182 research outputs found
Effects of Age and Rice Straw Inclusion Levels in the Diet of Yiling Cull Cows on Growth Performance, Meat Quality, and Antioxidant Status of Tissues
No full textThe objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of age and dietary straw levels on growth performance, carcass and meat traits, as well as tissue antioxidant status of Yiling cull cows. Twenty-four Yiling cull cows were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial design: two age classes consisting of younger cull cows (YCC; appearing with three or four pairs of permanent teeth) and older cull cows (OCC; worn out teeth); two dietary treatments consisting of lower and higher rice straw levels (LRS and HRS; providing 0.7 kg/d and 1.2 kg/d rice straw per head based on air-dry basis, respectively). Cows were fed twice a day. Straw was offered at half of the predetermined weight each meal; concentrate was separately supplied ad libitum. After 300 d of feeding, final body weight (BW), total BW gain, average daily gain and gain:feed intake were higher (p p = 0.03) in the HRS group than in the LRS group, but neutral detergent fiber apparent digestibility was negatively affected (p = 0.01) by increased straw levels. Decreased C15:0, C17:0, C20:5n3c, and saturated fatty acids (SFAs) proportion as well as increased C18:1n9c and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) proportion in meat from YCC with HRS diet were observed as compared to that in meat from YCC with LRS diet (p p = 0.04) C18:3n3c proportion than meat from LRS group. No significant differences (p > 0.05) were found for meat quality attributes except for cooking loss, which was higher (p = 0.02) in the HRS group than in the LRS group. Both YCC group and HRS group had higher (p p = 0.045) in YCC than in OCC, while superoxide dismutase activity of muscle tissue was higher (p = 0.01) in LRS than in HRS. Based on results, we concluded that younger age and feeding high-level straw can improve the finishing performance of Yiling cull cows
Doplor Sleep: Monitoring Hospital Soundscapes for Better Sleep Hygiene
No full textGood sleep is conducive to the recovery process of hospital patients - and yet, in many wards, sleep duration and quality can often be suboptimal, in part due to modifiable hospital-related sounds and noises. At the neurological ward of the Reinier de Graaf hospital in Delft, the Netherlands, we developed and evaluated a prototype information exchange system to raise awareness of specific sounds as disturbing patients' sleep. The system both classifies different relevant sound events and tracks sleep quality (using a Fitbit device). This information is then visualized for patients and staff to present the influence of the soundscape on patients' sleep hygiene in a friendly and comprehensive way. We discuss the design process, including a context study and various evaluations of the technology, interface, and created affordances. Our initial findings indicate that visualizing hospital soundscapes may, indeed, support both patients and staff in their efforts towards better sleep hygiene. Design AestheticsInternet of Thing
A Machine with Short-Term, Episodic, and Semantic Memory Systems
No full textInspired by the cognitive science theory of the explicit human memory systems, we have modeled an agent with short-term, episodic, and semantic memory systems, each of which is modeled with a knowledge graph. To evaluate this system and analyze the behavior of this agent, we designed and released our own reinforcement learning agent environment, the Room , where an agent has to learn how to encode, store, and retrieve memories to maximize its return by answering questions. We show that our deep Q-learning based agent successfully learns whether a short-term memory should be forgotten, or rather be stored in the episodic or semantic memory systems. Our experiments indicate that an agent with human-like memory systems can outperform an agent without this memory structure in the environment
Deep characteristics analysis on travel time of emergency traffic
No full textOwing to the rapid development of emergency rescue transportation in cities and the frequent emergencies, demand for emergency rescue is increasing drastically. How to select an emergency rescue route quickly and shorten the rescue travel time under the condition of limited urban road resources is of great significance. Based on the characteristics analysis of emergency rescue, this paper classifies priority levels of different emergency traffic, moreover, the travel times are also analysed with three scenarios: 1) emergency rescue vehicles encountering no queues; 2) encountered queues but lanes available; 3) encountered queues with no available lanes. Related case study shows that model in this paper can effectively shorten travel time of emergency traffic in the route and improve its efficiency.Accepted Author ManuscriptTransport and Plannin
Video-Based Vehicle Detection And Classification In Challenging Scenarios
No full textabstract
In intelligent transportation system, research on vehicle detection and classification has high theory significance and application value. According to the traditional methods of vehicle detection which can’t be well applied in challenging scenario, this paper proposes a novel Bayesian fusion algorithm based on Gaussian mixture model. We extract the features of vehicle from images, including shape features, texture features, and the gradient direction histogram features after dimension reduction. In vehicle classification part, we adopt fuzzy support vector machine, and design a novel vehicle classifier based on nested one-vs-one algorithm. Finally, experimental tests show excellent results of our methods in both vehicle detection and classification.</jats:p
Doplor Sleep: Friendly feedback towards a better hospital soundscape for sleep
No full textRecently in the Netherlands, researchers have found that sleep duration and quality were suboptimal in the hospital. Evidence proved that many modifiable hospitalrelated factors negatively associate with patients' sleep (JAMA Internal Medicine, 2018). The sound factor is the most significant sleep disturbance in the hospital. In this graduation project, collaborating with Reiner de Graaf hospital and Critical Alarms lab, an information exchange system was proposed to raise awareness of sound as sleep disturbance. The system captures the sound-producing events and visualizes them with visually attractive graphics. In this system, we use the smartphone as the sound captor. The recorded sounds are processed locally on the phone and converted into information such as sound level and the category it belongs to (alarm, speech, incidental sounds, or snore). Fitbit is implemented in the system to collect sleep information. To both patients and medical staff, The Doplor sleep system presents the influence of sound on sleep in a friendly and comprehensive way. During this project, a functioning prototype was developed. We have tested its functionality and user experience with the potential users
The Use of Business Intelligence Tool to Support Business Decision Making : BI on Product Portfolio Decision to a New Product of MLS Company
No full textBusiness intelligence is a term that be mentioned very often in recent years. More and more organizations applied business intelligence to survive and to be more competitive than before. Simultaneously, a lot of BI tool suppliers emerge in this market. Besides, most nowadays BI tool supports self-service without professional IT background requirements. Decision makers benefits a lot from BI tool utilization.
