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Final Report on the Safety Assessment of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate | Sodium and Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate are anionic surfactants used in cosmetics as cleansing agents. In absorption, metabolism, and excretion studies, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate had a degenerative effect on the cell membranes because of its protein denaturing properties. Low levels of skin penetration may occur at high use concentration. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate had an LD50 of 0.8 to 1.10 g/kg in rats. A formulation containing 15% Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate caused depression, labored breathing, diarrhea, and death in four out of 20 animals. In acute ocular tests, 10% Sodium Lauryl Sulfate caused cornea1 damage to the rabbits’ eyes if not irrigated, or if irrigation was delayed. A Draize test of a product containing 5.1% Sodium Lauryl Sulfate caused mild irritation, and products containing 21% detergent were severely irritating with no rinse, and mildly irritating when rinsed. Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate solutions containing 1.25%-27.4% detergent showed increasing irritation with increasing concentration; rinsing decreased irritation. Acute animal skin irritation studies of 0.5%-10% Sodium Lauryl Sulfate caused slight to moderate irritation. Applications of lo%-30% detergent caused skin corrosion and severe irritation. Solutions of 2%, lo%, and 20% Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate were highly irritating and dangerous. One percent and 5% Sodium Lauryl Sulfate produced a significant number of comedones when applied to the pinna of albino rabbits. A chronic oral feeding study in rats of 0.25%, 0.5%, and 1.0% Sodium Lauryl Sulfate in the diet for two years produced no abnormalities. A 91-day percutaneous toxicity study of a shampoo containing 17.5% Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate had no treatment-related abnormalities except for moderate to severe dermal effects. In mutagenesis studies, rats fed 1.13% and 0.56% Sodium Lauryl Sulfate in the diet for 90 days produced no more chromosomal aberrations or clastogenic effects than did a control diet. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate was tested for human skin irritation in concentrations ranging from 0.1% to 10%. Open patches were less irritating than closed patches, and irritation increased directly with concentration. Similar results |
A Nonlinear Primal-Dual Method for Total Variation-Based Image Restoration | We present a new method for solving total variation (TV) minimization problems in image restoration. The main idea is to remove some of the singularity caused by the nondifferentiability of the quantity |∇u| in the definition of the TV-norm before we apply a linearization technique such as Newton’s method. This is accomplished by introducing an additional variable for the flux quantity appearing in the gradient of the objective function, which can be interpreted as the normal vector to the level sets of the image u. Our method can be viewed as a primal-dual method as proposed by Conn and Overton [A Primal-Dual Interior Point Method for Minimizing a Sum of Euclidean Norms, preprint, 1994] and Andersen [Ph.D. thesis, Odense University, Denmark, 1995] for the minimization of a sum of Euclidean norms. In addition to possessing local quadratic convergence, experimental results show that the new method seems to be globally convergent. |
Real-Time Trajectory Planning for Autonomous Urban Driving: Framework, Algorithms, and Verifications | This paper focuses on the real-time trajectory planning problem for autonomous vehicles driving in realistic urban environments. To solve the complex navigation problem, we adopt a hierarchical motion planning framework. First, a rough reference path is extracted from the digital map using commands from the high-level behavioral planner. The conjugate gradient nonlinear optimization algorithm and the cubic B-spline curve are employed to smoothen and interpolate the reference path sequentially. To follow the refined reference path as well as handle both static and moving objects, the trajectory planning task is decoupled into lateral and longitudinal planning problems within the curvilinear coordinate framework. A rich set of kinematically feasible path candidates are generated to deal with the dynamic traffic both deliberatively and reactively. In the meanwhile, the velocity profile generation is performed to improve driving safety and comfort. After that, the generated trajectories are carefully evaluated by an objective function, which combines behavioral decisions by reasoning about the traffic situations. The optimal collision-free, smooth, and dynamically feasible trajectory is selected and transformed into commands executed by the low-level lateral and longitudinal controllers. Field experiments have been carried out with our test autonomous vehicle on the realistic inner-city roads. The experimental results demonstrated capabilities and effectiveness of the proposed trajectory planning framework and algorithms to safely handle a variety of typical driving scenarios, such as static and moving objects avoidance, lane keeping, and vehicle following, while respecting the traffic rules. |
A new factorization technique using quadratic forms | The paper presents a practical method for factoring an arbitrary N by representing N or \N by one of at most three quadratic forms: XAf = s2 — Dy2, X = 1, — 1, 2, D = — 1, ±2, ±3, ±6. These three forms appropriate to N, together with inequalities for y, are given for all N prime to 6. Presently available sieving facilities make the method quite effective and economical for numbers N having 20 to 25 digits. Four examples arising from aliquot series are discussed in detail. It is the purpose of this paper to present and illustrate a new procedure for factoring numbers N of no special form which in the present state of the art is particularly effective for numbers having from 20 to 25 decimal digits. The implementation of the method was the result of three circumstances: (a) a decision to assist Richard Guy and John Selfridge in their survey of aliquot series, i.e., sequences of iterates of the sum of the proper divisors of a number, a source of many numbers TV of the abovementioned magnitude; (b) the elimination of idle time at the Computer Center of the University of California, Berkeley campus, which made direct search for the factors of N prohibitively expensive; and (c) the availability of the Delay Line Sieve, DLS-157 at no cost [5]. It is hoped that those readers who have unlimited access to the virtuosity of an expensive computer system may also find the method of some use although circumstances (a), (b) and (c) may all fail to exist, since the sieving part of the procedure can easily be done inside the system [6], even if at a slower rate than the million per second rate of the off line DLS-157. The present method is a modification of much older ones depending on the representation of N, or a chosen multiple of N, by a binary quadratic form. Such methods began with Fermât, 1643, [3] who suggested solving (1) N = s2 / = (s y)ix + y) for x and y. One such representation of N with s < (N + l)/2 suffices to factor N, and the nonexistence of a solution is a proof of the primality of N. In recent decades, the Fermât method has been extensively used in the case where jV is known to have all its factors of the form ax + 1. The method is also a good second step following a disappointing direct search for factors of N below some fairly high limit. The drawback of Fermat's method in the general case is its great average expense, which is OiN). This is to be contrasted with that of the present method which is only 0(\/N). In 1647, Mersenne [3] noted that N is composite if N is the sum of two squares in two really different ways. Thus, the use of quadratic forms, other than Fermat's degenerate (1), has a long history. Euler, Legendre, Gauss, Chebyshev [3] and a Received March 30, 1973, revised July 2, 1973. AMS (MOS) subject classifications (1970). Primary 05B30, 10A25, 10B05, 10C05, 12A50. |
Parallel computer architecture - a hardware / software approach | The most exciting development in parallel computer architecture is the convergence of traditionally disparate approaches on a common machine structure. This book explains the forces behind this convergence of shared-memory, message-passing, data parallel, and data-driven computing architectures. It then examines the design issues that are critical to all parallel architecture across the full range of modern design, covering data access, communication performance, coordination of cooperative work, and correct implementation of useful semantics. It not only describes the hardware and software techniques for addressing each of these issues but also explores how these techniques interact in the same system. Examining architecture from an application-driven perspective, it provides comprehensive discussions of parallel programming for high performance and of workload-driven evaluation, based on understanding hardware-software interactions. |
Prospective randomized multicenter clinical trial on the use of interferon -2a plus acitretin versus interferon -2a plus PUVA in patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma stages I and II. | Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) constitutes a malignant proliferative disease involving mostly CD4(+) T cells arising in the skin. Because of the lack of curative treatment options, interferons (IFN) have been introduced into the therapy of CTCL. Although effective even in advanced disease, response rates were about 50% and the duration of response was short. To improve the results of interferon monotherapy, combinations of IFN with oral photochemotherapy (PUVA) or retinoids were investigated in nonrandomized trials showing higher response rates. We have therefore conducted this prospective randomized multicenter trial to compare these two combination therapies, ie, IFN plus PUVA and IFN plus acitretin. IFN -2a was administered at 9 MU three times weekly subcutaneously in both groups, with lower increasing doses during the first week. Photochemotherapy was applied after oral intake of 8-methoxypsoralen (0.6 mg/kg body weight) 5x weekly during the first 4 weeks, 3x weekly from weeks 5 through 23, and 2x weekly from weeks 24 through 48, with escalating doses beginning with 0.25 J/cm2. Twenty-five milligrams of acitretin was administered daily during the first week, and 50 mg was administered from weeks 2 through 48. Of 98 patients randomized in this study, 82 stage I and II patients were evaluable: 40 in the IFN+PUVA group and 42 in the IFN+acitretin group. With 70% complete remissions in the IFN+PUVA group, this treatment was significantly superior to the IFN+acitretin group with only 38.1% complete remissions. Time to response was significantly shorter in the IFN+PUVA group, with 18.6 weeks compared with 21.8 weeks in the IFN+acitretin group. Side effects were mostly mild to moderate and did not differ significantly in both treatment groups. However, there were more adverse events leading to study discontinuation in the IFN+acitretin group. Based on these findings, we conclude that IFN plus oral photochemotherapy is superior to IFN plus acitretin, inducing more complete remissions in patients with CTCL stages I and II. |
Optimal design and multifield coupling analysis of propelling motor used in a novel integrated motor propeller | A novel permanent-magnet (PM) motor used in an integrated motor propeller (IMP) is designed. The motor has no bearings and employs a Halbach array in its rotor structure. Optimization is conducted in such aspects as PM structure, magnetizing angle of PM, and the best ratio of PM length to poles. The designed motor has a thinner rotor and a larger air gap, and a 3-D coupled-field finite element method (FEM) is used to analyze the temperature distribution of this water-cooled thruster. Losses in windings and stator core are calculated in 3-D eddy current field, and the loss is used as the input to calculate the thermal field. Furthermore, a multicomponent fluid method is proposed to deal with the influence from rotating rotor upon the water convection in the air gap. An experiment of this IMP is done under water and temperatures in it are obtained. The temperature results of experiment and calculation are in good agreement, verifying the effectiveness of the analyzing method proposed in this paper. |
A Simple Algorithm for Fitting a Gaussian Function [DSP Tips and Tricks] | Gaussian functions are suitable for describing many processes in mathematics, science, and engineering, making them very useful in the fields of signal and image processing. For example, the random noise in a signal, induced by complicated physical factors, can be simply modeled with the Gaussian distribution according to the central limit theorem from the probability theory. |
A bottom-up, knowledge-aware approach to integrating and querying web data services | As a wealth of data services is becoming available on the Web, building and querying Web applications that effectively integrate their content is increasingly important. However, schema integration and ontology matching with the aim of registering data services often requires a knowledge-intensive, tedious, and error-prone manual process.
We tackle this issue by presenting a bottom-up, semi-automatic service registration process that refers to an external knowledge base and uses simple text processing techniques in order to minimize and possibly avoid the contribution of domain experts in the annotation of data services. The first by-product of this process is a representation of the domain of data services as an entity-relationship diagram, whose entities are named after concepts of the external knowledge base matching service terminology rather than being manually created to accommodate an application-specific ontology. Second, a three-layer annotation of service semantics (service interfaces, access patterns, service marts) describing how services “play” with such domain elements is also automatically constructed at registration time. When evaluated against heterogeneous existing data services and with a synthetic service dataset constructed using Google Fusion Tables, the approach yields good results in terms of data representation accuracy.
We subsequently demonstrate that natural language processing methods can be used to decompose and match simple queries to the data services represented in three layers according to the preceding methodology with satisfactory results. We show how semantic annotations are used at query time to convert the user's request into an executable logical query. Globally, our findings show that the proposed registration method is effective in creating a uniform semantic representation of data services, suitable for building Web applications and answering search queries. |
Potentials of 3D-Web-Applications in E-Commerce - Study about the Impact of 3D-Product-Presentations | The goal of this work is to compare different versions of three-dimensional product-presentations with two-dimensional ones. Basically the usability of these technologies will be compared and other user related factors will be integrated into the test as well. These factors were determined via a literature research. In order to achieve a generalizable conclusion about 3D-web-applications in e-commerce sample products from miscellaneous product categories are chosen for the study. This paper starts with the summary of the literature research about the factors for the study. It continues by shortly introducing research methods and strategies and explaining why certain methods are selected for this kind of study. The conception of the study is described in detail in the following paragraph. With the help of the generalized results of the study, recommendations for the usage of 3D-product-presentations in practical e-commerce environments are given. |
Clinical and economic impact of non-adherence in COPD: a systematic review. | BACKGROUND
Medication for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) has shown to substantially reduce symptoms and slow progression of disease. However, non-adherence to medication is common and associated with worsened clinical and economic outcomes.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to perform a systematic review of published literature to assess the impact of non-adherence to COPD medication on clinical and economic outcomes.
