843 research outputs found
Letter from E.R. Fryer, Regional Director, War Relocation Authority, to Mrs. George Nakamura, September 8, 1942
No full textCorrespondence from E.R. Fryer to Dorothy Nakamura regarding Nakamura's request for her family to return to their home in Military Area No. 1 due to their status as a mixed-marriage family.The Japanese American Archival Collection documents the people, places, and daily life of Japanese Americans, primarily those who lived in the once thriving community of pre-war Florin in the Sacramento region, as well as the conditions in American incarceration camps during World War II. The approximately 7,000 original items include personal and official letters, photographs, diaries, arts and crafts, newsletters, textiles, camps artifacts, yearbooks and other publications
The cognitive low-dynamic script in the novel E.R. Burroughs "A princess of mars"
No full textyesIn the article, the script is considered as a low-dynamic cognitive structure. It brings to light the specifics of the studied low-dynamic cognitive structure. The author carried out the cognitive-hermeneutic analysis of a nominative field of the linear script, which was represented in an architectonics of the concept sphere in the work by E.R. Burroughs "A Princess of Mars" and revealed the specifics of studied the low-dynamic structureBelgorod State Universit
The cognitive low-dynamic script in the novel E.R. Burroughs "A princess of mars"
No full textIn the article, the script is considered as a low-dynamic cognitive structure. It brings to light the specifics of the studied low-dynamic cognitive structure. The author carried out the cognitive-hermeneutic analysis of a nominative field of the linear script, which was represented in an architectonics of the concept sphere in the work by E.R. Burroughs "A Princess of Mars" and revealed the specifics of studied the low-dynamic structureyesBelgorod State Universit
Bibliographics for the 983 eprints in the live archives of E-LIS : trends and status report up to 7th July 2004, based on author-self-archiving metadata
No full textThe priority for ideas and philosophy related to "Network Theory" have been traced back and documented by Braun(2004),and credit goes to Karinthy(1929).The IT has empowered to realise it, as the most practical phenomena and it is no more a humour. The OAI (Open Archives Initiatives)and ACIS (Academic Contributor Information System)are progressive in the direction ,which may lead to realise the "Collective Genius" at global level. Focus of present study is on Author-Self-Archiving (A-S-A)Metadata of the 983 Eprints in the Live Archives of the E-LIS (EPrints of Library and Information Science),which were approved till 7th July 2004.The A-S-A Metadata was used for librametric analysis. Self-explanatory bibliographics are illustrated.The highlights include: Conference papers (34%); highest approval, June 2004 (28%); published archives (76%);not refereed (52%); not in public domain (60%); highest self-archiving-author (De Robbio, Antonella).The Nos. of EPrints having single JITA domain specifications were: Theoretical and general aspects of libraries and information(27); Information use and sociology of information(80);Users,literacy and reading(13);Libraries as physical collections(30);Publishing and legal issues(57);Management(13);Industry, profession and education(36);Information sources, supports, channels(113) ; Information treatment for information services, Information functions and techniques (101); Technical services libraries, archives and museums(25); Housing technologies(1); Information technology and library technology(92); and Inter-domainery (395) i.e. having specifications of two or more than two JITA classes
Immersion in water in labour and birth
No full textBackground
Enthusiasts suggest that labouring in water and waterbirth increase maternal relaxation, reduce analgesia requirements and promote a midwifery model of care. Sceptics cite the possibility of neonatal water inhalation and maternal/neonatal infection.
Objectives
To assess the evidence from randomised controlled trials about immersion in water during labour and waterbirth on maternal, fetal, neonatal and caregiver outcomes.
Search strategy
We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (October 2008).
Selection criteria
Randomised controlled trials comparing any bath tub/pool with no immersion during labour and/or birth.
Data collection and analysis
We assessed trial eligibility and quality and extracted data independently. One review author entered data and another checked for accuracy.
Main results
This review includes 11 trials (3146 women); eight related to the first stage of labour, one to the first and second stages, one to early versus late immersion in the first stage of labour, and another to the second stage. We identified no trials evaluating different baths/pools, or the management of third stage of labour.
