12 research outputs found

    eCAD System Design - Applications in Architecture

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    The rapid advances in learning technologies, computer modeling, multimedia and spatial sciences, as well as the availability of many powerful graphics PCs and workstations, make 3-D modeling-based methods for personalized e-learning with eCAD (modeling) functionality feasible. Personalized eCAD learning is a new term in engineering, environment and architecture education, related to the development of learning educational units (3-D learning objects) with re-usable digital architecture functionality, and introduced to literature for the first time within this paper. In particular, for university education courses in eCAD, digital architecture, design computing and CAAD (reagarding spatial information systems, architectures, monuments, cultural heritage sites, etc.), such a e-learning methodolgy must be able to derive spatial, pictorial, geometric, spatial, topological, learning and semantic information from the target object (a 3-D model) or scene (a 3-D landscape environment) or procedure (a 3-D simulation approach to a phenomenon), in such a way that it can be directly used for e-learning purposes regarding the spatial topology, the history, the architecture, the structure and the temporal (time-based) 3-D geometry of the projected object, scene or procedure. This paper is about the system design of such a e-learning method. For this purpose, the requirements, objectives and pedagogical extensions are presented and discussed. Finaly, a practical project is used to demonstrate the functionality and the performance of the proposed methodology in architectur

    Personalized e-Learning Implementation - The GIS Case

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    Personalized e-learning implementation is recognized as among one of the most interesting research areas in the distance learning Web-based education. In particular, the GIS e-learning initiatives that incorporate –by default– a number of sequencing spatial techniques (i.e. spatial objects selection and sequencing), will well benefit from a welldefined personalized e-learning implementation with embedded spatial functionality. This is the case addressed in this paper. The GIS e-learning implementation introduced in the current paper is based on a set of teaching (lecturing) rules according to the cognitive style of learning preferences of both the learners and the lecturers as well. It is important to note that, in spite of the fact that most of these teaching rules are generic (i.e. domain, view and user independent), there are no so far well-defined and commonly accepted rules on how the learning spatial GIS objects and techniques should be selected and how they should be sequenced to make “instructional sense" in a Web-based GIS course

    Correction to: Comparative effectiveness and safety of non-vitamin K antagonists for atrial fibrillation in clinical practice: GLORIA-AF Registry (Clinical Research in Cardiology, (2022), 111, 5, (560-573), 10.1007/s00392-022-01996-2)

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    In this article, the name of the GLORIA-AF investigator Anastasios Kollias was given incorrectly as Athanasios Kollias in the Acknowledgements. The original article has been corrected

    E-Learning & Environmental Policy: The case of a politico-administrative GIS

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    Is an effective knowledge exchange and cooperation between academic community and practitioners possible? Implementation of e-learning in specialized policy fields pertains to the most challenging priorities of ICTs and software engineering. In multidisciplinary academic areas which combine environmental policy studies with positivist subjects (like environmental issues, forest policy, rural development, Landscape Architecture etc), the using of e-learning system in analyzing policy issues steadily gains in importance and is a method which connects the academic community and the researchers with the practitioners and field experts. Such initiatives incorporate a number of politometrics- relevant algorithms embedded in a context of political geography (i.e. visualized hierarchies in different regionrelated policy issues). This is the case addressed in this paper. The GIS learning management system introduced in this paper is based on certain criteria concerning organizational models and region-specific politico-administrative hierarchies. Scenarios of politico-administrative metadata achieving optimal power synergy are extracted through a sequencing technique, combining vector-algebra software and statistics and can be used for both teaching and research purposes

    Metadata-based heritage sites modeling with e-learning functionality

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    Nowadays, cultural heritage is under threat and danger (pollution, natural disasters, wars, etc.). In this domain, cultural heritage management (CHM) as the art, vocation and practice of managing cultural heritage resources and as a multi-discipline research area has a vital role. In recent years, the innovations, improvements and rapid advances in traditional and geographic (GIS) databases, design computing, digital architecture and archaeology, imaging sensors and scanners, computer modeling software, haptic equipments and e-learning technology, as well as the affordability and availability of many powerful graphics workstations make metadata and 3D modeling techniques for CHM with e-learning and haptic rendering (virtual reality) functionality feasible. This paper addresses the application research issue of incorporating metadata and modeling in a CHM case study and discusses the related e-learning functionality. So, in this article, a practical project is used to demonstrate the functionality and the performance of the proposed 3D modeling metadata based CHM methodology. In particular, the processing steps from image acquisition to the 3D geometric and semantic description of the Galerius Palace "Octagonon" (Thessaloniki, Greece) in a 3D digital environment are presented. Also, emphasis is put on documenting the new term 3D modeling metadata for CHM and on discussing as an open issue the concept personalized e-learning CHM scenarios. The proposed methodology has 10-2 modeling accuracy (i.e. 1% relative inaccuracy) and it is of interest for archaeology, architecture, virtual reality, e-learning, e-culture and virtual tourism

    A prospective survey in European Society of Cardiology member countries of atrial fibrillation management: baseline results of EURObservational Research Programme Atrial Fibrillation (EORP-AF) Pilot General Registry