METHODS
A search in PubMed and Web of Science databases was conducted of original studies published from database inception to 2012. Studies must report on the association between adherence to COPD medication and outcomes, published in English in peer-reviewed journals and full texts needed to be available.
RESULTS
Twelve full articles were included in the review. Most studies were retrospective database studies. Seven studies reported on the association between adherence and clinical outcomes, two on mortality, three on costs, four on quality of life and one on work productivity. Results indicated a clear association between adherence and both clinical and economic outcomes. Evidence from studies revealed increased hospitalizations, mortality, quality of life and loss of productivity among non-adherent patients.
CONCLUSION
This review revealed a clear association between non-adherence to COPD medication and worsened clinical and economic outcomes making non-adherent patients a priority for cost-effective interventions. |
Occam's rattle: children's use of simplicity and probability to constrain inference. | A growing literature suggests that generating and evaluating explanations is a key mechanism for learning and inference, but little is known about how children generate and select competing explanations. This study investigates whether young children prefer explanations that are simple, where simplicity is quantified as the number of causes invoked in an explanation, and how this preference is reconciled with probability information. Both preschool-aged children and adults were asked to explain an event that could be generated by 1 or 2 causes, where the probabilities of the causes varied across conditions. In 2 experiments, it was found that children preferred explanations involving 1 cause over 2 but were also sensitive to the probability of competing explanations. Adults, in contrast, responded on the basis of probability alone. These data suggest that children employ a principle of parsimony like Occam's razor as an inductive constraint and that this constraint is employed when more reliable bases for inference are unavailable. |
Foot strike patterns of recreational and sub-elite runners in a long-distance road race. | Although the biomechanical properties of the various types of running foot strike (rearfoot, midfoot, and forefoot) have been studied extensively in the laboratory, only a few studies have attempted to quantify the frequency of running foot strike variants among runners in competitive road races. We classified the left and right foot strike patterns of 936 distance runners, most of whom would be considered of recreational or sub-elite ability, at the 10 km point of a half-marathon/marathon road race. We classified 88.9% of runners at the 10 km point as rearfoot strikers, 3.4% as midfoot strikers, 1.8% as forefoot strikers, and 5.9% of runners exhibited discrete foot strike asymmetry. Rearfoot striking was more common among our sample of mostly recreational distance runners than has been previously reported for samples of faster runners. We also compared foot strike patterns of 286 individual marathon runners between the 10 km and 32 km race locations and observed increased frequency of rearfoot striking at 32 km. A large percentage of runners switched from midfoot and forefoot foot strikes at 10 km to rearfoot strikes at 32 km. The frequency of discrete foot strike asymmetry declined from the 10 km to the 32 km location. Among marathon runners, we found no significant relationship between foot strike patterns and race times. |
Cash Flow in Predicting Financial Distress and Bankruptcy | Purpose of this study is to determine whether cash flow impacts business failure prediction using the BP models (Altman z-score, or Neural Network, or any of the BP models which could be implemented having objective to predict the financial distress or more complex financial failure-bankruptcy of the banks or companies). Units of analysis are financial ratios derived from raw financial data: B/S, P&L statements (income statements) and cash flow statements of both failed and non-failed companies/corporates that have been collected from the auditing resources and reports performed. A number of these studies examined whether a cash flow improve the prediction of business failure. The authors would have the objective to show the evidence and usefulness and efficacy of statistical models such as Altman Z-score discriminant analysis bankruptcy predictive models to assess client on going concern status. Failed and non-failed companies were selected for analysis to determine whether the cash flow improves the business failure prediction aiming to proof that the cash flow certainly makes better financial distress and bankruptcy prediction possible. Key-Words: bankruptcy prediction, financial distress, financial crisis, transition economy, auditing statement, balance sheet, profit and loss accounts, income statements |
An investigation into the applicability of building information models in geospatial environment in support of site selection and fire response management processes | 1474-0346/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier Ltd. A doi:10.1016/j.aei.2008.06.001 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 312 266 00 5 (U. Isikdag); tel.: +44 161 295 62 90; fax: +44 016 tel.: +44 0161 295 4992; fax: +44 0161 295 3173 (G. E-mail addresses: [email protected], uisik [email protected] (J. Underwood), g.aoauad@ Some tasks in the construction industry and urban management field such as site selection and fire response management are usually managed by using a Geographical Information System (GIS), as the tasks in these processes require a high level and amount of integrated geospatial information. Recently, a key element of this integrated geospatial information to emerge is detailed geometrical and semantic information about buildings. In parallel, Building Information Models (BIMs) of today have the capacity for storing and representing such detailed geometrical and semantic information. In this context, the research aimed to investigate the applicability of BIMs in geospatial environment by focusing specifically on these two domains; site selection and fire response management. In the first phase of the research two use case scenarios were developed in order to understand the processes in these domains in a more detailed manner and to establish the scope of a possible software development for transferring information from BIMs into the geospatial environment. In the following phase of the research two data models were developed – a Schema-Level Model View and a geospatial data model. The Schema-Level Model View was used in simplifying the information acquired from the BIM, while the geospatial data model acted as the template for creating physical files and databases in the geospatial environment. Following this, three software components to transfer building information into the geospatial environment were designed, developed, and validated. The first component served for acquiring the building information from the BIM, while the latter two served for transforming the information into the geospatial environment. The overall research demonstrated that it is possible to transfer (high level of geometric and semantic) information acquired from BIMs into the geospatial environment. The results also demonstrated that BIMs provide a sufficient level and amount of (geometric and semantic) information (about the building) for the seamless automation of data management tasks in the site selection and fire response management processes. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
Deep Variational Bayes Filters: Unsupervised Learning of State Space Models from Raw Data | We introduce Deep Variational Bayes Filters (DVBF), a new method for unsupervised learning of latent Markovian state space models. Leveraging recent advances in Stochastic Gradient Variational Bayes, DVBF can overcome intractable inference distributions by means of variational inference. Thus, it can handle highly nonlinear input data with temporal and spatial dependencies such as image sequences without domain knowledge. Our experiments show that enabling backpropagation through transitions enforces state space assumptions and significantly improves information content of the latent embedding. This also enables realistic long-term prediction. |
Topotecan in the treatment of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-related progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy | Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) affects about 1 in 20 individuals with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and has been associated with poor survival. This report describes the results of a phase II clinical trial using the drug topotecan, a semisynthetic analogue of camptothecan, administered to a cohort of subjects with AIDS-related PML. Data were evaluated on 11 of 12 subjects enrolled in the study. Three responded to therapy. Additionally, one patient was treated off-protocol and showed a response to treatment. Progression occurred after the first course; however, a partial response was noted after five courses. One study patient died from accidental overdose of topotecan. Overall, responders had higher pretreatment Karnofsky and lower Kurtzke expanded disability status scale scores than non-responders. The most frequent toxicities were hematologic (anemia, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia). Five patients had dose delays; all delays were due to hematologic adverse events. This study demonstrates that topotecan treatment may be associated with decreased lesion size and prolonged survival from the infection. Because of the small number of subjects in the study, further studies are required to evaluate the efficacy of topotecan in treating this disease. |
Use of DNA Fingerprinting To Investigate a Multiyear, Multistate Tuberculosis Outbreak | In 1998-1999, the Baltimore TB control program detected a cluster of 21 tuberculosis (TB) cases. Patients reported frequent travel to various East Coast cities. An investigation was conducted to determine whether transmission of the same Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain was occurring in these other localities. A collaborative investigation among federal, state, and local TB controllers included TB record reviews, interviews of patients, and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of selected M. tuberculosis isolates from diagnosed TB patients in several cities in 1996-2001. A national TB genotyping database was searched for RFLP patterns that matched the outbreak pattern. Eighteen additional outbreak-related cases were detected outside of Baltimore-the earliest diagnosed in New Jersey in 1996, and the most recent in New York City in late 2001. The outbreak demonstrates the need for strategies to detect links among patients diagnosed with TB across multiple TB control jurisdictions. |
A Reply to Lam and Yang | Additional support is given for assertions that the Hong Kong Chinese (a) are materialistic, (b) have stricter standards for nonmarital sexual behavior; and (c) do not have a feminist movement as such. Allegations of sarcasm are denied, as is any intention to denigrate the Chinese. The difficulties of contrasting two cultures are discussed. |
A Double-Sided Parallel-Strip Line Push–Pull Oscillator | A novel double-sided parallel-strip line (DSPSL) push-pull oscillator using two identical sub-oscillators on the opposite sides of a dielectric substrate is proposed. The two sub-oscillators, sharing a common DSPSL resonator and common ground in the middle of the substrate, generate out-of-phase fundamental signals and in-phase second harmonics. At the common DSPSL output, the second harmonics are cancelled out while the fundamental signals are well combined. By this design, an additional combiner at the output, as required by the conventional push-pull circuits, is not needed, which greatly reduces the circuit size and simplifies the design procedures of the proposed push-pull oscillator. |
A Brief Survey of Recent Edge-Preserving Smoothing Algorithms on Digital Images | Edge preserving filters preserve the edges and its information while blurring an image. In other words they are used to smooth an image, while reducing the edge blurring effects across the edge like halos, phantom etc. They are nonlinear in nature. Examples are bilateral filter, anisotropic diffusion filter, guided filter, trilateral filter etc. Hence these family of filters are very useful in reducing the noise in an image making it very demanding in computer vision and computational photography applications like denoising, video abstraction, demosaicing, optical-flow estimation, stereo matching, tone mapping, style transfer, relighting etc. This paper provides a concrete introduction to edge preserving filters starting from the heat diffusion equation in olden to recent eras, an overview of its numerous applications, as well as mathematical analysis, various efficient and optimized ways of implementation and their interrelationships, keeping focus on preserving the boundaries, spikes and canyons in presence of noise. Furthermore it provides a realistic notion for efficient implementation with a research scope for hardware realization for further acceleration. |
RISC I: A Reduced Instruction Set VLSI Computer | The Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) Project investigates an alternatrve to the general trend toward computers wrth increasingly complex instruction sets: With a proper set of instructions and a corresponding architectural design, a machine wrth a high effective throughput can be achieved. The simplicity of the instruction set and addressing modes allows most Instructions to execute in a single machine cycle, and the srmplicity of each instruction guarantees a short cycle time. In addition, such a machine should have a much shorter design trme. This paper presents the architecture of RISC I and its novel hardware support scheme for procedure call/return. Overlapprng sets of regrster banks that can pass parameters directly to subrouttnes are largely responsible for the excellent performance of RISC I. Static and dynamtc comparisons between this new architecture and more traditional machines are given. Although instructions are simpler, the average length of programs was found not to exceed programs for DEC VAX 11 by more than a factor of 2. Preliminary benchmarks demonstrate the performance advantages of RISC. It appears possible to build a single chip computer faster than VAX 11/780. |
Meta-analysis of chemotherapy in head and neck cancer (MACH-NC): an update on 93 randomised trials and 17,346 patients. | BACKGROUND
Our previous individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis showed that chemotherapy improved survival in patients curatively treated for non-metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), with a higher benefit with concomitant chemotherapy. However the heterogeneity of the results limited the conclusions and prompted us to confirm the results on a more complete database by adding the randomised trials conducted between 1994 and 2000.
METHODS
The updated IPD meta-analysis included trials comparing loco-regional treatment to loco-regional treatment+chemotherapy in HNSCC patients and conducted between 1965 and 2000. The log-rank-test, stratified by trial, was used to compare treatments. The hazard ratios of death were calculated.
RESULTS
Twenty-four new trials, most of them of concomitant chemotherapy, were included with a total of 87 trials and 16,485 patients. The hazard ratio of death was 0.88 (p<0.0001) with an absolute benefit for chemotherapy of 4.5% at 5 years, and a significant interaction (p<0.0001) between chemotherapy timing (adjuvant, induction or concomitant) and treatment. Both direct (6 trials) and indirect comparisons showed a more pronounced benefit of the concomitant chemotherapy as compared to induction chemotherapy. For the 50 concomitant trials, the hazard ratio was 0.81 (p<0.0001) and the absolute benefit 6.5% at 5 years. There was a decreasing effect of chemotherapy with age (p=0.003, test for trend).
CONCLUSION
The benefit of concomitant chemotherapy was confirmed and was greater than the benefit of induction chemotherapy. |
Risk factors for hospital admission among older persons with newly diagnosed heart failure: findings from the Cardiovascular Health Study. | OBJECTIVES
This study sought to identify risk factors for the occurrence of all-cause hospital admissions among older persons after heart failure diagnosis, and to determine whether geriatric conditions would emerge as independent risk factors for admission when evaluated in the context of other relevant clinical data.
