal. We therefore conclude that it is worthwhile drawing the attention of dermatologists to this entity. |
GOING ASTRAY WITH A LOGICAL SCHEME | For purposes of clarification it is desirable to point out at the very beginning that the title of the Lewis and Smith book (“American Sociology and Pragmatism: Mead, Chicago Sociology and Symbolic Interaction”) is very much of a misnomer. On the basis of the title one would expect at least a modest coverage of the following significant topics: the distinctive nature of pragmatism as a form of philosophy; the importance of its particular picture of human action, based on functional psychology and reflecting the practical character of American frontier life; the ways in which this philosophical and psychological perspective played into the formation of early American sociology; the ways, in turn, by which early American sociological thought with its reform motif played back on pragmatic philosophy; the manner in which American pragmatism entered into and affected the development of sociological thought and research at the University of Chicago; the place of George Herbert Mead in the formation of that thought and research; and finally the ways in which the social psychological thought of Mead exercized influence on what has come to be called “symbolic interactionism.” But the book is far from presenting such an expected coverage. Instead, Lewis and Smith have picked out a recondite philosophical issue-the scholastic issue of “nominalism” versus “realism”-and used this issue to construct a narrowly conceived picture of pragmatism, Chicago Sociology, and symbolic interactionism. The result is a big void in their account. The nominalism-realism theme which Lewis and Smith use to give direction and substance to their book comes from the issue in scholastic philosophy as to whether “universals” (general items) are real or whether only “particulars” (individual objects) are real; for example, whether “redness” as a universal is real or whether only red objects are real. Philosophically, the position of “realism” is that universals are real while the position of “nominalism” is that only particular objects are real; for the nominalist, a universal (such as redness) is only a word or label that is attached to real individuals. The |
Avoiding the uncanny valley: robot appearance, personality and consistency of behavior in an attention-seeking home scenario for a robot companion | This articleii presents the results of video-based Human Robot Interaction (HRI) trials which investigated people’s perceptions of different robot appearances and associated attention-seeking features and behaviors displayed by robots with different appearance and behaviors. The HRI trials studied the participants’ preferences for various features of robot appearance and behavior, as well as their personality attributions towards the robots compared to their own personalities. Overall, participants tended to prefer robots with more human-like appearance and attributes. However, systematic individual differences in the dynamic appearance ratings are not consistent with a universal effect. Introverts and participants with lower emotional stability tended to prefer the mechanical looking appearance to a greater degree than other participants. It is also shown that it is possible to rate individual elements of a particular robot’s behavior and then assess the contribution, or otherwise, of that element to the overall perception of the robot by people. Relating participants’ dynamic appearance ratings of individual robots to independent static appearance ratings provided evidence that could be taken to support a portion of the left hand side of Mori’s theoretically proposed ‘uncanny valley’ diagram. Suggestions for future work are outlined. I.INTRODUCTION Robots that are currently commercially available for use in a domestic environment and which have human interaction features are often orientated towards toy or entertainment functions. In the future, a robot companion which is to find a more generally useful place within a human oriented domestic environment, and thus sharing a private home with a person or family, must satisfy two main criteria (Dautenhahn et al. (2005); Syrdal et al. (2006); Woods et al. (2007)): It must be able to perform a range of useful tasks or functions. It must carry out these tasks or functions in a manner that is socially acceptable and comfortable for people it shares the environment with and/or it interacts with. The technical challenges in getting a robot to perform useful tasks are extremely difficult, and many researchers are currently researching into the technical capabilities that will be required to perform useful functions in a human centered environment including navigation, manipulation, vision, speech, sensing, safety, system integration and planning. The second criteria is arguably equally important, because if the robot does not exhibit socially acceptable behavior, then people may reject the robot if it is annoying, irritating, unsettling or frightening to human users. Therefore: How can a robot behave in a socially acceptable manner? Research into social robots is generally contained within the rapidly developing field of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). For an overview of socially interactive robots (robots designed to interact with humans in a social way) see Fong et al. (2003). Relevant examples of studies and investigations into human reactions to robots include: Goetz et al. (2003) where issues of robot appearance, behavior and task domains were investigated, and Severinson-Eklundh et al. (2003) which documents a longitudinal HRI trial investigating the human perspective of using a robotic assistant over several weeks . Khan (1998), Scopelliti et al. (2004) and Dautenhahn et al. (2005) have surveyed peoples’ views of domestic robots in order to aid the development of an initial design specification for domestic or servant robots. Kanda et al. (2004) presents results from a longitudinal HRI trial with a robot as a social partner and peer tutor aiding children learning English. |
The iSLIP scheduling algorithm for input-queued switches | h increasing number of high performance internetworking protocol routers, LAN and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switches use a switched backplane based on a crossbar switch. Most often, these systems use input queues to hold packets waiting to traverse the switching fabric. It is well known that if simple first in fh-st out (FIFO) input queues are used to hold packets then, even under benign conditions, head-of-line (HOL) blocking limits the achievable bandwidth to approximately 58.6% of the maximum. HOL blocking can be overcome by the use of virtual output queueing, which is described in this paper. A scheduling algorithm is used to configure the crossbar switch, deciding the order in which packets will be served. Recent results have shown that with a suitable scheduling algorithm, 100% throughput can he achieved. In this paper, we present a scheduling algorithm called iSLIP. An iterative, round-robin algorithm, iSLIP can achieve 100% throughput for uniform traffic, yet is simple to implement in hardware. Iterative and noniterative versions of the algorithms are presented, along with modified versions for prioritized traffic. Simulation results are presented to indicate the performance of iSLIP under benign and bursty traffic conditions. Prototype and commercial implementations of SLIP exist in systems with aggregate bandwidths ranging from 50 to SO0 Gb/s. When the traffic is nonuniform, SLIP quickly adapts to a fair scheduling policy that is guaranteed never to starve an input queue. Finally, we describe the implementation complexity of SLIP. Based on a two-dimensional (2-D) array of priority encoders, single-chip schedulers have been built supporting up to 32 ports, and making approximately 100 million scheduling decisions per second. I~l&x TermsATM switch, crossbar switch, input-queueing, IP router, scheduling. |
