75 research outputs found
A School Eye Health Rapid Assessment (SEHRA) planning tool: Module to survey the magnitude and nature of local needs.
No full textBACKGROUND: Eye conditions in children can have negative consequences on visual functioning and quality of life. There is a lack of data on the magnitude of children with eye conditions who need services for effective planning of school eye health programmes. To address this, the School Eye Health Rapid Assessment (SEHRA) tool is being developed to collect data to support school eye health programme planning. METHODS: The module, 'the magnitude and nature of local needs in school children' is the first of six modules in the SEHRA tool. The module outlines a school-based cluster survey designed to determine the magnitude of eye health needs in children. This paper outlines the survey sampling strategy, and sample size calculations. RESULTS: The requirements for the SEHRA survey indicate that in regions where a larger sample size is required, or where fewer schools are recruited to the survey, confidence in the accuracy of the data will be lower. CONCLUSIONS: The SEHRA survey module 'the magnitude and nature of local needs in school children' can be applied in any context. In certain circumstances, the confidence in the survey data will be reduced
Effects of caffeinated pre-workout supplement on cognitive interference of undergraduate students
No full textThroughout history, humans have attempted to improve their overall efficiency and performance which includes the use of stimulants such as caffeine (Repantis, Bovy, Ohla, Kühn & Dresler, 2021). Today we live in such a society that constantly demands our attention. Thus, it has never been more prevalent to avoid distractions to focus on our tasks. Caffeine may have a minor impact in increasing focus during cognitive interference. Not concrete evidence as indicated by the p-value results of 0.354 for congruent trials and 0.380 for incongruent trials or 64.6% confidence and 62.0% confidence respectively. P-values determine results collected are statistically insignificant thus, it cannot be said that caffeine increases focus during cognitive interference. This poster was presented at the Douglas College Student Research Day 2022 on April 15, 2022.Not peer reviewedStudent Research Day Poster (2022
Accurate localization of indoor high similarity scenes using visual slam combined with loop closure detection algorithm.
No full textAccurate localization is a critical technology for the application of intelligent robots and automation systems in complex indoor environments. Traditional visual SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) techniques often face challenges with localization accuracy in high similarity scenes. To address this issue, this paper proposes an improved visual SLAM loop closure detection algorithm that integrates deep learning techniques. Using the TUM f3 loh, Lip6 Indoor, and Bicocca Indoor datasets as experimental bases, a detailed comparison of the proposed algorithm against other methods was conducted across various evaluation metrics. The experimental results show that the proposed loop closure detection algorithm significantly outperforms traditional methods in terms of localization accuracy in high similarity scenes. Specifically, the detection accuracy rates for the TUM f3 loh, Lip6 Indoor, and Bicocca Indoor datasets were 66.67%, 72.72%, and 80.00%, respectively, representing an approximate 18% improvement over the average accuracy of ORB-SLAM2. Additionally, the proposed method demonstrated excellent performance in trajectory error, with a root mean square error (RMSE) of just 0.0816m on the Bicocca Indoor dataset, significantly lower than the 0.1341m RMSE of ORB-SLAM2. Furthermore, improvements in feature extraction and matching mechanisms greatly reduced the occurrence of mismatches, enhancing the system's adaptability for more accurate localization and navigation in complex indoor environments. The proposed method effectively enhances localization accuracy and system practicality in visually similar indoor environments, offering a new direction for the development of visual SLAM technology and holding significant application potential in intelligent robots and indoor navigation systems
Transcriptomic signature of the SHATTERPROOF2 expression domain reveals the meristematic nature of arabidopsis gynoecial medial domain
No full textPlant meristems, like animal stem cell niches, maintain a pool of multipotent, undifferentiated cells that divide and differentiate to give rise to organs. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), the carpel margin meristem is a vital meristematic structure that generates ovules from the medial domain of the gynoecium, the female floral reproductive structure. The molecular mechanisms that specify this meristematic region and regulate its organogenic potential are poorly understood. Here, we present a novel approach to analyze the transcriptional signature of the medial domain of the Arabidopsis gynoecium, highlighting the developmental stages that immediately proceed ovule initiation, the earliest stages of seed development. Using a floral synchronization system and a SHATTERPROOF2 (SHP2) domain-specific reporter, paired with FACS and RNA sequencing, we assayed the transcriptome of the gynoecial medial domain with temporal and spatial precision. This analysis reveals a set of genes that are differentially expressed within the SHP2 expression domain, including genes that have been shown previously to function during the development of medial domain-derived structures, including the ovules, thus validating our approach. Global analyses of the transcriptomic data set indicate a similarity of the pSHP2-expressing cell population to previously characterized meristematic domains, further supporting the meristematic nature of this gynoecial tissue. Our method identifies additional genes including novel isoforms, cis-natural antisense transcripts, and a previously unrecognized member of the REPRODUCTIVE MERISTEM family of transcriptional regulators that are potential novel regulators of medial domain development. This data set provides genome-wide transcriptional insight into the development of the carpel margin meristem in Arabidopsis
Contemporary outcome measures in acute stroke research: choice of primary outcome measure
No full textBACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:
The diversity of available outcome measures for acute stroke trials is challenging and implies that the scales may be imperfect. To assist researchers planning trials and to aid interpretation, this article reviews and makes recommendations on the available choices of scales. The aim is to identify an approach that will be universally accepted and that should be included in most acute trials, without seeking to restrict options for special circumstances.
