Provision of tailored health information for patient empowerment: An initial study

Search of “right” health information by patients/citizens is an important step towards their empowerment. The number of health information seekers on the Internet is steadily increasing over the years so it is crucial to understand their information needs and the challenges they face during the search process. However, generic search engines do not make any distinction among the users and overload them with the amount of information. Moreover, specific search engines/sites mostly work on medical literature and are built by hand. This paper analyses the possibility of providing the user with tailored web information by exploiting the web semantic capabilities and, in particular, those of schema.org and its health-lifesci extension. After presenting a short review of the main user requirements when searching for health information on the Internet, an analysis of schema.org and its health-lifesci extension is shown to understand the main properties and semantic capabilities in the health/medical domain. Finally, an initial mapping among user requirements and schema.org elements is presented in order to provide expert and non-expert user categories with web pages that satisfy their specific requirements

Tilt-fractional order proportional integral derivative control for DC motor using particle swarm optimization

Introduction. Recently, the most desired goal in DC motor control is to achieve a good robustness and tracking dynamic of the set-point reference speed of the feedback control system. Problem. The used model should be as general as possible and consistently represent systems heterogeneous (which may contain electrical, mechanical, thermal, magnetic and so on). Goal. In this paper, the robust tilt-fractional order proportional integral derivative control is proposed. The objective is to optimize the controller parameters from solving the criterion integral time absolute error by particle swarm optimization. The control strategy is applied on DC motor to validate the efficiency of the proposed idea. Methods. The proposed control technique is applied on DC motor where its dynamic behavior is modeled by external disturbances and measurement noises. Novelty. The proposed control strategy, the synthesized robust tilt-fractional order proportional integral derivative speed controller is applied on the DC motor. Their performance and robustness are compared to those provided by a proportional integral derivative and fractional order proportional integral derivative controllers. Results. This comparison reveals superiority of the proposed robust tilt-fractional order proportional integral derivative speed controller over the remaining controllers in terms of robustness and tracking dynamic of the set-point reference speed with reduced control energy.Вступ. Останнім часом найбільш бажаною метою керування двигуном постійного струму є досягнення гарної надійності та динамічного відстеження заданої опорної швидкості системи керування зі зворотним зв’язком. Проблема. Використовувана модель має бути якомога загальнішою і несуперечливо представляти різнорідні системи (які можуть містити електричні, механічні, теплові, магнітні тощо). Мета. У цій статті пропонується робастне управління похідною пропорційного інтеграла дробового порядку нахилу. Мета полягає в тому, щоб оптимізувати параметри контролера шляхом вирішення критерію інтегральної абсолютної тимчасової помилки шляхом оптимізації рою частинок. Стратегія управління застосовується до двигуна постійного струму для перевірки ефективності запропонованої ідеї. Методи. Пропонований метод управління застосовується до двигуна постійного струму, динамічна поведінка якого моделюється зовнішніми перешкодами та шумами вимірів. Новизна. Пропонована стратегія управління, синтезований робастний пропорційно-інтегрально-диференціальний регулятор швидкості нахилу дробового порядку застосовується до двигуна постійного струму. Їх продуктивність та надійність порівнюються з показниками, що забезпечуються контролерами пропорційної інтегральної похідної та пропорційної інтегральної похідної дробового порядку. Результати. Це порівняння показує перевагу запропонованого робастного пропорційно-інтегрально-диференціального регулятора швидкості нахилу дробового порядку над іншими регуляторами з погляду робастності та динамічного відстеження заданої опорної швидкості зі зменшеною енергією управління

Tilt-fractional order proportional integral derivative control for DC motor using particle swarm optimization

