1,070 research outputs found
Malaria vaccine research and development: the role of the WHO MALVAC committee.
No full textThe WHO Malaria Vaccine Advisory Committee (MALVAC) provides advice to WHO on strategic priorities, activities and technical issues related to global efforts to develop vaccines against malaria. MALVAC convened a series of meetings to obtain expert, impartial consensus views on the priorities and best practice for vaccine-related research and development strategies. The technical areas covered during these consultations included: guidance on clinical trial design for candidate sporozoite and asexual blood stage vaccines; measures of efficacy of malaria vaccines in Phase IIb and Phase III trials; standardization of immunoassays; the challenges of developing assays and designing trials for interventions against malaria transmission; modelling impact of anti-malarial interventions; whole organism malaria vaccines, and Plasmodium vivax vaccine-related research and evaluation. These informed discussions and opinions are summarized here to provide guidance on harmonization of strategies to help ensure high standards of practice and comparability between centres and the outcome of vaccine trials
All birds must fly: the experience of multimodal hands-free gaming with gaze and nonverbal voice synchronization
No full textEye tracking has evolved as a promising hands-free interaction mechanism to support people with disabilities. However, its adoption as a control mechanism in the gaming environment is constrained due to erroneous recognition of user intention and commands. Previous studies have suggested combining eye gaze with other modalities like voice input for improved interaction experience. However, speech recognition latency and accuracy is a major bottleneck, and the use of dictated verbal commands can disrupt the flow in gaming environment. Furthermore, several people with physical disabilities also suffer from speech impairments to utter precise verbal voice commands. In this work, we introduce nonverbal voice interaction (NVVI) to synchronize with gaze for an intuitive hands-free gaming experience. We propose gaze and NVVI (e.g., humming) for a spatio-temporal interaction applicable to several modern gaming apps, and developed ‘All Birds Must Fly’ as a representative app. In the experiment, we first compared the gameplay experience of gaze and NVVI (GV) with the conventional mouse and keyboard (MK) in a study with 15 non-disabled participants. The participants could effectively control the game environment with GV (expectedly a bit slower than MK). More importantly, they found GV more engaging, fun, and enjoyable. In a second study with 10 participants, we successfully validated the feasibility of GV with a target user group of people with disabilities
A giant pancreatic pseudocyst in a patient with HIV infection.
No full textThis article describes the first case of a giant pancreatic pseudocyst in a 48-year-old man with HIV infection under combination antiretroviral therapy. The patient presented with an abdominal mass involving the epigastrium, left hypochondrium, and left flank. An enhanced abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan showed a well-defined cyst of 21 cm in diameter, with a liquid content that dislocated adjacent viscera. Microbiological and cytological tests on fluid were negative, confirming diagnosis of pancreatic pseudocyst. The CT-guided percutaneous drainage was carried out and the patient's clinical condition gradually improved. © The Author(s) 2012
GV and GW invariants via the enhanced movable cone
No full textGiven any smooth germ of a threefold flopping contraction, we first give a combinatorial characterisation of which Gopakumar-Vafa (GV) invariants are non-zero, by prescribing multiplicities to the walls in the movable cone. On the Gromov-Witten (GW) side, this allows us to describe, and even draw, the critical locus of the associated quantum potential. We prove that the critical locus is the infinite hyperplane arrangement of Iyama and the second author, and moreover that the quantum potential can be reconstructed from a finite fundamental domain. We then iterate, obtaining a combinatorial description of the matrix which controls the transformation of the non-zero GV invariants under a flop. There are three main ingredients and applications: (1) a construction of flops from simultaneous resolution via cosets, which describes how the dual graph changes, (2) a closed formula which describes the change in dimension of the contraction algebra under flop, and (3) a direct and explicit isomorphism between quantum cohomologies of different crepant resolutions, giving a Coxeter-style, visual proof of the Crepant Transformation Conjecture for isolated cDV singularities.32 pages. Comments welcome. v2: minor changes. Final version to appear in Modul
