Determination of Critical Exponents in Nuclear Systems

Signatures of critical behaviour in nuclear fragmentation are often based on arguments from percolation theory. We demonstrate with general thermodynamic considerations and studies of the Ising model that the reliance on percolation as a reference model bears the risk of missing parts of the essential physics.Comment: 10 pages, TeX with 1 included figure; Proceedings of the 1st Catania Relativistic Ion Studies: Critical Phenomena and Collective Observables, Acicastello, May 27-31, 1996, to be published by World Scientific Publ. Co.; also available from http://www-kp3.gsi.de/www/kp3/aladin_publications.htm

AR-TO-KID: A speech-enabled augmented reality to engage preschool children in pronunciation learning

AR-TO-KID is an application produced for preschool children between ages five to six years old with an Augmented Reality (AR) application. The significant purpose of AR-TO-KID is to improve the pronunciation of the children in English. Hence, this paper discusses an AR application with speech input. The detection of the children speech input when they need to pronounce the words correctly, and they need to have critical thinking to identify the environment suit with the 3D objects that they will utter the word. Educational technology should be interactive and attractive for 5 to 6 years old preschool children learning; however, some at preschool teachers still used the conventional methods in teaching and children are not fully engaged with the method. Therefore, this project is to design and develop an interactive AR tool called AR-TO-KID for preschool children in pronunciation learning and teaching. This paper presents the evaluation and testing for preschool children with non-native English speaking. The article ends with results and discussion

Object selection and scaling using multimodal interaction in mixed reality

Mixed Reality (MR) is the next evolution of human interacting with the computer as MR has the ability to combine the physical environment and digital environment and making them coexist with each other. Interaction is still a huge research area in Augmented Reality (AR) but very less in MR, this is due to current advanced MR display techniques still not robust and intuitive enough to let the user to naturally interact with 3D content. New techniques on user interaction have been widely studied, the advanced technique in interaction when the system able to invoke more than one input modalities. Multimodal interaction undertakes to deliver intuitive multiple objects manipulation with gestures. This paper discusses the multimodal interaction technique using gesture and speech which the proposed experimental setup to implement multimodal in the MR interface. The real hand gesture is combined with speech inputs in MR to perform spatial object manipulations. The paper explains the implementation stage that involves interaction using gesture and speech inputs to enhance user experience in MR workspace. After acquiring gesture input and speech commands, spatial manipulation for selection and scaling using multimodal interaction has been invoked, and this paper ends with a discussion

A DMRG Study of Low-Energy Excitations and Low-Temperature Properties of Alternating Spin Systems

We use the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method to study the ground and low-lying excited states of three kinds of uniform and dimerized alternating spin chains. The DMRG procedure is also employed to obtain low-temperature thermodynamic properties of these systems. We consider a 2N site system with spins $s_1$ and $s_2$ alternating from site to site and interacting via a Heisenberg antiferromagnetic exchange. The three systems studied correspond to $(s_1 ,s_2 )$ being equal to $(1,1/2),(3/2,1/2)$ and $(3/2,1)$; all of them have very similar properties. The ground state is found to be ferrimagnetic with total spin $s_G =N(s_1 - s_2)$. We find that there is a gapless excitation to a state with spin $s_G -1$, and a gapped excitation to a state with spin $s_G +1$. Surprisingly, the correlation length in the ground state is found to be very small for this gapless system. The DMRG analysis shows that the chain is susceptible to a conditional spin-Peierls instability. Furthermore, our studies of the magnetization, magnetic susceptibility $\chi$ and specific heat show strong magnetic-field dependences. The product $\chi T$ shows a minimum as a function of temperature T at low magnetic fields; the minimum vanishes at high magnetic fields. This low-field behavior is in agreement with earlier experimental observations. The specific heat shows a maximum as a function of temperature, and the height of the maximum increases sharply at high magnetic fields. Although all the three systems show qualitatively similar behavior, there are some notable quantitative differences between the systems in which the site spin difference, $|s_1 - s_2|$, is large and small respectively.Comment: 16 LaTeX pages, 13 postscript figure

Mesenchymal stromal cells rescue disc degeneration and function via suppression of fibrotic events

DMM 2011 entitled: Re-engineering Regenerative MedicinePoster Session - Orthopedic Regeneration: no. 92Chronic back pain and neuropathological conditions such as spondylomyelopathy and radiculopathy are associated with degeneration of the intervertebral discs in spinal column. Human and animal studies imply a role of fibrosis in the degeneration process. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) possess anti-fibrotic activities. We investigated if MSCs elicit disc regeneration through modulating fibrotic events. Skeletally mature rabbits with injury-induced lumbar disc degeneration were randomized to receive intradiscal engraftment of bone marrow-derived MSCs or control vehicle. Disc degeneration status was evaluated by MRI and radiographs. We showed that MSCs regenerated the disc along with a recovery …postprin

Morphological justification of organ-preserving methods of surgical treatment of patients with liver echinococcosis