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    Aims: Given the advances in atrial fibrillation (AF) management and the availability of new European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines, there is a need for the systematic collection of contemporary data regarding the management and treatment of AF in ESC member countries. Methods and results: We conducted a registry of consecutive in- and outpatients with AF presenting to cardiologists in nine participating ESC countries. All patients with an ECG-documented diagnosis of AF confirmed in the year prior to enrolment were eligible. We enroled a total of 3119 patients from February 2012 to March 2013, with full data on clinical subtype available for 3049 patients (40.4% female; mean age 68.8 years). Common comorbidities were hypertension, coronary disease, and heart failure. Lone AF was present in only 3.9% (122 patients). Asymptomatic AF was common, particularly among those with permanent AF. Amiodarone was the most common antiarrhythmic agent used (~20%), while beta-blockers and digoxin were the most used rate control drugs. Oral anticoagulants (OACs) were used in 80% overall, most often vitamin K antagonists (71.6%), with novel OACs being used in 8.4%. Other antithrombotics (mostly antiplatelet therapy, especially aspirin) were still used in one-third of the patients, and no antithrombotic treatment in only 4.8%. Oral anticoagulants were used in 56.4% of CHA 2DS2-VASc = 0, with 26.3% having no antithrombotic therapy. A high HAS-BLED score was not used to exclude OAC use, but there was a trend towards more aspirin use in the presence of a high HAS-BLED score. Conclusion: The EURObservational Research Programme Atrial Fibrillation (EORP-AF) Pilot Registry has provided systematic collection of contemporary data regarding the management and treatment of AF by cardiologists in ESC member countries. Oral anticoagulant use has increased, but novel OAC use was still low. Compliance with the treatment guidelines for patients with the lowest and higher stroke risk scores remains suboptimal. © The Author 2013

    Cardiac myosin activation with omecamtiv mecarbil in systolic heart failure

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    BACKGROUND The selective cardiac myosin activator omecamtiv mecarbil has been shown to improve cardiac function in patients with heart failure with a reduced ejection fraction. Its effect on cardiovascular outcomes is unknown. METHODS We randomly assigned 8256 patients (inpatients and outpatients) with symptomatic chronic heart failure and an ejection fraction of 35% or less to receive omecamtiv mecarbil (using pharmacokinetic-guided doses of 25 mg, 37.5 mg, or 50 mg twice daily) or placebo, in addition to standard heart-failure therapy. The primary outcome was a composite of a first heart-failure event (hospitalization or urgent visit for heart failure) or death from cardiovascular causes. RESULTS During a median of 21.8 months, a primary-outcome event occurred in 1523 of 4120 patients (37.0%) in the omecamtiv mecarbil group and in 1607 of 4112 patients (39.1%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.86 to 0.99; P = 0.03). A total of 808 patients (19.6%) and 798 patients (19.4%), respectively, died from cardiovascular causes (hazard ratio, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.92 to 1.11). There was no significant difference between groups in the change from baseline on the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire total symptom score. At week 24, the change from baseline for the median N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide level was 10% lower in the omecamtiv mecarbil group than in the placebo group; the median cardiac troponin I level was 4 ng per liter higher. The frequency of cardiac ischemic and ventricular arrhythmia events was similar in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS Among patients with heart failure and a reduced ejection, those who received omecamtiv mecarbil had a lower incidence of a composite of a heart-failure event or death from cardiovascular causes than those who received placebo. (Funded by Amgen and others; GALACTIC-HF ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02929329; EudraCT number, 2016 -002299-28.)

    Cardiac myosin activation with omecamtiv mecarbil in systolic heart failure

    No full text
    Background: The selective cardiac myosin activator omecamtiv mecarbil has been shown to improve cardiac function in patients with heart failure with a reduced ejection fraction. Its effect on cardiovascular outcomes is unknown. Methods: We randomly assigned 8256 patients (inpatients and outpatients) with symptomatic chronic heart failure and an ejection fraction of 35% or less to receive omecamtiv mecarbil (using pharmacokinetic-guided doses of 25 mg, 37.5 mg, or 50 mg twice daily) or placebo, in addition to standard heart-failure therapy. The primary outcome was a composite of a first heart-failure event (hospitalization or urgent visit for heart failure) or death from cardiovascular causes. Results: During a median of 21.8 months, a primary-outcome event occurred in 1523 of 4120 patients (37.0%) in the omecamtiv mecarbil group and in 1607 of 4112 patients (39.1%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.86 to 0.99; P=0.03). A total of 808 patients (19.6%) and 798 patients (19.4%), respectively, died from cardiovascular causes (hazard ratio, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.92 to 1.11). There was no significant difference between groups in the change from baseline on the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire total symptom score. At week 24, the change from baseline for the median N-terminal pro–B-type natriuretic peptide level was 10% lower in the omecamtiv mecarbil group than in the placebo group; the median cardiac troponin I level was 4 ng per liter higher. The frequency of cardiac ischemic and ventricular arrhythmia events was similar in the two groups. Conclusions: Among patients with heart failure and a reduced ejection, those who received omecamtiv mecarbil had a lower incidence of a composite of a heart-failure event or death from cardiovascular causes than those who received placebo. (Funded by Amgen and others; GALACTIC-HF ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02929329. opens in new tab; EudraCT number, 2016-002299-28. opens in new tab.
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