Parameter Estimation in TV Image Restoration Using Variational Distribution Approximation | In this paper, we propose novel algorithms for total variation (TV) based image restoration and parameter estimation utilizing variational distribution approximations. Within the hierarchical Bayesian formulation, the reconstructed image and the unknown hyperparameters for the image prior and the noise are simultaneously estimated. The proposed algorithms provide approximations to the posterior distributions of the latent variables using variational methods. We show that some of the current approaches to TV-based image restoration are special cases of our framework. Experimental results show that the proposed approaches provide competitive performance without any assumptions about unknown hyperparameters and clearly outperform existing methods when additional information is included. |
Speciation of metals in bed sediments and water of Qaraaoun Reservoir, Lebanon. | Determination of only total element in sediments does not give an accurate estimate of the likely environmental impacts. Speciation study of metals in sediment provides information on the potential availability of metals (toxic) to biota under various environmental conditions. In water, the toxic metal specie is the free hydrated metal ion. The toxicity of metals depends especially on their chemical forms rather than their total metal content. The present study focuses on Qaraaoun Reservoir, Lebanon. Earlier studies focused only on total metal concentrations in sediment and water. The objective of this study was to determine metal speciation (Fe, Cr, Ni, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd) in the (operationally defined) sediment chemical fractions and metal speciation in reservoir water. This would reflect on metal bioavailability and toxicity. Water samples and bed sediments were collected from nine sites during the dry season and a sequential chemical fraction scheme was applied to the <75-μm sieve sediment fraction. Metal content in each fraction was determined by the FAAS technique. The data showed that the highest percentages of total metal content in sediment fractions were for: Fe in residual followed by reducible, Cr and Ni in residual and in reducible, Cu in organic followed by exchangeable, Zn in residual and in organic, Pb in organic and carbonate, Cd was mainly in carbonate. Total metal content in water was determined by ICP-MS technique and aqueous metal speciation was predicted using AQUACHEM software interfaced to PHREEQC geochemical computer model. The water speciation data predicted that a high percentage of Pb and Ni were present as carbonate complex species and low percentages as free hydrated ions, highest percentage of Zn as carbonate complex species followed by free hydrated ion, highest percentage of Cd as free hydrated ion followed by carbonate complex species. The sensitivity attempt of free hydrated ion of Ni, Zn, Pb, and Cd in reservoir water revealed dependence of Zn and Cd on pH and alkalinity, while Ni and Pb were only dependent on pH. |
Cretion and use of ontology of subject domain “electrical engineering” | In this paper, we present our research, development about knowledge-based ontology in “Electrical engineering” region. As a means of formal descriptions of the subject area are considered, ontology is a set of terms and associated definitions that are related to some subject regions and performing the function. Protégé program is used to present ontologies in “electrical engineering” region. The results of our research in “Electrical engineering” region is the foundation, knowledgebase to approach, develop and leverage ontology into “electrical engineering” region later. |
"Trabocchi": a sustainable technology for marine environment | Studies about typical places and constructions, allow grasping appropriate suggestions for particular environmental and social situations. It this research program, from the analysis of trabocchi characteristic constructions for fishing spread in the Adriatic seaboard of Abruzzo (Italy), in which it is optimized the relationship between pile work structures and the dynamic sea stresses – we aim to define indications for sustainable seaside resorts aware of the environmental problems. The trabocchi are outcomes of chooses related to the local resources and the material culture, the result of shapes, structures and materials use optimization respect to the specific climatic and technical conditions; they represent also a right reference for building and maintenance processes organization. The architecture of "site" analysis takes on a meaning of re-approach to local building knowledge, characterized by resources economy and solutions simplicity. |
Thalidomide in the treatment of cancer cachexia: a randomised placebo controlled trial. | BACKGROUND
Proinflammatory cytokines, especially tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), play a prominent role in the pathogenesis of cancer cachexia. Thalidomide, which is an inhibitor of TNF-alpha synthesis, may represent a novel and rational approach to the treatment of cancer cachexia.
AIMS
To assess the safety and efficacy of thalidomide in attenuating weight loss in patients with cachexia secondary to advanced pancreatic cancer.
METHODS
Fifty patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who had lost at least 10% of their body weight were randomised to receive thalidomide 200 mg daily or placebo for 24 weeks in a single centre, double blind, randomised controlled trial. The primary outcome was change in weight and nutritional status.
RESULTS
Thirty three patients (16 control, 17 thalidomide) were evaluated at four weeks, and 20 patients (eight control, 12 thalidomide) at eight weeks. At four weeks, patients who received thalidomide had gained on average 0.37 kg in weight and 1.0 cm(3) in arm muscle mass (AMA) compared with a loss of 2.21 kg (absolute difference -2.59 kg (95% confidence interval (CI) -4.3 to -0.8); p = 0.005) and 4.46 cm(3) (absolute difference -5.6 cm(3) (95% CI -8.9 to -2.2); p = 0.002) in the placebo group. At eight weeks, patients in the thalidomide group had lost 0.06 kg in weight and 0.5 cm(3) in AMA compared with a loss of 3.62 kg (absolute difference -3.57 kg (95% CI -6.8 to -0.3); p = 0.034) and 8.4 cm(3) (absolute difference -7.9 cm(3) (95% CI -14.0 to -1.8); p = 0.014) in the placebo group. Improvement in physical functioning correlated positively with weight gain (r = 0.56, p = 0.001).