The purpose of this thesis is to explore BI capabilities and how BI tool could assist users to achieve the goal. More specifically, the author of the thesis will present how self-service BI tool that be used to analyse business patterns and trends, in order to help the author make decision and suggestion.
The thesis consists of two parts: the first part is the theory part, as a support to the empirical part, that review the basic knowledge of business intelligence such as the definition, the capa-bilities and the basic process; in the second part, the empirical one, the author will show the process of BI tool usage to a real company case.
The research method covers both qualitative and quantitative method, but the former one is the major method. Specifically, the approaches include literature research, market research through questionnaire, data collection, management and analysis, and quantitative analysis as well.
The research result aims to give suggestion on product portfolio to a real company case. To do so, the thesis will be progressed from a variety of aspects regarding to the product portfo-lio. And all the reports and analysis will be presented in the empirical part
Ion incorporation into bone grafting materials.
No full textThe use of biomaterials in regenerative medicine has expanded to treat various disorders caused by trauma or disease in orthopedics and dentistry. However, the treatment of large and complex bone defects presents a challenge, leading to a pressing need for optimized biomaterials for bone repair. Recent advances in chemical sciences have enabled the incorporation of therapeutic ions into bone grafts to enhance their performance. These ions, such as strontium (for bone regeneration/osteoporosis), copper (for angiogenesis), boron (for bone growth), iron (for chemotaxis), cobalt (for B12 synthesis), lithium (for osteogenesis/cementogenesis), silver (for antibacterial resistance), and magnesium (for bone and cartilage regeneration), among others (e.g., zinc, sodium, and silica), have been studied extensively. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of current knowledge and recent developments in ion incorporation into biomaterials for bone and periodontal tissue repair. It also discusses recently developed biomaterials from a basic design and clinical application perspective. Additionally, the review highlights the importance of precise ion introduction into biomaterials to address existing limitations and challenges in combination therapies. Future prospects and opportunities for the development and optimization of biomaterials for bone tissue engineering are emphasized
The Predictive Value of Preoperative Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index in Patients with Granulomatous Mastitis
No full textLiquan Ouyang,1 Jieting Qin,2 Tianyue Cui,1 Yuyan Tan1 1Department of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, The First College of Clinical Medical Science, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, 443022, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Cardiology, Yichang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yichang, 443022, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Yuyan Tan, Department of Thyroid and Breast surgery, The First College of Clinical Medical Science, China Three Gorges University, No. 183 Yiling Avenue, Yichang, 443022, People’s Republic of China, Tel +086(0717)6486909, Email [email protected]: The systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) comprehensively reflects the balance between immune status and host inflammation. We aimed to investigate the potential predictive value of the SII in the prognosis of granulomatous mastitis (GM).Patients and Methods: We enrolled 245 patients with GM who underwent surgery between 2015 and 2020 in this study. Using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, we divided the patients into low SII groups (SII≤ 836× 109/L) and high SII groups (SII> 836× 109/L). The associations between SII and clinical parameters were assessed using chi-squared or Fisher’s exact tests. Kaplan-Meier plots and Log rank tests were performed to investigate the clinical outcomes of cumulative no-recurrence rates. Risk factors were analyzed by using logistic regression analysis.Results: We found a correlation between the recurrence of GM and the preoperative level of SII, and the high SII group exhibited a higher recurrence rate than the low SII group. To further explore the factors affecting the risk of recurrence, we found that young age at disease onset, skin rupture, and the postoperative use of corticosteroids could increase the risk of GM recurrence. Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that young age and postoperative corticosteroid use were the risk factors for disease recurrence.Conclusion: As a noninvasive and readily available clinical parameter, the preoperative SII level has great significance in evaluating the efficacy and prognosis of surgical treatment for GM combined with age and postoperative corticosteroid use, which provides valuable insights for making treatment decisions.Keywords: Granulomatous mastitis, Surgical treatment, Systemic immune-inflammation index, Prognosi
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