Hitting your foothills target the first time

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ewanek, J. [MI Drilling Fluids Canada, Calgary, AB (Canada); Young, S. [M-I L.L.C., Calgary, AB (Canada)

2001-07-01

As the demand for gas increases, operators are exploring for more long-term gas reserves in the foothills and in more complex structural traps and reservoirs. The high tectonic activity in the foothills has rendered the structural geology complex, making it difficult to hit an exploration target the first time. Costly sidetracking operations are common. The use of oil based fluids is often necessary for drilling in such technically challenging environments. However, dips/structural evaluation tools such as the Formation Micro Imager (FMI) and the GeoVision 675 Logging While Drilling (LWD) tool cannot be used because of the non-conductive nature of oil based fluids. Therefore, a conductive oil based fluid was developed with the recent advances in oil based mud technology, and it is now available. This new conductive oil based fluid allows LWD tools to transmit structural information in real time and FMI logs to give detailed structural information while wireline logging the hole. The combination of LWD and FMI data plus a conductive oil based fluid makes it possible to gather better structural information while drilling. This minimizes sidetracks and leads to a better understanding of the structural geology in that field. It was concluded that the use of this technology well enable better pre-planning on future well sites and will make it possible to reduce costs associated with drilling and oilfield operations in the foothills. 9 refs., 2 tabs., 13 figs.

Hit Parade

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Backe, Hans-Joachim

2017-01-01

Daniel Cermak-Sassenrath, Max Alexander Wrighton, Hans-Joachim Backe. Hit Parade. Installation. Kulturnatten 2017, ITU, Copenhagen, DK, Oct 13, 2017.......Daniel Cermak-Sassenrath, Max Alexander Wrighton, Hans-Joachim Backe. Hit Parade. Installation. Kulturnatten 2017, ITU, Copenhagen, DK, Oct 13, 2017....

Hit Parade

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cermak, Daniel; Wrighton, Max Alexander; Backe, Hans-Joachim

2016-01-01

Daniel Cermak-Sassenrath, Max Alexander Wrighton, Hans-Joachim Backe. Hit Parade. Installation. Demo Night, ITU, Copenhagen, DK, Oct 5, 2016.......Daniel Cermak-Sassenrath, Max Alexander Wrighton, Hans-Joachim Backe. Hit Parade. Installation. Demo Night, ITU, Copenhagen, DK, Oct 5, 2016....

NIMROD Simulations of the HIT-SI and HIT-SI3 Devices

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, Kyle; Jarboe, Tom; Hossack, Aaron; Chandra, Rian; Everson, Chris

2017-10-01

The Helicity Injected Torus with Steady Inductive helicity injection (HIT-SI) experiment uses a set of inductively driven helicity injectors to apply non-axisymmetric current drive on the edge of the plasma, driving an axisymmetric spheromak equilibrium in a central confinement volume. Significant improvements have been made to extended MHD modeling of HIT-SI, with both the resolution of disagreement at high injector frequencies in HIT-SI in addition to successes with the new upgraded HIT-SI3 device. Previous numerical studies of HIT-SI, using a zero-beta eMHD model, focused on operations with a drive frequency of 14.5 kHz, and found reduced agreement with both the magnetic profile and current amplification at higher frequencies (30-70 kHz). HIT-SI3 has three helicity injectors which are able to operate with different mode structures of perturbations through the different relative temporal phasing of the injectors. Simulations that allow for pressure gradients have been performed in the parameter regimes of both devices using the NIMROD code and show improved agreement with experimental results, most notably capturing the observed Shafranov-shift due to increased beta observed at higher finj in HIT-SI and the variety of toroidal perturbation spectra available in HIT-SI3. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences under Award Number DE-FG02- 96ER54361.

Regression and regression analysis time series prediction modeling on climate data of quetta, pakistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jafri, Y.Z.; Kamal, L.

2007-01-01

Various statistical techniques was used on five-year data from 1998-2002 of average humidity, rainfall, maximum and minimum temperatures, respectively. The relationships to regression analysis time series (RATS) were developed for determining the overall trend of these climate parameters on the basis of which forecast models can be corrected and modified. We computed the coefficient of determination as a measure of goodness of fit, to our polynomial regression analysis time series (PRATS). The correlation to multiple linear regression (MLR) and multiple linear regression analysis time series (MLRATS) were also developed for deciphering the interdependence of weather parameters. Spearman's rand correlation and Goldfeld-Quandt test were used to check the uniformity or non-uniformity of variances in our fit to polynomial regression (PR). The Breusch-Pagan test was applied to MLR and MLRATS, respectively which yielded homoscedasticity. We also employed Bartlett's test for homogeneity of variances on a five-year data of rainfall and humidity, respectively which showed that the variances in rainfall data were not homogenous while in case of humidity, were homogenous. Our results on regression and regression analysis time series show the best fit to prediction modeling on climatic data of Quetta, Pakistan. (author)

Hit Parade

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cermak, Daniel; Wrighton, Max Alexander; Backe, Hans-Joachim

2016-01-01

Daniel Cermak-Sassenrath, Max Alexander Wrighton, Hans-Joachim Backe. Hit Parade. Installation. Kulturnatten 2016, Danish Science Ministry, Copenhagen, DK, Oct 14, 2016.......Daniel Cermak-Sassenrath, Max Alexander Wrighton, Hans-Joachim Backe. Hit Parade. Installation. Kulturnatten 2016, Danish Science Ministry, Copenhagen, DK, Oct 14, 2016....

A double hit model for the distribution of time to AIDS onset

Science.gov (United States)

Chillale, Nagaraja Rao

2013-09-01

Incubation time is a key epidemiologic descriptor of an infectious disease. In the case of HIV infection this is a random variable and is probably the longest one. The probability distribution of incubation time is the major determinant of the relation between the incidences of HIV infection and its manifestation to Aids. This is also one of the key factors used for accurate estimation of AIDS incidence in a region. The present article i) briefly reviews the work done, points out uncertainties in estimation of AIDS onset time and stresses the need for its precise estimation, ii) highlights some of the modelling features of onset distribution including immune failure mechanism, and iii) proposes a 'Double Hit' model for the distribution of time to AIDS onset in the cases of (a) independent and (b) dependent time variables of the two markers and examined the applicability of a few standard probability models.

Eyewitness Identification Reforms: Are Suggestiveness-Induced Hits and Guesses True Hits?

Science.gov (United States)

Wells, Gary L; Steblay, Nancy K; Dysart, Jennifer E

2012-05-01

Research-based reforms for collecting eyewitness identification evidence (e.g., unbiased pre-lineup instructions, double-blind administration) have been proposed by psychologists and adopted in increasing numbers of jurisdictions across the United States. It is well known that reducing rates of mistaken identifications can also reduce accurate identification rates (hits). But the reforms are largely designed to reduce the suggestiveness of the procedures they are meant to replace. Accordingly, we argue that it is misleading to label any hits obtained because of suggestive procedures as "hits" and then saddle reforms with the charge that they reduce the rate of these illegitimate hits. Eyewitness identification evidence should be based solely on the independent memory of the witness, not aided by biased instructions, cues from lineup administrators, or the use of lineup fillers who make the suspect stand out. Failure to call out these hits as being illegitimate can give solace to those who are motivated to preserve the status quo. © The Author(s) 2012.

76 FR 55914 - HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-09

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of... be open to the public via dial-in access only. Name of Committees: HIT Policy Committee's Workgroups... standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria are needed. Date and Time: The HIT...

76 FR 46297 - HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-02

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of... be open to the public via dial-in access only. Name of Committees: HIT Policy Committee's Workgroups... standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria are needed. Date and Time: The HIT...

76 FR 22399 - HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-21

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of... be open to the public via dial-in access only. Name of Committees: HIT Policy Committee's Workgroups... standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria are needed. Date and Time: The HIT...

76 FR 28784 - HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-18

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of... be open to the public via dial-in access only. Name of Committees: HIT Policy Committee's Workgroups... standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria are needed. Date and Time: The HIT...

75 FR 29762 - HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-27

... Technology HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings AGENCY: Office of the National... only. Name of Committees: HIT Policy Committee's Workgroups: Meaningful Use, Privacy & Security Policy... specifications, and certification criteria are needed. Date and Time: The HIT Policy Committee Workgroups will...

76 FR 14974 - HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-18

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of... be open to the public via dial-in access only. Name of Committees: HIT Policy Committee's Workgroups... standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria are needed. Date and Time: The HIT...

76 FR 50735 - HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-16

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of... be open to the public via dial-in access only. Name of Committees: HIT Policy Committee's Workgroups... standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria are needed. Date and Time: The HIT...

Reduction of multiple hits in atom probe tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thuvander, Mattias; Kvist, Anders; Johnson, Lars J.S.; Weidow, Jonathan; Andrén, Hans-Olof

2013-01-01

The accuracy of compositional measurements using atom probe tomography is often reduced because some ions are not recorded when several ions hit the detector in close proximity to each other and within a very short time span. In some cases, for example in analysis of carbides, the multiple hits result in a preferential loss of certain elements, namely those elements that frequently field evaporate in bursts or as dissociating molecules. In this paper a method of reducing the effect of multiple hits is explored. A fine metal grid was mounted a few millimeters behind the local electrode, effectively functioning as a filter. This resulted in a decrease in the overall detection efficiency, from 37% to about 5%, but also in a decrease in the fraction of multiple hits. In an analysis of tungsten carbide the fraction of ions originating from multiple hits decreased from 46% to 10%. As a result, the measured carbon concentration increased from 48.2 at%to 49.8 at%, very close to the expected 50.0 at%. The characteristics of the multiple hits were compared for analyses with and without the grid filter. - Highlights: ► APT experiments have been performed with a reduced amount of multiple hits. ► The multiple hits were reduced by placing a grid behind the electrode. ► This resulted in improved carbon measurement of WC

76 FR 46298 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-02

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: to provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held virtually on August 17, 2011...

76 FR 50734 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-16

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: to provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on September 28, 2011, from 9...

77 FR 2727 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-19

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on February 29, 2012, from 9...

76 FR 70455 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-14

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: to provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on December 14, 2011, from 9...

77 FR 73661 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meetings; Notice of Meetings

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-11

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meetings; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: These meetings will be held on the following dates and...

76 FR 70454 - HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-14

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of... be open to the public via dial-in access only. Name of Committees: HIT Policy Committee's Workgroups... certification criteria are needed. Date and Time: The HIT Policy Committee Workgroups will hold the following...

77 FR 65691 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-30

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on November 13, 2012, from 9...

77 FR 50690 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-22

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on September 19, 2012, from 9...

75 FR 21628 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-26

... Technology HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards... Strategic Plan, and in accordance with policies developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The...

76 FR 55913 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-09

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: to provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held virtually on October 21, 2011...

77 FR 65690 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-30

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on December 19, 2012, from 9...

77 FR 16035 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-19

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: to provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on March 27, 2012, from 9 a.m...

76 FR 79684 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-22

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: to provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on January 25, 2012, from 9 a...

77 FR 15760 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-16

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: to provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on April 18, 2012, from 9 a.m...

76 FR 14976 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-18

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on April 20, 2011, from 9 a.m...

76 FR 39109 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-05

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: to provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on July 20, 2011, from 9 a.m...

76 FR 28782 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-18

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on June 22, 2011, from 9 a.m...

77 FR 27459 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-10

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on June 20, 2012, from 9 a.m...

77 FR 37408 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-21

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee... with policies developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on July 19...

77 FR 22787 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-17

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: to provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on May 24, 2012, from 9 a.m...

76 FR 22396 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-21

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: to provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on May 18, 2011, from 9 a.m...

77 FR 60438 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-03

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on October 17, 2012, from 9 a...

76 FR 9783 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-22

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on March 29, 2011, from 9 a.m...

77 FR 45353 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-31

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of... public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide... developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The meeting will be held on August 15, 2012, from 9:00...

Verbs in the lexicon: Why is hitting easier than breaking?

Science.gov (United States)

McKoon, Gail; Love, Jessica

2011-11-01

Adult speakers use verbs in syntactically appropriate ways. For example, they know implicitly that the boy hit at the fence is acceptable but the boy broke at the fence is not. We suggest that this knowledge is lexically encoded in semantic decompositions. The decomposition for break verbs (e.g. crack, smash) is hypothesized to be more complex than that for hit verbs (e.g. kick, kiss). Specifically, the decomposition of a break verb denotes that "an entity changes state as the result of some external force" whereas the decomposition for a hit verb denotes only that "an entity potentially comes in contact with another entity." In this article, verbs of the two types were compared in a lexical decision experiment - Experiment 1 - and they were compared in sentence comprehension experiments with transitive sentences (e.g. the car hit the bicycle and the car broke the bicycle) - Experiments 2 and 3. In Experiment 1, processing times were shorter for the hit than the break verbs and in Experiments 2 and 3, processing times were shorter for the hit sentences than the break sentences, results that are in accord with the complexities of the postulated semantic decompositions.

Novel HIT antibody detection method using Sonoclot® coagulation analyzer.

Science.gov (United States)

Wanaka, Keiko; Asada, Reiko; Miyashita, Kumiko; Kaneko, Makoto; Endo, Hirokazu; Yatomi, Yutaka

2015-01-01

Since heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), caused by the generation of antibodies against platelet factor 4 (PF4)/heparin complexes (HIT antibodies), may induce serious complications due to thrombosis, a prompt diagnosis is desirable. Functional tests with platelet activation to detect HIT antibodies are useful for diagnosis of HIT, in particular (14)C-selotonin release assay (SRA). However, they are complicated and so can be performed only in limited laboratories. We tested if a blood coagulation test using Sonoclot® analyzer can serve for the detection of HIT antibodies. A murine monoclonal antibody (HIT-MoAb) against PF4/heparin complexes was used as an alternative to human HIT antibodies. To the mixture of HIT-MoAb and heparin (0.5 U/mL, final), whole blood obtained from a healthy volunteer was added, and then the activated clotting time (ACT), clot rate (CR), and area under the curve (AUC) were measured with Sonoclot® analyzer for 30minutes. The HIT-MoAb (30 to 100μg/mL, final) concentration dependently suppressed the anticoagulation activity (prolongation of ACT and decrease of CR and AUC) of heparin. The suppression of anticoagulation effect of heparin by HIT-MoAb was demonstrated by measurements using Sonoclot® analyzer. This method may provide a new tool for screening of HIT antibodies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

HIT-6 and MIDAS as measures of headache disability in a headache referral population.

Science.gov (United States)

Sauro, Khara M; Rose, Marianne S; Becker, Werner J; Christie, Suzanne N; Giammarco, Rose; Mackie, Gordon F; Eloff, Arnoldas G; Gawel, Marek J

2010-03-01

The objective of this study was to compare the headache impact test (HIT-6) and the migraine disability assessment scale (MIDAS) as clinical measures of headache-related disability. The degree of headache-related disability is an important factor in treatment planning. Many quality of life and headache disability measures exist but it is unclear which of the available disability measures is the most helpful in planning and measuring headache management. We compared HIT-6 and MIDAS scores from 798 patients from the Canadian Headache Outpatient Registry and Database (CHORD). Correlation and regression analyses were used to examine the relationships between the HIT-6 and MIDAS total scores, headache frequency and intensity, and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) scores. A positive correlation was found between HIT-6 and MIDAS scores (r = 0.52). The BDI-II scores correlated equally with the HIT-6 and the MIDAS (r = 0.42). There was a non-monotonic relationship between headache frequency and the MIDAS, and a non-linear monotonic relationship between headache frequency and the HIT-6 (r = 0.24). The correlation was higher between the intensity and the HIT-6 scores (r = 0.46), than MIDAS (r = 0.26) scores. Seventy-nine percent of patients fell into the most severe HIT-6 disability category, compared with the 57% of patients that fell into the most severe MIDAS disability category. Significantly more patients were placed in a more severe category with the HIT-6 than with the MIDAS (McNemar chi-square = 191 on 6 d.f., P MIDAS appear to measure headache-related disability in a similar fashion. However, some important differences may exist. Headache intensity appears to influence HIT-6 score more than the MIDAS, whereas the MIDAS was influenced more by headache frequency. Using the HIT-6 and MIDAS together may give a more accurate assessment of a patient's headache-related disability.

Health Information Technology (HIT) Adaptation: Refocusing on the Journey to Successful HIT Implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Yen, Po-Yin; McAlearney, Ann Scheck; Sieck, Cynthia J; Hefner, Jennifer L; Huerta, Timothy R

2017-09-07

In past years, policies and regulations required hospitals to implement advanced capabilities of certified electronic health records (EHRs) in order to receive financial incentives. This has led to accelerated implementation of health information technologies (HIT) in health care settings. However, measures commonly used to evaluate the success of HIT implementation, such as HIT adoption, technology acceptance, and clinical quality, fail to account for complex sociotechnical variability across contexts and the different trajectories within organizations because of different implementation plans and timelines. We propose a new focus, HIT adaptation, to illuminate factors that facilitate or hinder the connection between use of the EHR and improved quality of care as well as to explore the trajectory of changes in the HIT implementation journey as it is impacted by frequent system upgrades and optimizations. Future research should develop instruments to evaluate the progress of HIT adaptation in both its longitudinal design and its focus on adaptation progress rather than on one cross-sectional outcome, allowing for more generalizability and knowledge transfer. ©Po-Yin Yen, Ann Scheck McAlearney, Cynthia J Sieck, Jennifer L Hefner, Timothy R Huerta. Originally published in JMIR Medical Informatics (http://medinform.jmir.org), 07.09.2017.

High energy ion hit technique to local area using microbeam

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tanaka, Ryuichi; Kamiya, Tomihiro; Suda, Tamotsu; Sakai, Takuro; Hirao, Toshio; Kobayashi, Yasuhiko; Watanabe, Hiroshi [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Takasaki, Gunma (Japan). Takasaki Radiation Chemistry Research Establishment

1997-03-01

Single energetic ion hit technique has been developed as an application of ion microbeam technique, in order to study the effect of local damage or injury to materials and living organisms. The overall performance is basically defined by those of separate techniques: microbeam formation, microbeam positioning, single ion detection, detection signal processing, hit timing control, and hit verification. Recent progress on the developments of these techniques at JAERI-TIARA facility are reviewed. (author)

A fast DSP-based calorimeter hit scanning system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sekikawa, S.; Arai, I.; Suzuki, A.; Watanabe, A.; Marlow, D.R.; Mindas, C.R.; Wixted, R.L.

1997-01-01

A custom made digital signal processor (DSP) based system has been developed to scan calorimeter hits read by a 32-channel FASTBUS waveform recorder board. The scanner system identifies hit calorimeter elements by surveying their discriminated outputs. This information is used to generate a list of addresses, which guides the read-out process. The system is described and measurements of the scan times are given. (orig.)

Drift chamber electronics with multi-hit capability for time and current division measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Manarin, A; Pregernig, L; Rabany, M; Saban, R; Vismara, G

1983-11-15

Drift chambers have been installed for luminosity measurements in intersection 5 of the SPS accelerator working in panti p colliding mode. The required electronics is described. The system is able to process up to 16 hits per wire with a double pulse resolution of 40 ns; drift time and current division, with 1.25 ns and 1.6% resolution respectively, are recorded. Transconductance preamplifiers and discriminators are directly mounted on the chamber; 160 m of twisted-apir cable bring the signals to the digitizer unit. Coarse time is measured using RAM techniques, while fine time is obtained by means of a microstrip delay associated with a 100 K ECL priority encoder. Current division used a single 50 MHz Flash ADC which alows 26 dB dynamic range with 6 bit resolution. First operational results are reported.

Dirty Hits

OpenAIRE

Clarke, Louise

2010-01-01

Issue 9 of the Saatchi Gallery Magazine: Art&Music is dedicated to Sex. The article Dirty Hits invited a cross-section of contemporary artists and musicians to answer: What makes a dirty hit? As one of the artists invited, I wrote an autobiographical piece to reveal how these fumbling, feral sexual experiences of my childhood landscape, along with irrational superstition and folk law inform my life and underpin my work. The article also included an artwork: Louise Clarke, Sip (2009)

77 FR 23250 - HIT Standards Committee; Schedule for the Assessment of HIT Policy Committee Recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-18

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee; Schedule for the Assessment of HIT Policy Committee Recommendations AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information... 2009 mandates that the HIT Standards Committee develop a schedule for the assessment of policy...

76 FR 25355 - HIT Standards Committee; Schedule for the Assessment of HIT Policy Committee Recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-04

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee; Schedule for the Assessment of HIT Policy Committee Recommendations AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information... 2009 mandates that the HIT Standards Committee develop a schedule for the assessment of policy...

78 FR 29134 - HIT Standards Committee; Schedule for the Assessment of HIT Policy Committee Recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-17

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee; Schedule for the Assessment of HIT Policy Committee Recommendations AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information... 2009 mandates that the HIT Standards Committee develop a schedule for the assessment of policy...

Accelerated failure time regression for backward recurrence times and current durations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Keiding, N; Fine, J P; Hansen, O H

2011-01-01

Backward recurrence times in stationary renewal processes and current durations in dynamic populations observed at a cross-section may yield estimates of underlying interarrival times or survival distributions under suitable stationarity assumptions. Regression models have been proposed for these......Backward recurrence times in stationary renewal processes and current durations in dynamic populations observed at a cross-section may yield estimates of underlying interarrival times or survival distributions under suitable stationarity assumptions. Regression models have been proposed...... for these situations, but accelerated failure time models have the particularly attractive feature that they are preserved when going from the backward recurrence times to the underlying survival distribution of interest. This simple fact has recently been noticed in a sociological context and is here illustrated...... by a study of current duration of time to pregnancy...

BOX-COX REGRESSION METHOD IN TIME SCALING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ATİLLA GÖKTAŞ

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Box-Cox regression method with λj, for j = 1, 2, ..., k, power transformation can be used when dependent variable and error term of the linear regression model do not satisfy the continuity and normality assumptions. The situation obtaining the smallest mean square error  when optimum power λj, transformation for j = 1, 2, ..., k, of Y has been discussed. Box-Cox regression method is especially appropriate to adjust existence skewness or heteroscedasticity of error terms for a nonlinear functional relationship between dependent and explanatory variables. In this study, the advantage and disadvantage use of Box-Cox regression method have been discussed in differentiation and differantial analysis of time scale concept.

Developing Health Information Technology (HIT) Programs and HIT Curriculum: The Southern Polytechnic State University Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Chi; Reichgelt, Han; Rutherfoord, Rebecca H.; Wang, Andy Ju An

2014-01-01

Health Information Technology (HIT) professionals are in increasing demand as healthcare providers need help in the adoption and meaningful use of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems while the HIT industry needs workforce skilled in HIT and EHR development. To respond to this increasing demand, the School of Computing and Software Engineering…

Dynamic travel time estimation using regression trees.

Science.gov (United States)

2008-10-01

This report presents a methodology for travel time estimation by using regression trees. The dissemination of travel time information has become crucial for effective traffic management, especially under congested road conditions. In the absence of c...

Multiple-hit parameter estimation in monolithic detectors.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, William C J; Barrett, Harrison H; Lewellen, Tom K; Miyaoka, Robert S

2013-02-01

We examine a maximum-a-posteriori method for estimating the primary interaction position of gamma rays with multiple interaction sites (hits) in a monolithic detector. In assessing the performance of a multiple-hit estimator over that of a conventional one-hit estimator, we consider a few different detector and readout configurations of a 50-mm-wide square cerium-doped lutetium oxyorthosilicate block. For this study, we use simulated data from SCOUT, a Monte-Carlo tool for photon tracking and modeling scintillation- camera output. With this tool, we determine estimate bias and variance for a multiple-hit estimator and compare these with similar metrics for a one-hit maximum-likelihood estimator, which assumes full energy deposition in one hit. We also examine the effect of event filtering on these metrics; for this purpose, we use a likelihood threshold to reject signals that are not likely to have been produced under the assumed likelihood model. Depending on detector design, we observe a 1%-12% improvement of intrinsic resolution for a 1-or-2-hit estimator as compared with a 1-hit estimator. We also observe improved differentiation of photopeak events using a 1-or-2-hit estimator as compared with the 1-hit estimator; more than 6% of photopeak events that were rejected by likelihood filtering for the 1-hit estimator were accurately identified as photopeak events and positioned without loss of resolution by a 1-or-2-hit estimator; for PET, this equates to at least a 12% improvement in coincidence-detection efficiency with likelihood filtering applied.

A C++ object-oriented toolkit for track finding with k-dimensional hits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uiterwijk, J.W.E.; Panman, J.; Vyver, B. van de

2006-01-01

A library is described for the recognition of tracks in a set of hits. The hits are assumed to be k-dimensional points (k-d), with k>=1, of which a subset can be grouped into tracks by using short-range correlations. A connection graph between the hits is created by sorting the hits first in k-d space using one of the developed, fast, k-space containers. The track-finding algorithm considers any connection between two hits as a possible track seed and grows these seeds into longer track segments using a modified depth-first search of the connection graph. All hit-acceptance decisions are called via abstract methods of an acceptance criterion class which isolates the library from the application's hit and track model. An application is tuned for a particular tracking environment by creating a concrete implementation for the hit and track acceptance calculations. The implementer is free to trade tracking time for acceptance complexity (influencing efficiency) depending on the requirements of the particular application. Results for simulated data show that the track finding is both efficient and fast even for high noise environments

76 FR 4352 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee's...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-25

... Technology; HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings AGENCY: Office of the National... only. Name of Committees: HIT Policy Committee's Workgroups: Meaningful Use, Privacy & Security Tiger..., implementation specifications, and certification criteria are needed. Date and Time: The HIT Policy Committee...

Hitting times of local and global optima in genetic algorithms with very high selection pressure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eremeev Anton V.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The paper is devoted to upper bounds on the expected first hitting times of the sets of local or global optima for non-elitist genetic algorithms with very high selection pressure. The results of this paper extend the range of situations where the upper bounds on the expected runtime are known for genetic algorithms and apply, in particular, to the Canonical Genetic Algorithm. The obtained bounds do not require the probability of fitness-decreasing mutation to be bounded by a constant which is less than one.

75 FR 3906 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee's...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-25

... Technology; HIT Policy Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings AGENCY: Office of the National... only. Name of Committees: HIT Policy Committee's Workgroups: Meaningful Use, Privacy & Security Policy... specifications, and certification criteria are needed. Date and Time: The HIT Policy Committee Workgroups will...

The SVT Hit Buffer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belforte, S.; Dell'Orso, M.; Donati, S.

1996-01-01

The Hit Buffer is part of the Silicon Vertex Tracker, a trigger processor dedicated to the reconstruction of particle trajectories in the Silicon Vertex Detector and the Central Tracking Chamber of the Collider Detector at Fermilab. The Hit Buffer is a high speed data-traffic node, where thousands of words are received in arbitrary order and simultaneously organized in an internal structured data base, to be later promptly retrieved and delivered in response to specific requests. The Hit Buffer is capable of processing data at a rate of 25 MHz, thanks to the use of special fast devices like Cache-Tag RAMs and high performance Erasable Programmable Logic Devices from the XILINX XC7300 family

Heparin-independent, PF4-dependent binding of HIT antibodies to platelets: implications for HIT pathogenesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Padmanabhan, Anand; Jones, Curtis G; Bougie, Daniel W; Curtis, Brian R; McFarland, Janice G; Wang, Demin; Aster, Richard H

2015-01-01

Antibodies specific for platelet factor 4 (PF4)/heparin complexes are the hallmark of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (HIT), but many antibody-positive patients have normal platelet counts. The basis for this is not fully understood, but it is believed that antibodies testing positive in the serotonin release assay (SRA) are the most likely to cause disease. We addressed this issue by characterizing PF4-dependent binding of HIT antibodies to intact platelets and found that most antibodies testing positive in the SRA, but none of those testing negative, bind to and activate platelets when PF4 is present without any requirement for heparin (P HIT antibodies recognize PF4 in a complex with heparin, only a subset of these antibodies recognize more subtle epitopes induced in PF4 when it binds to CS, the major platelet glycosaminoglycan. Antibodies having this property could explain "delayed HIT" seen in some individuals after discontinuation of heparin and the high risk for thrombosis that persists for weeks in patients recovered from HIT. © 2015 by The American Society of Hematology.

75 FR 65636 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Standards Committee...

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2010-10-26

... Technology; HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards... Strategic Plan, and in accordance with policies developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The...

75 FR 57027 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Standards Committee...

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2010-09-17

... Technology; HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards... Strategic Plan, and in accordance with policies developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The...

75 FR 42090 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Standards Committee...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-20

... Technology; HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards... Strategic Plan, and in accordance with policies developed by the HIT Policy Committee. Date and Time: The...

Database for High Throughput Screening Hits (dHITS): a simple tool to retrieve gene specific phenotypes from systematic screens done in yeast.

Science.gov (United States)

Chuartzman, Silvia G; Schuldiner, Maya

2018-03-25

In the last decade several collections of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains have been created. In these collections every gene is modified in a similar manner such as by a deletion or the addition of a protein tag. Such libraries have enabled a diversity of systematic screens, giving rise to large amounts of information regarding gene functions. However, often papers describing such screens focus on a single gene or a small set of genes and all other loci affecting the phenotype of choice ('hits') are only mentioned in tables that are provided as supplementary material and are often hard to retrieve or search. To help unify and make such data accessible, we have created a Database of High Throughput Screening Hits (dHITS). The dHITS database enables information to be obtained about screens in which genes of interest were found as well as the other genes that came up in that screen - all in a readily accessible and downloadable format. The ability to query large lists of genes at the same time provides a platform to easily analyse hits obtained from transcriptional analyses or other screens. We hope that this platform will serve as a tool to facilitate investigation of protein functions to the yeast community. © 2018 The Authors Yeast Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

"Hit-and-Run" leaves its mark: catalyst transcription factors and chromatin modification.

Science.gov (United States)

Varala, Kranthi; Li, Ying; Marshall-Colón, Amy; Para, Alessia; Coruzzi, Gloria M

2015-08-01

Understanding how transcription factor (TF) binding is related to gene regulation is a moving target. We recently uncovered genome-wide evidence for a "Hit-and-Run" model of transcription. In this model, a master TF "hits" a target promoter to initiate a rapid response to a signal. As the "hit" is transient, the model invokes recruitment of partner TFs to sustain transcription over time. Following the "run", the master TF "hits" other targets to propagate the response genome-wide. As such, a TF may act as a "catalyst" to mount a broad and acute response in cells that first sense the signal, while the recruited TF partners promote long-term adaptive behavior in the whole organism. This "Hit-and-Run" model likely has broad relevance, as TF perturbation studies across eukaryotes show small overlaps between TF-regulated and TF-bound genes, implicating transient TF-target binding. Here, we explore this "Hit-and-Run" model to suggest molecular mechanisms and its biological relevance. © 2015 The Authors. Bioessays published by WILEY Periodicals, Inc.

Time course for tail regression during metamorphosis of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsunobu, Shohei; Sasakura, Yasunori

2015-09-01

In most ascidians, the tadpole-like swimming larvae dramatically change their body-plans during metamorphosis and develop into sessile adults. The mechanisms of ascidian metamorphosis have been researched and debated for many years. Until now information on the detailed time course of the initiation and completion of each metamorphic event has not been described. One dramatic and important event in ascidian metamorphosis is tail regression, in which ascidian larvae lose their tails to adjust themselves to sessile life. In the present study, we measured the time associated with tail regression in the ascidian Ciona intestinalis. Larvae are thought to acquire competency for each metamorphic event in certain developmental periods. We show that the timing with which the competence for tail regression is acquired is determined by the time since hatching, and this timing is not affected by the timing of post-hatching events such as adhesion. Because larvae need to adhere to substrates with their papillae to induce tail regression, we measured the duration for which larvae need to remain adhered in order to initiate tail regression and the time needed for the tail to regress. Larvae acquire the ability to adhere to substrates before they acquire tail regression competence. We found that when larvae adhered before they acquired tail regression competence, they were able to remember the experience of adhesion until they acquired the ability to undergo tail regression. The time course of the events associated with tail regression provides a valuable reference, upon which the cellular and molecular mechanisms of ascidian metamorphosis can be elucidated. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Physics constrained nonlinear regression models for time series

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Majda, Andrew J; Harlim, John

2013-01-01

A central issue in contemporary science is the development of data driven statistical nonlinear dynamical models for time series of partial observations of nature or a complex physical model. It has been established recently that ad hoc quadratic multi-level regression (MLR) models can have finite-time blow up of statistical solutions and/or pathological behaviour of their invariant measure. Here a new class of physics constrained multi-level quadratic regression models are introduced, analysed and applied to build reduced stochastic models from data of nonlinear systems. These models have the advantages of incorporating memory effects in time as well as the nonlinear noise from energy conserving nonlinear interactions. The mathematical guidelines for the performance and behaviour of these physics constrained MLR models as well as filtering algorithms for their implementation are developed here. Data driven applications of these new multi-level nonlinear regression models are developed for test models involving a nonlinear oscillator with memory effects and the difficult test case of the truncated Burgers–Hopf model. These new physics constrained quadratic MLR models are proposed here as process models for Bayesian estimation through Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms of low frequency behaviour in complex physical data. (paper)

How I treat double-hit lymphoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Friedberg, Jonathan W

2017-08-03

The 2016 revision of the World Health Organization (WHO) classification for lymphoma has included a new category of lymphoma, separate from diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, termed high-grade B-cell lymphoma with translocations involving myc and bcl-2 or bcl-6 . These lymphomas, which occur in hit lymphomas (or triple-hit lymphomas if all 3 rearrangements are present). It is important to differentiate these lymphomas from the larger group of double-expressor lymphomas, which have increased expression of MYC and BCL-2 and/or BCL-6 by immunohistochemistry, by using variable cutoff percentages to define positivity. Patients with double-hit lymphomas have a poor prognosis when treated with standard chemoimmunotherapy and have increased risk of central nervous system involvement and progression. Double-hit lymphomas may arise as a consequence of the transformation of the underlying indolent lymphoma. There are no published prospective trials in double-hit lymphoma, however retrospective studies strongly suggest that aggressive induction regimens may confer a superior outcome. In this article, I review my approach to the evaluation and treatment of double-hit lymphoma, with an eye toward future clinical trials incorporating rational targeted agents into the therapeutic armamentarium. © 2017 by The American Society of Hematology.

Time series regression model for infectious disease and weather.

Science.gov (United States)

Imai, Chisato; Armstrong, Ben; Chalabi, Zaid; Mangtani, Punam; Hashizume, Masahiro

2015-10-01

Time series regression has been developed and long used to evaluate the short-term associations of air pollution and weather with mortality or morbidity of non-infectious diseases. The application of the regression approaches from this tradition to infectious diseases, however, is less well explored and raises some new issues. We discuss and present potential solutions for five issues often arising in such analyses: changes in immune population, strong autocorrelations, a wide range of plausible lag structures and association patterns, seasonality adjustments, and large overdispersion. The potential approaches are illustrated with datasets of cholera cases and rainfall from Bangladesh and influenza and temperature in Tokyo. Though this article focuses on the application of the traditional time series regression to infectious diseases and weather factors, we also briefly introduce alternative approaches, including mathematical modeling, wavelet analysis, and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models. Modifications proposed to standard time series regression practice include using sums of past cases as proxies for the immune population, and using the logarithm of lagged disease counts to control autocorrelation due to true contagion, both of which are motivated from "susceptible-infectious-recovered" (SIR) models. The complexity of lag structures and association patterns can often be informed by biological mechanisms and explored by using distributed lag non-linear models. For overdispersed models, alternative distribution models such as quasi-Poisson and negative binomial should be considered. Time series regression can be used to investigate dependence of infectious diseases on weather, but may need modifying to allow for features specific to this context. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Statistics of hits to bone cell nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kruglikov, I.L.; Polig, E.; Jee, W.S.S.

1993-01-01

The statistics of hits to the nuclei of bone cells irradiated from alpha sources labeling bone tissue is described. It is shown that the law of remodeling of a bone structural unit (BSU), which describes the distribution of quiescence periodes of this unit, affects the statistics of hits. It the irradiation of bone cells occurs during the whole cell cycle, the mean number of hits is independent of the law of remodeling. In this case the variance of hits has the minimum value for constant quiescence periods of BSUs (deterministic remodeling) and the maximum value for exponentially distributed quiescence periods (random remodeling). For the first generation of bone cells, i.e. for the cells which existed at the moment of the uptake of the nuclide, the mean number of hits depends on the law of remodeling. For random remodeling the mean number is equal to the mean value for the complete remodeling cycle. For deterministic remodeling the mean is only half this value. For the first generation of bone cells, changing the law of remodeling from random to deterministic increases the probability of no hits to the nuclei of bone cells. For the same mean value of hits, the difference does not exceed 13.3% of the total number of cells. For the subsequent generations of bone cells, such a change of the law of remodeling decreases the probability of no hits up to 20.4% of the total number of cells. (orig.)

Recent Improvements in the SHIELD-HIT Code

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, David Christoffer; Lühr, Armin Christian; Herrmann, Rochus

2012-01-01

Purpose: The SHIELD-HIT Monte Carlo particle transport code has previously been used to study a wide range of problems for heavy-ion treatment and has been benchmarked extensively against other Monte Carlo codes and experimental data. Here, an improved version of SHIELD-HIT is developed concentra......Purpose: The SHIELD-HIT Monte Carlo particle transport code has previously been used to study a wide range of problems for heavy-ion treatment and has been benchmarked extensively against other Monte Carlo codes and experimental data. Here, an improved version of SHIELD-HIT is developed...

Transmission of linear regression patterns between time series: from relationship in time series to complex networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Xiangyun; An, Haizhong; Fang, Wei; Huang, Xuan; Li, Huajiao; Zhong, Weiqiong; Ding, Yinghui

2014-07-01

The linear regression parameters between two time series can be different under different lengths of observation period. If we study the whole period by the sliding window of a short period, the change of the linear regression parameters is a process of dynamic transmission over time. We tackle fundamental research that presents a simple and efficient computational scheme: a linear regression patterns transmission algorithm, which transforms linear regression patterns into directed and weighted networks. The linear regression patterns (nodes) are defined by the combination of intervals of the linear regression parameters and the results of the significance testing under different sizes of the sliding window. The transmissions between adjacent patterns are defined as edges, and the weights of the edges are the frequency of the transmissions. The major patterns, the distance, and the medium in the process of the transmission can be captured. The statistical results of weighted out-degree and betweenness centrality are mapped on timelines, which shows the features of the distribution of the results. Many measurements in different areas that involve two related time series variables could take advantage of this algorithm to characterize the dynamic relationships between the time series from a new perspective.

Improvements to the ion Doppler spectrometer diagnostic on the HIT-SI experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Hossack, Aaron; Chandra, Rian; Everson, Chris; Jarboe, Tom

2018-03-01

An ion Doppler spectrometer diagnostic system measuring impurity ion temperature and velocity on the HIT-SI and HIT-SI3 spheromak devices has been improved with higher spatiotemporal resolution and lower error than previously described devices. Hardware and software improvements to the established technique have resulted in a record of 6.9 μs temporal and ≤2.8 cm spatial resolution in the midplane of each device. These allow Ciii and Oii flow, displacement, and temperature profiles to be observed simultaneously. With 72 fused-silica fiber channels in two independent bundles, and an f/8.5 Czerny-Turner spectrometer coupled to a video camera, frame rates of up to ten times the imposed magnetic perturbation frequency of 14.5 kHz were achieved in HIT-SI, viewing the upper half of the midplane. In HIT-SI3, frame rates of up to eight times the perturbation frequency were achieved viewing both halves of the midplane. Biorthogonal decomposition is used as a novel filtering tool, reducing uncertainty in ion temperature from ≲13 to ≲5 eV (with an instrument temperature of 8-16 eV) and uncertainty in velocity from ≲2 to ≲1 km/s. Doppler shift and broadening are calculated via the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm, after which the errors in velocity and temperature are uniquely specified. Axisymmetric temperature profiles on HIT-SI3 for Ciii peaked near the inboard current separatrix at ≈40 eV are observed. Axisymmetric plasma displacement profiles have been measured on HIT-SI3, peaking at ≈6 cm at the outboard separatrix. Both profiles agree with the upper half of the midplane observable by HIT-SI. With its complete midplane view, HIT-SI3 has unambiguously extracted axisymmetric, toroidal current dependent rotation of up to 3 km/s. Analysis of the temporal phase of the displacement uncovers a coherent structure, locked to the applied perturbation. Previously described diagnostic systems could not achieve such results.

Nedley Depression Hit Hypothesis

OpenAIRE

Nedley, Neil; Ramirez, Francisco E.

2014-01-01

Depression is often diagnosed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria. We propose how certain lifestyle choices and non-modifiable factors can predict the development of depression. We identified 10 cause categories (hits or ?blows? to the brain) and theorize that four or more active hits could trigger a depression episode. Methods. A sample of 4271 participants from our community-based program (70% female; ages 17-94 years) was assessed ...

Current insights into the laboratory diagnosis of HIT.

Science.gov (United States)

Bakchoul, T; Zöllner, H; Greinacher, A

2014-06-01

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is an adverse drug reaction and prothrombotic disorder caused by immunization against platelet factor 4 (PF4) after complex formation with heparin or other polyanions. After antibody binding to PF4/heparin complexes, HIT antibodies are capable of intravascular platelet activation by cross-linking Fc gamma receptor IIa (FcγRIIa) on the platelet surface leading to a platelet count decrease and/or thrombosis. In contrast to most other immune-mediated disorders, the currently available laboratory tests for anti-PF4/heparin antibodies show a high sensitivity also for clinically irrelevant antibodies. This makes the diagnosis of HIT challenging and bears the risk to substantially overdiagnose HIT. The strength of the antigen assays for HIT is in ruling out HIT when the test is negative. Functional assays have a higher specificity for clinically relevant antibodies, but they are restricted to specialized laboratories. Currently, a Bayesian approach combining the clinical likelihood estimation for HIT with laboratory tests is the most appropriate approach to diagnose HIT. In this review, we give an overview on currently available diagnostic procedures and discuss their limitations. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The R Package threg to Implement Threshold Regression Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tao Xiao

2015-08-01

This new package includes four functions: threg, and the methods hr, predict and plot for threg objects returned by threg. The threg function is the model-fitting function which is used to calculate regression coefficient estimates, asymptotic standard errors and p values. The hr method for threg objects is the hazard-ratio calculation function which provides the estimates of hazard ratios at selected time points for specified scenarios (based on given categories or value settings of covariates. The predict method for threg objects is used for prediction. And the plot method for threg objects provides plots for curves of estimated hazard functions, survival functions and probability density functions of the first-hitting-time; function curves corresponding to different scenarios can be overlaid in the same plot for comparison to give additional research insights.

Prediction of Potential Hit Song and Musical Genre Using Artificial Neural Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Monterola, Christopher; Abundo, Cheryl; Tugaff, Jeric; Venturina, Lorcel Ericka

Accurately quantifying the goodness of music based on the seemingly subjective taste of the public is a multi-million industry. Recording companies can make sound decisions on which songs or artists to prioritize if accurate forecasting is achieved. We extract 56 single-valued musical features (e.g. pitch and tempo) from 380 Original Pilipino Music (OPM) songs (190 are hit songs) released from 2004 to 2006. Based on an effect size criterion which measures a variable's discriminating power, the 20 highest ranked features are fed to a classifier tasked to predict hit songs. We show that regardless of musical genre, a trained feed-forward neural network (NN) can predict potential hit songs with an average accuracy of ΦNN = 81%. The accuracy is about +20% higher than those of standard classifiers such as linear discriminant analysis (LDA, ΦLDA = 61%) and classification and regression trees (CART, ΦCART = 57%). Both LDA and CART are above the proportional chance criterion (PCC, ΦPCC = 50%) but are slightly below the suggested acceptable classifier requirement of 1.25*ΦPCC = 63%. Utilizing a similar procedure, we demonstrate that different genres (ballad, alternative rock or rock) of OPM songs can be automatically classified with near perfect accuracy using LDA or NN but only around 77% using CART.

Real-time regression analysis with deep convolutional neural networks

OpenAIRE

Huerta, E. A.; George, Daniel; Zhao, Zhizhen; Allen, Gabrielle

2018-01-01

We discuss the development of novel deep learning algorithms to enable real-time regression analysis for time series data. We showcase the application of this new method with a timely case study, and then discuss the applicability of this approach to tackle similar challenges across science domains.

Simplified validation of borderline hits of database searches

OpenAIRE

Thomas, Henrik; Shevchenko, Andrej

2008-01-01

Along with unequivocal hits produced by matching multiple MS/MS spectra to database sequences, LC-MS/MS analysis often yields a large number of hits of borderline statistical confidence. To simplify their validation, we propose to use rapid de novo interpretation of all acquired MS/MS spectra and, with the help of a simple software tool, display the candidate sequences together with each database search hit. We demonstrate that comparing hit database sequences and independent de novo interpre...

78 FR 29135 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-17

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting AGENCY: Office of...: HIT Standards Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide recommendations to the National... Federal Health IT Strategic Plan, and in accordance with policies developed by the HIT Policy Committee...

Dual hit lipopolysaccharide & oleic acid combination induced rat model of acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T N Hagawane

2016-01-01

Results: It was noted that the respiratory rate, and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α levels were significantly higher at 4 h in the dual hit group as compared to LPS, OA and control groups. Interleukin-6 (IL-6 levels were significantly higher in the dual hit group as compared to LPS at 8 and 24 h, OA at 8 h and control (at all time intervals group. IL-1β levels were significantly higher in LPS and dual hit groups at all time intervals, but not in OA and control groups. The injury induced in dual hit group was earlier and more sustained as compared to LPS and OA alone. Interpretation & conclusions: The lung pathology and changes in respiration functions produced by the dual hit model were closer to the diagnostic criteria of ALI/ARDS in terms of clinical manifestations and pulmonary injury and the injury persisted longer as compared to LPS and OA single hit model. Therefore, the ARDS model produced by the dual hit method was closer to the diagnostic criteria of ARDS in terms of clinical manifestations and pulmonary injury.

42 CFR 495.340 - As-needed HIT PAPD update and as-needed HIT IAPD update requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... limited to any of the following: (a) A projected cost increase of $100,000 or more. (b) A schedule... implementation approach, or scope of activities beyond that approved in the HIT planning advance planning document or the HIT implementation advance planning document. (d) A change in implementation concept or a...

On the Hitting Probability of Max-Stable Processes

OpenAIRE

Hofmann, Martin

2012-01-01

The probability that a max-stable process {\\eta} in C[0, 1] with identical marginal distribution function F hits x \\in R with 0 < F (x) < 1 is the hitting probability of x. We show that the hitting probability is always positive, unless the components of {\\eta} are completely dependent. Moreover, we consider the event that the paths of standard MSP hit some x \\in R twice and we give a sufficient condition for a positive probability of this event.

Implementation of a rapid HIT immunoassay at a university hospital - Retrospective analysis of HIT laboratory orders in patients with thrombocytopenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Black, Anne; Heimerl, Susanne; Oertli, Linnéa; Wilczek, Wolf; Greinacher, Andreas; Spannagl, Michael; Herr, Wolfgang; Hart, Christina

2017-10-01

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a rare cause of thrombocytopenia and a potentially life-threatening adverse drug reaction. Clinical overdiagnosis of HIT results in costly laboratory tests and anticoagulation. Criteria and algorithms for diagnosis are established, but their translation into clinical practice is still challenging. In a retrospective approach we studied all HIT related laboratory test requests within four years and evaluated data before (1st period, 24month) and after (2nd period, 24month) replacing particle gel immunoassay (PaGIA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) by a chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA). HIT was confirmed by heparin-induced platelet activation (HIPA) test. Clinical pretest probability for HIT using an implemented simplified 4Ts score and platelet count were evaluated. Costs for laboratory tests and alternative anticoagulation were calculated. In 1850 patients with suspected HIT, 2327 laboratory orders were performed. In 87.2% of these orders an intermediate/high simplified 4Ts score was found. Thrombocytopenia was present in 87.1%. After replacing PaGIA and ELISA by CLIA the number of immunological and functional laboratory tests was reduced by 38.2%. The number of positive HIT immunoassays declined from 22.6% to 6.0%, while the number of positive HIPA tests among positive immunological tests increased by 19%. Altogether, acute HIT was confirmed in 59 patients. A decline in the use of alternative anticoagulants was observed in the 2nd period. Our study shows that in a university hospital setting HIT is well-known, but diagnosis requires a precise laboratory confirmation. Replacing PaGIA and ELISA by CLIA did not influence laboratory order behavior but results in reduced overall costs for laboratory diagnostics and alternative anticoagulation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Demand spillovers of smash-hit papers: evidence from the 'Male Organ Incident'.

Science.gov (United States)

Kässi, Otto; Westling, Tatu

2013-12-01

This study explores the short-run spillover effects of popular research papers. We consider the publicity of 'Male Organ and Economic Growth: Does Size Matter?' as an exogenous shock to economics discussion paper demand, a natural experiment of a sort. In particular, we analyze how the very substantial visibility influenced the downloads of Helsinki Center of Economic Research discussion papers. Difference in differences and regression discontinuity analysis are conducted to elicit the spillover patterns. This study finds that the spillover effect to average economics paper demand is positive and statistically significant. It seems that hit papers increase the exposure of previously less downloaded papers. We find that part of the spillover effect could be attributable to Internet search engines' influence on browsing behavior. Conforming to expected patterns, papers residing on the same web page as the hit paper evidence very significant increases in downloads which also supports the spillover thesis. A11, C21. 97K80.

A method to increase optical timing spectra measurement rates using a multi-hit TDC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moses, W.W.

1993-01-01

A method is presented for using a modern time to digital converter (TDC) to increase the data collection rate for optical timing measurements such as scintillator decay times. It extends the conventional delayed coincidence method, where a synchronization signal ''starts'' a TDC and a photomultiplier tube (PMT) sampling the optical signal ''stops'' the TDC. Data acquisition rates are low with the conventional method because ε, the light collection efficiency of the ''stop'' PMT, is artificially limited to ε∼0.01 photons per ''start'' signal to reduce the probability of detecting more than one photon during the sampling period. With conventional TDCs, these multiple photon events bias the time spectrum since only the first ''stop'' pulse is digitized. The new method uses a modern TDC to detect whether additional ''stop'' signals occur during the sampling period, and actively reject these multiple photon events. This allows ε to be increased to almost 1 photon per ''start'' signal, which maximizes the data acquisition rate at a value nearly 20 times higher. Multi-hit TDCs can digitize the arrival times of n ''stop'' signals per ''start'' signal, which allows ε to be increased to ∼3n/4. While overlap of the ''stop'' signals prevents the full gain in data collection rate to be realized, significant improvements are possible for most applications. (orig.)

Forecasting daily meteorological time series using ARIMA and regression models

Science.gov (United States)

Murat, Małgorzata; Malinowska, Iwona; Gos, Magdalena; Krzyszczak, Jaromir

2018-04-01

The daily air temperature and precipitation time series recorded between January 1, 1980 and December 31, 2010 in four European sites (Jokioinen, Dikopshof, Lleida and Lublin) from different climatic zones were modeled and forecasted. In our forecasting we used the methods of the Box-Jenkins and Holt- Winters seasonal auto regressive integrated moving-average, the autoregressive integrated moving-average with external regressors in the form of Fourier terms and the time series regression, including trend and seasonality components methodology with R software. It was demonstrated that obtained models are able to capture the dynamics of the time series data and to produce sensible forecasts.

The validation of Huffaz Intelligence Test (HIT)

Science.gov (United States)

Rahim, Mohd Azrin Mohammad; Ahmad, Tahir; Awang, Siti Rahmah; Safar, Ajmain

2017-08-01

In general, a hafiz who can memorize the Quran has many specialties especially in respect to their academic performances. In this study, the theory of multiple intelligences introduced by Howard Gardner is embedded in a developed psychometric instrument, namely Huffaz Intelligence Test (HIT). This paper presents the validation and the reliability of HIT of some tahfiz students in Malaysia Islamic schools. A pilot study was conducted involving 87 huffaz who were randomly selected to answer the items in HIT. The analysis method used includes Partial Least Square (PLS) on reliability, convergence and discriminant validation. The study has validated nine intelligences. The findings also indicated that the composite reliabilities for the nine types of intelligences are greater than 0.8. Thus, the HIT is a valid and reliable instrument to measure the multiple intelligences among huffaz.

MYC/BCL2/BCL6 triple hit lymphoma: a study of 40 patients with a comparison to MYC/BCL2 and MYC/BCL6 double hit lymphomas.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Wenting; Medeiros, L Jeffrey; Lin, Pei; Wang, Wei; Tang, Guilin; Khoury, Joseph; Konoplev, Sergej; Yin, C Cameron; Xu, Jie; Oki, Yasuhiro; Li, Shaoying

2018-05-21

High-grade B-cell lymphomas with MYC, BCL2, and BCL6 rearrangements (triple hit lymphoma) are uncommon. We studied the clinicopathologic features of 40 patients with triple hit lymphoma and compared them to 157 patients with MYC/BCL2 double hit lymphoma and 13 patients with MYC/BCL6 double hit lymphoma. The triple hit lymphoma group included 25 men and 15 women with a median age of 61 years (range, 34-85). Nine patients had a history of B-cell lymphoma. Histologically, 23 (58%) cases were diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and 17 cases had features of B-cell lymphoma, unclassifiable, with features intermediate between diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and Burkitt lymphoma. Most cases of triple hit lymphoma were positive for CD10 (100%), BCL2 (95%), BCL6 (82%), MYC (74%), and 71% with MYC and BCL2 coexpression. P53 was overexpressed in 29% of triple hit lymphoma cases. The clinicopathological features of triple hit lymphoma patients were similar to patients with MYC/BCL2 and MYC/BCL6 double hit lymphoma, except that triple hit lymphoma cases were more often CD10 positive compared with MYC/BCL6 double hit lymphoma (p hit lymphoma and double hit lymphoma and overall survival in triple hit lymphoma patients was 17.6 months, similar to the overall survival of patients with double hit lymphoma (p = 0.67). Patients with triple hit lymphoma showing P53 overexpression had significantly worse overall survival compared with those without P53 overexpression (p = 0.04). On the other hand, double expressor status and prior history of B-cell lymphoma did not correlate with overall survival. In conclusion, most patients with triple hit lymphoma have an aggressive clinical course and poor prognosis and these tumors have a germinal center B-cell immunophenotype, similar to patients with double hit lymphomas. P53 expression is a poor prognostic factor in patients with triple hit lymphoma.

Getting Hit by Pitch in Professional Baseball: Analysis of Injury Patterns, Risk Factors, Concussions, and Days Missed for Batters.

Science.gov (United States)

Camp, Christopher L; Wang, Dean; Sinatro, Alec S; D'Angelo, John; Coleman, Struan H; Dines, Joshua S; Fealy, Stephen; Conte, Stan

2018-05-01

Although batters are frequently hit by pitch (HBP) in baseball, the effect of HBP injuries remains undefined in the literature. To determine the effect of HBP injuries in terms of time out of play, injury patterns resulting in the greatest time out of play, and the value of protective gear such as helmets and elbow pads. Descriptive laboratory study. Based on the Major League Baseball (MLB) Health and Injury Tracking System, all injuries to batters HBP during the 2011-2015 MLB and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) seasons were identified and analyzed. Video analysis was performed on all HBP events from the 2015 MLB season. Multivariate stepwise regression analysis was utilized to determine the predictive capacity of multiple variables (velocity, pitch type, location, etc) on injury status and severity. A total of 2920 HBP injuries resulted in 24,624 days missed (DM) over the 5 seasons. MLB HBP injuries occurred at a rate of 1 per 2554 plate appearances (1 per 9780 pitches thrown). Mean DM per injury were 8.4 (11.7 for MLB vs 8.0 for MiLB, P hit in the head/face (odds ratio, 28.7) or distal upper extremity (odds ratio, 6.4) were more likely to be injured than players HBP in other locations. Players with an unprotected elbow missed 1.7 more days (95% CI, -4.1 to 7.6) than those with an elbow protector ( P = .554) when injured after being HBP. Although HBP injuries occur infrequently in the course of normal play, they collectively represent a significant source of time out of play. The most common body regions injured include the hands/fingers and head/face, and batters hit in these locations are significantly more likely to be injured. After contusions, concussions were the most common injury diagnosis.

Markov chains with quasitoeplitz transition matrix: first zero hitting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander M. Dukhovny

1989-01-01

Full Text Available This paper continues the investigation of Markov Chains with a quasitoeplitz transition matrix. Generating functions of first zero hitting probabilities and mean times are found by the solution of special Riemann boundary value problems on the unit circle. Duality is discussed.

Tightness of M-estimators for multiple linear regression in time series

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Søren; Nielsen, Bent

We show tightness of a general M-estimator for multiple linear regression in time series. The positive criterion function for the M-estimator is assumed lower semi-continuous and sufficiently large for large argument: Particular cases are the Huber-skip and quantile regression. Tightness requires...

Marginal regression analysis of recurrent events with coarsened censoring times.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, X Joan; Rosychuk, Rhonda J

2016-12-01

Motivated by an ongoing pediatric mental health care (PMHC) study, this article presents weakly structured methods for analyzing doubly censored recurrent event data where only coarsened information on censoring is available. The study extracted administrative records of emergency department visits from provincial health administrative databases. The available information of each individual subject is limited to a subject-specific time window determined up to concealed data. To evaluate time-dependent effect of exposures, we adapt the local linear estimation with right censored survival times under the Cox regression model with time-varying coefficients (cf. Cai and Sun, Scandinavian Journal of Statistics 2003, 30, 93-111). We establish the pointwise consistency and asymptotic normality of the regression parameter estimator, and examine its performance by simulation. The PMHC study illustrates the proposed approach throughout the article. © 2016, The International Biometric Society.

Health information technology knowledge and skills needed by HIT employers.

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Fenton, S H; Gongora-Ferraez, M J; Joost, E

2012-01-01

To evaluate the health information technology (HIT) workforce knowledge and skills needed by HIT employers. Statewide face-to-face and online focus groups of identified HIT employer groups in Austin, Brownsville, College Station, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, Lubbock, San Antonio, and webinars for rural health and nursing informatics. HIT employers reported needing an HIT workforce with diverse knowledge and skills ranging from basic to advanced, while covering information technology, privacy and security, clinical practice, needs assessment, contract negotiation, and many other areas. Consistent themes were that employees needed to be able to learn on the job and must possess the ability to think critically and problem solve. Many employers wanted persons with technical skills, yet also the knowledge and understanding of healthcare operations. The HIT employer focus groups provided valuable insight into employee skills needed in this fast-growing field. Additionally, this information will be utilized to develop a statewide HIT workforce needs assessment survey.

A Two-Hit Model of Autism: Adolescence as the Second Hit

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Picci, Giorgia; Scherf, K. Suzanne

2015-01-01

Adolescence brings dramatic changes in behavior and neural organization. Unfortunately, for some 30% of individuals with autism, there is marked decline in adaptive functioning during adolescence. We propose a two-hit model of autism. First, early perturbations in neural development function as a “first hit” that sets up a neural system that is “built to fail” in the face of a second hit. Second, the confluence of pubertal hormones, neural reorganization, and increasing social demands during adolescence provides the “second hit” that interferes with the ability to transition into adult social roles and levels of adaptive functioning. In support of this model, we review evidence about adolescent-specific neural and behavioral development in autism. We conclude with predictions and recommendations for empirical investigation about several domains in which developmental trajectories for individuals with autism may be uniquely deterred in adolescence. PMID:26609500

77 FR 66617 - HIT Policy and Standards Committees; Workgroup Application Database

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-06

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy and Standards Committees; Workgroup Application... of New ONC HIT FACA Workgroup Application Database. The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) has.... Name of Committees: HIT Standards Committee and HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the...

Influence of Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) Alleles and Killer Cell Immunoglobulin-Like Receptors (KIR) Types on Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia (HIT).

Science.gov (United States)

Karnes, Jason H; Shaffer, Christian M; Cronin, Robert; Bastarache, Lisa; Gaudieri, Silvana; James, Ian; Pavlos, Rebecca; Steiner, Heidi E; Mosley, Jonathan D; Mallal, Simon; Denny, Joshua C; Phillips, Elizabeth J; Roden, Dan M

2017-09-01

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is an unpredictable, life-threatening, immune-mediated reaction to heparin. Variation in human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes is now used to prevent immune-mediated adverse drug reactions. Combinations of HLA alleles and killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) are associated with multiple autoimmune diseases and infections. The objective of this study is to evaluate the association of HLA alleles and KIR types, alone or in the presence of different HLA ligands, with HIT. HIT cases and heparin-exposed controls were identified in BioVU, an electronic health record coupled to a DNA biobank. HLA sequencing and KIR type imputation using Illumina OMNI-Quad data were performed. Odds ratios for HLA alleles and KIR types and HLA*KIR interactions using conditional logistic regressions were determined in the overall population and by race/ethnicity. Analysis was restricted to KIR types and HLA alleles with a frequency greater than 0.01. The p values for HLA and KIR association were corrected by using a false discovery rate qHIT cases and 350 matched controls were identified. No statistical differences in baseline characteristics were observed between cases and controls. The HLA-DRB3*01:01 allele was significantly associated with HIT in the overall population (odds ratio 2.81 [1.57-5.02], p=2.1×10 -4 , q=0.02) and in individuals with European ancestry, independent of other alleles. No KIR types were associated with HIT, although a significant interaction was observed between KIR2DS5 and the HLA-C1 KIR binding group (p=0.03). The HLA-DRB3*01:01 allele was identified as a potential risk factor for HIT. This class II HLA gene and allele represent biologically plausible candidates for influencing HIT pathogenesis. We found limited evidence of the role of KIR types in HIT pathogenesis. Replication and further study of the HLA-DRB3*01:01 association is necessary. © 2017 Pharmacotherapy Publications, Inc.

Dual hit lipopolysaccharide & oleic acid combination induced rat model of acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Hagawane, T N; Gaikwad, R V; Kshirsagar, N A

2016-05-01

Despite advances in therapy and overall medical care, acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) management remains a problem. Hence the objective of this study was to develop a rat model that mimics human ALI/ARDS. Four groups of Wistar rats, 48 per group were treated with (i) intratracheal (IT) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (5 mg/kg) dissolved in normal saline (NS), (ii) intravenous (iv) oleic acid (OA) (250 μl/kg) suspension in bovine serum albumin (BSA), (iii) dual hit: IT LPS (2 mg/kg) dissolved in NS and iv OA (100 μl/kg) and (iv) control group: IT NS and iv BSA. From each group at set periods of time various investigations like chest x-rays, respiratory rate (RR), tidal volume (TV), total cell count, differential cell count, total protein count and cytokine levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), lung wet/dry weight ratio and histopathological examination were done. It was noted that the respiratory rate, and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels were significantly higher at 4 h in the dual hit group as compared to LPS, OA and control groups. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were significantly higher in the dual hit group as compared to LPS at 8 and 24 h, OA at 8 h and control (at all time intervals) group. IL-1β levels were significantly higher in LPS and dual hit groups at all time intervals, but not in OA and control groups. The injury induced in dual hit group was earlier and more sustained as compared to LPS and OA alone. The lung pathology and changes in respiration functions produced by the dual hit model were closer to the diagnostic criteria of ALI/ARDS in terms of clinical manifestations and pulmonary injury and the injury persisted longer as compared to LPS and OA single hit model. Therefore, the ARDS model produced by the dual hit method was closer to the diagnostic criteria of ARDS in terms of clinical manifestations and pulmonary injury.

Hit-and-run, hit-and-stay, and commensal bacteria present different peptide content when viewed from the perspective of the T cell.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Lu; De Groot, Anne S; Bailey-Kellogg, Chris

2015-11-27

Different types of bacteria face different pressures from the immune system, with those that persist ("hit-and-stay") potentially having to adapt more in order to escape than those prone to short-lived infection ("hit-and-run"), and with commensal bacteria potentially different from both due to additional physical mechanisms for avoiding immune detection. The Janus Immunogenicity Score (JIS) was recently developed to assess the likelihood of T cell recognition of an antigen, using an analysis that considers both binding of a peptide within the antigen by major histocompatability complex (MHC) and recognition of the peptide:MHC complex by cognate T cell receptor (TCR). This score was shown to be predictive of T effector vs. T regulatory or null responses in experimental data, as well as to distinguish viruses representative of the hit-and-stay vs. hit-and-run phenotypes. Here, JIS-based analyses were conducted in order to characterize the extent to which the pressure to avoid T cell recognition is manifested in genomic differences among representative hit-and-run, hit-and-stay, and commensal bacteria. Overall, extracellular proteins were found to have different JIS profiles from cytoplasmic ones. Contrasting the bacterial groups, extracellular proteins were shown to be quite different across the groups, much more so than intracellular proteins. The differences were evident even at the level of corresponding peptides in homologous protein pairs from hit-and-run and hit-and-stay bacteria. The multi-level analysis of patterns of immunogenicity across different groups of bacteria provides a new way to approach questions of bacterial immune camouflage or escape, as well as to approach the selection and optimization of candidates for vaccine design. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Is There an Association Between Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia (HIT) and Autoimmune Disease?

Science.gov (United States)

Klinkhammer, Brent; Gruchalla, Michael

2018-03-01

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a drug-induced, immunoglobulin G medicated autoimmune disorder associated with several negative clinical outcomes including increased morbidity, mortality, and increased medical costs. Previous studies have shown associations between comorbid autoimmune diseases, but there is little known about associations between HIT and autoimmunity. To provide clinical data to suggest an association between HIT and autoimmunity. Retrospective chart review of 59 cases with a diagnosis of HIT and 251 matched controls without a HIT diagnosis, comparing the prevalence of autoimmunity in each group. A single, large upper Midwest health care system. Patients with a diagnosis of HIT were significantly more likely to have a comorbid autoimmune disease than those without a HIT diagnosis (55.9% vs 10.8%, P HIT were significantly more likely to have a diagnosis of antiphospholipid syndrome (15.3% vs 0.0%, P HIT were significantly older than controls ( P HIT and autoimmune disease and suggests a need for more research into the relationship between HIT and autoimmunity. These results could alter the anticoagulation management of venous thromboembolism and acute coronary syndrome in patients with a previously identified autoimmune disease. Copyright© Wisconsin Medical Society.

Do pigeons prefer alternatives that include near-hit outcomes?

Science.gov (United States)

Stagner, Jessica P; Case, Jacob P; Sticklen, Mary F; Duncan, Amanda K; Zentall, Thomas R

2015-07-01

Pigeons show suboptimal choice on a gambling-like task similar to that shown by humans. Humans also show a preference for gambles in which there are near hits (losses that come close to winning). In the present research, we asked if pigeons would show a preference for alternatives with near-hit-like trials. In Experiment 1, we included an alternative that presented a near hit, in which a stimulus associated with reinforcement (a presumed conditioned reinforcer) changed to a stimulus associated with the absence of reinforcement (a presumed conditioned inhibitor). The pigeons tended to avoid this alternative. In Experiment 2, we varied the duration of the presumed conditioned reinforcer (2 vs. 8 s) that changed to a presumed conditioned inhibitor (8 vs. 2 s) and found that the longer the conditioned reinforcer was presented, the more the pigeons avoided it. In Experiment 3, the near-hit alternative involved an ambiguous stimulus for 8 s that changed to a presumed conditioned reinforcer (or a presumed conditioned inhibitor) for 2 s, but the pigeons still avoided it. In Experiment 4, we controlled for the duration of the conditioned reinforcer by presenting it first for 2 s followed by the ambiguous stimulus for 8 s. Once again, the pigeons avoided the alternative with the near-hit trials. In all 4 experiments, the pigeons tended to avoid alternatives that provided near-hit-like trials. We concluded that humans may be attracted to near-hit trials because near-hit trials give them the illusion of control, whereas this does not appear to be a factor for pigeons. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Combined hit theory-microdosimetric explanation of cellular radiobiological action

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bond, V.P.; Varma, M.N.

1983-01-01

Hit theory is combined with microdosimetry in a stochastic approach that explains the observed responses of cell populations exposed in radiation fields of different qualities. The central thesis is that to expose a population of cells in a low-level radiation field is to subject the cells to the potential for interaction with charged particles in the vicinity of the cells, quantifiable in terms of the charged particle fluence theta. When such an interaction occurs there is a resulting stochastic transfer of energy to a critical volume (CV) of cross section sigma, within the cell(s). The severity of cell injury is dependent on the amount of energy thus imparted, or the hit size. If the severity is above some minimal level, there is a non-zero probability that the injury will result in a quantal effect (e.g., a mutational or carcinogenic initial event, cell transformation). A microdosimetric proportional counter, viewed here as a phantom cell CV that permits measurements not possible in the living cell, is used to determine the incidence of hit cells and the spectrum of hit sizes. Each hit is then weighted on the basis of an empirically-determined function that provides the fraction of cells responding quantally, as a function of hit size. The sum of the hits so weighted provides the incidence of quantally-responding cells, for any amount of exposure theta in a radiation field of any quality or mixture qualities. The hit size weighting function for pink mutations in Tradescantia is discussed, as are its implications in terms of a replacement for RBE and dose equivalent. 14 references, 9 figures

A Quantile Regression Approach to Estimating the Distribution of Anesthetic Procedure Time during Induction.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hsin-Lun Wu

Full Text Available Although procedure time analyses are important for operating room management, it is not easy to extract useful information from clinical procedure time data. A novel approach was proposed to analyze procedure time during anesthetic induction. A two-step regression analysis was performed to explore influential factors of anesthetic induction time (AIT. Linear regression with stepwise model selection was used to select significant correlates of AIT and then quantile regression was employed to illustrate the dynamic relationships between AIT and selected variables at distinct quantiles. A total of 1,060 patients were analyzed. The first and second-year residents (R1-R2 required longer AIT than the third and fourth-year residents and attending anesthesiologists (p = 0.006. Factors prolonging AIT included American Society of Anesthesiologist physical status ≧ III, arterial, central venous and epidural catheterization, and use of bronchoscopy. Presence of surgeon before induction would decrease AIT (p < 0.001. Types of surgery also had significant influence on AIT. Quantile regression satisfactorily estimated extra time needed to complete induction for each influential factor at distinct quantiles. Our analysis on AIT demonstrated the benefit of quantile regression analysis to provide more comprehensive view of the relationships between procedure time and related factors. This novel two-step regression approach has potential applications to procedure time analysis in operating room management.

Lead generation and examples opinion regarding how to follow up hits.

Science.gov (United States)

Orita, Masaya; Ohno, Kazuki; Warizaya, Masaichi; Amano, Yasushi; Niimi, Tatsuya

2011-01-01

In fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD), not only identifying the starting fragment hit to be developed but also generating a drug lead from that starting fragment hit is important. Converting fragment hits to leads is generally similar to a high-throughput screening (HTS) hits-to-leads approach in that properties associated with activity for a target protein, such as selectivity against other targets and absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADME/Tox), and physicochemical properties should be taken into account. However, enhancing the potency of the fragment hit is a key requirement in FBDD, unlike HTS, because initial fragment hits are generally weak. This enhancement is presently achieved by adding additional chemical groups which bind to additional parts of the target protein or by joining or combining two or more hit fragments; however, strategies for effecting greater improvements in effective activity are needed. X-ray analysis is a key technology attractive for converting fragments to drug leads. This method makes it clear whether a fragment hit can act as an anchor and provides insight regarding introduction of functional groups to improve fragment activity. Data on follow-up chemical synthesis of fragment hits has allowed for the differentiation of four different strategies: fragment optimization, fragment linking, fragment self-assembly, and fragment evolution. Here, we discuss our opinion regarding how to follow up on fragment hits, with a focus on the importance of fragment hits as an anchor moiety to so-called hot spots in the target protein using crystallographic data. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rare transformation to double hit lymphoma in Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia.

Science.gov (United States)

Okolo, Onyemaechi N; Johnson, Ariel C; Yun, Seongseok; Arnold, Stacy J; Anwer, Faiz

2017-08-01

Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM) is a lymphoproliferative lymphoma that is characterized by monoclonal immunoglobulin M (IgM) protein and bone marrow infiltration. Its incidence is rare and rarer still is its ability to transform to a B-cell lymphoma, particularly the aggressive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, which bodes a poor prognosis. When transformation includes mutations of MYC, BCL-2 and/or BCL-6, it is known as a 'double hit' or 'triple hit' lymphoma respectively. This paper presents a rare case of WM with mutations positive for MYC and BCL2, making it a case of double hit B-cell lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma with plasmatic differentiation without morphological transformation to aggressive histology like DLBCL. The paper also broadens to include discussions on current topics in the classification, diagnosis, possible causes of transformation, and treatment of WM, including transformation to double hit lymphoma. The significance of this case lies in that the presence of double hit lymphoma-like genetic mutations in WM have not been previously described in the literature and potentially such changes are harbinger of extra-nodal presentation, aggressive growth, and possibly poor prognosis, if data from other double-hit lymphoma are extrapolated.

Overview of the HIT-SI3 spheromak experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Hossack, A. C.; Jarboe, T. R.; Chandra, R. N.; Morgan, K. D.; Sutherland, D. A.; Everson, C. J.; Penna, J. M.; Nelson, B. A.

2017-10-01

The HIT-SI and HIT-SI3 spheromak experiments (a = 23 cm) study efficient, steady-state current drive for magnetic confinement plasmas using a novel method which is ideal for low aspect ratio, toroidal geometries. Sustained spheromaks show coherent, imposed plasma motion and low plasma-generated mode activity, indicating stability. Analysis of surface magnetic fields in HIT-SI indicates large n = 0 and 1 mode amplitudes and little energy in higher modes. Within measurement uncertainties all the n = 1 energy is imposed by the injectors, rather than being plasma-generated. The fluctuating field imposed by the injectors is sufficient to sustain the toroidal current through dynamo action whereas the plasma-generated field is not (Hossack et al., Phys. Plasmas, 2017). Ion Doppler spectroscopy shows coherent, imposed plasma motion inside r 10 cm in HIT-SI and a smaller volume of coherent motion in HIT-SI3. Coherent motion indicates the spheromak is stable and a lack of plasma-generated n = 1 energy indicates the maximum q is maintained below 1 for stability during sustainment. In HIT-SI3, the imposed mode structure is varied to test the plasma response (Hossack et al., Nucl. Fusion, 2017). Imposing n = 2, n = 3, or large, rotating n = 1 perturbations is correlated with transient plasma-generated activity. Work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, under Award Number DE-FG02-96ER54361.

Fuzzy Linear Regression for the Time Series Data which is Fuzzified with SMRGT Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seçil YALAZ

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Our work on regression and classification provides a new contribution to the analysis of time series used in many areas for years. Owing to the fact that convergence could not obtained with the methods used in autocorrelation fixing process faced with time series regression application, success is not met or fall into obligation of changing the models’ degree. Changing the models’ degree may not be desirable in every situation. In our study, recommended for these situations, time series data was fuzzified by using the simple membership function and fuzzy rule generation technique (SMRGT and to estimate future an equation has created by applying fuzzy least square regression (FLSR method which is a simple linear regression method to this data. Although SMRGT has success in determining the flow discharge in open channels and can be used confidently for flow discharge modeling in open canals, as well as in pipe flow with some modifications, there is no clue about that this technique is successful in fuzzy linear regression modeling. Therefore, in order to address the luck of such a modeling, a new hybrid model has been described within this study. In conclusion, to demonstrate our methods’ efficiency, classical linear regression for time series data and linear regression for fuzzy time series data were applied to two different data sets, and these two approaches performances were compared by using different measures.

Outlier detection algorithms for least squares time series regression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Søren; Nielsen, Bent

We review recent asymptotic results on some robust methods for multiple regression. The regressors include stationary and non-stationary time series as well as polynomial terms. The methods include the Huber-skip M-estimator, 1-step Huber-skip M-estimators, in particular the Impulse Indicator Sat...

Time series modeling by a regression approach based on a latent process.

Science.gov (United States)

Chamroukhi, Faicel; Samé, Allou; Govaert, Gérard; Aknin, Patrice

2009-01-01

Time series are used in many domains including finance, engineering, economics and bioinformatics generally to represent the change of a measurement over time. Modeling techniques may then be used to give a synthetic representation of such data. A new approach for time series modeling is proposed in this paper. It consists of a regression model incorporating a discrete hidden logistic process allowing for activating smoothly or abruptly different polynomial regression models. The model parameters are estimated by the maximum likelihood method performed by a dedicated Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm. The M step of the EM algorithm uses a multi-class Iterative Reweighted Least-Squares (IRLS) algorithm to estimate the hidden process parameters. To evaluate the proposed approach, an experimental study on simulated data and real world data was performed using two alternative approaches: a heteroskedastic piecewise regression model using a global optimization algorithm based on dynamic programming, and a Hidden Markov Regression Model whose parameters are estimated by the Baum-Welch algorithm. Finally, in the context of the remote monitoring of components of the French railway infrastructure, and more particularly the switch mechanism, the proposed approach has been applied to modeling and classifying time series representing the condition measurements acquired during switch operations.

Creating a safe place for pediatric care: A no hit zone.

Science.gov (United States)

Frazier, Erin R; Liu, Gilbert C; Dauk, Kelly L

2014-07-01

Our goal was to create and implement a program, Kosair Children's Hospital's No Hit Zone, which trains health care workers in de-escalation techniques to address parental disruptive behaviors and physical discipline of children commonly encountered in the hospital environment. The Child Abuse Task Force, a multidisciplinary group, along with key hospital administrators developed specific content for the policy, as well as marketing and educational materials. The No Hit Zone policy designates Kosair Children's Hospital as "an environment in which no adult shall hit a child, no adult shall hit another adult, no child shall hit an adult, and no child shall hit another child. When hitting is observed, it is everyone's responsibility to interrupt the behavior as well as communicate system policy to those present." Via a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach, the No Hit Zone was successfully implemented at Kosair Children's Hospital in 2012. Cost was nominal, and the support of key hospital administrators was critical to the program's success. Education of health professionals on de-escalation techniques and intervention with families at the early signs of parental stress occurred via live sessions and online training via case-based scenarios. The No Hit Zone is an important program used to provide a safe and caring environment for all families and staff of Kosair Children's Hospital. Demand for the program continues, demonstrated by the establishment of No Hit Zones at other local hospitals and multiple outpatient clinics. This article offers information for other organizations planning to conduct similar initiatives. Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

It's no surprise! Men are not hit more than women by the health consequences of unemployment in the Northern Swedish Cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Hammarström, Anne; Gustafsson, Per E; Strandh, Mattias; Virtanen, Pekka; Janlert, Urban

2011-03-01

Research often fails to ascertain whether men and women are equally hit by the health consequences of unemployment. The aim of this study was to analyze whether men's self-reported health and health behaviour were hit more by unemployment than women's in a follow-up of the Northern Swedish Cohort. A follow-up study of a cohort of all school leavers in a middle-sized industrial town in northern Sweden was performed from age 16 to age 42. Of those still alive of the original cohort, 94% (n = 1,006) participated during the whole period. A sample was made of participants in the labour force and living in Sweden (n = 916). Register data were used to assess the length of unemployment from age 40 to 42, while questionnaire data were used for the other variables. In multivariate logistic regression analyses significant relations between unemployment and mental health/smoking were found among both women and men, even after control for unemployment at the time of the investigation and indicators of health-related selection. Significant relations between unemployment and alcohol consumption were found among women, while few visits to a dentist was significant among men. Men are not hit more by the health consequences of unemployment in a Swedish context, with a high participation rate of women in the labour market. The public health relevance is that the study indicates the need to take gendered contexts into account in public health research.

Analysis of impact noise induced by hitting of titanium head golf driver.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Young Ho; Kim, Young Chul; Lee, Jun Hee; An, Yong-Hwi; Park, Kyung Tae; Kang, Kyung Min; Kang, Yeon June

2014-11-01

The hitting of titanium head golf driver against golf ball creates a short duration, high frequency impact noise. We analyzed the spectra of these impact noises and evaluated the auditory hazards from exposure to the noises. Noises made by 10 titanium head golf drivers with five maximum hits were collected, and the spectra of the pure impact sounds were studied using a noise analysis program. The noise was measured at 1.7 m (position A) and 3.4 m (position B) from the hitting point in front of the hitter and at 3.4 m (position C) behind the hitting point. Average time duration was measured and auditory risk units (ARUs) at position A were calculated using the Auditory Hazard Assessment Algorithm for Humans. The average peak levels at position A were 119.9 dBA at the sound pressure level (SPL) peak and 100.0 dBA at the overall octave level. The average peak levels (SPL and overall octave level) at position B were 111.6 and 96.5 dBA, respectively, and at position C were 111.5 and 96.7 dBA, respectively. The average time duration and ARUs measured at position A were 120.6 ms and 194.9 units, respectively. Although impact noises made by titanium head golf drivers showed relatively low ARUs, individuals enjoying golf frequently may be susceptible to hearing loss due to the repeated exposure of this intense impact noise with short duration and high frequency. Unprotected exposure to impact noises should be limited to prevent cochleovestibular disorders.

HIT and brain reward function: A case of mistaken identity (theory).

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Cory; Colombo, Matteo; Beard, Alexander

2017-08-01

This paper employs a case study from the history of neuroscience-brain reward function-to scrutinize the inductive argument for the so-called 'Heuristic Identity Theory' (HIT). The case fails to support HIT, illustrating why other case studies previously thought to provide empirical support for HIT also fold under scrutiny. After distinguishing two different ways of understanding the types of identity claims presupposed by HIT and considering other conceptual problems, we conclude that HIT is not an alternative to the traditional identity theory so much as a relabeling of previously discussed strategies for mechanistic discovery. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Mathematical models for estimating earthquake casualties and damage cost through regression analysis using matrices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Urrutia, J D; Bautista, L A; Baccay, E B

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to develop mathematical models for estimating earthquake casualties such as death, number of injured persons, affected families and total cost of damage. To quantify the direct damages from earthquakes to human beings and properties given the magnitude, intensity, depth of focus, location of epicentre and time duration, the regression models were made. The researchers formulated models through regression analysis using matrices and used α = 0.01. The study considered thirty destructive earthquakes that hit the Philippines from the inclusive years 1968 to 2012. Relevant data about these said earthquakes were obtained from Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. Data on damages and casualties were gathered from the records of National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. This study will be of great value in emergency planning, initiating and updating programs for earthquake hazard reduction in the Philippines, which is an earthquake-prone country.

A combined hit theory-microdosimetric explanation of cellular radiobiological action

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bond, V.P.; Varma, M.N.

1983-01-01

Hit theory is combined with microdosimetry in a stochastic approach that explains the observed responses of cell populations exposed in radiation fields of different qualities. The central thesis is that to expose a population of cells in a low-level radiation field is to subject the cells to the potential for interaction with charged particles, quantifiable in terms of the charged particle fluence PHI. When such an interaction occurs there is resulting stochastic transfer of energy to a critical volume (CV) of cross-section σ within the cell(s). The severity of cell injury is dependent on the amount of energy thus imparted, or the hit size. If the severity is above some minimal level, there is a non-zero probability that the injury will result in a quantal effect (e.g., a mutational or carcinogenic initial event, cell transformation). A microdosimetric proportional counter, viewed here as a phantom cell CV that permits measurements not possible in the living cell, is used to determine the incidence of hit cells and the spectrum of hit sizes. Each hit is then weighted on the basis of an empirically determined function that provides the fraction of cells responding quantally, as a function of hit size. The sum of the hits so weighted provides the incidence of quantally responding cells, for any amount of exposure PHI in a radiation field of any quality or mixture of qualities. The hit size weighting function for pink mutations in Tradescantia is discussed, as are its implications in terms of a replacement for relative biological effectiveness and dose equivalent. (author)

MIDAS and HIT-6 French translation: reliability and correlation between tests.

Science.gov (United States)

Magnoux, E; Freeman, M A; Zlotnik, G

2008-01-01

The aim was to evaluate the test-retest reliability of the French translation of the Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS) and Headache Impact Test (HIT)-6 questionnaires as applied to episodic and chronic headaches and to assess the correlation between these two questionnaires. The MIDAS and HIT-6 questionnaires, which assess the degree of migraine-related functional disability, are widely used in headache treatment clinics. The French translation has not been checked for test-retest reliability. MIDAS involves recall, over the previous 3 months, of the number of days with functional disability with regard to work and to home and social life. HIT-6 involves a more subjective and general assessment of headache-related disability over the previous 4 weeks. We expect that there may be greater impact recall bias for chronic headaches than for episodic headaches and considered it important to be able to determine if the reliability of these questionnaires is equally good for these two patient populations. Given that both questionnaires have the same objective, that of assessing headache impact, it was thought useful to determine if their results might show a correlation and if they could thus be used interchangeably. The study was approved by an external ethics committee. The subjects were patients who regularly visit the Clinique de la Migraine de Montréal, which specializes in the treatment of headaches. The MIDAS and HIT-6 questionnaires were completed by the patients during their regular visit. Twelve days later, the same questionnaires were mailed with a prepaid return envelope. Sixty-five patients were required in both the episodic and chronic headache groups, assuming an 80% questionnaire return rate. One hundred and eighty-five patients were enrolled, and 143 completed the study, 75 with episodic headaches and 68 with chronic headaches. The questionnaire return rate was 78.9%. On average, questionnaires were completed a second time 21 days after the first

PageRank, HITS and a unified framework for link analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ding, Chris; He, Xiaofeng; Husbands, Parry; Zha, Hongyuan; Simon, Horst

2001-10-01

Two popular webpage ranking algorithms are HITS and PageRank. HITS emphasizes mutual reinforcement between authority and hub webpages, while PageRank emphasizes hyperlink weight normalization and web surfing based on random walk models. We systematically generalize/combine these concepts into a unified framework. The ranking framework contains a large algorithm space; HITS and PageRank are two extreme ends in this space. We study several normalized ranking algorithms which are intermediate between HITS and PageRank, and obtain closed-form solutions. We show that, to first order approximation, all ranking algorithms in this framework, including PageRank and HITS, lead to same ranking which is highly correlated with ranking by indegree. These results support the notion that in web resource ranking indegree and outdegree are of fundamental importance. Rankings of webgraphs of different sizes and queries are presented to illustrate our analysis.

Predicting Charging Time of Battery Electric Vehicles Based on Regression and Time-Series Methods: A Case Study of Beijing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Bi

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Battery electric vehicles (BEVs reduce energy consumption and air pollution as compared with conventional vehicles. However, the limited driving range and potential long charging time of BEVs create new problems. Accurate charging time prediction of BEVs helps drivers determine travel plans and alleviate their range anxiety during trips. This study proposed a combined model for charging time prediction based on regression and time-series methods according to the actual data from BEVs operating in Beijing, China. After data analysis, a regression model was established by considering the charged amount for charging time prediction. Furthermore, a time-series method was adopted to calibrate the regression model, which significantly improved the fitting accuracy of the model. The parameters of the model were determined by using the actual data. Verification results confirmed the accuracy of the model and showed that the model errors were small. The proposed model can accurately depict the charging time characteristics of BEVs in Beijing.

A Polynomial Time Construction of a Hitting Set for Read-Once Branching Programs of Width 3

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Šíma, Jiří; Žák, Stanislav

-, subm. 2015 (2018) ISSN 0022-0000 R&D Projects: GA ČR GBP202/12/G061; GA ČR GAP202/10/1333 Institutional support: RVO:67985807 Keywords : derandomization * Hitting Set * read-once branching programs * bounded width Subject RIV: IN - Informatics, Computer Science Impact factor: 1.678, year: 2016

Time-localized wavelet multiple regression and correlation

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández-Macho, Javier

2018-02-01

This paper extends wavelet methodology to handle comovement dynamics of multivariate time series via moving weighted regression on wavelet coefficients. The concept of wavelet local multiple correlation is used to produce one single set of multiscale correlations along time, in contrast with the large number of wavelet correlation maps that need to be compared when using standard pairwise wavelet correlations with rolling windows. Also, the spectral properties of weight functions are investigated and it is argued that some common time windows, such as the usual rectangular rolling window, are not satisfactory on these grounds. The method is illustrated with a multiscale analysis of the comovements of Eurozone stock markets during this century. It is shown how the evolution of the correlation structure in these markets has been far from homogeneous both along time and across timescales featuring an acute divide across timescales at about the quarterly scale. At longer scales, evidence from the long-term correlation structure can be interpreted as stable perfect integration among Euro stock markets. On the other hand, at intramonth and intraweek scales, the short-term correlation structure has been clearly evolving along time, experiencing a sharp increase during financial crises which may be interpreted as evidence of financial 'contagion'.

Sleeping beauties in psychology: comparisons of "hits" and "missed signals" in psychological journals.

Science.gov (United States)

Lange, Lydia L

2005-05-01

Scientific publications tend to be forgotten quickly. A few works, however, are still cited 100 years and more after their publication. The author used bibliometric methods to compare "hits" (works noticed by the scientific community soon after their publication) with "missed signals" (works that went unnoticed until much later) by investigating 2 psychological journals founded in the 1890s: Zeitschrift für Psychologie and Psychological Review. All articles that were published in either of these journals up to 1920 and cited more than 25 times in the Web of Science up to the year 2000 were considered for inclusion in the analysis. It emerged that hits corresponded more closely to the focus of scientific attention at the time of the publications than missed signals.

75 FR 5595 - HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-03

... Technology HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National... Health Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT... Federal Health IT Strategic Plan, and in accordance with policies developed by the HIT Policy Committee...

76 FR 28784 - HIT Standards Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-18

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of... be open to the public via dial-in access only. Name of Committees: HIT Standards Committee's... implementation of the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan, and in accordance with policies developed by the HIT...

76 FR 50736 - HIT Standards Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-16

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of... be open to the public via dial-in access only. Name of Committees: HIT Standards Committee's... implementation of the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan, and in accordance with policies developed by the HIT...

76 FR 14975 - HIT Standards Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-18

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of... be open to the public via dial-in access only. Name of Committees: HIT Standards Committee's... implementation of the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan, and in accordance with policies developed by the HIT...

Single-hit mechanism of tumour cell killing by radiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, J D

2003-02-01

To review the relative importance of the single-hit mechanism of radiation killing for tumour response to 1.8-2.0 Gy day(-1) fractions and to low dose-rate brachytherapy. Tumour cell killing by ionizing radiation is well described by the linear-quadratic equation that contains two independent components distinguished by dose kinetics. Analyses of tumour cell survival curves that contain six or more dose points usually provide good estimates of the alpha- and beta-inactivation coefficients. Superior estimates of tumour cell intrinsic radiosensitivity are obtained when synchronized populations are employed. The characteristics of single-hit inactivation of tumour cells are reviewed and compared with the characteristics of beta-inactivation. Potential molecular targets associated with single-hit inactivation are discussed along with strategies for potentiating cell killing by this mechanism. The single-hit mechanism of tumour cell killing shows no dependence on dose-rate and, consequently, no evidence of sublethal damage repair. It is uniquely potentiated by high linear-energy-transfer radiation, exhibits a smaller oxygen enhancement ratio and exhibits a larger indirect effect by hydroxyl radicals than the beta-mechanism. alpha-inactivation coefficients vary slightly throughout interphase but mitotic cells exhibit extremely high alpha-coefficients in the range of those observed for lymphocytes and some repair-deficient cells. Evidence is accumulating to suggest that chromatin in compacted form could be a radiation-hypersensitive target associated with single-hit radiation killing. Analyses of tumour cell survival curves demonstrate that it is the single-hit mechanism (alpha) that determines the majority of cell killing after doses of 2Gy and that this mechanism is highly variable between tumour cell lines. The characteristics of single-hit inactivation are qualitatively and quantitatively distinct from those of beta-inactivation. Compacted chromatin in tumour cells

Assessing the lipophilicity of fragments and early hits

Science.gov (United States)

Mortenson, Paul N.; Murray, Christopher W.

2011-07-01

A key challenge in many drug discovery programs is to accurately assess the potential value of screening hits. This is particularly true in fragment-based drug design (FBDD), where the hits often bind relatively weakly, but are correspondingly small. Ligand efficiency (LE) considers both the potency and the size of the molecule, and enables us to estimate whether or not an initial hit is likely to be optimisable to a potent, druglike lead. While size is a key property that needs to be controlled in a small molecule drug, there are a number of additional properties that should also be considered. Lipophilicity is amongst the most important of these additional properties, and here we present a new efficiency index (LLEAT) that combines lipophilicity, size and potency. The index is intuitively defined, and has been designed to have the same target value and dynamic range as LE, making it easily interpretable by medicinal chemists. Monitoring both LE and LLEAT should help both in the selection of more promising fragment hits, and controlling molecular weight and lipophilicity during optimisation.

Aggressive B cell Lymphoma: Optimal Therapy for MYC-positive, Double-Hit, and Triple-Hit DLBCL.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunleavy, Kieron

2015-12-01

Approximately 10% of cases of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) harbor a MYC rearrangement and this has been associated with an inferior outcome following standard therapy across many different studies. Double-hit and triple-hit lymphomas harbor concurrent rearrangements of MYC and BCL2 and/or BCL6 and are also associated with a very aggressive course and poor clinical outcome. It is unclear and there is lack of consensus on how these diseases should be approached therapeutically. They are characterized typically by high tumor proliferation and likely require Burkitt lymphoma-type strategies and several retrospective studies suggest that more intensive approaches than rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) may be beneficial. One challenge in this respect is that most patients with these diseases are older than 60 years and generally have poor tolerability of regimens typically used in Burkitt lymphoma. Dose-adjusted EPOCH-R is an alternative effective immunochemotherapy platform for DLBCL and is effective in Burkitt lymphoma, and retrospective studies suggest that it is effective and feasible in patients with DLBCL that harbors a MYC rearrangement with or without a BCL-2 translocation (double-hit). A multicenter study of this approach in MYC-rearranged DLBCL is ongoing and preliminary results are very encouraging. There is a lack of consensus on the role of consolidation stem cell transplantation in patients who achieve a good response to initial therapy but at this point in time, no (retrospective) studies have demonstrated any benefit. These diseases are also associated with a high rate of CNS involvement and progression and checking for cerebrospinal fluid by cytology and flow cytometry at initial diagnosis should be considered. In summary, based on retrospective data and preliminary prospective data (as more mature data is awaited), while Burkitt-type regimens may be feasible in young patients, DA-EPOCH-R is a

Throat hit in users of the electronic cigarette: An exploratory study.

Science.gov (United States)

Etter, Jean-François

2016-02-01

A cross-sectional survey on the Internet in 2012-2014 was used to study the "throat hit," the specific sensation in the throat felt by users of e-cigarettes. Participants were 1672 current users of e-cigarettes, visitors of Websites dedicated to e-cigarettes and to smoking cessation. It was assessed whether the strength of the throat hit was associated with the characteristics of e-cigarettes and e-liquids, modifications of the devices, patterns of use, reasons for use, satisfaction with e-cigarettes, dependence on e-cigarettes, smoking behavior, and perceived effects on smoking. The strongest throat hit was obtained by using better-quality models and liquids with high nicotine content. Those who reported a "very strong" throat hit used liquids with 17.3 mg/mL nicotine, versus 7.1 mg/mL for those reporting a "very weak" hit (p e-cigarette models that provide high levels of nicotine, a strong throat hit, high satisfaction, and more effects on smoking, but may also be addictive, and models than contain less nicotine and are less addictive, but produce a weaker throat hit, are less satisfactory, and are possibly less efficient at helping people quit smoking. This trade-off must be kept in mind when regulating e-cigarettes. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Identifying and Synchronizing Health Information Technology (HIT) Events from FDA Medical Device Reports.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Hong; Wang, Frank; Zhou, Sicheng; Miao, Qi; Gong, Yang

2017-01-01

Health information technology (HIT) events, a subtype of patient safety events, pose a major threat and barrier toward a safer healthcare system. It is crucial to gain a better understanding of the nature of the errors and adverse events caused by current HIT systems. The scarcity of HIT event-exclusive databases and event reporting systems indicates the challenge of identifying the HIT events from existing resources. FDA Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience (MAUDE) database is a potential resource for HIT events. However, the low proportion and the rapid evolvement of HIT-related events present challenges for distinguishing them from other equipment failures and hazards. We proposed a strategy to identify and synchronize HIT events from MAUDE by using a filter based on structured features and classifiers based on unstructured features. The strategy will help us develop and grow an HIT event-exclusive database, keeping pace with updates to MAUDE toward shared learning.

Regression analysis for bivariate gap time with missing first gap time data.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Chia-Hui; Chen, Yi-Hau

2017-01-01

We consider ordered bivariate gap time while data on the first gap time are unobservable. This study is motivated by the HIV infection and AIDS study, where the initial HIV contracting time is unavailable, but the diagnosis times for HIV and AIDS are available. We are interested in studying the risk factors for the gap time between initial HIV contraction and HIV diagnosis, and gap time between HIV and AIDS diagnoses. Besides, the association between the two gap times is also of interest. Accordingly, in the data analysis we are faced with two-fold complexity, namely data on the first gap time is completely missing, and the second gap time is subject to induced informative censoring due to dependence between the two gap times. We propose a modeling framework for regression analysis of bivariate gap time under the complexity of the data. The estimating equations for the covariate effects on, as well as the association between, the two gap times are derived through maximum likelihood and suitable counting processes. Large sample properties of the resulting estimators are developed by martingale theory. Simulations are performed to examine the performance of the proposed analysis procedure. An application of data from the HIV and AIDS study mentioned above is reported for illustration.

All hypertopologies are hit-and-miss

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Somshekhar Naimpally

2002-04-01

Full Text Available We solve a long standing problem by showing that all known hypertopologies are hit-and-miss. Our solution is not merely of theoretical importance. This representation is useful in the study of comparison of the Hausdorff-Bourbaki or H-B uniform topologies and the Wijsman topologies among themselves and with others. Up to now some of these comparisons needed intricate manipulations. The H-B uniform topologies were the subject of intense activity in the 1960's in connection with the Isbell-Smith problem. We show that they are proximally locally finite topologies from which the solution to the above problem follows easily. It is known that the Wijsman topology on the hyperspace is the proximal ball (hit-and-miss topology in”nice” metric spaces including the normed linear spaces. With the introduction of a new far-miss topology we show that the Wijsman topology is hit-and-miss for all metric spaces. From this follows a natural generalization of the Wijsman topology to the hyperspace of any T1 space. Several existing results in the literature are easy consequences of our work.

Cosmic Ray Hit Detection with Homogenous Structures

Science.gov (United States)

Smirnov, O. M.

Cosmic ray (CR) hits can affect a significant number of pixels both on long-exposure ground-based CCD observations and on the Space Telescope frames. Thus, methods of identifying the damaged pixels are an important part of the data preprocessing for practically any application. The paper presents an implementation of a CR hit detection algorithm based on a homogenous structure (also called cellular automata ), a concept originating in artificial intelligence and dicrete mathematics. Each pixel of the image is represented by a small automaton, which interacts with its neighbors and assumes a distinct state if it ``decides'' that a CR hit is present. On test data, the algorithm has shown a high detection rate (~0.7 ) and a low false alarm rate (frame. A homogenous structure is extremely trainable, which can be very important for processing large batches of data obtained under similar conditions. Training and optimizing issues are discussed, as well as possible other applications of this concept to image processing.

A New Track Reconstruction Algorithm suitable for Parallel Processing based on Hit Triplets and Broken Lines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schöning André

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Track reconstruction in high track multiplicity environments at current and future high rate particle physics experiments is a big challenge and very time consuming. The search for track seeds and the fitting of track candidates are usually the most time consuming steps in the track reconstruction. Here, a new and fast track reconstruction method based on hit triplets is proposed which exploits a three-dimensional fit model including multiple scattering and hit uncertainties from the very start, including the search for track seeds. The hit triplet based reconstruction method assumes a homogeneous magnetic field which allows to give an analytical solutions for the triplet fit result. This method is highly parallelizable, needs fewer operations than other standard track reconstruction methods and is therefore ideal for the implementation on parallel computing architectures. The proposed track reconstruction algorithm has been studied in the context of the Mu3e-experiment and a typical LHC experiment.

Lessons learnt from the Wenchuan earthquake: performance evaluation of treatment of critical injuries in hardest-hit areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Jie; Li, Youping; Huang, Xiaolin; Li, Bing; Su, Lin; Zhong, Dake; Shi, Chenghu; Li, Mingxu; Shan, Juan; Chen, Yin

2012-08-01

Critical injury treatment in the hardest-hit areas after a great earthquake was retrospectively analyzed to determine how best to reduce mortality and disability and increase the rehabilitation rate through postquake medical relief. Retrospective analysis, primary sources, and secondary sources were comprehensively retrieved and analyzed. According to incomplete data, 30,620 injured were rescued by themselves among the hardest-hit areas in the 72 hours immediately following the earthquake. Critically injured patients accounted for 22% of total inpatients. Mortality rates declined with greater distance from the epicenter: rates were 12.21% for municipal healthcare centers in the hardest-hit areas, 4.50% for municipal medical units in peripheral quake-hit areas, 2.50% for provincial medical units in peripheral quake-hit areas, and 2.17% for Ministry of Health-affiliated hospitals in peripheral quake-hit areas. The number of injured with fractures on body, limbs or unknown-parts, severe conditions as well as other kinds of non-traumatic diseases received in second-line hospitals was much more than those treated in first-line hospitals with more severe injuries. Among 10,373 injured in stable condition transferred to third-line hospitals, 99.07% were discharged from hospitals within four months, while the mortality rate was 0.017%. The medical relief model of "supervising body helping subordinate unit, severely stricken areas assisting hardest-hit areas, least-hit areas supporting both hardest-hit and severely stricken areas, and self help and mutual assistance applied between hardest-hit areas" was roughly established for injured from severely stricken areas after the Wenchuan Earthquake. The "four-centralization" treatment principle, which referred to concentrating patients, experts, resources and treatment for those injured in critical condition effectively reduced the mortality from 15.06% to 2.9%. Timely, scientific, and standard on-site triage and postmedical

The Holistic Integrity Test (HIT - quantified resilience analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dobson Mike

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The Holistic Integrity Test (HIT - Quantified Resilience Analysis. Rising sea levels and wider climate change mean we face an increasing risk from flooding and other natural hazards. Tough economic times make it difficult to economically justify or afford the desired level of engineered risk reduction. Add to this significant uncertainty from a range of future predictions, constantly updated with new science. We therefore need to understand not just how to reduce the risk, but what could happen should above design standard events occur. In flood terms this includes not only the direct impacts (damage and loss of life, but the wider cascade impacts to infrastructure systems and the longer term impacts on the economy and society. However, understanding the “what if” is only the first part of the equation; a range of improvement measures to mitigate such effects need to be identified and implemented. These measures should consider reducing the risk, lessening the consequences, aiding the response, and speeding up the recovery. However, they need to be objectively assessed through quantitative analysis, which underpins them technically and economically. Without such analysis, it cannot be predicted how measures will perform if the extreme events occur. It is also vital to consider all possible hazards as measures for one hazard may hinder the response to another. The Holistic Integrity Test (HIT, uses quantitative system analysis and “HITs” the site, its infrastructure, contained dangers and wider regional system to determine how it copes with a range of severe shock events, Before, During and After the event, whilst also accounting for uncertainty (as illustrated in figure 1. First explained at the TINCE 2014 Nuclear Conference in Paris, it was explained in terms of a Nuclear Facility needing to analyse the site in response to post Fukushima needs; the hit is however universally applicable. The HIT has three key risk reduction goals: The

Physiologic noise regression, motion regression, and TOAST dynamic field correction in complex-valued fMRI time series.