CONCLUSION
Thalidomide was well tolerated and effective at attenuating loss of weight and lean body mass in patients with cachexia due to advanced pancreatic cancer. |
Epidermolytic hyperkeratosis with rickets. | A 6-year-old child presented with generalized hyperkeratosis, most marked over the flexures; windswept deformity of the legs; and limping since 3 years. On the basis of the clinical, histopathologic and biochemical findings, he was diagnosed as a case of epidermolytic hyperkeratosis with rickets. He was treated with parenteral vitamin D3 and calcium supplements orally. Nutritional rickets has been reported in children with various types of ichthyosis like lamellar and X-linked types. We report this case of epidermolytic hyperkeratosis with rickets for its rarity. |
Engineering Fast Route Planning Algorithms | Algorithms for route planning in transportation networks have recently undergone a rapid development, leading to methods that are up to one million times faster than Dijkstra’s algorithm. We outline ideas, algorithms, implementations, and experimental methods behind this development. We also explain why the story is not over yet because dynamically changing networks, flexible objective functions, and new applications pose a lot of interesting challenges. |
On Feature Matching and Image Registration for Two-dimensional Forward-scan Sonar Imaging | The computer processing of forward-look sonar video imagery enables significant capabilities in a wide variety of underwater operations within turbid environments. Accurate automated registration of sonar video images to complement measurements from traditional positioning devices can be instrumental in the detection, localization, and tracking of distinct scene targets, building feature maps, change detection, as well as improving precision in the positioning of unmanned submarines. This work offers a novel solution for the registration of two-dimensional (2-D) forward-look sonar images recorded from a mobile platform, by optimization over the sonar 3-D motion parameters. It incorporates the detection of key features and landmarks, and effectively represents them with Gaussian maps. Improved performance is demonstrated with respect to the state-of-the-art approach utilizing 2-D similarity transformation, based on experiments with real data. C © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. |
Topic Model Diagnostics: Assessing Domain Relevance via Topical Alignment | The use of topic models to analyze domainspecific texts often requires manual validation of the latent topics to ensure that they are meaningful. We introduce a framework to support such a large-scale assessment of topical relevance. We measure the correspondence between a set of latent topics and a set of reference concepts to quantify four types of topical misalignment: junk, fused, missing, and repeated topics. Our analysis compares 10,000 topic model variants to 200 expertprovided domain concepts, and demonstrates how our framework can inform choices of model parameters, inference algorithms, and intrinsic measures of topical quality. |
On stability in finite models | Abstract. We search for a set-up in which results from the theory of infinite models hold for finite models. As an example we prove results from stability theory. |
Real-Time Robust Heart Rate Estimation From Wrist-Type PPG Signals Using Multiple Reference Adaptive Noise Cancellation | Heart rate (HR) monitoring using photoplethysmographic (PPG) signals recorded from wearers’ wrist greatly facilitates design of wearable devices and maximizes user experience. However, placing PPG sensors in wrist causes much stronger and complicated motion artifacts (MA) due to loose interface between sensors and skin. Therefore, developing robust HR estimation algorithms for wrist-type PPG signals has significant commercial values. In this paper, we propose a robust HR estimation algorithm for wrist-type PPG signals using multiple reference adaptive noise cancellation (ANC) technique—termed here as “MURAD.” The main challenge of using ANC for MA reduction is to devise a qualified reference noise signal (RNS) to the adaptive filter. We propose a novel solution by using four RNSs, namely, the three-axis accelerometer data and the difference signal between the two PPG signals. For each RNS, we get a different version of the cleaned PPG signal. Then, a set of probable HR values is estimated using all of the cleaned PPG signals, and then, the value that is closest to the estimated HR of the previous time window is chosen to be the HR estimate of the current window. Then, some peak verification techniques are employed to ensure accurate HR estimations. The proposed technique gives lower average absolute error compared to state-of-the art methods. So, MURAD method provides a promising solution to the challenge of HR monitoring using PPG in wearable devices during severe MA conditions. |
Kinesthetic interaction: revealing the bodily potential in interaction design | Within the Human-Computer Interaction community there is a growing interest in designing for the whole body in interaction design. The attempts aimed at addressing the body have very different outcomes spanning from theoretical arguments for understanding the body in the design process, to more practical examples of designing for bodily potential. This paper presents Kinesthetic Interaction as a unifying concept for describing the body in motion as a foundation for designing interactive systems. Based on the theoretical foundation for Kinesthetic Interaction, a conceptual framework is introduced to reveal bodily potential in relation to three design themes --- kinesthetic development, kinesthetic means and kinesthetic disorder; and seven design parameters --- engagement, sociality, movability, explicit motivation, implicit motivation, expressive meaning and kinesthetic empathy. The framework is a tool to be utilized when analyzing existing designs, as well as developing designs exploring new ways of designing kinesthetic interactions. |
Nature Inspired Meta-heuristics for Grid Scheduling: Single and Multi-objective Optimization Approaches | 1 Centre for Quantifiable Quality of Service in Communication Systems, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway [email protected] http://www.softcomputing.net 2 School of Computer Science and Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, 116026 Dalian, China 3 Department of Computer, Dalian University of Technology, 116023 Dalian, China [email protected] 4 Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, Babeş Bolyai University, Kogalniceanu 1, Cluj-Napoca, 3400, Romania [email protected] 5 Dept. de Llenguatges i Sistemes Informàtics Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya C/Jordi Girona 1-3, 08034 Barcelona, Spain [email protected] |
Electrochemical array microsystem with integrated potentiostat | This paper presents a single-chip electrochemical array system with a high performance CMOS potentiostat suitable for the implementation of a fully integrated instrument-on-chip microsystem. The chip contains a highly sensitive, range-programmable, amperometric readout amplifier that supports cyclic voltammetry assay techniques. Through post-CMOS fabrication, the surface of the chip provides an Au counter electrode, an Ag/AgCl reference electrode, and 3 times 3 array of individually addressable Au working electrodes. The microsystem is configurable and implements self-correction techniques to provide an adaptive interface for variety of electrochemical and current-mode sensors. The chip supports amperometric output from 10pA to 10muA and provides good noise performance to achieve sub-pA resolution |
Predicting smartphone brand loyalty: Consumer value and consumer-brand identification perspectives | With the growth and competition of the smartphone industry, developing a better understanding of what drives consumers’ loyalty to smartphone brands has become an important issue for academics and practitioners. This study hypothesizes four determinants of smartphone brand loyalty based on the perspectives of consumer value and consumer-brand identification. Furthermore, this study also explores the moderating effects of age and gender differences on the determination process of smartphone brand loyalty. Data collected from 157 respondents was tested against the research model using a partial least squares (PLS) approach. The results indicate that functional value, emotional value, social value, and brand |
Multiple spatial learning strategies in goldfish (Carassius auratus) | There is a considerable amount of evidence that mammals and birds can use different spatial learning strategies based on multiple learning and memory systems. Unfortunately, only a few studies have investigated spatial learning and memory mechanisms in other vertebrates. This study aimed to identify the strategies used by goldfish to solve two different spatial tasks in a series of three experiments. In experiment 1, two groups of goldfish (Carassius auratus) were trained either in a spatial constancy task (SC), in which visual cues signalled the goal indirectly, or in a directly cued task (DC) in which similar cues signalled the goal directly. Transfer tests were conducted to study the effects of discrete cue deletion on the performance in both tasks. In these transfer tests the performance of the animals trained in the DC task dropped to chance level when the cue that signalled the goal directly was removed. In contrast, the removal of any single cue did not disrupt SC performance. In experiment 2, fish trained in the SC or the DC task were trained with the goal reversed. Goldfish in the SC group needed fewer sessions to master the reversal task than DC animals. Finally, experiment 3 investigated the effects of a substantial modification of the geometrical features of the apparatus on the performance of animals trained in the SC or in the DC condition. The performance of DC goldfish was not affected, whereas the same change disrupted performance in the SC animals despite the presence of the visual cues. These results suggest that there are separate spatial learning and memory systems in fish. Whereas the DC animals used a typical guidance strategy, relying only on the cue that signalled the goal directly, SC fish relied on a strategy with the properties of an actual spatial mapping system. Thus, the comparative approach points to the generality of these learning strategies among vertebrates. |
Analyzing Ethical Conflict in the Transracial Adoption Debate: Three Conflicts Involving Community | This essay explores ethical conflicts underlying the discourse of the policy debate about transracial adoption, focusing on the adoption of Black children by whites. Three underlying conflicts are analyzed, namely, the values of equality versus community, interracial community versus mukiculturalism, individuality versus racial-ethnic community. The essay concludes with observations on multicultural families. |
[Comparison of reboxetine and sertraline in terms of efficacy and safety in major depressive disorder]. | OBJECTIVE
To compare the efficacy, safety and tolerability of reboxetine and sertraline in major depressive disorder (MDD).
METHOD
The study subjects consisted of 41 patients who met the DSM-IV MDD diagnostic criteria. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either reboxetine or sertraline. During the study the patients were assessed 6 times (baseline visit=day 0, visit 1=day 8, visit 2=day 22, visit 3=day 36, visit 4=day 57 and visit 5=day 78) over 11 weeks. Antidepressant response was measured by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Clinical Global Impressions-Severity of Illness (CGI-SI) and Global Impressions-Global Improvement (CGI-GI).
RESULTS
Comparing the two groups in terms of response and remission (HAM-D< or =10) measures, the results were in favour of the reboxetine group at visits 2, 3 and 4. At visit 5, the scores were similar and no statistically significant difference was found between the two groups. However, when remission was evaluated as HAM-D< or =7, a significant statistical difference was found in favour of the reboxetine group. Evaluating the side effects, dry mouth, sweating, palpitation, headache, hot flushing and sedation were more frequent in the reboxetine group. Only one patient, in the reboxetine group, dropped out due to a side effect (constipation).
CONCLUSION
Higher rates of full remission achievement, which is the main target of MDD treatment, in the reboxetine group compared with the sertraline group may be due to the suppression of anxiety symptoms by the noradrenergic feature of the drug. In order to understand the role of the noradrenergic system in treating MDD, larger patient samples are needed. Both reboxetine and sertraline were well tolerated and effective in treating MDD. |
Homogeneous Alignment of Liquid Crystalline Dendrimers Confined in a Slit-Pore : Computational Simulation Study | In this work we present results from NPT (isobaric-isothermal) Monte Carlo Simulation studies of Liquid Crystalline Dendrimer (LCDr) systems confined in a slit-pore made of two parallel flat walls. We investigate the substrate induced conformational and alignment properties of the system at different thermodynamic state points under uniform (unidirectional) anchoring condition. Tractable coarse grained force fields to model both monomer-monomer and monomer-substrate interaction potentials have been used from our previous work. In this anchoring condition, at lower pressure almost all the monomers are anchored to the substrates and mesogens are perfectly aligned with the aligning direction. This alignment is not uniformly transmitted to the bulk region as the pressure grows, instead, it decays with distance from the surface to the bulk region. Due to this reason, the global orintational order parameter decreases with increasing pressure (density). In the neighborhood (2− 3 mesogenic diameter) of upper and lower walls, mesogenic units form smectic A like structure whose layers are separated by layers of spherical beads. In this region individual LCDrs possess a rod like shape. |
Speech segmentation and word discovery: a computational perspective | The segmentation and word discovery problem arises because speech does not contain any reliable acoustic analog of the blank spaces between words of printed English. As a result, children must segment the utterances they hear in order to discover the sound patterns of individual words in their language. A number of computational models have been proposed to explain how children segment speech and discover words, including ten new models in the last five years. This paper reviews all proposed models and organizes them according to their fundamental segmentation strategies, their processing characteristics, and the ways in which they use memory. All proposed models are found to use one of three fundamental strategies: the utterance-boundary strategy, the predictability strategy, or the word-recognition strategy. Selected predictions of the models are explained, their performance in computer simulations is summarized, and behavioral evidence bearing on them is discussed. Finally, ideas about how these diverse models might be synthesized into one comprehensive model are offered. |
Middleware for Mobile Computing | Recent advances in wireless networking technologies and the growing success of mobile computing devices, such as laptop computers, third generation mobile phones, personal digital assistants, watches and the like, are enabling new classes of applications that present challenging problems to designers. Mobile devices face temporary loss of network connectivity when they move; they are likely to have scarce resources, such as low battery power, slow CPU speed and little memory; they are required to react to frequent and unannounced changes in the environment, such as high variability of network bandwidth, and in the remote resources availability, and so on. To support designers building mobile applications, research in the field of middleware systems has proliferated. Middleware aims at facilitating communication and coordination of distributed components, concealing difficulties raised by mobility from application engineers as much as possible. In this survey, we examine characteristics of mobile distributed systems and distinguish them from their fixed counterpart. We introduce a framework and a categorization of the various middleware systems designed to support mobility, and we present a detailed and comparative review of the major results reached in this field. An analysis of current trends inside the mobile middleware community and a discussion of further directions of research conclude the survey. |
Supporting integrated STEM in the elementary classroom: a professional development approach centered on an engineering design challenge | Background: Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is becoming more prevalent at the elementary level, and there has been a push to focus on the integration between the STEM disciplines. Researchers within this study sought to understand the extent to which triads composed of a classroom teacher, student teacher, and an engineering fellow were able to use the context of an engineering design challenge to integrate and incorporate STEM concepts into the elementary classroom. Using a content analysis approach, researchers analyzed STEM integration across four phases of learning: professional development workshop, lesson plan, classroom enactment, and post-lesson reflection. Results: Results highlight the ability for triads to conceptualize the integration of STEM concepts but also the challenge to sustain the integration of STEM concepts across phases of enactment. Conclusions: The need to support teacher learning of STEM content and pedagogical practices for integration are discussed. |
Zero-Shot Recognition via Semantic Embeddings and Knowledge Graphs | We consider the problem of zero-shot recognition: learning a visual classifier for a category with zero training examples, just using the word embedding of the category and its relationship to other categories, which visual data are provided. The key to dealing with the unfamiliar or novel category is to transfer knowledge obtained from familiar classes to describe the unfamiliar class. In this paper, we build upon the recently introduced Graph Convolutional Network (GCN) and propose an approach that uses both semantic embeddings and the categorical relationships to predict the classifiers. Given a learned knowledge graph (KG), our approach takes as input semantic embeddings for each node (representing visual category). After a series of graph convolutions, we predict the visual classifier for each category. During training, the visual classifiers for a few categories are given to learn the GCN parameters. At test time, these filters are used to predict the visual classifiers of unseen categories. We show that our approach is robust to noise in the KG. More importantly, our approach provides significant improvement in performance compared to the current state-of-the-art results (from 2 ~ 3% on some metrics to whopping 20% on a few). |
Latent Predictor Networks for Code Generation | Many language generation tasks require the production of text conditioned on both structured and unstructured inputs. We present a novel neural network architecture which generates an output sequence conditioned on an arbitrary number of input functions. Crucially, our approach allows both the choice of conditioning context and the granularity of generation, for example characters or tokens, to be marginalised, thus permitting scalable and effective training. Using this framework, we address the problem of generating programming code from a mixed natural language and structured specification. We create two new data sets for this paradigm derived from the collectible trading card games Magic the Gathering and Hearthstone. On these, and a third preexisting corpus, we demonstrate that marginalising multiple predictors allows our model to outperform strong benchmarks. |
Online Convex Programming and Generalized Infinitesimal Gradient Ascent | Convex programming involves a convex set F ⊆ R and a convex function c : F → R. The goal of convex programming is to find a point in F which minimizes c. In this paper, we introduce online convex programming. In online convex programming, the convex set is known in advance, but in each step of some repeated optimization problem, one must select a point in F before seeing the cost function for that step. This can be used to model factory production, farm production, and many other industrial optimization problems where one is unaware of the value of the items produced until they have already been constructed. We introduce an algorithm for this domain, apply it to repeated games, and show that it is really a generalization of infinitesimal gradient ascent, and the results here imply that generalized infinitesimal gradient ascent (GIGA) is universally consistent. |
European guideline for the management of genital herpes. | Genital herpes is one of the commonest sexually transmitted infections worldwide. Using the best available evidence, this guideline recommends strategies for diagnosis, management and follow-up of the condition as well as for minimising transmission. Early recognition and initiation of therapy is key and may reduce the duration of illness or avoid hospitalisation with complications, including urinary retention, meningism or severe systemic illness. The guideline covers a range of common clinical scenarios, such as recurrent genital herpes, infection during pregnancy and coinfection with human immunodeficiency virus. Declarations of interest: None of the authors or editors had any conflicts of interest for the content of this guideline. |
Hemodynamic effects of mannitol infusion in patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage. | PURPOSE
To evaluate hemodynamic effects of mannitol infusion in patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage.
METHODS
Thirty patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage were enrolled. Transcranial doppler was used to detect variables of bilateral middle cerebral arteria (MCA) including mean velocity (Vm) and pulsitility index (PI) before and after 125 ml and 250 ml mannitol infusion (0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, 240 min).
RESULTS
When 125 ml or 250 ml mannitol was infused in patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage, Vm of bilateral MCA elevated, and reached the top at 30 min, and then decreased. PI decreased in the affected MCA (250 ml) and in the unaffected MCA (125 ml and 250 ml).
CONCLUSION
Mannitol infusion in patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage can improve cerebral blood flow in bilateral hemispheres and decrease intracranial pressure in the hemorrhagic hemisphere (250 ml) and in the nonhemorrhagic hemisphere (125 ml and 250 ml). |
The Veiled Mirror and the Woman Poet: H.D., Louise Bogan, Elizabeth Bishop, and Louise Glück | In "The Veiled Mirror and the Woman Poet" Elizabeth Dodd explores the lives and work of four women poets of the 20th century - H.D., Louise Bogan, Elizabeth Bishop, and Louise Glueck. Dodd argues that sexist and male-dominated cultural forces in their personal and professional lives challenged these women to find a unique mode of expression in their poetry, a practice Dodd defines as "personal classicism". Dodd uses the term "personal classicism" to interpret modern and contemporary poetry that appears torn between two major modes of poetic sensibility, the Romantic and the Classical. While the four poets she addresses exhibit a poetic sensibility that is primarily Romantic, they have nonetheless employed masking and controlling strategies that are more nearly Classical. Combining feminist theory and biographial studies with close readings of individual poems, Dodd moves historically from H.D., one of the best-known Imagists, through the Confessional movement, to the major contemporary poet Louise Glueck. In the final chapter, Dodd brings us to the present, where she finds women writers still struggling with the recent confessional legacy of such highly anthologized poets as Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath. "The Veiled Mirror" is intended to be of significant interest to students of modern and contemporary poetry, as well as to those concerned with women's studies. |
Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Anxiety and Specific Phobias | There is a growing body of research indicating the multiple ways that affective dysregulation (e.g., anxiety disorders, specific phobias, panic disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)) may lead to significant impairments in normal life functioning. Anxiety and fear are concentrated emotional experiences that serve critical functions in organizing necessary survival responses (Fendt & Fanselow, 1999). In properly functioning affective systems, the responses are adaptive. LeDoux (2012a) posits survival circuits that enable humans to adapt to feared stimuli by organizing brain functions. The fear induced arousal and activation of survival circuits allows for adaptive responses to take priority and other responses are inhibited. Further, attentional processing focuses on pertinent environmental stimuli and learning occurs (Scherer, 2000; LeDoux, 2012b). Hence, adaptive survival circuits are optimized to detect threatening stimuli and relay the information as environmental challenges and opportunities. The adaptive survival circuits use this information to adjust behavioral and psychophysiological responses for appropriate adaptation and resolution. Excessive fear responses, however, can be restrictive and may be a sign of dysregulated anxiety. When exposure to stress occurs early in development and is repeated in persons with a particular genetic disposition, a decreased threshold for developing anxiety may result (Heim & Nemeroff, 1999). Further, over-excitation and deprivation can influence the affective system and may induce changes in the emotional circuitry of the brain that can contribute to stress-related psychopathology (Davidson, Jackson, & Kalin, 2000). A good deal of research has shown that exposure therapy is effective for reducing negative affective symptoms (Rothbaum & Schwartz, 2002). In vivo exposure therapy has been found to have greater efficacy when compared to imaginal exposure, especially in the treatment of specific phobias (Emmelkamp, 2003). Exposure to emotional situations and prolonged rehearsal result in the regular activation of cerebral metabolism in brain areas associated with inhibition of maladaptive associative processes (Schwartz, 1998). Identical neural circuits have been found to be involved in affective regulation across affective disorders (De Raedt, 2006; Mineka, Watson, & Clark, 1998). Systematic and controlled therapeutic exposure to phobic stimuli may enhance emotional regulation through adjustments of inhibitory processes on the amygdala by the medial prefrontal cortex during exposure and structural changes in the hippocampus after successful therapy (Hariri, Bookheimer, & Mazziotta, 2000). A novel tool for conducting exposure therapy is virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET), in which users are immersed within a computer-generated simulation or virtual environment (VE) that updates in a natural way to the user’s psychophysiological arousal, head and/ or body motion (Parsons and Courtney, 2011, Parsons and Reinebold, 2012). Virtual environment applications that focus on treatment of affective (see Powers & Emmelkamp, 2008; Parsons et al., 2008a; Opris et al., 2012) and cognitive disorders (see Rose et al., 2005; Parsons 2009a) as well as assessment of component cognitive processes are now being developed and tested: attention (Parsons, et al., 2007, 2011) spatial abilities (Beck et al., 2010; Goodrich-Hunsaker and Hopkins, 2010; Parsons, et al., 2013), memory (Moffat, 2009; Parsons & Rizzo, 2008b; Parsons et al., 2013; Knight & Titov, 2009), spatial memory (Parsons et al., 2013); and executive functions (Armstrong et al., 2013; Henry et al., 2012; Parsons et al., 2012, 2013, 2014). The increased ecological validity of virtual scenarios may aid differential diagnosis and treatment planning. Within a virtual world, it is possible to systematically present cognitive tasks targeting neuropsychological performance beyond what are currently available using traditional methods (Parsons, 2011, 2012). Thomas D. Parsons University of North Texas, USA |
Pose-space subspace dynamics | We enrich character animations with secondary soft-tissue Finite Element Method (FEM) dynamics computed under arbitrary rigged or skeletal motion. Our method optionally incorporates pose-space deformation (PSD). It runs at milliseconds per frame for complex characters, and fits directly into standard character animation pipelines. Our simulation method does not require any skin data capture; hence, it can be applied to humans, animals, and arbitrary (real-world or fictional) characters. In standard model reduction of three-dimensional nonlinear solid elastic models, one builds a reduced model around a single pose, typically the rest configuration. We demonstrate how to perform multi-model reduction of Finite Element Method (FEM) nonlinear elasticity, where separate reduced models are precomputed around a representative set of object poses, and then combined at runtime into a single fast dynamic system, using subspace interpolation. While time-varying reduction has been demonstrated before for offline applications, our method is fast and suitable for hard real-time applications in games and virtual reality. Our method supports self-contact, which we achieve by computing linear modes and derivatives under contact constraints. |
Thyroid storm: an updated review. | Thyroid storm, an endocrine emergency first described in 1926, remains a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. No laboratory abnormalities are specific to thyroid storm, and the available scoring system is based on the clinical criteria. The exact mechanisms underlying the development of thyroid storm from uncomplicated hyperthyroidism are not well understood. A heightened response to thyroid hormone is often incriminated along with increased or abrupt availability of free hormones. Patients exhibit exaggerated signs and symptoms of hyperthyroidism and varying degrees of organ decompensation. Treatment should be initiated promptly targeting all steps of thyroid hormone formation, release, and action. Patients who fail medical therapy should be treated with therapeutic plasma exchange or thyroidectomy. The mortality of thyroid storm is currently reported at 10%. Patients who have survived thyroid storm should receive definite therapy for their underlying hyperthyroidism to avoid any recurrence of this potentially fatal condition. |
Motor Planning for Loading During Gait in Subacute Stroke. | OBJECTIVES
To determine the characteristics of motor planning surrounding initial contact during gait through examination of thigh muscle timing, amplitude, and co-contraction of the paretic and nonparetic limbs in people poststroke, and to investigate whether muscle timing, amplitude, and clinical performance measures of balance and mobility differ based on the level of co-contraction.
DESIGN
Observational study.
SETTING
University-based research laboratory.
PARTICIPANTS
Individuals (n=27) in the subacute phase after stroke and healthy controls (n=8) (N=35).
INTERVENTIONS
Not applicable.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Timing (onset and offset) and normalized amplitude (percent electromyography maximum) of the biceps femoris (BF) and rectus femoris (RF) muscles were measured during terminal swing and early stance. A co-contraction index (CCI) was calculated for the BF and RF muscle activity. Individuals with CCI values equal to or below the mean of the healthy group were in the low CCI group, whereas those with values above the mean were in the high CCI group. Functional balance and mobility evaluation used the Community Balance and Mobility Scale (CB&M).
RESULTS
For the paretic and nonparetic limbs, measures of timing, amplitude, and co-contraction were similar for both limbs. Compared with the healthy group, the high CCI group had lower CB&M scores, longer durations, and higher levels of RF and BF muscle activity, whereas the low CCI group had electromyographic measures statistically similar to healthy controls.