Results for the first stage of labour showed there was a significant reduction in the epidural/spinal/paracervical analgesia/anaesthesia rate amongst women allocated to water immersion compared to controls (478/1254 versus 529/1245; odds ratio (OR) 0.82, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.70 to 0.98, six trials). There was no difference in assisted vaginal deliveries (OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.66 to 1.06, seven trials), caesarean sections (OR 1.23, 95% CI 0.86 to 1.75, eight trials), perineal trauma or maternal infection.
There were no differences for Apgar score less than seven at five minutes (OR 1.59, 95% CI 0.63 to 4.01, five trials), neonatal unit admissions (OR 1.06, 95% CI 0.70 to 1.62, three trials), or neonatal infection rates (OR 2.01, 95% CI 0.50 to 8.07, five trials). A lack of data for some comparisons prevented robust conclusions. Further research is needed.
Authors' conclusions
Evidence suggests that water immersion during the first stage of labour reduces the use of epidural/spinal analgesia. There is limited information for other outcomes related to water use during the first and second stages of labour, due to intervention and outcome variability. There is no evidence of increased adverse effects to the fetus/neonate or woman from labouring in water or waterbirth. The fact that use of water immersion in labour and birth is now a widely available care option for women threatens the feasibility of a large, multicentre randomised controlled trial
A theoretical and experimental program on human and animal behaviour
No full textIn 1985 the author proposed a theoretical taxonomy of behaviour functions that followed the interbehavioural field model developed by J. R. Kantor. The formulation of the taxonomy is an attempt to overcome logical, conceptual, and empirical limitations in prevailing behavioural approaches, especially operant theory. A molar analysis of behaviour is provided. In this paper, the author summarizes the main concepts and assumptions of this taxonomy, and describes some of the relevant methodological preparations and experimental data. The proposed interbehavioural field taxonomy (IF) consists of a classification of stimulus-response functions that describe the structural relations of a given behaviour segment. A behaviour segment consists of an organism interacting with stimulus objects and other organisms in a given setting. The behaviour segment contrasting with traditional conditioning framework includes categories with different logical functions. These categories are: (1) the interactive history, (2) the situational factors, (3) the medium of contact, (4) the field boundaries, and (5) the distinctions between object/organism, stimulus/response, and the stimulus-response function. Five general research programs are presented by the author: (1) basic research on animal behaviour, (2) complex human behaviour, (3) behavioural development processes, (4) extension to natural and social settings, (5) conceptual and theoretical analysis. Several experimental and theoretical developments are presented. � 2006 International Union of Psychological Science
Complex scale-free networks with tunable power-law exponent and clustering
No full textThis article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. It is distributed under a Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Copyright @ 2013 Elsevier B.V.We introduce a network evolution process motivated by the network of citations in the scientific literature. In each iteration of the process a node is born and directed links are created from the new node to a set of target nodes already in the network. This set includes mm “ambassador” nodes and ll of each ambassador’s descendants where mm and ll are random variables selected from any choice of distributions plpl and qmqm. The process mimics the tendency of authors to cite varying numbers of papers included in the bibliographies of the other papers they cite. We show that the degree distributions of the networks generated after a large number of iterations are scale-free and derive an expression for the power-law exponent. In a particular case of the model where the number of ambassadors is always the constant mm and the number of selected descendants from each ambassador is the constant ll, the power-law exponent is (2l+1)/l(2l+1)/l. For this example we derive expressions for the degree distribution and clustering coefficient in terms of ll and mm. We conclude that the proposed model can be tuned to have the same power law exponent and clustering coefficient of a broad range of the scale-free distributions that have been studied empirically.EPSR
Medical Visualization and Simulation for Customizable Surgical Guides