Science.gov (United States)

Hahn, Andrew D; Rowe, Daniel B

2012-02-01

As more evidence is presented suggesting that the phase, as well as the magnitude, of functional MRI (fMRI) time series may contain important information and that there are theoretical drawbacks to modeling functional response in the magnitude alone, removing noise in the phase is becoming more important. Previous studies have shown that retrospective correction of noise from physiologic sources can remove significant phase variance and that dynamic main magnetic field correction and regression of estimated motion parameters also remove significant phase fluctuations. In this work, we investigate the performance of physiologic noise regression in a framework along with correction for dynamic main field fluctuations and motion regression. Our findings suggest that including physiologic regressors provides some benefit in terms of reduction in phase noise power, but it is small compared to the benefit of dynamic field corrections and use of estimated motion parameters as nuisance regressors. Additionally, we show that the use of all three techniques reduces phase variance substantially, removes undesirable spatial phase correlations and improves detection of the functional response in magnitude and phase. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Replica analysis of overfitting in regression models for time-to-event data

Science.gov (United States)

Coolen, A. C. C.; Barrett, J. E.; Paga, P.; Perez-Vicente, C. J.

2017-09-01

Overfitting, which happens when the number of parameters in a model is too large compared to the number of data points available for determining these parameters, is a serious and growing problem in survival analysis. While modern medicine presents us with data of unprecedented dimensionality, these data cannot yet be used effectively for clinical outcome prediction. Standard error measures in maximum likelihood regression, such as p-values and z-scores, are blind to overfitting, and even for Cox’s proportional hazards model (the main tool of medical statisticians), one finds in literature only rules of thumb on the number of samples required to avoid overfitting. In this paper we present a mathematical theory of overfitting in regression models for time-to-event data, which aims to increase our quantitative understanding of the problem and provide practical tools with which to correct regression outcomes for the impact of overfitting. It is based on the replica method, a statistical mechanical technique for the analysis of heterogeneous many-variable systems that has been used successfully for several decades in physics, biology, and computer science, but not yet in medical statistics. We develop the theory initially for arbitrary regression models for time-to-event data, and verify its predictions in detail for the popular Cox model.

Phase Space Prediction of Chaotic Time Series with Nu-Support Vector Machine Regression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ye Meiying; Wang Xiaodong

2005-01-01

A new class of support vector machine, nu-support vector machine, is discussed which can handle both classification and regression. We focus on nu-support vector machine regression and use it for phase space prediction of chaotic time series. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated by applying it to the Henon map. This study also compares nu-support vector machine with back propagation (BP) networks in order to better evaluate the performance of the proposed methods. The experimental results show that the nu-support vector machine regression obtains lower root mean squared error than the BP networks and provides an accurate chaotic time series prediction. These results can be attributable to the fact that nu-support vector machine implements the structural risk minimization principle and this leads to better generalization than the BP networks.

Contribution of Visual Information about Ball Trajectory to Baseball Hitting Accuracy.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takatoshi Higuchi

Full Text Available The contribution of visual information about a pitched ball to the accuracy of baseball-bat contact may vary depending on the part of trajectory seen. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between hitting accuracy and the segment of the trajectory of the flying ball that can be seen by the batter. Ten college baseball field players participated in the study. The systematic error and standardized variability of ball-bat contact on the bat coordinate system and pitcher-to-catcher direction when hitting a ball launched from a pitching machine were measured with or without visual occlusion and analyzed using analysis of variance. The visual occlusion timing included occlusion from 150 milliseconds (ms after the ball release (R+150, occlusion from 150 ms before the expected arrival of the launched ball at the home plate (A-150, and a condition with no occlusion (NO. Twelve trials in each condition were performed using two ball speeds (31.9 m·s-1 and 40.3 m·s-1. Visual occlusion did not affect the mean location of ball-bat contact in the bat's long axis, short axis, and pitcher-to-catcher directions. Although the magnitude of standardized variability was significantly smaller in the bat's short axis direction than in the bat's long axis and pitcher-to-catcher directions (p < 0.001, additional visible time from the R+150 condition to the A-150 and NO conditions resulted in a further decrease in standardized variability only in the bat's short axis direction (p < 0.05. The results suggested that there is directional specificity in the magnitude of standardized variability with different visible time. The present study also confirmed the limitation to visual information is the later part of the ball trajectory for improving hitting accuracy, which is likely due to visuo-motor delay.

Improving the Prediction of Total Surgical Procedure Time Using Linear Regression Modeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric R. Edelman

2017-06-01

Full Text Available For efficient utilization of operating rooms (ORs, accurate schedules of assigned block time and sequences of patient cases need to be made. The quality of these planning tools is dependent on the accurate prediction of total procedure time (TPT per case. In this paper, we attempt to improve the accuracy of TPT predictions by using linear regression models based on estimated surgeon-controlled time (eSCT and other variables relevant to TPT. We extracted data from a Dutch benchmarking database of all surgeries performed in six academic hospitals in The Netherlands from 2012 till 2016. The final dataset consisted of 79,983 records, describing 199,772 h of total OR time. Potential predictors of TPT that were included in the subsequent analysis were eSCT, patient age, type of operation, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA physical status classification, and type of anesthesia used. First, we computed the predicted TPT based on a previously described fixed ratio model for each record, multiplying eSCT by 1.33. This number is based on the research performed by van Veen-Berkx et al., which showed that 33% of SCT is generally a good approximation of anesthesia-controlled time (ACT. We then systematically tested all possible linear regression models to predict TPT using eSCT in combination with the other available independent variables. In addition, all regression models were again tested without eSCT as a predictor to predict ACT separately (which leads to TPT by adding SCT. TPT was most accurately predicted using a linear regression model based on the independent variables eSCT, type of operation, ASA classification, and type of anesthesia. This model performed significantly better than the fixed ratio model and the method of predicting ACT separately. Making use of these more accurate predictions in planning and sequencing algorithms may enable an increase in utilization of ORs, leading to significant financial and productivity related

Improving the Prediction of Total Surgical Procedure Time Using Linear Regression Modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Edelman, Eric R; van Kuijk, Sander M J; Hamaekers, Ankie E W; de Korte, Marcel J M; van Merode, Godefridus G; Buhre, Wolfgang F F A

2017-01-01

For efficient utilization of operating rooms (ORs), accurate schedules of assigned block time and sequences of patient cases need to be made. The quality of these planning tools is dependent on the accurate prediction of total procedure time (TPT) per case. In this paper, we attempt to improve the accuracy of TPT predictions by using linear regression models based on estimated surgeon-controlled time (eSCT) and other variables relevant to TPT. We extracted data from a Dutch benchmarking database of all surgeries performed in six academic hospitals in The Netherlands from 2012 till 2016. The final dataset consisted of 79,983 records, describing 199,772 h of total OR time. Potential predictors of TPT that were included in the subsequent analysis were eSCT, patient age, type of operation, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status classification, and type of anesthesia used. First, we computed the predicted TPT based on a previously described fixed ratio model for each record, multiplying eSCT by 1.33. This number is based on the research performed by van Veen-Berkx et al., which showed that 33% of SCT is generally a good approximation of anesthesia-controlled time (ACT). We then systematically tested all possible linear regression models to predict TPT using eSCT in combination with the other available independent variables. In addition, all regression models were again tested without eSCT as a predictor to predict ACT separately (which leads to TPT by adding SCT). TPT was most accurately predicted using a linear regression model based on the independent variables eSCT, type of operation, ASA classification, and type of anesthesia. This model performed significantly better than the fixed ratio model and the method of predicting ACT separately. Making use of these more accurate predictions in planning and sequencing algorithms may enable an increase in utilization of ORs, leading to significant financial and productivity related benefits.

Hit Identification and Optimization in Virtual Screening: Practical Recommendations Based Upon a Critical Literature Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Tian; Cao, Shuyi; Su, Pin-Chih; Patel, Ram; Shah, Darshan; Chokshi, Heta B.; Szukala, Richard; Johnson, Michael E.; Hevener, Kirk E.

2013-01-01

A critical analysis of virtual screening results published between 2007 and 2011 was performed. The activity of reported hit compounds from over 400 studies was compared to their hit identification criteria. Hit rates and ligand efficiencies were calculated to assist in these analyses and the results were compared with factors such as the size of the virtual library and the number of compounds tested. A series of promiscuity, drug-like, and ADMET filters were applied to the reported hits to assess the quality of compounds reported and a careful analysis of a subset of the studies which presented hit optimization was performed. This data allowed us to make several practical recommendations with respect to selection of compounds for experimental testing, defining hit identification criteria, and general virtual screening hit criteria to allow for realistic hit optimization. A key recommendation is the use of size-targeted ligand efficiency values as hit identification criteria. PMID:23688234

Hit identification and optimization in virtual screening: practical recommendations based on a critical literature analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Tian; Cao, Shuyi; Su, Pin-Chih; Patel, Ram; Shah, Darshan; Chokshi, Heta B; Szukala, Richard; Johnson, Michael E; Hevener, Kirk E

2013-09-12

A critical analysis of virtual screening results published between 2007 and 2011 was performed. The activity of reported hit compounds from over 400 studies was compared to their hit identification criteria. Hit rates and ligand efficiencies were calculated to assist in these analyses, and the results were compared with factors such as the size of the virtual library and the number of compounds tested. A series of promiscuity, druglike, and ADMET filters were applied to the reported hits to assess the quality of compounds reported, and a careful analysis of a subset of the studies that presented hit optimization was performed. These data allowed us to make several practical recommendations with respect to selection of compounds for experimental testing, definition of hit identification criteria, and general virtual screening hit criteria to allow for realistic hit optimization. A key recommendation is the use of size-targeted ligand efficiency values as hit identification criteria.

Direct oral anticoagulants for treatment of HIT: update of Hamilton experience and literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Warkentin, Theodore E; Pai, Menaka; Linkins, Lori-Ann

2017-08-31

Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are attractive options for treatment of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). We report our continuing experience in Hamilton, ON, Canada, since January 1, 2015 (when we completed our prospective study of rivaroxaban for HIT), using rivaroxaban for serologically confirmed HIT (4Ts score ≥4 points; positive platelet factor 4 [PF4]/heparin immunoassay, positive serotonin-release assay). We also performed a literature review of HIT treatment using DOACs (rivaroxaban, apixaban, dabigatran, edoxaban). We focused on patients who received DOAC therapy for acute HIT as either primary therapy (group A) or secondary therapy (group B; initial treatment using a non-DOAC/non-heparin anticoagulant with transition to a DOAC during HIT-associated thrombocytopenia). Our primary end point was occurrence of objectively documented thrombosis during DOAC therapy for acute HIT. We found that recovery without new, progressive, or recurrent thrombosis occurred in all 10 Hamilton patients with acute HIT treated with rivaroxaban. Data from the literature review plus these new data identified a thrombosis rate of 1 of 46 patients (2.2%; 95% CI, 0.4%-11.3%) in patients treated with rivaroxaban during acute HIT (group A, n = 25; group B, n = 21); major hemorrhage was seen in 0 of 46 patients. Similar outcomes in smaller numbers of patients were observed with apixaban (n = 12) and dabigatran (n = 11). DOACs offer simplified management of selected patients, as illustrated by a case of persisting (autoimmune) HIT (>2-month platelet recovery with inversely parallel waning of serum-induced heparin-independent serotonin release) with successful outpatient rivaroxaban management of HIT-associated thrombosis. Evidence supporting efficacy and safety of DOACs for acute HIT is increasing, with the most experience reported for rivaroxaban. © 2017 by The American Society of Hematology.

Efficiency Improvement of HIT Solar Cells on p-Type Si Wafers.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Chun-You; Lin, Chu-Hsuan; Hsiao, Hao-Tse; Yang, Po-Chuan; Wang, Chih-Ming; Pan, Yen-Chih

2013-11-22

Single crystal silicon solar cells are still predominant in the market due to the abundance of silicon on earth and their acceptable efficiency. Different solar-cell structures of single crystalline Si have been investigated to boost efficiency; the heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) structure is currently the leading technology. The record efficiency values of state-of-the art HIT solar cells have always been based on n-type single-crystalline Si wafers. Improving the efficiency of cells based on p-type single-crystalline Si wafers could provide broader options for the development of HIT solar cells. In this study, we varied the thickness of intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous Si layer to improve the efficiency of HIT solar cells on p-type Si wafers.

Computational Physics' Greatest Hits

Science.gov (United States)

Bug, Amy

2011-03-01

The digital computer, has worked its way so effectively into our profession that now, roughly 65 years after its invention, it is virtually impossible to find a field of experimental or theoretical physics unaided by computational innovation. It is tough to think of another device about which one can make that claim. In the session ``What is computational physics?'' speakers will distinguish computation within the field of computational physics from this ubiquitous importance across all subfields of physics. This talk will recap the invited session ``Great Advances...Past, Present and Future'' in which five dramatic areas of discovery (five of our ``greatest hits'') are chronicled: The physics of many-boson systems via Path Integral Monte Carlo, the thermodynamic behavior of a huge number of diverse systems via Monte Carlo Methods, the discovery of new pharmaceutical agents via molecular dynamics, predictive simulations of global climate change via detailed, cross-disciplinary earth system models, and an understanding of the formation of the first structures in our universe via galaxy formation simulations. The talk will also identify ``greatest hits'' in our field from the teaching and research perspectives of other members of DCOMP, including its Executive Committee.

COPD: A stepwise or a hit hard approach?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.J. Ferreira

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Current guidelines differ slightly on the recommendations for treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD patients, and although there are some undisputed recommendations, there is still debate regarding the management of COPD. One of the hindrances to deciding which therapeutic approach to choose is late diagnosis or misdiagnosis of COPD. After a proper diagnosis is achieved and severity assessed, the choice between a stepwise or “hit hard” approach has to be made. For GOLD A patients the stepwise approach is recommended, whilst for B, C and D patients this remains debatable. Moreover, in patients for whom inhaled corticosteroids (ICS are recommended, a step-up or “hit hard” approach with triple therapy will depend on the patient's characteristics and, for patients who are being over-treated with ICS, ICS withdrawal should be performed, in order to optimize therapy and reduce excessive medications.This paper discusses and proposes stepwise, “hit hard”, step-up and ICS withdrawal therapeutic approaches for COPD patients based on their GOLD group. We conclude that all approaches have benefits, and only a careful patient selection will determine which approach is better, and which patients will benefit the most from each approach. Keywords: COPD, Stepwise, Hit hard, Step-up, ICS withdrawal, Bronchodilators, ICS

Modelling fourier regression for time series data- a case study: modelling inflation in foods sector in Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Prahutama, Alan; Suparti; Wahyu Utami, Tiani

2018-03-01

Regression analysis is an analysis to model the relationship between response variables and predictor variables. The parametric approach to the regression model is very strict with the assumption, but nonparametric regression model isn’t need assumption of model. Time series data is the data of a variable that is observed based on a certain time, so if the time series data wanted to be modeled by regression, then we should determined the response and predictor variables first. Determination of the response variable in time series is variable in t-th (yt), while the predictor variable is a significant lag. In nonparametric regression modeling, one developing approach is to use the Fourier series approach. One of the advantages of nonparametric regression approach using Fourier series is able to overcome data having trigonometric distribution. In modeling using Fourier series needs parameter of K. To determine the number of K can be used Generalized Cross Validation method. In inflation modeling for the transportation sector, communication and financial services using Fourier series yields an optimal K of 120 parameters with R-square 99%. Whereas if it was modeled by multiple linear regression yield R-square 90%.

Double-hit B-cell lymphomas

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aukema, Sietse M.; Siebert, Reiner; Schuuring, Ed; van Imhoff, Gustaaf W.; Kluin-Nelemans, Hanneke C.; Boerma, Evert-Jan; Kluin, Philip M.

2011-01-01

In many B-cell lymphomas, chromosomal translocations are biologic and diagnostic hallmarks of disease. An intriguing subset is formed by the so-called double-hit (DH) lymphomas that are defined by a chromosomal breakpoint affecting the MYC/8q24 locus in combination with another recurrent breakpoint,

Are stripes beneficial? Dazzle camouflage influences perceived speed and hit rates.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bettina von Helversen

Full Text Available In the animal kingdom, camouflage refers to patterns that help potential prey avoid detection. Mostly camouflage is thought of as helping prey blend in with their background. In contrast, disruptive or dazzle patterns protect moving targets and have been suggested as an evolutionary force in shaping the dorsal patterns of animals. Dazzle patterns, such as stripes and zigzags, are thought to reduce the probability with which moving prey will be captured by impairing predators' perception of speed. We investigated how different patterns of stripes (longitudinal-i.e., parallel to movement direction-and vertical-i.e., perpendicular to movement direction affect the probability with which humans can hit moving objects and if differences in hitting probability are caused by a misperception of speed. A first experiment showed that longitudinally striped objects were hit more often than unicolored objects. However, vertically striped objects did not differ from unicolored objects. A second study examining the link between perceived speed and hitting probability showed that longitudinally and vertically striped objects were both perceived as moving faster and were hit more often than unicolored objects. In sum, our results provide evidence that striped patterns disrupt the perception of speed, which in turn influences how often objects are hit. However, the magnitude and the direction of the effects depend on additional factors such as speed and the task setup.

Influence of Running on Pistol Shot Hit Patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Kerkhoff, Wim; Bolck, Annabel; Mattijssen, Erwin J A T

2016-01-01

In shooting scene reconstructions, risk assessment of the situation can be important for the legal system. Shooting accuracy and precision, and thus risk assessment, might be correlated with the shooter's physical movement and experience. The hit patterns of inexperienced and experienced shooters, while shooting stationary (10 shots) and in running motion (10 shots) with a semi-automatic pistol, were compared visually (with confidence ellipses) and statistically. The results show a significant difference in precision (circumference of the hit patterns) between stationary shots and shots fired in motion for both inexperienced and experienced shooters. The decrease in precision for all shooters was significantly larger in the y-direction than in the x-direction. The precision of the experienced shooters is overall better than that of the inexperienced shooters. No significant change in accuracy (shift in the hit pattern center) between stationary shots and shots fired in motion can be seen for all shooters. © 2015 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

The impact of Health Information Technology (I-HIT) Scale: the Australian results.

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Robyn; Foster, Joanne

2009-01-01

One of role of the nurse in the clinical setting is that of co-ordinating communication across the healthcare team. On a daily basis nurses interact with the person receiving care, their family members, and multiple care providers thus placing the nurse in the central position with access to a vast array of information on the person. Through this nurses have historically functioned as "information repositories". With the advent of Health Information Technology (HIT) tools there is a potential that HIT could impact interdisciplinary communication, practice efficiency and effectiveness, relationships and workflow in acute care settings [1][3]. In 2005, the HIMSS Nursing Informatics Community developed the I-HIT Scale to measure the impact of HIT on the nursing role and interdisciplinary communication in USA hospitals. In 2007, nursing informatics colleagues from Australia, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and the USA formed a research collaborative to validate the I-HIT in six additional countries. This paper will discuss the background, methodology, results and implications from the Australian I-HIT survey of over 1,100 nurses. The results are currently being analyzed and will be presented at the conference.

Powered two-wheeler drivers' risk of hitting a pedestrian in towns.

Science.gov (United States)

Clabaux, Nicolas; Fournier, Jean-Yves; Michel, Jean-Emmanuel

2014-12-01

The risk of collision between pedestrians and powered two-wheelers is poorly understood today. The objective of this research is to determine the risk for powered two-wheeler drivers of hitting and injuring a pedestrian per kilometer driven in towns and to compare this risk with that run by four-wheeled vehicle drivers. Using the bodily injury accidents recorded by the police on nine roads in the city of Marseille in 2011 and a campaign of observations of powered two-wheeler traffic, we estimated the risk per kilometer driven by powered two-wheeler drivers of hitting a pedestrian and compared it with the risk run by four-wheeled vehicle drivers. The results show that the risk for powered two-wheeler drivers of hitting and injuring a pedestrian is significantly higher than the risk run by four-wheeled vehicle drivers. On the nine roads studied, it is on average 3.33 times higher (95% CI: 1.63; 6.78). Taking four more years into account made it possible to consolidate these results and to tighten the confidence interval. There does indeed seem to be problems in the interactions between pedestrians and powered two-wheeler users in urban traffic. These interaction problems lead to a higher risk of hitting and injuring a pedestrian for powered two-wheeler drivers than for four-wheeled vehicle drivers. The analysis of the police reports suggests that part of this increased risk comes from filtering maneuvers by powered two-wheelers. Possible countermeasures deal with the urban street layout. Measures consisting in reducing the width and the number of traffic lanes to a strict minimum and installing medians or pedestrian islands could be an effective way for the prevention of urban accidents between pedestrians and powered two-wheelers. Copyright © 2014 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tolosa-Hunt Syndrome in Double-Hit Lymphoma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prakash Peddi

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Tolosa-Hunt syndrome (THS is a painful condition characterized by hemicranial pain, retroorbital pain, loss of vision, oculomotor nerve paralysis, and sensory loss in distribution of ophthalmic and maxillary division of trigeminal nerve. Lymphomas rarely involve cavernous sinus and simulate Tolosa-Hunt syndrome. Here we present a first case of double-hit B cell lymphoma (DHL relapsing and masquerading as Tolosa-Hunt syndrome. The neurological findings were explained by a lymphomatous infiltration of the right Gasserian ganglion which preceded systemic relapse. As part of this report, the diagnostic criteria for Tolosa-Hunt syndrome and double-hit lymphoma are reviewed and updated treatment recommendations are presented.

Building a new predictor for multiple linear regression technique-based corrective maintenance turnaround time.

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz, Antonio M; Barr, Cameron; Puñales-Pozo, Elsa

2008-01-01

This research's main goals were to build a predictor for a turnaround time (TAT) indicator for estimating its values and use a numerical clustering technique for finding possible causes of undesirable TAT values. The following stages were used: domain understanding, data characterisation and sample reduction and insight characterisation. Building the TAT indicator multiple linear regression predictor and clustering techniques were used for improving corrective maintenance task efficiency in a clinical engineering department (CED). The indicator being studied was turnaround time (TAT). Multiple linear regression was used for building a predictive TAT value model. The variables contributing to such model were clinical engineering department response time (CE(rt), 0.415 positive coefficient), stock service response time (Stock(rt), 0.734 positive coefficient), priority level (0.21 positive coefficient) and service time (0.06 positive coefficient). The regression process showed heavy reliance on Stock(rt), CE(rt) and priority, in that order. Clustering techniques revealed the main causes of high TAT values. This examination has provided a means for analysing current technical service quality and effectiveness. In doing so, it has demonstrated a process for identifying areas and methods of improvement and a model against which to analyse these methods' effectiveness.

75 FR 62399 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Standards Committee...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-08

... Technology; HIT Standards Committee Schedule for the Assessment of HIT Policy Committee Recommendations.... SUMMARY: Section 3003(b)(3) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 mandates that the HIT Standards Committee develop a schedule for the assessment of policy recommendations developed by the HIT...

Current drive experiments on the HIT-II spherical torus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jarboe, T.R.; Raman, R.; Nelson, B.A.; Holcomb, C.T.; McCollam, K.J.; Sieck, P.E.

1999-01-01

This paper describes the following new achievements from the Helicity Injected Torus (HIT) program: a) formation and sustainment of a toroidal magnetic equilibrium using coaxial helicity injection (CHI) in a conducting shell that has an L/R time much shorter than the pulse length; b) static formation of a spherical torus with plasma current over 180 kA using a transformer and feedback controlled equilibrium coils; and c) production of a current increase in a transformer produced spherical torus using CHI. (author)

Current drive experiments on the HIT-II spherical torus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jarboe, T.; Raman, R.; Nelson, B.; Holcomb, C.T.; McCollam, K.J.; Sieck, P.E.

2001-01-01

This paper describes the following new achievements from the Helicity Injected Torus (HIT) program: a) formation and sustainment of a toroidal magnetic equilibrium using coaxial helicity injection (CHI) in a conducting shell that has an L/R time much shorter than the pulse length; b) static formation of a spherical torus with plasma current over 180 kA using a transformer and feedback controlled equilibrium coils; and c) production of a current increase in a transformer produced spherical torus using CHI. (author)

Bayesian Travel Time Inversion adopting Gaussian Process Regression

Science.gov (United States)

Mauerberger, S.; Holschneider, M.

2017-12-01

A major application in seismology is the determination of seismic velocity models. Travel time measurements are putting an integral constraint on the velocity between source and receiver. We provide insight into travel time inversion from a correlation-based Bayesian point of view. Therefore, the concept of Gaussian process regression is adopted to estimate a velocity model. The non-linear travel time integral is approximated by a 1st order Taylor expansion. A heuristic covariance describes correlations amongst observations and a priori model. That approach enables us to assess a proxy of the Bayesian posterior distribution at ordinary computational costs. No multi dimensional numeric integration nor excessive sampling is necessary. Instead of stacking the data, we suggest to progressively build the posterior distribution. Incorporating only a single evidence at a time accounts for the deficit of linearization. As a result, the most probable model is given by the posterior mean whereas uncertainties are described by the posterior covariance.As a proof of concept, a synthetic purely 1d model is addressed. Therefore a single source accompanied by multiple receivers is considered on top of a model comprising a discontinuity. We consider travel times of both phases - direct and reflected wave - corrupted by noise. Left and right of the interface are assumed independent where the squared exponential kernel serves as covariance.

Does ′heparin-induced thrombocytopenia′ hit our minds?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arun R Thangavel

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Unfractionated heparin is a widely used drug to prevent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary emboli in patients at risk. With the advent of newer anticoagulants having lesser side effects, its use has diminished but not out of service. Here, we report a case of deep venous thrombosis, in a patient on prophylactic dose of heparin, which was later found to be a manifestation of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT. Thrombosis in the presence of heparin prophylaxis should be considered as HIT rather than a failure of anticoagulation.

Nedley Depression Hit Hypothesis: Identifying Depression and Its Causes.

Science.gov (United States)

Nedley, Neil; Ramirez, Francisco E

2016-11-01

Depression is often diagnosed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria. We propose how certain lifestyle choices and non-modifiable factors can predict the development of depression. We identified 10 cause categories (hits or "blows" to the brain) and theorize that four or more active hits could trigger a depression episode. Methods. A sample of 4271 participants from our community-based program (70% female; ages 17-94 years) was assessed at baseline and at the eighth week of the program using a custom test. Ten cause categories were examined as predictors of depression are (1) Genetic, (2)Developmental, (3)Lifestyle, (4)Circadian Rhythm, (5)Addiction, (6)Nutrition, (7)Toxic, (8)Social/Complicated Grief, (9)Medical Condition, and (10)Frontal Lobe. Results. The relationship between the DSM-5 score and a person having four hits categories in the first program week showed a sensitivity of 89.98 % (95% CI: 89.20 % - 90.73%), specificity 48.84% (CI 45.94-51.75) and Matthew Correlation Coefficient (MCC) .41 . For the eight-week test, the results showed a sensitivity 83.6% (CI 81.9-85.5), specificity 53.7% (CI 51.7-55.6) and MCC .38. Overall, the hits that improved the most from baseline after the eighth week were: Nutrition (47%), Frontal lobe (36%), Addiction (24%), Circadian rhythm (24%), Lifestyle (20%), Social (12%) and Medical (10%). Conclusions. The Nedley four-hit hypothesis seems to predict a depressive episode and correlates well with the DSM-5 criteria with good sensitivity and MCC but less specificity. Identifying these factors and applying lifestyle therapies could play an important role in the treatment of depressed individuals.

Recent results from the HIT-II and HIT-SI helicity injection current drive experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jarboe, T.R.; Hamp, W.T.; Izzo, V.A.; Nelson, B.A.; O'Neill, R.G.; Raman, R.; Redd, A.J.; Sieck, P.E.; Smith, R.J.

2005-01-01

Three important results are reported. 1) CHI startup has produced 100 kA of closed current without using poloidal field (PF) coils or any transformer action. The initial equilibrium is then driven to 240 kA with a 3 V transformer loop voltage, indicating high quality plasma. 2) For the first time CHI alone has produced toroidal currents (350 kA) that far exceed q a I inj , and with I p /I tf as high as 1.2. The key to these new results appears to be having the toroidal field small enough that relaxation will occur. 3) The steady inductive helicity injection spheromak experiment has operated at 5 kHz for 6 ms with current amplitudes up to 11 kA in each injector. The helicity injection rate is nearly constant with the ExB flow always into the plasma and not into the walls. NIMROD simulations of HIT-SI show a buildup of spheromak fields. (author)

Convergent Time-Varying Regression Models for Data Streams: Tracking Concept Drift by the Recursive Parzen-Based Generalized Regression Neural Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Duda, Piotr; Jaworski, Maciej; Rutkowski, Leszek

2018-03-01

One of the greatest challenges in data mining is related to processing and analysis of massive data streams. Contrary to traditional static data mining problems, data streams require that each element is processed only once, the amount of allocated memory is constant and the models incorporate changes of investigated streams. A vast majority of available methods have been developed for data stream classification and only a few of them attempted to solve regression problems, using various heuristic approaches. In this paper, we develop mathematically justified regression models working in a time-varying environment. More specifically, we study incremental versions of generalized regression neural networks, called IGRNNs, and we prove their tracking properties - weak (in probability) and strong (with probability one) convergence assuming various concept drift scenarios. First, we present the IGRNNs, based on the Parzen kernels, for modeling stationary systems under nonstationary noise. Next, we extend our approach to modeling time-varying systems under nonstationary noise. We present several types of concept drifts to be handled by our approach in such a way that weak and strong convergence holds under certain conditions. Finally, in the series of simulations, we compare our method with commonly used heuristic approaches, based on forgetting mechanism or sliding windows, to deal with concept drift. Finally, we apply our concept in a real life scenario solving the problem of currency exchange rates prediction.

77 FR 57567 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-18

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide recommendations to...

77 FR 50690 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-22

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide recommendations to...

77 FR 15760 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-16

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide recommendations to...

76 FR 39108 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-05

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS ACTION: Notice of... the public. Name of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: to provide...

77 FR 37407 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-21

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide recommendations to...

76 FR 22397 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-21

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide recommendations to...

77 FR 22787 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-17

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide recommendations to...

77 FR 27459 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-10

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: to provide recommendations to...

76 FR 28783 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-18

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide recommendations to...

76 FR 79684 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-22

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide recommendations to...

77 FR 73660 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meetings; Notice of Meetings

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-11

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meetings; Notice of Meetings AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide recommendations to...

77 FR 28881 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-16

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: to provide recommendations to...

76 FR 46298 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-02

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide recommendations to...

77 FR 65691 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-30

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide recommendations to...

76 FR 70455 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-14

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: to provide recommendations to...

77 FR 2727 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-19

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide recommendations to...

76 FR 14975 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-18

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: to provide recommendations to...

76 FR 50734 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-16

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide recommendations to...

76 FR 55912 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-09

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... the public. Name of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide...

77 FR 41788 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-16

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide recommendations to...

SHIELD-HIT12A - a Monte Carlo particle transport program for ion therapy research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bassler, Niels; Hansen, David Christoffer; Lühr, Armin

2014-01-01

. We experienced that new users quickly learn to use SHIELD-HIT12A and setup new geometries. Contrary to previous versions of SHIELD-HIT, the 12A distribution comes along with easy-to-use example files and an English manual. A new implementation of Vavilov straggling resulted in a massive reduction......Abstract. Purpose: The Monte Carlo (MC) code SHIELD-HIT simulates the transport of ions through matter. Since SHIELD-HIT08 we added numerous features that improves speed, usability and underlying physics and thereby the user experience. The “-A” fork of SHIELD-HIT also aims to attach SHIELD....... It supports native formats compatible with the heavy ion treatment planning system TRiP. Stopping power files follow ICRU standard and are generated using the libdEdx library, which allows the user to choose from a multitude of stopping power tables. Results: SHIELD-HIT12A runs on Linux and Windows platforms...

75 FR 21629 - HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-26

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Policy Committee...

NMR characterization of weak interactions between RhoGDI2 and fragment screening hits.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jiuyang; Gao, Jia; Li, Fudong; Ma, Rongsheng; Wei, Qingtao; Wang, Aidong; Wu, Jihui; Ruan, Ke

2017-01-01

The delineation of intrinsically weak interactions between novel targets and fragment screening hits has long limited the pace of hit-to-lead evolution. Rho guanine-nucleotide dissociation inhibitor 2 (RhoGDI2) is a novel target that lacks any chemical probes for the treatment of tumor metastasis. Protein-observed and ligand-observed NMR spectroscopy was used to characterize the weak interactions between RhoGDI2 and fragment screening hits. We identified three hits of RhoGDI2 using streamlined NMR fragment-based screening. The binding site residues were assigned using non-uniformly sampled C α - and H α -based three dimensional NMR spectra. The molecular docking to the proposed geranylgeranyl binding pocket of RhoGDI2 was guided by NMR restraints of chemical shift perturbations and ligand-observed transferred paramagnetic relaxation enhancement. We further validated the weak RhoGDI2-hit interactions using mutagenesis and structure-affinity analysis. Weak interactions between RhoGDI2 and fragment screening hits were delineated using an integrated NMR approach. Binders to RhoGDI2 as a potential anti-cancer target have been first reported, and their weak interactions were depicted using NMR spectroscopy. Our work highlights the powerfulness and the versatility of the integrative NMR techniques to provide valuable structural insight into the intrinsically weak interactions between RhoGDI2 and the fragment screening hits, which could hardly be conceived using other biochemical techniques. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Impact of Health Information Technology (I-HIT) scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Dykes, Patricia C; Hurley, Ann; Cashen, Margaret; Bakken, Suzanne; Duffy, Mary E

2007-01-01

The use of health information technology (HIT) for the support of communication processes and data and information access in acute care settings is a relatively new phenomenon. A means of evaluating the impact of HIT in hospital settings is needed. The purpose of this research was to design and psychometrically evaluate the Impact of Health Information Technology scale (I-HIT). I-HIT was designed to measure the perception of nurses regarding the ways in which HIT influences interdisciplinary communication and workflow patterns and nurses' satisfaction with HIT applications and tools. Content for a 43-item tool was derived from the literature, and supported theoretically by the Coiera model and by nurse informaticists. Internal consistency reliability analysis using Cronbach's alpha was conducted on the 43-item scale to initiate the item reduction process. Items with an item total correlation of less than 0.35 were removed, leaving a total of 29 items. Item analysis, exploratory principal component analysis and internal consistency reliability using Cronbach's alpha were used to confirm the 29-item scale. Principal components analysis with Varimax rotation produced a four-factor solution that explained 58.5% of total variance (general advantages, information tools to support information needs, information tools to support communication needs, and workflow implications). Internal consistency of the total scale was 0.95 and ranged from 0.80-0.89 for four subscales. I-HIT demonstrated psychometric adequacy and is recommended to measure the impact of HIT on nursing practice in acute care settings.

Online Support Vector Regression with Varying Parameters for Time-Dependent Data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Omitaomu, Olufemi A.; Jeong, Myong K.; Badiru, Adedeji B.

2011-01-01

Support vector regression (SVR) is a machine learning technique that continues to receive interest in several domains including manufacturing, engineering, and medicine. In order to extend its application to problems in which datasets arrive constantly and in which batch processing of the datasets is infeasible or expensive, an accurate online support vector regression (AOSVR) technique was proposed. The AOSVR technique efficiently updates a trained SVR function whenever a sample is added to or removed from the training set without retraining the entire training data. However, the AOSVR technique assumes that the new samples and the training samples are of the same characteristics; hence, the same value of SVR parameters is used for training and prediction. This assumption is not applicable to data samples that are inherently noisy and non-stationary such as sensor data. As a result, we propose Accurate On-line Support Vector Regression with Varying Parameters (AOSVR-VP) that uses varying SVR parameters rather than fixed SVR parameters, and hence accounts for the variability that may exist in the samples. To accomplish this objective, we also propose a generalized weight function to automatically update the weights of SVR parameters in on-line monitoring applications. The proposed function allows for lower and upper bounds for SVR parameters. We tested our proposed approach and compared results with the conventional AOSVR approach using two benchmark time series data and sensor data from nuclear power plant. The results show that using varying SVR parameters is more applicable to time dependent data.

Logistic regression function for detection of suspicious performance during baseline evaluations using concussion vital signs.

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Benjamin David; Womble, Melissa N; Rohling, Martin L

2015-01-01

This study utilized logistic regression to determine whether performance patterns on Concussion Vital Signs (CVS) could differentiate known groups with either genuine or feigned performance. For the embedded measure development group (n = 174), clinical patients and undergraduate students categorized as feigning obtained significantly lower scores on the overall test battery mean for the CVS, Shipley-2 composite score, and California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition subtests than did genuinely performing individuals. The final full model of 3 predictor variables (Verbal Memory immediate hits, Verbal Memory immediate correct passes, and Stroop Test complex reaction time correct) was significant and correctly classified individuals in their known group 83% of the time (sensitivity = .65; specificity = .97) in a mixed sample of young-adult clinical cases and simulators. The CVS logistic regression function was applied to a separate undergraduate college group (n = 378) that was asked to perform genuinely and identified 5% as having possibly feigned performance indicating a low false-positive rate. The failure rate was 11% and 16% at baseline cognitive testing in samples of high school and college athletes, respectively. These findings have particular relevance given the increasing use of computerized test batteries for baseline cognitive testing and return-to-play decisions after concussion.

Multiple linear regression and regression with time series error models in forecasting PM10 concentrations in Peninsular Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Kar Yong; Awang, Norhashidah

2018-01-06

Frequent haze occurrences in Malaysia have made the management of PM 10 (particulate matter with aerodynamic less than 10 μm) pollution a critical task. This requires knowledge on factors associating with PM 10 variation and good forecast of PM 10 concentrations. Hence, this paper demonstrates the prediction of 1-day-ahead daily average PM 10 concentrations based on predictor variables including meteorological parameters and gaseous pollutants. Three different models were built. They were multiple linear regression (MLR) model with lagged predictor variables (MLR1), MLR model with lagged predictor variables and PM 10 concentrations (MLR2) and regression with time series error (RTSE) model. The findings revealed that humidity, temperature, wind speed, wind direction, carbon monoxide and ozone were the main factors explaining the PM 10 variation in Peninsular Malaysia. Comparison among the three models showed that MLR2 model was on a same level with RTSE model in terms of forecasting accuracy, while MLR1 model was the worst.

Plasma exchange to remove HIT antibodies: dissociation between enzyme-immunoassay and platelet activation test reactivities.

Science.gov (United States)

Warkentin, Theodore E; Sheppard, Jo-Ann I; Chu, F Victor; Kapoor, Anil; Crowther, Mark A; Gangji, Azim

2015-01-01

Repeated therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) has been advocated to remove heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) IgG antibodies before cardiac/vascular surgery in patients who have serologically-confirmed acute or subacute HIT; for this situation, a negative platelet activation assay (eg, platelet serotonin-release assay [SRA]) has been recommended as the target serological end point to permit safe surgery. We compared reactivities in the SRA and an anti-PF4/heparin IgG-specific enzyme immunoassay (EIA), testing serial serum samples in a patient with recent (subacute) HIT who underwent serial TPE precardiac surgery, as well as for 15 other serially-diluted HIT sera. We observed that post-TPE/diluted HIT sera-when first testing SRA-negative-continue to test strongly positive by EIA-IgG. This dissociation between the platelet activation assay and a PF4-dependent immunoassay for HIT antibodies indicates that patients with subacute HIT undergoing repeated TPE before heparin reexposure should be tested by serial platelet activation assays even when their EIAs remain strongly positive. © 2015 by The American Society of Hematology.

Progress on FIR interferometry and Thomson Scattering measurements on HIT-SI3

Science.gov (United States)

Everson, Christopher; Jarboe, Thomas; Morgan, Kyle

2017-10-01

Spatially resolved measurements of the electron temperature (Te) and density (ne) will be fundamental in assessing the degree to which HIT-SI3 demonstrates closed magnetic flux and energy confinement. Further, electron temperature measurements have not yet been made on an inductively-driven spheromak. Far infrared (FIR) interferometer and Thomson Scattering (TS) systems have been installed on the HIT-SI3 spheromak. The TS system currently implemented on HIT-SI3 was originally designed for other magnetic confinement experiments, and progress continues toward modifying and optimizing for HIT-SI3 plasmas. Initial results suggest that the electron temperature is of order 10 eV. Plans to modify the TS system to provide more sensitivity and accuracy at low temperatures are presented. The line-integrated ne is measured on one chord by the FIR interferometer, with densities near 5x1019 m-3. Four cylindrical volumes have been added to the HIT-SI3 apparatus to enhance passive pumping. It is hoped that this will allow for more control of the density during the 2 ms discharges. Density measurements from before and after the installation of the passive pumping volumes are presented for comparison.

Improvements for extending the time between maintenance periods for the Heidelberg ion beam therapy center (HIT) ion sources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Winkelmann, Tim, E-mail: tim.winkelmann@med.uni-heidelberg.de; Cee, Rainer; Haberer, Thomas; Naas, Bernd; Peters, Andreas; Schreiner, Jochen [Heidelberger Ionenstrahl-Therapie Centrum (HIT), D -69120 Heidelberg (Germany)

2014-02-15

The clinical operation at the Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Center (HIT) started in November 2009; since then more than 1600 patients have been treated. In a 24/7 operation scheme two 14.5 GHz electron cyclotron resonance ion sources are routinely used to produce protons and carbon ions. The modification of the low energy beam transport line and the integration of a third ion source into the therapy facility will be shown. In the last year we implemented a new extraction system at all three sources to enhance the lifetime of extraction parts and reduce preventive and corrective maintenance. The new four-electrode-design provides electron suppression as well as lower beam emittance. Unwanted beam sputtering effects which typically lead to contamination of the insulator ceramics and subsequent high-voltage break-downs are minimized by the beam guidance of the new extraction system. By this measure the service interval can be increased significantly. As a side effect, the beam emittance can be reduced allowing a less challenging working point for the ion sources without reducing the effective beam performance. This paper gives also an outlook to further enhancements at the HIT ion source testbench.

The T10 beam produces a few hits per event. In ALICE the SSD will have to cope with many hits per strip. In the three centimeters of aluminium the beam will produce many secondary particles. This increases the chance of multiple hits per strip, although not to the level in ALICE.

CERN Multimedia

Nooren, G.

2004-01-01

The T10 beam produces a few hits per event. In ALICE the SSD will have to cope with many hits per strip. In the three centimeters of aluminium the beam will produce many secondary particles. This increases the chance of multiple hits per strip, although not to the level in ALICE.

Platelet count recovery and seroreversion in immune HIT despite continuation of heparin: further observations and literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Shih, Andrew W; Sheppard, Jo-Ann I; Warkentin, Theodore E

2017-10-05

One of the standard distinctions between type 1 (non-immune) and type 2 (immune-mediated) heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is the transience of thrombocytopenia: type 1 HIT is viewed as early-onset and transient thrombocytopenia, with platelet count recovery despite continuing heparin administration. In contrast, type 2 HIT is viewed as later-onset (i. e., 5 days or later) thrombocytopenia in which it is generally believed that platelet count recovery will not occur unless heparin is discontinued. However, older reports of type 2 HIT sometimes did include the unexpected observation that platelet counts could recover despite continued heparin administration, although without information provided regarding changes in HIT antibody levels in association with platelet count recovery. In recent years, some reports of type 2 HIT have confirmed the observation that platelet count recovery can occur despite continuing heparin administration, with serological evidence of waning levels of HIT antibodies ("seroreversion"). We now report two additional patient cases of type 2 HIT with platelet count recovery despite ongoing therapeutic-dose (1 case) or prophylactic-dose (1 case) heparin administration, in which we demonstrate concomitant waning of HIT antibody levels. We further review the literature describing this phenomenon of HIT antibody seroreversion and platelet count recovery despite continuing heparin administration. Our observations add to the concept that HIT represents a remarkably transient immune response, including sometimes even when heparin is continued.

Health Information Technologies-Academic and Commercial Evaluation (HIT-ACE) methodology: description and application to clinical feedback systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Aaron R; Lewis, Cara C; Melvin, Abigail; Boyd, Meredith; Nicodimos, Semret; Liu, Freda F; Jungbluth, Nathaniel

2016-09-22

Health information technologies (HIT) have become nearly ubiquitous in the contemporary healthcare landscape, but information about HIT development, functionality, and implementation readiness is frequently siloed. Theory-driven methods of compiling, evaluating, and integrating information from the academic and commercial sectors are necessary to guide stakeholder decision-making surrounding HIT adoption and to develop pragmatic HIT research agendas. This article presents the Health Information Technologies-Academic and Commercial Evaluation (HIT-ACE) methodology, a structured, theory-driven method for compiling and evaluating information from multiple sectors. As an example demonstration of the methodology, we apply HIT-ACE to mental and behavioral health measurement feedback systems (MFS). MFS are a specific class of HIT that support the implementation of routine outcome monitoring, an evidence-based practice. HIT-ACE is guided by theories and frameworks related to user-centered design and implementation science. The methodology involves four phases: (1) coding academic and commercial materials, (2) developer/purveyor interviews, (3) linking putative implementation mechanisms to hit capabilities, and (4) experimental testing of capabilities and mechanisms. In the current demonstration, phase 1 included a systematic process to identify MFS in mental and behavioral health using academic literature and commercial websites. Using user-centered design, implementation science, and feedback frameworks, the HIT-ACE coding system was developed, piloted, and used to review each identified system for the presence of 38 capabilities and 18 additional characteristics via a consensus coding process. Bibliometic data were also collected to examine the representation of the systems in the scientific literature. As an example, results are presented for the application of HIT-ACE phase 1 to MFS wherein 49 separate MFS were identified, reflecting a diverse array of characteristics

Failure and reliability prediction by support vector machines regression of time series data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chagas Moura, Marcio das; Zio, Enrico; Lins, Isis Didier; Droguett, Enrique

2011-01-01

Support Vector Machines (SVMs) are kernel-based learning methods, which have been successfully adopted for regression problems. However, their use in reliability applications has not been widely explored. In this paper, a comparative analysis is presented in order to evaluate the SVM effectiveness in forecasting time-to-failure and reliability of engineered components based on time series data. The performance on literature case studies of SVM regression is measured against other advanced learning methods such as the Radial Basis Function, the traditional MultiLayer Perceptron model, Box-Jenkins autoregressive-integrated-moving average and the Infinite Impulse Response Locally Recurrent Neural Networks. The comparison shows that in the analyzed cases, SVM outperforms or is comparable to other techniques. - Highlights: → Realistic modeling of reliability demands complex mathematical formulations. → SVM is proper when the relation input/output is unknown or very costly to be obtained. → Results indicate the potential of SVM for reliability time series prediction. → Reliability estimates support the establishment of adequate maintenance strategies.

Stagewise pseudo-value regression for time-varying effects on the cumulative incidence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zöller, Daniela; Schmidtmann, Irene; Weinmann, Arndt

2016-01-01

In a competing risks setting, the cumulative incidence of an event of interest describes the absolute risk for this event as a function of time. For regression analysis, one can either choose to model all competing events by separate cause-specific hazard models or directly model the association...... for time-varying effects. This is implemented by coupling variable selection between the grid times, but determining estimates separately. The effect estimates are regularized to also allow for model fitting with a low to moderate number of observations. This technique is illustrated in an application...

Laboratory tests for identification or exclusion of heparin induced thrombocytopenia: HIT or miss?

Science.gov (United States)

Favaloro, Emmanuel J

2018-02-01

Heparin induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a potentially fatal condition that arises subsequent to formation of antibodies against complexes containing heparin, usually platelet-factor 4-heparin ("anti-PF4-heparin"). Assessment for HIT involves both clinical evaluation and, if indicated, laboratory testing for confirmation or exclusion, typically using an initial immunological assay ("screening"), and only if positive, a secondary functional assay for confirmation. Many different immunological and functional assays have been developed. The most common contemporary immunological assays comprise enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA], chemiluminescence, lateral flow, and particle gel techniques. The most common functional assays measure platelet aggregation or platelet activation events (e.g., serotonin release assay; heparin-induced platelet activation (HIPA); flow cytometry). All assays have some sensitivity and specificity to HIT antibodies, but differ in terms of relative sensitivity and specificity for pathological HIT, as well as false negative and false positive error rate. This brief article overviews the different available laboratory methods, as well as providing a suggested approach to diagnosis or exclusion of HIT. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

HIT or miss? A comprehensive contemporary investigation of laboratory tests for heparin induced thrombocytopenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Favaloro, Emmanuel J; McCaughan, Georgia; Mohammed, Soma; Lau, Kun Kan Edwin; Gemmell, Rosalie; Cavanaugh, Lauren; Donikian, Dea; Kondo, Mayuko; Brighton, Timothy; Pasalic, Leonardo

2018-04-17

Heparin induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a rare but potentially fatal complication of heparin therapy, which in a proportion of patients causes platelet activation and thrombosis. Initial clinical assessment of the likelihood of HIT is facilitated by laboratory testing to confirm or exclude HIT. This prospective investigation was performed over an 18-month period, and has involved testing of over 300 test samples from over 100 consecutive patients. Clinical assessment by 4T score was supplemented by laboratory tests that comprised both immunological [lateral flow ('STiC'), chemiluminescence (AcuStar; HIT-IgG (PF4-H) ), ELISA (Asserachrom HPIA IgG)] and functional assays [SRA, platelet aggregation using whole blood ('Multiplate') and platelet rich plasma ('LTA')]. We observed both false positive and false negative test findings with most assays. Overall, the whole blood aggregation method provided a reasonable alternative to SRA for identifying functional HIT. STiC, AcuStar and ELISA procedures were fairly comparable in terms of screening for HIT, although STiC and AcuStar both yielded false negatives, albeit also resulting in fewer false positives than ELISA. The 4T score had less utility in our patient cohort than we were expecting, although there was an association with the likelihood of HIT. Nevertheless, we accept that our observations are based on limited test numbers. In conclusion, no single approach (clinical or laboratory) was associated with optimal sensitivity or specificity of HIT exclusion or identification, and thus, a combination of clinical evaluation and laboratory testing will best ensure the accuracy of diagnosis. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Validation of the Impact of Health Information Technology (I-HIT) Scale: an international collaborative.

