Self-adaptive containers: interoperability extensions and cloud integration

Driven by an ever-increasing diversity of application contexts, execution environments and scalability requirements, modern software is faced with the challenge of frequent code refactoring. To address this, we have proposed an STL-like self-adaptive container library, which dynamically changes its data structures and resource usage to meet programmer-specified Service Level Objectives relating to performance, reliability and primary memory use. A prototype of this library has been implemented and utilised in two case studies to prove its viability. In the present work, we explore a low-cost means to extend our library to satisfy wider classes of Service Level Objectives. This is achieved through the integration of third-party container frameworks, which exploit parallelism to boost performance and disk-based data offloading to reduce primary memory consumption, and the integration of cloud storage services, which offer cost-effective location-free storage. We demonstrate our library's application in a state-space exploration case study. With very low programmer overhead, experimental results show that our library can improve performance with a 76% reduction in insertion time and an 86% reduction in search time, and can also exploit out-of-core storage, including cloud storage

A comparison between omeprazole and a dietary supplement for the management of squamous gastric ulceration in horses

Although several studies have assessed the short-term effect of dietary supplements on the treatment and prevention of gastric ulceration in horses, few have assessed the response over a duration of more than 30 days. A blinded randomized noninferiority clinical trial was conducted using 42 Thoroughbred horses in race training with squamous ulceration of ≥ grade 2/4, randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups for a period of 90 days: omeprazole at the full label dose of 4 mg/kg or the Succeed digestive conditioning supplement. Noninferiority analyses and Wilcoxon sign rank tests were used to analyze the data. At day 90, Succeed was noninferior to 4 mg/kg omeprazole administered daily in terms of the proportion of horses with complete resolution of squamous ulceration. At day 30, Succeed was found to be inferior to omeprazole in terms of the proportion of horses with grade ≤1/4 squamous ulceration. The proportion of horses with reducing squamous ulcer score (compared with day 0) was statistically significant for both treatments at days 30 and 60. At day 90 of the 17 horses on Succeed, nine had a reducing squamous ulcer score (P value = .049), and of the 19 horses on omeprazole, 10 had a reducing squamous ulcer score at day 90 (P value = .091). The noninferiority of Succeed compared to omeprazole at 90 days for the complete resolution of squamous ulceration and the reduced efficacy of omeprazole following 90 days of treatment are likely to be of interest to practitioners managing gastric ulceration in performance horses

Systematically missing confounders in individual participant data meta-analysis of observational cohort studies.

One difficulty in performing meta-analyses of observational cohort studies is that the availability of confounders may vary between cohorts, so that some cohorts provide fully adjusted analyses while others only provide partially adjusted analyses. Commonly, analyses of the association between an exposure and disease either are restricted to cohorts with full confounder information, or use all cohorts but do not fully adjust for confounding. We propose using a bivariate random-effects meta-analysis model to use information from all available cohorts while still adjusting for all the potential confounders. Our method uses both the fully adjusted and the partially adjusted estimated effects in the cohorts with full confounder information, together with an estimate of their within-cohort correlation. The method is applied to estimate the association between fibrinogen level and coronary heart disease incidence using data from 154,012 participants in 31 cohort

НАПРАВЛЕНИЯ СОВЕРШЕНСТВОВАНИЯ ОБРУДОВАНИЯ ДЛЯ ФЛОТАЦИОННОГО ОБОГАЩЕНИЯ ТОНКОДИСПЕРСНыХ МАТЕРИАЛОВ

Проблема и ее связь с научными и практическими задачами. В связи с тем, что в поступающем на обогатительные фабрики сырье содержится до 30% ма-териала крупностью менее 1 мм, роль процесса флотации существенно возрас-тает. Этому способствует и возможность создания достаточно простых замкну-тых водно-шламовых схем, включающих флотацию в качестве основного эле-мента очистки оборотных вод. Многими исследованиями, которые проводились ранее и продолжают выполняться и в настоящее время, установлены направле-ния совершенствования этого достаточно сложного физико-химического про-цесс

Identification of a Mutation Associated with Fatal Foal Immunodeficiency Syndrome in the Fell and Dales Pony

The Fell and Dales are rare native UK pony breeds at risk due to falling numbers, in-breeding, and inherited disease. Specifically, the lethal Mendelian recessive disease Foal Immunodeficiency Syndrome (FIS), which manifests as B-lymphocyte immunodeficiency and progressive anemia, is a substantial threat. A significant percentage (∼10%) of the Fell ponies born each year dies from FIS, compromising the long-term survival of this breed. Moreover, the likely spread of FIS into other breeds is of major concern. Indeed, FIS was identified in the Dales pony, a related breed, during the course of this work. Using a stepwise approach comprising linkage and homozygosity mapping followed by haplotype analysis, we mapped the mutation using 14 FIS–affected, 17 obligate carriers, and 10 adults of unknown carrier status to a ∼1 Mb region (29.8 – 30.8 Mb) on chromosome (ECA) 26. A subsequent genome-wide association study identified two SNPs on ECA26 that showed genome-wide significance after Bonferroni correction for multiple testing: BIEC2-692674 at 29.804 Mb and BIEC2-693138 at 32.19 Mb. The associated region spanned 2.6 Mb from ∼29.6 Mb to 32.2 Mb on ECA26. Re-sequencing of this region identified a mutation in the sodium/myo-inositol cotransporter gene (SLC5A3); this causes a P446L substitution in the protein. This gene plays a crucial role in the regulatory response to osmotic stress that is essential in many tissues including lymphoid tissues and during early embryonic development. We propose that the amino acid substitution we identify here alters the function of SLC5A3, leading to erythropoiesis failure and compromise of the immune system. FIS is of significant biological interest as it is unique and is caused by a gene not previously associated with a mammalian disease. Having identified the associated gene, we are now able to eradicate FIS from equine populations by informed selective breeding

Reactions of pulmonary emphysema patients before and after VRS - Forcusing on the rehabilitation, activity, surgery -

今まで内科的治療が主体であった肺気腫に対して,近年外科的治療(Volume Reduction Surgery 以後VRSと略す)が行われるようになった｡VRSを受ける患者の看護では,手術前後において, リハビリテーション(以後リハビリと略す)や機能回復に向けてのケアが必要不可欠とされる。そこで,本研究は肺気腫患者の適切な看護援助を検討するために,手術前後に示す肺気腫患者のリハビリや活動に対する反応を明らかにすることを目的とした｡対象者は当病棟に入院している肺気腫患者8名(VRS手術前8名,手術後はそのうちの6名である)で, リハビリ, 日常生活活動,呼吸,手術などについて,面接ならびに観察による調査を行った｡分析の結果,手術前においてリハビリでは≪義務感≫,頑張って行えば呼吸が楽になるという≪期待感≫,≪サポート≫,≪不安≫が,活動では≪活動の制限≫,手術では呼吸が楽になるのではという≪期待感≫,≪おまかせ≫,≪いちかばちかの賭け≫,≪不安≫,≪回復に向けての欲求の高まり≫が明らかになった｡手術後においてリハビリでは≪呼吸が楽になるための手段≫が, 日常生活活動では≪今の状態よりは良くなると いう期待感≫が,手術では≪達成感≫ と≪身体的苦痛≫が,将来については≪ささやかな欲求≫が明らかになった｡Pulmonary emphysema has been mainly treated with medicine, but recently VRS(volume reduction surgery) has been receiving much attention. In nursing care for VRS patients, it is important to help the patient improve his/her daily activities and recover physical function smoothly after surgery. The purpose of this study is to clarify the reactions of pulmonary emphysema patients before and after VRS for appropriate nursing. The subjects were eight pulmonary emphysema patients at a ward in Okayama University Hospital, but six of them completed both before and after VRS data collection. The data were collected by interview and observation, and from medical and nursing records. Contents of the interview included rehabilitation, daily activities, respiratory symptoms, operative stress, and so on. The results were as follows : , , , and on rehabilitation, on activity, , , , , and on surgery were extracted as pre-operative patients's reactions. on rehabilitation, on activity, and on surgery, on future were extracted as post-operative patients's reactions