Successes, lessons and challenges from grain legume sourcing, processing and marketing: Experiences from Guts Agro Industry

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundatio

Interpretable and fast dimension reduction of multivariate data

The main objective of this thesis is to propose new techniques to simplify the interpretation of newly formed 'variables' or components, while reducing the dimensionality of multivariate data. Most attention is given to the interpretation of principal components, although one chapter is devoted to that of factors in factor analysis. Sparse principal components are proposed, in which some of the component loadings are made exactly zero. One approach is to make use of the idea of correlation biplots, where orthogonal matrix of sparse loadings is obtained from computing the biplot factors of the product of principal component loading matrix and functions of their variances. Other approaches in volve clustering of variables as a pre-processings tep, so that sparse components are computed from the data or correlation matrix of each cluster. New clustering techniques are proposed for this purpose. In addition, a penalized varimax approach is proposed for simplifying the interpretation of factors in factor analysis, especially for factor solutions with considerably different sum of squares. This is done by adding a penalty term to the ordinary varimax criterion. Data sets of varying sizes, both synthetic and real, are used to illustrate the proposed methods, and the results are compared with those of existing ones. In the case of principal component analysis, the resulting sparse components are found to be more interpretable (sparser) and explain higher cumulative percentage of adjusted variance compared to their counterparts from other techniques. The penalized varimax approach contributes in finding a factor solution with simple structures which are not revealed by the standard varimax solution. The proposed methods are very simple to understand and involve fast algorithms compared to some of the existing methods. They contribute much to the interpretation of components in a reduced dimension while dealing with dimensionality reduction of multivariate data

Head injury in the elderly - what are the outcomes of neurosurgical care?

Epidemiological studies show that an increasing proportion of those presenting with head trauma are elderly. This study details the outcomes of elderly head trauma patients admitted to a regional UK neurosurgical unit.The notes and imaging were reviewed of all head injury patients aged ≥75 years, admitted from 01/01/2007 to 31/12/2010, including mortality data up to at least 2 years after discharge . Outcomes comprised death as an inpatient, by 30 days and 1 year post-discharge; Glasgow Outcome Score; discharge Glasgow Coma Score; recurrence; readmission; reoperation; and complication.263 patients were admitted: 26 with acute subdural haematoma (ASDH); 175 with chronic subdural haematoma (CSDH); and 46 with mixed subdural collections (ACSDH). Sixteen patients had other head injury diagnoses. ASDH cases had a significantly lower survival rate than those with CSDH or ACSDH: The odds of inpatient death for ASDH patients was 15.38 (vs CSDHs). For all SDHs, low ASA was an independent predictor of early death. Death at one year was predicted by head injury severity measured by admission GCS (p=0.028), long anaesthetic (p=0.002), and the presence of bilateral SDH (p=0.002). Unfavourable GOS (1-3) was predicted by age over 85y (p=0.029); larger depth of subdural (p<0.001); and presence of any complication (p=0.003). Those aged over 90 with presentation GCS under 10 all had poor outcomes.Most elderly patients admitted under neurosurgery after head injury have SDHs. Our results are better than many previously reported, however the rate of death for those with ASDH is still high

A time-varying shared frailty model with application to infectious diseases

We propose a new parametric time-varying shared frailty model to represent changes over time in population heterogeneity, for use with bivariate current status data. The model uses a power transformation of a time-invariant frailty U, and is particularly convenient when U is a member of the generalized gamma family. This model avoids some shortcomings of a previously suggested time-varying frailty model, notably time-dependent support. We describe some key properties of the model, including its relative frailty variance function in different settings and how the model can be fitted to data. We describe several applications to shared frailty modeling of bivariate current status data on infectious diseases, in which the frailty represents age-dependent heterogeneity in contact rates or susceptibility to infection

Pengenalan Emosi Wajah Manusia Menggunakan Biorthogonal Wavelet Entropy dan Support Vector Machine