Science.gov (United States)

Dykes, Patricia C; Hurley, Ann C; Brown, Suzanne; Carr, Robyn; Cashen, Margaret; Collins, Rita; Cook, Robyn; Currie, Leanne; Docherty, Charles; Ensio, Anneli; Foster, Joanne; Hardiker, Nicholas R; Honey, Michelle L L; Killalea, Rosaleen; Murphy, Judy; Saranto, Kaija; Sensmeier, Joyce; Weaver, Charlotte

2009-01-01

In 2005, the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Nursing Informatics Community developed a survey to measure the impact of health information technology (HIT), the I-HIT Scale, on the role of nurses and interdisciplinary communication in hospital settings. In 2007, nursing informatics colleagues from Australia, England, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and the United States formed a research collaborative to validate the I-HIT across countries. All teams have completed construct and face validation in their countries. Five out of six teams have initiated reliability testing by practicing nurses. This paper reports the international collaborative's validation of the I-HIT Scale completed to date.

Effective progression of nuclear magnetic resonance-detected fragment hits.

Science.gov (United States)

Eaton, Hugh L; Wyss, Daniel F

2011-01-01

Fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) has become increasingly popular over the last decade as an alternate lead generation tool to HTS approaches. Several compounds have now progressed into the clinic which originated from a fragment-based approach, demonstrating the utility of this emerging field. While fragment hit identification has become much more routine and may involve different screening approaches, the efficient progression of fragment hits into quality lead series may still present a major bottleneck for the broadly successful application of FBDD. In our laboratory, we have extensive experience in fragment-based NMR screening (SbN) and the subsequent iterative progression of fragment hits using structure-assisted chemistry. To maximize impact, we have applied this approach strategically to early- and high-priority targets, and those struggling for leads. Its application has yielded a clinical candidate for BACE1 and lead series in about one third of the SbN/FBDD projects. In this chapter, we will give an overview of our strategy and focus our discussion on NMR-based FBDD approaches. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

HIT Solar Cells with N-Type Low-Cost Metallurgical Si

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xing Yang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available A conversion efficiency of 20.23% of heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT solar cell on 156 mm × 156 mm metallurgical Si wafer has been obtained. Applying AFORS-HET software simulation, HIT solar cell with metallurgical Si was investigated with regard to impurity concentration, compensation level, and their impacts on cell performance. It is known that a small amount of impurity in metallurgical Si materials is not harmful to solar cell properties.

Selective histone deacetylase 6 inhibition prolongs survival in a lethal two-hit model.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Xin; Liu, Zhengcai; Liu, Baoling; Zhao, Ting; Li, Yongqing; Alam, Hasan B

2015-07-01

Hemorrhagic shock (HS) followed by a subsequent insult ("second hit") often initiates an exaggerated systemic inflammatory response and multiple organ failure. We have previously demonstrated that valproic acid, a pan histone deacetylase inhibitor, could improve survival in a rodent "two-hit" model. In the present study, our goal was to determine whether selective inhibition of histone deacetylase 6 with Tubastatin A (Tub-A) could prolong survival in a two-hit model where HS was followed by sepsis from cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). C57Bl/6J mice were subjected to sublethal HS (30% blood loss) and then randomly divided into two groups (n = 13 per group) such as Tub-A group (treatment) and vehicle (VEH) group (control). The Tub-A group was given an intraperitoneal injection of Tub-A (70 mg/kg) dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). The VEH group was injected with DMSO (1 μl/g body weight). After 24 h, all mice were subjected CLP followed immediately by another dose of Tub-A or DMSO. Survival was monitored for 10 d. In a parallel study, peritoneal irrigation fluid and liver tissue from Tub-A- or DMSO-treated mice were collected 3 h after CLP. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to quantify activity of the myeloperoxidase and concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) in the peritoneal irrigation fluid. RNA was isolated from the liver tissue, and real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed to measure relative messenger RNA levels of TNF-α and IL-6. Treatment with Tub-A significantly improved survival compared with that of the control (69.2% versus 15.4%). In addition, Tub-A significantly suppressed myeloperoxidase activity (169.9 ± 8.4 ng/mL versus 70.4 ± 17.4 ng/mL; P hit model. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Combined postoperative irradiation and chemotherapy for anaplastic ependymomas in childhood: results of the German prospective trials hit 88/89 and hit 91

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Timmermann, Beate; Kortmann, Rolf-Dieter; Kuehl, Joachim; Meisner, Christoph; Slavc, Irene; Pietsch, Thorsten; Bamberg, Michael

2000-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the outcome in children with anaplastic ependymomas after surgery, irradiation, and chemotherapy; and to identify prognostic factors for survival. Methods and Materials: Fifty-five children (n = 27 girls, 28 boys; median age at diagnosis, 6.2 years) with newly diagnosed anaplastic ependymomas were treated in the multicenter, prospective trials HIT 88/89 and HIT 91. Macroscopic complete resection was achieved in 28 patients; 27 patients underwent incomplete resection. All patients received chemotherapy before (n = 40) or after irradiation (n = 15). The irradiation volume encompassed either the neuraxis followed by a boost to the primary tumor site (n = 40) or the tumor region only (n = 13). No radiotherapy was administered in two patients. Results: Median follow-up was 38 months. The overall survival rate at 3 years after surgery was 75.6%. Disease progression occurred in 25 children with local progression occurring in 20. The median time to disease progression was 45 months. The only significant prognostic factor was the extent of resection (estimated progression-free survival [EPFS] after 3 years was 83.3% after complete resection and 38.5% after incomplete resection) and the presence of metastases at the time of diagnosis (0% vs. 65.8% 3-year EPFS in localized tumors). Age, sex, tumor site, mode of chemotherapy, and irradiation volume did not influence survival. Conclusions: Treatment centers should be meticulous about surgery and diagnostic workup. Because the primary tumor region is the predominant site of failure it is important to intensify local treatment. Dose escalation by hyperfractionation or stereotactic radiotherapy might be a promising approach in macroscopically residual disease. The role of adjuvant chemotherapy requires further study

A business case for HIT adoption: effects of "meaningful use" EHR financial incentives on clinic revenue.

Science.gov (United States)

Behkami, Nima A; Dorr, David A; Morrice, Stuart

2010-01-01

The goal of this study is to describe a framework that allows decision makers to efficiently evaluate factors that affect Electronic Health Record (EHR) adoption and test suitable interventions; specifically financial incentives. The United States healthcare delivery system is experiencing a transformation to improve population health. There is strong agreement that "meaningful use" of Health Information Technology (HIT) is a major enabler in this effort. However it's also understood that the high cost of implementing an EHR is an obstacle for adoption. To help understand these complexities we developed a simulation model designed to capture the dynamic nature of policy interventions that affect the adoption of EHR. We found that "Effective" use of HIT approaches break-even-point and larger clinic revenue many times faster that "average" or "poor" use of HIT. This study uses a systems perspective to the evaluate EHR adoption process through the "meaningful use" redesign as proposed in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act 2009 in the United States healthcare industry by utilizing the System Dynamics methodology and Scenario Analysis.

Piecewise linear regression techniques to analyze the timing of head coach dismissals in Dutch soccer clubs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schryver, T. de; Eisinga, R.

2010-01-01

The key question in research on dismissals of head coaches in sports clubs is not whether they should happen but when they will happen. This paper applies piecewise linear regression to advance our understanding of the timing of head coach dismissals. Essentially, the regression sacrifices degrees

Real-time prediction of respiratory motion based on local regression methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruan, D; Fessler, J A; Balter, J M

2007-01-01

Recent developments in modulation techniques enable conformal delivery of radiation doses to small, localized target volumes. One of the challenges in using these techniques is real-time tracking and predicting target motion, which is necessary to accommodate system latencies. For image-guided-radiotherapy systems, it is also desirable to minimize sampling rates to reduce imaging dose. This study focuses on predicting respiratory motion, which can significantly affect lung tumours. Predicting respiratory motion in real-time is challenging, due to the complexity of breathing patterns and the many sources of variability. We propose a prediction method based on local regression. There are three major ingredients of this approach: (1) forming an augmented state space to capture system dynamics, (2) local regression in the augmented space to train the predictor from previous observation data using semi-periodicity of respiratory motion, (3) local weighting adjustment to incorporate fading temporal correlations. To evaluate prediction accuracy, we computed the root mean square error between predicted tumor motion and its observed location for ten patients. For comparison, we also investigated commonly used predictive methods, namely linear prediction, neural networks and Kalman filtering to the same data. The proposed method reduced the prediction error for all imaging rates and latency lengths, particularly for long prediction lengths

Biophysics: for HTS hit validation, chemical lead optimization, and beyond.

Science.gov (United States)

Genick, Christine C; Wright, S Kirk

2017-09-01

There are many challenges to the drug discovery process, including the complexity of the target, its interactions, and how these factors play a role in causing the disease. Traditionally, biophysics has been used for hit validation and chemical lead optimization. With its increased throughput and sensitivity, biophysics is now being applied earlier in this process to empower target characterization and hit finding. Areas covered: In this article, the authors provide an overview of how biophysics can be utilized to assess the quality of the reagents used in screening assays, to validate potential tool compounds, to test the integrity of screening assays, and to create follow-up strategies for compound characterization. They also briefly discuss the utilization of different biophysical methods in hit validation to help avoid the resource consuming pitfalls caused by the lack of hit overlap between biophysical methods. Expert opinion: The use of biophysics early on in the drug discovery process has proven crucial to identifying and characterizing targets of complex nature. It also has enabled the identification and classification of small molecules which interact in an allosteric or covalent manner with the target. By applying biophysics in this manner and at the early stages of this process, the chances of finding chemical leads with novel mechanisms of action are increased. In the future, focused screens with biophysics as a primary readout will become increasingly common.

You Can’t Think and Hit at the Same Time: Neural Correlates of Baseball Pitch Classification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jason eSherwin

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Hitting a baseball is often described as the most difficult thing to do in sports. A key aptitude of a good hitter is the ability to determine which pitch is coming. This rapid decision requires the batter to make a judgment in a fraction of a second based largely on the trajectory and spin of the ball. When does this decision occur relative to the ball’s trajectory and is it possible to identify neural correlates that represent how the decision evolves over a split second? Using single-trial analysis of electroencephalography (EEG we address this question within the context of subjects discriminating three types of pitches (fastball, curveball, slider based on pitch trajectories. We find clear neural signatures of pitch classification and, using signal detection theory, we identify the times of discrimination on a trial-to-trial basis. Based on these neural signatures we estimate neural discrimination distributions as a function of the distance the ball is from the plate. We find all three pitches yield unique distributions, namely the timing of the discriminating neural signatures relative to the position of the ball in its trajectory. For instance, fastballs are discriminated at the earliest points in their trajectory, relative to the two other pitches, which is consistent with the need for some constant time to generate and execute the motor plan for the swing (or inhibition of the swing. We also find incorrect discrimination of a pitch (errors yields neural sources in Brodmann Area 10 (BA 10, which has been implicated in prospective memory, recall and task difficulty. In summary, we show that single-trial analysis of EEG yields informative distributions of the relative point in a baseball’s trajectory when the batter makes a decision on which pitch is coming.

High-Throughput Screening and Hit Validation of Extracellular-Related Kinase 5 (ERK5) Inhibitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Stephanie M; Bawn, Ruth H; Bisset, Louise C; Blackburn, Timothy J; Cottyn, Betty; Molyneux, Lauren; Wong, Ai-Ching; Cano, Celine; Clegg, William; Harrington, Ross W; Leung, Hing; Rigoreau, Laurent; Vidot, Sandrine; Golding, Bernard T; Griffin, Roger J; Hammonds, Tim; Newell, David R; Hardcastle, Ian R

2016-08-08

The extracellular-related kinase 5 (ERK5) is a promising target for cancer therapy. A high-throughput screen was developed for ERK5, based on the IMAP FP progressive binding system, and used to identify hits from a library of 57 617 compounds. Four distinct chemical series were evident within the screening hits. Resynthesis and reassay of the hits demonstrated that one series did not return active compounds, whereas three series returned active hits. Structure-activity studies demonstrated that the 4-benzoylpyrrole-2-carboxamide pharmacophore had excellent potential for further development. The minimum kinase binding pharmacophore was identified, and key examples demonstrated good selectivity for ERK5 over p38α kinase.

Time-resolved flow reconstruction with indirect measurements using regression models and Kalman-filtered POD ROM

Science.gov (United States)

Leroux, Romain; Chatellier, Ludovic; David, Laurent

2018-01-01

This article is devoted to the estimation of time-resolved particle image velocimetry (TR-PIV) flow fields using a time-resolved point measurements of a voltage signal obtained by hot-film anemometry. A multiple linear regression model is first defined to map the TR-PIV flow fields onto the voltage signal. Due to the high temporal resolution of the signal acquired by the hot-film sensor, the estimates of the TR-PIV flow fields are obtained with a multiple linear regression method called orthonormalized partial least squares regression (OPLSR). Subsequently, this model is incorporated as the observation equation in an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) applied on a proper orthogonal decomposition reduced-order model to stabilize it while reducing the effects of the hot-film sensor noise. This method is assessed for the reconstruction of the flow around a NACA0012 airfoil at a Reynolds number of 1000 and an angle of attack of {20}°. Comparisons with multi-time delay-modified linear stochastic estimation show that both the OPLSR and EnKF combined with OPLSR are more accurate as they produce a much lower relative estimation error, and provide a faithful reconstruction of the time evolution of the velocity flow fields.

Pelvic rotation torque during fast-pitch softball hitting under three ball height conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Iino, Yoichi; Fukushima, Atsushi; Kojima, Takeji

2014-08-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relevance of hip joint angles to the production of the pelvic rotation torque in fast-pitch softball hitting and to examine the effect of ball height on this production. Thirteen advanced female softball players hit stationary balls at three different heights: high, middle, and low. The pelvic rotation torque, defined as the torque acting on the pelvis through the hip joints about the pelvic superior-inferior axis, was determined from the kinematic and force plate data using inverse dynamics. Irrespective of the ball heights, the rear hip extension, rear hip external rotation, front hip adduction, and front hip flexion torques contributed to the production of pelvic rotation torque. Although the contributions of the adduction and external rotation torques at each hip joint were significantly different among the ball heights, the contributions of the front and rear hip joint torques were similar among the three ball heights owing to cancelation of the two torque components. The timings of the peaks of the hip joint torque components were significantly different, suggesting that softball hitters may need to adjust the timings of the torque exertions fairly precisely to rotate the upper body effectively.

Upgrade tracking with the UT Hits

CERN Document Server

Gandini, P; Wang, J

2014-01-01

The performance of the LHCb tracking system for the upgrade on long tracks is evaluated in terms of efficiency and ghost rate reduction for several different sets of requirements. We find that the efficiency is quite high and that the ghost rate reduction is substantial. We also describe the current algorithm for adding UT hits to the tracks.

EASY-HIT: HIV full-replication technology for broad discovery of multiple classes of HIV inhibitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Kremb, Stephan; Helfer, Markus; Heller, Werner; Hoffmann, Dieter; Wolff, Horst; Kleinschmidt, Andrea; Cepok, Sabine; Hemmer, Bernhard; Durner, Jörg; Brack-Werner, Ruth

2010-12-01

HIV replication assays are important tools for HIV drug discovery efforts. Here, we present a full HIV replication system (EASY-HIT) for the identification and analysis of HIV inhibitors. This technology is based on adherently growing HIV-susceptible cells, with a stable fluorescent reporter gene activated by HIV Tat and Rev. A fluorescence-based assay was designed that measures HIV infection by two parameters relating to the early and the late phases of HIV replication, respectively. Validation of the assay with a panel of nine reference inhibitors yielded effective inhibitory concentrations consistent with published data and allowed discrimination between inhibitors of early and late phases of HIV replication. Finer resolution of the effects of reference drugs on different steps of HIV replication was achieved in secondary time-of-addition assays. The EASY-HIT assay yielded high Z' scores (>0.9) and signal stabilities, confirming its robustness. Screening of the LOPAC(1280) library identified 10 compounds (0.8%), of which eight were known to inhibit HIV, validating the suitability of this assay for screening applications. Studies evaluating anti-HIV activities of natural products with the EASY-HIT technology led to the identification of three novel inhibitory compounds that apparently act at different steps of HIV-1 replication. Furthermore, we demonstrate successful evaluation of plant extracts for HIV-inhibitory activities, suggesting application of this technology for the surveillance of biological extracts with anti-HIV activities. We conclude that the EASY-HIT technology is a versatile tool for the discovery and characterization of HIV inhibitors.

LncRNA-HIT Functions as an Epigenetic Regulator of Chondrogenesis through Its Recruitment of p100/CBP Complexes.

Science.gov (United States)

Carlson, Hanqian L; Quinn, Jeffrey J; Yang, Yul W; Thornburg, Chelsea K; Chang, Howard Y; Stadler, H Scott

2015-12-01

Gene expression profiling in E 11 mouse embryos identified high expression of the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), LNCRNA-HIT in the undifferentiated limb mesenchyme, gut, and developing genital tubercle. In the limb mesenchyme, LncRNA-HIT was found to be retained in the nucleus, forming a complex with p100 and CBP. Analysis of the genome-wide distribution of LncRNA-HIT-p100/CBP complexes by ChIRP-seq revealed LncRNA-HIT associated peaks at multiple loci in the murine genome. Ontological analysis of the genes contacted by LncRNA-HIT-p100/CBP complexes indicate a primary role for these loci in chondrogenic differentiation. Functional analysis using siRNA-mediated reductions in LncRNA-HIT or p100 transcripts revealed a significant decrease in expression of many of the LncRNA-HIT-associated loci. LncRNA-HIT siRNA treatments also impacted the ability of the limb mesenchyme to form cartilage, reducing mesenchymal cell condensation and the formation of cartilage nodules. Mechanistically the LncRNA-HIT siRNA treatments impacted pro-chondrogenic gene expression by reducing H3K27ac or p100 activity, confirming that LncRNA-HIT is essential for chondrogenic differentiation in the limb mesenchyme. Taken together, these findings reveal a fundamental epigenetic mechanism functioning during early limb development, using LncRNA-HIT and its associated proteins to promote the expression of multiple genes whose products are necessary for the formation of cartilage.

Evaluation of flow cytometric HIT assays in relation to an IgG-Specific immunoassay and clinical outcome.

Science.gov (United States)

Kerényi, Adrienne; Beke Debreceni, Ildikó; Oláh, Zsolt; Ilonczai, Péter; Bereczky, Zsuzsanna; Nagy, Béla; Muszbek, László; Kappelmayer, János

2017-09-01

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a severe side effect of heparin treatment caused by platelet activating IgG antibodies generated against the platelet factor 4 (PF4)-heparin complex. Thrombocytopenia and thrombosis are the leading clinical symptoms of HIT. The clinical pretest probability of HIT was evaluated by the 4T score system. Laboratory testing of HIT was performed by immunological detection of antibodies against PF4-heparin complex (EIA) and two functional assays. Heparin-dependent activation of donor platelets by patient plasma was detected by flow cytometry. Increased binding of Annexin-V to platelets and elevated number of platelet-derived microparticles (PMP) were the indicators of platelet activation. EIA for IgG isotype HIT antibodies was performed in 405 suspected HIT patients. Based on negative EIA results, HIT was excluded in 365 (90%) of cases. In 40 patients with positive EIA test result functional tests were performed. Platelet activating antibodies were detected in 17 cases by Annexin V binding. PMP count analysis provided nearly identical results. The probability of a positive flow cytometric assay result was higher in patients with elevated antibody titer. 71% of patients with positive EIA and functional assay had thrombosis. EIA is an important first line laboratory test in the diagnosis of HIT; however, HIT must be confirmed by a functional test. Annexin V binding and PMP assays using flow cytometry are functional HIT tests convenient in a clinical diagnostic laboratory. The positive results of functional assays may predict the onset of thrombosis. © 2016 International Clinical Cytometry Society. © 2016 International Clinical Cytometry Society.

Possilibity of estimating payoff matrix from model for hit phenomena

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishii, Akira; Sakaidani, Shota; Iwanaga, Saori

2016-01-01

The conflicts of topics on social media is considered using an extended mathematical model based on the mathematical model for hit phenomena that has been used to analyze entertainment hits. The social media platform used in this study was blog. The calculation results shows examples of strong conflict, weak conflict, and no conflict cases. Since the conflict of two topics can be considered in the framework of game theory, the results can be used to determine each matrix element of the payoff matrix of game theory.

riskRegression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ozenne, Brice; Sørensen, Anne Lyngholm; Scheike, Thomas

2017-01-01

In the presence of competing risks a prediction of the time-dynamic absolute risk of an event can be based on cause-specific Cox regression models for the event and the competing risks (Benichou and Gail, 1990). We present computationally fast and memory optimized C++ functions with an R interface...... for predicting the covariate specific absolute risks, their confidence intervals, and their confidence bands based on right censored time to event data. We provide explicit formulas for our implementation of the estimator of the (stratified) baseline hazard function in the presence of tied event times. As a by...... functionals. The software presented here is implemented in the riskRegression package....

Visual Illusions and the Control of Ball Placement in Goal-Directed Hitting

Science.gov (United States)

Caljouw, Simone R.; Van der Kamp, John; Savelsbergh, Geert J. P.

2010-01-01

When hitting, kicking, or throwing balls at targets, online control in the target area is impossible. We assumed this lack of late corrections in the target area would induce an effect of a single-winged Muller-Lyer illusion on ball placement. After extensive practice in hitting balls to different landing locations, participants (N = 9) had to hit…

Simulation optimizing of n-type HIT solar cells with AFORS-HET

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Yao; Xiao, Shaoqing; Zhang, Xiumei; Gu, Xiaofeng

2017-07-01

This paper presents a study of heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cells based on n-type silicon substrates by a simulation software AFORS-HET. We have studied the influence of thickness, band gap of intrinsic layer and defect densities of every interface. Details in mechanisms are elaborated as well. The results show that the optimized efficiency reaches more than 23% which may give proper suggestions to practical preparation for HIT solar cells industry.

Harmonic regression of Landsat time series for modeling attributes from national forest inventory data

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Barry T.; Knight, Joseph F.; McRoberts, Ronald E.

2018-03-01

Imagery from the Landsat Program has been used frequently as a source of auxiliary data for modeling land cover, as well as a variety of attributes associated with tree cover. With ready access to all scenes in the archive since 2008 due to the USGS Landsat Data Policy, new approaches to deriving such auxiliary data from dense Landsat time series are required. Several methods have previously been developed for use with finer temporal resolution imagery (e.g. AVHRR and MODIS), including image compositing and harmonic regression using Fourier series. The manuscript presents a study, using Minnesota, USA during the years 2009-2013 as the study area and timeframe. The study examined the relative predictive power of land cover models, in particular those related to tree cover, using predictor variables based solely on composite imagery versus those using estimated harmonic regression coefficients. The study used two common non-parametric modeling approaches (i.e. k-nearest neighbors and random forests) for fitting classification and regression models of multiple attributes measured on USFS Forest Inventory and Analysis plots using all available Landsat imagery for the study area and timeframe. The estimated Fourier coefficients developed by harmonic regression of tasseled cap transformation time series data were shown to be correlated with land cover, including tree cover. Regression models using estimated Fourier coefficients as predictor variables showed a two- to threefold increase in explained variance for a small set of continuous response variables, relative to comparable models using monthly image composites. Similarly, the overall accuracies of classification models using the estimated Fourier coefficients were approximately 10-20 percentage points higher than the models using the image composites, with corresponding individual class accuracies between six and 45 percentage points higher.

Assessment of the performances of AcuStar HIT and the combination with heparin-induced multiple electrode aggregometry: a retrospective study.

Science.gov (United States)

Minet, V; Bailly, N; Douxfils, J; Osselaer, J C; Laloy, J; Chatelain, C; Elalamy, I; Chatelain, B; Dogné, J M; Mullier, F

2013-09-01

Early diagnosis of immune heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is challenging. HemosIL® AcuStar HIT and heparin-induced multiple electrode aggregometry (HIMEA) were recently proposed as rapid diagnostic methods. We conducted a study to assess performances of AcuStar HIT-IgG (PF4-H) and AcuStar HIT-Ab (PF4-H). The secondary objective was to compare the performances of the combination of Acustar HIT and HIMEA with standardised clinical diagnosis. Sera of 104 suspected HIT patients were retrospectively tested with AcuStar HIT. HIMEA was performed on available sera (n=81). The clinical diagnosis was established by analysing in a standardized manner the patient's medical records. These tests were also compared with PF4-Enhanced®, LTA, and SRA in subsets of patients. Thresholds were determined using ROC curve analysis with clinical outcome as reference. Using the recommended thresholds (1.00AU), the negative predictive value (NPV) of HIT-IgG and HIT-Ab were 100.0% (95% CI: 95.9%-100.0% and 95.7%-100.0%). The positive predictive value (PPV) were 64.3% (95% CI: 35.1%-87.2.2%) and 45.0% (95% CI: 23.2%-68.6%), respectively. Using our thresholds (HIT-IgG: 2.89AU, HIT-Ab: 9.41AU), NPV of HIT-IgG and HIT-Ab were 100.0% (95% CI: 96.0%-100.0% and 96.1%-100.0%). PPV were 75.0% (95% CI: 42.7%-94.5%) and 81.8% (95% CI: 48.3%-97.7%), respectively. Of the 79 patients with a medium-high pretest probability score, 67 were negative using HIT-IgG (PF4-H) test at our thresholds. HIMEA was performed on HIT-IgG positive patients. Using this combination, only one patient on 79 was incorrectly diagnosed. Acustar HIT showed good performances to exclude the diagnosis of HIT. Combination with HIMEA improves PPV. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison of Document Index Graph Using TextRank and HITS Weighting Method in Automatic Text Summarization

Science.gov (United States)

Hadyan, Fadhlil; Shaufiah; Arif Bijaksana, Moch.

2017-01-01

Automatic summarization is a system that can help someone to take the core information of a long text instantly. The system can help by summarizing text automatically. there’s Already many summarization systems that have been developed at this time but there are still many problems in those system. In this final task proposed summarization method using document index graph. This method utilizes the PageRank and HITS formula used to assess the web page, adapted to make an assessment of words in the sentences in a text document. The expected outcome of this final task is a system that can do summarization of a single document, by utilizing document index graph with TextRank and HITS to improve the quality of the summary results automatically.

Simulation of injector dynamics during steady inductive helicity injection current drive in the HIT-SI experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hansen, C., E-mail: hansec@uw.edu [PSI-Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 (United States); Columbia University, New York, New York 10027 (United States); Marklin, G. [PSI-Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 (United States); Victor, B. [HIT-SI Group, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 (United States); Akcay, C. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States); Jarboe, T. [HIT-SI Group, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 (United States); PSI-Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 (United States)

2015-04-15

We present simulations of inductive helicity injection in the Helicity Injected Torus with Steady Inductive helicity injection (HIT-SI) device that treats the entire plasma volume in a single dynamic MHD model. A new fully 3D numerical tool, the PSI-center TETrahedral mesh code, was developed that provides the geometric flexibility required for this investigation. Implementation of a zero-β Hall MHD model using PSI-TET will be presented including formulation of a new self-consistent magnetic boundary condition for the wall of the HIT-SI device. Results from simulations of HIT-SI are presented focusing on injector dynamics that are investigated numerically for the first time. Asymmetries in the plasma loading between the two helicity injectors and progression of field reversal in each injector are observed. Analysis indicates cross-coupling between injectors through confinement volume structures. Injector impedance is found to scale with toroidal current at fixed density, consistent with experimental observation. Comparison to experimental data with an injector drive frequency of 14.5 kHz shows good agreement with magnetic diagnostics. Global mode structures from Bi-Orthogonal decomposition agree well with experimental data for the first four modes.

Liquid Argon TPC Signal Formation, Signal Processing and Hit Reconstruction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baller, Bruce [Fermilab

2017-03-11

This document describes the early stage of the reconstruction chain that was developed for the ArgoNeuT and MicroBooNE experiments at Fermilab. These experiments study accelerator neutrino interactions that occur in a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber. Reconstructing the properties of particles produced in these interactions requires knowledge of the micro-physics processes that affect the creation and transport of ionization electrons to the readout system. A wire signal deconvolution technique was developed to convert wire signals to a standard form for hit reconstruction, to remove artifacts in the electronics chain and to remove coherent noise.

USER FRUSTRATION IN HIT INTERFACES: EXPLORING PAST HCI RESEARCH FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF CLINICIANS' EXPERIENCES.

Science.gov (United States)

Opoku-Boateng, Gloria A

2015-01-01

User frustration research has been one way of looking into clinicians' experience with health information technology use and interaction. In order to understand how clinician frustration with Health Information Technology (HIT) use occurs, there is the need to explore Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) literature that addresses both frustration and HIT use. In the past three decades, HCI frustration research has increased and expanded. Researchers have done a lot of work to understand emotions, end-user frustration and affect. This paper uses a historical literature review approach to review the origins of emotion and frustration research and explore the research question; Does HCI research on frustration provide insights on clinicians' frustration with HIT interfaces? From the literature review HCI research on emotion and frustration provides additional insights that can indeed help explain user frustration in HIT. Different approaches and HCI perspectives also help frame HIT user frustration research as well as inform HIT system design. The paper concludes with a suggested directions on how future design and research may take.

Informing the Selection of Screening Hit Series with in Silico Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion, and Toxicity Profiles.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanders, John M; Beshore, Douglas C; Culberson, J Christopher; Fells, James I; Imbriglio, Jason E; Gunaydin, Hakan; Haidle, Andrew M; Labroli, Marc; Mattioni, Brian E; Sciammetta, Nunzio; Shipe, William D; Sheridan, Robert P; Suen, Linda M; Verras, Andreas; Walji, Abbas; Joshi, Elizabeth M; Bueters, Tjerk

2017-08-24

High-throughput screening (HTS) has enabled millions of compounds to be assessed for biological activity, but challenges remain in the prioritization of hit series. While biological, absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET), purity, and structural data are routinely used to select chemical matter for further follow-up, the scarcity of historical ADMET data for screening hits limits our understanding of early hit compounds. Herein, we describe a process that utilizes a battery of in-house quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models to generate in silico ADMET profiles for hit series to enable more complete characterizations of HTS chemical matter. These profiles allow teams to quickly assess hit series for desirable ADMET properties or suspected liabilities that may require significant optimization. Accordingly, these in silico data can direct ADMET experimentation and profoundly impact the progression of hit series. Several prospective examples are presented to substantiate the value of this approach.

HIT or miss: the application of health care information technology to managing uncertainty in clinical decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Kazandjian, Vahé A; Lipitz-Snyderman, Allison

2011-12-01

To discuss the usefulness of health care information technology (HIT) in assisting care providers minimize uncertainty while simultaneously increasing efficiency of the care provided. An ongoing study of HIT, performance measurement (clinical and production efficiency) and their implications to the payment for care represents the design of this study. Since 2006, all Maryland hospitals have embarked on a multi-faceted study of performance measures and HIT adoption surveys, which will shape the health care payment model in Maryland, the last of the all-payor states, in 2011. This paper focuses on the HIT component of the Maryland care payment initiative. While the payment model is still under review and discussion, 'appropriateness' of care has been discussed as an important dimension of measurement. Within this dimension, the 'uncertainty' concept has been identified as associated with variation in care practices. Hence, the methods of this paper define how HIT can assist care providers in addressing the concept of uncertainty, and then provides findings from the first HIT survey in Maryland to infer the readiness of Maryland hospital in addressing uncertainty of care in part through the use of HIT. Maryland hospitals show noteworthy variation in their adoption and use of HIT. While computerized, electronic patient records are not commonly used among and across Maryland hospitals, many of the uses of HIT internally in each hospital could significantly assist in better communication about better practices to minimize uncertainty of care and enhance the efficiency of its production. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Hit Dexter: A Machine-Learning Model for the Prediction of Frequent Hitters.

Science.gov (United States)

Stork, Conrad; Wagner, Johannes; Friedrich, Nils-Ole; de Bruyn Kops, Christina; Šícho, Martin; Kirchmair, Johannes

2018-03-20

False-positive assay readouts caused by badly behaving compounds-frequent hitters, pan-assay interference compounds (PAINS), aggregators, and others-continue to pose a major challenge to experimental screening. There are only a few in silico methods that allow the prediction of such problematic compounds. We report the development of Hit Dexter, two extremely randomized trees classifiers for the prediction of compounds likely to trigger positive assay readouts either by true promiscuity or by assay interference. The models were trained on a well-prepared dataset extracted from the PubChem Bioassay database, consisting of approximately 311 000 compounds tested for activity on at least 50 proteins. Hit Dexter reached MCC and AUC values of up to 0.67 and 0.96 on an independent test set, respectively. The models are expected to be of high value, in particular to medicinal chemists and biochemists who can use Hit Dexter to identify compounds for which extra caution should be exercised with positive assay readouts. Hit Dexter is available as a free web service at http://hitdexter.zbh. uni-hamburg.de. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

HitRECord: Cultura remix y copyright. Una experiencia en primera persona en el interior de la Compañía de Producción hitRECord.

OpenAIRE

Sabater Planelles, Pablo

2016-01-01

El Proyecto que hemos desarrollado, mezcla investigación y experiencia en primera persona entorno a dos temas principales con la finalidad de abordarlos, experimentarlos y comprenderlos de la mejor manera en el contexto actual. Mantienen una estrecha confrontación entre ellos y gran relación con la comunidad online hitRECord. Éstos son el copyright y la cultura remix. HitRECord es una plataforma online impulsada en el 2010 por el actor y artista Joseph Gordon-Levitt, convertida en una ...

Development of pulsation technique for single ion hit system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sakai, Takuro; Hamano, Tsuyoshi; Hirao, Toshio; Kamiya, Tomihiro [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Takasaki, Gunma (Japan). Takasaki Radiation Chemistry Research Establishment

1996-12-01

When a high energy heavy ion enters into a substance, high density of ionization and excitement occurrs along its flying trace. Especially, when such an ion enters into a semiconductor cell, a bit inversion called single event is occurred or a phenomenon destroyed element itself on case of the worst is formed. The present semiconductor cell is made in a size of some micron square, as different from its accumulated degree. In order to analyze the single event phenomenon formed by entering ion into such fine region in detail, a technique possible enter heavy ion beam with space resolution under 1 micron to each sample is necessary. In order to develop this technique, a static type high speed beam switch for control of entering a beam into a sample and a single ion detector for detecting entrance of ion into the sample were installed to heavy ion microbeam forming apparatus. The single ion hit system in Takasaki Radiation Chemistry Research Establishment, JAERI succeeded in detection and control technique of the single ion and control of noise due to pulsization and finished development of basic technique of the single ion hit, since now. After today, it is planned to hit actually the single ion onto the sample and evaluate its accuracy. (G.K.)

Biomarkers for IgA nephropathy on the basis of multi-hit pathogenesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Hitoshi

2018-05-08

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the most prevalent glomerular disease worldwide and is associated with a poor prognosis. Development of curative treatment strategies and approaches for early diagnosis is necessary. Renal biopsy is the gold standard for the diagnosis and assessment of disease activity. However, reliable biomarkers are needed for the noninvasive diagnosis of this disease and to more fully delineate the risk of progression. With regard to the pathogenesis of IgAN, the multi-hit hypothesis, including production of galactose-deficient IgA1 (Gd-IgA1; Hit 1), IgG or IgA autoantibodies that recognize Gd-IgA1 (Hit 2), and their subsequent immune complexes formation (Hit 3) and glomerular deposition (Hit 4), has been widely supported by many studies. Although the prognostic values of several biomarkers have been discussed, we recently developed a highly sensitive and specific diagnostic method by measuring serum levels of Gd-IgA1 and Gd-IgA1-containing immune complexes. In addition, urinary Gd-IgA1 may represent a disease-specific biomarker for IgAN. We also confirmed that there is a significant correlation between serum levels of these effector molecules and disease activity, suggesting that each can be considered a practical surrogate marker of therapeutic response. Thus, these disease-oriented specific serum and urine biomarkers may be useful for screening of potential IgAN with isolated hematuria, earlier diagnosis, disease activity, and eventually, response to treatment. In this review, we discuss these concepts, with a focus on potential clinical applications of these biomarkers.

Hit-size effectiveness theory applied to high doses of low LET radiation for pink mutations in Tradescantia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Varma, M.N.; Bond, V.P.; Matthews, G.

1985-01-01

A hit-size effectiveness function which represents the probability of inducing a pink mutation in Tradescantia as a function of lineal energy density has been obtained (1) using observed pink mutation data for seven different radiation qualities and their respective single event microdosimetric spectra. In obtaining this function only the linear portions of dose-response curves were used. A significant improvement of the concepts embodied in the proposed hit-size effectiveness theory would be the demonstration of its applicability at high doses (where multiple hits are produced) and high dose rates (at which no significant biological repair takes place). In this article details are given on preliminary calculations of the pink mutation frequency in Tradescantia at 1, 5, 10, 20, and 60 rads for 250 kVp x rays, using the multi-hit spectra and the hit-size effectiveness function obtained on the basis of single hit microdosimetric spectra as outline in (1). A comparison of the calculated and observed pink mutation frequencies indicate excellent agreement and suggests the possibility of obtaining the hit-size effectiveness function from high dose biological-effect data obtained using low-LET radiations. 6 refs., 3 figs., 3 tabs

Gorlin syndrome with an ovarian leiomyoma associated with a PTCH1 second hit.

Science.gov (United States)

Akizawa, Yoshika; Miyashita, Toshiyuki; Sasaki, Ryo; Nagata, Reiko; Aoki, Ryoko; Ishitani, Ken; Nagashima, Yoji; Matsui, Hideo; Saito, Kayoko

2016-04-01

We describe a Gorlin syndrome (GS) case with two different second hit mutations of PTCH1, one in a keratocystic odontogenic tumor (KCOT) and the other in an ovarian leiomyoma. GS is a rare genetic condition manifesting as multiple basal cell nevi associated with other features such as medulloblastomas, skeletal abnormalities, and ovarian fibromas. A 21-year-old Japanese woman with a history of two KCOTs was diagnosed with GS according to clinical criteria. A PTCH1 mutation, c.1427del T, was detected in peripheral blood. A novel PTCH1 mutation, c.264_265insAATA, had been found in the maxillary KCOT as a second hit mutation. More recently, the ovarian tumor was detected during a gynecological examination. Laparoscopic adnexectomy was performed, and the pathological diagnosis of the ovarian tumor was leiomyoma. Interestingly, another novel mutation, loss of heterozygosity spanning from 9q22.32 to 9q31.2, including PTCH1 and 89 other genes, was detected in this ovarian tumor, providing evidence of a second hit mutation. This is the first report describing a GS-associated ovarian tumor carrying a second hit in the PTCH1 region. We anticipate that accumulation of more cases will clarify the importance of second hit mutations in ovarian tumor formation in GS. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Use of health information technology (HIT) to improve statin adherence and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol goal attainment in high-risk patients: proceedings from a workshop.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Jerome D; Aspry, Karen E; Brown, Alan S; Foody, Joanne M; Furman, Roy; Jacobson, Terry A; Karalis, Dean G; Kris-Etherton, Penny M; Laforge, Ralph; O'Toole, Michael F; Scott, Ronald D; Underberg, James A; Valuck, Thomas B; Willard, Kaye-Eileen; Ziajka, Paul E; Ito, Matthew K

2013-01-01

The workshop discussions focused on how low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) goal attainment can be enhanced with the use of health information technology (HIT) in different clinical settings. A gap is acknowledged in LDL-C goal attainment, but because of the passage of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Acts there is now reason for optimism that this gap can be narrowed. For HIT to be effectively used to achieve treatment goals, it must be implemented in a setting in which the health care team is fully committed to achieving these goals. Implementation of HIT alone has not resulted in reducing the gap. It is critical to build an effective management strategy into the HIT platform without increasing the overall work/time burden on staff. By enhancing communication between the health care team and the patient, more timely adjustments to treatment plans can be made with greater opportunity for LDL-C goal attainment and improved efficiency in the long run. Patients would be encouraged to take a more active role. Support tools are available. The National Lipid Association has developed a toolkit designed to improve patient compliance and could be modified for use in an HIT system. The importance of a collaborative approach between nongovernmental organizations such as the National Lipid Association, National Quality Forum, HIT partners, and other members of the health care industry offers the best opportunity for long-term success and the real possibility that such efforts could be applied to other chronic conditions, for example, diabetes and hypertension. Copyright © 2013 National Lipid Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Double-hit lymphomas constitute a highly aggressive subgroup in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas in the era of rituximab.

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, Tsutomu; Tsutsumi, Yasuhiko; Sakamoto, Natsumi; Nagoshi, Hisao; Yamamoto-Sugitani, Mio; Shimura, Yuji; Mizutani, Shinsuke; Matsumoto, Yosuke; Nishida, Kazuhiro; Horiike, Shigeo; Asano, Naoko; Nakamura, Shigeo; Kuroda, Junya; Taniwaki, Masafumi

2012-11-01

The incorporation of rituximab in immunochemotherapy has improved treatment outcomes for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, but the prognosis for some diffuse large B-cell lymphomas remains dismal. Identification of adverse prognostic subgroups is essential for the choice of appropriate therapeutic strategy. We retrospectively investigated the impact of so-called 'double-hit' cytogenetic abnormalities, i.e. cytogenetic abnormalities involving c-MYC co-existing with other poor prognostic cytogenetic abnormalities involving BCL2, BCL6 or BACH2, on treatment outcomes for 93 consecutive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients. According to the revised international prognostic index, no patients were cytogenetically diagnosed with double-hit lymphomas in the 'very good' risk group or in the 'good' risk group, while 5 of 33 patients had double-hit lymphomas in the 'poor' risk group. All the double-hit lymphoma patients possessed both nodal and extranodal involvement. The overall complete response rate was 89.3%, overall survival 87.1% and progression-free survival 75.8% over 2 years (median observation period: 644 days). The complete response rates were 93.2% for the non-double-hit lymphoma patients and 40.0% for the double-hit lymphoma patients. Significantly longer progression-free survival and overall survival were observed for the 'very good' and the 'good' risk patients than for the 'poor' risk patients. Moreover, the progression-free survival of double-hit lymphoma was significantly shorter than that of the non-double-hit lymphoma 'poor' risk patients (P = 0.016). In addition, the overall survival of the double-hit lymphoma patients also tended to be shorter than that of the non-double-hit lymphoma 'poor' risk group. The diagnosis of double-hit lymphoma can help discriminate a subgroup of highly aggressive diffuse large B-cell lymphomas and indicate the need for the development of novel therapeutic strategies for double-hit lymphoma.

PF4-HIT antibody (KKO) complexes activate broad innate immune and inflammatory responses.

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Haile, Lydia A; Rao, Roshni; Polumuri, Swamy K; Arepally, Gowthami M; Keire, David A; Verthelyi, Daniela; Sommers, Cynthia D

2017-11-01

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is an immune-mediated complication of heparin anticoagulation therapy resulting in thrombocytopenia frequently accompanied by thrombosis. Current evidence suggests that HIT is associated with antibodies developed in response to multi-molecular complexes formed by platelet factor 4 (PF4) bound to heparin or cell surface glycosaminoglycans. These antibody complexes activate platelets and monocytes typically through FcγRIIA receptors increasing the production of PF4, inflammatory mediators, tissue factor and thrombin. The influence of underlying events in HIT including complex-induced pro-inflammatory cell activation and structural determinants leading to local inflammatory responses are not fully understood. The stoichiometry and complex component requirements were determined by incubating fresh peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) with different concentrations of unfractionated heparin (H), low molecular weight heparin (LMWH), PF4- and anti-PF4-H complex antibodies (KKO). Cytokine mRNA or protein were measured by qRT-PCR or Meso Scale Discovery technology, respectively. Gene expression profile analysis for 594 genes was performed using Nanostring technology and analyzed using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software. The data show that antibodies magnify immune responses induced in PBMCs by PF4 alone or in complex with heparin or LMWH. We propose that following induction of HIT antibodies by heparin-PF4 complexes, binding of the antibodies to PF4 is sufficient to induce a local pro-inflammatory response which may play a role in the progression of HIT. In vitro assays using PBMCs may be useful in characterizing local inflammatory and innate immune responses induced by HIT antibodies in the presence of PF4 and different sources of heparins. The findings and conclusions in this article are solely the responsibility of the authors and are not being formally disseminated by the Food and Drug Administration. Thus, they should not be

Measurements and Simulations on the Mechanisms of Efficiency Losses in HIT Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvio Pierro

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We study the electrical and the optical behavior of HIT solar cell by means of measurements and optoelectrical simulations by TCAD simulations. We compare the HIT solar cell with a conventional crystalline silicon solar cell to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the HIT technology. Results highlight different mechanisms of electrical and optical efficiency losses caused by the presence of the amorphous silicon layer. The higher resistivity of the a-Si layers implies a smaller distance between the metal lines that causes a higher shadowing. The worst optical coupling between the amorphous silicon and the antireflective coating implies a slight increase of reflectivity around the 600 nm wavelength.

Anticipating mismatches of HIT investments: Developing a viability-fit model for e-health services.

Science.gov (United States)

Mettler, Tobias

2016-01-01

Albeit massive investments in the recent years, the impact of health information technology (HIT) has been controversial and strongly disputed by both research and practice. While many studies are concerned with the development of new or the refinement of existing measurement models for assessing the impact of HIT adoption (ex post), this study presents an initial attempt to better understand the factors affecting viability and fit of HIT and thereby underscores the importance of also having instruments for managing expectations (ex ante). We extend prior research by undertaking a more granular investigation into the theoretical assumptions of viability and fit constructs. In doing so, we use a mixed-methods approach, conducting qualitative focus group discussions and a quantitative field study to improve and validate a viability-fit measurement instrument. Our findings suggest two issues for research and practice. First, the results indicate that different stakeholders perceive HIT viability and fit of the same e-health services very unequally. Second, the analysis also demonstrates that there can be a great discrepancy between the organizational viability and individual fit of a particular e-health service. The findings of this study have a number of important implications such as for health policy making, HIT portfolios, and stakeholder communication. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

A broad-application microchannel-plate detector system for advanced particle or photon detection tasks large area imaging, precise multi-hit timing information and high detection rate

CERN Document Server

Jagutzki, O; Mergel, V; Schmidt-Böcking, H; Spielberger, L; Spillmann, U; Ullmann-Pfleger, K

2002-01-01

New applications for single particle and photon detection in many fields require both large area imaging performance and precise time information on each detected particle. Moreover, a very high data acquisition rate is desirable for most applications and eventually the detection and imaging of more than one particle arriving within a microsecond is required. Commercial CCD systems lack the timing information whereas other electronic microchannel plate (MCP) read-out schemes usually suffer from a low acquisition rate and complicated and sometimes costly read-out electronics. We have designed and tested a complete imaging system consisting of an MCP position readout with helical wire delay-lines, single-unit amplifier box and PC-controlled time-to-digital converter (TDC) readout. The system is very flexible and can detect and analyse position and timing information at single particle rates beyond 1 MHz. Alternatively, multi-hit events can be collected and analysed at about 20 kHz rate. We discuss the advantage...

The prognosis of MYC translocation positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma depends on the second hit.

Science.gov (United States)

Clipson, Alexandra; Barrans, Sharon; Zeng, Naiyan; Crouch, Simon; Grigoropoulos, Nicholas F; Liu, Hongxiang; Kocialkowski, Sylvia; Wang, Ming; Huang, Yuanxue; Worrillow, Lisa; Goodlad, John; Buxton, Jenny; Neat, Michael; Fields, Paul; Wilkins, Bridget; Grant, John W; Wright, Penny; Ei-Daly, Hesham; Follows, George A; Roman, Eve; Watkins, A James; Johnson, Peter W M; Jack, Andrew; Du, Ming-Qing

2015-07-01

A proportion of MYC translocation positive diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL) harbour a BCL2 and/or BCL6 translocation, known as double-hit DLBCL, and are clinically aggressive. It is unknown whether there are other genetic abnormalities that cooperate with MYC translocation and form double-hit DLBCL, and whether there is a difference in clinical outcome between the double-hit DLBCL and those with an isolated MYC translocation. We investigated TP53 gene mutations along with BCL2 and BCL6 translocations in a total of 234 cases of DLBCL, including 81 with MYC translocation. TP53 mutations were investigated by PCR and sequencing, while BCL2 and BCL6 translocation was studied by interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization. The majority of MYC translocation positive DLBCLs (60/81 = 74%) had at least one additional genetic hit. In MYC translocation positive DLBCL treated by R-CHOP ( n  = 67), TP53 mutation and BCL2, but not BCL6 translocation had an adverse effect on patient overall survival. In comparison with DLBCL with an isolated MYC translocation, cases with MYC/TP53 double-hits had the worst overall survival, followed by those with MYC/BCL2 double-hits. In MYC translocation negative DLBCL treated by R-CHOP ( n  = 101), TP53 mutation, BCL2 and BCL6 translocation had no impact on patient survival. The prognosis of MYC translocation positive DLBCL critically depends on the second hit, with TP53 mutations and BCL2 translocation contributing to an adverse prognosis. It is pivotal to investigate both TP53 mutations and BCL2 translocations in MYC translocation positive DLBCL, and to distinguish double-hit DLBCLs from those with an isolated MYC translocation.

Direct determination of the hit locations from experimental HPGe pulses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Désesquelles, P., E-mail: Pierre.Desesquelles@in2p3.fr [Univ. Paris-Sud, CSNSM CNRS/IN2P3, 15 rue G. Clémenceau, 91405 Orsay (France); Boston, A.J.; Boston, H.C.; Cresswell, J.R.; Dimmock, M.R. [Oliver Lodge Laboratory, The University of Liverpool, Oxford Street, Liverpool L69 7ZE (United Kingdom); Lazarus, I.H. [STFC Daresbury Laboratory, Daresbury, Warrington WA4 4AD (United Kingdom); Ljungvall, J. [Univ. Paris-Sud, CSNSM CNRS/IN2P3, 15 rue G. Clémenceau, 91405 Orsay (France); Nelson, L. [Oliver Lodge Laboratory, The University of Liverpool, Oxford Street, Liverpool L69 7ZE (United Kingdom); Nga, D.-T. [Univ. Paris-Sud, CSNSM CNRS/IN2P3, 15 rue G. Clémenceau, 91405 Orsay (France); Nolan, P.J.; Rigby, S.V. [Oliver Lodge Laboratory, The University of Liverpool, Oxford Street, Liverpool L69 7ZE (United Kingdom); Simpson, J. [STFC Daresbury Laboratory, Daresbury, Warrington WA4 4AD (United Kingdom); Van-Oanh, N.-T. [Univ. Paris-Sud, LCP UMR8000 CNRS, 15 rue G. Clémenceau, 91405 Orsay (France)

2013-11-21

The gamma-tracking technique optimises the determination of the energy and emission angle of gamma-rays detected by modern segmented HPGe detectors. This entails the determination, using the delivered pulse shapes, of the interaction points of the gamma-ray within the crystal. The direct method presented here allows the localisation of the hits using only a large sample of pulses detected in the actual operating conditions. No external crystal scanning system or pulse shape simulation code is needed. In order to validate this method, it is applied to sets of pulses obtained using the University of Liverpool scanning system. The hit locations are determined by the method with good precision.

Plasma response to sustainment with imposed-dynamo current drive in HIT-SI and HIT-SI3

Science.gov (United States)

Hossack, A. C.; Jarboe, T. R.; Chandra, R. N.; Morgan, K. D.; Sutherland, D. A.; Penna, J. M.; Everson, C. J.; Nelson, B. A.

2017-07-01

The helicity injected torus—steady inductive (HIT-SI) program studies efficient, steady-state current drive for magnetic confinement plasmas using a novel experimental method. Stable, high-beta spheromaks have been sustained using steady, inductive current drive. Externally induced loop voltage and magnetic flux are oscillated together so that helicity and power injection are always positive, sustaining the edge plasma current indefinitely. Imposed-dynamo current drive (IDCD) theory further shows that the entire plasma current is sustained. The method is ideal for low aspect ratio, toroidal geometries with closed flux surfaces. Experimental studies of spheromak plasmas sustained with IDCD have shown stable magnetic profiles with evidence of pressure confinement. New measurements show coherent motion of a stable spheromak in response to the imposed perturbations. On the original device two helicity injectors were mounted on either side of the spheromak and the injected mode spectrum was predominantly n  =  1. Coherent, rigid motion indicates that the spheromak is stable and a lack of plasma-generated n  =  1 energy indicates that the maximum q is maintained below 1 during sustainment. Results from the HIT-SI3 device are also presented. Three inductive helicity injectors are mounted on one side of the spheromak flux conserver. Varying the relative injector phasing changes the injected mode spectrum which includes n  =  2, 3, and higher modes.

Trend Estimation and Regression Analysis in Climatological Time Series: An Application of Structural Time Series Models and the Kalman Filter.

Science.gov (United States)

Visser, H.; Molenaar, J.

1995-05-01

The detection of trends in climatological data has become central to the discussion on climate change due to the enhanced greenhouse effect. To prove detection, a method is needed (i) to make inferences on significant rises or declines in trends, (ii) to take into account natural variability in climate series, and (iii) to compare output from GCMs with the trends in observed climate data. To meet these requirements, flexible mathematical tools are needed. A structural time series model is proposed with which a stochastic trend, a deterministic trend, and regression coefficients can be estimated simultaneously. The stochastic trend component is described using the class of ARIMA models. The regression component is assumed to be linear. However, the regression coefficients corresponding with the explanatory variables may be time dependent to validate this assumption. The mathematical technique used to estimate this trend-regression model is the Kaiman filter. The main features of the filter are discussed.Examples of trend estimation are given using annual mean temperatures at a single station in the Netherlands (1706-1990) and annual mean temperatures at Northern Hemisphere land stations (1851-1990). The inclusion of explanatory variables is shown by regressing the latter temperature series on four variables: Southern Oscillation index (SOI), volcanic dust index (VDI), sunspot numbers (SSN), and a simulated temperature signal, induced by increasing greenhouse gases (GHG). In all analyses, the influence of SSN on global temperatures is found to be negligible. The correlations between temperatures and SOI and VDI appear to be negative. For SOI, this correlation is significant, but for VDI it is not, probably because of a lack of volcanic eruptions during the sample period. The relation between temperatures and GHG is positive, which is in agreement with the hypothesis of a warming climate because of increasing levels of greenhouse gases. The prediction performance of

Time series regression-based pairs trading in the Korean equities market

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Saejoon; Heo, Jun

2017-07-01

Pairs trading is an instance of statistical arbitrage that relies on heavy quantitative data analysis to profit by capitalising low-risk trading opportunities provided by anomalies of related assets. A key element in pairs trading is the rule by which open and close trading triggers are defined. This paper investigates the use of time series regression to define the rule which has previously been identified with fixed threshold-based approaches. Empirical results indicate that our approach may yield significantly increased excess returns compared to ones obtained by previous approaches on large capitalisation stocks in the Korean equities market.

Isolated orbital mass as the primary presentation of a triple-hit lymphoma transformed from a systemic follicular lymphoma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao Yi Zhou

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Triple-hit lymphoma is a highly aggressive B-cell lymphoma. We report a case of triple-hit lymphoma transformed from systemic follicular lymphoma (FL after 9-year remission and presented primarily as an isolated orbital mass without systemic symptoms or lymphadenopathy. Observations: A 58-year-old female presented with intermittent vertical binocular diplopia, left upper eyelid swelling and pain and was found to have a 2.9 cm orbital mass. Histological section revealed a CD10-positive large B-cell lymphoma, consistent with transformation of FL. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH analysis demonstrated rearrangements involving C-MYC, BCL-2 and BCL-6 genes, indicating a high grade, triple-hit lymphoma. Conclusions and importance: Triple-hit lymphoma transformed from a low-grade lymphoma may initially present as an isolated orbital mass without systemic evidence of transformation. Early recognition of double or triple-hit lymphomas is important since these patients require aggressive chemotherapy. Keywords: Lymphoma, Triple-hit lymphoma, Orbital mass

Lower bounds on the periodic Hamming correlations of frequency hopping sequences with low hit zone

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2006-01-01

In this paper, several periodic Hamming correlation lower bounds for frequency hopping sequences with low hit zone, with respect to the size p of the frequency slot set, the sequence length L, the family size M, low hit zone LH ( or no hit zone NH ), the maximum periodic Hamming autocorrelation sidelobe Ha and the maximum periodic Hamming crosscorrelation Hc, are established. It is shown that the new bounds include the known Lempel-Greenberger bounds, T.S. Seay bounds and Peng-Fan bounds for the conventional frequency hopping sequences as special cases.

75 FR 6398 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee's...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-09

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee's Adoption/Certification Workgroup Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office... of Committee: HIT Policy Committee's Adoption/Certification Workgroup. General Function of the...

Do repeated rumble strip hits improve driver alertness?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Watling, C.N.; Akerstedt, T.; Kecklund, L.G.; Anund, A.

2016-01-01

Driving while sleepy is associated with increased crash risk. Rumble strips are designed to alert a sleepy or inattentive driver when they deviate outside their driving lane. The current study sought to examine the effects of repeated rumble strip hits on levels of physiological and subjective

Inflammation and the Two-Hit Hypothesis of Schizophrenia

Science.gov (United States)

Feigenson, Keith A.; Kusnecov, Alex W.; Silverstein, Steven M.

2014-01-01

The high societal and individual cost of schizophrenia necessitates finding better, more effective treatment, diagnosis, and prevention strategies. One of the obstacles in this endeavor is the diverse set of etiologies that comprises schizophrenia. A substantial body of evidence has grown over the last few decades to suggest that schizophrenia is a heterogeneous syndrome with overlapping symptoms and etiologies. At the same time, an increasing number of clinical, epidemiological, and experimental studies have shown links between schizophrenia and inflammatory conditions. In this review, we analyze the literature on inflammation and schizophrenia, with a particular focus on comorbidity, biomarkers, and environmental insults. We then identify several mechanisms by which inflammation could influence the development of schizophrenia via the two-hit hypothesis. Lastly, we note the relevance of these findings to clinical applications in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of schizophrenia. PMID:24247023

Screening and hit evaluation of a chemical library against blood-stage Plasmodium falciparum.

Science.gov (United States)

Avery, Vicky M; Bashyam, Sridevi; Burrows, Jeremy N; Duffy, Sandra; Papadatos, George; Puthukkuti, Shyni; Sambandan, Yuvaraj; Singh, Shivendra; Spangenberg, Thomas; Waterson, David; Willis, Paul

2014-05-27

In view of the need to continuously feed the pipeline with new anti-malarial agents adapted to differentiated and more stringent target product profiles (e.g., new modes of action, transmission-blocking activity or long-duration chemo-protection), a chemical library consisting of more than 250,000 compounds has been evaluated in a blood-stage Plasmodium falciparum growth inhibition assay and further assessed for chemical diversity and novelty. The selection cascade used for the triaging of hits from the chemical library started with a robust three-step in vitro assay followed by an in silico analysis of the resulting confirmed hits. Upon reaching the predefined requirements for selectivity and potency, the set of hits was subjected to computational analysis to assess chemical properties and diversity. Furthermore, known marketed anti-malarial drugs were co-clustered acting as 'signposts' in the chemical space defined by the hits. Then, in cerebro evaluation of the chemical structures was performed to identify scaffolds that currently are or have been the focus of anti-malarial medicinal chemistry programmes. Next, prioritization according to relaxed physicochemical parameters took place, along with the search for structural analogues. Ultimately, synthesis of novel chemotypes with desired properties was performed and the resulting compounds were subsequently retested in a P. falciparum growth inhibition assay. This screening campaign led to a 1.25% primary hit rate, which decreased to 0.77% upon confirmatory repeat screening. With the predefined potency (EC₅₀  10) criteria, 178 compounds progressed to the next steps where chemical diversity, physicochemical properties and novelty assessment were taken into account. This resulted in the selection of 15 distinct chemical series. A selection cascade was applied to prioritize hits resulting from the screening of a medium-sized chemical library against blood-stage P. falciparum. Emphasis was placed on chemical

Hit size effectiveness in relation to the microdosimetric site size

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Varma, M.N.; Wuu, C.S.; Zaider, M.

1994-01-01

This paper examines the effect of site size (that is, the diameter of the microdosimetric volume) on the hit size effectiveness function (HSEF), q(y), for several endpoints relevant in radiation protection. A Bayesian and maximum entropy approach is used to solve the integral equations that determine, given microdosimetric spectra and measured initial slopes, the function q(y). All microdosimetric spectra have been calculated de novo. The somewhat surprising conclusion of this analysis is that site size plays only a minor role in selecting the hit size effectiveness function q(y). It thus appears that practical means (e.g. conventional proportional counters) are already at hand to actually implement the HSEF as a radiation protection tool. (Author)

Post-processing through linear regression

Science.gov (United States)

van Schaeybroeck, B.; Vannitsem, S.

2011-03-01

Various post-processing techniques are compared for both deterministic and ensemble forecasts, all based on linear regression between forecast data and observations. In order to evaluate the quality of the regression methods, three criteria are proposed, related to the effective correction of forecast error, the optimal variability of the corrected forecast and multicollinearity. The regression schemes under consideration include the ordinary least-square (OLS) method, a new time-dependent Tikhonov regularization (TDTR) method, the total least-square method, a new geometric-mean regression (GM), a recently introduced error-in-variables (EVMOS) method and, finally, a "best member" OLS method. The advantages and drawbacks of each method are clarified. These techniques are applied in the context of the 63 Lorenz system, whose model version is affected by both initial condition and model errors. For short forecast lead times, the number and choice of predictors plays an important role. Contrarily to the other techniques, GM degrades when the number of predictors increases. At intermediate lead times, linear regression is unable to provide corrections to the forecast and can sometimes degrade the performance (GM and the best member OLS with noise). At long lead times the regression schemes (EVMOS, TDTR) which yield the correct variability and the largest correlation between ensemble error and spread, should be preferred.

The Rock that Hit New York

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meade, Roger Allen [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Keksis, August Lawrence [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2016-10-03

On January 12, 1975, a rock seemed to fall from the sky over New York State’s Schoharie County hitting the tractor of a local farmer, who was “preparing his fields for spring planting.” As the farmer later described the event to a reporter from the UFO INVESTIGATOR, the object glanced off the tractor, fell to the ground, and melted its way through a patch of ice that was two and one half inches thick. The farmer, Leonard Tillapaugh, called the county sheriff, Harvey Stoddard, who recovered the rock, noting that it “was still warm.” Why and how a sample of the rock came to Los Alamos is not known. However, it captivated a wide Laboratory audience, was subjected to rigorous testing and evaluation. Los Alamos used the scientific method in the manner promoted by Hynek. Did Los Alamos solve the mystery of the rock’s origin? Not definitively. Although the exact origin could not be determined, it was shown conclusively that the rock was not from outer space. With that said, the saga of Rock that hit New York came to an end. Nothing more was said or written about it. The principals involved have long since passed from the scene. The NICAP ceased operations in 1980. And, the rock, itself, has disappeared.

Predicting Taxi-Out Time at Congested Airports with Optimization-Based Support Vector Regression Methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guan Lian

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Accurate prediction of taxi-out time is significant precondition for improving the operationality of the departure process at an airport, as well as reducing the long taxi-out time, congestion, and excessive emission of greenhouse gases. Unfortunately, several of the traditional methods of predicting taxi-out time perform unsatisfactorily at congested airports. This paper describes and tests three of those conventional methods which include Generalized Linear Model, Softmax Regression Model, and Artificial Neural Network method and two improved Support Vector Regression (SVR approaches based on swarm intelligence algorithm optimization, which include Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO and Firefly Algorithm. In order to improve the global searching ability of Firefly Algorithm, adaptive step factor and Lévy flight are implemented simultaneously when updating the location function. Six factors are analysed, of which delay is identified as one significant factor in congested airports. Through a series of specific dynamic analyses, a case study of Beijing International Airport (PEK is tested with historical data. The performance measures show that the proposed two SVR approaches, especially the Improved Firefly Algorithm (IFA optimization-based SVR method, not only perform as the best modelling measures and accuracy rate compared with the representative forecast models, but also can achieve a better predictive performance when dealing with abnormal taxi-out time states.

Reviewing Hit Discovery Literature for Difficult Targets: Glutathione Transferase Omega-1 as an Example.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Yiyue; Dahlin, Jayme L; Oakley, Aaron J; Casarotto, Marco G; Board, Philip G; Baell, Jonathan B

2018-05-10

Early stage drug discovery reporting on relatively new or difficult targets is often associated with insufficient hit triage. Literature reviews of such targets seldom delve into the detail required to critically analyze the associated screening hits reported. Here we take the enzyme glutathione transferase omega-1 (GSTO1-1) as an example of a relatively difficult target and review the associated literature involving small-molecule inhibitors. As part of this process we deliberately pay closer-than-usual attention to assay interference and hit quality aspects. We believe this Perspective will be a useful guide for future development of GSTO1-1 inhibitors, as well serving as a template for future review formats of new or difficult targets.

Synthetic Medicinal Chemistry in Chagas' Disease: Compounds at The Final Stage of "Hit-To-Lead" Phase.

Science.gov (United States)

Cerecetto, Hugo; González, Mercedes

2010-03-25

Chagas' disease, or American trypanosomosiasis, has been the most relevant illness produced by protozoa in Latin America. Synthetic medicinal chemistry efforts have provided an extensive number of chemodiverse hits at the "active-to-hit" stage. However, only a more limited number of these have been studied in vivo in models of Chagas' disease. Herein, we survey some of the cantidates able to surpass the "hit-to-lead" stage discussing their limitations or merit to enter in clinical trials in the short term.

76 FR 1432 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Standards Committee...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-10

... Technology; HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of Meeting. This notice announces a... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards...

75 FR 8954 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Standards Committee...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-26

... Technology; HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS ACTION: Notice of meeting. This notice announces a... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards...

75 FR 70923 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-19

... Technology; HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS ACTION: Notice of meeting. This notice announces a... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Policy Committee...

75 FR 70923 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Standards Committee...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-19

... Technology; HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of meeting. This notice announces a... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards...

75 FR 29761 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology: HIT Standards Committee...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-27

... Technology: HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of meeting. This notice announces a... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards...

76 FR 4354 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Standards Committee...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-25

... Technology; HIT Standards Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of meeting. This notice announces a... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Standards...

Comparison of Video Head Impulse Test (vHIT) Gains Between Two Commercially Available Devices and by Different Gain Analytical Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sang Hun; Yoo, Myung Hoon; Park, Jun Woo; Kang, Byung Chul; Yang, Chan Joo; Kang, Woo Suk; Ahn, Joong Ho; Chung, Jong Woo; Park, Hong Ju

2018-06-01

To evaluate whether video head impulse test (vHIT) gains are dependent on the measuring device and method of analysis. Prospective study. vHIT was performed in 25 healthy subjects using two devices simultaneously. vHIT gains were compared between these instruments and using five different methods of comparing position and velocity gains during head movement intervals. The two devices produced different vHIT gain results with the same method of analysis. There were also significant differences in the vHIT gains measured using different analytical methods. The gain analytic method that compares the areas under the velocity curve (AUC) of the head and eye movements during head movements showed lower vHIT gains than a method that compared the peak velocities of the head and eye movements. The former method produced the vHIT gain with the smallest standard deviation among the five procedures tested in this study. vHIT gains differ in normal subjects depending on the device and method of analysis used, suggesting that it is advisable for each device to have its own normal values. Gain calculations that compare the AUC of the head and eye movements during the head movements show the smallest variance.

Prediction of hourly PM2.5 using a space-time support vector regression model

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Wentao; Deng, Min; Xu, Feng; Wang, Hang

2018-05-01

Real-time air quality prediction has been an active field of research in atmospheric environmental science. The existing methods of machine learning are widely used to predict pollutant concentrations because of their enhanced ability to handle complex non-linear relationships. However, because pollutant concentration data, as typical geospatial data, also exhibit spatial heterogeneity and spatial dependence, they may violate the assumptions of independent and identically distributed random variables in most of the machine learning methods. As a result, a space-time support vector regression model is proposed to predict hourly PM2.5 concentrations. First, to address spatial heterogeneity, spatial clustering is executed to divide the study area into several homogeneous or quasi-homogeneous subareas. To handle spatial dependence, a Gauss vector weight function is then developed to determine spatial autocorrelation variables as part of the input features. Finally, a local support vector regression model with spatial autocorrelation variables is established for each subarea. Experimental data on PM2.5 concentrations in Beijing are used to verify whether the results of the proposed model are superior to those of other methods.

Post-processing through linear regression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Van Schaeybroeck

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Various post-processing techniques are compared for both deterministic and ensemble forecasts, all based on linear regression between forecast data and observations. In order to evaluate the quality of the regression methods, three criteria are proposed, related to the effective correction of forecast error, the optimal variability of the corrected forecast and multicollinearity. The regression schemes under consideration include the ordinary least-square (OLS method, a new time-dependent Tikhonov regularization (TDTR method, the total least-square method, a new geometric-mean regression (GM, a recently introduced error-in-variables (EVMOS method and, finally, a "best member" OLS method. The advantages and drawbacks of each method are clarified.

These techniques are applied in the context of the 63 Lorenz system, whose model version is affected by both initial condition and model errors. For short forecast lead times, the number and choice of predictors plays an important role. Contrarily to the other techniques, GM degrades when the number of predictors increases. At intermediate lead times, linear regression is unable to provide corrections to the forecast and can sometimes degrade the performance (GM and the best member OLS with noise. At long lead times the regression schemes (EVMOS, TDTR which yield the correct variability and the largest correlation between ensemble error and spread, should be preferred.

Role of Health Information Technology (HIT) in disability determinations: when medical records become medical evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Tulu, Bengisu; Daniels, Susan; Feldman, Sue; Horan, Thomas A

2008-11-06

This exploratory study investigated the impact of incomplete medical evidence on the SSA disability determination process and the role of HIT as a solution. We collected qualitative data from nineteen expert-interviews. Findings indicate that HIT can lead to innovative solutions that can significantly improve the determination process.

Influence of The Difference of Perception and Kinesthetic Exercise Methods Against Precision Hit The Ball Softball

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fajar Rokhayah

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to determine: 1 The difference between the effects of training methods and the gradual striking distance striking distance remains as to the accuracy of hitting the ball Softball. 2 The difference in accuracy influence Softball hitting the ball between the athletes who have a good kinesthetic perception, kinesthetic perception was, and kinesthetic perception less. 3 The effect of interaction between training methods with kinesthetic perception as to the accuracy of hitting the ball Softball. This study used an experimental method with 2x3 factorial design. The results of this study were: 1 There is a significant difference between the gradual striking distance training methods and training methods remain striking distance of the ability to hit a softball with the result of the acquisition value p-value = 0.027 smaller than 0.05. 2 There is a significant difference between athletes who have a kinesthetic perception of good, moderate, lacking the ability to hit a softball with the result of the acquisition value p-value = 0.000, which is smaller than 0.05. 3 There is an interaction between striking distance training methods and kinesthetic perception of the ability to hit a softball with the result of the acquisition value p-value = 0.000, which is smaller than 0.05 The conclusion of this study were: 1 Gradually striking distance training methods have a better effect than the fixed striking distance training methods. 2 Athletes who have less kinesthetic perception has better results than the athletes who have good kinesthetic perception and being. 3 There is an interaction between striking distance training methods and kinesthetic perception of the ability to hit a softball.

Regression analysis of case K interval-censored failure time data in the presence of informative censoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Peijie; Zhao, Hui; Sun, Jianguo

2016-12-01

Interval-censored failure time data occur in many fields such as demography, economics, medical research, and reliability and many inference procedures on them have been developed (Sun, 2006; Chen, Sun, and Peace, 2012). However, most of the existing approaches assume that the mechanism that yields interval censoring is independent of the failure time of interest and it is clear that this may not be true in practice (Zhang et al., 2007; Ma, Hu, and Sun, 2015). In this article, we consider regression analysis of case K interval-censored failure time data when the censoring mechanism may be related to the failure time of interest. For the problem, an estimated sieve maximum-likelihood approach is proposed for the data arising from the proportional hazards frailty model and for estimation, a two-step procedure is presented. In the addition, the asymptotic properties of the proposed estimators of regression parameters are established and an extensive simulation study suggests that the method works well. Finally, we apply the method to a set of real interval-censored data that motivated this study. © 2016, The International Biometric Society.

Predictive densities for day-ahead electricity prices using time-adaptive quantile regression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jónsson, Tryggvi; Pinson, Pierre; Madsen, Henrik

2014-01-01

A large part of the decision-making problems actors of the power system are facing on a daily basis requires scenarios for day-ahead electricity market prices. These scenarios are most likely to be generated based on marginal predictive densities for such prices, then enhanced with a temporal...... dependence structure. A semi-parametric methodology for generating such densities is presented: it includes: (i) a time-adaptive quantile regression model for the 5%–95% quantiles; and (ii) a description of the distribution tails with exponential distributions. The forecasting skill of the proposed model...

Tracking time-varying parameters with local regression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Joensen, Alfred Karsten; Nielsen, Henrik Aalborg; Nielsen, Torben Skov

2000-01-01

This paper shows that the recursive least-squares (RLS) algorithm with forgetting factor is a special case of a varying-coe\\$cient model, and a model which can easily be estimated via simple local regression. This observation allows us to formulate a new method which retains the RLS algorithm, bu......, but extends the algorithm by including polynomial approximations. Simulation results are provided, which indicates that this new method is superior to the classical RLS method, if the parameter variations are smooth....

Hourly cooling load forecasting using time-indexed ARX models with two-stage weighted least squares regression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo, Yin; Nazarian, Ehsan; Ko, Jeonghan; Rajurkar, Kamlakar

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Developed hourly-indexed ARX models for robust cooling-load forecasting. • Proposed a two-stage weighted least-squares regression approach. • Considered the effect of outliers as well as trend of cooling load and weather patterns. • Included higher order terms and day type patterns in the forecasting models. • Demonstrated better accuracy compared with some ARX and ANN models. - Abstract: This paper presents a robust hourly cooling-load forecasting method based on time-indexed autoregressive with exogenous inputs (ARX) models, in which the coefficients are estimated through a two-stage weighted least squares regression. The prediction method includes a combination of two separate time-indexed ARX models to improve prediction accuracy of the cooling load over different forecasting periods. The two-stage weighted least-squares regression approach in this study is robust to outliers and suitable for fast and adaptive coefficient estimation. The proposed method is tested on a large-scale central cooling system in an academic institution. The numerical case studies show the proposed prediction method performs better than some ANN and ARX forecasting models for the given test data set

Isolated orbital mass as the primary presentation of a triple-hit lymphoma transformed from a systemic follicular lymphoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Xiao Yi; Lu, Xinyan; Raparia, Kirtee; Chen, Yi-Hua

2018-06-01

Triple-hit lymphoma is a highly aggressive B-cell lymphoma. We report a case of triple-hit lymphoma transformed from systemic follicular lymphoma (FL) after 9-year remission and presented primarily as an isolated orbital mass without systemic symptoms or lymphadenopathy. A 58-year-old female presented with intermittent vertical binocular diplopia, left upper eyelid swelling and pain and was found to have a 2.9 cm orbital mass. Histological section revealed a CD10-positive large B-cell lymphoma, consistent with transformation of FL. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis demonstrated rearrangements involving C-MYC, BCL-2 and BCL-6 genes, indicating a high grade, triple-hit lymphoma. Triple-hit lymphoma transformed from a low-grade lymphoma may initially present as an isolated orbital mass without systemic evidence of transformation. Early recognition of double or triple-hit lymphomas is important since these patients require aggressive chemotherapy.

Chronic Porcine Two-Hit Model with Hemorrhagic Shock and textitPseudomonas aeruginosa Sepsis

OpenAIRE

Eissner, B.;Matz, K.;Smorodchenko, A.;Röschmann, A.;Specht, B. U. v.

2016-01-01

Background: Sepsis is still a major cause of death despite well-developed therapeutical strategies such as antibiotics and supportive medication. The aim of this study was to characterize the long-term effects of a two-hit porcine sepsis model with a hemorrhagic shock as ‘first hit’ followed by a Pseudomonas aeruginosa infusion as ‘second hit’. Materials and Methods: Twelve juvenile healthy pigs were anesthetized and hemodynamically monitored. The two-hit group (n = 6) underwent a hemorrhagic...

Near-optimal alternative generation using modified hit-and-run sampling for non-linear, non-convex problems

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenberg, D. E.; Alafifi, A.

2016-12-01

Water resources systems analysis often focuses on finding optimal solutions. Yet an optimal solution is optimal only for the modelled issues and managers often seek near-optimal alternatives that address un-modelled objectives, preferences, limits, uncertainties, and other issues. Early on, Modelling to Generate Alternatives (MGA) formalized near-optimal as the region comprising the original problem constraints plus a new constraint that allowed performance within a specified tolerance of the optimal objective function value. MGA identified a few maximally-different alternatives from the near-optimal region. Subsequent work applied Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling to generate a larger number of alternatives that span the near-optimal region of linear problems or select portions for non-linear problems. We extend the MCMC Hit-And-Run method to generate alternatives that span the full extent of the near-optimal region for non-linear, non-convex problems. First, start at a feasible hit point within the near-optimal region, then run a random distance in a random direction to a new hit point. Next, repeat until generating the desired number of alternatives. The key step at each iterate is to run a random distance along the line in the specified direction to a new hit point. If linear equity constraints exist, we construct an orthogonal basis and use a null space transformation to confine hits and runs to a lower-dimensional space. Linear inequity constraints define the convex bounds on the line that runs through the current hit point in the specified direction. We then use slice sampling to identify a new hit point along the line within bounds defined by the non-linear inequity constraints. This technique is computationally efficient compared to prior near-optimal alternative generation techniques such MGA, MCMC Metropolis-Hastings, evolutionary, or firefly algorithms because search at each iteration is confined to the hit line, the algorithm can move in one

#MaybeHeDoesntHitYou: Social Media Underscore the Realities of Intimate Partner Violence.

Science.gov (United States)

McCauley, Heather L; Bonomi, Amy E; Maas, Megan K; Bogen, Katherine W; O'Malley, Teagen L

2018-03-22

Public intimate partner violence (IPV) discourse emphasizes physical violence. In May 2016, the Twitter hashtag #MaybeHeDoesntHitYou generated a public conversation about abuse beyond physical IPV. Because of the often-disconnect between IPV research and what survivors struggle to name as abuse in their daily lives, we sought to understand how IPV discourse was unfolding as a result of the #MaybeHeDoesntHitYou hashtag. NCapture was used to collect publically available Twitter data containing the hashtag "#MaybeHeDoesntHitYou" from May 10, 2016 to May 17, 2016. Using the Duluth Power and Control Wheel (a range of tactics used by abusers to control and harm their partners) and the Women's Experience with Battering (WEB) framework (emotional and behavioral responses to being abused), we analyzed 1,229 original content tweets using qualitative content analysis. All dimensions of the Power and Control Wheel and five of six dimensions of the WEB framework were expressed via #MaybeHeDoesntHitYou; users did not express yearning for intimacy with their abusive partners. Users described one form of IPV not currently represented within the Power and Control Wheel-reproductive coercion (e.g., "#MaybeHeDoesntHitYou but he refuses to use condoms and forces you not to use contraception so you try to do it behind his back"). Two additional themes emerged; users challenged the gender pronoun of the hashtag, highlighting that abuse may happen with partners of all genders, and users provided social support for others (e.g., "#MaybeHeDoesntHitYou is real. Bruises and scars aren't the only measure of abuse! If this is you, help is there…"). Results from our study underscore the potential for social media platforms to be powerful agents for engaging public dialogue about the realities of IPV, as well as a space for seeking and providing social support about this critical women's health issue.

Modeling distortion of HIT by an Actuator Disk in a periodic domain

Science.gov (United States)

Ghate, Aditya; Ghaisas, Niranjan; Lele, Sanjiva

2017-11-01

We study the distortion of incompressible, homogeneous isotropic turbulence (HIT) by a dragging actuator disk with a fixed thrust coefficient (under the large Reynolds number limit), using Large Eddy Simulation (LES). The HIT inflow is tailored to ensure that the largest length scales in the flow are smaller than the actuator disk diameter in order to minimize the meandering of the turbulent wake and isolate the length scales that undergo distortion. The numerical scheme (Fourier collocation with dealiasing) and the SGS closure (anisotropic minimum dissipation model) are carefully selected to minimize numerical artifacts expected due to the inviscid assumption. The LES is used to characterize the following 3 properties of the flow a) distortion of HIT due to the expanding streamtube resulting in strong anisotropy, b) turbulent pressure modulation across the actuator disk, and the c) turbulent wake state. Finally, we attempt to model the initial distortion and the pressure modulation using a WKB variant of RDT solved numerically using a set of discrete Gabor modes. Funding provided by Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford University.

Hype, Hope, and Hit in Movies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dholakia, Nikhilesh; Turcan, Romeo V.

2012-01-01

This paper is part of an ongoing project to develop an interdisciplinary metatheory of bubbles, relevant to the contemporary era of globalization and rapid, technology-aided communication flows. Just in the first few years of the 21st century, several bubbles have appeared – the so-called dotcom ...... cultural field where relatively small bubbles may form. Movies represent a good arena to examine cultural bubbles on a scale that is not daunting, and where the hype-hope-hit dynamics can be observed more frequently than in most other settings....

Lagged kernel machine regression for identifying time windows of susceptibility to exposures of complex mixtures.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Shelley H; Bobb, Jennifer F; Lee, Kyu Ha; Gennings, Chris; Claus Henn, Birgit; Bellinger, David; Austin, Christine; Schnaas, Lourdes; Tellez-Rojo, Martha M; Hu, Howard; Wright, Robert O; Arora, Manish; Coull, Brent A

2018-07-01

The impact of neurotoxic chemical mixtures on children's health is a critical public health concern. It is well known that during early life, toxic exposures may impact cognitive function during critical time intervals of increased vulnerability, known as windows of susceptibility. Knowledge on time windows of susceptibility can help inform treatment and prevention strategies, as chemical mixtures may affect a developmental process that is operating at a specific life phase. There are several statistical challenges in estimating the health effects of time-varying exposures to multi-pollutant mixtures, such as: multi-collinearity among the exposures both within time points and across time points, and complex exposure-response relationships. To address these concerns, we develop a flexible statistical method, called lagged kernel machine regression (LKMR). LKMR identifies critical exposure windows of chemical mixtures, and accounts for complex non-linear and non-additive effects of the mixture at any given exposure window. Specifically, LKMR estimates how the effects of a mixture of exposures change with the exposure time window using a Bayesian formulation of a grouped, fused lasso penalty within a kernel machine regression (KMR) framework. A simulation study demonstrates the performance of LKMR under realistic exposure-response scenarios, and demonstrates large gains over approaches that consider each time window separately, particularly when serial correlation among the time-varying exposures is high. Furthermore, LKMR demonstrates gains over another approach that inputs all time-specific chemical concentrations together into a single KMR. We apply LKMR to estimate associations between neurodevelopment and metal mixtures in Early Life Exposures in Mexico and Neurotoxicology, a prospective cohort study of child health in Mexico City.

The three-hit concept of vulnerability and resilience: toward understanding adaptation to early-life adversity outcome.

Science.gov (United States)

Daskalakis, Nikolaos P; Bagot, Rosemary C; Parker, Karen J; Vinkers, Christiaan H; de Kloet, E R

2013-09-01

Stressful experiences during early-life can modulate the genetic programming of specific brain circuits underlying emotional and cognitive aspects of behavioral adaptation to stressful experiences later in life. Although this programming effect exerted by experience-related factors is an important determinant of mental health, its outcome depends on cognitive inputs and hence the valence an individual assigns to a given environmental context. From this perspective we will highlight, with studies in rodents, non-human primates and humans, the three-hit concept of vulnerability and resilience to stress-related mental disorders, which is based on gene-environment interactions during critical phases of perinatal and juvenile brain development. The three-hit (i.e., hit-1: genetic predisposition, hit-2: early-life environment, and hit-3: later-life environment) concept accommodates the cumulative stress hypothesis stating that in a given context vulnerability is enhanced when failure to cope with adversity accumulates. Alternatively, the concept also points to the individual's predictive adaptive capacity, which underlies the stress inoculation and match/mismatch hypotheses. The latter hypotheses propose that the experience of relatively mild early-life adversity prepares for the future and promotes resilience to similar challenges in later-life; when a mismatch occurs between early and later-life experience, coping is compromised and vulnerability is enhanced. The three-hit concept is fundamental for understanding how individuals can either be prepared for coping with life to come and remain resilient or are unable to do so and succumb to a stress-related mental disorder, under seemingly identical circumstances. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DEPDC5 takes a second hit in familial focal epilepsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Matthew P

2018-04-30

Loss-of-function mutations in a single allele of the gene encoding DEP domain-containing 5 protein (DEPDC5) are commonly linked to familial focal epilepsy with variable foci; however, a subset of patients presents with focal cortical dysplasia that is proposed to result from a second-hit somatic mutation. In this issue of the JCI, Ribierre and colleagues provide several lines of evidence to support second-hit DEPDC5 mutations in this disorder. Moreover, the authors use in vivo, in utero electroporation combined with CRISPR-Cas9 technology to generate a murine model of the disease that recapitulates human manifestations, including cortical dysplasia-like changes, focal seizures, and sudden unexpected death. This study provides important insights into familial focal epilepsy and provides a preclinical model for evaluating potential therapies.

B-HIT - A Tool for Harvesting and Indexing Biodiversity Data.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia Kelbert

Full Text Available With the rapidly growing number of data publishers, the process of harvesting and indexing information to offer advanced search and discovery becomes a critical bottleneck in globally distributed primary biodiversity data infrastructures. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF implemented a Harvesting and Indexing Toolkit (HIT, which largely automates data harvesting activities for hundreds of collection and observational data providers. The team of the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem has extended this well-established system with a range of additional functions, including improved processing of multiple taxon identifications, the ability to represent associations between specimen and observation units, new data quality control and new reporting capabilities. The open source software B-HIT can be freely installed and used for setting up thematic networks serving the demands of particular user groups.

Longitudinal beta regression models for analyzing health-related quality of life scores over time

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hunger Matthias

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Health-related quality of life (HRQL has become an increasingly important outcome parameter in clinical trials and epidemiological research. HRQL scores are typically bounded at both ends of the scale and often highly skewed. Several regression techniques have been proposed to model such data in cross-sectional studies, however, methods applicable in longitudinal research are less well researched. This study examined the use of beta regression models for analyzing longitudinal HRQL data using two empirical examples with distributional features typically encountered in practice. Methods We used SF-6D utility data from a German older age cohort study and stroke-specific HRQL data from a randomized controlled trial. We described the conceptual differences between mixed and marginal beta regression models and compared both models to the commonly used linear mixed model in terms of overall fit and predictive accuracy. Results At any measurement time, the beta distribution fitted the SF-6D utility data and stroke-specific HRQL data better than the normal distribution. The mixed beta model showed better likelihood-based fit statistics than the linear mixed model and respected the boundedness of the outcome variable. However, it tended to underestimate the true mean at the upper part of the distribution. Adjusted group means from marginal beta model and linear mixed model were nearly identical but differences could be observed with respect to standard errors. Conclusions Understanding the conceptual differences between mixed and marginal beta regression models is important for their proper use in the analysis of longitudinal HRQL data. Beta regression fits the typical distribution of HRQL data better than linear mixed models, however, if focus is on estimating group mean scores rather than making individual predictions, the two methods might not differ substantially.

Output-Only Modal Parameter Recursive Estimation of Time-Varying Structures via a Kernel Ridge Regression FS-TARMA Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhi-Sai Ma

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Modal parameter estimation plays an important role in vibration-based damage detection and is worth more attention and investigation, as changes in modal parameters are usually being used as damage indicators. This paper focuses on the problem of output-only modal parameter recursive estimation of time-varying structures based upon parameterized representations of the time-dependent autoregressive moving average (TARMA. A kernel ridge regression functional series TARMA (FS-TARMA recursive identification scheme is proposed and subsequently employed for the modal parameter estimation of a numerical three-degree-of-freedom time-varying structural system and a laboratory time-varying structure consisting of a simply supported beam and a moving mass sliding on it. The proposed method is comparatively assessed against an existing recursive pseudolinear regression FS-TARMA approach via Monte Carlo experiments and shown to be capable of accurately tracking the time-varying dynamics in a recursive manner.

First hitting probabilities for semi markov chains and estimation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Georgiadis, Stylianos

2017-01-01

We first consider a stochastic system described by an absorbing semi-Markov chain with finite state space and we introduce the absorption probability to a class of recurrent states. Afterwards, we study the first hitting probability to a subset of states for an irreducible semi-Markov chain...

Promiscuous 2-aminothiazoles (PrATs): a frequent hitting scaffold.

Science.gov (United States)

Devine, Shane M; Mulcair, Mark D; Debono, Cael O; Leung, Eleanor W W; Nissink, J Willem M; Lim, San Sui; Chandrashekaran, Indu R; Vazirani, Mansha; Mohanty, Biswaranjan; Simpson, Jamie S; Baell, Jonathan B; Scammells, Peter J; Norton, Raymond S; Scanlon, Martin J

2015-02-12

We have identified a class of molecules, known as 2-aminothiazoles (2-ATs), as frequent-hitting fragments in biophysical binding assays. This was exemplified by 4-phenylthiazol-2-amine being identified as a hit in 14/14 screens against a diverse range of protein targets, suggesting that this scaffold is a poor starting point for fragment-based drug discovery. This prompted us to analyze this scaffold in the context of an academic fragment library used for fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) and two larger compound libraries used for high-throughput screening (HTS). This analysis revealed that such "promiscuous 2-aminothiazoles" (PrATs) behaved as frequent hitters under both FBDD and HTS settings, although the problem was more pronounced in the fragment-based studies. As 2-ATs are present in known drugs, they cannot necessarily be deemed undesirable, but the combination of their promiscuity and difficulties associated with optimizing them into a lead compound makes them, in our opinion, poor scaffolds for fragment libraries.

An explanation of closed-flux formation and sustainment using coaxial helicity injection on HIT-II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jarboe, T R

2010-01-01

An explanation of the closed-flux operation on HIT-II is given. This method of operation generated flux amplification and closed flux on HIT-II without the presence of n = 1 or any large amplitude mode as measured from the outside shell. The method of operating also prevents hard absorber arcs and maximizes the toroidal current.

On hitting children: a review of corporal punishment in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Knox, Michele

2010-01-01

Research has clearly demonstrated associations between corporal punishment of children and maladaptive behavior patterns such as aggression and delinquency. Hitting children is an act of violence and a clear violation of children's human rights. In this article, the position of the United States on corporal punishment of children is discussed. Professional and international progress on ending corporal punishment is explained, and the relationship between corporal punishment and child abuse is discussed. An appeal is made for prevention efforts such as parent education and removal of social sanctions for hitting children that may hold significant promise for preventing child maltreatment.

Time-varying effect moderation using the structural nested mean model: estimation using inverse-weighted regression with residuals

Science.gov (United States)

Almirall, Daniel; Griffin, Beth Ann; McCaffrey, Daniel F.; Ramchand, Rajeev; Yuen, Robert A.; Murphy, Susan A.

2014-01-01

This article considers the problem of examining time-varying causal effect moderation using observational, longitudinal data in which treatment, candidate moderators, and possible confounders are time varying. The structural nested mean model (SNMM) is used to specify the moderated time-varying causal effects of interest in a conditional mean model for a continuous response given time-varying treatments and moderators. We present an easy-to-use estimator of the SNMM that combines an existing regression-with-residuals (RR) approach with an inverse-probability-of-treatment weighting (IPTW) strategy. The RR approach has been shown to identify the moderated time-varying causal effects if the time-varying moderators are also the sole time-varying confounders. The proposed IPTW+RR approach provides estimators of the moderated time-varying causal effects in the SNMM in the presence of an additional, auxiliary set of known and measured time-varying confounders. We use a small simulation experiment to compare IPTW+RR versus the traditional regression approach and to compare small and large sample properties of asymptotic versus bootstrap estimators of the standard errors for the IPTW+RR approach. This article clarifies the distinction between time-varying moderators and time-varying confounders. We illustrate the methodology in a case study to assess if time-varying substance use moderates treatment effects on future substance use. PMID:23873437

Increased Use of Care Management Processes and Expanded Health Information Technology Functions by Practice Ownership and Medicaid Revenue.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, Hector P; McClellan, Sean R; Bibi, Salma; Casalino, Lawrence P; Ramsay, Patricia P; Shortell, Stephen M

2016-06-01

Practice ownership and Medicaid revenue may affect the use of care management processes (CMPs) for chronic conditions and expansion of health information technology (HIT). Using a national cohort of medical practices, we compared the use of CMPs and HIT from 2006/2008 to 2013 by practice ownership and level of Medicaid revenue. Poisson regression models estimated changes in CMP use, and linear regression estimated changes in HIT, by practice ownership and Medicaid patient revenue, controlling for other practice characteristics. Compared with physician-owned practices, system-owned practices adopted a greater number of CMPs and HIT functions over time (p < .001). High Medicaid revenue (≥30.0%) was associated with less adoption of CMPs (p < .001) and HIT (p < .01). System-owned practices (p < .001) and community health centers (p < .001) with high Medicaid revenue were more likely than physician-owned practices with high Medicaid revenue to adopt CMPs over time. System and community health center ownership appear to help high Medicaid practices overcome CMP adoption constraints. © The Author(s) 2015.

Sun exposure causes somatic second-hit mutations and angiofibroma development in tuberous sclerosis complex

Science.gov (United States)

Tyburczy, Magdalena E.; Wang, Ji-an; Li, Shaowei; Thangapazham, Rajesh; Chekaluk, Yvonne; Moss, Joel; Kwiatkowski, David J.; Darling, Thomas N.

2014-01-01

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is characterized by the formation of tumors in multiple organs and is caused by germline mutation in one of two tumor suppressor genes, TSC1 and TSC2. As for other tumor suppressor gene syndromes, the mechanism of somatic second-hit events in TSC tumors is unknown. We grew fibroblast-like cells from 29 TSC skin tumors from 22 TSC subjects and identified germline and second-hit mutations in TSC1/TSC2 using next-generation sequencing. Eighteen of 22 (82%) subjects had a mutation identified, and 8 of the 18 (44%) subjects were mosaic with mutant allele frequencies of 0 to 19% in normal tissue DNA. Multiple tumors were available from four patients, and in each case, second-hit mutations in TSC2 were distinct indicating they arose independently. Most remarkably, 7 (50%) of the 14 somatic point mutations were CC>TT ultraviolet ‘signature’ mutations, never seen as a TSC germline mutation. These occurred exclusively in facial angiofibroma tumors from sun-exposed sites. These results implicate UV-induced DNA damage as a cause of second-hit mutations and development of TSC facial angiofibromas and suggest that measures to limit UV exposure in TSC children and adults should reduce the frequency and severity of these lesions. PMID:24271014

Where does HIT fit? An examination of the affective response to high-intensity intervals in comparison to continuous moderate- and continuous vigorous-intensity exercise in the exercise intensity-affect continuum.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mary E Jung

Full Text Available Affect experienced during an exercise session is purported to predict future exercise behaviour. Compared to continuous moderate-intensity exercise (CMI, the affective response to continuous vigorous-intensity exercise (CVI has consistently been shown to be more aversive. The affective response, and overall tolerability to high-intensity interval training (HIT, is less studied. To date, there has yet to be a comparison between HIT, CVI, and CMI. The purpose of this study was to compare the tolerability and affective responses during HIT to CVI and CMI. This study utilized a repeated measures, randomized, counter-balanced design. Forty-four participants visited the laboratory on four occasions. Baseline fitness testing was conducted to establish peak power output in Watts (W peak. Three subsequent visits involved a single bout of a HIT, corresponding to 1-minute at ∼ 100% W peak and 1-minute at ∼ 20% W peak for 20 minutes, b CMI, corresponding to ∼ 40% W peak for 40 minutes, and c CVI, corresponding to ∼ 80% W peak for 20 minutes. The order of the sessions was randomized. Affective responses were measured before, during and after each session. Task self-efficacy, intentions, enjoyment and preference were measured after sessions. Participants reported greater enjoyment of HIT as compared to CMI and CVI, with over 50% of participants reporting a preference to engage in HIT as opposed to either CMI or CVI. HIT was considered more pleasurable than CVI after exercise, but less pleasurable than CMI at these times. Despite this participants reported being just as confident to engage in HIT as they were CMI, but less confident to engage in CVI. This study highlights the utility of HIT in inactive individuals, and suggests that it may be a viable alternative to traditionally prescribed continuous modalities of exercise for promoting self-efficacy and enjoyment of exercise.

Where does HIT fit? An examination of the affective response to high-intensity intervals in comparison to continuous moderate- and continuous vigorous-intensity exercise in the exercise intensity-affect continuum.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Mary E; Bourne, Jessica E; Little, Jonathan P

2014-01-01

Affect experienced during an exercise session is purported to predict future exercise behaviour. Compared to continuous moderate-intensity exercise (CMI), the affective response to continuous vigorous-intensity exercise (CVI) has consistently been shown to be more aversive. The affective response, and overall tolerability to high-intensity interval training (HIT), is less studied. To date, there has yet to be a comparison between HIT, CVI, and CMI. The purpose of this study was to compare the tolerability and affective responses during HIT to CVI and CMI. This study utilized a repeated measures, randomized, counter-balanced design. Forty-four participants visited the laboratory on four occasions. Baseline fitness testing was conducted to establish peak power output in Watts (W peak). Three subsequent visits involved a single bout of a) HIT, corresponding to 1-minute at ∼ 100% W peak and 1-minute at ∼ 20% W peak for 20 minutes, b) CMI, corresponding to ∼ 40% W peak for 40 minutes, and c) CVI, corresponding to ∼ 80% W peak for 20 minutes. The order of the sessions was randomized. Affective responses were measured before, during and after each session. Task self-efficacy, intentions, enjoyment and preference were measured after sessions. Participants reported greater enjoyment of HIT as compared to CMI and CVI, with over 50% of participants reporting a preference to engage in HIT as opposed to either CMI or CVI. HIT was considered more pleasurable than CVI after exercise, but less pleasurable than CMI at these times. Despite this participants reported being just as confident to engage in HIT as they were CMI, but less confident to engage in CVI. This study highlights the utility of HIT in inactive individuals, and suggests that it may be a viable alternative to traditionally prescribed continuous modalities of exercise for promoting self-efficacy and enjoyment of exercise.

Computing Principal Eigenvectors of Large Web Graphs: Algorithms and Accelerations Related to PageRank and HITS

Science.gov (United States)

Nagasinghe, Iranga

2010-01-01

This thesis investigates and develops a few acceleration techniques for the search engine algorithms used in PageRank and HITS computations. PageRank and HITS methods are two highly successful applications of modern Linear Algebra in computer science and engineering. They constitute the essential technologies accounted for the immense growth and…

Association of Attorney Advertising and FDA Action with Prescription Claims: A Time Series Segmented Regression Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tippett, Elizabeth C; Chen, Brian K

2015-12-01

Attorneys sponsor television advertisements that include repeated warnings about adverse drug events to solicit consumers for lawsuits against drug manufacturers. The relationship between such advertising, safety actions by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and healthcare use is unknown. To investigate the relationship between attorney advertising, FDA actions, and prescription drug claims. The study examined total users per month and prescription rates for seven drugs with substantial attorney advertising volume and FDA or other safety interventions during 2009. Segmented regression analysis was used to detect pre-intervention trends, post-intervention level changes, and changes in post-intervention trends relative to the pre-intervention trends in the use of these seven drugs, using advertising volume, media hits, and the number of Medicare enrollees as covariates. Data for these variables were obtained from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Kantar Media, and LexisNexis. Several types of safety actions were associated with reductions in drug users and/or prescription rates, particularly for fentanyl, varenicline, and paroxetine. In most cases, attorney advertising volume rose in conjunction with major safety actions. Attorney advertising volume was positively correlated with prescription rates in five of seven drugs, likely because advertising volume began rising before safety actions, when prescription rates were still increasing. On the other hand, attorney advertising had mixed associations with the number of users per month. Regulatory and safety actions likely reduced the number of users and/or prescription rates for some drugs. Attorneys may have strategically chosen to begin advertising adverse drug events prior to major safety actions, but we found little evidence that attorney advertising reduced drug use. Further research is needed to better understand how consumers and physicians respond to attorney advertising.

The average number of alpha-particle hits to the cell nucleus required to eradicate a tumour cell population

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roeske, John C; Stinchcomb, Thomas G

2006-01-01

Alpha-particle emitters are currently being considered for the treatment of micrometastatic disease. Based on in vitro studies, it has been speculated that only a few alpha-particle hits to the cell nucleus are considered lethal. However, such estimates do not consider the stochastic variations in the number of alpha-particle hits, energy deposited, or in the cell survival process itself. Using a tumour control probability (TCP) model for alpha-particle emitters, we derive an estimate of the average number of hits to the cell nucleus required to provide a high probability of eradicating a tumour cell population. In simulation studies, our results demonstrate that the average number of hits required to achieve a 90% TCP for 10 4 clonogenic cells ranges from 18 to 108. Those cells that have large cell nuclei, high radiosensitivities and alpha-particle emissions occurring primarily in the nuclei tended to require more hits. As the clinical implementation of alpha-particle emitters is considered, this type of analysis may be useful in interpreting clinical results and in designing treatment strategies to achieve a favourable therapeutic outcome. (note)

Development and formative evaluation of the e-Health Implementation Toolkit (e-HIT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mair Frances

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT or e-Health is seen as essential for a modern, cost-effective health service. However, there are well documented problems with implementation of e-Health initiatives, despite the existence of a great deal of research into how best to implement e-Health (an example of the gap between research and practice. This paper reports on the development and formative evaluation of an e-Health Implementation Toolkit (e-HIT which aims to summarise and synthesise new and existing research on implementation of e-Health initiatives, and present it to senior managers in a user-friendly format. Results The content of the e-HIT was derived by combining data from a systematic review of reviews of barriers and facilitators to implementation of e-Health initiatives with qualitative data derived from interviews of "implementers", that is people who had been charged with implementing an e-Health initiative. These data were summarised, synthesised and combined with the constructs from the Normalisation Process Model. The software for the toolkit was developed by a commercial company (RocketScience. Formative evaluation was undertaken by obtaining user feedback. There are three components to the toolkit - a section on background and instructions for use aimed at novice users; the toolkit itself; and the report generated by completing the toolkit. It is available to download from http://www.ucl.ac.uk/pcph/research/ehealth/documents/e-HIT.xls Conclusions The e-HIT shows potential as a tool for enhancing future e-Health implementations. Further work is needed to make it fully web-enabled, and to determine its predictive potential for future implementations.