CONCLUSIONS
The motor control of gait after subacute stroke is characterized by symmetry of timing and amplitude of muscle recruitment at the knee. High co-contraction levels surrounding the knee were associated with lower functional balance and mobility. These findings suggest a compensatory strategy of increased co-contraction in those with more impairment while maintaining symmetry of lower-limb biomechanics between limbs. |
Effects of topiramate on cue-induced cigarette craving and the response to a smoked cigarette in briefly abstinent smokers | Clinical studies have shown that topiramate, an anticonvulsant medication, may be effective as a treatment for smoking cessation. However, less is known about topiramate effects on nicotine withdrawal and craving and its interactions with a smoked cigarette. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of topiramate treatment on abstinence-related nicotine withdrawal, cue-induced cigarette craving, and the acute effects of a smoked cigarette. Fifteen female and 25 male cigarette smokers were randomly assigned to 9-day treatment with topiramate (final titration dose, 75 mg/day) or placebo. On the last day of treatment, after a 3-h smoke-free abstinence period, participants were evaluated for symptoms of nicotine withdrawal and then underwent cigarette and neutral cue reactivity testing. Thirty minutes after completing cue exposure testing, participants were then evaluated for the acute effects of a smoked cigarette. Cue reactivity and acute smoking measures included subjective ratings of cigarette craving and withdrawal and physiological measures of skin conductance and temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. In addition, smoking topography was measured using a puff volume apparatus. Topiramate treatment enhanced subjective ratings of withdrawal after the 3-h abstinence period and reduced pre-cue skin conductance levels. Cigarette cue exposure resulted in a moderate increase in craving, which was unaffected by treatment. Topiramate treatment enhanced the rewarding effects of a smoked cigarette, even while participants smoked less per puff and achieved lower plasma nicotine levels. Results suggest that topiramate enhances both nicotine withdrawal and reward. These findings question the utility of topiramate treatment for smoking cessation. |
Randomized trial to increase colorectal cancer screening in an ethnically diverse sample of first-degree relatives. | BACKGROUND
Ethnic minorities, especially African Americans and Latinos, bear a disproportionate burden of colorectal cancer (CRC), as reflected in incidence, cancer stage, and mortality statistics. In all ethnic groups, first-degree relatives (FDRs) of CRC cases are at an elevated disease risk. However, underuse of CRC screening persists and is particularly evident among minority groups. The current study tested a stepped intervention to increase CRC screening among an ethnically diverse sample of FDRs of CRC cases.
METHODS
A statewide cancer registry was used to recruit CRC cases and through them their FDRs. Relatives who were not current on CRC screening were randomized to intervention or usual-care control arms. The stepped intervention consisted of ethnically targeted and individually tailored print materials followed by telephone counseling for those unscreened at 6 months.
RESULTS
The study sample of 1280 individuals consisted of 403 Latino, 284 African American, 242 Asian, and 351 white FDRs. Statistically significant effects were observed for the cumulative print plus telephone intervention at 12 months (26% in the intervention vs 18% in the control group) and the print intervention alone at 6 months (15% in the intervention vs 10% in the control group). The effect of the print intervention alone versus the cumulative interventions was not statistically significantly different. Stratified analyses indicated that the intervention was effective among white, Latino, and Asian individuals, but not among African-Americans.
CONCLUSIONS
Overall, the intervention was effective in increasing screening rates. Oversampling racial/ethnic minorities allowed for the examination of effects within subgroups, revealing no effect among African American individuals. This finding illustrates the importance of including sufficient numbers of participants from diverse ethnic subgroups in intervention research to enable such stratified analyses. |
Serum bicarbonate concentrations and kidney disease progression in community-living elders: the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study. | BACKGROUND
In populations with prevalent chronic kidney disease (CKD), lower serum bicarbonate levels are associated with more rapid CKD progression, but whether lower bicarbonate levels also are associated with risk of incident estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) < 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and CKD progression among community-living persons with predominantly preserved kidney function is unknown.
STUDY DESIGN
Longitudinal observational cohort study.
SETTING & PARTICIPANTS
Well-functioning community-living elders aged 70-79 years at inception.
PREDICTOR
Serum bicarbonate level measured at the time of collection by arterialized venous blood sample using an arterial blood gas analyzer.
OUTCOMES
Change in eGFR over 7 years, and new eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) with a rate of loss of at least 1 mL/min/1.73 m(2) per year.
MEASUREMENTS
Linear and logistic regressions were used to evaluate associations of baseline serum bicarbonate level with change in eGFR and incident eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2).
RESULTS
At baseline, mean eGFR was 84 ± 16 (SD)mL/min/1.73 m(2), and serum bicarbonate level was 25.2 ± 1.9 mmol/L. Compared with participants with higher bicarbonate concentrations (23.0-28.0 mmol/L), those with bicarbonate concentrations < 23 mmol/L (n = 85 [8%]) lost eGFR0.55 (95% CI, 0.13-0.97) mL/min/1.73 m(2) per year faster in models adjusted for demographics, CKD risk factors, baseline eGFR, and urine albumin-creatinine ratio. Among the 989 (92%) participants with baseline eGFRs > 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2), 252 (25%) developed incident eGFRs < 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) at follow-up. Adjusting for the same covariates, participants with bicarbonate concentrations < 23 mmol/L had nearly 2-fold greater odds of incident eGFRs < 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) (OR, 1.72; 95% CI, 0.97-3.07) compared with those with higher bicarbonate concentrations.
LIMITATIONS
Only 2 measurements of kidney function separated by 7 years and loss to follow-up due to intervening mortality in this elderly population.
CONCLUSIONS
Lower serum bicarbonate concentrations are associated independently with decline in eGFR and incident eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) in community-living older persons. If confirmed, serum bicarbonate levels may give insight into kidney tubule health in persons with preserved eGFRs and suggest a possible new target for intervention to prevent CKD development. |
Workplace bullying in nurses. | The article reports a study of workplace bullying in community nurses in an NHS trust. The aims were to determine the prevalence of bullying, to examine the association between bullying and occupational health outcomes, and to investigate whether support at work could moderate the effects of bullying. Forty-four percent of nurses reported experiencing one or more types of bullying in the previous 12 months, compared to 35 percent of other staff. Fifty percent of nurses had witnessed the bullying of others. Nurses who had been bullied reported significantly lower levels of job satisfaction and significantly higher levels of anxiety, depression and propensity to leave. They were also more critical of aspects of the organizational climate of the trust. Support at work was able to protect nurses from some of the damaging effects of bullying. |
Interpreting differences in patterns of supportive care needs between patients with breast cancer and patients with colorectal cancer. | BACKGROUND
Understanding cancer patients' supportive care needs can help optimize health-care systems and inform services development. We therefore examined the prevalence of supportive care needs in Chinese breast (BC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) patients to identify prevalence and correlates of unmet needs.
METHODS
We assessed supportive care needs (Supportive Care Needs Survey-Short Form), psychological distress (the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), symptom distress (The Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale-Short Form), and satisfaction with care (Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire) among 210 Chinese BC (97) or CRC (104) outpatient clinic attendees.