No full textThis thesis revolves around the development of medical visualization tools for the planning of CSG-based surgery. To this end, we performed an extensive computerassisted surgery (CAS) literature study, developed a novel optimization technique for customizable surgical guides (CSG), and introduce three visualization techniques to make the planning more realistic and allow for remote visualization. In Chapter 2 we document the results of an extensive overview study, in which the use of visualization in CAS is analysed. We collected a comprehensive database of visualization relevant CAS publications, and analyse the visualization techniques that are used. We also classify important CAS-related surgical tasks and explain how and why visualization is used. Further, we analysed how surgical plans are transferred to the operating theater. Finally, we discuss how visualization is used in the four most prominent application areas of CAS. Based on this review, we were able to pinpoint interesting new research directions. One of these is the apparent lack of proper tools for CSG-based surgery, a challenge that we addressed in Chapter 3. The optimization of CSG parameters such that the CSG can be docked on bone in an accurate and stable way, is important in the planning of CSG-based surgery. The adjustable nature of the CSG, which allows it to become patient-specific, unfortunately also makes it inherently unstable. Optimizing the configuration by hand leads to poor results as we demonstrated with experiments. In Chapter 3, we therefore solve the problem in sillico. We described a novel planning tool that is able to automatically optimize a CSG for an arbitrary patient. We established this by combining a physical simulator, which models the physical interaction between the CSG and the bone, with a genetic optimization process. With experiments, we were able to prove that our optimization tool produces CSG configurations that lead to accurate and stable docking. In Chapter 4, we address the challenge of enhancing the planning environment with appropriate visualization techniques that help to understand how a CSG is connected to the bone. The state-of-the-art rendering tools in CAS applications are not able to accurately and effectively communicate how the CSG attaches to the bone. However, ambient occlusion (AO) is an illumination technique that is particularly effective at depicting contact between objects, but is generally computationally expensive. Therefore, we developed an efficient version of this algorithm such, that it can be used in the planning pipeline to effectively depict CSG-bone contact. We took the visualization one step further by introducing photo-realistic and physically based volume rendering. Chapter 5 describes Exposure Render, a complete volume rendering framework based on stochastic raytracing, and is able to incorporate a host of otherwise difficult to obtain photorealistic camera, light, and material effects. It is a well known fact that these help to understand shape, depth and size. Therefore, we employed Exposure Render to build a prototype doctor-patient communication system. With this remote visualization system, a doctor can counsel a patient from a distance, or a patient can perform self health management by uploading their tomographic data. In Chapter 6 we optimize the performance of Exposure Render. We introduce visibility sweeps, an efficient method to compute and store visibility information in volume data sets. With this method, it becomes possible to efficiently query approximate global visibility information in a volume data set. We demonstrate that this visibility information can be harnessed to improve the efficiency of the ray sampling processes in Exposure Render, which results in faster convergence. Though we demonstrate the effectiveness of visibility sweeps in the context of stochastic volume rendering, its use stretches beyond this application. Many areas of medical visualization and CAS rely on visibility information, such as automatic view finding in volume data and in various areas of CAS e.g., access, resection and implant planning. In our project it is also relevant because the visibility information can be used to make the physical simulator more realistic, for instance by avoiding docking trajectories that are associated with high risk of tissue damage. The research described in this thesis was part of the project Novel pre-operative planning and intraoperative guidance system for shoulder replacement surgery (10812), funded by the Dutch Technology Foundation.Intelligent SystemsElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
Data for: Technology, Ecology and Agricultural Trade
No full textPrograms and data files associated with "Technology, Ecology and Agricultural Trade." Author: Kari E.R. Heerman
Investigation of the phenotypic and genotypic determinants of disease susceptibility and progression in Crohn’s Disease
No full textThe inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), encompassing Crohn’s disease (CD) and
ulcerative colitis (UC), are chronic inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal
tract. Their aetiology is not fully understood but is thought to be a combination of
the effect of environmental factors in a genetically susceptible person. The work
presented is an examination of the phenotypic characteristics of CD in the Scottish
population, and an investigation into genetic factors that may influence susceptibility
and progression.
An IBD cohort from Dundee was recruited (CD=367, UC=265), and extensive
phenotypic information collected from these patients together with genomic DNA.
Together with the Edinburgh CD cohort already established, the total CD population
(n=1155) was examined for time to disease progression (stricturing and/or
penetrating disease, according to the Montreal classification) and first resection; a
multivariate analysis was performed for factors influencing these outcomes. In this
Scottish CD population, the median time to disease progression and first resection
was 14.2 years and 8.9 years respectively. The major factor influencing risk of
resection and disease progression was disease location, with patients having pure
ileal (L1) disease or ileocolonic (L3) disease being more susceptible than those with
pure colonic (L2) disease. Compared with L2 disease, the hazards ratios (HR) for
disease progression were 4.7 and 2.8, and risk of resection 5.2 and 2.6 for L1 and L3
disease respectively.
Disease progression and risk of resection are surrogate markers of disease severity.
To try to better understand the determinants of severe disease, a novel score for
disease severity was developed and applied to the Dundee CD cohort. This
composite score encompassed the variables of medical and surgical management,
disease behaviour and location, nutritional status as well as hospitalisations, with a
total score that could range from 1 to 16. A score of 7 or more was found to define
the 50% of patients with the most severe disease. This cut-off was used to divide
patients into less severe and more severe categories; phenotypic and genetic factors
were examined for correlation with more severe disease. Genetic factors examined
were the 32 most significant CD susceptibility single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) uncovered by recent genome-wide association scans (GWAS). Factors
correlated with more severe disease included disease location (L1, odds ratio (OR)
2.20, p=0.0025), age group at diagnosis (p=0.0004) and two CD susceptibility SNPs
(rs9286879 and rs17582416; p=0.0085 and p=0.045 respectively).
NOD2 was the first IBD susceptibility gene identified. In order to further define
pathways involving NOD2, a yeast two-hybrid screen in our laboratory using NOD2
cDNA as the bait had already identified an interaction between NOD2 and UDP-Nacetyl-
alpha-D-galactosamine:polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase
(GALNT2). This enzyme is involved in O-glycosylation, important in the post
translational modification of mucins. A GALNT2 genotype/phenotype analysis on
the Edinburgh IBD population was completed, with the Dundee IBD population used
as a replication cohort. In the Edinburgh IBD population, the GALNT2 tagging SNP
rs7536663 was associated with CD susceptibility (OR 1.38, p=0.0008 vs controls),
but replication was not achieved in the Dundee cohort (p=0.469). There was no
association of any of the GALNT2 SNPs with UC.
The GALNT2/NOD2 interaction was further investigated by completing coimmunoprecipitation
between the two genes to characterise the level and type of
interaction. An interaction between GALNT2 and NOD2 was confirmed in
mammalian cells, with the interaction being at the N-terminal end of the NOD2
protein. GALNT2 expression in a cell line and biopsies was investigated by
quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry respectively.
There were no statistically significant changes in GALNT2 or NOD2 mRNA
expression in the LS174T cell line after stimulation with specific ligands for NOD2
and GALNT2. GALNT2 protein expression was characterised in intestinal biopsy
samples to be predominantly in the lamina propria, with some expression in the
enterocytes.
To further define the contribution of mucin genes to IBD susceptibility, tagging
SNPs across the MUC2, MUC3A and MUC19 genes were genotyped in the
Edinburgh IBD cohort and examined for a link with IBD, CD and UC susceptibility,
but associations were not found. In view of the strong association with CD
susceptibility of a SNP near the MUC19 locus in a recent GWAS, tagging SNPs across the leucine rich repeat kinase-2 (LRRK2) gene, near the MUC19 gene, were
also genotyped and examined in the Dundee cohort for an association with IBD, CD
and UC susceptibility, but was also negative when corrected for multiple testing.
The studies presented allow an improved understanding of the influence of
phenotypic characteristics on disease progression, need for surgery and severity in
CD. The role of disease location has been determined to be particularly critical, in
keeping with other published studies. A detailed examination of the influence of
specific genes on disease susceptibility has failed to definitely demonstrate an
association between germline variation in GALNT2, MUC2, MUC3A, MUC19 or
LRRK2 and IBD, CD or UC susceptibility. An interaction in mammalian cells
between NOD2 and GALNT2 has been shown, but further work is required to
demonstrate that this is a biologically relevant interaction
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