The effect of road and environmental characteristics on pedestrian hit-and-run accidents in Ghana.

Science.gov (United States)

Aidoo, Eric Nimako; Amoh-Gyimah, Richard; Ackaah, Williams

2013-04-01

The number of pedestrians who have died as a result of being hit by vehicles has increased in recent years, in addition to vehicle passenger deaths. Many pedestrians who were involved in road traffic accident died as a result of the driver leaving the pedestrian who was struck unattended at the scene of the accident. This paper seeks to determine the effect of road and environmental characteristics on pedestrian hit-and-run accidents in Ghana. Using pedestrian accident data extracted from the National Road Traffic Accident Database at the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Ghana, a binary logit model was employed in the analysis. The results from the estimated model indicate that fatal accidents, unclear weather, nighttime conditions, and straight and flat road sections without medians and junctions significantly increase the likelihood that the vehicle driver will leave the scene after hitting a pedestrian. Thus, integrating median separation and speed humps into road design and construction and installing street lights will help to curb the problem of pedestrian hit-and-run accidents in Ghana. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Additive-Multiplicative Cox-Aalen Regression Model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scheike, Thomas H.; Zhang, Mei-Jie

2002-01-01

Aalen model; additive risk model; counting processes; Cox regression; survival analysis; time-varying effects......Aalen model; additive risk model; counting processes; Cox regression; survival analysis; time-varying effects...

Impact of time displaced precipitation estimates for on-line updated models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borup, Morten; Grum, Morten; Mikkelsen, Peter Steen

2012-01-01

When an online runoff model is updated from system measurements the requirements to the precipitation estimates change. Using rain gauge data as precipitation input there will be a displacement between the time where the rain intensity hits the gauge and the time where the rain hits the actual...

Transfer, loss and physical processing of water in hit-and-run collisions of planetary embryos

Science.gov (United States)

Burger, C.; Maindl, T. I.; Schäfer, C. M.

2018-01-01

Collisions between large, similar-sized bodies are believed to shape the final characteristics and composition of terrestrial planets. Their inventories of volatiles such as water are either delivered or at least significantly modified by such events. Besides the transition from accretion to erosion with increasing impact velocity, similar-sized collisions can also result in hit-and-run outcomes for sufficiently oblique impact angles and large enough projectile-to-target mass ratios. We study volatile transfer and loss focusing on hit-and-run encounters by means of smooth particle hydrodynamics simulations, including all main parameters: impact velocity, impact angle, mass ratio and also the total colliding mass. We find a broad range of overall water losses, up to 75% in the most energetic hit-and-run events, and confirm the much more severe consequences for the smaller body also for stripping of volatile layers. Transfer of water between projectile and target inventories is found to be mostly rather inefficient, and final water contents are dominated by pre-collision inventories reduced by impact losses, for similar pre-collision water mass fractions. Comparison with our numerical results shows that current collision outcome models are not accurate enough to reliably predict these composition changes in hit-and-run events. To also account for non-mechanical losses, we estimate the amount of collisionally vaporized water over a broad range of masses and find that these contributions are particularly important in collisions of ˜ Mars-sized bodies, with sufficiently high impact energies, but still relatively low gravity. Our results clearly indicate that the cumulative effect of several (hit-and-run) collisions can efficiently strip protoplanets of their volatile layers, especially the smaller body, as it might be common, e.g., for Earth-mass planets in systems with Super-Earths. An accurate model for stripping of volatiles that can be included in future planet

Pattern recognition with vector hits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frühwirth, R

2012-01-01

Trackers at the future high-luminosity LHC, designed to have triggering capability, will feature layers of stacked modules with a small stack separation. This will allow the reconstruction of track stubs or vector hits with position and direction information, but lacking precise curvature information. This opens up new possibilities for track finding, online and offline. Two track finding methods, the Kalman filter and the convergent Hough transform are studied in this context. Results from a simplified fast simulation are presented. It is shown that the performance of the methods depends to a large extent on the size of the stack separation. We conclude that the detector design and the choice of the track finding algorithm(s) are strongly coupled and should proceed conjointly.

Straightforward hit identification approach in fragment-based discovery of bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) inhibitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Borysko, Petro; Moroz, Yurii S; Vasylchenko, Oleksandr V; Hurmach, Vasyl V; Starodubtseva, Anastasia; Stefanishena, Natalia; Nesteruk, Kateryna; Zozulya, Sergey; Kondratov, Ivan S; Grygorenko, Oleksandr O

2018-05-09

A combination approach of a fragment screening and "SAR by catalog" was used for the discovery of bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) inhibitors. Initial screening of 3695-fragment library against bromodomain 1 of BRD4 using thermal shift assay (TSA), followed by initial hit validation, resulted in 73 fragment hits, which were used to construct a follow-up library selected from available screening collection. Additionally, analogs of inactive fragments, as well as a set of randomly selected compounds were also prepared (3 × 3200 compounds in total). Screening of the resulting sets using TSA, followed by re-testing at several concentrations, counter-screen, and TR-FRET assay resulted in 18 confirmed hits. Compounds derived from the initial fragment set showed better hit rate as compared to the other two sets. Finally, building dose-response curves revealed three compounds with IC 50  = 1.9-7.4 μM. For these compounds, binding sites and conformations in the BRD4 (4UYD) have been determined by docking. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of multi-hit capability on quantitative measurement of NiPtSi thin film with laser-assisted atom probe tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kinno, T.; Akutsu, H.; Tomita, M.; Kawanaka, S.; Sonehara, T.; Hokazono, A.; Renaud, L.; Martin, I.; Benbalagh, R.; Sallé, B.; Takeno, S.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Laser-assisted atom probe tomography was applied to NiPtSi films on Si substrates. ► Comparison of depth profiles of single-hit events and those of multi-hit events. ► ∼80% of Pt atoms were detected in multi-hit events. ► Multiple-ion detection is important for Laser-assisted atom probe tomography. - Abstract: Laser-assisted atom probe tomography (LA-APT) was applied to NiPtSi (0, 30, and 50% Pt contents) thin films on Si substrates. Consistent results with those of high-resolution Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (HR-RBS) were obtained. Based on the obtained data sets, the composition profiles from only the signals of single-hit events, meaning detection of one ion by one laser pulse, were compiled. The profiles from only the signals of multi-hit events, meaning detection of multiple ions by one laser pulse, were also compiled. There were large discrepancies with respect to Ni and Pt concentrations among the compiled profiles and the original profiles including the signals of both types of detection events. Additionally, the profiles compiled from single-hit events showed that Si concentration in NiPtSi layer became smaller toward the surface, differing from the original profiles and the multi-hit profiles. These results suggest that capability of simultaneous multiple-ion detection is important for appropriate LA-APT analyses.

Time-trend of melanoma screening practice by primary care physicians: A meta-regression analysis

OpenAIRE

Valachis, Antonis; Mauri, Davide; Karampoiki, Vassiliki; Polyzos, Nikolaos P; Cortinovis, Ivan; Koukourakis, Georgios; Zacharias, Georgios; Xilomenos, Apostolos; Tsappi, Maria; Casazza, Giovanni

2009-01-01

Objective To assess whether the proportion of primary care physicians implementing full body skin examination (FBSE) to screen for melanoma changed over time. Methods Meta-regression analyses of available data. Data Sources: MEDLINE, ISI, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Results Fifteen studies surveying 10,336 physicians were included in the analyses. Overall, 15%?82% of them reported to perform FBSE to screen for melanoma. The proportion of physicians using FBSE screening ten...

Hit discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis inosine 5'-monophosphate dehydrogenase, GuaB2, inhibitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahu, Niteshkumar U; Singh, Vinayak; Ferraris, Davide M; Rizzi, Menico; Kharkar, Prashant S

2018-04-18

Tuberculosis remains a global concern. There is an urgent need of newer antitubercular drugs due to the development of resistant forms of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Inosine 5'-monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH), guaB2, of Mtb, required for guanine nucleotide biosynthesis, is an attractive target for drug development. In this study, we screened a focused library of 73 drug-like molecules with desirable calculated/predicted physicochemical properties, for growth inhibitory activity against drug-sensitive MtbH37Rv. The eight hits and mycophenolic acid, a prototype IMPDH inhibitor, were further evaluated for activity on purified Mtb-GuaB2 enzyme, target selectivity using a conditional knockdown mutant of guaB2 in Mtb, followed by cross-resistance to IMPDH inhibitor-resistant SRMV2.6 strain of Mtb, and activity on human IMPDH2 isoform. One of the hits, 13, a 5-amidophthalide derivative, has shown growth inhibitory potential and target specificity against the Mtb-GuaB2 enzyme. The hit, 13, is a promising molecule with potential for further development as an antitubercular agent. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ethical Issues in Corpus Linguistics And Annotation: Pay Per Hit Does Not Affect Effective Hourly Rate For Linguistic Resource Development On Amazon Mechanical Turk.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, K Bretonnel; Fort, Karën; Adda, Gilles; Zhou, Sophia; Farri, Dimeji

2016-05-01

Ethical issues reported with paid crowdsourcing include unfairly low wages. It is assumed that such issues are under the control of the task requester. Can one control the amount that a worker earns by controlling the amount that one pays? 412 linguistic data development tasks were submitted to Amazon Mechanical Turk. The pay per HIT was manipulated through a range of values. We examined the relationship between the pay that is offered per HIT and the effective pay rate. There is no such relationship. Paying more per HIT does not cause workers to earn more: the higher the pay per HIT, the more time workers spend on them ( R = 0.92). So, the effective hourly rate stays roughly the same. The finding has clear implications for language resource builders who want to behave ethically: other means must be found in order to compensate workers fairly. The findings of this paper should not be taken as an endorsement of unfairly low pay rates for crowdsourcing workers. Rather, the intention is to point out that additional measures, such as pre-calculating and communicating to the workers an average hourly, rather than per-task, rate must be found in order to ensure an ethical rate of pay.

Panel Smooth Transition Regression Models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

González, Andrés; Terasvirta, Timo; Dijk, Dick van

We introduce the panel smooth transition regression model. This new model is intended for characterizing heterogeneous panels, allowing the regression coefficients to vary both across individuals and over time. Specifically, heterogeneity is allowed for by assuming that these coefficients are bou...

HIT maintains performance during the transition period and improves next season performance in well-trained cyclists.

Science.gov (United States)

Rønnestad, Bent R; Askestad, Arild; Hansen, Joar

2014-09-01

To investigate the effects of combining low-intensity endurance training (LIT) with one high-intensity endurance training (HIT) session every 7-10 days (EXP, n = 7) vs. traditional approach focusing on LIT (TRAD, n = 6) during the transition period. The effects of different training strategies during the transition period were investigated after the transition period and at the beginning of the subsequent competition season. Well-trained cyclists were tested after the competition season, after an 8-week transition period, and after a 16-week preparatory period, before the subsequent competition season. The only difference between groups was a larger time with HIT during the transition phase in EXP. It was very likely that EXP had a larger impact on power output at 4 mmol L(-1) [la(-)] after both the transition period and after the preparatory period than TRAD [between-group change (90% CI): 10.6% (8.2%) and 12.9% (11.9%), respectively]. It was very likely that EXP had a larger impact on mean power output in the 40-min all-out trial after the transition period than TRAD [between-group change 12.4% (7.6%)]. EXP was also likely to have a larger improvement in the 40-min trial performance from pre-test to after the preparatory period than TRAD [between-group change 6.0% (6.6%)]. The present findings suggest that HIT sessions should be incorporated during the transition phase to avoid reduction in fitness and performance level and thereby increase the likelihood of improved performance from the end of one season to the beginning of the subsequent season.

The probability of a tornado missile hitting a target

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goodman, J.; Koch, J.E.

1983-01-01

It is shown that tornado missile transportation is a diffusion Markovian process. Therefore, the Green's function method is applied for the estimation of the probability of hitting a unit target area. This propability is expressed through a joint density of tornado intensity and path area, a probability of tornado missile injection and a tornado missile height distribution. (orig.)

Just-in-time Database-Driven Web Applications

Science.gov (United States)

2003-01-01

"Just-in-time" database-driven Web applications are inexpensive, quickly-developed software that can be put to many uses within a health care organization. Database-driven Web applications garnered 73873 hits on our system-wide intranet in 2002. They enabled collaboration and communication via user-friendly Web browser-based interfaces for both mission-critical and patient-care-critical functions. Nineteen database-driven Web applications were developed. The application categories that comprised 80% of the hits were results reporting (27%), graduate medical education (26%), research (20%), and bed availability (8%). The mean number of hits per application was 3888 (SD = 5598; range, 14-19879). A model is described for just-in-time database-driven Web application development and an example given with a popular HTML editor and database program. PMID:14517109

Effects of Experimental Volleyball Rules Quantified by Type and Number of Jumps, Hits and Contacts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mladen Stankovic

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of the two new rules tested at the inaugural U23 Men’s Volleyball World Championship (21-point set excluding the fifth set, and 15 seconds between rallies–10 seconds from the finished point until the referee’s whistle for serve and five seconds for performing the serve on number and types of jumps and number of contacts and hits. The analysis comprised 25,930 jumps (an essential physical activity for volleyball, 15,706 contacts and 10,224 hits during 36 matches played by 144 males aged under 23 at the first Under 23 Men’s World Championships organized in Uberlandia, Brazil, in 2013. Two investigations were conducted: 1 Analysis of jumps by Jump type, In-game role and Level of set win; 2 Analysis of contacts (reception, setting, block, defense and hits (serve and attack by Type, In-game role and Set outcome. Significant differences (p=0.000 were found between in-game role and jump type, as Middle blocker performed the most (34.7%, followed by Outside hitter (24.9%, Setter (24.6% and Opposite (15.8%. Significant differences were found for number and types of Hits between set Winner and Loser teams only for serves by Setter (p<0.001 and Middle blocker (p<0.05. The results showed major differences in jumps, hits and contacts between in-game roles: Middle blocker was the most frequent jumping position, followed by Outside hitter and Setter. The Libero showed a new tendency of being Setter with a jump after the initial Setter defense.

A biomechanical comparison in the lower limb and lumbar spine between a hit and drag flick in field hockey.

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Leo; Rosalie, Simon M; Sherry, Dorianne; Loh, Wei Bing; Sjurseth, Andreas M; Iyengar, Shrikant; Wild, Catherine Y

2018-03-01

Research has revealed that field hockey drag flickers have greater odds of hip and lumbar injuries compared to non-drag flickers (DF). This study aimed to compare the biomechanics of a field hockey hit and a specialised field hockey drag flick. Eighteen male and seven female specialised hockey DF performed a hit and a drag flick in a motion analysis laboratory with an 18-camera three-dimensional motion analysis system and a calibrated multichannel force platform to examine differences in lower limb and lumbar kinematics and kinetics. Results revealed that drag flicks were performed with more of a forward lunge on the left lower limb resulting in significantly greater left ankle dorsiflexion, knee, hip and lumbar flexion (Pshit. Drag flicks were also performed with significantly greater lateral flexion (P hit. Differences in kinematics lead to greater shear, compression and tensile forces in multiple left lower limb and lumbar joints in the drag flick compared to the hit (P hit may have ramifications with respect to injury in field hockey drag flickers.

Differentiating regressed melanoma from regressed lichenoid keratosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Aegean H; Shulman, Kenneth J; Lee, Bonnie A

2017-04-01

Distinguishing regressed lichen planus-like keratosis (LPLK) from regressed melanoma can be difficult on histopathologic examination, potentially resulting in mismanagement of patients. We aimed to identify histopathologic features by which regressed melanoma can be differentiated from regressed LPLK. Twenty actively inflamed LPLK, 12 LPLK with regression and 15 melanomas with regression were compared and evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin staining as well as Melan-A, microphthalmia transcription factor (MiTF) and cytokeratin (AE1/AE3) immunostaining. (1) A total of 40% of regressed melanomas showed complete or near complete loss of melanocytes within the epidermis with Melan-A and MiTF immunostaining, while 8% of regressed LPLK exhibited this finding. (2) Necrotic keratinocytes were seen in the epidermis in 33% regressed melanomas as opposed to all of the regressed LPLK. (3) A dense infiltrate of melanophages in the papillary dermis was seen in 40% of regressed melanomas, a feature not seen in regressed LPLK. In summary, our findings suggest that a complete or near complete loss of melanocytes within the epidermis strongly favors a regressed melanoma over a regressed LPLK. In addition, necrotic epidermal keratinocytes and the presence of a dense band-like distribution of dermal melanophages can be helpful in differentiating these lesions. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Predicting subject-driven actions and sensory experience in a virtual world with relevance vector machine regression of fMRI data.

Science.gov (United States)

Valente, Giancarlo; De Martino, Federico; Esposito, Fabrizio; Goebel, Rainer; Formisano, Elia

2011-05-15

In this work we illustrate the approach of the Maastricht Brain Imaging Center to the PBAIC 2007 competition, where participants had to predict, based on fMRI measurements of brain activity, subject driven actions and sensory experience in a virtual world. After standard pre-processing (slice scan time correction, motion correction), we generated rating predictions based on linear Relevance Vector Machine (RVM) learning from all brain voxels. Spatial and temporal filtering of the time series was optimized rating by rating. For some of the ratings (e.g. Instructions, Hits, Faces, Velocity), linear RVM regression was accurate and very consistent within and between subjects. For other ratings (e.g. Arousal, Valence) results were less satisfactory. Our approach ranked overall second. To investigate the role of different brain regions in ratings prediction we generated predictive maps, i.e. maps of the weighted contribution of each voxel to the predicted rating. These maps generally included (but were not limited to) "specialized" regions which are consistent with results from conventional neuroimaging studies and known functional neuroanatomy. In conclusion, Sparse Bayesian Learning models, such as RVM, appear to be a valuable approach to the multivariate regression of fMRI time series. The implementation of the Automatic Relevance Determination criterion is particularly suitable and provides a good generalization, despite the limited number of samples which is typically available in fMRI. Predictive maps allow disclosing multi-voxel patterns of brain activity that predict perceptual and behavioral subjective experience. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Heidelberg Ion Therapy Center (HIT): Initial clinical experience in the first 80 patients

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Combs, Stephanie E. (Univ. Hospital of Heidelberg, Dept. of Radiation Oncology, Heidelberg (Germany)), E-mail: Stephanie.Combs@med.uni-heidelberg.de; Ellerbrock, Malte; Haberer, Thomas (Heidelberger Ionenstrahl Therapiezentrum (HIT), Im Neuenheimer Feld 450, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany)) (and others)

2010-10-15

The Heidelberg Ion Therapy Center (HIT) started clinical operation in November 2009. In this report we present the first 80 patients treated with proton and carbon ion radiotherapy and describe patient selection, treatment planning and daily treatment for different indications. Patients and methods. Between November 15, 2009 and April 15, 2010, 80 patients were treated at the Heidelberg Ion Therapy Center (HIT) with carbon ion and proton radiotherapy. Main treated indications consisted of skull base chordoma (n = 9) and chondrosarcoma (n = 18), malignant salivary gland tumors (n=29), chordomas of the sacrum (n = 5), low grade glioma (n=3), primary and recurrent malignant astrocytoma and glioblastoma (n=7) and well as osteosarcoma (n = 3). Of these patients, four pediatric patients aged under 18 years were treated. Results. All patients were treated using the intensity-modulated rasterscanning technique. Seventy-six patients were treated with carbon ions (95%), and four patients were treated with protons. In all patients x-ray imaging was performed prior to each fraction. Treatment concepts were based on the initial experiences with carbon ion therapy at the Gesellschaft fuer Schwerionenforschung (GSI) including carbon-only treatments and carbon-boost treatments with photon-IMRT. The average time per fraction in the treatment room per patient was 29 minutes; for irradiation only, the mean time including all patients was 16 minutes. Position verification was performed prior to every treatment fraction with orthogonal x-ray imaging. Conclusion. Particle therapy could be included successfully into the clinical routine at the Dept. of Radiation Oncology in Heidelberg. Numerous clinical trials will subsequently be initiated to precisely define the role of proton and carbon ion radiotherapy in radiation oncology.

Variation in number of hits for complex searches in Google Scholar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wichor Matthijs Bramer, BSc

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Objective: Google Scholar is often used to search for medical literature. Numbers of results reported by Google Scholar outperform the numbers reported by traditional databases. How reliable are these numbers? Why are often not all available 1,000 references shown? Methods: For several complex search strategies used in systematic review projects, the number of citations and the total number of versions were calculated. Several search strategies were followed over a two-year period, registering fluctuations in reported search results. Results: Changes in numbers of reported search results varied enormously between search strategies and dates. Theories for calculations of the reported and shown number of hits were not proved. Conclusions: The number of hits reported in Google Scholar is an unreliable measure. Therefore, its repeatability is problematic, at least when equal results are needed.

Spontaneous HIT syndrome post-knee replacement surgery with delayed recovery of thrombocytopenia: a case report and literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Poudel, Dilli Ram; Ghimire, Sushil; Dhital, Rashmi; Forman, Daniel A; Warkentin, Theodore E

2017-09-01

Recently published reports have established a heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT)-mimicking thromboembolic disorder without proximate heparin exposure, called spontaneous HIT syndrome. Although the pathophysiology remains unclear, anti-platelet factor 4 (PF4)/heparin antibodies possibly triggered by exposure to knee cartilage glycosaminoglycans or other non-heparin polyanions found on bacterial surfaces and nucleic acids have been postulated. We present a 53-year-old female receiving antithrombotic prophylaxis with aspirin following right total knee replacement surgery (without perioperative or any previous lifetime heparin exposure) who acutely presented with high-risk pulmonary embolism (PE) and right great saphenous vein thrombophlebitis on postoperative day (POD) 14; her platelet count at presentation was 13 × 10 9 /L. Prior to diagnostic consideration of spontaneous HIT syndrome, the patient briefly received unfractionated heparin (UFH) and one dose of enoxaparin. The patient's serum tested strongly positive for anti-PF4/heparin antibodies by two different PF4-dependent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) and by serotonin release assay (SRA). Failure of fondaparinux anticoagulation (persisting HIT-associated disseminated intravascular coagulation) prompted switching to argatroban. Severe thrombocytopenia persisted (platelet count nadir, 12 × 10 9 /L, on POD21), and 9 days after starting argatroban symptomatic right leg deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) occurred, prompting switch to rivaroxaban. Thereafter, her course was uneventful, although platelet count recovery was prolonged, reaching 99 × 10 9 /L by POD45 and 199 × 10 9 /L by POD79. The patient's serum elicited strong serotonin release in the absence of heparin (seen even with 1/32 serum dilution) that was enhanced by pharmacological concentrations of UFH (0.1 and 0.3 IU/mL) and fondaparinux (0.1-1.2 μg/mL, i.e., in vitro fondaparinux "cross-reactivity"). Ultimately, platelet count recovery was

An automated single ion hit at JAERI heavy ion microbeam to observe individual radiation damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamiya, Tomihiro; Sakai, Takuro; Naitoh, Yutaka; Hamano, Tsuyoshi; Hirao, Toshio

1999-01-01

Microbeam scanning and a single ion hit technique have been combined to establish an automated beam positioning and single ion hit system at the JAERI Takasaki heavy ion microbeam system. Single ion irradiation on preset points of a sample in various patterns can be performed automatically in a short period. The reliability of the system was demonstrated using CR-39 nuclear track detectors. Single ion hit patterns were achieved with a positioning accuracy of 2 μm or less. In measurement of single event transient current using this system, the reduction of the pulse height by accumulation of radiation damages was observed by single ion injection to the same local areas. This technique showed a possibility to get some quantitative information about the lateral displacement of an individual radiation effect in silicon PIN photodiodes. This paper will give details of the irradiation system and present results from several experiments

Logic regression and its extensions.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwender, Holger; Ruczinski, Ingo

2010-01-01

Logic regression is an adaptive classification and regression procedure, initially developed to reveal interacting single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genetic association studies. In general, this approach can be used in any setting with binary predictors, when the interaction of these covariates is of primary interest. Logic regression searches for Boolean (logic) combinations of binary variables that best explain the variability in the outcome variable, and thus, reveals variables and interactions that are associated with the response and/or have predictive capabilities. The logic expressions are embedded in a generalized linear regression framework, and thus, logic regression can handle a variety of outcome types, such as binary responses in case-control studies, numeric responses, and time-to-event data. In this chapter, we provide an introduction to the logic regression methodology, list some applications in public health and medicine, and summarize some of the direct extensions and modifications of logic regression that have been proposed in the literature. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evolving health information technology and the timely availability of visit diagnoses from ambulatory visits: a natural experiment in an integrated delivery system.

Science.gov (United States)

Bardach, Naomi S; Huang, Jie; Brand, Richard; Hsu, John

2009-07-17

Health information technology (HIT) may improve health care quality and outcomes, in part by making information available in a timelier manner. However, there are few studies documenting the changes in timely availability of data with the use of a sophisticated electronic medical record (EMR), nor a description of how the timely availability of data might differ with different types of EMRs. We hypothesized that timely availability of data would improve with use of increasingly sophisticated forms of HIT. We used an historical observation design (2004-2006) using electronic data from office visits in an integrated delivery system with three types of HIT: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. We calculated the monthly percentage of visits using the various types of HIT for entry of visit diagnoses into the delivery system's electronic database, and the time between the visit and the availability of the visit diagnoses in the database. In January 2004, when only Basic HIT was available, 10% of office visits had diagnoses entered on the same day as the visit and 90% within a week; 85% of office visits used paper forms for recording visit diagnoses, 16% used Basic at that time. By December 2006, 95% of all office visits had diagnoses available on the same day as the visit, when 98% of office visits used some form of HIT for entry of visit diagnoses (Advanced HIT for 67% of visits). Use of HIT systems is associated with dramatic increases in the timely availability of diagnostic information, though the effects may vary by sophistication of HIT system. Timely clinical data are critical for real-time population surveillance, and valuable for routine clinical care.

Predictors of course in obsessive-compulsive disorder: logistic regression versus Cox regression for recurrent events.

Science.gov (United States)

Kempe, P T; van Oppen, P; de Haan, E; Twisk, J W R; Sluis, A; Smit, J H; van Dyck, R; van Balkom, A J L M

2007-09-01

Two methods for predicting remissions in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) treatment are evaluated. Y-BOCS measurements of 88 patients with a primary OCD (DSM-III-R) diagnosis were performed over a 16-week treatment period, and during three follow-ups. Remission at any measurement was defined as a Y-BOCS score lower than thirteen combined with a reduction of seven points when compared with baseline. Logistic regression models were compared with a Cox regression for recurrent events model. Logistic regression yielded different models at different evaluation times. The recurrent events model remained stable when fewer measurements were used. Higher baseline levels of neuroticism and more severe OCD symptoms were associated with a lower chance of remission, early age of onset and more depressive symptoms with a higher chance. Choice of outcome time affects logistic regression prediction models. Recurrent events analysis uses all information on remissions and relapses. Short- and long-term predictors for OCD remission show overlap.

Comparison of validity and reliability of the Migraine disability assessment (MIDAS) versus headache impact test (HIT) in an Iranian population.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghorbani, Abbas; Chitsaz, Ahmad

2011-01-01

Migraine is one of the most common headaches that affect 11% or more adult population. Recently, researchers have designed two questionnaires, namely Headache Impact Test (HIT) and Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS), with the aim of improving migraine care. These two tests provide a standard measurement about migraine's effects on people's life style that divide patients into 4 groups (grades) based on headaches intensity. The aim of this study was to compare the validity and reliability of these two tests. This study was designed as a multicenter, descriptive study to compare validity and reliability of Persian version of MIDAS and HIT questionnaires in 240 males and females with a migraine diagnosis according to criteria for headache and facial pain of the International Headache Society (IHS). The patients were enrolled in the study from 3 neurology clinics in Isfahan, Iran, between July 2004 and January 2005 and were evaluated at baseline (visit 1) and 4 weeks later (visit 2). According to our study, there was a high correlation between two tests (r = 0.94). This decreased their MIDAS grade in comparison to their grade HIT questionnaire. These findings demonstrated that Persian version of HIT have the same validity and reliability as MIDAS. Replying to HIT questionnaire was easier than MIDAS for Iranian patients. Physicians can reliably use the Persian translation of both MIDAS and HIT questionnaires to define the severity of illness and its treatment strategy as a self-administered report by migraine patients. However, we recommend HIT for its simplicity in headache clinics.

Beyond the cold hit: measuring the impact of the national DNA data bank on public safety at the city and county level.

Science.gov (United States)

Gabriel, Matthew; Boland, Cherisse; Holt, Cydne

2010-01-01

Over the past decade, the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) has increased solvability of violent crimes by linking evidence DNA profiles to known offenders. At present, an in-depth analysis of the United States National DNA Data Bank effort has not assessed the success of this national public safety endeavor. Critics of this effort often focus on laboratory and police investigators unable to provide timely investigative support as a root cause(s) of CODIS' failure to increase public safety. By studying a group of nearly 200 DNA cold hits obtained in SFPD criminal investigations from 2001-2006, three key performance metrics (Significance of Cold Hits, Case Progression & Judicial Resolution, and Potential Reduction of Future Criminal Activity) provide a proper context in which to define the impact of CODIS at the City and County level. Further, the analysis of a recidivist group of cold hit offenders and their past interaction with law enforcement established five noteworthy criminal case resolution trends; these trends signify challenges to CODIS in achieving meaningful case resolutions. CODIS' effectiveness and critical activities to support case resolutions are the responsibility of all criminal justice partners in order to achieve long-lasting public safety within the United States.

X-hitting: A new algorithm for novelty detection and dereplication by UV spectra of complex mixtures of natural products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Michael Edberg; Smedsgaard, Jørn; Larsen, Thomas Ostenfeld

2005-01-01

A major challenge in lead discovery is to detect well-known and trivial compounds rapidly, a process known as dereplication, so that isolation, structure elucidation, and pharmacological investigations can be focused on novel compounds. In this paper, we present a new algorithm, X-hitting, based...... on cross sample comparison of full UV spectra from HPLC analysis of highly complex natural product extracts/samples. X-Hitting allows automatic identification of known compounds but more important also allows finding of potentially new or similar compounds. We demonstrate this new algorithm by automatic...... identification of known structures, a task we call cross-hitting, and tentative identification of potentially new bioactive compounds, a task we call new-hitting, in HPLC data from analysis of fungal extracts. Both tasks are illustrated using 18 important reference compounds and complex fungal extracts obtained...

Simple estimation procedures for regression analysis of interval-censored failure time data under the proportional hazards model.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Jianguo; Feng, Yanqin; Zhao, Hui

2015-01-01

Interval-censored failure time data occur in many fields including epidemiological and medical studies as well as financial and sociological studies, and many authors have investigated their analysis (Sun, The statistical analysis of interval-censored failure time data, 2006; Zhang, Stat Modeling 9:321-343, 2009). In particular, a number of procedures have been developed for regression analysis of interval-censored data arising from the proportional hazards model (Finkelstein, Biometrics 42:845-854, 1986; Huang, Ann Stat 24:540-568, 1996; Pan, Biometrics 56:199-203, 2000). For most of these procedures, however, one drawback is that they involve estimation of both regression parameters and baseline cumulative hazard function. In this paper, we propose two simple estimation approaches that do not need estimation of the baseline cumulative hazard function. The asymptotic properties of the resulting estimates are given, and an extensive simulation study is conducted and indicates that they work well for practical situations.

The accelerator facility of the Heidelberg Ion-Beam Therapy Centre (HIT)

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Andreas

The following sections are included: * Introduction * Beam parameters * General layout of the HIT facility * The accelerator chain in detail * Operational aspects of a particle therapy facility * 24/7 accelerator operation at 335 days per year * Safety and regulatory aspects * Status and perspectives * References

76 FR 39107 - HIT Standards Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-05

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HIT Standards Committee's Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice... of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The [[Page 39108...

Optimal Fixed-Interval Integrated Guidance-Control Laws for Hit-to-Kill Missiles

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Menon, P. K; Sweriduk, G. D; Ohlmeyer, E. J

2003-01-01

Due to their potential for reducing the weapon size and efficiency, design methods for realizing hit-to- kill capabilities in missile systems are of significant research interest in the missile flight control community...

Evolving health information technology and the timely availability of visit diagnoses from ambulatory visits: A natural experiment in an integrated delivery system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brand Richard

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Health information technology (HIT may improve health care quality and outcomes, in part by making information available in a timelier manner. However, there are few studies documenting the changes in timely availability of data with the use of a sophisticated electronic medical record (EMR, nor a description of how the timely availability of data might differ with different types of EMRs. We hypothesized that timely availability of data would improve with use of increasingly sophisticated forms of HIT. Methods We used an historical observation design (2004–2006 using electronic data from office visits in an integrated delivery system with three types of HIT: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. We calculated the monthly percentage of visits using the various types of HIT for entry of visit diagnoses into the delivery system's electronic database, and the time between the visit and the availability of the visit diagnoses in the database. Results In January 2004, when only Basic HIT was available, 10% of office visits had diagnoses entered on the same day as the visit and 90% within a week; 85% of office visits used paper forms for recording visit diagnoses, 16% used Basic at that time. By December 2006, 95% of all office visits had diagnoses available on the same day as the visit, when 98% of office visits used some form of HIT for entry of visit diagnoses (Advanced HIT for 67% of visits. Conclusion Use of HIT systems is associated with dramatic increases in the timely availability of diagnostic information, though the effects may vary by sophistication of HIT system. Timely clinical data are critical for real-time population surveillance, and valuable for routine clinical care.

Interactive football training based on rebounders with hit position sensing and audio/light feedback

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Mads Møller; Grønbæk, Kaj; Rasmussen, Majken Kirkegård

A Danish football club has established a (24/7/365) football training facility, where the authors developed an interactive training installation (http://vimeo.com/28446312). The training installation consist of a 12*12 m square with 4 M­Station Pro rebounders equipped with sensors that enable hit...... position sensing. The rebounders are equipped with loudspeakers and lights being used to call for the ball. Here we discuss one game “Pass ­and ­Turn”, which is meant to train speed in controlling a returned ball, reaction to a call for the ball and turning to hit rebounders to the left, right, behind...

Madoff Debacle Hits Colleges and Raises Questions about Trustee Conflicts

Science.gov (United States)

Fain, Paul

2009-01-01

Several colleges and universities lost millions in the alleged $50-billion Ponzi scheme run by the Wall Street trader Bernard L. Madoff. The losses include institutions' endowment holdings in hedge funds that were invested with Madoff as well as hits taken by supporting foundations and donors. Several foundations that have been active in higher…

A regressive methodology for estimating missing data in rainfall daily time series

Science.gov (United States)

Barca, E.; Passarella, G.

2009-04-01

The "presence" of gaps in environmental data time series represents a very common, but extremely critical problem, since it can produce biased results (Rubin, 1976). Missing data plagues almost all surveys. The problem is how to deal with missing data once it has been deemed impossible to recover the actual missing values. Apart from the amount of missing data, another issue which plays an important role in the choice of any recovery approach is the evaluation of "missingness" mechanisms. When data missing is conditioned by some other variable observed in the data set (Schafer, 1997) the mechanism is called MAR (Missing at Random). Otherwise, when the missingness mechanism depends on the actual value of the missing data, it is called NCAR (Not Missing at Random). This last is the most difficult condition to model. In the last decade interest arose in the estimation of missing data by using regression (single imputation). More recently multiple imputation has become also available, which returns a distribution of estimated values (Scheffer, 2002). In this paper an automatic methodology for estimating missing data is presented. In practice, given a gauging station affected by missing data (target station), the methodology checks the randomness of the missing data and classifies the "similarity" between the target station and the other gauging stations spread over the study area. Among different methods useful for defining the similarity degree, whose effectiveness strongly depends on the data distribution, the Spearman correlation coefficient was chosen. Once defined the similarity matrix, a suitable, nonparametric, univariate, and regressive method was applied in order to estimate missing data in the target station: the Theil method (Theil, 1950). Even though the methodology revealed to be rather reliable an improvement of the missing data estimation can be achieved by a generalization. A first possible improvement consists in extending the univariate technique to

Real time damage detection using recursive principal components and time varying auto-regressive modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Krishnan, M.; Bhowmik, B.; Hazra, B.; Pakrashi, V.

2018-02-01

In this paper, a novel baseline free approach for continuous online damage detection of multi degree of freedom vibrating structures using Recursive Principal Component Analysis (RPCA) in conjunction with Time Varying Auto-Regressive Modeling (TVAR) is proposed. In this method, the acceleration data is used to obtain recursive proper orthogonal components online using rank-one perturbation method, followed by TVAR modeling of the first transformed response, to detect the change in the dynamic behavior of the vibrating system from its pristine state to contiguous linear/non-linear-states that indicate damage. Most of the works available in the literature deal with algorithms that require windowing of the gathered data owing to their data-driven nature which renders them ineffective for online implementation. Algorithms focussed on mathematically consistent recursive techniques in a rigorous theoretical framework of structural damage detection is missing, which motivates the development of the present framework that is amenable for online implementation which could be utilized along with suite experimental and numerical investigations. The RPCA algorithm iterates the eigenvector and eigenvalue estimates for sample covariance matrices and new data point at each successive time instants, using the rank-one perturbation method. TVAR modeling on the principal component explaining maximum variance is utilized and the damage is identified by tracking the TVAR coefficients. This eliminates the need for offline post processing and facilitates online damage detection especially when applied to streaming data without requiring any baseline data. Numerical simulations performed on a 5-dof nonlinear system under white noise excitation and El Centro (also known as 1940 Imperial Valley earthquake) excitation, for different damage scenarios, demonstrate the robustness of the proposed algorithm. The method is further validated on results obtained from case studies involving

Hitting the nail on the head: Force vectors in verb semantics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goldschmidt, A.; Zwarts, J.

2016-01-01

We present an analysis of force verbs, like hit, as involving paths with force-dynamic properties, modelled through force vectors. This allows us to explain a number of observations about the lexical meaning and composition of these verbs. For instance, force adverbs such as hard specify the

THEORY OF ACTIVE HITTINGS IS IN PROCESSES OF ELECTRO-COAGULATION THE ADMIXTURES IN WATER TECHNOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

В.В. Березуцький

2012-10-01

Full Text Available  In the article theoretical bases of electro-coagulation of admixtures are examined in a water technological environment with the use of theory of the active hittings, which are based on the results of the executed researches and analysis of scientific information. Application of theory of the active hittings is in coagulation, provides high efficiency of process of extraction of admixtures from water environments during minimization of energy consumption and expenses of materials.

Capture orbits around asteroids by hitting zero-velocity curves

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wei; Yang, Hongwei; Zhang, Wei; Ma, Guangfu

2017-12-01

The problem of capturing a spacecraft from a heliocentric orbit into a high parking orbit around binary asteroids is investigated in the current study. To reduce the braking Δ V, a new capture strategy takes advantage of the three-body gravity of the binary asteroid to lower the inertial energy before applying the Δ V. The framework of the circular restricted three-body problem (CR3BP) is employed for the binary asteroid system. The proposed capture strategy is based on the mechanism by which inertial energy can be decreased sharply near zero-velocity curves (ZVCs). The strategy has two steps, namely, hitting the target ZVC and raising the periapsis by a small Δ V at the apoapsis. By hitting the target ZVC, the positive inertial energy decreases and becomes negative. Using a small Δ V, the spacecraft inserts into a bounded orbit around the asteroid. In addition, a rotating mass dipole model is employed for elongated asteroids, which leads to dynamics similar to that of the CR3BP. With this approach, the proposed capture strategy can be applied to elongated asteroids. Numerical simulations validate that the proposed capture strategy is applicable for the binary asteroid 90 Antiope and the elongated asteroid 216 Kleopatra.

A static-cidal assay for Trypanosoma brucei to aid hit prioritisation for progression into drug discovery programmes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manu De Rycker

Full Text Available Human African Trypanosomiasis is a vector-borne disease of sub-Saharan Africa that causes significant morbidity and mortality. Current therapies have many drawbacks, and there is an urgent need for new, better medicines. Ideally such new treatments should be fast-acting cidal agents that cure the disease in as few doses as possible. Screening assays used for hit-discovery campaigns often do not distinguish cytocidal from cytostatic compounds and further detailed follow-up experiments are required. Such studies usually do not have the throughput required to test the large numbers of hits produced in a primary high-throughput screen. Here, we present a 384-well assay that is compatible with high-throughput screening and provides an initial indication of the cidal nature of a compound. The assay produces growth curves at ten compound concentrations by assessing trypanosome counts at 4, 24 and 48 hours after compound addition. A reduction in trypanosome counts over time is used as a marker for cidal activity. The lowest concentration at which cell killing is seen is a quantitative measure for the cidal activity of the compound. We show that the assay can identify compounds that have trypanostatic activity rather than cidal activity, and importantly, that results from primary high-throughput assays can overestimate the potency of compounds significantly. This is due to biphasic growth inhibition, which remains hidden at low starting cell densities and is revealed in our static-cidal assay. The assay presented here provides an important tool to follow-up hits from high-throughput screening campaigns and avoid progression of compounds that have poor prospects due to lack of cidal activity or overestimated potency.

Logistic regression models

CERN Document Server

Hilbe, Joseph M

2009-01-01

This book really does cover everything you ever wanted to know about logistic regression … with updates available on the author's website. Hilbe, a former national athletics champion, philosopher, and expert in astronomy, is a master at explaining statistical concepts and methods. Readers familiar with his other expository work will know what to expect-great clarity.The book provides considerable detail about all facets of logistic regression. No step of an argument is omitted so that the book will meet the needs of the reader who likes to see everything spelt out, while a person familiar with some of the topics has the option to skip "obvious" sections. The material has been thoroughly road-tested through classroom and web-based teaching. … The focus is on helping the reader to learn and understand logistic regression. The audience is not just students meeting the topic for the first time, but also experienced users. I believe the book really does meet the author's goal … .-Annette J. Dobson, Biometric...

Retro-regression--another important multivariate regression improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Randić, M

2001-01-01

We review the serious problem associated with instabilities of the coefficients of regression equations, referred to as the MRA (multivariate regression analysis) "nightmare of the first kind". This is manifested when in a stepwise regression a descriptor is included or excluded from a regression. The consequence is an unpredictable change of the coefficients of the descriptors that remain in the regression equation. We follow with consideration of an even more serious problem, referred to as the MRA "nightmare of the second kind", arising when optimal descriptors are selected from a large pool of descriptors. This process typically causes at different steps of the stepwise regression a replacement of several previously used descriptors by new ones. We describe a procedure that resolves these difficulties. The approach is illustrated on boiling points of nonanes which are considered (1) by using an ordered connectivity basis; (2) by using an ordering resulting from application of greedy algorithm; and (3) by using an ordering derived from an exhaustive search for optimal descriptors. A novel variant of multiple regression analysis, called retro-regression (RR), is outlined showing how it resolves the ambiguities associated with both "nightmares" of the first and the second kind of MRA.

Modified Regression Correlation Coefficient for Poisson Regression Model

Science.gov (United States)

Kaengthong, Nattacha; Domthong, Uthumporn

2017-09-01

This study gives attention to indicators in predictive power of the Generalized Linear Model (GLM) which are widely used; however, often having some restrictions. We are interested in regression correlation coefficient for a Poisson regression model. This is a measure of predictive power, and defined by the relationship between the dependent variable (Y) and the expected value of the dependent variable given the independent variables [E(Y|X)] for the Poisson regression model. The dependent variable is distributed as Poisson. The purpose of this research was modifying regression correlation coefficient for Poisson regression model. We also compare the proposed modified regression correlation coefficient with the traditional regression correlation coefficient in the case of two or more independent variables, and having multicollinearity in independent variables. The result shows that the proposed regression correlation coefficient is better than the traditional regression correlation coefficient based on Bias and the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE).

BFLCRM: A BAYESIAN FUNCTIONAL LINEAR COX REGRESSION MODEL FOR PREDICTING TIME TO CONVERSION TO ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Eunjee; Zhu, Hongtu; Kong, Dehan; Wang, Yalin; Giovanello, Kelly Sullivan; Ibrahim, Joseph G

2015-12-01

The aim of this paper is to develop a Bayesian functional linear Cox regression model (BFLCRM) with both functional and scalar covariates. This new development is motivated by establishing the likelihood of conversion to Alzheimer's disease (AD) in 346 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) enrolled in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative 1 (ADNI-1) and the early markers of conversion. These 346 MCI patients were followed over 48 months, with 161 MCI participants progressing to AD at 48 months. The functional linear Cox regression model was used to establish that functional covariates including hippocampus surface morphology and scalar covariates including brain MRI volumes, cognitive performance (ADAS-Cog), and APOE status can accurately predict time to onset of AD. Posterior computation proceeds via an efficient Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. A simulation study is performed to evaluate the finite sample performance of BFLCRM.

"Hits" emerge through self-organized coordination in collective response of free agents

Science.gov (United States)

Chakrabarti, Anindya S.; Sinha, Sitabhra

2016-10-01

Individuals in free societies frequently exhibit striking coordination when making independent decisions en masse. Examples include the regular appearance of hit products or memes with substantially higher popularity compared to their otherwise equivalent competitors or extreme polarization in public opinion. Such segregation of events manifests as bimodality in the distribution of collective choices. Here we quantify how apparently independent choices made by individuals result in a significantly polarized but stable distribution of success in the context of the box-office performance of movies and show that it is an emergent feature of a system of noninteracting agents who respond to sequentially arriving signals. The aggregate response exhibits extreme variability amplifying much smaller differences in individual cost of adoption. Due to self-organization of the competitive landscape, most events elicit only a muted response but a few stimulate widespread adoption, emerging as "hits".

Physical actions and work-rest time in men's beach volleyball

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Manuel Palao

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to assess the ball contacts, jumps, hits, work time, and rest ratio in male beach volleyball players in relation to their tactical roles. The sample of this study included 6970 rallies played by 91 beach volleyball players, which corresponded to 179 sets of the 2008 Men's Beach Volleyball World Tour (FIVB. We analyzed: ball contacts, jumps, hits, work time, rest time, set (first, second or third, and player's tactical role (e.g., defense specialist, blocker, or no specialization. A significantly higher number of jumps were executed by blockers. No differences were found in the third set for any of the physical variables studied. This paper provides references about the physical demands (e.g., contacts, jumps, and hits for blockers and defense specialists and temporal patterns of the beach volleyball game (i.e., work and rest time for two-set matches and three-set matches.

NIMROD simulations and physics assessment of possible designs for a next generation Steady Inductive Helicity Injection HIT device

Science.gov (United States)

Penna, James; Morgan, Kyle; Grubb, Isaac; Jarboe, Thomas

2017-10-01

The Helicity Injected Torus - Steady Inductive 3 (HIT-SI3) experiment forms and maintains spheromaks via Steady Inductive Helicity Injection (SIHI) using discrete injectors that inject magnetic helicity via a non-axisymmetric perturbation and drive toroidally symmetric current. Newer designs for larger SIHI-driven spheromaks incorporate a set of injectors connected to a single external manifold to allow more freedom for the toroidal structure of the applied perturbation. Simulations have been carried out using the NIMROD code to assess the effectiveness of various imposed mode structures and injector schema in driving current via Imposed Dynamo Current Drive (IDCD). The results are presented here for varying flux conserver shapes on a device approximately 1.5 times larger than the current HIT-SI3 experiment. The imposed mode structures and spectra of simulated spheromaks are analyzed in order to examine magnetic structure and stability and determine an optimal regime for IDCD sustainment in a large device. The development of scaling laws for manifold operation is also presented, and simulation results are analyzed and assessed as part of the development path for the large scale device.

Bootstrapped neural nets versus regression kriging in the digital mapping of pedological attributes: the automatic and time-consuming perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Langella, Giuliano; Basile, Angelo; Bonfante, Antonello; Manna, Piero; Terribile, Fabio

2013-04-01

Digital soil mapping procedures are widespread used to build two-dimensional continuous maps about several pedological attributes. Our work addressed a regression kriging (RK) technique and a bootstrapped artificial neural network approach in order to evaluate and compare (i) the accuracy of prediction, (ii) the susceptibility of being included in automatic engines (e.g. to constitute web processing services), and (iii) the time cost needed for calibrating models and for making predictions. Regression kriging is maybe the most widely used geostatistical technique in the digital soil mapping literature. Here we tried to apply the EBLUP regression kriging as it is deemed to be the most statistically sound RK flavor by pedometricians. An unusual multi-parametric and nonlinear machine learning approach was accomplished, called BAGAP (Bootstrap aggregating Artificial neural networks with Genetic Algorithms and Principal component regression). BAGAP combines a selected set of weighted neural nets having specified characteristics to yield an ensemble response. The purpose of applying these two particular models is to ascertain whether and how much a more cumbersome machine learning method could be much promising in making more accurate/precise predictions. Being aware of the difficulty to handle objects based on EBLUP-RK as well as BAGAP when they are embedded in environmental applications, we explore the susceptibility of them in being wrapped within Web Processing Services. Two further kinds of aspects are faced for an exhaustive evaluation and comparison: automaticity and time of calculation with/without high performance computing leverage.

Technological progress and regress in pre-industrial times

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aiyar, Shekhar; Dalgaard, Carl-Johan Lars; Moav, Omer

2008-01-01

This paper offers micro-foundations for the dynamic relationship between technology and population in the pre-industrial world, accounting for both technological progress and the hitherto neglected but common phenomenon of technological regress. A positive feedback between population and the adop....... Inventions don't just get adopted once and forever; they have to be constantly practised and transmitted, or useful techniques may be forgotten. Jared Diamond, Ten Thousand Years of Solitude, 1993...

Antiproton annihilation physics annihilation physics in the Monte Carlo particle transport code particle transport code SHIELD-HIT12A

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Taasti, Vicki Trier; Knudsen, Helge; Holzscheiter, Michael

2015-01-01

The Monte Carlo particle transport code SHIELD-HIT12A is designed to simulate therapeutic beams for cancer radiotherapy with fast ions. SHIELD-HIT12A allows creation of antiproton beam kernels for the treatment planning system TRiP98, but first it must be benchmarked against experimental data. An...

Concurrent inhibition of MYC and BCL2 is a potentially effective treatment strategy for double hit and triple hit B-cell lymphomas.

