On Geometric Alignment in Low Doubling Dimension

In real-world, many problems can be formulated as the alignment between two geometric patterns. Previously, a great amount of research focus on the alignment of 2D or 3D patterns, especially in the field of computer vision. Recently, the alignment of geometric patterns in high dimension finds several novel applications, and has attracted more and more attentions. However, the research is still rather limited in terms of algorithms. To the best of our knowledge, most existing approaches for high dimensional alignment are just simple extensions of their counterparts for 2D and 3D cases, and often suffer from the issues such as high complexities. In this paper, we propose an effective framework to compress the high dimensional geometric patterns and approximately preserve the alignment quality. As a consequence, existing alignment approach can be applied to the compressed geometric patterns and thus the time complexity is significantly reduced. Our idea is inspired by the observation that high dimensional data often has a low intrinsic dimension. We adopt the widely used notion "doubling dimension" to measure the extents of our compression and the resulting approximation. Finally, we test our method on both random and real datasets, the experimental results reveal that running the alignment algorithm on compressed patterns can achieve similar qualities, comparing with the results on the original patterns, but the running times (including the times cost for compression) are substantially lower

Carbon monoxide production from five volatile anesthetics in dry sodalime in a patient model: halothane and sevoflurane do produce carbon monoxide; temperature is a poor predictor of carbon monoxide production

BACKGROUND: Desflurane and enflurane have been reported to produce substantial amounts of carbon monoxide (CO) in desiccated sodalime. Isoflurane is said to produce less CO and sevoflurane and halothane should produce no CO at all. The purpose of this study is to measure the maximum amounts of CO production for all modern volatile anesthetics, with completely dry sodalime. We also tried to establish a relationship between CO production and temperature increase inside the sodalime. METHODS: A patient model was simulated using a circle anesthesia system connected to an artificial lung. Completely desiccated sodalime (950 grams) was used in this system. A low flow anesthesia (500 ml/min) was maintained using nitrous oxide with desflurane, enflurane, isoflurane, halothane or sevoflurane. For immediate quantification of CO production a portable gas chromatograph was used. Temperature was measured within the sodalime container. RESULTS: Peak concentrations of CO were very high with desflurane and enflurane (14262 and 10654 ppm respectively). It was lower with isoflurane (2512 ppm). We also measured small concentrations of CO for sevoflurane and halothane. No significant temperature increases were detected with high CO productions. CONCLUSION: All modern volatile anesthetics produce CO in desiccated sodalime. Sodalime temperature increase is a poor predictor of CO production

The Teacher, the Physician and the Person: How Faculty's Teaching Performance Influences Their Role Modelling

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies identified different typologies of role models (as teacher/supervisor, physician and person) and explored which of faculty's characteristics could distinguish good role models. The aim of this study was to explore how and to which extent clinical faculty's teaching performance influences residents' evaluations of faculty's different role modelling statuses, especially across different specialties. METHODS: In a prospective multicenter multispecialty study of faculty's teaching performance, we used web-based questionnaires to gather empirical data from residents. The main outcome measures were the different typologies of role modelling. The predictors were faculty's overall teaching performance and faculty's teaching performance on specific domains of teaching. The data were analyzed using multilevel regression equations. RESULTS: In total 219 (69% response rate) residents filled out 2111 questionnaires about 423 (96% response rate) faculty. Faculty's overall teaching performance influenced all role model typologies (OR: from 8.0 to 166.2). For the specific domains of teaching, overall, all three role model typologies were strongly associated with "professional attitude towards residents" (OR: 3.28 for teacher/supervisor, 2.72 for physician and 7.20 for the person role). Further, the teacher/supervisor role was strongly associated with "feedback" and "learning climate" (OR: 3.23 and 2.70). However, the associations of the specific domains of teaching with faculty's role modelling varied widely across specialties. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that faculty can substantially enhance their role modelling by improving their teaching performance. The amount of influence that the specific domains of teaching have on role modelling differs across specialties

Carbon monoxide production from five volatile anesthetics in dry sodalime in a patient model: halothane and sevoflurane do produce carbon monoxide; temperature is a poor predictor of carbon monoxide production

Abstract Background Desflurane and enflurane have been reported to produce substantial amounts of carbon monoxide (CO) in desiccated sodalime. Isoflurane is said to produce less CO and sevoflurane and halothane should produce no CO at all. The purpose of this study is to measure the maximum amounts of CO production for all modern volatile anesthetics, with completely dry sodalime. We also tried to establish a relationship between CO production and temperature increase inside the sodalime. Methods A patient model was simulated using a circle anesthesia system connected to an artificial lung. Completely desiccated sodalime (950 grams) was used in this system. A low flow anesthesia (500 ml/min) was maintained using nitrous oxide with desflurane, enflurane, isoflurane, halothane or sevoflurane. For immediate quantification of CO production a portable gas chromatograph was used. Temperature was measured within the sodalime container. Results Peak concentrations of CO were very high with desflurane and enflurane (14262 and 10654 ppm respectively). It was lower with isoflurane (2512 ppm). We also measured small concentrations of CO for sevoflurane and halothane. No significant temperature increases were detected with high CO productions. Conclusion All modern volatile anesthetics produce CO in desiccated sodalime. Sodalime temperature increase is a poor predictor of CO production.</p

The impact of shift work:did hard work ever kill anyone?

An increasing body of evidence suggests that complaints of fatigue among healthcare staff is widespread and rising, owing to a combination of high work intensity, understaffed workplace and nightshift working. This has been linked to poorer outcomes for patients and to increased risks of injuries for practitioners. Fatiguedecreases performance andphysicalandmentalwellbeing. Moreover, it can lead to sickness absence. What lies behind this culture, behaviour and what are possible solutions to this? A committee called I'm Safe, assigned by the Dutch Association of Anaesthesiology, will address these issues, raise awareness and inform physicians about the impact of shift working. Its aim is to provide tools on where changes can be made in order to create a healthier work environment.</p

The impact of shift work:did hard work ever kill anyone?

An increasing body of evidence suggests that complaints of fatigue among healthcare staff is widespread and rising, owing to a combination of high work intensity, understaffed workplace and nightshift working. This has been linked to poorer outcomes for patients and to increased risks of injuries for practitioners. Fatiguedecreases performance andphysicalandmentalwellbeing. Moreover, it can lead to sickness absence. What lies behind this culture, behaviour and what are possible solutions to this? A committee called I'm Safe, assigned by the Dutch Association of Anaesthesiology, will address these issues, raise awareness and inform physicians about the impact of shift working. Its aim is to provide tools on where changes can be made in order to create a healthier work environment.</p

The teacher, the physician and the person: how faculty's teaching performance influences their role modelling.

ObjectivePrevious studies identified different typologies of role models (as teacher/supervisor, physician and person) and explored which of faculty's characteristics could distinguish good role models. The aim of this study was to explore how and to which extent clinical faculty's teaching performance influences residents' evaluations of faculty's different role modelling statuses, especially across different specialties.MethodsIn a prospective multicenter multispecialty study of faculty's teaching performance, we used web-based questionnaires to gather empirical data from residents. The main outcome measures were the different typologies of role modelling. The predictors were faculty's overall teaching performance and faculty's teaching performance on specific domains of teaching. The data were analyzed using multilevel regression equations.ResultsIn total 219 (69% response rate) residents filled out 2111 questionnaires about 423 (96% response rate) faculty. Faculty's overall teaching performance influenced all role model typologies (OR: from 8.0 to 166.2). For the specific domains of teaching, overall, all three role model typologies were strongly associated with "professional attitude towards residents" (OR: 3.28 for teacher/supervisor, 2.72 for physician and 7.20 for the person role). Further, the teacher/supervisor role was strongly associated with "feedback" and "learning climate" (OR: 3.23 and 2.70). However, the associations of the specific domains of teaching with faculty's role modelling varied widely across specialties.ConclusionThis study suggests that faculty can substantially enhance their role modelling by improving their teaching performance. The amount of influence that the specific domains of teaching have on role modelling differs across specialties

Monitoring patient-ventilator breath contribution in the critically ill during neurally adjusted ventilatory assist: reliability and improved algorithms for bedside use

Contains fulltext : 206223.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access