Requirements modelling and formal analysis using graph operations

The increasing complexity of enterprise systems requires a more advanced analysis of the representation of services expected than is currently possible. Consequently, the specification stage, which could be facilitated by formal verification, becomes very important to the system life-cycle. This paper presents a formal modelling approach, which may be used in order to better represent the reality of the system and to verify the awaited or existing system’s properties, taking into account the environmental characteristics. For that, we firstly propose a formalization process based upon properties specification, and secondly we use Conceptual Graphs operations to develop reasoning mechanisms of verifying requirements statements. The graphic visualization of these reasoning enables us to correctly capture the system specifications by making it easier to determine if desired properties hold. It is applied to the field of Enterprise modelling

Clinical Study Determinants of Thyrotoxic Cardiomyopathy Recovery

The purpose was to evaluate the effect of the disease duration prior to treatment, thyroid hormones level, or both on the reversibility of dilated cardiomyopathy. Between January 2006 and December 2010, a longitudinal study with a 6 months follow-up was carried on. One hundred and seventy patients with hyperthyroidism were referred to the cardiologist, and 127 had a 6 months followup after antithyroid treatment and were evaluated by echocardiography. Dilated cardiomyopathy reversibility criteria were established according to echocardiographic parameters. Complete reversibility existed when all parameters were met, partial reversibility when LVEF was ≥55% plus two or three other parameters, and no reversibility when LVEF was ≤55% regardless of other parameters. The results showed that echocardiography parameters related to the regression of myocardial mass were associated with a disease duration shorter than 10.38 months. This was the main predictive variable for reversal of dilated cardiomyopathy, followed byblocker treatment, and the last predictive variable was the serum level of free triiodothyronine. This study showed that the effect on the myocardium related to thyrotoxicosis was associated with the disease duration before treatment

Mecanismo da síncope em nadadoras de elite

Os atletas podem ter baixa tolerância ao ortostatismo. O mecanismo envolvido ainda nao é bem conhecido. Nossa hipótese se baseia em que as mulheres nadadoras de alta performance desmaiam facilmente durante o teste de inclinaçao, tilt test (TT), provavelmente devido a um pobre controle barorreflexo. A frequência cardíaca e as variabilidades da pressao arterial diastólica, a sensibilidade barorreflexa, a hemodinâmica cardíaca e a velocidade do fluxo cerebral foram analisadas durante o TT em um grupo de 8 mulheres recorde mundial de longa distância em águas abertas (travessia do Canal da Mancha). Cinco indivíduos (63%) tinham uma resposta positiva ao TT e três, negativa. A prova demonstrou ao início uma frequência cardíaca mais alta, componentes de baixa frequência na análise da variabilidade, uma relaçao baixa frequência/alta frequência (

Mecanismo da síncope em nadadoras de elite

Os atletas podem ter baixa tolerância ao ortostatismo. O mecanismo envolvido ainda nao é bem conhecido. Nossa hipótese se baseia em que as mulheres nadadoras de alta performance desmaiam facilmente durante o teste de inclinaçao, tilt test (TT), provavelmente devido a um pobre controle barorreflexo. A frequência cardíaca e as variabilidades da pressao arterial diastólica, a sensibilidade barorreflexa, a hemodinâmica cardíaca e a velocidade do fluxo cerebral foram analisadas durante o TT em um grupo de 8 mulheres recorde mundial de longa distância em águas abertas (travessia do Canal da Mancha). Cinco indivíduos (63%) tinham uma resposta positiva ao TT e três, negativa. A prova demonstrou ao início uma frequência cardíaca mais alta, componentes de baixa frequência na análise da variabilidade, uma relaçao baixa frequência/alta frequência (

Leer y escribir. Artefactos y mediaciones para el desarrollo de la literacidad

Este es el primer libro de la colección Literacidad y pedagogía y está dirigido principalmente a maestros de primaria y secundaria. Ofrece orientaciones educativas y estrategias lúdicas para propiciar el apego y el compromiso de los alumnos con la lectura por placer, y con la escritura creativa dentro de la cotidianidad de las aulas. Pretende también impulsar el desarrollo de la literacidad entre niñas y niños para potenciarlos como personas críticas, agentes de la palabra, lectores y escritores de sus propias narrativas.ITESO, A.C

Rosiglitazone as an option for patients with acromegaly: a case series

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>In the patient with acromegaly, pituitary surgery is the therapeutic standard. Despite undergoing surgery, a significant number of patients with acromegaly continue to have uncontrolled growth hormone secretion. These patients require other treatments such as external irradiation and/or drug therapy.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present the clinical and laboratory responses to six months of treatment with rosiglitazone in four cases. In all four cases, the patients had persistent growth hormone overproduction despite previous surgical treatment and other conventional therapy. Case 1 is a 57-year-old Caucasian woman, case 2 is a 51-year-old Hispanic man, case 3 is a 32-year-old Hispanic woman, and case 4 is a 36-year-old Hispanic man. In three of these patients, basal and nadir growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor 1 levels were significantly decreased (<it>P </it>< 0.05 and <it>P </it>< 0.01, respectively).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Rosiglitazone could be a treatment option in select patients with acromegaly.</p

Magnetic resonance lung function – a breakthrough for lung imaging and functional assessment? A phantom study and clinical trial

BACKGROUND: Chronic lung diseases are a major issue in public health. A serial pulmonary assessment using imaging techniques free of ionizing radiation and which provides early information on local function impairment would therefore be a considerably important development. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a powerful tool for the static and dynamic imaging of many organs. Its application in lung imaging however, has been limited due to the low water content of the lung and the artefacts evident at air-tissue interfaces. Many attempts have been made to visualize local ventilation using the inhalation of hyperpolarized gases or gadolinium aerosol responding to MRI. None of these methods are applicable for broad clinical use as they require specific equipment. METHODS: We have shown previously that low-field MRI can be used for static imaging of the lung. Here we show that mathematical processing of data derived from serial MRI scans during the respiratory cycle produces good quality images of local ventilation without any contrast agent. A phantom study and investigations in 85 patients were performed. RESULTS: The phantom study proved our theoretical considerations. In 99 patient investigations good correlation (r = 0.8; p ≤ 0.001) was seen for pulmonary function tests and MR ventilation measurements. Small ventilation defects were visualized. CONCLUSION: With this method, ventilation defects can be diagnosed long before any imaging or pulmonary function test will indicate disease. This surprisingly simple approach could easily be incorporated in clinical routine and may be a breakthrough for lung imaging and functional assessment

Lateralized Connectivity between Globus Pallidus and Motor Cortex is Associated with Freezing of Gait in Parkinson’s Disease

Freezing of gait (FoG) is a brief, episodic absence or marked reduction of forward progression of the feet, despite the intention to walk, that is common in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). We hypothesized that not only motor, but higher level cognitive and attention areas may be impaired in freezers. In this study, we aimed to characterize differences in cortical and subcortical functional connectivity specific to FoG. We examined resting state neuroimaging and objective measures of FoG severity and gait from 103 individuals (28 PD + FoG, 36 PD − FoG and 39 healthy controls). Inertial sensors were used to quantify freezing severity and gait. Groups with and without FoG were matched on age, disease severity, cognitive status, and levodopa medication. MRI data was processed using surface-based registration. High-quality imaging data were used to characterize differences in connectivity specific to FoG using a pre-defined set of Regions of Interest (ROIs) and validated using whole-brain connectivity analysis. Associations between functional connectivity and objective measures of FoG were determined via predictive modeling using hold-out cross validation. We found that connectivity between the left globus pallidus (GP) and left somatosensory cortex and between two brain areas in the default and insular/vestibular networks exhibited significant differences specific to FoG and were also strong and significant predictors of FoG severity. Our findings suggest that the interplay among motor, default and vestibular areas of the left cortex are critical in the pathology of FoG