Science.gov (United States)

Cinar, Munevver; Rosenfelt, Fred; Rokhsar, Sepehr; Lopategui, Jean; Pillai, Raju; Cervania, Melissa; Pao, Andy; Cinar, Bekir; Alkan, Serhan

2015-07-01

Double hit lymphoma or triple hit lymphoma (DHL/THL) is a rare form of aggressive B-Cell Lymphoma. Overexpression of MYC, BCL2 or/and BCL6 due to genomic rearrangements are the key molecular features of DHL/THL. Patients with DHL/THL show very aggressive disease course and poor survival due to the lack of effective treatment modalities. Here, we established new THL cell model and assessed its in vitro growth characteristics along with the DHL cell line in response to potent MYC inhibitors, 10058-F4 and JQ-1, and a BCL2 inhibitor, ABT-199, with or without chemotherapeutic agent vincristine or doxorubicin. We found that 10058-F4, JQ-1 or ABT-199 exposure as a single agent inhibited the growth of DHL/THL cells in a dose-dependent manner. Combined exposure of 10058-F4 or JQ-1 and ABT-199 as well as vincristine or doxorubicin markedly suppressed the growth of DHL/THL cells compared with the single treatment. As assessed by multiple approaches, apoptosis induced by ABT-199, 10058-F4 or JQ-1 was underlying cause of the observed growth suppression. These findings suggest that co-inhibition of MYC and BCL2 signaling is a promising therapeutic strategy for patients with DHL/THL lymphomas. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

HitPredict version 4: comprehensive reliability scoring of physical protein-protein interactions from more than 100 species.

Science.gov (United States)

López, Yosvany; Nakai, Kenta; Patil, Ashwini

2015-01-01

HitPredict is a consolidated resource of experimentally identified, physical protein-protein interactions with confidence scores to indicate their reliability. The study of genes and their inter-relationships using methods such as network and pathway analysis requires high quality protein-protein interaction information. Extracting reliable interactions from most of the existing databases is challenging because they either contain only a subset of the available interactions, or a mixture of physical, genetic and predicted interactions. Automated integration of interactions is further complicated by varying levels of accuracy of database content and lack of adherence to standard formats. To address these issues, the latest version of HitPredict provides a manually curated dataset of 398 696 physical associations between 70 808 proteins from 105 species. Manual confirmation was used to resolve all issues encountered during data integration. For improved reliability assessment, this version combines a new score derived from the experimental information of the interactions with the original score based on the features of the interacting proteins. The combined interaction score performs better than either of the individual scores in HitPredict as well as the reliability score of another similar database. HitPredict provides a web interface to search proteins and visualize their interactions, and the data can be downloaded for offline analysis. Data usability has been enhanced by mapping protein identifiers across multiple reference databases. Thus, the latest version of HitPredict provides a significantly larger, more reliable and usable dataset of protein-protein interactions from several species for the study of gene groups. Database URL: http://hintdb.hgc.jp/htp. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press.

Efficiency profile method to study the hit efficiency of drift chambers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abyzov, A.; Bel'kov, A.; Lanev, A.; Spiridonov, A.; Walter, M.; Hulsbergen, W.

2002-01-01

A method based on the usage of efficiency profile is proposed to estimate the hit efficiency of drift chambers with a large number of channels. The performance of the method under real conditions of the detector operation has been tested analysing the experimental data from the HERA-B drift chambers

Regression analysis using dependent Polya trees.

Science.gov (United States)

Schörgendorfer, Angela; Branscum, Adam J

2013-11-30

Many commonly used models for linear regression analysis force overly simplistic shape and scale constraints on the residual structure of data. We propose a semiparametric Bayesian model for regression analysis that produces data-driven inference by using a new type of dependent Polya tree prior to model arbitrary residual distributions that are allowed to evolve across increasing levels of an ordinal covariate (e.g., time, in repeated measurement studies). By modeling residual distributions at consecutive covariate levels or time points using separate, but dependent Polya tree priors, distributional information is pooled while allowing for broad pliability to accommodate many types of changing residual distributions. We can use the proposed dependent residual structure in a wide range of regression settings, including fixed-effects and mixed-effects linear and nonlinear models for cross-sectional, prospective, and repeated measurement data. A simulation study illustrates the flexibility of our novel semiparametric regression model to accurately capture evolving residual distributions. In an application to immune development data on immunoglobulin G antibodies in children, our new model outperforms several contemporary semiparametric regression models based on a predictive model selection criterion. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Antimicrobial combinations: Bliss independence and Loewe additivity derived from mechanistic multi-hit models

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Guozhi; Hozé, Nathanaël; Rolff, Jens

2016-01-01

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and antibiotics reduce the net growth rate of bacterial populations they target. It is relevant to understand if effects of multiple antimicrobials are synergistic or antagonistic, in particular for AMP responses, because naturally occurring responses involve multiple AMPs. There are several competing proposals describing how multiple types of antimicrobials add up when applied in combination, such as Loewe additivity or Bliss independence. These additivity terms are defined ad hoc from abstract principles explaining the supposed interaction between the antimicrobials. Here, we link these ad hoc combination terms to a mathematical model that represents the dynamics of antimicrobial molecules hitting targets on bacterial cells. In this multi-hit model, bacteria are killed when a certain number of targets are hit by antimicrobials. Using this bottom-up approach reveals that Bliss independence should be the model of choice if no interaction between antimicrobial molecules is expected. Loewe additivity, on the other hand, describes scenarios in which antimicrobials affect the same components of the cell, i.e. are not acting independently. While our approach idealizes the dynamics of antimicrobials, it provides a conceptual underpinning of the additivity terms. The choice of the additivity term is essential to determine synergy or antagonism of antimicrobials. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Evolutionary ecology of arthropod antimicrobial peptides’. PMID:27160596

Antimicrobial combinations: Bliss independence and Loewe additivity derived from mechanistic multi-hit models.

Science.gov (United States)

Baeder, Desiree Y; Yu, Guozhi; Hozé, Nathanaël; Rolff, Jens; Regoes, Roland R

2016-05-26

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and antibiotics reduce the net growth rate of bacterial populations they target. It is relevant to understand if effects of multiple antimicrobials are synergistic or antagonistic, in particular for AMP responses, because naturally occurring responses involve multiple AMPs. There are several competing proposals describing how multiple types of antimicrobials add up when applied in combination, such as Loewe additivity or Bliss independence. These additivity terms are defined ad hoc from abstract principles explaining the supposed interaction between the antimicrobials. Here, we link these ad hoc combination terms to a mathematical model that represents the dynamics of antimicrobial molecules hitting targets on bacterial cells. In this multi-hit model, bacteria are killed when a certain number of targets are hit by antimicrobials. Using this bottom-up approach reveals that Bliss independence should be the model of choice if no interaction between antimicrobial molecules is expected. Loewe additivity, on the other hand, describes scenarios in which antimicrobials affect the same components of the cell, i.e. are not acting independently. While our approach idealizes the dynamics of antimicrobials, it provides a conceptual underpinning of the additivity terms. The choice of the additivity term is essential to determine synergy or antagonism of antimicrobials.This article is part of the themed issue 'Evolutionary ecology of arthropod antimicrobial peptides'. © 2016 The Author(s).

A review of vulnerability and risks for schizophrenia: Beyond the two hit hypothesis

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Justin; Eyre, Harris; Jacka, Felice N; Dodd, Seetal; Dean, Olivia; McEwen, Sarah; Debnath, Monojit; McGrath, John; Maes, Michael; Amminger, Paul; McGorry, Patrick D; Pantelis, Christos; Berk, Michael

2016-01-01

Schizophrenia risk has often been conceptualized using a model which requires two hits in order to generate the clinical phenotype—the first as an early priming in a genetically predisposed individual and the second a likely environmental insult. The aim of this paper was to review the literature and reformulate this binary risk-vulnerability model. We sourced the data for this narrative review from the electronic database PUBMED. Our search terms were not limited by language or date of publication. The development of schizophrenia may be driven by genetic vulnerability interacting with multiple vulnerability factors including lowered prenatal vitamin D exposure, viral infections, smoking intelligence quotient, social cognition cannabis use, social defeat, nutrition and childhood trauma. It is likely that these genetic risks, environmental risks and vulnerability factors are cumulative and interactive with each other and with critical periods of neurodevelopmental vulnerability. The development of schizophrenia is likely to be more complex and nuanced than the binary two hit model originally proposed nearly thirty years ago. Risk appears influenced by a more complex process involving genetic risk interfacing with multiple potentially interacting hits and vulnerability factors occurring at key periods of neurodevelopmental activity, which culminate in the expression of disease state. These risks are common across a number of neuropsychiatric and medical disorders, which might inform common preventive and intervention strategies across non-communicable disorders. PMID:27073049

Hitting the nail on the head: Force vectors in verb semantics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goldschmidt, A.; Zwarts, J.

2016-01-01

Hitting the nail on the head: Forces in verb meanings Anja Goldschmidt (UU) & Joost Zwarts (UU) There is a growing recognition of the role of forces in verb meanings, starting with the seminal work of Leonard Talmy (Talmy 1985). In one line of research these forces are analyzed in terms of vectors,

Clinicopathological and genomic analysis of double-hit follicular lymphoma: comparison with high-grade B-cell lymphoma with MYC and BCL2 and/or BCL6 rearrangements.

Science.gov (United States)

Miyaoka, Masashi; Kikuti, Yara Y; Carreras, Joaquim; Ikoma, Haruka; Hiraiwa, Shinichiro; Ichiki, Akifumi; Kojima, Minoru; Ando, Kiyoshi; Yokose, Tomoyuki; Sakai, Rika; Hoshikawa, Masahiro; Tomita, Naoto; Miura, Ikuo; Takata, Katsuyoshi; Yoshino, Tadashi; Takizawa, Jun; Bea, Silvia; Campo, Elias; Nakamura, Naoya

2018-02-01

Most high-grade B-cell lymphomas with MYC and BCL2 and/or BCL6 rearrangements are aggressive B-cell lymphomas. Occasional double-hit follicular lymphomas have been described but the clinicopathological features of these tumors are not well known. To clarify the characteristics of double-hit follicular lymphomas, we analyzed 10 cases of double-hit follicular lymphomas and 15 cases of high-grade B-cell lymphomas with MYC and BCL2 and/or BCL6 rearrangements for clinicopathological and genome-wide copy-number alterations and copy-neutral loss-of-heterozygosity profiles. For double-hit follicular lymphomas, the median age was 67.5 years (range: 48-82 years). The female/male ratio was 2.3. Eight patients presented with advanced clinical stage. The median follow-up time was 20 months (range: 1-132 months). At the end of the follow-up, 8 patients were alive, 2 patients were dead including 1 patient with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma transformation. Rearrangements of MYC/BCL2, MYC/BCL6, and MYC/BCL2/BCL6 were seen in 8, 1, and 1 cases, respectively. The partner of MYC was IGH in 6 cases. There were no cases of histological grade 1, 4 cases of grade 2, 5 cases of grade 3a, and 1 case of grade 3b. Two cases of grade 3a exhibited immunoblast-like morphology. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated 9 cases with ≥50% MYC-positive cells. There was significant difference in MYC intensity (P=0.00004) and MIB-1 positivity (P=0.001) between double-hit follicular lymphomas and high-grade B-cell lymphomas with MYC and BCL2 and/or BCL6 rearrangements. The genome profile of double-hit follicular lymphomas was comparable with conventional follicular lymphomas (GSE67385, n=198) with characteristic gains of 2p25.3-p11.1, 7p22.3-q36.3, 12q11-q24.33, and loss of 18q21.32-q23 (Phit follicular lymphomas had fewer copy-number alterations and minimal common region of gain at 2p16.1 (70%), locus also significant against conventional follicular lymphomas (P=0.0001). In summary, double-hit follicular

Correcting for Blood Arrival Time in Global Mean Regression Enhances Functional Connectivity Analysis of Resting State fMRI-BOLD Signals.

Science.gov (United States)

Erdoğan, Sinem B; Tong, Yunjie; Hocke, Lia M; Lindsey, Kimberly P; deB Frederick, Blaise

2016-01-01

Resting state functional connectivity analysis is a widely used method for mapping intrinsic functional organization of the brain. Global signal regression (GSR) is commonly employed for removing systemic global variance from resting state BOLD-fMRI data; however, recent studies have demonstrated that GSR may introduce spurious negative correlations within and between functional networks, calling into question the meaning of anticorrelations reported between some networks. In the present study, we propose that global signal from resting state fMRI is composed primarily of systemic low frequency oscillations (sLFOs) that propagate with cerebral blood circulation throughout the brain. We introduce a novel systemic noise removal strategy for resting state fMRI data, "dynamic global signal regression" (dGSR), which applies a voxel-specific optimal time delay to the global signal prior to regression from voxel-wise time series. We test our hypothesis on two functional systems that are suggested to be intrinsically organized into anticorrelated networks: the default mode network (DMN) and task positive network (TPN). We evaluate the efficacy of dGSR and compare its performance with the conventional "static" global regression (sGSR) method in terms of (i) explaining systemic variance in the data and (ii) enhancing specificity and sensitivity of functional connectivity measures. dGSR increases the amount of BOLD signal variance being modeled and removed relative to sGSR while reducing spurious negative correlations introduced in reference regions by sGSR, and attenuating inflated positive connectivity measures. We conclude that incorporating time delay information for sLFOs into global noise removal strategies is of crucial importance for optimal noise removal from resting state functional connectivity maps.

Comparing the impact of time displaced and biased precipitation estimates for online updated urban runoff models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borup, Morten; Mikkelsen, Peter Steen; Borup, Morten

2013-01-01

When an online runoff model is updated from system measurements, the requirements of the precipitation input change. Using rain gauge data as precipitation input there will be a displacement between the time when the rain hits the gauge and the time where the rain hits the actual catchment, due...

Prenatal cannabis exposure - The "first hit" to the endocannabinoid system.

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Kimberlei A; Hester, Allison K; McLemore, Gabrielle L

As more states and countries legalize medical and/or adult recreational marijuana use, the incidences of prenatal cannabis exposure (PCE) will likely increase. While young people increasingly view marijuana as innocuous, marijuana preparations have been growing in potency in recent years, potentially creating global clinical, public health, and workforce concerns. Unlike fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, there is no phenotypic syndrome associated with PCE. There is also no preponderance of evidence that PCE causes lifelong cognitive, behavioral, or functional abnormalities, and/or susceptibility to subsequent addiction. However, there is compelling circumstantial evidence, based on the principles of teratology and fetal malprogramming, suggesting that pregnant women should refrain from smoking marijuana. The usage of marijuana during pregnancy perturbs the fetal endogenous cannabinoid signaling system (ECSS), which is present and active from the early embryonic stage, modulating neurodevelopment and continuing this role into adulthood. The ECSS is present in virtually every brain structure and organ system, and there is also evidence that this system is important in the regulation of cardiovascular processes. Endocannabinoids (eCBs) undergird a broad spectrum of processes, including the early stages of fetal neurodevelopment and uterine implantation. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive chemical in cannabis, enters maternal circulation, and readily crosses the placental membrane. THC binds to CB receptors of the fetal ECSS, altering neurodevelopment and possibly rewiring ECSS circuitry. In this review, we discuss the Double-Hit Hypothesis as it relates to PCE. We contend that PCE, similar to a neurodevelopmental teratogen, delivers the first hit to the ECSS, which is compromised in such a way that a second hit (i.e., postnatal stressors) will precipitate the emergence of a specific phenotype. In summary, we conclude that perturbations of the

Time-trend of melanoma screening practice by primary care physicians: a meta-regression analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Valachis, Antonis; Mauri, Davide; Karampoiki, Vassiliki; Polyzos, Nikolaos P; Cortinovis, Ivan; Koukourakis, Georgios; Zacharias, Georgios; Xilomenos, Apostolos; Tsappi, Maria; Casazza, Giovanni

2009-01-01

To assess whether the proportion of primary care physicians implementing full body skin examination (FBSE) to screen for melanoma changed over time. Meta-regression analyses of available data. MEDLINE, ISI, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Fifteen studies surveying 10,336 physicians were included in the analyses. Overall, 15%-82% of them reported to perform FBSE to screen for melanoma. The proportion of physicians using FBSE screening tended to decrease by 1.72% per year (P =0.086). Corresponding annual changes in European, North American, and Australian settings were -0.68% (P =0.494), -2.02% (P =0.044), and +2.59% (P =0.010), respectively. Changes were not influenced by national guide-lines. Considering the increasing incidence of melanoma and other skin malignancies, as well as their relative potential consequences, the FBSE implementation time-trend we retrieved should be considered a worrisome phenomenon.

As the Economic Crisis Hits Home, Colleges Seek Help from Congress

Science.gov (United States)

Field, Kelly

2008-01-01

Congress is crafting a second economic-stimulus bill, and the nation's colleges, hit by the deepening fiscal crisis, want a share of the money. Over the last few weeks, colleges and their lobbyists have bombarded members of Congress with letters and phone calls seeking money for research, student aid, and infrastructure. However, Congress is…

Protective effects of Lagerstroemia speciosa on 3-morpholinosydnonimine (SIN-1)-induced oxidative stress in HIT-T15 pancreatic β cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Jia-Le; Zhao, Xin; Wang, Qiang; Zhang, Ting

2013-05-01

Reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced pancreatic β cell death affects insulin secretion and is important in the pathogenesis of diabetes. Lagerstroemia speciosa, a traditional folk medicine, has been used for t he prevention and treatment of diabetes. However, whether Lagerstroemia speciosa has a cytoprotective effect on pancreatic β cells remains to be elucidated. The present study aimed to investigate the cytoprotective effects of hot water extracts from Lagerstroemia speciosa leaves (LWE) on 3-morpholinosydnonimine (SIN-1)-induced oxidative damage in Syrian hamster pancreatic insulinoma HIT-T15 cells. The HIT-T15 cells were first treated with SIN-1 (50 µM) for 24 h and then co-incubated with LWE for 48 h. SIN-1 significantly decreased HIT-T15 cell viability (PHIT-T15 cells in a dose‑dependent manner. To further investigate the protective effects of LWE on SIN-1‑induced oxidative stress in HIT-T15 cells, the cellular levels of ROS, lipid peroxidation and endogenous antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px), were determined. LWE decreased the intracellular levels of ROS and lipid peroxidation, and increased the activities of antioxidant enzymes. These results suggest that LWE has a cytoprotective effect against SIN-1‑induced oxidative stress in HIT-T15 cells through the inhibition of lipid peroxidation, a decrease in ROS levels and an increase in antioxidant enzyme activity. In addition, LWE increased insulin secretion in SIN-1-treated HIT-T15 cells. Our results suggested that LWE were effective in the treatment of diabetes. Further studies are required to study the anti-diabetic molecular mechanism in a cell model.

Correlation, regression, and cointegration of nonstationary economic time series

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Søren

Yule (1926) introduced the concept of spurious or nonsense correlation, and showed by simulation that for some nonstationary processes, that the empirical correlations seem not to converge in probability even if the processes were independent. This was later discussed by Granger and Newbold (1974......), and Phillips (1986) found the limit distributions. We propose to distinguish between empirical and population correlation coeffients and show in a bivariate autoregressive model for nonstationary variables that the empirical correlation and regression coe¢ cients do not converge to the relevant population...

Forecasting with Dynamic Regression Models

CERN Document Server

Pankratz, Alan

2012-01-01

One of the most widely used tools in statistical forecasting, single equation regression models is examined here. A companion to the author's earlier work, Forecasting with Univariate Box-Jenkins Models: Concepts and Cases, the present text pulls together recent time series ideas and gives special attention to possible intertemporal patterns, distributed lag responses of output to input series and the auto correlation patterns of regression disturbance. It also includes six case studies.

The MIDAS Touch: Mixed Data Sampling Regression Models

OpenAIRE

Ghysels, Eric; Santa-Clara, Pedro; Valkanov, Rossen

2004-01-01

We introduce Mixed Data Sampling (henceforth MIDAS) regression models. The regressions involve time series data sampled at different frequencies. Technically speaking MIDAS models specify conditional expectations as a distributed lag of regressors recorded at some higher sampling frequencies. We examine the asymptotic properties of MIDAS regression estimation and compare it with traditional distributed lag models. MIDAS regressions have wide applicability in macroeconomics and �nance.

Hit discovery of 4-amino-N-(4-(3-(trifluoromethyl)phenoxy)pyrimidin-5-yl)benzamide: A novel EGFR inhibitor from a designed small library.

Science.gov (United States)

Elkamhawy, Ahmed; Paik, Sora; Hassan, Ahmed H E; Lee, Yong Sup; Roh, Eun Joo

2017-12-01

Searching for hit compounds within the huge chemical space resembles the attempt to find a needle in a haystack. Cheminformatics-guided selection of few representative molecules of a rationally designed virtual combinatorial library is a powerful tool to confront this challenge, speed up hit identification and cut off costs. Herein, this approach has been applied to identify hit compounds with novel scaffolds able to inhibit EGFR kinase. From a generated virtual library, six 4-aryloxy-5-aminopyrimidine scaffold-derived compounds were selected, synthesized and evaluated as hit EGFR inhibitors. 4-Aryloxy-5-benzamidopyrimidines inhibited EGFR with IC 50 1.05-5.37 μM. Cell-based assay of the most potent EGFR inhibitor hit (10ac) confirmed its cytotoxicity against different cancerous cells. In spite of no EGFR, HER2 or VEGFR1 inhibition was elicited by 4-aryloxy-5-(thio)ureidopyrimidine derivatives, cell-based evaluation suggested them as antiproliferative hits acting by other mechanism(s). Molecular docking study provided a plausible explanation of incapability of 4-aryloxy-5-(thio)ureidopyrimidines to inhibit EGFR and suggested a reasonable binding mode of 4-aryloxy-5-benzamidopyrimidines which provides a basis to develop more optimized ligands. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dual Regression

OpenAIRE

Spady, Richard; Stouli, Sami

2012-01-01

We propose dual regression as an alternative to the quantile regression process for the global estimation of conditional distribution functions under minimal assumptions. Dual regression provides all the interpretational power of the quantile regression process while avoiding the need for repairing the intersecting conditional quantile surfaces that quantile regression often produces in practice. Our approach introduces a mathematical programming characterization of conditional distribution f...

A review of vulnerability and risks for schizophrenia: Beyond the two hit hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Justin; Eyre, Harris; Jacka, Felice N; Dodd, Seetal; Dean, Olivia; McEwen, Sarah; Debnath, Monojit; McGrath, John; Maes, Michael; Amminger, Paul; McGorry, Patrick D; Pantelis, Christos; Berk, Michael

2016-06-01

Schizophrenia risk has often been conceptualized using a model which requires two hits in order to generate the clinical phenotype-the first as an early priming in a genetically predisposed individual and the second a likely environmental insult. The aim of this paper was to review the literature and reformulate this binary risk-vulnerability model. We sourced the data for this narrative review from the electronic database PUBMED. Our search terms were not limited by language or date of publication. The development of schizophrenia may be driven by genetic vulnerability interacting with multiple vulnerability factors including lowered prenatal vitamin D exposure, viral infections, smoking intelligence quotient, social cognition cannabis use, social defeat, nutrition and childhood trauma. It is likely that these genetic risks, environmental risks and vulnerability factors are cumulative and interactive with each other and with critical periods of neurodevelopmental vulnerability. The development of schizophrenia is likely to be more complex and nuanced than the binary two hit model originally proposed nearly thirty years ago. Risk appears influenced by a more complex process involving genetic risk interfacing with multiple potentially interacting hits and vulnerability factors occurring at key periods of neurodevelopmental activity, which culminate in the expression of disease state. These risks are common across a number of neuropsychiatric and medical disorders, which might inform common preventive and intervention strategies across non-communicable disorders. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On Solving Lq-Penalized Regressions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tracy Zhou Wu

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Lq-penalized regression arises in multidimensional statistical modelling where all or part of the regression coefficients are penalized to achieve both accuracy and parsimony of statistical models. There is often substantial computational difficulty except for the quadratic penalty case. The difficulty is partly due to the nonsmoothness of the objective function inherited from the use of the absolute value. We propose a new solution method for the general Lq-penalized regression problem based on space transformation and thus efficient optimization algorithms. The new method has immediate applications in statistics, notably in penalized spline smoothing problems. In particular, the LASSO problem is shown to be polynomial time solvable. Numerical studies show promise of our approach.

Influence of ITO deposition and post annealing on HIT solar cell structures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhang, D.; Tavakoliyaraki, A.; Wu, Y.; Van Swaaij, R.A.C.M.M.; Zeman, M.

2011-01-01

Heterojunction silicon with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cells that combine advanced thin-film hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and crystalline silicon (c-Si) technologies are promising because of the high performance at low cost. Due to the low conductivity of a-Si:H, indium tin oxide

42 CFR 495.332 - State Medicaid health information technology (HIT) plan requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... and strategic plan for the next 5 years. (2) A description of how the State Medicaid HIT plan will be... processes that enable improved program administration for the Medicaid enterprise; (ii) Includes business... used certified EHR technology during the EHR reporting period, and that they have adopted, implemented...

Current drive experiments in the HIT-II spherical tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jarboe, T.R.; Gu, P.; Isso, V.A.; Jewell, P.E.; McCollam, K.J.; Nelson, B.A.; Ramon, R.; Redd, A.J.; Sieck, P.E.; Smith, R.J.; Nagata, M.; Uyama, T.

2001-01-01

The Helicity Injected Torus (Hit) program has made progress in understanding relaxation and helicity injection current drive. Helicity-conserving MHD activity during the inductive (Ohmic) current ramp demonstrates the profile flattening needed for coaxial helicity injection (CHI). Results from cathode and anode central column (CC) CHI pulses are consistent with the electron locking model of current drive from a pure n=1 mode. Finally, low density CHI, compatible with Ohmic operation, has been achieved. Some enhancement of CHI discharges with the application of Ohmic is shown. (author)

Characterisation of a pre-cell hit detector to be used in single cell irradiation experiments at the Lund Nuclear Microprobe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nilsson, Charlotta; Pallon, Jan; Thungstroem, Goeran; Marrero, Natalia Arteaga; Elfman, Mikael; Kristiansson, Per; Nilsson, Christer; Wegden, Marie

2008-01-01

This paper describes the characterisation of an ultra-thin silicon semiconductor ΔE detector to be used as a pre-cell ion hit detector in single ion experiments on individual, living cells. The characteristics of interest for this specific application are the hit detection efficiency, which has to be close to 100% to enable bombardment with either a single ion or a counted number of ions, the beam spreading, which should be as small as possible to maintain the targeting accuracy, and the vacuum tightness, since the detector is intended, if possible, to be used simultaneously as vacuum window. The hit detection efficiency was shown to be above 99% when detecting alpha particles or 2 MeV protons, the increase in beam size was about 1 μm and the vacuum tightness was comparable to that of the Si 3 N 4 wafer which is normally used as vacuum window, thus the ΔE detector fulfils the main criteria to function properly as a single ion hit detector.

Heparin- induced thrombocytopenia (HIT: a case report of CABG patient

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alireza Jahangirifard

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Heparin- induced thrombocytopenia (HIT is an antibody mediated adverse effect of heparin therapy which is classified into two subtypes, HITI which is non-immune, spontaneously reversible thrombocytopenia and; HITII which is an autoimmune-mediated adverse effect of heparin therapy. In this case report, we described a 65-year old male patient with HITII after coronary artery bypass grafting.Key words: Heparin- induced thrombocytopenia, Heparin- induced thrombosis, coronary artery bypass grafting.

The immune imbalance in the second hit of pancreatitis is independent of IL-17A.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomson, John-Edwin; Brand, Martin; Fonteh, Pascaline

2018-04-01

Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is characterised by two distinct clinical phases. Organ dysfunction and death is initially as a result of a systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). Systemic sepsis from infected pancreatic necrosis characterises the second phase, the so called 'second hit' of acute pancreatitis (AP). An immune imbalance during the second hit is postulated to contribute to the formation of the septic complications that occur in these patients. The pro-inflammatory T-helper (Th) 17 pathway has been shown to be an initiator of early SIRS in AP, however to date its role has not been established in the second hit in AP. Thirty-six patients with mild (n = 16), moderate (n = 10) and severe (n = 10) acute pancreatitis were enrolled. Peripheral blood samples were drawn on days 7, 9, 11 and 13 of illness for analysis of routine clinical markers as well as cytokine analysis. Flow cytometry and a IL-17A ELISA was performed to determine cytokine concentrations. There were no significant differences between days 7, 9, 11 and 13 for either the mild/moderate or SAP groups for IL-17A (CBA assay or ELISA), IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-2 or IL-4. For each of the study days, the mean IL-6 and IL-10 concentrations were significantly higher in the SAP group compared to the mild/moderate group. WCC, CRP and PCT were all significantly higher in severe acute pancreatitis over the study days. An immune imbalance exists in patients with SAP, however secreted IL-17A is not responsible for the second hit in AP. Copyright © 2018 IAP and EPC. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Analyzing Seasonal Variations in Suicide With Fourier Poisson Time-Series Regression: A Registry-Based Study From Norway, 1969-2007.

Science.gov (United States)

Bramness, Jørgen G; Walby, Fredrik A; Morken, Gunnar; Røislien, Jo

2015-08-01

Seasonal variation in the number of suicides has long been acknowledged. It has been suggested that this seasonality has declined in recent years, but studies have generally used statistical methods incapable of confirming this. We examined all suicides occurring in Norway during 1969-2007 (more than 20,000 suicides in total) to establish whether seasonality decreased over time. Fitting of additive Fourier Poisson time-series regression models allowed for formal testing of a possible linear decrease in seasonality, or a reduction at a specific point in time, while adjusting for a possible smooth nonlinear long-term change without having to categorize time into discrete yearly units. The models were compared using Akaike's Information Criterion and analysis of variance. A model with a seasonal pattern was significantly superior to a model without one. There was a reduction in seasonality during the period. Both the model assuming a linear decrease in seasonality and the model assuming a change at a specific point in time were both superior to a model assuming constant seasonality, thus confirming by formal statistical testing that the magnitude of the seasonality in suicides has diminished. The additive Fourier Poisson time-series regression model would also be useful for studying other temporal phenomena with seasonal components. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Failure prognostics by support vector regression of time series data under stationary/nonstationary environmental and operational conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Jie

2015-01-01

This Ph. D. work is motivated by the possibility of monitoring the conditions of components of energy systems for their extended and safe use, under proper practice of operation and adequate policies of maintenance. The aim is to develop a Support Vector Regression (SVR)-based framework for predicting time series data under stationary/nonstationary environmental and operational conditions. Single SVR and SVR-based ensemble approaches are developed to tackle the prediction problem based on both small and large datasets. Strategies are proposed for adaptively updating the single SVR and SVR-based ensemble models in the existence of pattern drifts. Comparisons with other online learning approaches for kernel-based modelling are provided with reference to time series data from a critical component in Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) provided by Electricite de France (EDF). The results show that the proposed approaches achieve comparable prediction results, considering the Mean Squared Error (MSE) and Mean Relative Error (MRE), in much less computation time. Furthermore, by analyzing the geometrical meaning of the Feature Vector Selection (FVS) method proposed in the literature, a novel geometrically interpretable kernel method, named Reduced Rank Kernel Ridge Regression-II (RRKRR-II), is proposed to describe the linear relations between a predicted value and the predicted values of the Feature Vectors (FVs) selected by FVS. Comparisons with several kernel methods on a number of public datasets prove the good prediction accuracy and the easy-of-tuning of the hyper-parameters of RRKRR-II. (author)

HIT-Sanyo: Revolutionary technology, what is the truth and what a hoax? New technology from Japan tested in Germany; ''Sanyo-HIT: Revolutionaere Technik oder mehr Schein als Sein?''. Neue Technik aus Japan in Deutschland erprobt

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rust, T. [Atmosphaere GmbH, Laatzen (Germany); Kohake, D. [Fachhochschule Gelsenkirchen (Germany). Fachbereich Elektrotechnik; Rossner, M. [Fachhochschule Coburg (Germany). Fachbereich Elektrotechnik und Informatik

2004-07-01

The new modules from Japanese manufacturer Sanyo with the HIT-Technology are supposed to have the worlds best efficiency. In addition the manufacturer claims that by the HIT-Technology the modules supply more energy output compared to conventional crystalline solar modules. This article tries to prove these statements by outdoor investigation. Measurements of one grid connected system, which contains Sanyo, Kyocera and Ersol modules, show that Sanyo modules have at least 7% more energy output than the other modules. DC-measurements at Sanyo and BP modules even prove that due to the low temperature coefficient the Sanyo modules cope better with high cell temperatures compared to the BP ones. In addition the inspection sheets given by Sanyo seem to contain lower power data than determined in field measurements which may be caused by the different spectral consistence of the test light in Japan. The data collected during the second half of 2003 reveals that systems with Sanyo modules can provide 7% and more plus of energy output than systems with other well-known modules. Nevertheless it will be interesting to gather long time data of plants with Sanyo modules in order to achieve a statement of how the energy output evolves during the period of at least one year. (orig.)

Hit and lead criteria in drug discovery for infectious diseases of the developing world.

Science.gov (United States)

Katsuno, Kei; Burrows, Jeremy N; Duncan, Ken; Hooft van Huijsduijnen, Rob; Kaneko, Takushi; Kita, Kiyoshi; Mowbray, Charles E; Schmatz, Dennis; Warner, Peter; Slingsby, B T

2015-11-01

Reducing the burden of infectious diseases that affect people in the developing world requires sustained collaborative drug discovery efforts. The quality of the chemical starting points for such projects is a key factor in improving the likelihood of clinical success, and so it is important to set clear go/no-go criteria for the progression of hit and lead compounds. With this in mind, the Japanese Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund convened with experts from the Medicines for Malaria Venture, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative and the TB Alliance, together with representatives from the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation, to set disease-specific criteria for hits and leads for malaria, tuberculosis, visceral leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. Here, we present the agreed criteria and discuss the underlying rationale.

Effects of panaxadiol saponins on contents of TNF-α and IL-6 in two-hit rat models with hemorrhage and lipopolysaech

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Zhenxiang; Ding Yanhua; Li Lu; Zhao Xuejian

2005-01-01

Objective: To explore the changes of serum TNF-α and IL-6 contents in the two-hit rat models with hemorrhage and lipopolysaech (LPS) and the effects of panaxadiol saponins (PDS) on TNF-α and contents IL-6. Methods: Adult Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: sham operational group (S), hemorrhage group (H), two-hit group with hemorrhage and LPS groups (HL), Dexamethasone pretreatment group (HLD), PDS pretreatment group (HLP). The rat models were made by hemorrhagic shock as the first hit and with endotoxin as the second hit. Then the rats were killed after 6 h. The contents of serum TNF-α and IL-6 in rats were measured by radioimmunoassay. Results: The serum TNF-α and IL-6 contents in HL group were increased significantly compared with S group or H group (P<0.001). The TNF-α and IL-6 contents in HLP group and HLD group were significantly lower than those in HL group (P<0.01). Conclusion: LPS can increase significantly the contents of serum TNF-α and IL-6 in rats with hemorrhagic shock. PDS can inhibit the release of serum TNF-α and IL-6, and has the same effects with DEX to protect against the tissue injuries of two-hit rats with hemorrhage and LPS. (authors)

Anti-diabetic potential of the essential oil of Pinus koraiensis leaves toward streptozotocin-treated mice and HIT-T15 pancreatic β cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Joo, Hye-Eun; Lee, Hyo-Jung; Sohn, Eun Jung; Lee, Min-Ho; Ko, Hyun-Suk; Jeong, Soo-Jin; Lee, Hyo-Jeong; Kim, Sung-Hoon

2013-01-01

The metabolic syndrome creates risk factors for coronary heart disease, diabetes, fatty liver, obesity and several cancers. Our group has already reported that the essential oil from leaves of Pinus koraiensis SIEB (EOPK) exerted antihyperlipidemic effects by upregulating the low-density lipoprotein receptor and inhibiting acyl-coenzyme A, cholesterol acyltransferases. We evaluated in the current study the anti-diabetic effects of EOPK on mice with streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type I diabetes and on HIT-T15 pancreatic β cells. EOPK significantly protected HIT-T15 cells from STZ-induced cytotoxicity and reduced the blood glucose level in STZ-induced diabetic mice when compared with the untreated control. EOPK consistently and significantly suppressed the α-amylase activity in a dose-dependent manner and enhanced the expression of insulin at the mRNA level in STZ-treated HIT-T15 cells, while the expression of insulin was attenuated. EOPK also significantly abrogated the population of reactive oxygen species when compared to the untreated control in STZ-treated HIT-T15 cells. Furthermore, EOPK significantly reduce nitric oxide production, suppressed the phosphorylation of endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase and suppressed the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in STZ-treated HIT-T15 cells, implying its potential application to diabetic retinopathy. Overall, our findings suggest that EOPK had hypoglycemic potential by inhibiting reactive oxygene species (ROS), endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) and VEGF in STZ-treated mice and HIT-T15 pancreatic β cells as a potent anti-diabetic agent.

Two-fluid (plasma-neutral) Extended-MHD simulations of spheromak configurations in the HIT-SI experiment with PSI-Tet

Science.gov (United States)

Sutherland, D. A.; Hansen, C. J.; Jarboe, T. R.

2017-10-01

A self-consistent, two-fluid (plasma-neutral) dynamic neutral model has been implemented into the 3-D, Extended-MHD code PSI-Tet. A monatomic, hydrogenic neutral fluid reacts with a plasma fluid through elastic scattering collisions and three inelastic collision reactions: electron-impact ionization, radiative recombination, and resonant charge-exchange. Density, momentum, and energy are evolved for both the plasma and neutral species. The implemented plasma-neutral model in PSI-Tet is being used to simulate decaying spheromak configurations in the HIT-SI experimental geometry, which is being compare to two-photon absorption laser induced fluorescence measurements (TALIF) made on the HIT-SI3 experiment. TALIF is used to measure the absolute density and temperature of monatomic deuterium atoms. Neutral densities on the order of 1015 m-3 and neutral temperatures between 0.6-1.7 eV were measured towards the end of decay of spheromak configurations with initial toroidal currents between 10-12 kA. Validation results between TALIF measurements and PSI-Tet simulations with the implemented dynamic neutral model will be presented. Additionally, preliminary dynamic neutral simulations of the HIT-SI/HIT-SI3 spheromak plasmas sustained with inductive helicity injection will be presented. Lastly, potential benefits of an expansion of the two-fluid model into a multi-fluid model that includes multiple neutral species and tracking of charge states will be discussed.

Validation of extended magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the HIT-SI3 experiment using the NIMROD code

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, K. D.; Jarboe, T. R.; Hossack, A. C.; Chandra, R. N.; Everson, C. J.

2017-12-01

The HIT-SI3 experiment uses a set of inductively driven helicity injectors to apply a non-axisymmetric current drive on the edge of the plasma, driving an axisymmetric spheromak equilibrium in a central confinement volume. These helicity injectors drive a non-axisymmetric perturbation that oscillates in time, with relative temporal phasing of the injectors modifying the mode structure of the applied perturbation. A set of three experimental discharges with different perturbation spectra are modelled using the NIMROD extended magnetohydrodynamics code, and comparisons are made to both magnetic and fluid measurements. These models successfully capture the bulk dynamics of both the perturbation and the equilibrium, though disagreements related to the pressure gradients experimentally measured exist.

Rationale and Study Protocol for a Multi-component Health Information Technology (HIT) Screening Tool for Depression and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in the Primary Care Setting

Science.gov (United States)

Biegler, Kelly; Mollica, Richard; Sim, Susan Elliott; Nicholas, Elisa; Chandler, Maria; Ngo-Metzger, Quyen; Paigne, Kittya; Paigne, Sompia; Nguyen, Danh V.; Sorkin, Dara H.

2016-01-01

The prevalence rate of depression in primary care is high. Primary care providers serve as the initial point of contact for the majority of patients with depression, yet, approximately 50% of cases remain unrecognized. The under-diagnosis of depression may be further exacerbated in limited English-language proficient (LEP) populations. Language barriers may result in less discussion of patients’ mental health needs and fewer referrals to mental health services, particularly given competing priorities of other medical conditions and providers’ time pressures. Recent advances in Health Information Technology (HIT) may facilitate novel ways to screen for depression in LEP populations. The purpose of this paper is to describe the rationale and protocol of a clustered-randomized controlled trial that will test the effectiveness of an HIT intervention that provides a multi-component approach to delivering culturally competent, mental health care in the primary care setting. The HIT intervention has four components: 1) web-based provider training, 2) multimedia electronic screening of depression and PTSD in the patients’ primary language, 3) Computer generated risk assessment scores delivered directly to the provider, and 4) clinical decision support. The outcomes of the study include assessing the potential of the HIT intervention to improve screening rates, clinical detection, provider initiation of treatment, and patient outcomes for depression and PTSD among LEP Cambodian refugees who experienced war atrocities and trauma during the Khmer Rouge. This technology has the potential to be adapted to any LEP population in order to facilitate mental health screening and treatment in the primary care setting. PMID:27394385

Regression: A Bibliography.

Science.gov (United States)

Pedrini, D. T.; Pedrini, Bonnie C.

Regression, another mechanism studied by Sigmund Freud, has had much research, e.g., hypnotic regression, frustration regression, schizophrenic regression, and infra-human-animal regression (often directly related to fixation). Many investigators worked with hypnotic age regression, which has a long history, going back to Russian reflexologists.…

Are We There Yet? Applying Thermodynamic and Kinetic Profiling on Embryonic Ectoderm Development (EED) Hit-to-Lead Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ying; Edalji, Rohinton P; Panchal, Sanjay C; Sun, Chaohong; Djuric, Stevan W; Vasudevan, Anil

2017-10-26

It is advocated that kinetic and thermodynamic profiling of bioactive compounds should be incorporated and utilized as complementary tools for hit and lead optimizations in drug discovery. To assess their applications in the EED hit-to-lead optimization process, large amount of thermodynamic and kinetic data were collected and analyzed via isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR), respectively. Slower dissociation rates (k off ) of the lead compounds were observed as the program progressed. Analysis of the kinetic data indicated that compound cellular activity correlated with both K i and k off . Our analysis revealed that ITC data should be interpreted in the context of chiral purity of the compounds. The thermodynamic signatures of the EED aminopyrrolidine compounds were found to be mainly enthalpy driven with improved enthalpic contributions as the program progressed. Our study also demonstrated that significant challenges still exist in utilizing kinetic and thermodynamic parameters for hit selection.

Demonstration of a Fiber Optic Regression Probe

Science.gov (United States)

Korman, Valentin; Polzin, Kurt A.

2010-01-01

The capability to provide localized, real-time monitoring of material regression rates in various applications has the potential to provide a new stream of data for development testing of various components and systems, as well as serving as a monitoring tool in flight applications. These applications include, but are not limited to, the regression of a combusting solid fuel surface, the ablation of the throat in a chemical rocket or the heat shield of an aeroshell, and the monitoring of erosion in long-life plasma thrusters. The rate of regression in the first application is very fast, while the second and third are increasingly slower. A recent fundamental sensor development effort has led to a novel regression, erosion, and ablation sensor technology (REAST). The REAST sensor allows for measurement of real-time surface erosion rates at a discrete surface location. The sensor is optical, using two different, co-located fiber-optics to perform the regression measurement. The disparate optical transmission properties of the two fiber-optics makes it possible to measure the regression rate by monitoring the relative light attenuation through the fibers. As the fibers regress along with the parent material in which they are embedded, the relative light intensities through the two fibers changes, providing a measure of the regression rate. The optical nature of the system makes it relatively easy to use in a variety of harsh, high temperature environments, and it is also unaffected by the presence of electric and magnetic fields. In addition, the sensor could be used to perform optical spectroscopy on the light emitted by a process and collected by fibers, giving localized measurements of various properties. The capability to perform an in-situ measurement of material regression rates is useful in addressing a variety of physical issues in various applications. An in-situ measurement allows for real-time data regarding the erosion rates, providing a quick method for

Parameter inference from hitting times for perturbed Brownian motion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tamborrino, Massimiliano; Ditlevsen, Susanne; Lansky, Peter

2015-01-01

.g. the political conflict finishes, the industrial component breaks down or the person dies. Imagine an intervention, e.g., a political decision, maintenance of a component or a medical treatment, is initiated to the process before the event occurs. How can we evaluate whether the intervention had an effect......A latent internal process describes the state of some system, e.g. the social tension in a political conflict, the strength of an industrial component or the health status of a person. When this process reaches a predefined threshold, the process terminates and an observable event occurs, e......? To answer this question we describe the effect of the intervention through parameter changes of the law governing the internal process. Then, the time interval between the start of the process and the final event is divided into two subintervals: the time from the start to the instant of intervention...

Time series linear regression of half-hourly radon levels in a residence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hull, D.A.

1990-01-01

This paper uses time series linear regression modelling to assess the impact of temperature and pressure differences on the radon measured in the basement and in the basement drain of a research house in the Princeton area of New Jersey. The models examine half-hour averages of several climate and house parameters for several periods of up to 11 days. The drain radon concentrations follow a strong diurnal pattern that shifts 12 hours in phase between the summer and the fall seasons. This shift can be linked both to the change in temperature differences between seasons and to an experiment which involved sealing the connection between the drain and the basement. We have found that both the basement and the drain radon concentrations are correlated to basement-outdoor and soil-outdoor temperature differences (the coefficient of determination varies between 0.6 and 0.8). The statistical models for the summer periods clearly describe a physical system where the basement drain pumps radon in during the night and sucks radon out during the day

Fragment-assisted hit investigation involving integrated HTS and fragment screening: Application to the identification of phosphodiesterase 10A (PDE10A) inhibitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Varnes, Jeffrey G; Geschwindner, Stefan; Holmquist, Christopher R; Forst, Janet; Wang, Xia; Dekker, Niek; Scott, Clay W; Tian, Gaochao; Wood, Michael W; Albert, Jeffrey S

2016-01-01

Fragment-based drug design (FBDD) relies on direct elaboration of fragment hits and typically requires high resolution structural information to guide optimization. In fragment-assisted drug discovery (FADD), fragments provide information to guide selection and design but do not serve as starting points for elaboration. We describe FADD and high-throughput screening (HTS) campaign strategies conducted in parallel against PDE10A where fragment hit co-crystallography was not available. The fragment screen led to prioritized fragment hits (IC50's ∼500μM), which were used to generate a hypothetical core scaffold. Application of this scaffold as a filter to HTS output afforded a 4μM hit, which, after preparation of a small number of analogs, was elaborated into a 16nM lead. This approach highlights the strength of FADD, as fragment methods were applied despite the absence of co-crystallographical information to efficiently identify a lead compound for further optimization. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Parameter inference from hitting times for perturbed Brownian motion

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Tamborrino, M.; Ditlevsen, S.; Lánský, Petr

2015-01-01

Roč. 21, č. 3 (2015), s. 331-352 ISSN 1380-7870 Institutional support: RVO:67985823 Keywords : first passage times * maximum likelihood estimation * Wiener proces * degradation proces * effect of intervention * survival analysis Subject RIV: BD - Theory of Information Impact factor: 0.810, year: 2015

Scientific impact: the story of your big hit

Science.gov (United States)

Sinatra, Roberta; Wang, Dashun; Deville, Pierre; Song, Chaoming; Barabasi, Albert-Laszlo

2014-03-01

A gradual increase in performance through learning and practice characterize most trades, from sport to music or engineering, and common sense suggests this to be true in science as well. This prompts us to ask: what are the precise patterns that lead to scientific excellence? Does performance indeed improve throughout a scientific career? Are there quantifiable signs of an impending scientific hit? Using citation-based measures as a proxy of impact, we show that (i) major discoveries are not preceded by works of increasing impact, nor are followed by work of higher impact, (ii) the precise time ranking of the highest impact work in a scientist's career is uniformly random, with the higher probability to have a major discovery in the middle of scientific careers being due only to changes in productivity, (iii) there is a strong correlation between the highest impact work and average impact of a scientist's work. These findings suggest that the impact of a paper is drawn randomly from an impact distribution that is unique for each scientist. We present a model which allows to reconstruct the individual impact distribution, making possible to create synthetic careers that exhibit the same properties of the real data and to define a ranking based on the overall impact of a scientist. RS acknowledges support from the James McDonnell Foundation.

FedWeb Greatest Hits: Presenting the New Test Collection for Federated Web Search

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Demeester, Thomas; Trieschnigg, Rudolf Berend; Zhou, Ke; Nguyen, Dong-Phuong; Hiemstra, Djoerd

This paper presents 'FedWeb Greatest Hits', a large new test collection for research in web information retrieval. As a combination and extension of the datasets used in the TREC Federated Web Search Track, this collection opens up new research possibilities on federated web search challenges, as

riskRegression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ozenne, Brice; Sørensen, Anne Lyngholm; Scheike, Thomas

2017-01-01

In the presence of competing risks a prediction of the time-dynamic absolute risk of an event can be based on cause-specific Cox regression models for the event and the competing risks (Benichou and Gail, 1990). We present computationally fast and memory optimized C++ functions with an R interface......-product we obtain fast access to the baseline hazards (compared to survival::basehaz()) and predictions of survival probabilities, their confidence intervals and confidence bands. Confidence intervals and confidence bands are based on point-wise asymptotic expansions of the corresponding statistical...

Advanced statistics: linear regression, part I: simple linear regression.

Science.gov (United States)

Marill, Keith A

2004-01-01

Simple linear regression is a mathematical technique used to model the relationship between a single independent predictor variable and a single dependent outcome variable. In this, the first of a two-part series exploring concepts in linear regression analysis, the four fundamental assumptions and the mechanics of simple linear regression are reviewed. The most common technique used to derive the regression line, the method of least squares, is described. The reader will be acquainted with other important concepts in simple linear regression, including: variable transformations, dummy variables, relationship to inference testing, and leverage. Simplified clinical examples with small datasets and graphic models are used to illustrate the points. This will provide a foundation for the second article in this series: a discussion of multiple linear regression, in which there are multiple predictor variables.

Enhancing hit identification in Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug discovery using validated dual-event Bayesian models.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sean Ekins

Full Text Available High-throughput screening (HTS in whole cells is widely pursued to find compounds active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb for further development towards new tuberculosis (TB drugs. Hit rates from these screens, usually conducted at 10 to 25 µM concentrations, typically range from less than 1% to the low single digits. New approaches to increase the efficiency of hit identification are urgently needed to learn from past screening data. The pharmaceutical industry has for many years taken advantage of computational approaches to optimize compound libraries for in vitro testing, a practice not fully embraced by academic laboratories in the search for new TB drugs. Adapting these proven approaches, we have recently built and validated Bayesian machine learning models for predicting compounds with activity against Mtb based on publicly available large-scale HTS data from the Tuberculosis Antimicrobial Acquisition Coordinating Facility. We now demonstrate the largest prospective validation to date in which we computationally screened 82,403 molecules with these Bayesian models, assayed a total of 550 molecules in vitro, and identified 124 actives against Mtb. Individual hit rates for the different datasets varied from 15-28%. We have identified several FDA approved and late stage clinical candidate kinase inhibitors with activity against Mtb which may represent starting points for further optimization. The computational models developed herein and the commercially available molecules derived from them are now available to any group pursuing Mtb drug discovery.

A joint logistic regression and covariate-adjusted continuous-time Markov chain model.

Science.gov (United States)

Rubin, Maria Laura; Chan, Wenyaw; Yamal, Jose-Miguel; Robertson, Claudia Sue

2017-12-10

The use of longitudinal measurements to predict a categorical outcome is an increasingly common goal in research studies. Joint models are commonly used to describe two or more models simultaneously by considering the correlated nature of their outcomes and the random error present in the longitudinal measurements. However, there is limited research on joint models with longitudinal predictors and categorical cross-sectional outcomes. Perhaps the most challenging task is how to model the longitudinal predictor process such that it represents the true biological mechanism that dictates the association with the categorical response. We propose a joint logistic regression and Markov chain model to describe a binary cross-sectional response, where the unobserved transition rates of a two-state continuous-time Markov chain are included as covariates. We use the method of maximum likelihood to estimate the parameters of our model. In a simulation study, coverage probabilities of about 95%, standard deviations close to standard errors, and low biases for the parameter values show that our estimation method is adequate. We apply the proposed joint model to a dataset of patients with traumatic brain injury to describe and predict a 6-month outcome based on physiological data collected post-injury and admission characteristics. Our analysis indicates that the information provided by physiological changes over time may help improve prediction of long-term functional status of these severely ill subjects. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A simple approach to power and sample size calculations in logistic regression and Cox regression models.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaeth, Michael; Skovlund, Eva

2004-06-15

For a given regression problem it is possible to identify a suitably defined equivalent two-sample problem such that the power or sample size obtained for the two-sample problem also applies to the regression problem. For a standard linear regression model the equivalent two-sample problem is easily identified, but for generalized linear models and for Cox regression models the situation is more complicated. An approximately equivalent two-sample problem may, however, also be identified here. In particular, we show that for logistic regression and Cox regression models the equivalent two-sample problem is obtained by selecting two equally sized samples for which the parameters differ by a value equal to the slope times twice the standard deviation of the independent variable and further requiring that the overall expected number of events is unchanged. In a simulation study we examine the validity of this approach to power calculations in logistic regression and Cox regression models. Several different covariate distributions are considered for selected values of the overall response probability and a range of alternatives. For the Cox regression model we consider both constant and non-constant hazard rates. The results show that in general the approach is remarkably accurate even in relatively small samples. Some discrepancies are, however, found in small samples with few events and a highly skewed covariate distribution. Comparison with results based on alternative methods for logistic regression models with a single continuous covariate indicates that the proposed method is at least as good as its competitors. The method is easy to implement and therefore provides a simple way to extend the range of problems that can be covered by the usual formulas for power and sample size determination. Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

ANALYSIS MUSIC CONCERTS ADOPTING THE MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF HIT PHENOMENA

OpenAIRE

Kawahata Yasuko; Genda Etsuo; Ishii Akira

2013-01-01

A mathematical model for the hit phenomenon in entertainment within a society is presented as a stochastic process of interactions of human dynamics. In this paper, we analyzed music to the concert.Knowing the cost of advertising the concert is difficult. But exposure to the media of the artist can be seen. We tried to analysis of music concert itself by performing a prediction of reputation of artists during the concert tour from this exposure.In this paper, The world most pop...

Non-linear auto-regressive models for cross-frequency coupling in neural time series

Science.gov (United States)

Tallot, Lucille; Grabot, Laetitia; Doyère, Valérie; Grenier, Yves; Gramfort, Alexandre

2017-01-01

We address the issue of reliably detecting and quantifying cross-frequency coupling (CFC) in neural time series. Based on non-linear auto-regressive models, the proposed method provides a generative and parametric model of the time-varying spectral content of the signals. As this method models the entire spectrum simultaneously, it avoids the pitfalls related to incorrect filtering or the use of the Hilbert transform on wide-band signals. As the model is probabilistic, it also provides a score of the model “goodness of fit” via the likelihood, enabling easy and legitimate model selection and parameter comparison; this data-driven feature is unique to our model-based approach. Using three datasets obtained with invasive neurophysiological recordings in humans and rodents, we demonstrate that these models are able to replicate previous results obtained with other metrics, but also reveal new insights such as the influence of the amplitude of the slow oscillation. Using simulations, we demonstrate that our parametric method can reveal neural couplings with shorter signals than non-parametric methods. We also show how the likelihood can be used to find optimal filtering parameters, suggesting new properties on the spectrum of the driving signal, but also to estimate the optimal delay between the coupled signals, enabling a directionality estimation in the coupling. PMID:29227989

Exploring the multiple-hit hypothesis of preterm white matter damage using diffusion MRI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Madeleine L. Barnett

2018-01-01

Conclusion: This study suggests multiple perinatal risk factors have an independent association with diffuse white matter injury at term equivalent age and exposure to multiple perinatal risk factors exacerbates dMRI defined, clinically significant white matter injury. Our findings support the multiple hit hypothesis for preterm white matter injury.

Hexagonal pixel detector with time encoded binary readout

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoedlmoser, H.; Varner, G.; Cooney, M.

2009-01-01

The University of Hawaii is developing continuous acquisition pixel (CAP) detectors for vertexing applications in lepton colliding experiments such as SuperBelle or ILC. In parallel to the investigation of different technology options such as MAPS or SOI, both analog and binary readout concepts have been tested. First results with a binary readout scheme in which the hit information is time encoded by means of a signal shifting mechanism have recently been published. This paper explains the hit reconstruction for such a binary detector with an emphasis on fake hit reconstruction probabilities in order to evaluate the rate capability in a high background environment such as the planned SuperB factory at KEK. The results show that the binary concept is at least comparable to any analog readout strategy if not better in terms of occupancy. Furthermore, we present a completely new binary readout strategy in which the pixel cells are arranged in a hexagonal grid allowing the use of three independent output directions to reduce reconstruction ambiguities. The new concept uses the same signal shifting mechanism for time encoding, however, in dedicated transfer lines on the periphery of the detector, which enables higher shifting frequencies. Detailed Monte Carlo simulations of full size pixel matrices including hit and BG generation, signal generation, and data reconstruction show that by means of multiple signal transfer lines on the periphery the pixel can be made smaller (higher resolution), the number of output channels and the data volume per triggered event can be reduced dramatically, fake hit reconstruction is lowered to a minimum and the resulting effective occupancies are less than 10 -4 . A prototype detector has been designed in the AMS 0.35μm Opto process and is currently under fabrication.

Near Real-Time Dust Aerosol Detection with Support Vector Machines for Regression

Science.gov (United States)

Rivas-Perea, P.; Rivas-Perea, P. E.; Cota-Ruiz, J.; Aragon Franco, R. A.

2015-12-01

Remote sensing instruments operating in the near-infrared spectrum usually provide the necessary information for further dust aerosol spectral analysis using statistical or machine learning algorithms. Such algorithms have proven to be effective in analyzing very specific case studies or dust events. However, very few make the analysis open to the public on a regular basis, fewer are designed specifically to operate in near real-time to higher resolutions, and almost none give a global daily coverage. In this research we investigated a large-scale approach to a machine learning algorithm called "support vector regression". The algorithm uses four near-infrared spectral bands from NASA MODIS instrument: B20 (3.66-3.84μm), B29 (8.40-8.70μm), B31 (10.78-11.28μm), and B32 (11.77-12.27μm). The algorithm is presented with ground truth from more than 30 distinct reported dust events, from different geographical regions, at different seasons, both over land and sea cover, in the presence of clouds and clear sky, and in the presence of fires. The purpose of our algorithm is to learn to distinguish the dust aerosols spectral signature from other spectral signatures, providing as output an estimate of the probability of a data point being consistent with dust aerosol signatures. During modeling with ground truth, our algorithm achieved more than 90% of accuracy, and the current live performance of the algorithm is remarkable. Moreover, our algorithm is currently operating in near real-time using NASA's Land, Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE) servers, providing a high resolution global overview including 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, and 1km. The near real-time analysis of our algorithm is now available to the general public at http://dust.reev.us and archives of the results starting from 2012 are available upon request.

Multiple linear regression to estimate time-frequency electrophysiological responses in single trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, L; Zhang, Z G; Mouraux, A; Iannetti, G D

2015-05-01

Transient sensory, motor or cognitive event elicit not only phase-locked event-related potentials (ERPs) in the ongoing electroencephalogram (EEG), but also induce non-phase-locked modulations of ongoing EEG oscillations. These modulations can be detected when single-trial waveforms are analysed in the time-frequency domain, and consist in stimulus-induced decreases (event-related desynchronization, ERD) or increases (event-related synchronization, ERS) of synchrony in the activity of the underlying neuronal populations. ERD and ERS reflect changes in the parameters that control oscillations in neuronal networks and, depending on the frequency at which they occur, represent neuronal mechanisms involved in cortical activation, inhibition and binding. ERD and ERS are commonly estimated by averaging the time-frequency decomposition of single trials. However, their trial-to-trial variability that can reflect physiologically-important information is lost by across-trial averaging. Here, we aim to (1) develop novel approaches to explore single-trial parameters (including latency, frequency and magnitude) of ERP/ERD/ERS; (2) disclose the relationship between estimated single-trial parameters and other experimental factors (e.g., perceived intensity). We found that (1) stimulus-elicited ERP/ERD/ERS can be correctly separated using principal component analysis (PCA) decomposition with Varimax rotation on the single-trial time-frequency distributions; (2) time-frequency multiple linear regression with dispersion term (TF-MLRd) enhances the signal-to-noise ratio of ERP/ERD/ERS in single trials, and provides an unbiased estimation of their latency, frequency, and magnitude at single-trial level; (3) these estimates can be meaningfully correlated with each other and with other experimental factors at single-trial level (e.g., perceived stimulus intensity and ERP magnitude). The methods described in this article allow exploring fully non-phase-locked stimulus-induced cortical

Cutaneous double-hit B-cell lymphoma: an aggressive form of B-cell lymphoma with a propensity for cutaneous dissemination.

Science.gov (United States)

Magro, Cynthia M; Wang, Xuan; Subramaniyam, Shivakumar; Darras, Natasha; Mathew, Susan

2014-04-01

Diffuse large cell B-cell lymphoma of the skin is most commonly represented by diffuse large cell variants of primary cutaneous follicle center cell lymphoma and the leg-type lymphoma. In a minority of cases, the infiltrates are an expression of stage 4 disease of established extracutaneous B-cell lymphoma. We describe 3 patients with an aggressive form of B-cell lymphoma secondarily involving the skin. Two of the patients were in the ninth decade of life, whereas 1 patient was 34 years of age. In the elderly patients, there was an antecedent and/or concurrent history of follicular lymphoma, whereas in the younger patient, the tumor was a de novo presentation of this aggressive form of lymphoma. The elderly patients succumbed to their disease within less than a year from the time of diagnosis, whereas 1 patient is alive but with persistent and progressive disease despite chemotherapeutic intervention. The infiltrates in all 3 cases were diffuse and composed of large malignant hematopoietic cells that exhibited a round nucleus with a finely dispersed chromatin. Phenotypically, the tumor cells were Bcl-2 and CD10 positive, whereas Bcl-6 and Mum-1 showed variable positivity. One case showed combined Mum-1 positivity along with an acute lymphoblastic lymphoma phenotype, including the absence of CD20 expression. In each case, there was a c-MYC and BCL2/IGH rearrangement diagnostic of double-hit lymphoma. In one case, there was an additional BCL6 rearrangement, defining what is in essence triple-hit lymphoma. In conclusion, double-hit lymphoma is an aggressive form of B-cell neoplasia resistant to standard chemotherapy regimens, which in many but not all cases represents tumor progression in the setting of a lower grade B-cell malignancy.

A Prospective Virtual Screening Study: Enriching Hit Rates and Designing Focus Libraries To Find Inhibitors of PI3Kδ and PI3Kγ.

Science.gov (United States)

Damm-Ganamet, Kelly L; Bembenek, Scott D; Venable, Jennifer W; Castro, Glenda G; Mangelschots, Lieve; Peeters, Daniëlle C G; Mcallister, Heather M; Edwards, James P; Disepio, Daniel; Mirzadegan, Taraneh

2016-05-12

Here, we report a high-throughput virtual screening (HTVS) study using phosphoinositide 3-kinase (both PI3Kγ and PI3Kδ). Our initial HTVS results of the Janssen corporate database identified small focused libraries with hit rates at 50% inhibition showing a 50-fold increase over those from a HTS (high-throughput screen). Further, applying constraints based on "chemically intuitive" hydrogen bonds and/or positional requirements resulted in a substantial improvement in the hit rates (versus no constraints) and reduced docking time. While we find that docking scoring functions are not capable of providing a reliable relative ranking of a set of compounds, a prioritization of groups of compounds (e.g., low, medium, and high) does emerge, which allows for the chemistry efforts to be quickly focused on the most viable candidates. Thus, this illustrates that it is not always necessary to have a high correlation between a computational score and the experimental data to impact the drug discovery process.

Effects on ontogenesis of Carausius morosus hit by cosmic heavy ions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reitz, G.; Buecker, H.; Ruether, W.

1990-01-01

Among the biological problems that arise in long duration spaceflights, the effects of weightlessness and ionizing radiation appear to be the two main risk factors. Eggs of the stick insect Carausius morosus were exposed to spaceflight conditions during the 12.56 day Biosatellite mission Cosmos 1887. Five different ages were used, representing different sensitivities to radiation and different capacities for regeneration. During spaceflight the eggs continued their development. Already, in the Spacelab D1 mission in 1985, it has been shown that microgravity leads to a reduced hatching rate of eggs exposed during the early steps of development. When the eggs were hit by a heavy ion, a further but not significant reduction of the hatching rate was observed. Hatching was normal for eggs which were exposed on a 1 g reference centrifuge in space. Heavy ion hits caused body anomalies. The combined action of heavy ions and microgravity resulted in an unexpectedly high rate of anomalies. In the experiment on Cosmos 1887 these results were confirmed. Studies on the embryonic development before hatching showed no major difference between flight and ground control specimen, neither in speed of development nor in morphological anomalies. Hatching therefore seems to be the critical point in insect ontogenesis. (author)

The analysis of nonstationary time series using regression, correlation and cointegration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Søren

2012-01-01

There are simple well-known conditions for the validity of regression and correlation as statistical tools. We analyse by examples the effect of nonstationarity on inference using these methods and compare them to model based inference using the cointegrated vector autoregressive model. Finally we...... analyse some monthly data from US on interest rates as an illustration of the methods...

A 96-channel FPGA-based Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC) and fast trigger processor module with multi-hit capability and pipeline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bogdan, Mircea; Frisch, Henry; Heintz, Mary; Paramonov, Alexander; Sanders, Harold; Chappa, Steve; DeMaat, Robert; Klein, Rod; Miao, Ting; Wilson, Peter; Phillips, Thomas J.

2005-01-01

We describe an field-programmable gate arrays based (FPGA), 96-channel, Time-to-Digital converter (TDC) and trigger logic board intended for use with the Central Outer Tracker (COT) [T. Affolder et al., Nucl. Instr. and Meth. A 526 (2004) 249] in the CDF Experiment [The CDF-II detector is described in the CDF Technical Design Report (TDR), FERMILAB-Pub-96/390-E. The TDC described here is intended as a further upgrade beyond that described in the TDR] at the Fermilab Tevatron. The COT system is digitized and read out by 315 TDC cards, each serving 96 wires of the chamber. The TDC is physically configured as a 9U VME card. The functionality is almost entirely programmed in firmware in two Altera Stratix FPGAs. The special capabilities of this device are the availability of 840MHz LVDS inputs, multiple phase-locked clock modules, and abundant memory. The TDC system operates with an input resolution of 1.2ns, a minimum input pulse width of 4.8ns and a minimum separation of 4.8ns between pulses. Each input can accept up to 7 hits per collision. The time-to-digital conversion is done by first sampling each of the 96 inputs in 1.2-ns bins and filling a circular memory; the memory addresses of logical transitions (edges) in the input data are then translated into the time of arrival and width of the COT pulses. Memory pipelines with a depth of 5.5μs allow deadtime-less operation in the first-level trigger; the data are multiple-buffered to diminish deadtime in the second-level trigger. The complete process of edge-detection and filling of buffers for readout takes 12μs. The TDC VME interface allows a 64-bit Chain Block Transfer of multiple boards in a crate with transfer-rates up to 47Mbytes/s. The TDC module also produces prompt trigger data every Tevatron crossing via a deadtimeless fast logic path that can be easily reprogrammed. The trigger bits are clocked onto the P3 VME backplane connector with a 22-ns clock for transmission to the trigger. The full TDC design and

Assessment of HIT Antibody Complex in Hip Fracture Patients Receiving Enoxaparin or Unfractionated Heparin

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Griffin, Justin W; Hopkinson, William J; Rud-Lassen, Michael

2011-01-01

of antiheparin-PF4 antibodies and a greater prevalence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) subtype. Heparin and enoxaparin are capable of generating heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) antibodies in elderly patients undergoing orthopedic surgery but perhaps not to the same extent. When comparing low...

Cost-effectiveness of the HIT programme in patients with schizophrenia and persistent auditory hallucinations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stant, AD; TenVergert, EM; Groen, H; Jenner, JA; Nienhuis, FJ; van de Willige, G; Wiersma, D

Objective: To examine the cost-effectiveness of Hallucination focused Integrative Treatment (HIT) in patients with schizophrenia and a history of persistent auditory hallucinations. Method: Costs, in and outside the health care sector, and outcomes were registered prospectively during a period of 18

Rationale and study protocol for a multi-component Health Information Technology (HIT) screening tool for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in the primary care setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Biegler, Kelly; Mollica, Richard; Sim, Susan Elliott; Nicholas, Elisa; Chandler, Maria; Ngo-Metzger, Quyen; Paigne, Kittya; Paigne, Sompia; Nguyen, Danh V; Sorkin, Dara H

2016-09-01

The prevalence rate of depression in primary care is high. Primary care providers serve as the initial point of contact for the majority of patients with depression, yet, approximately 50% of cases remain unrecognized. The under-diagnosis of depression may be further exacerbated in limited English-language proficient (LEP) populations. Language barriers may result in less discussion of patients' mental health needs and fewer referrals to mental health services, particularly given competing priorities of other medical conditions and providers' time pressures. Recent advances in Health Information Technology (HIT) may facilitate novel ways to screen for depression and other mental health disorders in LEP populations. The purpose of this paper is to describe the rationale and protocol of a clustered randomized controlled trial that will test the effectiveness of an HIT intervention that provides a multi-component approach to delivering culturally competent, mental health care in the primary care setting. The HIT intervention has four components: 1) web-based provider training, 2) multimedia electronic screening of depression and PTSD in the patients' primary language, 3) Computer generated risk assessment scores delivered directly to the provider, and 4) clinical decision support. The outcomes of the study include assessing the potential of the HIT intervention to improve screening rates, clinical detection, provider initiation of treatment, and patient outcomes for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among LEP Cambodian refugees who experienced war atrocities and trauma during the Khmer Rouge. This technology has the potential to be adapted to any LEP population in order to facilitate mental health screening and treatment in the primary care setting. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Predicting Jakarta composite index using hybrid of fuzzy time series and support vector regression models

Science.gov (United States)

Febrian Umbara, Rian; Tarwidi, Dede; Budi Setiawan, Erwin

2018-03-01

The paper discusses the prediction of Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) in Indonesia Stock Exchange. The study is based on JCI historical data for 1286 days to predict the value of JCI one day ahead. This paper proposes predictions done in two stages., The first stage using Fuzzy Time Series (FTS) to predict values of ten technical indicators, and the second stage using Support Vector Regression (SVR) to predict the value of JCI one day ahead, resulting in a hybrid prediction model FTS-SVR. The performance of this combined prediction model is compared with the performance of the single stage prediction model using SVR only. Ten technical indicators are used as input for each model.

Selection and optimization of hits from a high-throughput phenotypic screen against Trypanosoma cruzi.

Science.gov (United States)

Keenan, Martine; Alexander, Paul W; Chaplin, Jason H; Abbott, Michael J; Diao, Hugo; Wang, Zhisen; Best, Wayne M; Perez, Catherine J; Cornwall, Scott M J; Keatley, Sarah K; Thompson, R C Andrew; Charman, Susan A; White, Karen L; Ryan, Eileen; Chen, Gong; Ioset, Jean-Robert; von Geldern, Thomas W; Chatelain, Eric

2013-10-01

Inhibitors of Trypanosoma cruzi with novel mechanisms of action are urgently required to diversify the current clinical and preclinical pipelines. Increasing the number and diversity of hits available for assessment at the beginning of the discovery process will help to achieve this aim. We report the evaluation of multiple hits generated from a high-throughput screen to identify inhibitors of T. cruzi and from these studies the discovery of two novel series currently in lead optimization. Lead compounds from these series potently and selectively inhibit growth of T. cruzi in vitro and the most advanced compound is orally active in a subchronic mouse model of T. cruzi infection. High-throughput screening of novel compound collections has an important role to play in diversifying the trypanosomatid drug discovery portfolio. A new T. cruzi inhibitor series with good drug-like properties and promising in vivo efficacy has been identified through this process.

Ordinary least square regression, orthogonal regression, geometric mean regression and their applications in aerosol science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leng Ling; Zhang Tianyi; Kleinman, Lawrence; Zhu Wei

2007-01-01

Regression analysis, especially the ordinary least squares method which assumes that errors are confined to the dependent variable, has seen a fair share of its applications in aerosol science. The ordinary least squares approach, however, could be problematic due to the fact that atmospheric data often does not lend itself to calling one variable independent and the other dependent. Errors often exist for both measurements. In this work, we examine two regression approaches available to accommodate this situation. They are orthogonal regression and geometric mean regression. Comparisons are made theoretically as well as numerically through an aerosol study examining whether the ratio of organic aerosol to CO would change with age

Visual strategies underpinning the development of visual-motor expertise when hitting a ball

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sarpeshkar, Vishnu; Abernethy, B.; Mann, D.L.

2017-01-01

It is well known that skilled batters in fast-ball sports do not align their gaze with the ball throughout ball-flight, but instead adopt a unique sequence of eye and head movements that contribute toward their skill. However, much of what we know about visual-motor behavior in hitting is based on

Determinants of LSIL Regression in Women from a Colombian Cohort

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Molano, Monica; Gonzalez, Mauricio; Gamboa, Oscar; Ortiz, Natasha; Luna, Joaquin; Hernandez, Gustavo; Posso, Hector; Murillo, Raul; Munoz, Nubia

2010-01-01

Objective: To analyze the role of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and other risk factors in the regression of cervical lesions in women from the Bogota Cohort. Methods: 200 HPV positive women with abnormal cytology were included for regression analysis. The time of lesion regression was modeled using methods for interval censored survival time data. Median duration of total follow-up was 9 years. Results: 80 (40%) women were diagnosed with Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance (ASCUS) or Atypical Glandular Cells of Undetermined Significance (AGUS) while 120 (60%) were diagnosed with Low Grade Squamous Intra-epithelial Lesions (LSIL). Globally, 40% of the lesions were still present at first year of follow up, while 1.5% was still present at 5 year check-up. The multivariate model showed similar regression rates for lesions in women with ASCUS/AGUS and women with LSIL (HR= 0.82, 95% CI 0.59-1.12). Women infected with HR HPV types and those with mixed infections had lower regression rates for lesions than did women infected with LR types (HR=0.526, 95% CI 0.33-0.84, for HR types and HR=0.378, 95% CI 0.20-0.69, for mixed infections). Furthermore, women over 30 years had a higher lesion regression rate than did women under 30 years (HR1.53, 95% CI 1.03-2.27). The study showed that the median time for lesion regression was 9 months while the median time for HPV clearance was 12 months. Conclusions: In the studied population, the type of infection and the age of the women are critical factors for the regression of cervical lesions.

The Analysis of Nonstationary Time Series Using Regression, Correlation and Cointegration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Søren Johansen

2012-06-01

Full Text Available There are simple well-known conditions for the validity of regression and correlation as statistical tools. We analyse by examples the effect of nonstationarity on inference using these methods and compare them to model based inference using the cointegrated vector autoregressive model. Finally we analyse some monthly data from US on interest rates as an illustration of the methods.

Polynomial regression analysis and significance test of the regression function

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Zhengming; Zhao Juan; He Shengping

2012-01-01

In order to analyze the decay heating power of a certain radioactive isotope per kilogram with polynomial regression method, the paper firstly demonstrated the broad usage of polynomial function and deduced its parameters with ordinary least squares estimate. Then significance test method of polynomial regression function is derived considering the similarity between the polynomial regression model and the multivariable linear regression model. Finally, polynomial regression analysis and significance test of the polynomial function are done to the decay heating power of the iso tope per kilogram in accord with the authors' real work. (authors)

Exploration of 'over kill effect' of high-LET Ar- and Fe-ions by evaluating the fraction of non-hit cell and interphase death

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mehnati, P.; Sasaki, Hiroshi; Morimoto, Shigeko; Yatagai, Fumio; Hanaoka, Fumio; Furusawa, Yoshiya; Kanai, Tatsuaki; Kobayashi, Yasuhiko; Wada, Seiichi

2005-01-01

The reason why relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for cell killing fell to less than unity (1.0) with very high-linear energy transfer (LET) heavy-ions ( 40 Ar: 1,640 keV/μm; 56 Fe: 780, 1,200, 2,000 keV/μm) was explored by evaluating the fraction of non-hit cell (time-lapse observation) and cells undergoing interphase death (calculation based on our previous data). Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were exposed to 4 Gy (30% survival dose) of Ar (1,640 keV/μm) or Fe-ions (2,000 keV/μm). About 20% of all cells were judged to be non-hit, and about 10% cells survived radiation damage. About 70% cells died after dividing at least once (reproductive death) or without dividing (interphase death). RBE for reproductive (RBE[R]) and interphase (RBE[I]) death showed a similar LET dependence with maximum around 200 keV/μm. In this LET region, at 30% survival level, about 10% non-survivors underwent interphase death. The corresponding value for very high-LET Fe-ions (2,000 keV/μm) was not particularly high (-15%), whereas that for X-rays was less than 3%. However, reproductive death (67%) predominated over interphase death (33%) even in regard to rather severely damaged cells (1% survival level) after exposure to Fe-ions (2,000 keV/μm). These indicate that interphase death is a type of cell death characteristic for the cells exposed to high-LET radiation and is not caused by 'cellular over kill effect'. Both NHF37 (non-hit fraction at 37% survival) and inactivation cross-section for reproductive death (σ[R]) began to increase when LET exceeded 100 keV/μm. The exclusion of non-hit fraction in the calculation of surviving fraction partially prevented the fall of RBE[R] when LET exceeded 200 keV/μm. On the other hand, the mean number of lethal damage per unit dose (NLD/Gy) showed the same LET-dependent pattern as RBE[R]. These suggest that the increase in non-hit fraction and σ[R] with an increasing LET is caused by enhanced clustering of ionization and DNA damage

TJC: HCOs need to be on alert for HIT problems related to sociotechnical factors, take steps to improve safety culture, process, and leadership.

Science.gov (United States)

2015-06-01

Noting that too many errors related to health information technology (HIT) are resulting in adverse consequences, The Joint Commission (TJC) has issued a Sentinel Event Alert, urging health care providers to take steps to improve their safety culture, approach to process improvement, and leadership in this area. In this latest alert, the accrediting agency is taking particular aim at risks posed by sociotechnical factors--or the ways in which HIT is implemented and used. Experts say that many of these risks are, in fact, exemplified at a higher level in the emergency setting, where providers are under constant pressure to see more patients and move them though the system faster. In an analysis of 3,375 sentinel events that resulted in permanent patient harm or death between January 1, 2010, and June 20, 2013, The Joint Commission (TJC) found that 120 events included HIT-related contributing factors. Many of the problems cited by TJC relate to orders or medicines being prescribed for the wrong patients. These can result from toggling errors or pop-up screens where providers are asked to click on the appropriate patient or medicine, and they mistakenly click on the wrong selection. In the ED, experts recommend the creation of a multidisciplinary performance improvement group to continuously monitor the ED information system (EDIS), recognize problems, and work with the vendor to resolve them. Also important is a quick and easy way for providers to report HIT-related problems. Experts add that emergency providers need to be fully engaged in the process of selecting HIT that they will be using, and that health care organizations should arrange for usability assessments before purchasing HIT.

Two-hit model of schizophrenia induced by neonatal immune activation and peripubertal stress in rats: Study of sex differences and brain oxidative alterations.

Science.gov (United States)

Monte, Aline Santos; Mello, Bruna Stefânia Ferreira; Borella, Vládia Célia Moreira; da Silva Araujo, Tatiane; da Silva, Francisco Eliclécio Rodrigues; Sousa, Francisca Cléa F de; de Oliveira, Antônio Carlos Pinheiro; Gama, Clarissa Severino; Seeman, Mary V; Vasconcelos, Silvânia Maria Mendes; Lucena, David Freitas De; Macêdo, Danielle

2017-07-28

Schizophrenia is considered to be a developmental disorder with distinctive sex differences. Aiming to simulate the vulnerability of the third trimester of human pregnancy to the developmental course of schizophrenia, an animal model was developed, using neonatal poly(I:C) as a first-hit, and peripubertal stress as a second-hit, i.e. a two-hit model. Since, to date, there have been no references to sex differences in the two-hit model, our study sought to determine sex influences on the development of behavior and brain oxidative change in adult rats submitted to neonatal exposure to poly(I:C) on postnatal days 5-7 as well as peripubertal unpredictable stress (PUS). Our results showed that adult two-hit rats present sex-specific behavioral alterations, with females showing more pronounced deficits in prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex and hyperlocomotion, while males showing more deficits in social interaction. Male and female animals exhibited similar working memory deficits. The levels of the endogenous antioxidant, reduced glutathione, were decreased in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of both male and female animals exposed to both poly(I:C) and poly(I:C)+PUS. Only females presented decrements in GSH levels in the striatum. Nitrite levels were increased in the PFC of male and in the striatum of female poly(I:C)+PUS rats. Increased lipid peroxidation was observed in the PFC of females and in the striatum of males and females exposed to poly(I:C) and poly(I:C)+PUS. Thus, the present study presents evidence for sex differences in behavior and oxidative brain change induced by a two-hit model of schizophrenia. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tanzania Health Information Technology (T-HIT) System: Pilot Test of a Tablet-Based System to Improve Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV.

Science.gov (United States)

Bull, Sheana; Thomas, Deborah Sk; Nyanza, Elias C; Ngallaba, Sospatro E

2018-01-15

The prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV requires innovative solutions. Although routine monitoring is effective in some areas, standardized and easy-to-scale solutions to identify and monitor pregnant women, test them for HIV, and treat them and their children is still lacking. Mobile health (mHealth) offers opportunities for surveillance and reporting in rural areas of low- and middle-income countries. The aim of this study was to document the preliminary impacts of the Tanzania Health Information Technology (T-HIT) system mHealth intervention aimed at health workers for PMTCT care delivery and capacity building in a rural area of Tanzania. We developed T-HIT as a tablet-based system for an electronic data collection system designed to capture and report PMTCT data during antenatal, delivery, and postnatal visits in Misungwi, Tanzania. T-HIT was tested by health workers in a pilot randomized trial comparing seven sites using T-HIT assigned at random to seven control sites; all sites maintained standard paper record-keeping during the pilot intervention period. We compared numbers of antenatal visits, number of HIV tests administered, and women testing positive across all sites. Health workers recorded data from antenatal visits for 1530 women; of these, 695 (45.42%) were tested for HIV and 3.59% (55/1530) tested positive. Health workers were unable to conduct an HIV test for 103 women (6.73%, 103/1530) because of lack of reagent, which is not captured on paper logs. There was no difference in the activity level for testing when comparing sites T-HIT to non-T-HIT sites. We observed a significant postintervention increase in the numbers of women testing positive for HIV compared with the preintervention period (P=.04), but this was likely not attributable to the T-HIT system. T-HIT had a high degree of acceptability and feasibility and is perceived as useful by health workers, who documented more antenatal visits during the pilot intervention

Tanzania Health Information Technology (T-HIT) System: Pilot Test of a Tablet-Based System to Improve Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV

Science.gov (United States)

Bull, Sheana; Nyanza, Elias C; Ngallaba, Sospatro E

2018-01-01

Background The prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV requires innovative solutions. Although routine monitoring is effective in some areas, standardized and easy-to-scale solutions to identify and monitor pregnant women, test them for HIV, and treat them and their children is still lacking. Mobile health (mHealth) offers opportunities for surveillance and reporting in rural areas of low- and middle-income countries. Objective The aim of this study was to document the preliminary impacts of the Tanzania Health Information Technology (T-HIT) system mHealth intervention aimed at health workers for PMTCT care delivery and capacity building in a rural area of Tanzania. Methods We developed T-HIT as a tablet-based system for an electronic data collection system designed to capture and report PMTCT data during antenatal, delivery, and postnatal visits in Misungwi, Tanzania. T-HIT was tested by health workers in a pilot randomized trial comparing seven sites using T-HIT assigned at random to seven control sites; all sites maintained standard paper record-keeping during the pilot intervention period. We compared numbers of antenatal visits, number of HIV tests administered, and women testing positive across all sites. Results Health workers recorded data from antenatal visits for 1530 women; of these, 695 (45.42%) were tested for HIV and 3.59% (55/1530) tested positive. Health workers were unable to conduct an HIV test for 103 women (6.73%, 103/1530) because of lack of reagent, which is not captured on paper logs. There was no difference in the activity level for testing when comparing sites T-HIT to non-T-HIT sites. We observed a significant postintervention increase in the numbers of women testing positive for HIV compared with the preintervention period (P=.04), but this was likely not attributable to the T-HIT system. Conclusions T-HIT had a high degree of acceptability and feasibility and is perceived as useful by health workers, who documented more

Regression models to estimate real-time concentrations of selected constituents in two tributaries to Lake Houston near Houston, Texas, 2005-07

Science.gov (United States)

Oden, Timothy D.; Asquith, William H.; Milburn, Matthew S.

2009-01-01

In December 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the City of Houston, Texas, began collecting discrete water-quality samples for nutrients, total organic carbon, bacteria (total coliform and Escherichia coli), atrazine, and suspended sediment at two U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging stations upstream from Lake Houston near Houston (08068500 Spring Creek near Spring, Texas, and 08070200 East Fork San Jacinto River near New Caney, Texas). The data from the discrete water-quality samples collected during 2005-07, in conjunction with monitored real-time data already being collected - physical properties (specific conductance, pH, water temperature, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen), streamflow, and rainfall - were used to develop regression models for predicting water-quality constituent concentrations for inflows to Lake Houston. Rainfall data were obtained from a rain gage monitored by Harris County Homeland Security and Emergency Management and colocated with the Spring Creek station. The leaps and bounds algorithm was used to find the best subsets of possible regression models (minimum residual sum of squares for a given number of variables). The potential explanatory or predictive variables included discharge (streamflow), specific conductance, pH, water temperature, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, rainfall, and time (to account for seasonal variations inherent in some water-quality data). The response variables at each site were nitrite plus nitrate nitrogen, total phosphorus, organic carbon, Escherichia coli, atrazine, and suspended sediment. The explanatory variables provide easily measured quantities as a means to estimate concentrations of the various constituents under investigation, with accompanying estimates of measurement uncertainty. Each regression equation can be used to estimate concentrations of a given constituent in real time. In conjunction with estimated concentrations, constituent loads were estimated by multiplying the

Reduced Rank Regression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Søren

2008-01-01

The reduced rank regression model is a multivariate regression model with a coefficient matrix with reduced rank. The reduced rank regression algorithm is an estimation procedure, which estimates the reduced rank regression model. It is related to canonical correlations and involves calculating...

Introduction to the use of regression models in epidemiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Bender, Ralf

2009-01-01

Regression modeling is one of the most important statistical techniques used in analytical epidemiology. By means of regression models the effect of one or several explanatory variables (e.g., exposures, subject characteristics, risk factors) on a response variable such as mortality or cancer can be investigated. From multiple regression models, adjusted effect estimates can be obtained that take the effect of potential confounders into account. Regression methods can be applied in all epidemiologic study designs so that they represent a universal tool for data analysis in epidemiology. Different kinds of regression models have been developed in dependence on the measurement scale of the response variable and the study design. The most important methods are linear regression for continuous outcomes, logistic regression for binary outcomes, Cox regression for time-to-event data, and Poisson regression for frequencies and rates. This chapter provides a nontechnical introduction to these regression models with illustrating examples from cancer research.

Correlation, Regression, and Cointegration of Nonstationary Economic Time Series

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Søren

), and Phillips (1986) found the limit distributions. We propose to distinguish between empirical and population correlation coefficients and show in a bivariate autoregressive model for nonstationary variables that the empirical correlation and regression coefficients do not converge to the relevant population...... values, due to the trending nature of the data. We conclude by giving a simple cointegration analysis of two interests. The analysis illustrates that much more insight can be gained about the dynamic behavior of the nonstationary variables then simply by calculating a correlation coefficient......Yule (1926) introduced the concept of spurious or nonsense correlation, and showed by simulation that for some nonstationary processes, that the empirical correlations seem not to converge in probability even if the processes were independent. This was later discussed by Granger and Newbold (1974...

Two levels ARIMAX and regression models for forecasting time series data with calendar variation effects

Science.gov (United States)

Suhartono, Lee, Muhammad Hisyam; Prastyo, Dedy Dwi

2015-12-01

The aim of this research is to develop a calendar variation model for forecasting retail sales data with the Eid ul-Fitr effect. The proposed model is based on two methods, namely two levels ARIMAX and regression methods. Two levels ARIMAX and regression models are built by using ARIMAX for the first level and regression for the second level. Monthly men's jeans and women's trousers sales in a retail company for the period January 2002 to September 2009 are used as case study. In general, two levels of calendar variation model yields two models, namely the first model to reconstruct the sales pattern that already occurred, and the second model to forecast the effect of increasing sales due to Eid ul-Fitr that affected sales at the same and the previous months. The results show that the proposed two level calendar variation model based on ARIMAX and regression methods yields better forecast compared to the seasonal ARIMA model and Neural Networks.

Challenges in ethics, safety, best practices, and oversight regarding HIT vendors, their customers, and patients: a report of an AMIA special task force

Science.gov (United States)

Berner, Eta S; Dente, Mark A; Kaplan, Bonnie; Koppel, Ross; Rucker, Donald; Sands, Daniel Z; Winkelstein, Peter

2010-01-01

The current commercial health information technology (HIT) arena encompasses a number of competing firms that provide electronic health applications to hospitals, clinical practices, and other healthcare-related entities. Such applications collect, store, and analyze patient information. Some vendors incorporate contract language whereby purchasers of HIT systems, such as hospitals and clinics, must indemnify vendors for malpractice or personal injury claims, even if those events are not caused or fostered by the purchasers. Some vendors require contract clauses that force HIT system purchasers to adopt vendor-defined policies that prevent the disclosure of errors, bugs, design flaws, and other HIT-software-related hazards. To address this issue, the AMIA Board of Directors appointed a Task Force to provide an analysis and insights. Task Force findings and recommendations include: patient safety should trump all other values; corporate concerns about liability and intellectual property ownership may be valid but should not over-ride all other considerations; transparency and a commitment to patient safety should govern vendor contracts; institutions are duty-bound to provide ethics education to purchasers and users, and should commit publicly to standards of corporate conduct; and vendors, system purchasers, and users should encourage and assist in each others' efforts to adopt best practices. Finally, the HIT community should re-examine whether and how regulation of electronic health applications could foster improved care, public health, and patient safety. PMID:21075789

Challenges in ethics, safety, best practices, and oversight regarding HIT vendors, their customers, and patients: a report of an AMIA special task force.

Science.gov (United States)

Goodman, Kenneth W; Berner, Eta S; Dente, Mark A; Kaplan, Bonnie; Koppel, Ross; Rucker, Donald; Sands, Daniel Z; Winkelstein, Peter

2011-01-01

The current commercial health information technology (HIT) arena encompasses a number of competing firms that provide electronic health applications to hospitals, clinical practices, and other healthcare-related entities. Such applications collect, store, and analyze patient information. Some vendors incorporate contract language whereby purchasers of HIT systems, such as hospitals and clinics, must indemnify vendors for malpractice or personal injury claims, even if those events are not caused or fostered by the purchasers. Some vendors require contract clauses that force HIT system purchasers to adopt vendor-defined policies that prevent the disclosure of errors, bugs, design flaws, and other HIT-software-related hazards. To address this issue, the AMIA Board of Directors appointed a Task Force to provide an analysis and insights. Task Force findings and recommendations include: patient safety should trump all other values; corporate concerns about liability and intellectual property ownership may be valid but should not over-ride all other considerations; transparency and a commitment to patient safety should govern vendor contracts; institutions are duty-bound to provide ethics education to purchasers and users, and should commit publicly to standards of corporate conduct; and vendors, system purchasers, and users should encourage and assist in each others' efforts to adopt best practices. Finally, the HIT community should re-examine whether and how regulation of electronic health applications could foster improved care, public health, and patient safety.

The distribution of alpha hits per target cell: a parameter to improve risk assessment after inhalation exposure to actinide oxides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fritsch, P.

2006-01-01

in each region calculated with the model was considered as a deposition probability). The total number of the aerosol particles increases when the specific activity of the oxide decreases (3 x 10 3 , 1 x 10 6 and 2 x 10 11 ). The number of particles deposited was 6 x 10 6 , 37 and 0.1 in E.T.seq and, 1 x 10 7 , 50 and 0.1 in B.B. seq , for 238 U and 239-238 Pu, respectively. Uncertainties in these values were negligible for 238 U, standard error of 15-18 % for 239 Pu and, for 238 Pu, no deposition occurred for most of the 1000 simulations performed. Second, the residence time of each particle was calculated assuming that the rate constant of the clearance model for particle transport corresponded to a probability to leave the sequestered region. Third, the dosimetric model of ICRP was applied to characterize α hit distribution assuming that, each day during the presence of 1 particle, it was randomly located within the sequestered layer, and it irradiated cells which were not previously exposed. Finally, dose calculation was performed for each simulated exposure. After U exposure, most of the basal cells received only 1 α hit, whereas, for Pu, when a significant irradiation occurred, most of the dose was delivered to cells exposed to several α hits. Thus, it appears that the modification of the effective dose calculation recommended by ICRP when the maximal equivalent dose is delivered to E.T. cannot be applied to actinide oxides for a realistic risk assessment. Further studies are in progress to characterize α hit distribution within the target cells of the other respiratory tract regions. (author)

Quantile Regression Methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fitzenberger, Bernd; Wilke, Ralf Andreas

2015-01-01

if the mean regression model does not. We provide a short informal introduction into the principle of quantile regression which includes an illustrative application from empirical labor market research. This is followed by briefly sketching the underlying statistical model for linear quantile regression based......Quantile regression is emerging as a popular statistical approach, which complements the estimation of conditional mean models. While the latter only focuses on one aspect of the conditional distribution of the dependent variable, the mean, quantile regression provides more detailed insights...... by modeling conditional quantiles. Quantile regression can therefore detect whether the partial effect of a regressor on the conditional quantiles is the same for all quantiles or differs across quantiles. Quantile regression can provide evidence for a statistical relationship between two variables even...

Overcoming Spurious Regression Using time-Varying Fourier ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Non-stationary time series data have been traditionally analyzed in the frequency domain by assuming constant amplitudes regardless of the timelag. A new approach called time-varying amplitude method (TVAM) is presented here. Oscillations are analyzed for changes in the magnitude of Fourier Coefficients which are ...

Application of Negative Binomial Regression for Assessing Public ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Because the variance was nearly two times greater than the mean, the negative binomial regression model provided an improved fit to the data and accounted better for overdispersion than the Poisson regression model, which assumed that the mean and variance are the same. The level of education and race were found

Comparison of Neural Networks and Regression Time Series in Estimating the Development of the Afternoon Price of Palladium on the New York Stock Exchange

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marek Vochozka

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose of the article: Palladium is presently used for producing electronics, industrial products or jewellery, as well as products in the medical field. Its value is raised especially by its unique physical and chemical characteristics. Predicting the value of such a metal is not an easy matter (with regard to the fact that prices may change significantly in time. Methodology/methods: To carry out the analysis, London Fix Price PM data was used, i.e. amounts reported in the afternoon for a period longer than 10 years. To process the data, Statistica software is used. Linear regression is carried out using a whole range of functions, and subsequently regression via neural structures is performed, where several distributional functions are used again. Subsequently, 1000 neural networks are generated, out of which 5 proving the best characteristics are chosen. Scientific aim: The aim of the paper is to perform a regression analysis of the development of the palladium price on the New York Stock Exchange using neural structures and linear regression, then to compare the two methods and determine the more suitable one for a possible prediction of the future development of the palladium price on the New York Stock Exchange. Findings: Results are compared on the level of an expert perspective and the evaluator’s – economist’s experience. Within regression time lines, the curve obtained by the least squares methods via negative-exponential smoothing gets closest to Palladium price line development. Out of the neural networks, all 5 chosen networks prove to be the most practically useful. Conclusions: Because it is not possible to predict extraordinary situations and their impact on the palladium price (at most in the short term, but certainly not over a long period of time, simplification and the creation of a relatively simple model is appropriate and the result is useful.

75 FR 32472 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Standards Committee...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-08

... Coordinator for Health Information Technology AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of committee recommendations and invitation for public input... Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). Name of Committee: HIT Standards Committee. General...

A protocol for hit and control synchronous transfer for the front-end electronics at the CBM experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kasinski, K., E-mail: kasinski@agh.edu.pl [AGH University of Science and Technology, Department of Measurement and Electronics, Av. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Cracow (Poland); Szczygiel, R. [AGH University of Science and Technology, Department of Measurement and Electronics, Av. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Cracow (Poland); Zabolotny, W. [Institute of Electronic Systems, Warsaw University of Technology, ul. Nowowiejska 15/19, 00-665 Warsaw (Poland); Lehnert, J.; Schmidt, C.J. [GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Planckstrasse 1, 64-291 Darmstadt (Germany); Müller, W.F.J. [FAIR Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe GmbH, Planckstrasse 1, 64-291 Darmstadt (Germany)

2016-11-01

The Silicon Tracking System, Muon Chamber, Transition Radiation Detector and Time-Of-Flight among others are the detector systems of the Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at the FAIR facility. These detector systems will be built with tens of thousands of front-end ASICs exposed to high radiation doses and difficult environmental and interference conditions. A CERN's GBTx-based solution was chosen for combining data from multiple front-end ASICs into an optical link before further concentration and preprocessing in the common Data Processing Board data hub. This paper presents the protocol design addressing the DAQ system requirements, simplifying the ASIC's back-end design and presents its adaptation for the STS and MUCH detector's conditions. A specific link synchronization technique, hit data bandwidth optimization and time synchronization method for the self-triggered front-end chip are presented.

A protocol for hit and control synchronous transfer for the front-end electronics at the CBM experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kasinski, K.; Szczygiel, R.; Zabolotny, W.; Lehnert, J.; Schmidt, C.J.; Müller, W.F.J.

2016-01-01

The Silicon Tracking System, Muon Chamber, Transition Radiation Detector and Time-Of-Flight among others are the detector systems of the Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at the FAIR facility. These detector systems will be built with tens of thousands of front-end ASICs exposed to high radiation doses and difficult environmental and interference conditions. A CERN's GBTx-based solution was chosen for combining data from multiple front-end ASICs into an optical link before further concentration and preprocessing in the common Data Processing Board data hub. This paper presents the protocol design addressing the DAQ system requirements, simplifying the ASIC's back-end design and presents its adaptation for the STS and MUCH detector's conditions. A specific link synchronization technique, hit data bandwidth optimization and time synchronization method for the self-triggered front-end chip are presented.

Comparison of multiple linear regression, partial least squares and artificial neural networks for prediction of gas chromatographic relative retention times of trimethylsilylated anabolic androgenic steroids.

Science.gov (United States)

Fragkaki, A G; Farmaki, E; Thomaidis, N; Tsantili-Kakoulidou, A; Angelis, Y S; Koupparis, M; Georgakopoulos, C

2012-09-21

The comparison among different modelling techniques, such as multiple linear regression, partial least squares and artificial neural networks, has been performed in order to construct and evaluate models for prediction of gas chromatographic relative retention times of trimethylsilylated anabolic androgenic steroids. The performance of the quantitative structure-retention relationship study, using the multiple linear regression and partial least squares techniques, has been previously conducted. In the present study, artificial neural networks models were constructed and used for the prediction of relative retention times of anabolic androgenic steroids, while their efficiency is compared with that of the models derived from the multiple linear regression and partial least squares techniques. For overall ranking of the models, a novel procedure [Trends Anal. Chem. 29 (2010) 101-109] based on sum of ranking differences was applied, which permits the best model to be selected. The suggested models are considered useful for the estimation of relative retention times of designer steroids for which no analytical data are available. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Monte Carlo simulation study comparing linear regression, beta regression, variable-dispersion beta regression and fractional logit regression at recovering average difference measures in a two sample design.

Science.gov (United States)

Meaney, Christopher; Moineddin, Rahim

2014-01-24

In biomedical research, response variables are often encountered which have bounded support on the open unit interval--(0,1). Traditionally, researchers have attempted to estimate covariate effects on these types of response data using linear regression. Alternative modelling strategies may include: beta regression, variable-dispersion beta regression, and fractional logit regression models. This study employs a Monte Carlo simulation design to compare the statistical properties of the linear regression model to that of the more novel beta regression, variable-dispersion beta regression, and fractional logit regression models. In the Monte Carlo experiment we assume a simple two sample design. We assume observations are realizations of independent draws from their respective probability models. The randomly simulated draws from the various probability models are chosen to emulate average proportion/percentage/rate differences of pre-specified magnitudes. Following simulation of the experimental data we estimate average proportion/percentage/rate differences. We compare the estimators in terms of bias, variance, type-1 error and power. Estimates of Monte Carlo error associated with these quantities are provided. If response data are beta distributed with constant dispersion parameters across the two samples, then all models are unbiased and have reasonable type-1 error rates and power profiles. If the response data in the two samples have different dispersion parameters, then the simple beta regression model is biased. When the sample size is small (N0 = N1 = 25) linear regression has superior type-1 error rates compared to the other models. Small sample type-1 error rates can be improved in beta regression models using bias correction/reduction methods. In the power experiments, variable-dispersion beta regression and fractional logit regression models have slightly elevated power compared to linear regression models. Similar results were observed if the

Do clinical and translational science graduate students understand linear regression? Development and early validation of the REGRESS quiz.

Science.gov (United States)

Enders, Felicity

2013-12-01

Although regression is widely used for reading and publishing in the medical literature, no instruments were previously available to assess students' understanding. The goal of this study was to design and assess such an instrument for graduate students in Clinical and Translational Science and Public Health. A 27-item REsearch on Global Regression Expectations in StatisticS (REGRESS) quiz was developed through an iterative process. Consenting students taking a course on linear regression in a Clinical and Translational Science program completed the quiz pre- and postcourse. Student results were compared to practicing statisticians with a master's or doctoral degree in statistics or a closely related field. Fifty-two students responded precourse, 59 postcourse , and 22 practicing statisticians completed the quiz. The mean (SD) score was 9.3 (4.3) for students precourse and 19.0 (3.5) postcourse (P REGRESS quiz was internally reliable (Cronbach's alpha 0.89). The initial validation is quite promising with statistically significant and meaningful differences across time and study populations. Further work is needed to validate the quiz across multiple institutions. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Patterns of Hits to the Nearshore from a Major Fairway in the Gulf of Finland