32 research outputs found
Valores de líquido cefalorraquídeo en pacientes con derivación ventricular
No full textPara el manejo de la hidrocefalia es necesario el uso de sistemas de derivación ventricular (SDV). Con este manejo se presenta una mortalidad del 5-15% principalmente relacionado con infección y disfunción del sistema. Para la diferenciación de estas dos complicaciones se usa en la práctica clínica el citoquímico de LCR; sin embargo, no hay estudios previos sobre los valores normales en dichos parámetros en usuarios de SDV. El objetivo de este estudio es describir en un grupo usuario de SDV, sin infección, cuales son los valores normales. Se realizó un estudio observacional descriptivo de serie de casos, de pacientes pediátricos, de la Fundación Hospital de la Misericordia, Bogotá-Colombia. Se revisaron en total 285 registros y se incluyeron 31 muestras de 25 pacientes. Se obtuvieron los siguientes resultados del LCR: leucocitos totales: percentil 50% (P50) de 0 cél/mm3 y percentil 90%(P90) de 7 cél/mm3; neutrófilos: P50 de 0 cél/mm3, y P90 de 6,8 cél/mm3; y, linfocitos: P50 de 0 cél/mm3 y P90 de 2 cél/mm3. Para las proteínas: P50 de 13,4 mg/dL y P90 de 67,2% mg/dL. Para la glucosa: P50 de 59 mg/dL y percentil 10% de 27,4 mg/dL. Con lo anterior se concluye que hay diferencias en los valores de normalidad del citoquímico de LCR entre pacientes sanos con aquellos usuarios de SDV, con valores más amplios de todos los parámetros, principalmente de las proteínas. Se deben continuar otros estudios para definir adecuadamente puntos de corte entre pacientes con disfunción y aquellos con infección del SDV.Abstract. For the management of hydrocephalus, the use of ventricular shunt (VS) is necessary. This management presents a mortality of 5%-15% mainly related to infection and dysfunction of the system. For the differentiation of these two complications, the cytochemical of CSF is used in clinical practice; however, there are no previous studies on the normal values in these parameters in users of VS. The aim of this study is to describe in a group of users of VS, without infection, which are the normal values. A descriptive observational study was carried out on a series of pediatric patients from the Hospital Foundation of Mercy, Bogota-Colombia. A total of 285 records were reviewed and 31 samples from 25 patients were included. The following CSF results were obtained: total leukocytes: 50% percentile (P50) of 0 cells / mm3 and 90% percentile (P90) of 7 cells / mm3; Neutrophils: P50 of 0 cells / mm3, and P90 of 6.8 cells / mm3; And, lymphocytes: P50 of 0 cells / mm3 and P90 of 2 cells / mm3. For proteins: P50 of 13.4 mg / dL and P90 of 67.2% mg / dL. For glucose: P50 of 59 mg / dL and 10% percentile of 27.4 mg / dL. It concludes that there are differences in the normal values of CSF cytochemistry among healthy patients with those users of VS, with broader values of all parameters, mainly proteins. Other studies should be continued to adequately define cutoff points between patients with dysfunction and those with VS infection.Otr
Helping or heightening vulnerability? midwives as arbiters of risk for women experiencing self-directed violence in urban Sri Lanka
No full textThe response of midwives to women engaging in self-directed violence (SDV) may affect women’s care and outcomes. The author explored midwives’ understanding of SDV through semi-structured focus groups and in-depth interviews with 11 Public Health Midwives in urban Sri Lanka. Thematic analysis identified four key themes: (a) perceived dimensions of women’s risk and vulnerability to SDV, (b) midwives as arbiters of risk, (c) representations of women engaging in SDV, and (d) midwives’ perceived capacity to respond. Given their proximity to communities, trustworthiness as sites of disclosure, and respectability as women and guardians of ideal womanhood in Sri Lankan society, midwives occupy a powerful position in the health system through which to alleviate or reinforce women’s risk to SDV. Yet, investment in developing their skills and role to respond to the growing phenomenon of SDV among women in Sri Lanka must consider the context within which midwives assess and select their responses
Assessing beach width dynamics through earth observations
No full textCoasts are constantly under the pressure of hydrodynamic conditions such as waves, tides, and storms. In the Netherlands, sand nourishments are executed every few years in order to maintain the country’s sandy beaches for purposes of safety, recreation, and ecology. In order to determine where to carry out these nourishments, the whole sandy coastline of the Netherlands is measured annually by Rijkswaterstaat. This annual survey, called JAarlijkse KUStmetingen (JARKUS), monitors where (increasing) erosive trends appear or persist and, due to its timespan (dating back to 1843), is a valuable dataset to understand the evolution of the Dutch coast. However, this measurement survey is restricted to its annual frequency and is costly. The use of optical satellite imagery for measuring land cover types and geographic features is rapidly becoming more popular due to their high temporal frequency and relatively low costs (due to the public availability of some satellite missions, such as NASA’s Landsat and ESA’s Sentinel-2 missions). This research studied the possibilities of using optical satellite imagery for measuring beach width dynamics in addition to the existing measurement campaigns. In