XML-driven exploitation of combined scalability in scalable H.264/AVC bitstreams

The heterogeneity in the contemporary multimedia environments requires a format-agnostic adaptation framework for the consumption of digital video content. Scalable bitstreams can be used in order to satisfy as many circumstances as possible. In this paper, the scalable extension on the H.264/AVC specification is used to obtain the parent bitstreams. The adaptation along the combined scalability axis of the bitstreams is done in a format-independent manner. Therefore, an abstraction layer of the bitstream is needed. In this paper, XML descriptions are used representing the high-level structure of the bitstreams by relying on the MPEG-21 Bitstream Syntax Description Language standard. The exploitation of the combined scalability is executed in the XML domain by implementing the adaptation process in a Streaming Transformation for XML (STX) stylesheet. The algorithm used in the transformation of the XML description is discussed in detail in this paper. From the performance measurements, one can conclude that the STX transformation in the XML domain and the generation of the corresponding adapted bitstream can be realized in real time

How a Diverse Research Ecosystem Has Generated New Rehabilitation Technologies: Review of NIDILRR’s Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers

Over 50 million United States citizens (1 in 6 people in the US) have a developmental, acquired, or degenerative disability. The average US citizen can expect to live 20% of his or her life with a disability. Rehabilitation technologies play a major role in improving the quality of life for people with a disability, yet widespread and highly challenging needs remain. Within the US, a major effort aimed at the creation and evaluation of rehabilitation technology has been the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERCs) sponsored by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. As envisioned at their conception by a panel of the National Academy of Science in 1970, these centers were intended to take a “total approach to rehabilitation”, combining medicine, engineering, and related science, to improve the quality of life of individuals with a disability. Here, we review the scope, achievements, and ongoing projects of an unbiased sample of 19 currently active or recently terminated RERCs. Specifically, for each center, we briefly explain the needs it targets, summarize key historical advances, identify emerging innovations, and consider future directions. Our assessment from this review is that the RERC program indeed involves a multidisciplinary approach, with 36 professional fields involved, although 70% of research and development staff are in engineering fields, 23% in clinical fields, and only 7% in basic science fields; significantly, 11% of the professional staff have a disability related to their research. We observe that the RERC program has substantially diversified the scope of its work since the 1970’s, addressing more types of disabilities using more technologies, and, in particular, often now focusing on information technologies. RERC work also now often views users as integrated into an interdependent society through technologies that both people with and without disabilities co-use (such as the internet, wireless communication, and architecture). In addition, RERC research has evolved to view users as able at improving outcomes through learning, exercise, and plasticity (rather than being static), which can be optimally timed. We provide examples of rehabilitation technology innovation produced by the RERCs that illustrate this increasingly diversifying scope and evolving perspective. We conclude by discussing growth opportunities and possible future directions of the RERC program

Alcaligenes xylosoxidans Bloodstream Infections in Outpatient Oncology Office

Gaps in infection control led to biofilm production in central venous catheters and resultant bloodstream infection

May 2012

News and Features “More Americans Willing to Cross Borders for Health Care” A Pew Research Center poll shows that only 15 percent of Americans believe the nation’s health care system is the “best in the world.” A Gallop poll found that 29 percent of American adults are willing to travel outside the U.S. for medical treatment. Exporting Their Way to Success Roy Paulson, president of Paulson Manufacturing Corp. in Temecula, exports to more than 100 countries. He knows a few things about bringing products to markets abroad, and he is now chairman of the Riverside County Manufacturers & Exporters Assoc. designed to increase the number of companies in Riverside County selling goods outside the U.S. Close-Up: Dr. Margie Ferree Jones, Cal Poly Pomona A certified sommelier and a certified wine educator, Jones is a professor at Cal Poly Pomona and teaches wine classes— one of the most popular courses on the campus “How to Build a Better Mousetrap With Social Media” Jeni Hinojosa, the social media campaign manager at EMSI Public Relations, gives advice on social media for marketing purposes. She states you need to use all media networks in building an audience Corporate Profile: Ivy-It Sergio Martinez and Sam Pedroza founded Ivy-It to save cities from graffiti while maintaining the product as green sustainable and eco friendly Columns At Deadline The Lists: Banks in the Inland Empire Law Firms in the Inland Empire Employment Services/Agencies in the Inland Empire Staff Leasing Companies in the Inland Empire Environmental Companies Serving the Inland Empire Real Estate Notes Investments and Finance Close-Up Communication and Networking Corporate Profile Computer Column Management People and Events Restaurant Review Manager’s Bookshelf New Business Lists: County of San Bernardino County of Riverside Executive Time Ou

Accounting historians notebook, 2004, Vol. 27, no. 2 (Ocotber) [whole issue]

Copyright held by: Academy of Accounting Historian

Spartan Daily, January 27, 1993

Volume 100, Issue 1https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/8358/thumbnail.jp

Changes in gut bacterial populations and their translocation into liver and ascites in alcoholic liver cirrhotics

Background The liver is the first line of defence against continuously occurring influx of microbial-derived products and bacteria from the gut. Intestinal bacteria have been implicated in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver cirrhosis. Escape of intestinal bacteria into the ascites is involved in the pathogenesis of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, which is a common complication of liver cirrhosis. The association between faecal bacterial populations and alcoholic liver cirrhosis has not been resolved. Methods Relative ratios of major commensal bacterial communities (Bacteroides spp., Bifidobacterium spp., Clostridium leptum group, Enterobactericaea and Lactobacillus spp.) were determined in faecal samples from post mortem examinations performed on 42 males, including cirrhotic alcoholics (n = 13), non-cirrhotic alcoholics (n = 15), non-alcoholic controls (n = 14) and in 7 healthy male volunteers using real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Translocation of bacteria into liver in the autopsy cases and into the ascites of 12 volunteers with liver cirrhosis was also studied with RT-qPCR. CD14 immunostaining was performed for the autopsy liver samples. Results Relative ratios of faecal bacteria in autopsy controls were comparable to those of healthy volunteers. Cirrhotics had in median 27 times more bacterial DNA of Enterobactericaea in faeces compared to the healthy volunteers (p = 0.011). Enterobactericaea were also the most common bacteria translocated into cirrhotic liver, although there were no statistically significant differences between the study groups. Of the ascites samples from the volunteers with liver cirrhosis, 50% contained bacterial DNA from Enterobactericaea, Clostridium leptum group or Lactobacillus spp.. The total bacterial DNA in autopsy liver was associated with the percentage of CD14 expression (p = 0.045). CD14 expression percentage in cirrhotics was significantly higher than in the autopsy controls (p = 0.004). Conclusions Our results suggest that translocation of intestinal bacteria into liver may be involved as a one factor in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver cirrhosis.BioMed Central open acces

Radioactive decays at limits of nuclear stability

The last decades brought an impressive progress in synthesizing and studying properties of nuclides located very far from the beta stability line. Among the most fundamental properties of such exotic nuclides, usually established first, is the half-life, possible radioactive decay modes, and their relative probabilities. When approaching limits of nuclear stability, new decay modes set in. First, beta decays become accompanied by emission of nucleons from highly excited states of daughter nuclei. Second, when the nucleon separation energy becomes negative, nucleons start to be emitted from the ground state. Here, we present a review of the decay modes occurring close to the limits of stability. The experimental methods used to produce, identify and detect new species and their radiation are discussed. The current theoretical understanding of these decay processes is overviewed. The theoretical description of the most recently discovered and most complex radioactive process - the two-proton radioactivity - is discussed in more detail.Comment: Review, 68 pages, 39 figure