GV/cm scale laser-magnetic resonant acceleration in vacuum
No full textResonant acceleration of electrons by a laser in the background of an extra longitudinal magnetic field is investigated analytically and numerically. The resonant condition is independent of laser intensity, and when satisfied, the energy gain is proportional to a(0)(2) and the square of phase difference. This process is mainly limited by the magnitude and spatial size of the extra magnetic field. Under the laboratory conditions, simulation results show that a monoenergetic and collimated electron bunch can still be obtained in similar to GV/cm scale, which sheds a light on the vacuum table-top laser-driven electron accelerators.National Key Programme for S&TResearch and Development [2016YFA0401100]; China Academy of Engineering Physics Foundation [2014A0102003]SCI(E)ARTICLE3520-5273
On right K-completeness of the fine quasi-uniformity
No full text[EN] We investigate right K-components of the fine quasi-uniformity. It follows from our results the somewhat surprising fact that if (X,T) is a topological space condensable onto a quasi-metric space whose conjugate is Hausdorff, then any right K-Cauchy filter F on the fine quasi-uniformity of (X,T) is trivial (i.e. there is an x €X such that {x} generates F.The second author acknowledges the support of the Conselleria de Educació i Ciencia, Generalitat Valenciana, gran GV-2223/94Perez, M.; Romaguera, S. (1996). On right K-completeness of the fine quasi-uniformity. Questions and Answers in General Topology. 14(2):245-249. https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/107319S24524914
Undiluted N-butyl cyanoacrylate is safe and effective for gastric variceal bleeding
No full textBackground: Gastric variceal bleeding is associated with significant morbidity and mortality in patients with portal hypertension. N-butyl cyanoacrylate (NBC), mixed with lipiodol, has been shown to be effective in controlling bleeding, but is associated with the risk of distal embolization.
Objective: To study the efficacy and safety of undiluted NBC in the management of gastric varices (GV). Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Single tertiary care center. Patients: 170 consecutive patients with GV. Intervention: Standardized technique of undiluted NBC injection for management of GV. Main outcome measurements: Achievement of initial hemostasis, rate of rebleeding, procedure-related complications, and mortality. Results: GV were identified in 170 patients, 87 of whom were treated with 261 injections of undiluted NBC. Among 46 patients with active bleeding of GV, initial hemostasis was achieved in 84.8%. Rebleeding was seen in 23.4% patients over a mean follow-up of 16 months. No case of clinical distal embolization was seen. Large GV size, fundal location, and large esophageal variceal size were predictive of GV bleed. The mortality was 8.8% for all patients with GV; 10.3% for patients with GV treated with NBC, and 7.2% for those with GV not treated with NBC. Child-Pugh status was the only predictor of mortality. Limitation: Only 1 intervention group. Conclusion: Undiluted NBC is safe and effective in the management of gastric variceal bleeding
Precision Measurement of the Helium Flux in Primary Cosmic Rays of Rigidities 1.9 GV to 3 TV with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station
No full textKnowledge of the precise rigidity dependence of the helium flux is important in understanding the origin, acceleration, and propagation of cosmic rays. A precise measurement of the helium flux in primary cosmic rays with rigidity (momentum/charge) from 1.9 GV to 3 TV based on 50 million events is presented and compared to the proton flux. The detailed variation with rigidity of the helium flux spectral index is presented for the first time. The spectral index progressively hardens at rigidities larger than 100 GV. The rigidity dependence of the helium flux spectral index is similar to that of the proton spectral index though the magnitudes are different. Remarkably, the spectral index of the proton to helium flux ratio increases with rigidity up to 45 GV and then becomes constant; the flux ratio above 45 GV is well described by a single power law. © 2015 authors. Published by the American Physical Society. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the «http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/» Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI
Photosynthesis down-regulation precedes carbohydrate accumulation under sink limitation in Citrus
No full textPhotosynthesis down-regulation due to an imbalance between sources and sinks in Citrus leaves could be mediated by excessive accumulation of carbohydrates. However, there is limited understanding of the physiological role of soluble and insoluble carbohydrates in photosynthesis regulation and the elements triggering the down-regulation process. In this work, the role of non-structural carbohydrates in the regulation of photosynthesis under a broad spectrum of source-sink relationships has been investigated in the Salustiana sweet orange. Soluble sugar and starch accumulation in leaves, induced by girdling experiments, did not induce down-regulation of the photosynthetic rate in the presence of sinks (fruits). The leaf-to-fruit ratio did not modulate photosynthesis but allocation of photoassimilates to the fruits. The lack of strong sink activity led to a decrease in the photosynthetic rate and starch accumulation in leaves. However, photosynthesis down-regulation due to an excess of total soluble sugars or starch was discarded because photosynthesis and stomatal conductance reduction occurred prior to any significant accumulation of these carbohydrates. Gas exchange and fluorescence parameters suggested biochemical limitations to photosynthesis. In addition, the expression of carbon metabolism-related genes was altered within 24 h when strong sinks were removed. Sucrose synthesis and export genes were inhibited, whereas the expression of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase was increased to cope with the excess of assimilates. In conclusion, changes in starch and soluble sugar turnover, but not sugar content per se, could provide the signal for photosynthesis regulation. In these conditions, non-stomatal limitations strongly inhibited the photosynthetic rate prior to any significant increase in carbohydrate levels. © The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.This work was supported by the Conselleria de Cultura, Educacio i Esport de la Generalitat Valenciana [GV/2007/213 and GV/2009/034].González Nebauer, S.; Renau Morata, B.; Guardiola, JL.; Molina Romero, RV. (2011). Photosynthesis down-regulation precedes carbohydrate accumulation under sink limitation in Citrus. Tree Physiology. 31(2):169-177. doi:10.1093/treephys/tpq103S16917731
TUD-GV Dataset for Floating Litter Detection
No full text<p>This dataset contains the data used for the publication of "Jia T, Vallendar AJ, de Vries R, Kapelan Z and Taormina R (2023) Advancing deep learning-based detection of floating litter using a novel open dataset. <i>Front. Water</i> 5:1298465. doi: 10.3389/frwa.2023.1298465"</p><p>The large-scale "TU Delft - Green Village" (TUD-GV) dataset is for detecting floating litter with computer vision. We created this dataset from experiments conducted during 10 days in February and April 2021 in a small drainage canal at The Green Village — a field lab facility in the TU Delft Campus, the Netherlands. We captured data using two action cameras (GoPro HERO4 and GoPro MAX 360) and a phone (Huawei P30 Pro) mounted on four different locations on a bridge. All devices recorded videos with a resolution of 1080p, a linear field of view, and a FPS (frame per second) of 24 (for the action cameras) or 30 (for the phone).</p><p>This dataset consists of 9,473 RGB images. We manually labeled the images in the TUD-GV dataset into four classes: <i>no litter</i> (0 items), <i>little litter</i> (1-2 items), <i>moderate litter</i> (3-5 items), and <i>lots of litter</i> (6-10 items) according to the number of litter items in images.</p><p>This dataset is stored in the ZIP file contain 77 directories and the TUD-GV.xls file. Each of these directories contain four class label directories, and each label directory contains JPG images. The TUD-GV.xls file contains the detailed information of images in 77 directories, including collecting date, collecting time, device, device location (in a bridge), device degree, device height, weather conditions, litter source, the number of images per class, and the number of images in total.</p><p>If you use this dataset for a publication, please cite the paper. Here is a BibTeX entry:</p><p>@article{jia2023advancing,
title={Advancing Deep Learning-based Detection of Floating Litter using a Novel Open Dataset},
author={Jia, Tianlong and Vallendar, Andre Jehan and de Vries, Rinze and Kapelan, Zoran and Taormina, Riccardo},
journal={Frontiers in Water},
volume={5},
pages={1298465},
publisher={Frontiers},
year={2023}
}</p>
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