The purpose of the research is the study of the morphological structure of echinococcal cysts to assess the possibility of using organ-preserving methods of surgical treatment.Materials and methods. A clinical, instrumental, and morphological fundamental study was performed in the Surgical Clinic of the Botkin Hospital when radiation and morphological data in addition to clinical data were studied for 28 patients who underwent surgical treatment for liver echinococcosis. Excised gross specimens were examined to study the capsule structure, and the penetration of germinal elements of the cysts through membranes of the parasite (64 successively excised primary operated echinococcal cysts).Results and discussion. The fibrous capsule of the echinococcal cyst is a good barrier against Protoscolexes penetrating into the liver tissue. None of the 64 specimens studied in detail was found to have germinal elements of any echinococcal cyst penetrating through its fibrous capsule. The morphological justification of organ-preserving methods in the treatment of patients with liver echinococcosis allows a conclusion that these interventions are safe and radical

Морфологическое обоснование органосохраняющих способов хирургического лечения пациентов с эхинококковым поражением печени

The purpose of the research is the study of the morphological structure of echinococcal cysts to assess the possibility of using organ-preserving methods of surgical treatment.Materials and methods. A clinical, instrumental, and morphological fundamental study was performed in the Surgical Clinic of the Botkin Hospital when radiation and morphological data in addition to clinical data were studied for 28 patients who underwent surgical treatment for liver echinococcosis. Excised gross specimens were examined to study the capsule structure, and the penetration of germinal elements of the cysts through membranes of the parasite (64 successively excised primary operated echinococcal cysts).Results and discussion. The fibrous capsule of the echinococcal cyst is a good barrier against Protoscolexes penetrating into the liver tissue. None of the 64 specimens studied in detail was found to have germinal elements of any echinococcal cyst penetrating through its fibrous capsule. The morphological justification of organ-preserving methods in the treatment of patients with liver echinococcosis allows a conclusion that these interventions are safe and radical.Цель исследований – изучение морфологического строения эхинококковых кист для оценки возможности применения органосберегающих способов хирургического лечения.Материалы и методы. В хирургической клинике Боткинской больницы проведено клинико-инструментально-морфологическое фундаментальное исследование, когда помимо клинических были изучены лучевые и морфологические данные 28 пациентов, которым проведено хирургическое лечение эхинококкоза печени. Были исследованы удаленные макропрепараты с целью изучения структуры капсулы, особенностей проникновения зародышевых элементов кист через оболочки паразита (64 последовательно удаленных первично оперированных эхинококковых кист).Результаты и обсуждение. Фиброзная капсула эхинококковой кисты является хорошим барьером от проникновения протосколексов в ткань печени. Ни в одном из 64 детально изученных препаратов не было выявлено проникновения зародышевых элементов эхинококковой кисты через её фиброзную капсулу. Проведенное морфологическое обоснование применения органосберегающих технологий при лечении пациентов с эхинококкозом печени позволяет сделать заключение о безопасности и радикальности этих вмешательств

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Common Genetic Polymorphisms Influence Blood Biomarker Measurements in COPD

Implementing precision medicine for complex diseases such as chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) will require extensive use of biomarkers and an in-depth understanding of how genetic, epigenetic, and environmental variations contribute to phenotypic diversity and disease progression. A meta-analysis from two large cohorts of current and former smokers with and without COPD [SPIROMICS (N = 750); COPDGene (N = 590)] was used to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with measurement of 88 blood proteins (protein quantitative trait loci; pQTLs). PQTLs consistently replicated between the two cohorts. Features of pQTLs were compared to previously reported expression QTLs (eQTLs). Inference of causal relations of pQTL genotypes, biomarker measurements, and four clinical COPD phenotypes (airflow obstruction, emphysema, exacerbation history, and chronic bronchitis) were explored using conditional independence tests. We identified 527 highly significant (p 10% of measured variation in 13 protein biomarkers, with a single SNP (rs7041; p = 10−392) explaining 71%-75% of the measured variation in vitamin D binding protein (gene = GC). Some of these pQTLs [e.g., pQTLs for VDBP, sRAGE (gene = AGER), surfactant protein D (gene = SFTPD), and TNFRSF10C] have been previously associated with COPD phenotypes. Most pQTLs were local (cis), but distant (trans) pQTL SNPs in the ABO blood group locus were the top pQTL SNPs for five proteins. The inclusion of pQTL SNPs improved the clinical predictive value for the established association of sRAGE and emphysema, and the explanation of variance (R2) for emphysema improved from 0.3 to 0.4 when the pQTL SNP was included in the model along with clinical covariates. Causal modeling provided insight into specific pQTL-disease relationships for airflow obstruction and emphysema. In conclusion, given the frequency of highly significant local pQTLs, the large amount of variance potentially explained by pQTL, and the differences observed between pQTLs and eQTLs SNPs, we recommend that protein biomarker-disease association studies take into account the potential effect of common local SNPs and that pQTLs be integrated along with eQTLs to uncover disease mechanisms. Large-scale blood biomarker studies would also benefit from close attention to the ABO blood group