Demo: An Interoperability Development and Performance Diagnosis Environment

Interoperability is key to widespread adoption of sensor network technology, but interoperable systems have traditionally been difficult to develop and test. We demonstrate an interoperable system development and performance diagnosis environment in which different systems, different software, and different hardware can be simulated in a single network configuration. This allows both development, verification, and performance diagnosis of interoperable systems. Estimating the performance is important since even when systems interoperate, the performance can be sub-optimal, as shown in our companion paper that has been conditionally accepted for SenSys 2011

Self-reported abdominal symptoms in relation to health status in adult patients with familial adenomatous polyposis

BACKGROUND: Patients with familial adenomatous polyposis who undergo surgery to prevent colorectal cancer experience various abdominal symptoms that may affect their physical and mental health. OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to investigate self-reported presence, frequency, and troublesomeness of abdominal symptoms in such patients in relation to sex, type of surgery, and physical and mental health. DESIGN: A cohort study with a descriptive and comparative cross-sectional design. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: All adult patients in the Swedish Polyposis Registry (Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden) who were diagnosed with familial adenomatous polyposis, had undergone prophylactic colorectal surgery, and were aged 18 to 75 years were invited to return a mailed questionnaire. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Self-reported presence, frequency, and troublesomeness of 21 abdominal symptoms were assessed with the Abdominal Symptom Questionnaire. Physical health and mental health were evaluated with the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 Health Survey. RESULTS: Of 275 eligible patients, 209 (76%) responded. Of respondents, 91% reported having had at least 1 symptom during the last 3 months. All 21 symptoms investigated were reported. A higher number of symptoms was reported by women than by men: mean, 7.55 (SD, 4.89) vs 5.14 (4.49); P < .01. No significant difference was found between women and men in overall troublesomeness of symptoms: 3.15 (1.30) vs 3.09 (1.27); P = .763. Self-reported number of symptoms was an independent predictor of physical and mental health, with a high number of symptoms related to poor physical and mental health. LIMITATIONS: The Abdominal Symptom Questionnaire has not been previously used in patients with FAP, and measurement of physical and mental health with the Short Form 36 Health Survey may not capture all aspects of health status in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis. CONCLUSION: Patients with familial adenomatous polyposis suffer from a wide variety of abdominal symptoms after colorectal surgery. Identification of patients with a high number of abdominal symptoms is especially important because the number of abdominal symptoms affects patients’ physical and mental health

Magnetic Reconnection with Asymmetry in the Outflow Direction

Magnetic reconnection with asymmetry in the outflow direction occurs in the Earth's magnetotail, coronal mass ejections, flux cancellation events, astrophysical disks, spheromak merging experiments, and elsewhere in nature and the laboratory. A control volume analysis is performed for the case of steady antiparallel magnetic reconnection with asymmetric downstream pressure, which is used to derive scaling relations for the outflow velocity from each side of the current sheet and the reconnection rate. Simple relationships for outflow velocity are presented for the incompressible case and the case of symmetric downstream pressure but asymmetric downstream density. Asymmetry alone is not found to greatly affect the reconnection rate. The flow stagnation point and magnetic field null do not coincide in a steady state unless the pressure gradient is negligible at the flow stagnation point.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures. Submitted to JGR. Any comments will be appreciate

Effect of religiosity/spirituality and sense of coherence on depression within a rural population in Greece: the Spili III project

Background: Recent research has addressed the hypothesis that religiosity/spirituality and sense of coherence buffer the negative effects of stress on numerous health issues. The aim of the current study was to further this work by exploring potential links between psycho-social factors such as religiosity/ spirituality and sense of coherence with depression. Methods: A total of 220 subjects of the SPILI III cohort (1988-2012) attending a primary care setting in the town of Spili on rural Crete represented the target group. All participants underwent a standardized procedure. Validated questionnaires were used to evaluate sense of coherence, depression levels and religious and spiritual beliefs. A multiple linear regression analysis of the Beck Depression Inventory Scale (BDI) in relation to demographic characteristics, scores on the Royal Free Interview for Spiritual and Religious Beliefs scale (RFI-SRB) and Sense of Coherence scale (SOC) was used. Results: A significant inverse association was found between BDI and RFI-SRB scale (B-coef=-0.6999, p<0.001), as well as among BDI and SOC scale (B-coef=-0.556, p<0.001). Conclusions: The findings of the current observational study indicate that highly religious participants are less likely to score high in the depression scale. Furthermore, participants with high SOC scored significantly low in the BDI scale. Further research is required in order to explore the potential effect of SOC and religiosity/spirituality in mental health

Plasmoids in Reconnecting Current Sheets: Solar and Terrestrial Contexts Compared

Magnetic reconnection plays a crucial role in violent energy conversion occurring in the environments of high electrical conductivity, such as the solar atmosphere, magnetosphere, and fusion devices. We focus on the morphological features of the process in two different environments, the solar atmosphere and the geomagnetic tail. In addition to indirect evidence that indicates reconnection in progress or having just taken place, such as auroral manifestations in the magnetosphere and the flare loop system in the solar atmosphere, more direct evidence of reconnection in the solar and terrestrial environments is being collected. Such evidence includes the reconnection inflow near the reconnecting current sheet, and the outflow along the sheet characterized by a sequence of plasmoids. Both turbulent and unsteady Petschek-type reconnection processes could account for the observations. We also discuss other relevant observational consequences of both mechanisms in these two settings. While on face value, these are two completely different physical environments, there emerge many commonalities, for example, an Alfven speed of the same order of magnitude, a key parameter determining the reconnection rate. This comparative study is meant as a contribution to current efforts aimed at isolating similarities in processes occurring in very different contexts in the heliosphere, and even in the universe.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, in press at J. Geophys. Res. (Space Physics), for the special NESSC section on Comparative Aspects of Magnetic Reconnectio

