Optimizing multi-dimensional terahertz imaging analysis for colon cancer diagnosis

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Educational interventions to improve people's understanding of key concepts in assessing the effects of health interventions: a systematic review

Abstract Background Health information is readily accessible but is of variable quality. General knowledge about how to assess whether claims about health interventions are trustworthy is not common, so people’s health decisions can be ill-informed, unnecessarily costly and even unsafe. This review aims to identify and evaluate studies of educational interventions designed to improve people’s understanding of key concepts for evaluating claims about the effects of health interventions. Methods/Design We searched multiple electronic databases and sources of grey literature. Inclusion criteria included all study types that included a comparison, any participants (except health professionals or health professional students) and educational interventions aimed at improving people’s understanding of one or more of the key concepts considered necessary for assessing health intervention claims. Knowledge and/or understanding of concepts or skills relevant to evaluating health information were our primary outcome measures. Secondary outcomes included behaviour, confidence, attitude and satisfaction with the educational interventions. Two authors independently screened search results, assessed study eligibility and risk of bias and extracted data. Results were summarised using descriptive synthesis. Results Among 24 eligible studies, 14 were randomised trials and 10 used other study designs. There was heterogeneity across study participants, settings and educational intervention type, content and delivery. The risk of bias was high in at least one domain for all randomised studies. Most studies measured outcomes immediately after the educational intervention, with few measuring later. In most of the comparisons, measures of knowledge and skills were better among those who had received educational interventions than among controls, and some of these differences were statistically significant. The effects on secondary outcomes were inconsistent. Conclusions Educational interventions to improve people’s understanding of key concepts for evaluating health intervention claims can improve people’s knowledge and skills, at least in the short term. Effects on confidence, attitude and behaviour are uncertain. Many of the studies were at moderate or greater risk of bias. Improvements in study quality, consistency of outcome measures and measures of longer-term effects are needed to improve confidence in estimates of the effects of educational interventions to improve people’s understanding of key concepts for evaluating health intervention claims. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD4201603310

A converse of Sturm’s separation theorem

We show that Sturm’s classical separation theorem on the interlacing of the zeros of linearly independent solutions of real second order two-term ordinary differential equations necessarily fails in the presence of a turning point in the principal part of the equation. Related results are discussed

Fiber-Optic Gratings for Lidar Measurements of Water Vapor

Narrow-band filters in the form of phase-shifted Fabry-Perot Bragg gratings incorporated into optical fibers are being developed for differential-absorption lidar (DIAL) instruments used to measure concentrations of atmospheric water vapor. The basic idea is to measure the relative amounts of pulsed laser light scattered from the atmosphere at two nearly equal wavelengths, one of which coincides with an absorption spectral peak of water molecules and the other corresponding to no water vapor absorption. As part of the DIAL measurement process, the scattered light is made to pass through a filter on the way to a photodetector. Omitting other details of DIAL for the sake of brevity, what is required of the filter is to provide a stop band that: Surrounds the water-vapor spectral absorption peaks at a wavelength of 946 nm, Has a spectral width of at least a couple of nanometers, Contains a pass band preferably no wider than necessary to accommodate the 946.0003-nm-wavelength water vapor absorption peak [which has 8.47 pm full width at half maximum (FWHM)], and Contains another pass band at the slightly shorter wavelength of 945.9 nm, where there is scattering of light from aerosol particles but no absorption by water molecules. Whereas filters used heretofore in DIAL have had bandwidths of =300 pm, recent progress in the art of fiber-optic Bragg-grating filters has made it feasible to reduce bandwidths to less than or equal to 20 pm and thereby to reduce background noise. Another benefit of substituting fiber-optic Bragg-grating filters for those now in use would be significant reductions in the weights of DIAL instruments. Yet another advantage of fiber-optic Bragg-grating filters is that their transmission spectra can be shifted to longer wavelengths by heating or stretching: hence, it is envisioned that future DIAL instruments would contain devices for fine adjustment of transmission wavelengths through stretching or heating of fiber-optic Bragg-grating filters nominally designed and fabricated to have transmission wavelengths that, in the absence of stretching, would be slightly too short

Galectin-3. One molecule for an alphabet of diseases, from A to Z

Galectin-3 (Gal-3) regulates basic cellular functions such as cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions, growth, proliferation, differentiation, and inflammation. It is not surprising, therefore, that this protein is involved in the pathogenesis of many relevant human diseases, including cancer, fibrosis, chronic inflammation and scarring affecting many different tissues. The papers published in the literature have progressively increased in number during the last decades, testifying the great interest given to this protein by numerous researchers involved in many different clinical contexts. Considering the crucial role exerted by Gal-3 in many different clinical conditions, Gal-3 is emerging as a new diagnostic, prognostic biomarker and as a new promising therapeutic target. The current review aims to extensively examine the studies published so far on the role of Gal-3 in all the clinical conditions and diseases, listed in alphabetical order, where it was analyzed

The Influence of the Nature of Different Sands on the Rheological and Mechanical Behavior of Self-compacting Concretes

Self-compacting concretes represent a new advance for concrete construction because they offer many advantages from the economic, technical and social point of view. They are very fluid concretes, which are put in place without vibration. When pouring into a formwork, tightening a BAP is ensured by the simple effect of gravity. Thanks to their formulation, they offer exceptional flow characteristics and filling formwork while resisting perfectly segregation. Homogeneous and stable, they have resistances and durability similar to those of traditional concretes of which they are differentiated by their properties in the fresh state. The use of self-compacting concrete reduces the noise nuisance, as well as the hardness of the work. This research work is part of a policy of contributing to the improvement of the properties of self-compacting concretes prepared from local materials in the M’sila region. In this study, we are interested in obtaining the most suitable concrete formulation for the different local materials of the M’sila region. Our study is directed towards the effect of the following parameters on the physico-mechanical properties of the composite such as: dynamic segregation, spreading diameter as well as mechanical strengths (compression, traction). It is therefore a question of determining the criteria to be imposed on these parameters, in order to lead to the construction of a self-compacting concrete characterized by  an acceptable resistance. The experimental results of compressive strengths show significant behaviors between BAP and BV. They allowed to distinguish a resistance gain between 15.11 and 49.28, this gain is explained by a rehydration of the cement matrix due to the migration of the water through the pores for the BAP, but also to better binding properties of the hydrates forms. Keywords: SCC, Rheological behavior, Mechanical resistance, Binde