WEST: A Web Browser for Small Terminals

We describe WEST, a WEb browser for Small Terminals, that aims to solve some of the problems associated with accessing web pages on hand-held devices. Through a novel combination of text reduction and focus+context visualization, users can access web pages from a very limited display environment, since the system will provide an overview of the contents of a web page even when it is too large to be displayed in its entirety. To make maximum use of the limited resources available on a typical hand-held terminal, much of the most demanding work is done by a proxy server, allowing the terminal to concentrate on the task of providing responsive user interaction. The system makes use of some interaction concepts reminiscent of those defined in the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), making it possible to utilize the techniques described here for WAP-compliant devices and services that may become available in the near future

Views on primary prevention of cardiovascular disease - an interview study with Swedish GPs

Background: General practitioners (GPs) have gradually become more involved in the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD), both through more frequent prescribing of pharmaceuticals and by giving advice regarding lifestyle factors. Most general practitioners are now faced with decisions about pharmaceutical or non-pharmaceutical treatment for primary prevention every day. The aim of this study was to explore, structure and describe the views on primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in clinical practice among Swedish GPs. Methods: Individual interviews were conducted with 21 GPs in southern Sweden. The interview transcripts were analysed using a qualitative approach, inspired by phenomenography. Results: Two main categories of description emerged during the analysis. One was the degree of reliance on research data regarding the predictability of real risk and the opportunities for primary prevention of CVD. The other was the allocation of responsibility between the patient and the doctor. The GPs showed different views, from being convinced of an actual and predictable risk for the individual to strongly doubting it; from relying firmly on protection from disease by pharmaceutical treatment to strongly questioning its effectiveness in individual cases; and from reliance on prevention of disease by non-pharmaceutical interventions to a total lack of reliance on such measures. Conclusions: The GPs' different views, regarding the rationale for and practical management of primary prevention of CVD, can be interpreted as a reflection of the complexity of patient counselling in primary prevention in clinical practice. The findings have implications for development and implementation of standard treatment guidelines, regarding long-time primary preventive treatment

Helicobacter pylori Adapts to Chronic Infection and Gastric Disease via pH-Responsive BabA-Mediated Adherence

International audienceThe BabA adhesin mediates high-affinity binding of Helicobacter pylori to the ABO blood group antigen-glycosylated gastric mucosa. Here we show that BabA is acid responsive-binding is reduced at low pH and restored by acid neutralization. Acid responsiveness differs among strains; often correlates with different intragastric regions and evolves during chronic infection and disease progression; and depends on pH sensor sequences in BabA and on pH reversible formation of high-affinity binding BabA multimers. We propose that BabA's extraordinary reversible acid responsiveness enables tight mucosal bacterial adherence while also allowing an effective escape from epithelial cells and mucus that are shed into the acidic bactericidal lumen and that bio-selection and changes in BabA binding properties through mutation and recombination with babA-related genes are selected by differences among individuals and by changes in gastric acidity over time. These processes generate diverse H. pylori subpopulations, in which BabA's adaptive evolution contributes to H. pylori persistence and overt gastric disease

Justify your alpha

Benjamin et al. proposed changing the conventional “statistical significance” threshold (i.e.,the alpha level) from p ≤ .05 to p ≤ .005 for all novel claims with relatively low prior odds. They provided two arguments for why lowering the significance threshold would “immediately improve the reproducibility of scientific research.” First, a p-value near .05provides weak evidence for the alternative hypothesis. Second, under certain assumptions, an alpha of .05 leads to high false positive report probabilities (FPRP2 ; the probability that a significant finding is a false positive

Justify your alpha

In response to recommendations to redefine statistical significance to p ≤ .005, we propose that researchers should transparently report and justify all choices they make when designing a study, including the alpha level

Bohusmodellen

I samarbete mellan Byggnadsstyrelsen, Kungälvs kommun och Länsarbetsnämnden pågår sedan hösten 1990 ett om­fattande iståndsättningsarbete på Bohus fästning. Arbetet har främst bestått av uppsnyggning av området samt om­fogning av murytor. Bohus fästning är ett statligt bygg­nadsminne och förvaltas av Byggnadsstyrelsen. Antikva­risk kontrollant är Riksantikvarieämbetet genom Bohus­läns Museum i Uddevalla.

Estimating nitrate, dissolved organic carbon and DOC fractions in forest floor leachates using ultraviolet absorbance spectra and multivariate analysis

International audienceMultivariate regressions on ultraviolet (UV) absorbance (210–300 nm) data were tested as a potential tool to estimate concentrations of total dissolved organic carbon (DOC), DOC in the XAD-8-adsorbable (hydrophobic) fraction (HoDOC), and dissolved nitrate (NO3-N) in forest floor leachates. Partial least square (PLS) regressions were established for 20 zero-tension lysimeter solutions sampled in plots of coniferous and deciduous forest stands from May 2002 to January 2003. These regressions were validated against data from 24 other zero-tension solutions sampled in the same stands. The root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) was 2.0 mg/l for DOC and 1.6 mg/l for HoDOC. These errors were 39% (DOC) and 20% (HoDOC) smaller than the errors obtained with regressions using only absorbance at 280 nm. For NO3-N, RMSEP was 0.12 mg/l (estimation by single wavelength regression is not possible). DOC and HoDOC covaried strongly and could not be estimated independently based on absorbances; HoDOC varied only between 61% and 81% of the DOC. Partly for this reason, an attempt to estimate the HoDOC/DOC ratio based on specific absorbance spectra (absorbance units per mg/l of total DOC) was little successful. Partly, however, this problem resulted from the fact that both HoDOC and HiDOC fractions had a considerable UV absorptivity, which was not consistent between samples