Relations between lipoprotein(a) concentrations, LPA genetic variants, and the risk of mortality in patients with established coronary heart disease: a molecular and genetic association study

Background: Lipoprotein(a) concentrations in plasma are associated with cardiovascular risk in the general population. Whether lipoprotein(a) concentrations or LPA genetic variants predict long-term mortality in patients with established coronary heart disease remains less clear. Methods: We obtained data from 3313 patients with established coronary heart disease in the Ludwigshafen Risk and Cardiovascular Health (LURIC) study. We tested associations of tertiles of lipoprotein(a) concentration in plasma and two LPA single-nucleotide polymorphisms ([SNPs] rs10455872 and rs3798220) with all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality by Cox regression analysis and with severity of disease by generalised linear modelling, with and without adjustment for age, sex, diabetes diagnosis, systolic blood pressure, BMI, smoking status, estimated glomerular filtration rate, LDL-cholesterol concentration, and use of lipid-lowering therapy. Results for plasma lipoprotein(a) concentrations were validated in five independent studies involving 10 195 patients with established coronary heart disease. Results for genetic associations were replicated through large-scale collaborative analysis in the GENIUS-CHD consortium, comprising 106 353 patients with established coronary heart disease and 19 332 deaths in 22 studies or cohorts. Findings: The median follow-up was 9·9 years. Increased severity of coronary heart disease was associated with lipoprotein(a) concentrations in plasma in the highest tertile (adjusted hazard radio [HR] 1·44, 95% CI 1·14–1·83) and the presence of either LPA SNP (1·88, 1·40–2·53). No associations were found in LURIC with all-cause mortality (highest tertile of lipoprotein(a) concentration in plasma 0·95, 0·81–1·11 and either LPA SNP 1·10, 0·92–1·31) or cardiovascular mortality (0·99, 0·81–1·2 and 1·13, 0·90–1·40, respectively) or in the validation studies. Interpretation: In patients with prevalent coronary heart disease, lipoprotein(a) concentrations and genetic variants showed no associations with mortality. We conclude that these variables are not useful risk factors to measure to predict progression to death after coronary heart disease is established. Funding: Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technical Development (AtheroRemo and RiskyCAD), INTERREG IV Oberrhein Programme, Deutsche Nierenstiftung, Else-Kroener Fresenius Foundation, Deutsche Stiftung für Herzforschung, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Saarland University, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Willy Robert Pitzer Foundation, and Waldburg-Zeil Clinics Isny

Vardenafil Increases Cell Proliferation in the Dentate Gyrus through Enhancement of Serotonin Expression in the Rat Dorsal Raphe

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of vardenafil (Levitra), a phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitor, on cell proliferation in the hippocampal dentate gyrus and on 5-hyroxytryptamine (5-HT, serotonin) synthesis and tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) expression in the rat dorsal raphe nucleus. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 6 groups (n=5 in each group): a control group, a 0.5 mg/kg-1 day vardenafil-treated group, a 1 mg/kg-1 day vardenafil-treated group, a 2 mg/kg-1 day vardenafil-treated group, a 1 mg/kg-3 day vardenafil-treated group, and a 1 mg/kg-7 day vardenafil-treated group. 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) immunohistochemistry was then performed to evaluate cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus. In addition, 5-HT and TPH immunohistochemistry was conducted to evaluate serotonin expression in the dorsal raphe. The results revealed that treatment with vardenafil increased cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus and enhanced 5-HT synthesis and TPH expression in the dorsal raphe in a dose- and duration-dependent manner. The findings demonstrate that the increasing effect of vardenafil on cell proliferation is closely associated with the enhancing effect of vardenafil on serotonin expression under normal conditions

Nasal Carriage and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus in healthy preschool children in Ujjain, India

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is increasing evidence that community acquired <it>S. aureus </it>infections are spreading among healthy children. Nasal colonization with <it>S. aureus </it>plays pivotal role in the increasing prevalence of resistant community acquired <it>S. aureus </it>infections worldwide. A regular surveillance system is important in ensuring quality of patient care. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of and the factors associated with nasal carriage of <it>S. aureus </it>and its antibiotic sensitivity pattern among healthy children in Ujjain, India.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A prospective study was done in paediatric outpatient clinics of R.D. Gardi medical college Ujjain, India. Healthy children from 1 month to 59 months of age were included. Information on previously known risk factors for nasal colonization was collected using a pre-tested questionnaire. Swabs from anterior nares were collected and transported in Amies transport media with charcoal and cultured on 5% sheep blood agar. Antibiotic sensitivity tests were performed using Kirby Bauer's disc diffusion method according to performance standards of Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute guidelines.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 1,562 children from 1-month up-to five years of age included in the study 98 children tested positive for nasal carriage of <it>S. aureus</it>. The prevalence of nasal carriage of <it>S. aureus </it>was 6.3% (95% CI 5.1-7.5) out of which 16.3% (95% CI 8.9-23.8) were methicillin-resistant <it>S. aureus </it>(MRSA). The factors associated with nasal carriage were "child attending preschool" (OR 4.26, 95% CI 2.25-8.03; <it>P </it>= 0.007) or "school" (OR 3.02, 95% CI 1.27-7.18; <it>P </it>< 0.001) and "family size more than 10 members" (OR 2.76 95% CI 1.06-7.15; <it>P </it>= 0.03). The sensitivity pattern of isolated <it>S. aureus </it>showed resistance to commonly used oral antibiotics while resistance to glycopeptides was not noted.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We found a relatively low rate of nasal carriage of <it>S. aureus </it>in children below five years when compared to children of older age groups in India. Yet, prevalence of MRSA was relatively high.</p

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration