In Silico Syndrome Prediction for Coronary Artery Disease in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading causes of deaths in the world. The differentiation of syndrome (ZHENG) is the criterion of diagnosis and therapeutic in TCM. Therefore, syndrome prediction in silico can be improving the performance of treatment. In this paper, we present a Bayesian network framework to construct a high-confidence syndrome predictor based on the optimum subset, that is, collected by Support Vector Machine (SVM) feature selection. Syndrome of CAD can be divided into asthenia and sthenia syndromes. According to the hierarchical characteristics of syndrome, we firstly label every case three types of syndrome (asthenia, sthenia, or both) to solve several syndromes with some patients. On basis of the three syndromes' classes, we design SVM feature selection to achieve the optimum symptom subset and compare this subset with Markov blanket feature select using ROC. Using this subset, the six predictors of CAD's syndrome are constructed by the Bayesian network technique. We also design Naïve Bayes, C4.5 Logistic, Radial basis function (RBF) network compared with Bayesian network. In a conclusion, the Bayesian network method based on the optimum symptoms shows a practical method to predict six syndromes of CAD in TCM

Human Face Mapping Based on TEWL, Hydration and Ultrasound

Biophysical properties of the skin vary depending on the skin location. Such properties include skin structure, density of skin layers, pH, temperature, hydration and Transepidermal Water Loss (TEWL).Modern technologies and quantitative methods allow reading and analysing the skin properties using in-vivo based analysis. One goal of such analysis is partitioning the skin in areas with similar properties, which is referred as mapping. The purpose of our study, also the novelty of the project, is mapping of the facial skin in terms of TEWL, hydration and skin layer thickness, as well as measuring the effect of physical exercise on facial skin; where possible, effect of sex and age were also considered. TEWL was measured with AquaFlux, skin layer thickness was measured with Episcan high resolution ultrasound imaging, and skin hydration was measured with Epsilon. Our study reveals material difference of TEWL between the facial sites being analysed; the largest differences were noted between the lips and the neck. It was found that skin hydration levels decrease with the advancement of age. Skin hydration readings reveal larger general effect of exercise for females, and strongest effect for males observed on the nose. Skin ultrasound images were used in two ways. First, face was mapped in terms of the thickness of the individual skin layers and such mapping was found to be different for each layer. Secondly, the differences between the sites in terms of thickness were quantified using Welch test, where age was also found to be a factor. Several Machine Learning-based classifiers of the skin location were also trained, which are based on the cross-sectional image with moderate positive outcome. The study showed that the combination of TEWL, Epsilon and Episcan provides useful information about skin health. The study also showed variations in the values for different facial skin sites of several skin samples, which was likely due to the degree of corneocyte formation, the lipid contents of the Stratum Corneum (SC), skin temperature, damaged barrier function, bodily health and skin blood flow

Acculturation and cultural value orientations of immigrant Chinese Americans: Effects on body image, aesthetics for appearance, and involvement in dress

The research was an investigation of the effects of acculturation and cultural value orientation on individuals\u27 body image, aesthetics of appearance, and dress involvement. The surveys were completed by immigrant Chinese Americans that consisted of women (n = 124, 59%), men (n = 82, 40%), and three participants who did not state gender. A majority of the participants were born in Taiwan (64%), China (28%), and Hong Kong (8%). The majority of respondents were classified as unacculturated (55%) or bicultural (44%); only 1% as acculturated. With regard to their value orientation, the majority were collectivism oriented (32%) or bi-value oriented (64%);Results indicated that the Chinese Orientation Subscale predicted more of the attitudinal and behavioral differences among individuals in relation to value orientation, body image, aesthetics for appearance, and dress involvement. More highly Chinese oriented (less acculturated) respondents (1) assigned more importance to collectivistic value, (2) indicated greater body satisfaction, (3) put more emphasis on behavioral characteristics and psychological traits when assessing female beauty and male attractiveness, and (4) had greater involvement in aesthetics and conformity in dress;Body image, aesthetics for appearance, and dress involvement were significantly related to both individualism and collectivism values. Both more individualism- and collectivism-oriented individuals had greater body satisfaction and more positive attitude toward their own body. In addition, more highly individualism-oriented individuals were found to (1) put more emphasis on physical appearance when assessing female beauty and male attractiveness, and (2) had greater involvement in individuality in dress. On the other hand, more highly collectivism-oriented individuals were found to (1) put more emphasis on behavioral characteristics and psychological traits when assessing female beauty and male attractiveness, and (2) had greater involvement in aesthetics, conformity and modesty in dress;Recommendations for future research include using cultural value orientation (individualism, collectivism) constructs to examine other consumer attitudes and behaviors; studying a larger randomized sample across the U.S; including several generations of immigrants to obtain more variation on the effect of acculturation; and employing qualitative research techniques to get more in-depth information about meanings of the body, attractiveness ideals, and the acculturation process

ON THE LOGIC, METHOD AND SCIENTIFIC DIVERSITY OF TECHNICAL SYSTEMS: AN INQUIRY INTO THE DIAGNOSTIC MEASUREMENT OF HUMAN SKIN

This dissertation explores some of the scientific, technical and cultural history of human skin measurement and diagnostics. Through a significant collection of primary texts and case studies, I track the changing technologies and methods used to measure skin, as well as the scientific and sociotechnical applications. I then map these histories onto some of the diverse understandings of the human body, physics, biology, natural philosophy and language that underpinned the scientific enterprise of skin measurement. The main argument of my thesis demonstrates how these diverse histories of science historically and theoretically inform the succeeding methods and applications for skin measurement from early Greek medicine, to beginnings of Anthropology as scientific discipline, to the emergence of scientific racism, to the age of digital imaging analysis, remote sensing, algorithms, massive databases and biometric technologies; further, these new digital applications go beyond just health diagnostics and are creating new technical categorizations of human skin divorced from the established ethical mechanisms of modern science. Based on this research, I inquire how communication practices within the scientific enterprise address the ethical and historical implications for a growing set of digital biometric applications with industrial, military, sociopolitical and public functions

Beautiful White: An Illumination of Asian Skin-Whitening Culture

This paper uses Taiwanese and Chinese skin-whitening beauty products as a lens through which to study how globalization and the Japanese post-colonial context has influenced the nuanced East and West hybridization of skin-whitening beauty practices in primarily Culturally Chinese cosmopolitan cities such as Taipei, Taiwan. Applying Koichi Iwabuchi’s notion of transculturation, I examine the exchanges between producers of skin-whitening cosmetics and their consumers. In particular, I analyze Taiwanese and Chinese fashion and beauty magazines to examine how ads for skin-whitening cosmetics align with the local, historical context of East Asia and appeal to members of the “Culturally Chinese” diaspora. Multinational cosmetic brands advertise their skin-whitening product lines to the “Culturally Chinese” consumer market in multiple ways. I investigate some common skin-whitening marketing motifs to see how marketers renegotiate common symbols and their conventionally signified meanings to create new sign circuits that influence female consumers and redefine Culturally Chinese ideals of beauty.honors thesis, 2013, winner of Distinction Award in Visual & Media Studie

Invisibly Inked: An Intersectional Analysis of Tattooed Female Arrest Patterns

This project fills a gap in the literature of law enforcement response to a visible tattoo on a racialized female arrestee. With the increase in popularity of tattoos and their inherited status as a proxy for deviance, the entanglement of both racialized female bodies and symbols of deviance at the place of entry into the criminal justice system is significant. The racialized female body does not move without carrying the history of violence and inequality on it. As such, the entry of female bodies of Color into the criminal justice system is a time where capturing their experience is critical. In current law enforcement studies, the focus is on male offenders and Black male offenders using mainstream criminological perspectives. Additionally, the literature on arrest patterns of tattooed offenders, much less females of Color, is non-existent. Using an intersectional perspective, this project is a necessary analysis to fill this gap in the criminological body of knowledge

Anthropology of Color

The field of color categorization has always been intrinsically multi- and inter-disciplinary, since its beginnings in the nineteenth century. The main contribution of this book is to foster a new level of integration among different approaches to the anthropological study of color. The editors have put great effort into bringing together research from anthropology, linguistics, psychology, semiotics, and a variety of other fields, by promoting the exploration of the different but interacting and complementary ways in which these various perspectives model the domain of color experience. By so doing, they significantly promote the emergence of a coherent field of the anthropology of color

The Globalization of Cosmetic Surgery: Examining BRIC and Beyond

What is driving the globalization of cosmetic surgery? Using BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries as a model, this master\u27s thesis systematically identifies and analyzes (1) the origins of cosmetic surgery in historical, regional, and country-specific terms, and (2) examples of how cosmetic surgery has become normalized. As a result, clear patterns emerge in regards to: embedded power structures related to racism and war; the results of Western interests rapidly opening countries’ markets to high media and corporate influence—especially in the wake of political oppression and austerity; the exacerbation of pre-existing class, color, race, and gender prejudice by hyper-consumerism; the perception of the beauty industry and global beauty pageants as a gateway to the modern world\u27s stage; and the practice of “Westernized” cosmetic surgery becoming synonymous with concepts of status, upward mobility, and a social transition to global citizenship. These overall patterns allowed for the subsequent analysis of a third key question: (3) Who ultimately benefits from mass-consumer cosmetic surgery? Following a comprehensive comparative analysis and a sustained theoretical framework concluding with a Foucauldian explanation of relationships of force, I argue that the globalization of cosmetic surgery is driven by pre-existing sociohistorical power structures that serve the status quo—benefitting exclusionary cultural, cosmetic, and corporate systems from the West (and those who run them), and thereby precluding authentic opportunities for individual enfranchisement via cosmetic surgery on a macro level. Furthermore, I argue that by constructing and labeling modernity in terms that benefit the status quo and reflect historical relationships of force, developed nations maintain hegemonic control in their own image; meaning that fast-developing countries must follow existing neoliberal consumer models if they want to enter the global stage—and look the part. Accordingly, the racist and bellicose discursive origins of cosmetic surgery are an inconvenient truth that modern cosmetic surgery culture seeks to ignore in order to self-perpetuate and evolve with the demands of capitalism. Recommendations for future study in this field include the industries of medical tourism, skin lightening products, and tissue harvesting, as well as an expanding market of cosmetic surgery for teens and children