Predicting the start week of respiratory syncytial virus outbreaks using real time weather variables

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), a major cause of bronchiolitis, has a large impact on the census of pediatric hospitals during outbreak seasons. Reliable prediction of the week these outbreaks will start, based on readily available data, could help pediatric hospitals better prepare for large outbreaks.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Naïve Bayes (NB) classifier models were constructed using weather data from 1985-2008 considering only variables that are available in real time and that could be used to forecast the week in which an RSV outbreak will occur in Salt Lake County, Utah. Outbreak start dates were determined by a panel of experts using 32,509 records with ICD-9 coded RSV and bronchiolitis diagnoses from Intermountain Healthcare hospitals and clinics for the RSV seasons from 1985 to 2008.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>NB models predicted RSV outbreaks up to 3 weeks in advance with an estimated sensitivity of up to 67% and estimated specificities as high as 94% to 100%. Temperature and wind speed were the best overall predictors, but other weather variables also showed relevance depending on how far in advance the predictions were made. The weather conditions predictive of an RSV outbreak in our study were similar to those that lead to temperature inversions in the Salt Lake Valley.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We demonstrate that Naïve Bayes (NB) classifier models based on weather data available in real time have the potential to be used as effective predictive models. These models may be able to predict the week that an RSV outbreak will occur with clinical relevance. Their clinical usefulness will be field tested during the next five years.</p

Hybrid video quality prediction: reviewing video quality measurement for widening application scope

A tremendous number of objective video quality measurement algorithms have been developed during the last two decades. Most of them either measure a very limited aspect of the perceived video quality or they measure broad ranges of quality with limited prediction accuracy. This paper lists several perceptual artifacts that may be computationally measured in an isolated algorithm and some of the modeling approaches that have been proposed to predict the resulting quality from those algorithms. These algorithms usually have a very limited application scope but have been verified carefully. The paper continues with a review of some standardized and well-known video quality measurement algorithms that are meant for a wide range of applications, thus have a larger scope. Their individual artifacts prediction accuracy is usually lower but some of them were validated to perform sufficiently well for standardization. Several difficulties and shortcomings in developing a general purpose model with high prediction performance are identified such as a common objective quality scale or the behavior of individual indicators when confronted with stimuli that are out of their prediction scope. The paper concludes with a systematic framework approach to tackle the development of a hybrid video quality measurement in a joint research collaboration.Polish National Centre for Research and Development (NCRD) SP/I/1/77065/10, Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova

Monitoring one-electron photo-oxidation of guanine in DNA crystals using ultrafast infrared spectroscopy

To understand the molecular origins of diseases caused by ultraviolet and visible light, and also to develop photodynamic therapy, it is important to resolve the mechanism of photoinduced DNA damage. Damage to DNA bound to a photosensitizer molecule frequently proceeds by one-electron photo-oxidation of guanine, but the precise dynamics of this process are sensitive to the location and the orientation of the photosensitizer, which are very difficult to define in solution. To overcome this, ultrafast time-resolved infrared (TRIR) spectroscopy was performed on photoexcited ruthenium polypyridyl–DNA crystals, the atomic structure of which was determined by X-ray crystallography. By combining the X-ray and TRIR data we are able to define both the geometry of the reaction site and the rates of individual steps in a reversible photoinduced electron-transfer process. This allows us to propose an individual guanine as the reaction site and, intriguingly, reveals that the dynamics in the crystal state are quite similar to those observed in the solvent medium

The alkali stability of radiation-grafted anion-exchange membranes containing pendent 1-benzyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium head-groups

Radiation-grafted anion-exchange membranes (AEM) containing pendent benzyltrimethylammonium, 1-benzyl-3-methylimidazolium and 1-benzyl-2,3- dimethylimidazolium functional head-groups were synthesised with ion-exchange capacities in the range 1.7-1.9 meq g. The ionic conductivities of the AEMs were also comparable (24.5 ± 1.8 mS cm at 50°C). The alkali stability (in aqueous potassium hydroxide (1 mol dm ) at 60°C) of the 1-benzyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium head-groups was superior to the 1-benzyl-3-methylimidazolium but inferior to the benzyltrimethylammonium benchmark head-groups. Radiation-grafted AEMs containing pendent 1-benzyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium head-groups are not suitable for application in electrochemical devices containing highly alkaline environments. © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry

The alkali stability of radiation-grafted anion-exchange membranes containing pendent 1-benzyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium head-groups

Radiation-grafted anion-exchange membranes (AEM) containing pendent benzyltrimethylammonium, 1-benzyl-3-methylimidazolium and 1-benzyl-2,3- dimethylimidazolium functional head-groups were synthesised with ion-exchange capacities in the range 1.7-1.9 meq g. The ionic conductivities of the AEMs were also comparable (24.5 ± 1.8 mS cm at 50°C). The alkali stability (in aqueous potassium hydroxide (1 mol dm ) at 60°C) of the 1-benzyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium head-groups was superior to the 1-benzyl-3-methylimidazolium but inferior to the benzyltrimethylammonium benchmark head-groups. Radiation-grafted AEMs containing pendent 1-benzyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium head-groups are not suitable for application in electrochemical devices containing highly alkaline environments. © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry