Influence of optic-flow information beyond the velocity field on the active control of heading

Talk Session - Action and virtual environments: 11.2We examined both the sufficiency of the optic-flow velocity field and the influence of optic-flow information beyond the velocity field on the active control of heading. The display simulated a vehicle traveling on a circular path through a random-dot 3D cloud …postprin

Trends in the prevalence, incidence and surgical management of carpal tunnel syndrome between 1993 and 2013: an observational analysis of UK primary care records

OBJECTIVES: To describe the prevalence, incidence and surgical management of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), between 1993 and 2013, as recorded in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). DESIGN: We completed a series of cross-sectional epidemiological analyses to observe trends over time. SETTING: Primary care data collected between 1993 and 2013, stored in the CPRD. POPULATION: Individuals aged ≥18 years were selected. Prevalent and incident episodes of CTS and episodes of surgical intervention were identified using a list of preidentified Read codes. ANALYSIS: We defined incident episodes as those with no preceding diagnostic code for CTS in the past 2 years of data. Episodes of surgery were expressed as a percentage of the prevalent population during the same calendar year. Joinpoint regression was used to determine significant changes in the underlying trend. RESULTS: The prevalence of CTS increased over the study period, with a particular incline between 2000 and 2004 (annual percentage change 7.81). The female-to-male prevalence ratio reduced over time from 2.74 in 1993 to 1.93 in 2013. The median age of females and males with CTS were noted to increase from 49 and 53 years, respectively in 1993 to 54 and 59 years, respectively in 2013. Incidence was also noted to increase over time. After an initial increase between 1993 and 2007, the percentage of prevalent patients with a coded surgical episode began to decrease after 2007 to 27.41% in 2013 (annual percentage change -1.7). CONCLUSION: This study has demonstrated that the prevalence and incidence of CTS increased over the study period between 1993 and 2013. Rates of surgery for CTS also increased over the study period; however after 2007, the per cent of patients receiving surgery showed a statistically significant decline back to the rate seen in 2004

Predicting surgical intervention in patients presenting with carpal tunnel syndrome in primary care.

Purpose: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a symptomatic compression neuropathy of the median nerve. This study investigated the value of candidate prognostic factors (PFs) in predicting carpal tunnel release surgery. Patients and methods: This is a retrospective cohort study set in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Patients ≥18 years presenting with an incident episode of CTS were identified between 1989 and 2013. Candidate PF's defined in coded electronic patient records were identified following literature review and consultation with clinicians. Time to first carpal tunnel release surgery was the primary end point. A manual backward stepwise selection procedure was used to obtain an optimal prediction model, which included all the significant PFs. Results: In total, 91,412 patients were included in the cohort. The following PFs were included in an optimal model (C-statistic: 0.588 [95% CI 0.584-0.592]) for predicting surgical intervention: geographical region; deprivation status; age hazard ratio (HR 1.02 per year, 95% CI 1.01-1.02); obesity (HR 1.23, 95% CI 1.19-1.27); alcohol drinker (HR 1.05, 95% CI 1.00-1.10); smoker (HR 1.06, 95% 1.03-1.10); inflammatory condition (HR 1.13, 95% CI 0.98-1.29); neck condition (HR 1.13, 95% CI 1.03-1.23); and multisite pain (HR 1.10, 95% CI 1.05-1.15). Although not included in the multivariable model, pregnancy (if gender female) within 1 year of the index consultation, reduced the risk of surgery (HR 0.24, 95% CI 0.21-0.28). Conclusion: This study shows that patients who are older and who have comorbidities including other pain conditions are more likely to have surgery, whereas patients presenting with CTS during or within a year of pregnancy are less likely to have surgery. This information can help to inform clinicians and patients about the likely outcome of treatment and to be aware of which patients may be less responsive to primary care interventions

A New Parameter In Accretion Disk Model

Taking optically thin accretion flows as an example, we investigate the dynamics and the emergent spectra of accretion flows with different outer boundary conditions (OBCs) and find that OBC plays an important role in accretion disk model. This is because the accretion equations describing the behavior of accretion flows are a set of {\em differential} equations, therefore, accretion is intrinsically an initial-value problem. We argue that optically thick accretion flow should also show OBC-dependent behavior. The result means that we should seriously consider the initial physical state of the accretion flow such as its angular momentum and its temperature. An application example to Sgr A$^*$ is presented.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, to appear in the Proceeding of "Pacific Rim Conference on Stellar Astrophysics", Aug. 1999, HongKong, Chin

IFN-gamma is associated with risk of Schistosoma japonicum infection in China.

Before the start of the schistosomiasis transmission season, 129 villagers resident on a Schistosoma japonicum-endemic island in Poyang Lake, Jiangxi Province, 64 of whom were stool-positive for S. japonicum eggs by the Kato method and 65 negative, were treated with praziquantel. Forty-five days later the 93 subjects who presented for follow-up were all stool-negative. Blood samples were collected from all 93 individuals. S. japonicum soluble worm antigen (SWAP) and soluble egg antigen (SEA) stimulated IL-4, IL-5 and IFN-gamma production in whole-blood cultures were measured by ELISA. All the subjects were interviewed nine times during the subsequent transmission season to estimate the intensity of their contact with potentially infective snail habitats, and the subjects were all re-screened for S. japonicum by the Kato method at the end of the transmission season. Fourteen subjects were found to be infected at that time. There was some indication that the risk of infection might be associated with gender (with females being at higher risk) and with the intensity of water contact, and there was evidence that levels of SEA-induced IFN-gamma production were associated with reduced risk of infection

Experimental observation of nonlinear Thomson scattering

A century ago, J. J. Thomson showed that the scattering of low-intensity light by electrons was a linear process (i.e., the scattered light frequency was identical to that of the incident light) and that light's magnetic field played no role. Today, with the recent invention of ultra-high-peak-power lasers it is now possible to create a sufficient photon density to study Thomson scattering in the relativistic regime. With increasing light intensity, electrons quiver during the scattering process with increasing velocity, approaching the speed of light when the laser intensity approaches 10^18 W/cm^2. In this limit, the effect of light's magnetic field on electron motion should become comparable to that of its electric field, and the electron mass should increase because of the relativistic correction. Consequently, electrons in such high fields are predicted to quiver nonlinearly, moving in figure-eight patterns, rather than in straight lines, and thus to radiate photons at harmonics of the frequency of the incident laser light, with each harmonic having its own unique angular distribution. In this letter, we report the first ever direct experimental confirmation of these predictions, a topic that has previously been referred to as nonlinear Thomson scattering. Extension of these results to coherent relativistic harmonic generation may eventually lead to novel table-top x-ray sources.Comment: including 4 figure

Ocular sarcoidosis and tuberculous lymphadenopathy: coincidence or real association

Tuberculosis and sarcoidosis share similarity in histopathologic findings and clinically occur in association with each other occasionally. Tuberculosis should always be ruled out before the diagnosis of sarcoidosis. But, the diagnosis is often complicated, especially in extrapulmonary cases. Here we present a case of bilateral vitreous hemorrhage with uveitis. Ocular sarcoidosis was initially diagnosed based on the characteristic ocular findings, negative results on chest radiography, tuberculosis culture, and polymerase chain reaction of aqueous, as well as simultaneous presence of panda and lambda sign on gallium-67 scans. The ocular condition improved after pars plana vitrectomy and systemic steroid therapy. However, TB lymphadenopathy but no recurrent ocular inflammation was found 6 years later. The patient received anti-TB treatment for 6 months thereafter. The eyes remained silent except cataract progression and glaucoma under two medications during this period. In conclusion, TB could occur coincidently or in association with sarcoidosis, continued follow-up is important for patients with ocular sarcoidosis

In Vitro Evaluation and Characterization of Newly Designed Alkylamidophospholipid Analogues as Anti-Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Agents

Our laboratories first reported two novel classes of complex synthetic lipids, including alkylamidophosphocholines (PC lipid; CP-51) and alkylamidophosphate ester-linked lipid-AZT conjugates (lipid-AZT conjugates; CP-92), with selective and potent activity against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). To extend these observations, we synthesized additional PC lipids and lipid-AZT conjugates (INK and INK-AZT conjugate) to evaluate their structure-activity relationships by testing for selectivity against infectious wild-type (wt) and drug-resistant HIV-1 replication, virus fusogenic activity and toxicity for mouse bone marrow cells. PC lipid compounds with medium chain lengths at positions 1 and 2 gave an improved selective index (SI). INK-3, with 12 and 8 carbons and INK-15, with 10 and 12 carbons were among the most selective when evaluated in CEM-SS cells. INK-14, a lipid-AZT conjugate where AZT replaced the choline in PC lipid INK-3, gave the highest SI of > 1250 against both infectious wt HIV-1 replication in CEM-SS cells and a clinical isolate in peripheral blood leukocytes. Notably, the PC lipid compounds INK-3 and INK-15, but not the lipid-AZT conjugate INK-14, were potent inhibitors of matched pairs of AZT-sensitive and AZT-resistant HIV-1 clinical isolates. INK-3 also inhibited replication of HIV-2 and TIBO-resistant HIV-1, and inhibited HIV-1-mediated fusogenic activity by 78, 41 and 9% in a dose-dependent manner. The TC50 for mouse bone marrow cells was > 100 micrograms/ml for INK-3 compared to 9.15-14.17 micrograms/ml for CP-51 and 0.142-0.259 microgram/ml for AZT. These data suggest that optimum PC lipid compounds are significantly less toxic than AZT and have high potential as novel therapeutic agents for AIDS

Case study of the cascading effects on critical infrastructure in Torbay coastal/pluvial flooding with climate change and 3D visualisation

This is the final version. Available on open access from IWA Publishing via the DOI in this record.Critical infrastructures (CIs) are commonly designed, built and maintained based on rigorous standards in order to withstand the climate and weather-related pressures. However, shifts in climate characteristics may result in increases of the magnitude and frequency of potential risks, or expose specific CI to new or increased risks not previously considered. As vital components of the normal functioning of modern societies, their resilience encompasses the operational elements, their structural integrity and the capacity to maximise business output under climate stressors. In this work, we apply an integrated and participatory methodological approach to assess the risk and enhance the resilience of interconnected CIs to urban flooding under climate change. The proposed methodology has been applied to an extended case study in Torbay to extend previous works (Gibson et al. 2018), which seeks to protect coastal communities from future through using the proposed methodology to justify future investment in coastal defences, as a part of the validation of EU-CIRCLE projects developed methodologies.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)UK Royal Academy of EngineeringEuropean UnionEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC

Effects of stitching on delamination of satin weave carbon-epoxy laminates under mode I, mode II and mixed-mode I/II loadings

The objective of the present study is to characterize the effect of modified chain stitching on the delamination growth under mixed-mode I/II loading conditions. Delamination toughness under mode I is experimentally determined, for unstitched and stitched laminates, by using untabbed and tabbed double cantilever beam (TDCB) tests. The effect of the reinforcing tabs on mode I toughness is investigated. Stitching improves the energy release rate (ERR) up to 4 times in mode I. Mode II delamination toughness is evaluated in end-notched flexure (ENF) tests. Different geometries of stitched specimens are tested. Crack propagation occurs without any failure of stitching yarns. The final crack length attains the mid-span or it stops before and the specimen breaks in bending. The ERR is initially low and gradually increases with crack length to very high values. The mixedmode delamination behaviour is investigated using a mixed-mode bending (MMB) test. For unstitched specimens, a simple mixed-mode criterion is identified. For stitched specimens, stitching yarns do not break during 25% of mode I ratio tests and the ERR increase is relatively small compared to unstitched values. For 70% and 50% of mode I ratios, failures of yarns are observed during crack propagation and tests are able to capture correctly the effect of the stitching: it clearly improves the ERR for these two mixed modes, as much as threefold