Pengenalan emosi di dalam suatu interaksi merupakan kunci sukses dalam interaksi tersebut. Oleh karena itu, penelitian mengenai cara komputer mengenali emosi manusia perlu dilakukan. Data yang memiliki dimensi yang tinggi sulit untuk diklasifikasi. Oleh karena itu, reduksi dimensi perlu dilakukan. Tugas Akhir ini bertujuan untuk meneliti sistem pengenalan emosi berdasarkan ekspresi wajah manusia dalam kasus pereduksian dimensi. Kategori emosi yang akan dikenali adalah marah, senang, sedih, takut, jijik, terkejut, dan netral. Untuk mengenali emosi tersebut, digunakan metode Biorthogonal Wavelet Entropy (BWE) sebagai metode ekstraksi fitur dan reduksi dimensi, dan Multi-class Support Vector Machine (MSVM) sebagai metode klasifikasi. Hasil implementasi sistem pada dataset JAFFE menunjukkan bahwa entropy pada BWE tidak berhasil mereduksi dimensi coefficient subband hasil dari dekomposisi Biorthogonal Wavelet Transform. Akurasi tertinggi yang didapatkan BWE adalah 44.45%. Saat entropy pada BWE tidak digunakan, akurasi tertinggi yang didapatkan adalah 82.73%

Development and validation of a novel bioassay to determine glucocorticoid sensitivity

Background: Glucocorticoids (GCs) remain the first line treatment for almost all non-infectious inflammatory diseases, ranging from acute asthma to rheumatoid arthritis. However, across all conditions, patients have a variable response to GCs with approximately 30% being non-responders. This group of GC resistant patients is typically exposed to high-dose GCs and their side-effects before more appropriate immunotherapy is instituted. Hence, there is a pressing clinical need for a predictive biomarker of GC responsiveness. The availability of such a tool would also enable patient stratification for the conduct of smart clinical trials in GC resistance. Lymphocyte GC sensitivity has been shown to be closely associated with clinical GC sensitivity in a number of inflammatory diseases. However, the method for determining in vitro GC response is not standardized and requires the use of specialist equipment, including a radioisotope to quantify cellular proliferation, making it challenging to translate into clinical practice. / Results: Here we describe the optimization and validation of a novel non-radioactive in vitro bioassay based on measuring cellular proliferation by incorporation of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), termed the BrdU incorporation in lymphocyte steroid sensitivity assay (BLISS). In comparison to the current gold standard lymphocyte GC sensitivity assay in 101 healthy control samples, BLISS has an area under receiver operating characteristic of 0.82 and a sensitivity of 83% for correctly identifying GC resistant subjects. / Conclusions: The performance of the novel BLISS bioassay makes it a strong candidate biomarker for clinical application. It now requires validation in a prospective patient cohort

Development and validation of a novel bioassay to determine glucocorticoid sensitivity

BACKGROUND: Glucocorticoids (GCs) remain the first line treatment for almost all non-infectious inflammatory diseases, ranging from acute asthma to rheumatoid arthritis. However, across all conditions, patients have a variable response to GCs with approximately 30% being non-responders. This group of GC resistant patients is typically exposed to high-dose GCs and their side-effects before more appropriate immunotherapy is instituted. Hence, there is a pressing clinical need for a predictive biomarker of GC responsiveness. The availability of such a tool would also enable patient stratification for the conduct of smart clinical trials in GC resistance. Lymphocyte GC sensitivity has been shown to be closely associated with clinical GC sensitivity in a number of inflammatory diseases. However, the method for determining in vitro GC response is not standardized and requires the use of specialist equipment, including a radioisotope to quantify cellular proliferation, making it challenging to translate into clinical practice. RESULTS: Here we describe the optimization and validation of a novel non-radioactive in vitro bioassay based on measuring cellular proliferation by incorporation of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), termed the BrdU incorporation in lymphocyte steroid sensitivity assay (BLISS). In comparison to the current gold standard lymphocyte GC sensitivity assay in 101 healthy control samples, BLISS has an area under receiver operating characteristic of 0.82 and a sensitivity of 83% for correctly identifying GC resistant subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The performance of the novel BLISS bioassay makes it a strong candidate biomarker for clinical application. It now requires validation in a prospective patient cohort. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40364-016-0079-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Paediatric traumatic cardiac arrest: A Delphi study to establish consensus on definition and management

Aims Paediatric traumatic cardiac arrest (TCA) is associated with low survival and poor outcomes. The mechanisms that underlie TCA are different from medical cardiac arrest; the approach to treatment of TCA may therefore also need to differ to optimise outcomes. The aim of this study was to explore the opinion of subject matter experts regarding the diagnosis and treatment of paediatric TCA, and to reach consensus on how best to manage this group of patients.Methods An online Delphi study was conducted over three rounds, with the aim of achieving consensus (defined as 70% agreement) on statements related to the diagnosis and management of paediatric TCA. Participants were invited from paediatric and adult emergency medicine, paediatric anaesthetics, paediatric ICU and paediatric surgery, as well as Paediatric Major Trauma Centre leads and representatives from the Resuscitation Council UK. Statements were informed by literature reviews and were based on elements of APLS resuscitation algorithms as well as some concepts used in the management of adult TCA; they ranged from confirmation of cardiac arrest to the indications for thoracotomy.Results 73 experts completed all three rounds between June and November 2016. Consensus was reached on 14 statements regarding the diagnosis and management of paediatric TCA; oxygenation and ventilatory support, along with rapid volume replacement with warmed blood, improve survival. The duration of cardiac arrestand the lack of a response to intervention, along with cardiac standstill on ultrasound, help to guide the decision to terminate resuscitation.Conclusion This study has given a consensus-based framework to guide protocol development in the management of paediatric TCA, though further work is required in other key areas including its acceptability to clinicians

Standing Practice In Rehabilitation Early after Stroke (SPIRES): a functional standing frame programme (prolonged standing and repeated sit to stand) to improve function and quality of life and reduce neuromuscular impairment in people with severe sub-acute stroke-a protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial.

Background: The most common physical deficit caused by a stroke is muscle weakness which limits a person's mobility. Mobility encompasses activities necessary for daily functioning: getting in and out bed, on/off toilet, sitting, standing and walking. These activities are significantly affected in people with severe stroke who typically spend most of their time in bed or a chair and are immobile. Immobility is primarily caused by neurological damage but exacerbated by secondary changes in musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory systems. These secondary changes can theoretically be prevented or minimised by early mobilisation, in this case standing up early post-stroke.Standing up early post-stroke has been identified as an important priority for people who have suffered a severe stroke. However, trials of prolonged passive standing have not demonstrated any functional improvements. Conversely, task-specific training such as repeated sit-to-stand has demonstrated positive functional benefits. This feasibility trial combines prolonged standing and task-specific strength training with the aim of determining whether this novel combination of physiotherapy interventions is feasible for people with severe stroke as well as the overall feasibility of delivering the trial. Methods/design: This is a pragmatic multi-centre parallel single-blinded two-armed feasibility randomised controlled trial. Fifty people with a diagnosis of severe stroke will be randomly allocated to either the functional standing frame programme or usual physiotherapy. All patient participants will be assessed at baseline and followed up at 3 weeks, then 3, 6 and 12 months post-randomisation. Trial objectives are to determine the feasibility according to the following indicators:: (i) Process: recruitment and retention rate, ability to consent, eligibility criteria, willingness/ability of physiotherapists to recruit, willingness of patients to be randomised, and acceptability of the intervention; (ii) Resource: burden and potential costs; (iii) Management: treatment fidelity, participant adherence, acceptability and completeness of outcome measures, impact and management or orthostatic hypotension; and (iv) Safety: number and nature of adverse and serious adverse events. Discussion: The functional standing frame programme addresses a key concern for people who have suffered a severe stroke. However, several uncertainties exist which need to be understood prior to progressing to a full-scale trial, including acceptability and tolerance of the functional standing frame programme intervention and practicality of the trial procedures. This feasibility trial will provide important insights to resolve these uncertainties. Trial registration: International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number ISRCTN15412695. Registration on 19 December 2016