this study, we derived the Satellite-Derived Beach Width (SDBW) as the cross-shore distance between the Satellite-Derived Shoreline (SDS) and the Satellite-Derived Vegetation line (SDV). We adopted a widely used and validated method for SDS detection and adapted this method to establish the SDV detection method. The SDS and SDV are derived from optical satellites by deriving vectors from the border between two contrasting land cover types that are identified by differences in (sun)light reflectance values. The SDS and is derived from the contrast between water and land, the SDV from the contrast between and sand/sediment and vegetation. The SDBW data was measured from both composite and individual satellite images. The different techniques are suited for different applications, and both have their advantages and disadvantages. A composite image is an image that is composed of a sequence of individual satellite images available within a set window. E.g., a composite is the average image of all those images. Recent research showed that, at the cost of temporal resolution, composite images are suited for analysis of long-term (structural) shoreline trends since they mitigate certain factors influencing image quality (such as clouds and cloud shadows, waves and tides, and satellite instrument errors). Individual images are better suited for analyses of short-term dynamics since they provide instantaneous measurement data. However, they are hampered more by the factors mentioned above, and hence need to be screened before use...Civil Engineering | Hydraulic Engineerin
Analysis of Network Function Virtualization and Software Defined Virtualization
No full textNetwork function virtualization (NFV) has played important role in both industry and academic change in telecommunication services. NFV has the ability to handle reduction on OPEX and CAPEX; it provides new service and also increases quickly in getting a time value. NFV has an opportunity in doing research in developing new innovation in architecture, framework, and measures some of the technology used in deploying in NVF. In this paper, the author describes the relation between NFV, SDV and cloud computing. The architecture of NVF its advantage in using network function virtualization and some activity used in NFV and adoption of NVF and future direction of NFV, issues, and difference in NFV and SDV
Generative modeling for relational databases
No full textThesis: M. Eng. in Computer Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2016.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 79-80).The goal of this thesis is to build a system that automatically creates synthetic data for enabling data science endeavors. To meet this goal, we present the Synthetic Data Vault (SDV), a system that builds generative models of relational databases. We are able to sample from the model and create synthetic data, hence the name SDV. When implementing the SDV, we developed an algorithm that computes statistics at the intersection of related database tables. We then use a state-of-the-art multivariate modeling approach to model this data. The SDV iterates through all possible relations, ultimately creating a model for the entire database. Once this model is computed, the same relational information allows the SDV to synthesize data by sampling from any part of the database. After building the SDV, we used it to generate synthetic data for five different publicly available datasets. We then published the datasets and asked data scientists to develop predictive models for them as part of a crowdsourced experiment. On May 18, 2016, preliminary analysis from the ongoing experiment provided evidence that the synthetic data can successfully replace original data for data science. Our analysis indicates that there is no significant difference in the work produced by data scientists who used synthetic data as opposed to real data. We conclude that the SDV is a viable solution for synthetic data generation. Our primary contribution is that we designed and implemented the first generative modeling system for relational databases that demonstratively synthesizes realistic data.by Neha Patki.M. Eng. in Computer Science and Engineerin
Chapter Ten - Governance cultures and sociotechnical imaginaries of self-driving vehicle technology: Comparative analysis of Finland, UK and Germany
No full textAs an emerging technology, the potential deployment of self-driving vehicles (SDVs) in cities is attributed with significant uncertainties and anticipated consequences requiring responsible governance of innovation processes. Despite a growing number of studies on policies and governance arrangements for managing the introduction of SDVs, there is a gap in understanding about country-specific governance strategies and approaches. This chapter addresses this gap by presenting a comparative analysis of SDV-related policy documents in Finland, UK, and Germany, three countries which are actively seeking to promote the introduction of SDVs and which have distinct administrative traditions. Our analytical framework is based on the set of premises about technology as a complex sociotechnical phenomenon, operationalized using governance cultures and sociotechnical imaginaries concepts. Our comparative policy document analysis focuses on the assumed roles for SDV technology, the identified domains and mechanisms of governance, and the assumed actors responsible for steering the development process. The results highlight similarities in pro-automation values across three different countries, while also uncovering important differences outside the domain of traditional transport policy instruments. In addition, the results identify different types of potential technological determinism, which could restrict opportunities for responsiveness and divergent visions of mobility futures in Europe. Concluding with a warning against further depolitization of technological development and a dominant focus on economic growth, we identify several necessary directions for further developing governance and experimentation processes