METHODS:
The article considers outcome measures that have been widely used or are currently advised. It examines desirable properties for outcome measures such as validity, relevance, responsiveness, statistical properties, availability of training, cultural and language issues, resistance to comorbidity, as well as potential weaknesses. Tracking and agreement among outcomes are covered.
RESULTS:
Typical ranges of scores for the common scales are described, along with their statistical properties, which in turn influence optimal analytic techniques. The timing of recovery on scores and usual practice in trial design are considered.
CONCLUSIONS:
The preferred outcome measure for acute trials is the modified Rankin Scale, assessed at 3 months after stroke onset or later. The interview should be conducted by a certified rater and should involve both the patient and any relevant caregiver. Incremental benefits at any level of the modified Rankin Scale may be acceptable. The modified Rankin Scale is imperfect but should be retained in its present form for comparability with existing treatment comparisons. No second measure should be required, but correlations with supporting scales may be used to confirm consistency in direction of effects on other measures
Combined electronic nose and tongue for a flavour sensing system
No full textWe present a novel, smart sensing system developed for the flavour analysis of liquids. The system comprises both a so-called "electronic tongue" based on shear horizontal surface acoustic wave (SH-SAW) sensors analysing the liquid phase and a so-called "electronic nose" based on chemFET sensors analysing the gaseous phase. Flavour is generally understood to be the overall experience from the combination of oral and nasal stimulation and is principally derived from a combination of the human senses of taste (gustation) and smell (olfaction). Thus, by combining two types of microsensors, an artificial flavour sensing system has been developed. Initial tests conducted with different liquid samples, i.e. water, orange juice and milk (of different fat content), resulted in 100% discrimination using principal components analysis; although it was found that there was little contribution from the electronic nose. Therefore further flavour experiments were designed to demonstrate the potential of the combined electronic nose/tongue flavour system. Consequently, experiments were conducted on low vapour pressure taste-biased solutions and high vapour pressure, smell-biased solutions. Only the combined flavour analysis system could achieve 100% discrimination between all the different liquids. We believe that this is the first report of a SAW-based analysis system that determines flavour through the combination of both liquid and headspace analysis
An improved method for the determination of "prothrombin time"
No full textThis article does not have an abstract
An improved method for the determination of "prothrombin time"
No full textThis article does not have an abstract
Genetic partitioning of interleukin-6 signalling in mice dissociates Stat3 from Smad3-mediated lung fibrosis
No full textIdiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal disease that is unresponsive to current therapies and characterized by excessive collagen deposition and subsequent fibrosis. While inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-6, are elevated in IPF, the molecular mechanisms that underlie this disease are incompletely understood, although the development of fibrosis is believed to depend on canonical transforming growth factor (TGF)-β signalling. We examined bleomycin-induced inflammation and fibrosis in mice carrying a mutation in the shared IL-6 family receptor gp130. Using genetic complementation, we directly correlate the extent of IL-6-mediated, excessive Stat3 activity with inflammatory infiltrates in the lung and the severity of fibrosis in corresponding gp130757F mice. The extent of fibrosis was attenuated in B lymphocyte-deficient gp130757F;µMT−/− compound mutant mice, but fibrosis still occurred in their Smad3−/− counterparts consistent with the capacity of excessive Stat3 activity to induce collagen 1α1 gene transcription independently of canonical TGF-β/Smad3 signalling. These findings are of therapeutic relevance, since we confirmed abundant STAT3 activation in fibrotic lungs from IPF patients and showed that genetic reduction of Stat3 protected mice from bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis
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