BACKGROUND
Efforts to reduce costs in heart failure have focused on hospital utilization, yet few studies have examined how geriatric conditions affect the long-term risk for hospital admission after heart failure diagnosis. With the aging of the population with heart failure, geriatric conditions such as slow gait and muscle weakness are becoming increasingly common.
METHODS
The study population included participants with a new diagnosis of heart failure in the Cardiovascular Health Study, a longitudinal study of community-living older persons. Data were collected through annual examinations and medical-record reviews. Geriatric conditions assessed were slow gait, muscle weakness (defined as weak grip), cognitive impairment, and depressive symptoms. Anderson-Gill regression modeling was used to determine the predictors of hospital admission after heart failure diagnosis.
RESULTS
Of the 758 participants with a new diagnosis of heart failure, the mean rate of hospital admission was 7.9 per 10 person-years (95% CI: 7.4 to 8.4). Independent risk factors for hospital admission included diabetes mellitus (HR: 1.36; 95% CI: 1.13 to 1.64), New York Heart Association functional class III or IV (HR: 1.32; 95% CI: 1.11 to 1.57), chronic kidney disease (HR: 1.32; 95% CI: 1.14 to 1.53), slow gait (HR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.06 to 1.55), depressed ejection fraction (HR: 1.25; 95% CI: 1.04 to 1.51), depression (HR: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.05 to 1.45), and muscle weakness (HR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.00 to 1.42).
CONCLUSIONS
Geriatric conditions are important, and potentially modifiable, risk factors for hospital admission in heart failure that should be routinely assessed at the time of heart failure diagnosis. |
Core needle biopsy of thyroid nodules - evaluation of diagnostic utility and pain experience. | OBJECTIVE
A crucial problem in the non-operative diagnosis of thyroid nodules is the significant amount of non-diagnostic biopsies. This is a challenge for practicing endocrinologists especially when the results of the repeated biopsies remain non-diagnostic. The lack of a concrete preoperative diagnosis may result in unnecessary thyroidectomies in patients. Alternatively, it may also lead to the delayed diagnosis of cancer. One method of biopsy specimen acquisition that could potentially increase the diagnostic accuracy of thyroid biopsies is the application of core-needles. The aim of the study was to compare the diagnostic value and patient tolerability of core-needle aspiration biopsies (CNAB) with fine-needle aspiration biopsies (FNAB).
PATIENTS AND METHODS
The study included patients with thyroid nodular goiter in whom previous conventional FNAB yielded non-diagnostic results. CNABs were performed using 22G core-needles. The control group consisted of patients undergoing conventional FNAB with 25G fine-needles. Pain during core-needle biopsies of thyroid nodules was assessed using the 10-point visual analog scale.
RESULTS
There were a total of 30 lesions in 26 patients undergoing CNAB (22 women, 4 men, mean age 48.3) and a total of 59 lesions in 40 patients undergoing FNAB (34 women, 6 men, mean age 57.3). 56.6% of CNABs and 50.8% of FNABs were diagnostic (p=0.60). When assessing pain via the visual analog scale, the median score for biopsies performed with core-needles was four. 60.0% of patients considered the pain of core-needle aspiration biopsies to be similar to the pain experienced during the previous conventional fine-needle aspiration biopsies, while 40% of patients claimed that the pain was more intense.
CONCLUSIONS
CNAB did not prove to be superior to FNAB. Despite the larger needle gauge used during core-needle biopsies, the patients' tolerability was comparable to conventional fine-needle biopsies. |
Microsaccades uncover the orientation of covert attention | Fixational eye movements are subdivided into tremor, drift, and microsaccades. All three types of miniature eye movements generate small random displacements of the retinal image when viewing a stationary scene. Here we investigate the modulation of microsaccades by shifts of covert attention in a classical spatial cueing paradigm. First, we replicate the suppression of microsaccades with a minimum rate about 150 ms after cue onset. Second, as a new finding we observe microsaccadic enhancement with a maximum rate about 350 ms after presentation of the cue. Third, we find a modulation of the orientation towards the cue direction. These multiple influences of visual attention on microsaccades accentuate their role for visual information processing. Furthermore, our results suggest that microsaccades can be used to map the orientation of visual attention in psychophysical experiments. |
COA: finding novel patents through text analysis | In recent years, the number of patents filed by the business enterprises in the technology industry are growing rapidly, thus providing unprecedented opportunities for knowledge discovery in patent data. One important task in this regard is to employ data mining techniques to rank patents in terms of their potential to earn money through licensing. Availability of such ranking can substantially reduce enterprise IP (Intellectual Property) management costs. Unfortunately, the existing software systems in the IP domain do not address this task directly. Through our research, we build a patent ranking software, named COA (Claim Originality Analysis) that rates a patent based on its value by measuring the recency and the impact of the important phrases that appear in the "claims" section of a patent. Experiments show that COA produces meaningful ranking when comparing it with other indirect patent evaluation metrics--citation count, patent status, and attorney's rating. In reallife settings, this tool was used by beta-testers in the IBM IP department. Lawyers found it very useful in patent rating, specifically, in highlighting potentially valuable patents in a patent cluster. In this article, we describe the ranking techniques and system architecture of COA. We also present the results that validate its effectiveness. |
The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Firm Value: The Role of Customer Awareness | T paper shows that corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm value are positively related for firms with high customer awareness, as proxied by advertising expenditures. For firms with low customer awareness, the relation is either negative or insignificant. In addition, we find that the effect of awareness on the CSR–value relation is reversed for firms with a poor prior reputation as corporate citizens. This evidence is consistent with the view that CSR activities can add value to the firm but only under certain conditions. |
Optically transparent conductive polymer RFID meandering dipole antenna | In this paper, we present optically transparent flexible conductive polymer antennas for radio frequency identification systems. The designs for these antennas are presented along with simulated and measured results of antenna radiating properties. These conductive polymer antennas are compared to antennas with the same design fabricated out of copper. Finally, we include an analysis of the optical transparency of the conductive polymer antennas. |
Taurolidine is effective in the treatment of central venous catheter-related bloodstream infections in cancer patients. | Taurolidine is an antimicrobial agent that was originally used in the local treatment of peritonitis and was shown to be effective in the prevention of catheter-related bloodstream infections (CR-BSI). In this pilot study, we used taurolidine solution as an intravenous (i.v.) lock into the totally implantable intravascular devices of 11 consecutive oncological patients with catheter-related bloodstream infections not responding to systemic antimicrobial chemotherapy. All patients recovered completely from the infection. No adverse drug effects were seen. Three patients were successfully retreated for a recurrent infection. Our data suggest a beneficial role of taurolidine i.v. lock for the therapy of catheter-related bloodstream infections in oncological patients. Taurolidine i.v. lock application is feasible and could especially be useful in infections resistant to antibiotic chemotherapy. |
Symposium : Obesity in Developing Countries : Biological and Ecological Factors The Nutrition Transition and Obesity in the Developing World 1 | Changes in diet and activity patterns are fueling the obesity epidemic. These rapid changes in the levels and composition of dietary and activity/inactivity patterns in transitional societies are related to a number of socioeconomic and demographic changes. Using data mainly from large nationally representative and nationwide surveys, such as the 1989, 1991, 1993 and 1997 China Health and Nutrition Surveys, in combination with comparative analysis across the regions of the world, we examine these factors. First, we show the shifts in diet and activity are consistent with the rapid changes in child and adult obesity and in some cases have been causally linked. We then provide a few examples of the rapid changes in the structure of diet and activity, in particular associated with increased income. Cross-country and in-depth analysis of the China study are used to explore these relationships. People living in urban areas consume diets distinctly different from those of their rural counterparts. One of the more profound effects is the accelerated change in the structure of diet, only partially explained by economic factors. A second is the emergence of a large proportion of families with both currently malnourished and overweight members as is shown by comparative analysis of a number of Asian and Latin American countries. J. Nutr. 131: 871S–873S, 2001. |
Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation changes speech respiratory and laryngeal control in Parkinson’s disease | Adequate respiratory and laryngeal motor control are essential for speech, but may be impaired in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN DBS) improves limb function in PD, but the effects on respiratory and laryngeal control remain unknown. We tested whether STN DBS would change aerodynamic measures of respiratory and laryngeal control, and whether these changes were correlated with limb function and stimulation parameters. Eighteen PD participants with bilateral STN DBS were tested within a morning session after a minimum of 12 h since their most recent dose of anti-PD medication. Testing occurred when DBS was on, and again 1 h after DBS was turned off, and included aerodynamic measures during syllable production, and standard clinical ratings of limb function. We found that PD participants exhibited changes with DBS, consistent with increased respiratory driving pressure (n = 9) and increased vocal fold closure (n = 9). However, most participants exceeded a typical operating range for these respiratory and laryngeal control variables with DBS. Changes were uncorrelated with limb function, but showed some correlation with stimulation frequency and pulse width, suggesting that speech may benefit more from low-frequency stimulation and shorter pulse width. Therefore, high-frequency STN DBS may be less beneficial for speech-related respiratory and laryngeal control than for limb motor control. It is important to consider these distinctions and their underlying mechanisms when assessing the impact of STN DBS on PD. |
A Unified Local and Global Model for Discourse Coherence | We present a model for discourse coherence which combines the local entitybased approach of (Barzilay and Lapata, 2005) and the HMM-based content model of (Barzilay and Lee, 2004). Unlike the mixture model of (Soricut and Marcu, 2006), we learn local and global features jointly, providing a better theoretical explanation of how they are useful. As the local component of our model we adapt (Barzilay and Lapata, 2005) by relaxing independence assumptions so that it is effective when estimated generatively. Our model performs the ordering task competitively with (Soricut and Marcu, 2006), and significantly better than either of the models it is based on. |
HyperFlow: A Heterogeneous Dataflow Architecture | We propose a dataflow architecture, called HyperFlow, that offers a supporting infrastructure that creates an abstraction layer over computation resources and naturally exposes heterogeneous computation to dataflow processing. In order to show the efficiency of our system as well as testing it, we have included a set of synthetic and real-case applications. First, we designed a general suite of micro-benchmarks that captures main parallel pipeline structures and allows evaluation of HyperFlow under different stress conditions. Finally, we demonstrate the potential of our system with relevant applications in visualization. Implementations in HyperFlow are shown to have greater performance than actual hand-tuning codes, yet still providing high scalability on different platforms. |
Syphilis and HIV co-infection. Epidemiology, treatment and molecular typing of Treponema pallidum. | The studies included in this PhD thesis examined the interactions of syphilis, which is caused by Treponema pallidum, and HIV. Syphilis reemerged worldwide in the late 1990s and hereafter increasing rates of early syphilis were also reported in Denmark. The proportion of patients with concurrent HIV has been substantial, ranging from one third to almost two thirds of patients diagnosed with syphilis some years. Given that syphilis facilitates transmission and acquisition of HIV the two sexually transmitted diseases are of major public health concern. Further, syphilis has a negative impact on HIV infection, resulting in increasing viral loads and decreasing CD4 cell counts during syphilis infection. Likewise, HIV has an impact on the clinical course of syphilis; patients with concurrent HIV are thought to be at increased risk of neurological complications and treatment failure. Almost ten per cent of Danish men with syphilis acquired HIV infection within five years after they were diagnosed with syphilis during an 11-year study period. Interestingly, the risk of HIV declined during the later part of the period. Moreover, HIV-infected men had a substantial increased risk of re-infection with syphilis compared to HIV-uninfected men. As one third of the HIV-infected patients had viral loads >1,000 copies/ml, our conclusion supported the initiation of cART in more HIV-infected MSM to reduce HIV transmission. During a five-year study period, including the majority of HIV-infected patients from the Copenhagen area, we observed that syphilis was diagnosed in the primary, secondary, early and late latent stage. These patients were treated with either doxycycline or penicillin and the rate of treatment failure was similar in the two groups, indicating that doxycycline can be used as a treatment alternative - at least in an HIV-infected population. During a four-year study period, the T. pallidum strain type distribution was investigated among patients diagnosed by PCR testing of material from genital lesions. In total, 22 strain types were identified. HIV-infected patients were diagnosed with nine different strains types and a difference by HIV status was not observed indicating that HIV-infected patients did not belong to separate sexual networks. In conclusion, concurrent HIV remains common in patients diagnosed with syphilis in Denmark, both in those diagnosed by serological testing and PCR testing. Although the rate of syphilis has stabilized in recent years, a spread to low-risk groups is of concern, especially due to the complex symptomatology of syphilis. However, given the efficient treatment options and the targeted screening of pregnant women and persons at higher risk of syphilis, control of the infection seems within reach. Avoiding new HIV infections is the major challenge and here cART may play a prominent role. |
Multichannel Shopper Segments and Their Covariates | The proliferation of channels has created new challenges for research, including understanding how consumers may be segmented with respect o their information search and purchase behavior in multichannel environment. This research considers shopping a dynamic process that consists f search and purchase phases, in which the total utility of shopping process is determined by the perceived consumer utility toward channel use, hich is mainly driven by consumer characteristics. The authors (1) segment consumers on the basis of their attitudes toward multiple channels as earch and purchase alternatives; (2) investigate the association among psychological, economic, and sociodemographic covariates and segment embership; and (3) explore how multichannel behavior might differ across different product categories. Using survey data from 364 Dutch onsumers and Latent-Class Analyse, they identify three segments – multichannel enthusiasts, uninvolved shoppers, and store-focused consumers and covariates, such as shopping enjoyment, loyalty, and innovativeness that predict segment membership. The category-specific analysis suggests hat overall segment descriptions apply generally to a variety of categories, though some differences exist, including the impact of covariates, across ategories. The authors discuss implications for further research and practice. 2008 New York University. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
Suitability of forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity vs percentage of predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second for the classification of asthma severity in adolescents. | OBJECTIVE
To determine whether lung function alters asthma severity based on symptom history in asthmatic adolescents.