Compartmental Analysis Suggests Macropinocytosis at the Onset of Diatom Valve Formation
No full textDuring valve formation of the siliceous frustules of diatoms, bulk uptake of silicic acid and its subsequent transport through the cell is required before it can be deposited in the silica deposition vesicle (SDV). It has been assumed that transport takes place via silicon transporters (SITs), but if that were the case a control mechanism would have to exist for stabilization of the large amounts of reactive silicon species during their passage through the cell on the way to the SDV. There is, however, no reason to assume that classical silica chemistry does not apply at elevated levels of silicic acid, and therefore autopolymerization could reasonably be expected to occur. In order to find alternative ways of Si transport that correspond with the high speed of valve formation at the earliest stages of cell division we followed 31Si(OH)4 uptake in synchronously dividing cells of the diatoms Coscinodiscus wailesii, Navicula pelliculosa, N. salinarum, and Pleurosira laevis. The results were related to systematically derived mathematical models for a compartmental analysis of 5 possible uptake/transport pathways, including one involving SITs and one involving (macro)pinocytosis-mediated uptake from the extracellular environment. Our study indicates that the uptake of radioactive silicic acid matches best with the model that describes macropinocytosis-mediated silicon uptake. This process is well in line with the observed ‘surge uptake’ at the start of valve formation when the demand for silicon is high; it infers that in diatoms a pathway of uptake and transport exists in which SITs are not involved.Radiation, Radionuclides and ReactorsApplied Science
CTree: Comparison of clusters between phylogenetic trees made easy
No full textSummary: CTree has been designed for the quantification of clusters within viral phylogenetic tree topologies. Clusters are stored as individual data structures from which statistical data, such as the Subtype Diversity Ratio (SDR), Subtype Diversity Variance (SDV) and pairwise distances can be extracted. This simplifies the quantification of tree topologies in relation to inter- and intra-cluster diversity. Here the novel features incorporated within CTree, including the implementation of a heuristic algorithm for identifying clusters, are outlined along with the more usual features found within general tree viewing software. © Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved
Effectiveness of PSD95 inhibitors in permanent and transient focal ischemia in the rat
No full textBackground and purpose:
Postsynaptic density-95 inhibitors reduce ischemic brain damage without inhibiting excitatory neurotransmission, circumventing the negative consequences of glutamatergic inhibition. However, their efficacy in permanent ischemia and in providing permanent neuroprotection and neurobehavioral improvement in a practical therapeutic window is unproven. These were tested here under conditions that included fever, which is a common occurrence in clinical stroke.
METHODS:
Six studies were performed in unfasted Sprague-Dawley rats. Two involved permanent pial vessel occlusion in male and female rats. Two involved permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion, which induced severe hyperthermia, and 2 involved transient middle cerebral artery occlusion. Animals were treated with a single intravenous injection of postsynaptic density-95 inhibitors (Tat-NR2B9c([SDV]) or Tat-NR2B9c([TDV])) 1 hour or 3 hours after stroke. Infarct volumes and neurobehavior were assessed in a blinded manner at 24 hours (pial vessel occlusion and permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion) or at 62 days (transient middle cerebral artery occlusion).
RESULTS:
Postsynaptic density-95 inhibitors dramatically reduced infarct size in male and female animals exposed to pial vessel occlusion (>50%), in hyperthermic animals with fever exceeding 39 degrees C exposed to permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (approximately 50%), and at 62 days poststroke in animals exposed to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (approximately 80%). Effectiveness of postsynaptic density-95 inhibitors was achieved without the drugs affecting body temperature. In transient middle cerebral artery occlusion, a single dose of postsynaptic density-95 inhibitor given 3 hours after stroke onset permanently maintained reduced infarct size and improved neurobehavior.
CONCLUSIONS: Postsynaptic density-95 inhibitors administrated 3 hours after stroke onset reduced infarct volumes and improved long-term neurobehavioral functions in a wide therapeutic window. This raises the possibility that they may have future clinical usefulness.
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