Introduction. Recently, the most desired goal in DC motor control is to achieve a good robustness and tracking dynamic of the set-point reference speed of the feedback control system. Problem. The used model should be as general as possible and consistently represent systems heterogeneous (which may contain electrical, mechanical, thermal, magnetic and so on). Goal. In this paper, the robust tilt-fractional order proportional integral derivative control is proposed. The objective is to optimize the controller parameters from solving the criterion integral time absolute error by particle swarm optimization. The control strategy is applied on DC motor to validate the efficiency of the proposed idea. Methods. The proposed control technique is applied on DC motor where its dynamic behavior is modeled by external disturbances and measurement noises. Novelty. The proposed control strategy, the synthesized robust tilt-fractional order proportional integral derivative speed controller is applied on the DC motor. Their performance and robustness are compared to those provided by a proportional integral derivative and fractional order proportional integral derivative controllers. Results. This comparison reveals superiority of the proposed robust tilt-fractional order proportional integral derivative speed controller over the remaining controllers in terms of robustness and tracking dynamic of the set-point reference speed with reduced control energy.Вступ. Останнім часом найбільш бажаною метою керування двигуном постійного струму є досягнення гарної надійності та динамічного відстеження заданої опорної швидкості системи керування зі зворотним зв’язком. Проблема. Використовувана модель має бути якомога загальнішою і несуперечливо представляти різнорідні системи (які можуть містити електричні, механічні, теплові, магнітні тощо). Мета. У цій статті пропонується робастне управління похідною пропорційного інтеграла дробового порядку нахилу. Мета полягає в тому, щоб оптимізувати параметри контролера шляхом вирішення критерію інтегральної абсолютної тимчасової помилки шляхом оптимізації рою частинок. Стратегія управління застосовується до двигуна постійного струму для перевірки ефективності запропонованої ідеї. Методи. Пропонований метод управління застосовується до двигуна постійного струму, динамічна поведінка якого моделюється зовнішніми перешкодами та шумами вимірів. Новизна. Пропонована стратегія управління, синтезований робастний пропорційно-інтегрально-диференціальний регулятор швидкості нахилу дробового порядку застосовується до двигуна постійного струму. Їх продуктивність та надійність порівнюються з показниками, що забезпечуються контролерами пропорційної інтегральної похідної та пропорційної інтегральної похідної дробового порядку. Результати. Це порівняння показує перевагу запропонованого робастного пропорційно-інтегрально-диференціального регулятора швидкості нахилу дробового порядку над іншими регуляторами з погляду робастності та динамічного відстеження заданої опорної швидкості зі зменшеною енергією управління

Size Matters: Microservices Research and Applications

In this chapter we offer an overview of microservices providing the introductory information that a reader should know before continuing reading this book. We introduce the idea of microservices and we discuss some of the current research challenges and real-life software applications where the microservice paradigm play a key role. We have identified a set of areas where both researcher and developer can propose new ideas and technical solutions.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1706.0735

On the Relationship Between Coupling and Refactoring: An Empirical Viewpoint

[Background] Refactoring has matured over the past twenty years to become part of a developer's toolkit. However, many fundamental research questions still remain largely unexplored. [Aim] The goal of this paper is to investigate the highest and lowest quartile of refactoring-based data using two coupling metrics - the Coupling between Objects metric and the more recent Conceptual Coupling between Classes metric to answer this question. Can refactoring trends and patterns be identified based on the level of class coupling? [Method] In this paper, we analyze over six thousand refactoring operations drawn from releases of three open-source systems to address one such question. [Results] Results showed no meaningful difference in the types of refactoring applied across either lower or upper quartile of coupling for both metrics; refactorings usually associated with coupling removal were actually more numerous in the lower quartile in some cases. A lack of inheritance-related refactorings across all systems was also noted. [Conclusions] The emerging message (and a perplexing one) is that developers seem to be largely indifferent to classes with high coupling when it comes to refactoring types - they treat classes with relatively low coupling in almost the same way

On the Link between Refactoring Activity and Class Cohesion through the Prism of Two Cohesion-Based Metrics

The practice of refactoring has evolved over the past thirty years to become standard developer practice; for almost the same amount of time, proposals for measuring object-oriented cohesion have also been suggested. Yet, we still know very little about their inter-relationship empirically, despite the fact that classes exhibiting low cohesion would be strong candidates for refactoring. In this paper, we use a large set of refactorings to understand the characteristics of two cohesion metrics from a refactoring perspective. Firstly, through the well-known LCOM metric of Chidamber and Kemerer and, secondly, the C3 metric proposed more recently by Marcus et al. Our research question is motivated by the premise that different refactorings will be applied to classes with low cohesion compared with those applied to classes with high cohesion. We used three open-source systems as a basis of our analysis and on data from the lower and upper quartiles of metric data. Results showed that the set of refactoring types across both upper and lower quartiles was broadly the same, although very different in actual numbers. The `rename method' refactoring stood out from the rest, being applied over three times as often to classes with low cohesion than to classes with high cohesion

Thymosin beta-4 prenatal administration improves fetal development and halts side effects due to preterm delivery

Objective: Thymosin beta 4 (TB4) is the most abundant member of the beta-thymosin family in humans. The main physiological role of TB4 is the regulation of actin polymerization. TB4 is also involved in angiogenesis, cell survival, cell migration and fetal development. The aim of this study was to evaluate the activity of TB4 as a fetal growth promoter when administered during pregnancy. Materials and methods: Our protocols have been carried out in full conformity with the rules and guidelines expected for this kind of trial. 10 pregnant mice received the same injection regimen. Only 6 of these 10 are part of this experiment because they were pregnant. At 10:00 a.m. on day E14 and E17 of gestation mice were weighed and treated with an intraperitoneal injection of TB4 (Regene RX, Rockville, MD, USA; 6 mg/kg in PBS). Results: The mothers treated with TB4 for two days precisely E14 and E17, showed a higher cranio-caudal length when compared to control newborns. At histology, maternal TB4 treatment was associated with more advanced development of lungs, heart, kidney, cerebral cortex and notochord. Conclusions: Our study shows that TB4 administration during gestation may act as a powerful fetal growth promoter, by accelerating the development of newborn organs and tissues

Oral human papilloma virus infection: an overview of clinical-laboratory diagnosis and treatment

Abstract. – OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review is to describe the “hot points” of current clinical governance for oral HPV comprising the use of new diagnostic molecular procedures, namely, Pyrosequencing and Next Generation Sequencing. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data on oral HPV was collected through two levels of research. First for all, we used the canonical medical search engines, PubMed, and Medline, followed by the study of current commercial tools for HPV diagnosis, particularly within commercial companies involved in the molecular procedures for HPV detecting and genotyping. RESULTS: Different medical procedures are now described and used throughout the world in HPV diagnosis and treatment. However, the laboratory methods are often validated and used for genital infections, and, in these cases, data are missing in the literature as regards the clinical approach for oral lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Dental care units are often the front line for a clinical evaluation of a possible HPV lesion in the oral cavity, which means that correct clinical governance could avoid a viral neoplastic progression of this disease with great advantages for the patient. In this case, the problem is due to the difficulty in lesion recognition but also and more especially the absence of correct laboratory diagnosis and subsequent treatment in the clinical course

High levels of trim5a are associated with xenophagy in hiv‐1‐infected long‐term nonprogressors

Autophagy is a lysosomal‐dependent degradative mechanism essential in maintaining cellular homeostasis, but it is also considered an ancient form of innate eukaryotic fighting against invading microorganisms. Mounting evidence has shown that HIV‐1 is a critical target of autoph-agy that plays a role in HIV‐1 replication and disease progression. In a special subset of HIV‐1‐infected patients that spontaneously and durably maintain extremely low viral replication, namely, long‐term nonprogressors (LTNP), the resistance to HIV‐1‐induced pathogenesis is ac-companied, in vivo, by a significant increase in the autophagic activity in peripheral blood mon-onuclear cells. Recently, a new player in the battle of autophagy against HIV‐1 has been identified, namely, tripartite motif protein 5α (TRIM5α). In vitro data demonstrated that TRIM5α directly recognizes HIV‐1 and targets it for autophagic destruction, thus protecting cells against HIV‐1 in-fection. In this paper, we analyzed the involvement of this factor in the control of HIV‐1 infection through autophagy, in vivo, in LTNP. The results obtained showed significantly higher levels of TRIM5α expression in cells from LTNP with respect to HIV‐1‐infected normal progressor patients. Interestingly, the colocalization of TRIM5α and HIV‐1 proteins in autophagic vacuoles in LTNP cells suggested the participation of TRIM5α in the autophagy containment of HIV‐1 in LTNP. Al-together, our results point to a protective role of TRIM5α in the successful control of the chronic viral infection in HIV‐1‐controllers through the autophagy mechanism. In our opinion, these findings could be relevant in fighting against HIV‐1 disease, because autophagy inducers might be employed in combination with antiretroviral drugs