DESIGN
Data on asthma symptoms and lung function were collected from adolescents randomly selected from the general population.
SETTING
Five schools from the central Wellington, New Zealand, area during 2003 to 2005.
PARTICIPANTS
Two hundred twenty-four secondary school students aged 13 to 17 years (asthmatic, 118; nonasthmatic, 106).
MAIN EXPOSURES
Asthma questionnaire and lung function testing.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Distribution of asthmatic adolescents in each severity class based on symptoms, lung function, or a combination of both.
RESULTS
Median values for all spirometric parameters for asthmatic adolescents, apart from forced expiratory volume in the first second of expiration (FEV(1))/forced vital capacity (FVC), were in the normal range. Distribution of severity (based on symptoms and beta(2)-agonist use with adjustment for regular inhaled corticosteroid use) was 48.3%, mild; 28.8%, moderate; and 22.9%, severe asthma. For severity based on percentages of predicted FEV(1) and predicted forced expiratory flow, midexpiratory phase (FEF(25%-75%)) and FEV(1)/FVC, the percentages were 89.8%, 86.4%, and 63.5%, mild; 9.3%, 10.2%, and 18.6%, moderate; and 0.9%, 3.4%, and 17.8%, severe asthma, respectively. When percentages of predicted FEV(1) or predicted FEF(25%-75%) or FEV(1)/FVC were added to symptom severity, 6.8%, 5.1%, and 16.9% of asthmatic adolescents were reclassified into another severity group, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS
The majority of asthmatic adolescents have normal lung function despite experiencing significant asthma symptoms. Adding FEV(1)/FVC to symptom history changes the distribution of severity; however, both percentages of predicted FEV(1) and FEF(25%-75%) have little added effect in assessing asthma severity in adolescents. |
Augmented Auditory Representation of e-Texts for Text-to-Speech Systems | Emerging electronic text formats include hierarchical structure and visualization related information that current Text-to-Speech (TtS) systems ignore. In this paper we present a novel approach for composing detailed auditory representation of e-texts using speech and audio. Furthermore, we provide a scripting language (CAD scripts) for defining specific customizations on the operation of a TtS. CAD scripts can be assigned as well to specific text meta-data to enable their discrete auditory representation. This approach can form a mean for a detailed exchange of functionality across different TtS implementations. Moreover, it can be hosted to current TtS systems with minor (or major) modifications. Finally, we briefly present the implementation of DEMOSTHeNES Composer for augmented auditory generation of meta-text using the above methodology. |
Ontology Based SMS Controller for Smart Phones | Text analysis includes lexical analysis of the text and has been widely studied and used in diverse applications. In the last decade, researchers have proposed many efficient solutions to analyze / classify large text dataset, however, analysis / classification of short text is still a challenge because 1) the data is very sparse 2) It contains noise words and 3) It is difficult to understand the syntactical structure of the text. Short Messaging Service (SMS) is a text messaging service for mobile/smart phone and this service is frequently used by all mobile users. Because of the popularity of SMS service, marketing companies nowadays are also using this service for direct marketing also known as SMS marketing.In this paper, we have proposed Ontology based SMS Controller which analyze the text message and classify it using ontology aslegitimate or spam. The proposed system has been tested on different scenarios and experimental results shows that the proposed solution is effective both in terms of efficiency and time. Keywords—Short Text Classification; SMS Spam; Text Analysis; Ontology based SMS Spam; Text Analysis and Ontology |
MQT, an Approach for Run-Time Query Translation: From EOL to SQL | Managing models requires extracting information from them and modifying them, and this is performed through queries. Queries can be executed at the model or at the persistence-level. Both are complementary but while model-level queries are closer to modelling engineers, persistence-level queries are specific to the persistence technology and leverage its capabilities. This paper presents MQT, an approach that translates EOL (model-level queries) to SQL (persistence-level queries) at runtime. Runtime translation provides several benefits: (i) queries are executed only when the information is required; (ii) context and metamodel information is used to get more performant translated queries; and (iii) supports translating query programs using variables and dependant queries. Translation process used by MQT is described through two examples and we also evaluate performance of the approach. |
ISSAQ: An Integrated Sensing Systems for Real-Time Indoor Air Quality Monitoring | With growing transportation and population density, increasing global warming and sudden climate change, air quality is one of the critical measures that is needed to be monitored closely on a real-time basis in today's urban ecosystems. This paper examines the issues, infrastructure, information processing, and challenges of designing and implementing an integrated sensing system for real-time indoor air quality monitoring. The system aims to detect the level of seven gases, ozone (O3), particulate matter, carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), volatile organic compound, and carbon dioxide (CO2), on a real-time basis and provides overall air quality alert timely. Experiments are conducted to validate and support the development of the system for real-time monitoring and alerting. |
A Fabula Model for Emergent Narrative | In this paper we present our continuing efforts to generate narrative using a character-centric approach. In particular we discuss the advantages of explicitly representing the emergent event sequence in order to be able to exert influence on it and generate stories that ‘retell’ the emergent narrative. Based on a narrative distinction between fabula, plot and presentation, we make a first step by presenting a model based on story comprehension that can capture the fabula, and show how it can be used for the automatic creation of stories. |
The IDvIP Trial: A two-centre randomised double-blind controlled trial comparing intramuscular diamorphine and intramuscular pethidine for labour analgesia | BACKGROUND
Intramuscular pethidine is routinely used throughout the UK for labour analgesia. Studies have suggested that pethidine provides little pain relief in labour and has a number of side effects affecting mother and neonate. It can cause nausea, vomiting and dysphoria in mothers and can cause reduced fetal heart rate variability and accelerations. Neonatal effects include respiratory depression and impaired feeding. There are few large studies comparing the relative side effects and efficacy of different opioids in labour. A small trial comparing intramuscular pethidine with diamorphine, showed diamorphine to have some benefits over pethidine when used for labour analgesia but the study did not investigate the adverse effects of either opioid.
METHODS
The Intramuscular Diamorphine versus Intramuscular Pethidine (IDvIP) trial is a randomised double-blind two centre controlled trial comparing intramuscular diamorphine and pethidine regarding their analgesic efficacy in labour and their side effects in mother, fetus and neonate. Information about the trial will be provided to women in the antenatal period or in early labour. Consent and recruitment to the trial will be obtained when the mother requests opioid analgesia. The sample size requirement is 406 women with data on primary outcomes. The maternal primary outcomes are pain relief during the first 3 hours after trial analgesia and specifically pain relief after 60 minutes. The neonatal primary outcomes are need for resuscitation and Apgar Score <7 at 1 minute. The secondary outcomes are an additional measure of pain relief, maternal sedation, nausea and vomiting, maternal oxygen saturation, satisfaction with analgesia, whether method of analgesia would be used again, use of Entonox, umbilical arterial and venous pH, fetal heart rate, meconium staining, time from delivery to first breath, Apgar scores at 5 mins, naloxone requirement, transfer to neonatal intensive care unit, neonatal haemoglobin oxygen saturation at 30, 60, 90, and 120 mins after delivery, and neonatal sedation and feeding behaviour during first 2 hours.
DISCUSSION
If the trial demonstrates that diamorphine provides better analgesia with fewer side effects in mother and neonate this could lead to a change in national practice and result in diamorphine becoming the preferred intramuscular opioid for analgesia in labour.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
ISRCTN14898678Eudra No: 2006-003250-18, REC Reference No: 06/Q1702/95, MHRA Authorisation No: 1443/0001/001-0001, NIHR UKCRN reference 6895, RfPB grant PB-PG-0407-13170_IR5. |
Paternal filicide in Québec. | In this retrospective study, relevant demographic, social, and clinical variables were examined in 77 cases of paternal filicide. Between 1991 and 2001, all consecutive coroners' files on domestic homicide in Québec, Canada, were reviewed, and 77 child victims of 60 male parent perpetrators were identified. The results support data indicating that more fathers commit filicide than do mothers. A history of family abuse was characteristic of a substantial number of cases, and most of the cases involved violent means of homicide. Filicide was frequently (60%) followed by the suicide of the perpetrator and more so (86%) in cases involving multiple sibling victims. The abuse of drugs and alcohol was rare. At the time of the offense, most of the perpetrators were suffering from a psychiatric illness, usually depressive disorder. Nearly one-third were in a psychotic state. The proportion of fatal abuse cases was comparatively low. Many of the perpetrators had had contact with health professionals prior to the offense, although none had received treatment for a psychiatric illness. |
Impact of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on attention, rumination and resting blood pressure in women with cancer: A waitlist-controlled study | The present study is a waitlist-controlled investigation of the impact of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program on mindful attentiveness, rumination and blood pressure (BP) in women with cancer. Female post-treatment cancer patients were recruited from the MBSR program waitlist. Participants completed self-report measures of mindfulness and rumination and measured casual BP at home before and after the 8-week MBSR program or waiting period. MBSR group participants demonstrated higher levels of mindful attentiveness and decreased ruminative thinking following the intervention but no difference in BP, when compared to controls. In the MBSR group, decreases in rumination correlated with decreases in SBP and increases in mindful attention. When participants were assigned to “Higher BP” and “Lower BP” conditions based on mean BP values at week 1, “Higher BP” participants in the MBSR group (n = 19) had lower SBP at week 8 relative to the control group (n = 16). A MBSR program may be efficacious in increasing mindful attention and decreasing rumination in women with cancer. Randomized controlled trials are needed to evaluate an impact on clinically elevated BP. |
The effect of cupric ion on the reoxidation pathway of an IgG1 immunoglobulin. | Abstract The addition of a 5–10μM of cupric ion to the reoxidation medium of a partially reduced IgG protein results in an altered pathway for covalent reassembly of the molecule. The formation of HL is favored over that of H 2 and H 2 L. |
Performance assessment of Multilateration Systems - a solution to nextgen surveillance | Multilateration (MLAT) surveillance is now being used in all types of airspace for air traffic management. MLAT can be used for airport surface movement surveillance as well as for terminal and en route surveillance, using Wide Area Multilateration (WAM). MLAT is a low-cost technology that not only has major advantages in operations and maintenance, but also provides excellent performance under all conditions, especially for countries with large geographic areas or mountainous terrain to cover. This paper focuses on performance metrics from operational system data to demonstrate that the performance of Era's MLAT systems meet surveillance requirements for all surveillance applications. This includes the key performance requirements for the various surveillance applications that are evaluated, including accuracy, coverage, update rate, integrity and availability. |
Zingiber officinale (ginger) compounds have tetracycline-resistance modifying effects against clinical extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. | Extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (XDRAB) is a growing and serious nosocomial infection worldwide, such that developing new agents against it is critical. The antimicrobial activities of the rhizomes from Zingiber officinale, known as ginger, have not been proven in clinical bacterial isolates with extensive drug-resistance. This study aimed to investigate the effects of four known components of ginger, [6]-dehydrogingerdione, [10]-gingerol, [6]-shogaol and [6]-gingerol, against clinical XDRAB. All these compounds showed antibacterial effects against XDRAB. Combined with tetracycline, they showed good resistance modifying effects to modulate tetracycline resistance. Using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging method, these four ginger compounds demonstrated antioxidant properties, which were inhibited by MnO₂, an oxidant without antibacterial effects. After the antioxidant property was blocked, their antimicrobial effects were abolished significantly. These results indicate that ginger compounds have antioxidant effects that partially contribute to their antimicrobial activity and are candidates for use in the treatment of infections with XDRAB. |
The CAS-PEAL Large-Scale Chinese Face Database and Baseline Evaluations | In this paper, we describe the acquisition and contents of a large-scale Chinese face database: the CAS-PEAL face database. The goals of creating the CAS-PEAL face database include the following: 1) providing the worldwide researchers of face recognition with different sources of variations, particularly pose, expression, accessories, and lighting (PEAL), and exhaustive ground-truth information in one uniform database; 2) advancing the state-of-the-art face recognition technologies aiming at practical applications by using off-the-shelf imaging equipment and by designing normal face variations in the database; and 3) providing a large-scale face database of Mongolian. Currently, the CAS-PEAL face database contains 99 594 images of 1040 individuals (595 males and 445 females). A total of nine cameras are mounted horizontally on an arc arm to simultaneously capture images across different poses. Each subject is asked to look straight ahead, up, and down to obtain 27 images in three shots. Five facial expressions, six accessories, and 15 lighting changes are also included in the database. A selected subset of the database (CAS-PEAL-R1, containing 30 863 images of the 1040 subjects) is available to other researchers now. We discuss the evaluation protocol based on the CAS-PEAL-R1 database and present the performance of four algorithms as a baseline to do the following: 1) elementarily assess the difficulty of the database for face recognition algorithms; 2) preference evaluation results for researchers using the database; and 3) identify the strengths and weaknesses of the commonly used algorithms. |
Efficacy and safety of administration of oral iron chelator deferiprone in patients with early myelodysplastic syndrome. | Forty-eight patients with early myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) without excess of blasts, with average initial serum ferritin levels of 2739.5 μg/L (range 825-11287 μg/L), were treated with deferiprone (L1) in a daily dose of 40-90 mg/kg. Median duration of chelation treatment was 10.9 months (range 4-24 months). Chelation was effective (maintained or decreased iron stores) in 16 out of 22 patients (73%) with serum ferritin levels <2000 μg/L in contrast to only 12 out of 26 patients with serum ferritin levels >2000 μg/L. Combination of L1 with recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) (30-40 kU/week) resulted in effective chelation in five additional patients with serum ferritin levels >3000 μg/L. Incidence of adverse effects was comparable to that in thalassemic patients. Gastrointestinal symptoms represented the most frequent adverse effect of L1 therapy (37.5% of patients) that limited an effective escalation of the daily dose of the drug and led to discontinuation of the treatment for six patients. A decreased number of granulocytes was observed in five (13%) patients and agranulocytosis occurred in two patients (4%). Granulocyte counts were restored after cessation of L1 treatment and administration of granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) in all but one patient. Administration of L1 in a daily dose of at least 75 mg/kg may represent an alternative approach in treatment of mild and moderate iron overload in MDS patients who cannot be treated with deferasirox (DFRA) or deferoxamine (DFO). |
Automated memory leak diagnosis by regression testing | Memory leaks are tedious to detect and require significant debugging effort to be reproduced and localized. In particular, many of such bugs escape classical testing processes used in software development. One of the reasons is that unit and integration tests run too short for leaks to manifest via memory bloat or degraded performance. Moreover, many of such defects are environment-sensitive and not triggered by a test suite. Consequently, leaks are frequently discovered in the production scenario, causing elevated costs. In this paper we propose an approach for automated diagnosis of memory leaks during the development phase. Our technique is based on regression testing and exploits existing test suites. The key idea is to compare object (de-)allocation statistics (collected during unit/integration test executions) between a previous and the current software version. By grouping these statistics according to object creation sites we can detect anomalies and pinpoint the potential root causes of memory leaks. Such diagnosis can be completed before a visible memory bloat occurs, and in time proportional to the execution of test suite. We evaluate our approach using real leaks found in 7 Java applications. Results show that our approach has sufficient detection accuracy and is effective in isolating the leaky allocation site: true defect locations rank relatively high in the lists of suspicious code locations if the tests trigger the leak pattern. Our prototypical system imposes an acceptable instrumentation and execution overhead for practical memory leak detection even in large software projects. |
Neural Episodic Control | Deep reinforcement learning methods attain super-human performance in a wide range of environments. Such methods are grossly inefficient, often taking orders of magnitudes more data than humans to achieve reasonable performance. We propose Neural Episodic Control: a deep reinforcement learning agent that is able to rapidly assimilate new experiences and act upon them. Our agent uses a semi-tabular representation of the value function: a buffer of past experience containing slowly changing state representations and rapidly updated estimates of the value function. We show across a wide range of environments that our agent learns significantly faster than other state-of-the-art, general purpose deep reinforcement learning agents. |
Modeling impression discounting in large-scale recommender systems | Recommender systems have become very important for many online activities, such as watching movies, shopping for products, and connecting with friends on social networks. User behavioral analysis and user feedback (both explicit and implicit) modeling are crucial for the improvement of any online recommender system. Widely adopted recommender systems at LinkedIn such as "People You May Know" and "Endorsements" are evolving by analyzing user behaviors on impressed recommendation items.
In this paper, we address modeling impression discounting of recommended items, that is, how to model user's no-action feedback on impressed recommended items. The main contributions of this paper include (1) large-scale analysis of impression data from LinkedIn and KDD Cup; (2) novel anti-noise regression techniques, and its application to learn four different impression discounting functions including linear decay, inverse decay, exponential decay, and quadratic decay; (3) applying these impression discounting functions to LinkedIn's "People You May Know" and "Endorsements" recommender systems. |
Comparing laparoscopic antireflux surgery with esomeprazole in the management of patients with chronic gastro-oesophageal reflux disease: a 3-year interim analysis of the LOTUS trial | BACKGROUND
With the introduction of laparoscopic antireflux surgery (LARS) for gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) along with the increasing efficacy of modern medical treatment, a direct comparison is warranted. The 3-year interim results of a randomised study comparing both the efficacy and safety of LARS and esomeprazole (ESO) are reported.
METHODS
LOTUS is an open, parallel-group multicentre, randomised and controlled trial conducted in dedicated centres in 11 European countries. LARS was completed according to a standardised protocol, comprising a total fundoplication and a crural repair. Medical treatment comprised ESO 20 mg once daily, which could be increased stepwise to 40 mg once daily and then 20 mg twice daily in the case of incomplete GORD control. The primary outcome variable was time to treatment failure (Kaplan-Meier analysis). Treatment failure was defined on the basis of symptomatic relapse requiring treatment beyond that stated in the protocol.
RESULTS
554 patients were randomised, of whom 288 were allocated to LARS and 266 to ESO. The two study arms were well matched. The proportions of patients who remained in remission after 3 years were similar for the two therapies: 90% of surgical patients compared with 93% medically treated for the intention to treat population, p = 0.25 (90% vs 95% per protocol). No major unexpected postoperative complications were experienced and ESO was well tolerated. However, postfundoplication complaints remain a problem after LARS.
CONCLUSIONS
Over the first 3 years of this long-term study, both laparoscopic total fundoplication and continuous ESO treatment were similarly effective and well-tolerated therapeutic strategies for providing effective control of GORD. |
The Implementation and Appraisal of a Novel Confirmatory HIV-1 Testing Algorithm in the Microbicides Development Programme 301 Trial (MDP301) | UNLABELLED
We describe the application of a novel HIV confirmatory testing algorithm to determine the primary efficacy endpoint in a large Phase III microbicide trial. 9385 women were enrolled between 2005 and 2009. Of these women, 537 (6%) had at least one positive HIV rapid test after enrolment. This triggered the use of the algorithm which made use of archived serum and Buffy Coat samples. The overall sample set was >95% complete. 419 (78%) of the rapid test positive samples were confirmed as primary endpoints using a combination of assays for the detection of HIV-specific antibodies (EIA's and Western Blot), and for components of the virus itself (PCR for the detection of nucleic acids and EIA for p24 antigen). 63 (12%) cases were confirmed as being HIV-positive at screening or enrolment and 55 (10%) were confirmed as HIV negative. The testing algorithm confirmed the endpoint at the same visit as that of the first positive rapid test in 90% of cases and at the time of the preceding visit in 10% of cases. Of the 63 cases which were subsequently confirmed to be HIV-1 positive at or before enrolment, 54 specimens contained no detectable HIV antibodies at screening or enrolment. However, 43 were positive using an EIA which detects both HIV antigen and antibody and also had a positive p24 antigen or HIV PCR test, which was highly suggestive of acute infection. There were 6 unusual cases which had undetectable HIV-1 DNA or RNA. In 4 of the 6 cases the presence of HIV-1-specific antibodies was confirmed by Western Blot. One of these cases with an indeterminate Western Blot was a previous vaccine trial participant. The algorithm served the objectives of the study well and can be recommended for use in determining HIV as an endpoint in clinical trials.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
ISRCTN.org ISRCTN 64716212. |
Engaging undergraduate students with robotic design projects | This paper describes our experiences developing robotics design projects for undergraduate students in our electrical and computer engineering curriculum at Georgia Tech. Several low-cost alternatives for developing robot-based design projects and designing the associated electronics and sensors to control them are included. |
Enhancement of dielectric and electrical properties in BT/SiC/PVDF three-phase composite through microstructure tailoring | Abstract A polymer composite with high dielectric permittivity was prepared by embedding silicon carbide (SiC) whisker with an average diameter of 500 nm–1 μm in poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF). However, the high dielectric loss and electrical conductivity of the two-phase composite prohibits its potential applications. Barium titanate (BT) particles with average diameter of 100 nm and 1 μm were incorporated as a third phase to fabricate a three-phase composite. The morphology structure, dielectric and electrical properties before and after the addition of BT particles were investigated. The three-phase composite exhibits largely suppressed dielectric loss and electrical conductivity without sacrificing the high dielectric permittivity, which was extremely hard to be realized for two-phase composite. It is also found that the nano-size BT is more favorable in achieving high dielectric permittivity than the micro-size BT, where their dielectric loss and electrical conductivity are similar. Furthermore, electric modulus analysis confirms the largely suppressed electron conduction process which results in the enhanced dielectric and electrical properties in three-phase composite. |
Cognitive-behavioral therapy in depressed primary care patients with co-occurring problematic alcohol use: effect of telephone-administered vs. face-to-face treatment-a secondary analysis. | This secondary analysis of a larger study compared adherence to telephone-administered cognitive-behavioral therapy (T-CBT) vs. face-to-face CBT and depression outcomes in depressed primary care patients with co-occurring problematic alcohol use. To our knowledge, T-CBT has never been directly compared to face-to-face CBT in such a sample of primary care patients. Participants were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to face-to-face CBT or T-CBT for depression. Participants receiving T-CBT (n = 50) and face-to-face CBT (n = 53) were compared at baseline, end of treatment (week 18), and three-month and six-month follow-ups. Face-to-face CBT and T-CBT groups did not significantly differ in age, sex, ethnicity, marital status, educational level, severity of depression, antidepressant use, and total score on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Face-to-face CBT and T-CBT groups were similar on all treatment adherence outcomes and depression outcomes at all time points. T-CBT and face-to-face CBT had similar treatment adherence and efficacy for the treatment of depression in depressed primary care patients with co-occurring problematic alcohol use. When targeting patients who might have difficulties in accessing care, primary care clinicians may consider both types of CBT delivery when treating depression in patients with co-occurring problematic alcohol use. |
Nonbacterial Causes of Lymphangitis with Streaking. | BACKGROUND
Lymphangitic streaking, characterized by linear erythema on the skin, is most commonly observed in the setting of bacterial infection. However, a number of nonbacterial causes can result in lymphangitic streaking. We sought to elucidate the nonbacterial causes of lymphangitic streaking that may mimic bacterial infection to broaden clinicians' differential diagnosis for patients presenting with lymphangitic streaking.
METHODS
We performed a review of the literature, including all available reports pertaining to nonbacterial causes of lymphangitic streaking.
RESULTS
Various nonbacterial causes can result in lymphangitic streaking, including viral and fungal infections, insect or spider bites, and iatrogenic etiologies.