RESULTS
Breast cancer patients (89.7%) reported more unmet needs (χ(2) = 4.409, p = 0.027), but both CRC and BC samples ranked unmet needs prevalence similarly, with health system and information needs reported as the most common. Younger patients reported higher health system and information and sexuality needs. After multivariate adjustment, the strength of unmet needs did not differ by cancer type. Unmet psychological, physical and daily living, and sexuality needs were positively associated with greater symptom distress. Greater health system information needs were associated with high global distress and low depression scores, whereas greater psychological needs were associated with higher anxiety scores.
CONCLUSIONS
Hong Kong Chinese BC and CRC patients strongly prioritized needs related to health systems and information provision. Symptoms and psychological distress were associated with unmet needs, reflecting a service shortfall in symptom management. Improving care provision by optimizing communication and clinic organization can better prepare cancer patients for their rehabilitation and improve symptom control. |
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MAP ANALYSIS OF AEROSPACE ENGINEERING | While expert-based approaches such as ICAS 2012 conference are effective to encourage interdisciplinary communications and support innovations in difficult environments the aeronautics people currently facing, development of computer-based information management tools is also expected because a computer-based approach is compatible with the scale of information and could be an efficient complement to the expert approaches by structuring flooding information and highlighting important indicators from it. This paper reports a latest bibliometrics application conducted to support aerospace engineers’ activity for innovation. |
Runtime Verification of Ethereum Smart Contracts | The notion of smart contracts in distributed ledger systems have been hailed as a safe way of enforcing contracts between participating parties. However, unlike legal contracts, which talk about ideal behaviour and consequences of not adhering to such behaviour, smart contracts are by their very nature executable code, giving explicit instructions on how to achieve compliance. Executable specification languages, particularly Turing complete ones, are notoriously known for the difficulty of ensuring correctness, and recent incidents which led to huge financial losses due to bugs in smart contracts, have highlighted this issue. In this paper we show how standard techniques from runtime verification can be used in the domain of smart contracts, including a novel stake-based instrumentation technique which ensures that the violating party provides insurance for correct behaviour. The techniques we describe have been partially implemented in a proof-of-concept tool ContractLarva, which we discuss in this paper. |
Educational affordances of PDAs: A study of a teacher's exploration of this technology | This paper reports on a case study of a teacher from a technical education institution who explored the educational affordances of PDA technology over a period of six months. Based on this teacher’s perspectives, the study was designed to inform our own understanding of educational affordances of this new and emerging technology. Understanding of educational affordances is important in the context of planning a suitable intervention to support pedagogically effective integration of PDA technology. The study explicated a set of five affordances of PDA technology: as a multimedia-access tool, connectivity tool, capture tool, representational tool and analytical tool. We call on further research to expand this set into a more comprehensive collage of educational affordances of PDA technology. 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
Integrated coastal management to sustainable coastal planning | Integrated coastal management (ICM) has been the basis for coastal planning and management since the 1970s. The theory and practice of ICM is based on the premise that increased integration of planning and management in the coastal zone will lead to impro |
Using Contextual Speller Techniques and Language Modeling for ESL Error Correction | We present a modular system for detection and correction of errors made by nonnative (English as a Second Language = ESL) writers. We focus on two error types: the incorrect use of determiners and the choice of prepositions. We use a decisiontree approach inspired by contextual spelling systems for detection and correction suggestions, and a large language model trained on the Gigaword corpus to provide additional information to filter out spurious suggestions. We show how this system performs on a corpus of non-native English text and discuss strategies for future enhancements. |
Decision support for optimized blood glucose control and nutrition in a neurotrauma intensive care unit: preliminary results of clinical advice and prediction accuracy of the Glucosafe system | Assessment of glycemic control with model-based decision support (“Glucosafe”) in neurotrauma intensive care patients in an ongoing randomized controlled trial with a blood glucose (BG) target of 5–8 mmol/L. Assessment of BG prediction accuracy of the model and assessment of the effect that two potential model extensions would have on prediction accuracy in this trial. In the intervention group insulin infusion rates and nutrition are varied based on Glucosafe’s decision support. In the control group, the caloric target is 25–30 kcal/kg per day and insulin is regulated according to department rules. BG concentrations, insulin infusion rates, and feed rates are compared from the data of 12 consecutive patients. BG measurements are predicted retrospectively and the mean relative prediction error is calculated using (1) the current model from the trial, (2) the current model modified by using a BG-dependent variable endogenous insulin appearance rate, (3) the current model modified by a patient-specific carbohydrate absorption factor. BG control was improved by Glucosafe. 76 % of BG measurements in Glucosafe patients were in the 5–8 mmol/L band (Controls: 51 %). BG means (log-normal) ± SD were 7.0 ± 1.19 mmol/L in Glucosafe patients compared to 8.0 ± 1.24 mmol/L in controls (P = 0.05). Mean caloric intake was 93.5 ± 15 % of resting energy expenditure in Glucosafe patients (Controls: 129 ± 29 %). The BG-dependent variable insulin appearance rate had no measurable effect on prediction accuracy. The patient-specific carbohydrate absorption factor improved prediction accuracy significantly (P = 0.001). Glucosafe advice reduces hyperglycemia in neurotrauma intensive care patients. Further parameterization can improve model prediction accuracy. |
Pool exercise combined with an education program for patients with fibromyalgia syndrome. A prospective, randomized study. | OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effects of 6 months of pool exercise combined with a 6 session education program for patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FM).
METHODS
The study population comprised 58 patients, randomized to a treatment or a control group. Patients were instructed to match the pool exercises to their threshold of pain and fatigue. The education focused on strategies for coping with symptoms and encouragement of physical activity. The primary outcome measurements were the total score of the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) and the 6 min walk test, recorded at study start and after 6 mo. Several other tests and instruments assessing functional limitations, severity of symptoms, disabilities, and quality of life were also applied.
RESULTS
Significant differences between the treatment group and the control group were found for the FIQ total score (p = 0.017) and the 6 min walk test (p < 0.0001). Significant differences were also found for physical function, grip strength, pain severity, social functioning, psychological distress, and quality of life.
CONCLUSION
The results suggest that a 6 month program of exercises in a temperate pool combined with education will improve the consequences of FM. |
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