How universal is the fractional-quantum-Hall edge Luttinger liquid?

This article reports on our microscopic investigations of the edge of the fractional quantum Hall state at filling factor $\nu=1/3$. We show that the interaction dependence of the wave function is well described in an approximation that includes mixing with higher composite-fermion Landau levels in the lowest order. We then proceed to calculate the equal time edge Green function, which provides evidence that the Luttinger exponent characterizing the decay of the Green function at long distances is interaction dependent. The relevance of this result to tunneling experiments is discussed.Comment: 5 page

Color sorting system by fuzzy sensor

This article presents a color recognition system formalized under the fuzzy sensor concept. The main objective is to improve the color classification of wooden boards. Our study relates the development of an industrial vision system allowing the recognition of gradual colors. This context imposes a strong reliability constraint, because the currently used sensors are not always enough robust. Then, we are interested in techniques which improve the taking into account of the physical measure imprecision and the uncertainty concerning the definition of the wood color by a Human, the color classes being always neither identified nor separated. Moreover, the different users can have different perceptions of them. Besides, the vision system must be easy to tune. To carry out such a system, we propose to base the fuzzy sensor on a classification method with fuzzy linguistic rules (Fuzzy Reasoning Classifier) which main advantages reside in its generalization capacity from small training data sets and in the interpretability of its rule set. The obtained results show the efficiency of our intelligent sensor.Cet article présente un système de reconnaissance couleur formalisé sous le concept de capteur flou. L’objectif principal est d’améliorer la classification couleur de planches de bois. Notre étude concerne le développement d’un système de vision industriel permettant la reconnaissance de couleurs graduelles. Ce contexte impose une contrainte forte de fiabilité, les capteurs utilisés aujourd’hui n’étant pas toujours suffisamment robustes. Ainsi, nous nous sommes intéressés à des techniques qui améliorent la prise en compte des imprécisions des mesures physiques et la subjectivité concernant la définition de la couleur du bois par l’Homme, les classes de couleur n’étant jamais bien identifiées ni séparées. De plus, les différents utilisateurs peuvent en avoir des perceptions différentes. Par ailleurs, et dans ce contexte particulier, un système de vision doit être simple à régler. Pour réaliser un tel système, nous proposons de baser le capteur flou sur une méthode de classification par règles linguistiques floues (Fuzzy Reasoning Classifier) dont les principaux avantages résident dans sa capacité de généralisation à partir de lot de données réduits en apprentissage et dans l’interprétabilité de sa base de règles. Les résultats que nous obtenons montrent l’efficacité de notre capteur intelligent

Méthode d'auto-fuzzyfication par analyse des typicalités sur des lots de données réduits

Cet article expose une méthode de fuzzyfication automatique pour un classificateur à base de règles linguistiques floues. Elle s'appuie sur l'analyse des scores de typicalité des attributs caractérisant les formes à classer. La méthode proposée est appliquée à la reconnaissance de couleur sur des avivés. L'utilisation d'un classificateur flou n'étant pas aisée pour des non experts, l'industrialisation d'une telle méthode nécessite une simplification des phases de réglages. En outre, le cadre applicatif spécifique de cette étude ne permet d'avoir à disposition qu'une quantité de données réduite pour réaliser la phase d'apprentissage. Les scores de typicalité des attributs présentent l'avantage de discriminer les plages de valeurs associées à chaque classe couleur de sortie. L'étude des corrélations de ces typicalités améliore la fuzzyfication des paramètres et les essais réalisés sur des lots de données « industrielles » montrent l'augmentation du taux de reconnaissance. Ces taux sont comparés à ceux obtenus à partir d'une fuzzyfication équirépartie. Par ailleurs, une diminution du nombre de règles floues générées dans le modèle est constatée. Les temps de traitements en généralisation sont ainsi réduits

Appariement couleur de planches de bois par inférence floue

Cet article présente une méthode de classification de couleurs sur des planches de bois à partir d'un mécanisme à base de systèmes d'inférences floues implémenté à travers l'algorithme d'Ishibuchi-Nozaki-Tanaka. Le raisonnement flou permet de prendre en compte la subjectivité de la perception des couleurs au sein d'un produit « bois ». De plus, les informations extraites des images ne peuvent pas être considérées comme précises et certaines. L'utilisation de notre méthode améliore les taux de reconnaissance en apprentissage et en généralisation dans la classification des couleurs du bois, mais aussi sur le benchmark IRIS

IMPLEmenting a clinical practice guideline for acute low back pain evidence-based manageMENT in general practice (IMPLEMENT) : cluster randomised controlled trial study protocol

Background: Evidence generated from reliable research is not frequently implemented into clinical practice. Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines are a potential vehicle to achieve this. A recent systematic review of implementation strategies of guideline dissemination concluded that there was a lack of evidence regarding effective strategies to promote the uptake of guidelines. Recommendations from this review, and other studies, have suggested the use of interventions that are theoretically based because these may be more effective than those that are not. An evidencebased clinical practice guideline for the management of acute low back pain was recently developed in Australia. This provides an opportunity to develop and test a theory-based implementation intervention for a condition which is common, has a high burden, and for which there is an evidence-practice gap in the primary care setting. Aim: This study aims to test the effectiveness of a theory-based intervention for implementing a clinical practice guideline for acute low back pain in general practice in Victoria, Australia. Specifically, our primary objectives are to establish if the intervention is effective in reducing the percentage of patients who are referred for a plain x-ray, and improving mean level of disability for patients three months post-consultation. Methods/Design: This study protocol describes the details of a cluster randomised controlled trial. Ninety-two general practices (clusters), which include at least one consenting general practitioner, will be randomised to an intervention or control arm using restricted randomisation. Patients aged 18 years or older who visit a participating practitioner for acute non-specific low back pain of less than three months duration will be eligible for inclusion. An average of twenty-five patients per general practice will be recruited, providing a total of 2,300 patient participants. General practitioners in the control arm will receive access to the guideline using the existing dissemination strategy. Practitioners in the intervention arm will be invited to participate in facilitated face-to-face workshops that have been underpinned by behavioural theory. Investigators (not involved in the delivery of the intervention), patients, outcome assessors and the study statistician will be blinded to group allocation. Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN012606000098538 (date registered 14/03/2006).The trial is funded by the NHMRC by way of a Primary Health Care Project Grant (334060). JF has 50% of her time funded by the Chief Scientist Office3/2006). of the Scottish Government Health Directorate and 50% by the University of Aberdeen. PK is supported by a NHMRC Health Professional Fellowship (384366) and RB by a NHMRC Practitioner Fellowship (334010). JG holds a Canada Research Chair in Health Knowledge Transfer and Uptake. All other authors are funded by their own institutions

A systematic review and meta-synthesis of the impact of low back pain on people's lives

Copyright @ 2014 Froud et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.Background - Low back pain (LBP) is a common and costly problem that many interpret within a biopsychosocial model. There is renewed concern that core-sets of outcome measures do not capture what is important. To inform debate about the coverage of back pain outcome measure core-sets, and to suggest areas worthy of exploration within healthcare consultations, we have synthesised the qualitative literature on the impact of low back pain on people’s lives. Methods - Two reviewers searched CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, PEDro, and Medline, identifying qualitative studies of people’s experiences of non-specific LBP. Abstracted data were thematic coded and synthesised using a meta-ethnographic, and a meta-narrative approach. Results - We included 49 papers describing 42 studies. Patients are concerned with engagement in meaningful activities; but they also want to be believed and have their experiences and identity, as someone ‘doing battle’ with pain, validated. Patients seek diagnosis, treatment, and cure, but also reassurance of the absence of pathology. Some struggle to meet social expectations and obligations. When these are achieved, the credibility of their pain/disability claims can be jeopardised. Others withdraw, fearful of disapproval, or unable or unwilling to accommodate social demands. Patients generally seek to regain their pre-pain levels of health, and physical and emotional stability. After time, this can be perceived to become unrealistic and some adjust their expectations accordingly. Conclusions - The social component of the biopsychosocial model is not well represented in current core-sets of outcome measures. Clinicians should appreciate that the broader impact of low back pain includes social factors; this may be crucial to improving patients’ experiences of health care. Researchers should consider social factors to help develop a portfolio of more relevant outcome measures.Arthritis Research U

Diclofenac Prolongs Repolarization in Ventricular Muscle with Impaired Repolarization Reserve

Background: The aim of the present work was to characterize the electrophysiological effects of the non-steroidal anti- inflammatory drug diclofenac and to study the possible proarrhythmic potency of the drug in ventricular muscle. Methods: Ion currents were recorded using voltage clamp technique in canine single ventricular cells and action potentials were obtained from canine ventricular preparations using microelectrodes. The proarrhythmic potency of the drug was investigated in an anaesthetized rabbit proarrhythmia model. Results: Action potentials were slightly lengthened in ventricular muscle but were shortened in Purkinje fibers by diclofenac (20 mM). The maximum upstroke velocity was decreased in both preparations. Larger repolarization prolongation was observed when repolarization reserve was impaired by previous BaCl 2 application. Diclofenac (3 mg/kg) did not prolong while dofetilide (25 mg/kg) significantly lengthened the QT c interval in anaesthetized rabbits. The addition of diclofenac following reduction of repolarization reserve by dofetilide further prolonged QT c . Diclofenac alone did not induce Torsades de Pointes ventricular tachycardia (TdP) while TdP incidence following dofetilide was 20%. However, the combination of diclofenac and dofetilide significantly increased TdP incidence (62%). In single ventricular cells diclofenac (30 mM) decreased the amplitude of rapid (I Kr ) and slow (I Ks ) delayed rectifier currents thereby attenuating repolarization reserve. L-type calcium current (I Ca ) was slightly diminished, but the transient outward (I to ) and inward rectifier (I K1 ) potassium currents were not influenced. Conclusions: Diclofenac at therapeutic concentrations and even at high dose does not prolong repolarization markedly and does not increase the risk of arrhythmia in normal heart. However, high dose diclofenac treatment may lengthen repolarization and enhance proarrhythmic risk in hearts with reduced repolarization reserve