CONCLUSION
Awareness of potential nonbacterial causes of superficial lymphangitis is important to avoid misdiagnosis and delay the administration of appropriate care. |
Future Coastal Population Growth and Exposure to Sea-Level Rise and
Coastal Flooding - A Global Assessment | Coastal zones are exposed to a range of coastal hazards including sea-level rise with its related effects. At the same time, they are more densely populated than the hinterland and exhibit higher rates of population growth and urbanisation. As this trend is expected to continue into the future, we investigate how coastal populations will be affected by such impacts at global and regional scales by the years 2030 and 2060. Starting from baseline population estimates for the year 2000, we assess future population change in the low-elevation coastal zone and trends in exposure to 100-year coastal floods based on four different sea-level and socio-economic scenarios. Our method accounts for differential growth of coastal areas against the land-locked hinterland and for trends of urbanisation and expansive urban growth, as currently observed, but does not explicitly consider possible displacement or out-migration due to factors such as sea-level rise. We combine spatially explicit estimates of the baseline population with demographic data in order to derive scenario-driven projections of coastal population development. Our scenarios show that the number of people living in the low-elevation coastal zone, as well as the number of people exposed to flooding from 1-in-100 year storm surge events, is highest in Asia. China, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Viet Nam are estimated to have the highest total coastal population exposure in the baseline year and this ranking is expected to remain largely unchanged in the future. However, Africa is expected to experience the highest rates of population growth and urbanisation in the coastal zone, particularly in Egypt and sub-Saharan countries in Western and Eastern Africa. The results highlight countries and regions with a high degree of exposure to coastal flooding and help identifying regions where policies and adaptive planning for building resilient coastal communities are not only desirable but essential. Furthermore, we identify needs for further research and scope for improvement in this kind of scenario-based exposure analysis. |
Learning, invariance, and generalization in high-order neural networks. | High-order neural networks have been shown to have impressive computational, storage, and learning capabilities. This performance is because the order or structure of a high-order neural network can be tailored to the order or structure of a problem. Thus, a neural network designed for a particular class of problems becomes specialized but also very efficient in solving those problems. Furthermore, a priori knowledge, such as geometric invariances, can be encoded in high-order networks. Because this knowledge does not have to be learned, these networks are very efficient in solving problems that utilize this knowledge. |
Tamed to compatible: symplectic forms via moduli space integration | Fix a compact 4-dimensional manifold with self-dual second Betti number one and with a given symplectic form. This article proves the following: The Frêchet space of tamed almost complex structures as defined by the given symplectic form has an open and dense subset whose complex structures are compatible with respect to a symplectic form that is cohomologous to the given one. The theorem is proved by constructing the new symplectic form by integrating over a space of currents that are defined by pseudo-holomorphic curves. |
Continuous passive motion in the prevention of deep-vein thrombosis: a randomised comparison in trauma patients. | There is a high risk of venous thromboembolism when patients are immobilised following trauma. The combination of low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) with graduated compression stockings is frequently used in orthopaedic surgery to try and prevent this, but a relatively high incidence of thromboembolic events remains. Mechanical devices which perform continuous passive motion imitate contractions and increase the volume and velocity of venous flow. In this study 227 trauma patients were randomised to receive either treatment with the Arthroflow device and LMWH or only with the latter. The Arthroflow device passively extends and plantarflexes the feet. Patients were assessed initially by venous-occlusion plethysmography, compression ultrasonography and continuous wave Doppler, which were repeated weekly without knowledge of the category of randomisation. Those who showed evidence of deep-vein thrombosis underwent venography for confirmation. The incidence of deep-vein thrombosis was 25% in the LMWH group compared with 3.6% in those who had additional treatment with the Arthroflow device (p < 0.001). There were no substantial complications or problems of non-compliance with the Arthroflow device. Logistic regression analysis of the risk factors of deep-vein thrombosis showed high odds ratios for operation (4.1), immobilisation (4.3), older than 40 years of age (2.8) and obesity (2.2). |
Tool Detection and Operative Skill Assessment in Surgical Videos Using Region-Based Convolutional Neural Networks | Five billion people in the world lack access to quality surgical care. Surgeon skill varies dramatically, and many surgical patients suffer complications and avoidable harm. Improving surgical training and feedback would help to reduce the rate of complications—half of which have been shown to be preventable. To do this, it is essential to assess operative skill, a process that currently requires experts and is manual, time consuming, and subjective. In this work, we introduce an approach to automatically assess surgeon performance by tracking and analyzing tool movements in surgical videos, leveraging region-based convolutional neural networks. In order to study this problem, we also introduce a new dataset, m2cai16-tool-locations, which extends the m2cai16-tool dataset with spatial bounds of tools. While previous methods have addressed tool presence detection, ours is the first to not only detect presence but also spatially localize surgical tools in real-world laparoscopic surgical videos. We show that our method both effectively detects the spatial bounds of tools as well as significantly outperforms existing methods on tool presence detection. We further demonstrate the ability of our method to assess surgical quality through analysis of tool usage patterns, movement range, and economy of motion. |
A novel diode-clamped CSTBT with ultra-low on-state voltage and saturation current | A novel diode-clamped carrier stored trench bipolar transistor (CSTBT) with improved performances is proposed. The improvement has been achieved by introducing a P-layer region under the trench gate, which is connected to the cathode electrode through two integrated series diodes. In the blocking-state, almost all of the reverse voltage is sustained by P-layer/N-drift junction, which makes the doping concentration of the carrier stored layer is independent of the breakdown voltage, thus overcoming the inherited on-state versus breakdown tradeoff appearing in conventional CSTBT. Furthermore, drain-to-source voltage of the NMOS in the channel region is clamped by the two integrated series diodes in the on-state, resulting in an ultra-low saturation current of the proposed CSTBT. The simulation results show that the saturation current and on-state voltage drop of the proposed CSTBT are reduced by 72.6% and 29.1% respectively, compared with the conventional one. |
Vitamin D levels and comorbidities in ambulatory and hospitalized patients in Austria | Vitamin D in its hormonal active form, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (calcitriol), has a major impact on bone turnover by regulating calcium and phosphate homoeostasis. By binding the active vitamin D hormone to the vitamin D receptor (VDR), it acts as a nuclear transcription factor (Bouillon et al., Endocr Rev 29(6):726–776, 2008). The discovery that almost all tissues and cells in the body express the VDR and that several tissues possess the enzymatic capability to convert 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)-D3; cholecalciferol) to the active form, suggests that vitamin D fulfills various extra-osseous functions (Bouillon et al., Endocr Rev 29(6):726–776, 2008; Holick, N Engl J Med 357(3):266–281, 2007). For example, VDR ensures adequate intestinal calcium absorption by regulating the synthesis of several calcium transport proteins in the duodenum (Bouillon et al., Endocr Rev 29(6):726–776, 2008). Additionally, vitamin D is important for proper muscle function, and some studies suggest it may contribute to prevent type 1 diabetes mellitus, certain autoimmune diseases, hypertension, and several types of cancer (Holick, N Engl J Med 357(3):266–281, 2007). |
3D Printing Your Wireless Coverage | Directing wireless signals and customizing wireless coverage is of great importance in residential, commercial, and industrial environments. It can improve the wireless reception quality, reduce the energy consumption, and achieve better security and privacy. To this end, we propose \name, a new computational approach to control wireless coverage by mounting signal reflectors in carefully optimized shapes on wireless routers. Leveraging 3D reconstruction, fast-wave simulations in acoustics, computational optimization, and 3D fabrication, our method is low-cost, adapts to different wireless routers and physical environments, and has a far-reaching impact by interweaving computational techniques to solve key problems in wireless communication. |
SpanFS: A Scalable File System on Fast Storage Devices | Most recent storage devices, such as NAND flash-based solid state drives (SSDs), provide low access latency and high degree of parallelism. However, conventional file systems, which are designed for slow hard disk drives, often encounter severe scalability bottlenecks in exploiting the advances of these fast storage devices on manycore architectures. To scale file systems to many cores, we propose SpanFS, a novel file system which consists of a collection of micro file system services called domains. SpanFS distributes files and directories among the domains, provides a global file system view on top of the domains and maintains consistency in case of system crashes. SpanFS is implemented based on the Ext4 file system. Experimental results evaluating SpanFS against Ext4 on a modern PCI-E SSD show that SpanFS scales much better than Ext4 on a 32-core machine. In microbenchmarks SpanFS outperforms Ext4 by up to 1226%. In application-level benchmarks SpanFS improves the performance by up to 73% relative to Ext4. |
FEM-Based Surface Wave Multimixed-Path Propagator and Path Loss Predictions | A finite element method (FEM)-based surface wave propagation prediction simulator is developed. The simulator is tested and calibrated against analytical ray-mode models that also take into account the Millington recovery effects. It successfully calculates path losses over multimixed propagation paths at MF and HF frequency bands where the surface wave contribution is significant. |
Citeology: visualizing paper genealogy | Citeology is an interactive visualization that looks at the relationships between research publications through their use of citations. The sample corpus uses all 3,502 papers published at ACM CHI and UIST between 1982 and 2010, and the 11,699 citations between them. A connection is drawn between each paper and all papers which it referenced from the collection. For an individual paper, the resulting visualization represents a "family tree" of sorts, showing multiple generations of referenced papers which the target paper built upon, and all descendant generations of future papers. |
A dual-metal-trench Schottky pinch-rectifier in 4H-SiC | Characteristics of high-voltage dual-metal-trench (DMT) SiC Schottky pinch-rectifiers are reported for the first time. At a reverse bias of 300 V, the reverse leakage current of the SiC DMT device is 75 times less than that of a planar device while the forward bias characteristics remain comparable to those of a planar device. In this work, 4H-SiC pinch-rectifiers have been fabricated using a small/large barrier height (Ti/Ni) DMT device structure. The DMT structure is specially designed to permit simple fabrication in SiC. The Ti Schottky contact metal serves as a self-aligned trench etch mask and only four basic fabrication steps are required. |
User-Oriented Context Suggestion | Recommender systems have been used in many domains to assist users' decision making by providing item recommendations and thereby reducing information overload. Context-aware recommender systems go further, incorporating the variability of users' preferences across contexts, and suggesting items that are appropriate in different contexts. In this paper, we present a novel recommendation task, "Context Suggestion", whereby the system recommends contexts in which items may be selected. We introduce the motivations behind the notion of context suggestion and discuss several potential solutions. In particular, we focus specifically on user-oriented context suggestion which involves recommending appropriate contexts based on a user's profile. We propose extensions of well-known context-aware recommendation algorithms such as tensor factorization and deviation-based contextual modeling and adapt them as methods to recommend contexts instead of items. In our empirical evaluation, we compare the proposed solutions to several baseline algorithms using four real-world data sets. |
Pervasive Healthcare and Wireless Health Monitoring | With an increasingly mobile society and the worldwide deployment of mobile and wireless networks, the wireless infrastructure can support many current and emerging healthcare applications. This could fulfill the vision of “Pervasive Healthcare” or healthcare to anyone, anytime, and anywhere by removing locational, time and other restraints while increasing both the coverage and the quality. In this paper, we present applications and requirements of pervasive healthcare, wireless networking solutions and several important research problems. The pervasive healthcare applications include pervasive health monitoring, intelligent emergency management system, pervasive healthcare data access, and ubiquitous mobile telemedicine. One major application in pervasive healthcare, termed comprehensive health monitoring is presented in significant details using wireless networking solutions of wireless LANs, ad hoc wireless networks, and, cellular/GSM/3G infrastructureoriented networks.Many interesting challenges of comprehensive wireless health monitoring, including context-awareness, reliability, and, autonomous and adaptable operation are also presented along with several high-level solutions. Several interesting research problems have been identified and presented for future research. |
Effective User Relevance Feedback for Image Retrieval with Image Signatures | Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) has attracted much attention due to the exponential growth of digital image collections that have become available in recent years. Relevance feedback (RF) in the context of search engines is a query expansion technique, which is based on relevance judgments about the top results that are initially returned for a given query. RF can be obtained directly from end users, inferred indirectly from user interactions with a result list, or even assumed (aka pseudo relevance feedback). RF information is used to generate a new query, aiming to re-focus the query towards more relevant results.
This paper presents a methodology for use of signature based image retrieval with a user in the loop to improve retrieval performance. The significance of this study is twofold. First, it shows how to effectively use explicit RF with signature based image retrieval to improve retrieval quality and efficiency. Second, this approach provides a mechanism for end users to refine their image queries. This is an important contribution because, to date, there is no effective way to reformulate an image query; our approach provides a solution to this problem.
Empirical experiments have been carried out to study the behaviour and optimal parameter settings of this approach. Empirical evaluations based on standard benchmarks demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in improving the performance of CBIR in terms of recall, precision, speed and scalability. |
Design Criteria for Stimulating Emotions in Web Applications | This work aims to identify the main aspects of Web design responsible for eliciting specific emotions. For this purpose, we performed a user study with 40 participants testing a Web application designed by applying a set of criteria for stimulating various emotions. In particular, we considered six emotions (hate, anxiety, boredom, fun, serenity, love), and for each of them a specific set of design criteria was exploited. The purpose of the study was to reach a better understanding regarding what design techniques are most important to stimulate each emotion. We report on the results obtained and discuss their implications. Such results can inform the development of guidelines for Web applications able to stimulate users’ emotions. |
Proteomics of heavy metal toxicity in plants. | Plants endure a variety of abiotic and biotic stresses, all of which cause major limitations to production. Among abiotic stressors, heavy metal contamination represents a global environmental problem endangering humans, animals, and plants. Exposure to heavy metals has been documented to induce changes in the expression of plant proteins. Proteins are macromolecules directly responsible for most biological processes in a living cell, while protein function is directly influenced by posttranslational modifications, which cannot be identified through genome studies. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct proteomic studies, which enable the elucidation of the presence and role of proteins under specific environmental conditions. This review attempts to present current knowledge on proteomic techniques developed with an aim to detect the response of plant to heavy metal stress. Significant contributions to a better understanding of the complex mechanisms of plant acclimation to metal stress are also discussed. |
Using Failure Modes, Mechanisms, and Effects Analysis in Medical Device Adverse Event Investigations | In the United States, when medical devices are associated with adverse events that result in death or serious injury, or have malfunctions that could lead to death/serious injury, these events must be reported to the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Devices and Radiologic Health by device manufacturers and user facilities. However, the defects in the medical device evaluation process (e.g., failing to identify the failure mechanisms), can result in assessment risks and reoccurrences of adverse events. This paper presents an approach for medical device evaluation by using failure modes, mechanisms, and effects analysis to identify the root causes and failure mechanisms, which can improve the designs and reliability of medical devices. This method can also help medical device manufacturers to generate an internal evaluation reports for medical device evaluation, which can improve the reporting process to Food and Drug Administration. |
SLAW: A New Mobility Model for Human Walks | Simulating human mobility is important in mobile networks because many mobile devices are either attached to or controlled by humans and it is very hard to deploy real mobile networks whose size is controllably scalable for performance evaluation. Lately various measurement studies of human walk traces have discovered several significant statistical patterns of human mobility. Namely these include truncated power-law distributions of flights, pause-times and inter-contact times, fractal way-points, and heterogeneously defined areas of individual mobility. Unfortunately, none of existing mobility models effectively captures all of these features. This paper presents a new mobility model called SLAW (Self-similar Least Action Walk) that can produce synthetic walk traces containing all these features. This is by far the first such model. Our performance study using using SLAW generated traces indicates that SLAW is effective in representing social contexts present among people sharing common interests or those in a single community such as university campus, companies and theme parks. The social contexts are typically common gathering places where most people visit during their daily lives such as student unions, dormitory, street malls and restaurants. SLAW expresses the mobility patterns involving these contexts by fractal waypoints and heavy-tail flights on top of the waypoints. We verify through simulation that SLAW brings out the unique performance features of various mobile network routing protocols. |
Comparing two evolutionary algorithm based methods for layout generation: Dense packing versus subdivision | We present and compare two evolutionary algorithm based methods for rectangular architectural layout generation: dense packing and subdivision algorithms. We analyze the characteristics of the two methods on the basis of three floor plan scenarios. Our analyses include the speed with which solutions are generated, the reliability with which optimal solutions can be found, and the number of different solutions that can be found overall. In a following step, we discuss the methods with respect to their different user interaction capabilities. In addition, we show that each method has the capability to generate more complex L-shaped layouts. Finally, we conclude that neither of the methods is superior but that each of them is suitable for use in distinct application scenarios because of its different properties. |
Creativity and Artificial Intelligence: A Digital Art Perspective | This paper describes the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to the creation of digital art. AI is a computational paradigm that codifies intelligence into machines. There are generally three types of AI and these are machine learning, evolutionary programming and soft computing. Machine learning is the statistical approach to building intelligent systems. Evolutionary programming is the use of natural evolutionary systems to design intelligent machines. Some of the evolutionary programming systems include genetic algorithm which is inspired by the principles of evolution and swarm optimization which is inspired by the swarming of birds, fish, ants etc. Soft computing includes techniques such as agent based modelling and fuzzy logic. Opportunities on the applications of these to digital art are explored. |
A study on success factors of logistics IT companies | Under this economic circumstance, the logistics firms located in port take better advantages than those in other areas. This study observed those firms with consciousness to which matters were affected a growth of the logistics IT firms. This study considered in terms of three factors which are an economic factor, a political factor and an internal-ability factor for the matters of logistics IT firms' success through the factor analysis. According to the factor analysis, subjective factors showed positive: (1) expanding market through the ideas and abilities, (2) internal relations and government support (3) capability of market identification and focusing on regional industrialization. As a result of the internal ability analysis, there were three positive matters such as (1) a factor of organization or human resource management, (2) relationship with consumer and resource and management ability for strategy, and (3) developing unique product, networking, suitable goods of regional industrialization. The external factor, through the factor analysis was turned out (1) an emerged political factor such as a support up venture, cluster composition, investing R&D and specialist training, (2) economic factor such as tax reduction, financial support, marketing collaboration, and renting office in a low price by regional government. |
Occupational Therapy in Mental Health Exploring the Safety and Therapeutic Effects of Deep Pressure Stimulation Using a Weighted Blanket | This paper presents the results of a concurrent, nested, mixed methods exploratory study on the safety and e ectiveness of the use of a 30 lb weighted blanket with a convenience sample of 32 adults. Safety is investigated measuring blood pressure, pulse rate, and pulse oximetry, and e ectiveness by electrodermal activity (EDA), the State Trait Anxiety Inventory-10 and an exit survey. The results reveal that Brian Mullen (E-mail: [email protected]), BS, is Graduate Research Assistant, Sundar Krishnamurty (E-mail: [email protected]), PhD, is In terim Department Head and Associate Professor, and Robert X. Gao (E-mail: [email protected]), PhD, is Professor; all are at University of MassachusettsAmherst, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering–ELAB Building, 160 Governors Drive, Amherst, MA 01003 . Tina Champagne (E-mail: [email protected]), MEd, OTR/L, is Occupational Therapy and Group Program Supervisor, and Debra Dickson (E-mail: [email protected]), APRN, BC, is Behavioral Health Clinical Nurse Specialist; both are at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Acute Inpatient Behav ioral Health Department, 30 Locust Street, Northampton, MA 01060. Address correspondence to Tina Champagne at the above address. The authors wish to acknowledge and thank the UMASS-Amherst School of Nursing for providing use of the nursing lab and vital signs monitoring equipment for the pur poses of this study and to Dr. Keli Mu for his assistance with the revisions of this paper. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, Vol. 24(1) 2008 Available online at http://otmh.haworthpress.com © 2008 by The Haworth Press. All rights reserved. doi:10.1300/J004v24n01_05 65 the use of the 30 lb weighted blanket, in the lying down position, is safe as evidenced by the vital sign metrics. Data obtained on e ectiveness reveal 33% demonstrated lowering in EDA when using the weighted blanket, 63% reported lower anxiety after use, and 78% preferred the weighted blanket as a calming modality. The results of this study will be used to form the basis for subsequent research on the therapeutic in u ence of the weighted blanket with adults during an acute inpatient mental health admission.doi:10.1300/J004v24n01_05 [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: <[email protected]> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress. com> © 2008 by The Haworth Press. All rights reserved.] |
Multiple-Loop Design Technique for High-Performance Low-Dropout Regulator | A new multiple-loop design technique for high-performance low-dropout (LDO) regulator designs has been proposed and successfully implemented in many commercial products for portable smart phone and tablet PC applications. The proposed LDO is composed of five loops that allows designers to obtain a good tradeoff between quiescent current and other performances, such as undershoot, overshoot, and so on. A total of one bandgap reference and 38 LDOs (including n-type and p-type LDOs, which will be named NLDO and PLDO, respectively) were integrated in one power-management IC chip for powering an application processor inside mobile devices. The proposed LDO has been fabricated based on 0.13-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu {m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> CMOS process and supplies various current capacities from 50 to 600 mA; 38 LDOs have been designed and supply different output voltage levels from 0.7 to 3.0 V. One of the proposed NLDOs consumes <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$14~\mu {A}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of the quiescent current and features under 56/24 mV of undershoot/overshoot at VOUT =1<italic>V</italic> as the load current steps up from 0 to 300 mA with 300 mA/1 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu {s}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> on a 1-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu {F}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> output capacitor. The measured output load and line regulations are 1.8 and 0.4 mV, respectively. The measured integrated output noise from 10 Hz to 100 kHz at <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{I}_{\mathrm{ LOAD}}=10\%$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of maximum current shows 80 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu {V}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> rms. The package chip size is <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$6.25 \times 6.25$ </tex-math></inline-formula> mm<sup>2</sup> with 169 balls. |
Sparse-Representation-Based Graph Embedding for Traffic Sign Recognition | Researchers have proposed various machine learning algorithms for traffic sign recognition, which is a supervised multicategory classification problem with unbalanced class frequencies and various appearances. We present a novel graph embedding algorithm that strikes a balance between local manifold structures and global discriminative information. A novel graph structure is designed to depict explicitly the local manifold structures of traffic signs with various appearances and to intuitively model between-class discriminative information. Through this graph structure, our algorithm effectively learns a compact and discriminative subspace. Moreover, by using L2, 1-norm, the proposed algorithm can preserve the sparse representation property in the original space after graph embedding, thereby generating a more accurate projection matrix. Experiments demonstrate that the proposed algorithm exhibits better performance than the recent state-of-the-art methods. |
Bilingualism delays age at onset of dementia, independent of education and immigration status. | OBJECTIVES
The purpose of the study was to determine the association between bilingualism and age at onset of dementia and its subtypes, taking into account potential confounding factors.
METHODS
Case records of 648 patients with dementia (391 of them bilingual) diagnosed in a specialist clinic were reviewed. The age at onset of first symptoms was compared between monolingual and bilingual groups. The influence of number of languages spoken, education, occupation, and other potentially interacting variables was examined.
RESULTS
Overall, bilingual patients developed dementia 4.5 years later than the monolingual ones. A significant difference in age at onset was found across Alzheimer disease dementia as well as frontotemporal dementia and vascular dementia, and was also observed in illiterate patients. There was no additional benefit to speaking more than 2 languages. The bilingual effect on age at dementia onset was shown independently of other potential confounding factors such as education, sex, occupation, and urban vs rural dwelling of subjects.
CONCLUSIONS
This is the largest study so far documenting a delayed onset of dementia in bilingual patients and the first one to show it separately in different dementia subtypes. It is the first study reporting a bilingual advantage in those who are illiterate, suggesting that education is not a sufficient explanation for the observed difference. The findings are interpreted in the context of the bilingual advantages in attention and executive functions. |
Current location-based next POI recommendation | Availability of large volume of community contributed location data enables a lot of location providing services and these services have attracted many industries and academic researchers by its importance. In this paper we propose the new recommender system that recommends the new POI for next hours. First we find the users with similar check-in sequences and depict their check-in sequences as a directed graph, then find the users current location. To recommend the new POI recommendation for next hour we refer to the directed graph we have created. Our algorithm considers both the temporal factor i.e., recommendation time, and the spatial(distance) at the same time. We conduct an experiment on random data collected from Foursquare and Gowalla. Experiment results show that our proposed model outperforms the collaborative-filtering based state-of-the-art recommender techniques. |
Graphical Models for Game Theory | We introduce a compact graph-theoretic representation for multi-party game theory. Our main result is a provably correct and efficient algorithm for computing approximate Nash equilibria in (one-stage) games represented by trees or sparse graphs. |
Deep Multimodal Fusion: A Hybrid Approach | We propose a novel hybrid model that exploits the strength of discriminative classifiers along with the representation power of generative models. Our focus is on detecting multimodal events in time varying sequences as well as generating missing data in any of the modalities. Discriminative classifiers have been shown to achieve higher performances than the corresponding generative likelihood-based classifiers. On the other hand, generative models learn a rich informative space which allows for data generation and joint feature representation that discriminative models lack. We propose a new model that jointly optimizes the representation space using a hybrid energy function. We employ a Restricted Boltzmann Machines (RBMs) based model to learn a shared representation across multiple modalities with time varying data. The Conditional RBMs (CRBMs) is an extension of the RBM model that takes into account short term temporal phenomena. The hybrid model involves augmenting CRBMs with a discriminative component for classification. For these purposes we propose a novel Multimodal Discriminative CRBMs (MMDCRBMs) model. First, we train the MMDCRBMs model using labeled data by training each modality, followed by training a fusion layer. Second, we exploit the generative capability of MMDCRBMs to activate the trained model so as to generate the lower-level data corresponding to the specific label that closely matches the actual input data. We evaluate our approach on ChaLearn dataset, audio-mocap, as well as the Tower Game dataset, mocap-mocap as well as three multimodal toy datasets. We report classification accuracy, generation accuracy, and localization accuracy and demonstrate its superiority compared to the state-of-the-art methods. |
A survey of hardware Trojan threat and defense | Hardware Trojans (HTs) can be implanted in security-weak parts of a chip with various means to steal the internal sensitive data or modify original functionality, which may lead to huge economic losses and great harm to society. Therefore, it is very important to analyze the specific HT threats existing in the whole life cycle of integrated circuits (ICs), and perform protection against hardware Trojans. In this paper, we elaborate an IC market model to illustrate the potential HT threats faced by the parties involved in the model. Then we categorize the recent research advances in the countermeasures against HT attacks. Finally, the challenges and prospects for HT defense are illuminated. & 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. |
Co-analysis of RAS Log and Job Log on Blue Gene/P | With the growth of system size and complexity, reliability has become of paramount importance for petascale systems. Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability (RAS) logs have been commonly used for failure analysis. However, analysis based on just the RAS logs has proved to be insufficient in understanding failures and system behaviors. To overcome the limitation of this existing methodologies, we analyze the Blue Gene/P RAS logs and the Blue Gene/P job logs in a cooperative manner. From our co-analysis effort, we have identified a dozen important observations about failure characteristics and job interruption characteristics on the Blue Gene/P systems. These observations can significantly facilitate the research in fault resilience of large-scale systems. |
Design of Digital Logic Circuits using Carbon Nanotube Field Effect Transistors | The work in this paper designs the basic logic circuits using the carbon nanotube field effect transistor (CNTFET). CNTFET is a novel device that is projected to outperform scaled CMOS technologies. CNTFET-based devices offer high mobility for near-ballistic transport, high carrier velocity for fast switching, as well as better electrostatic control due to the quasi one-dimensional structure of carbon nanotubes. CNTFET utilizes a semiconducting carbon nanotube (CNT) channel controlled by isolated electrostatic gates. It demonstrates p-type or n-type switching behavior depending upon the polarity-gate voltage. In this paper ambipolar CNTFETs are used to design basic logic circuits. The datapath logic blocks like half and full-adders are designed and their performances have been investigated. |
Effects of α-ketoglutarate on energy status in the intestinal mucosa of weaned piglets chronically challenged with lipopolysaccharide. | The present study determined whether α-ketoglutarate (AKG) might affect the expression of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and energy status in the intestinal mucosa of piglets challenged with Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS). A total of eighteen piglets (weaned at 21 d of age) were allocated to one of three treatments: (1) non-challenged (control); (2) LPS-challenged (LPS); (3) LPS+1 % AKG (LPS+AKG). Piglets in the control and LPS groups were fed a maize- and soyabean meal-based diet, and the LPS+AKG group was fed the basal diet supplemented with 1 % AKG. On days 10, 12, 14 and 16 of the trial, piglets in the LPS and LPS+AKG groups were challenged with LPS (80 μg/kg body weight), whereas piglets in the control group received the same volume of sterile saline. Pigs were euthanised 24 h after the last administration of LPS or saline to obtain intestinal mucosae for biochemical analysis. Compared with the control group, LPS administration decreased (P < 0·05) the oxidation of AKG, oleic acid, glutamine and glucose in enterocytes, decreased concentrations of ATP in the duodenal and jejunal mucosae and decreased adenylate energy charge (AMP:ATP ratio) in the jejunal and ileal mucosae. Additionally, LPS treatment reduced (P < 0·05) mucosal concentrations of phosphorylated AMPK in the jejunum and ileum as well as acetyl-CoA carboxylase in all segments of the small intestine. The adverse effects of LPS were reversed by AKG. Collectively, these results indicate that dietary supplementation with 1 % AKG beneficially modulates the AMPK signalling pathway to improve energy status in the small intestine of LPS-challenged piglets. |
The Earth Is Round ( p < . 05 ) | After 4 decades of severe criticism, the ritual of null hypothesis significance testing—mechanical dichotomous decisions around a sacred .05 criterion—still persists. This article reviews the problems with this practice, including its near-universal misinterpretation ofp as the probability that Ho is false, the misinterpretation that its complement is the probability of successful replication, and the mistaken assumption that if one rejects Ho one thereby affirms the theory that led to the test. Exploratory data analysis and the use of graphic methods, a steady improvement in and a movement toward standardization in measurement, an emphasis on estimating effect sizes using confidence intervals, and the informed use of available statistical methods is suggested. For generalization, psychologists must finally rely, as has been done in all the older sciences, on replication. |
Three-dimensional multispecies nonlinear tumor growth-II: Tumor invasion and angiogenesis. | We extend the diffuse interface model developed in Wise et al. (2008) to study nonlinear tumor growth in 3-D. Extensions include the tracking of multiple viable cell species populations through a continuum diffuse-interface method, onset and aging of discrete tumor vessels through angiogenesis, and incorporation of individual cell movement using a hybrid continuum-discrete approach. We investigate disease progression as a function of cellular-scale parameters such as proliferation and oxygen/nutrient uptake rates. We find that heterogeneity in the physiologically complex tumor microenvironment, caused by non-uniform distribution of oxygen, cell nutrients, and metabolites, as well as phenotypic changes affecting cellular-scale parameters, can be quantitatively linked to the tumor macro-scale as a mechanism that promotes morphological instability. This instability leads to invasion through tumor infiltration of surrounding healthy tissue. Models that employ a biologically founded, multiscale approach, as illustrated in this work, could help to quantitatively link the critical effect of heterogeneity in the tumor microenvironment with clinically observed tumor growth and invasion. Using patient tumor-specific parameter values, this may provide a predictive tool to characterize the complex in vivo tumor physiological characteristics and clinical response, and thus lead to improved treatment modalities and prognosis. |
Platform as a Service - A Conjoint Study on Consumers' Preferences | Platform as a Service (PaaS) solutions are changing the way that software is produced, distributed, consumed, and priced. PaaS, also known as cloud platform, offer an execution environment based on software platforms. To be competitive on the market, PaaS providers have to be aware of drivers of successful platforms and design or adjust their business models accordingly. Surprisingly, prior research has made little attempt to investigate consumers’ preferences on PaaS that influence developers’ choice on PaaS solutions. This paper examines this understudied issue through a conjoint study. First a comprehensive literature analysis on PaaS has been conducted in order to build the study design on a rigorous foundation. The conducted conjoint survey contained ten attributes together with 26 corresponding attribute levels and has been completed by 103 participants. Based on the results, a prioritized list of customers’ preferences for PaaS has been created. |
Gluteal muscle activation during common therapeutic exercises. | STUDY DESIGN
Experimental laboratory study.
OBJECTIVES
To quantify and compare electromyographic signal amplitude of the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles during exercises of varying difficulty to determine which exercise most effectively recruits these muscles.
BACKGROUND
Gluteal muscle weakness has been proposed to be associated with lower extremity injury. Exercises to strengthen the gluteal muscles are frequently used in rehabilitation and injury prevention programs without scientific evidence regarding their ability to activate the targeted muscles.
METHODS
Surface electromyography was used to quantify the activity level of the gluteal muscles in 21 healthy, physically active subjects while performing 12 exercises. Repeated-measures analyses of variance were used to compare normalized mean signal amplitude levels, expressed as a percent of a maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), across exercises.
RESULTS
Significant differences in signal amplitude among exercises were noted for the gluteus medius (F5,90 = 7.9, P<.0001) and gluteus maximus (F5,95 = 8.1, P<.0001). Gluteus medius activity was significantly greater during side-lying hip abduction (mean +/- SD, 81% +/- 42% MVIC) compared to the 2 types of hip clam (40% +/- 38% MVIC, 38% +/- 29% MVIC), lunges (48% +/- 21% MVIC), and hop (48% +/- 25% MVIC) exercises. The single-limb squat and single-limb deadlift activated the gluteus medius (single-limb squat, 64% +/- 25% MVIC; single-limb deadlift, 59% +/- 25% MVIC) and maximus (single-limb squat, 59% +/- 27% MVIC; single-limb deadlift, 59% +/- 28% MVIC) similarly. The gluteus maximus activation during the single-limb squat and single-limb deadlift was significantly greater than during the lateral band walk (27% +/- 16% MVIC), hip clam (34% +/- 27% MVIC), and hop (forward, 35% +/- 22% MVIC; transverse, 35% +/- 16% MVIC) exercises.
CONCLUSION
The best exercise for the gluteus medius was side-lying hip abduction, while the single-limb squat and single-limb deadlift exercises led to the greatest activation of the gluteus maximus. These results provide information to the clinician about relative activation of the gluteal muscles during specific therapeutic exercises that can influence exercise progression and prescription. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2009;39(7):532-540, Epub 24 February 2009. doi:10.2519/jospt.2009.2796. |
Double-blind randomized phase II study of hyperbaric oxygen in patients with radiation-induced brachial plexopathy. | BACKGROUND
Radiation-induced brachial plexopathy (RIBP) is an untreatable complication of curative radiotherapy for early breast cancer, characterized by chronic neuropathic pain and limb paralysis. Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) therapy is known to promote healing of tissue rendered ischaemic by radiotherapy, but is untested in RIBP.
METHODS
Thirty four eligible research volunteers suffering from RIBP were randomized to HBO2 or control group. The HBO2 group breathed 100% oxygen for 100 min in a multiplace hyperbaric chamber on 30 occasions over a period of 6 weeks. The control group accompanied the HBO2 group and breathed a gas mixture equivalent to breathing 100% oxygen at surface pressure. All volunteers and investigators, except the operators of the hyperbaric chamber and the trial statistician, were blind to treatment assignments. The warm sensory threshold, which measures the function of small sensory fibres, was selected as the primary endpoint.
FINDINGS
Pre-treatment neurophysiological tests were grossly abnormal in the affected hand compared to the unaffected hand in both HBO2 and control groups, as expected, but no statistically significant differences were noted in either group at any time up to 12 months post-treatment. However, normalization of the warm sensory threshold in two of the HBO2 group was reliably recorded. Two cases with marked chronic arm lymphoedema reported major and persistent improvements in arm volume for at least 12 months after treatment with HBO2. IINTERPRETATION: There is no reliable evidence to support the hypothesis that HBO2 therapy slows or reverses RIBP in a substantial proportion of affected individuals, although improvements in warm sensory threshold offer some suggestion of therapeutic effect. Improvement in long-standing arm lymphoedema was not anticipated, and justifies further investigation. |
Metal oxides for solid-state gas sensors : What determines our choice ? | The analysis of various parameters of metal oxides and the search of criteria, which could be used during material selection for solid-state gas sensor pplications, were the main objectives of this review. For these purposes the correlation between electro-physical (band gap, electroconductivity, ype of conductivity, oxygen diffusion), thermodynamic, surface, electronic, structural properties, catalytic activity and gas-sensing characteristics f metal oxides designed for solid-state sensors was established. It has been discussed the role of metal oxide manufacturability, chemical activity, nd parameter’s stability in sensing material choice as well. 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. |
Design Guidelines for Spatial Modulation | A new class of low-complexity, yet energy-efficient Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) transmission techniques, namely, the family of Spatial Modulation (SM) aided MIMOs (SM-MIMO), has emerged. These systems are capable of exploiting the spatial dimensions (i.e., the antenna indices) as an additional dimension invoked for transmitting information, apart from the traditional Amplitude and Phase Modulation (APM). SM is capable of efficiently operating in diverse MIMO configurations in the context of future communication systems. It constitutes a promising transmission candidate for large-scale MIMO design and for the indoor optical wireless communication while relying on a single-Radio Frequency (RF) chain. Moreover, SM may be also viewed as an entirely new hybrid modulation scheme, which is still in its infancy. This paper aims for providing a general survey of the SM design framework as well as of its intrinsic limits. In particular, we focus our attention on the associated transceiver design, on spatial constellation optimization, on link adaptation techniques, on distributed/cooperative protocol design issues, and on their meritorious variants. |
Supporting the analytical reasoning process in information visualization | This paper presents a new information visualization framework that supports the analytical reasoning process. It consists of three views - a data view, a knowledge view and a navigation view. The data view offers interactive information visualization tools. The knowledge view enables the analyst to record analysis artifacts such as findings, hypotheses and so on. The navigation view provides an overview of the exploration process by capturing the visualization states automatically. An analysis artifact recorded in the knowledge view can be linked to a visualization state in the navigation view. The analyst can revisit a visualization state from both the navigation and knowledge views to review the analysis and reuse it to look for alternate views. The whole analysis process can be saved along with the synthesized information. We present a user study and discuss the perceived usefulness of a prototype based on this framework that we have developed. |
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