725 research outputs found
Feasibility, acceptability and diagnostic test accuracy of frailty screening instruments in community-dwelling older people within the Australian general practice setting: a study protocol for a cross-sectional study
No full textIntroduction: Frailty is one of the most challenging aspects of population ageing due to its association with increased risk of poor health outcomes and quality of life. General practice provides an ideal setting for the prevention and management of frailty via the implementation of preventive measures such as early identification through screening. Methods and analysis: Our study will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and diagnostic test accuracy of several screening instruments in diagnosing frailty among community-dwelling Australians aged 75+ years who have recently made an appointment to see their general practitioner (GP). We will recruit 240 participants across 2 general practice sites within South Australia. We will invite eligible patients to participate and consent to the study via mail. Consenting participants will attend a screening appointment to undertake the index tests: 2 self-reported (Reported Edmonton Frail Scale and Kihon Checklist) and 5 (Frail Scale, Groningen Frailty Index, Program on Research for Integrating Services for the Maintenance of Autonomy (PRISMA-7), Edmonton Frail Scale and Gait Speed Test) administered by a practice nurse (a Registered Nurse working in general practice). We will randomise test order to reduce bias. Psychosocial measures will also be collected via questionnaire at the appointment. A blinded researcher will then administer two reference standards (the Frailty Phenotype and Adelaide Frailty Index). We will determine frailty by a cut-point of 3 of 5 criteria for the Phenotype and 9 of 42 items for the AFI. We will determine accuracy by analysis of sensitivity, specificity, predictive values and likelihood ratios. We will assess feasibility and acceptability by: 1) collecting data about the instruments prior to collection; 2) interviewing screeners after data collection; 3) conducting a pilot survey with a 10% sample of participants. Ethics and dissemination: The Torrens University Higher Research Ethics Committee has approved this study. We will disseminate findings via publication in peer-reviewed journals and presentation at relevant conferences.Rachel Ambagtsheer, Renuka Visvanathan, Matteo Cesari, Solomon Yu, Mandy Archibald, Timothy Schultz, Jonathon Karnon, Alison Kitson, Justin Beilb
Effectiveness of Thermal Ablation and Stereotactic Radiotherapy based on Stage I Lung Cancer Histology
No full textMicrowave Ablation versus Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for Stage I Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
No full textDevelopment of a Method to Detect and Quantify CT Motion Artifacts: Feasibility Study
No full textArtifacts are known to reduce the quality of CT images and can affect statistical analysis and quantitative utility of those images. Motion artifact is a leading type of CT artifact, due to either voluntary or involuntary (respiratory and cardiac movements) causes. Currently, such artifacts, if present, are not quantified and monitored, nor are their dependencies on CT acquisition settings known. As a first step to address this gap, the aim of this study was to develop a neural network to detect and quantify motion artifacts in CT images. Training data were drawn from three sources and the pixels containing motion were segmented (Seg3D, University of Utah) and the segmentation masks used as the ground truth labels. A convolutional neural network (u-net) was trained to identify pixels containing motion. The model performance was assessed by correlating the percentage of voxels labeled as having motion in each slice of the pre-allocated testing data for the ground-truth and predicted segmentation masks, yielding a correlation coefficient of r = 0.43, as well as constructing ROC curves. A series-wise ROC curve had AUC = 0.94, and a slice-wise ROC curve had AUC = 0.80. The correlation coefficient and AUCs are expected to improve as more training data is added. This network has potential to be a useful clinical tool, enabling quality tracking systems to detect and quantify the presence of artifacts in the context of CT quality control.</p
Palindromic richness
No full textIn this paper, we study combinatorial and structural properties of a new class of finite and infinite words that are 'rich' in palindromes in the utmost sense. A characteristic property of the so-called rich words is that all complete returns to any palindromic factor are themselves palindromes. These words encompass the well-known episturmian words, originally introduced by the second author together with Droubay and Pirillo in 2001 [X. Droubay, J. Justin, G. Pirillo, Episturmian words and some constructions of de Luca and Rauzy, Theoret. Comput. Sci. 255 (2001) 539-553]. Other examples of rich words have appeared in many different contexts. Here we present the first unified approach to the study of this intriguing family of words. Amongst our main results, we give an explicit description of the periodic rich infinite words and show that the recurrent balanced rich infinite words coincide with the balanced episturmian words. We also consider two wider classes of infinite words, namely weakly rich words and almost rich words (both strictly contain all rich words, but neither one is contained in the other). In particular, we classify all recurrent balanced weakly rich words. As a consequence, we show that any such word on at least three letters is necessarily episturmian; hence weakly rich words obey Fraenkel's conjecture. Likewise, we prove that a certain class of almost rich words obeys Fraenkel's conjecture by showing that the recurrent balanced ones are episturmian or contain at least two distinct letters with the same frequency. Lastly, we study the action of morphisms on (almost) rich words with particular interest in morphisms that preserve (almost) richness. Such morphisms belong to the class of P-morphisms that was introduced by Hof, Knill, and Simon in 1995 [A. Hof, O. Knill, B. Simon, Singular continuous spectrum for palindromic Schrödinger operators, Comm. Math. Phys. 174 (1995) 149-159]
China's economic reforms : pointers for other economies in transition?
No full textChina's two main economic problems before reform were low incentives to workers and the misallocation of resources among sectors. These problems were theresult of a development strategy oriented toward heavy industry. By improving material incentives, China's reforms created a flow of new resources and allowed them to be allocated to sectors suppressed under pre-reform strategies. The onset of reform in China was not allowed to disrupt production from existing resources. Instead, the newly created resources were permitted to accrue and to flow into the more productive, often light industrial sectors, thus stimulating continuous growth of the national economy during reform. Low incentives and the suppression of nonpriority sectors are common features of the legacy of economies in transition from central planning that based their development on the rapid growth of heavy industry. China's approach may be of interest to them. Among lessons China learned are that: (a) Autonomy must be granted to micromanagement units and preserved to improve the incentive structure and create a new flow of resources. (b) While maintaining essential minimum levels of production in the pre-reform priority sectors, autonomous enterprises must be permitted and encouraged to allocate new incremental resource flows to the previously suppressed sectors. (c) In parallel, the distorted policy environment and planned-allocation system must be progressively reformed to bring them into line with the new system of incentives and modus operandi of autonomous enterprises.Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Water and Industry,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies
A Recording, Performance Guide, and Composer Interviews: Six New Original Works for Trios Involving Saxophone, Commissioned for the Rogue Trio and Lotus
No full textabstract: This project includes a recording, composer biographies, performance guides, and composer questionnaires for seven original works commissioned for either the Rogue Trio or Lotus. The members of the Rogue Trio are violinist Kathleen Strahm, saxophonist Justin Rollefson, and pianist Mary Cota. Lotus’s members include Samuel Detweiler, Justin Rollefson, and Kristen Zelenak on saxophone. Both ensembles are based in Tempe, Arizona. All seven original compositions were recorded at Tempest Recording in February of 2018.
The first piece, Four Impersonations (2016), was commissioned by the Rogue Trio and written by Theo Chandler (b.1992) for violin, soprano saxophone and piano. The second piece was written by Spencer Arias (b. 1990) titled He Said There Was No Sound (2015) for violin, alto saxophone, and piano. The final work is titled Cabinet Meeting (2017), composed by Zachary Green (b. 1993) for violin, alto and tenor saxophone, and piano.
The first piece commissioned by Lotus and composed by Spencer Arias is titled As I escape, the water calms (2017) for soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, and tenor saxophone. The second piece was composed by Graham Cohen (b. 1999), titled Introduction and Toccata (2017), written for soprano, alto, and baritone saxophones. The third piece, titled Everything that rises, was written by David “Clay” Mettens (b. 1990) in 2014 for three soprano saxophones. Samuel Detweiler, Justin Rollefson and Tyler Flowers originally commissioned this piece. The final piece commissioned by Lotus was written by Matthew Kennedy (b. 1987) titled Triceratops: tasty grooves for saxophone trio (2017) for alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones.Dissertation/ThesisFour Impersonations, Movement I: An outwardly-confident adolescent demanding recognition - Theo ChandlerFour Impersonations, Movement II: A grumpy hermit ignoring the attention of a suitor - Theo ChandlerFour Impersonations, Movement III: A skinny, shy boy standing in the rain - Theo ChandlerFour Impersonations, Movement IV: Subordinates mocking an authority figure - Theo ChandlerHe Said There Was No Sound - Spencer AriasCabinet Meeting, Movement I: Introduction - Zachary GreenCabinet Meeting, Movement II: Jared Kushner, mysterious robot - Zachary GreenCabinet Meeting, Movement III: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, lonesome cowboy - Zachary GreenCabinet Meeting, Movement IV: Anthony "The Mooch" Scaramucci, in candid conversation with the New Yorker - Zachary GreenCabinet Meeting, Movement V: Betsy DeVos Secretary of Education - Zachary GreenCabinet Meeting, Movement VI: Ben Carson Secretary of Housing and Urban Development - Zachary GreenCabinet Meeting, Movement VII: Attorney General Jeff Sessions, responding to questions from the Senate Intelligence Committee - Zachary GreenAs I escape, the water calms - Spencer AriasIntroduction and Toccata - Graham CohenEverything that rises - David “Clay” MettensTriceratops - Matthew KennedyDoctoral Dissertation Music 201
Detectability of the impacts of ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gases upon stratospheric ozone accounting for nonlinearities in historical forcings
No full textWe perform a formal attribution study of upper- and lower-stratospheric ozone
changes using observations together with simulations from the Whole
Atmosphere Community Climate Model. Historical model simulations were used to
estimate the zonal-mean response patterns (fingerprints) to combined
forcing by ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) and well-mixed greenhouse gases
(GHGs), as well as to the individual forcing by each factor. Trends in the
similarity between the searched-for fingerprints and homogenized observations
of stratospheric ozone were compared to trends in pattern similarity between
the fingerprints and the internally and naturally generated variability
inferred from long control runs. This yields estimated signal-to-noise
(S∕N) ratios for each of the three fingerprints (ODS, GHG, and
ODS + GHG). In both the upper stratosphere (defined in this paper as 1 to
10 hPa) and lower stratosphere (40 to 100 hPa), the spatial
fingerprints of the ODS + GHG and ODS-only patterns were consistently
detectable not only during the era of maximum ozone depletion but also
throughout the observational record (1984–2016). We also develop
a fingerprint attribution method to account for forcings whose time
evolutions are markedly nonlinear over the observational record. When the
nonlinearity of the time evolution of the ODS and ODS + GHG signals is
accounted for, we find that the S∕N ratios obtained with the stratospheric
ODS and ODS + GHG fingerprints are enhanced relative to standard linear
trend analysis. Use of the nonlinear signal detection method also reduces the
detection time – the estimate of the date at which ODS and GHG impacts on
ozone can be formally identified. Furthermore, by explicitly considering
nonlinear signal evolution, the complete observational record can be used in
the S∕N analysis, without applying piecewise linear regression and
introducing arbitrary break points. The GHG-driven fingerprint of ozone
changes was not statistically identifiable in either the upper- or
lower-stratospheric SWOOSH data, irrespective of the signal detection method
used. In the WACCM simulations of future climate change, the GHG signal is
statistically identifiable between 2020 and 2030. Our findings demonstrate
the importance of continued stratospheric ozone monitoring to improve
estimates of the contributions of ODS and GHG forcing to global changes in
stratospheric ozone
KDS2010, a Newly Developed Reversible MAO-B Inhibitor, as an Effective Therapeutic Candidate for Parkinson’s Disease
No full text© 2021, The Author(s).Monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B) is a well-established therapeutic target for Parkinson’s disease (PD); however, previous clinical studies on currently available irreversible MAO-B inhibitors have yielded disappointing neuroprotective effects. Here, we tested the therapeutic potential of KDS2010, a recently synthesized potent, selective, and reversible MAO-B inhibitor in multiple animal models of PD. We designed and synthesized a series of α-aminoamide derivatives and found that derivative KDS2010 exhibited the highest potency, specificity, reversibility, and bioavailability (> 100%). In addition, KDS2010 demonstrated significant neuroprotective and anti-neuroinflammatory efficacy against nigrostriatal pathway destruction in the mouse MPTP model of parkinsonism. Treatment with KDS2010 also alleviated parkinsonian motor dysfunction in 6-hydroxydopamine-induced and A53T mutant α-synuclein overexpression rat models of PD. Moreover, KDS2010 showed virtually no toxicity or side effects in non-human primates. KDS2010 could be a next-generation therapeutic candidate for PD.11Nsciescopu
Constraining Inflationary B-modes with the BICEP/Keck Array Telescopes
No full textUniversity of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation.November 2019. Major: Physics. Advisor: Clement Pryke. 1 computer file (PDF); xiv, 250 pages.The standard cosmological model is an impressive theory that explains well the observed evolution and structure of the Universe, but we know the theory has to be incomplete since it does not explain the initial conditions of the Big Bang. Inflation is an extension to the model that hypothesizes an incredibly brief period of accelerating expansion in the first moments after the Big Bang to explain how the required initial conditions were met. Most theories of Inflation predict a stochastic background of gravitational waves would have been produced, which would have imprinted a characteristic curl-like B-mode pattern into the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), and finding these B-modes would provide direct evidence for Inflation, opening a new window into the high-energy physics of the early Universe. The BICEP/Keck Array telescopes are a series of small aperture, polarization-sensitive microwave telescopes expressly optimized for observing the degree-angular scale CMB where the B-mode signal is predicted to peak. Continuous mapping since 2010 of ~1% of the low-foreground sky from the South Pole has produced maps in multiple frequencies bands which result in the tightest constraint on Inflationary gravitational waves to date: r < 0.072 using data through the end of 2015. In this dissertation we review the end-to-end analysis of the BICEP/Keck Array data, from timestreams to cosmological parameter estimation. Along the way, we will detail two specific contributions the author has made for the upcoming analysis results. The first concerns a correction made to the low-level timestream processing, discovered while analyzing the data from the newest telescope for the first time. The second topic is the introduction of new algorithms and parameter choices for the E/B purification process that improves the purification quality. Finally, we conclude by previewing the anticipated result of including three additional years of previously unreported data which has the potential to improve current cosmological parameter constraints on r by a factor of two.Willmert, Justin. (2019). Constraining Inflationary B-modes with the BICEP/Keck Array Telescopes. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/211821
- …
