World radiocommunication conference 12 : implications for the spectrum eco-system

Spectrum allocation is once more a key issue facing the global telecommunications industry. Largely overlooked in current debates, however, is the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC). Decisions taken by WRC shape the future roadmap of the telecommunications industry, not least because it has the ability to shape the global spectrum allocation framework. In the debates of WRC-12 it is possible to identify three main issues: enhancement of the international spectrum regulatory framework, regulatory measures required to introduce Cognitive Radio Systems (CRS) technologies; and, additional spectrum allocation to mobile service. WRC-12 eventually decided not to change the current international radio regulations with regard to the first two issues and agreed to the third issue. The main implications of WRC-12 on the spectrum ecosystem are that most of actors are not in support of the concept of spectrum flexibility associated with trading and that the concept of spectrum open access is not under consideration. This is explained by the observation that spectrum trading and spectrum commons weaken state control over spectrum and challenge the main principles and norms of the international spectrum management regime. In addition, the mobile allocation issue has shown the lack of conformity with the main rules of the regime: regional spectrum allocation in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) three regions, and the resistance to the slow decision making procedures. In conclusion, while the rules and decision-making procedures of the international spectrum management regime were challenged in the WRC-12, the main principles and norms are still accepted by the majority of countries

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Computational Methods for the Objective Review of Forensic DNA Testing Results

Since the advent of criminal investigations, investigators have sought a gold standard for the evaluation of forensic evidence. Currently, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) technology is the most reliable method of identification. Short Tandem Repeat (STR) DNA genotyping has the potential for impressive match statistics, but the methodology not infallible. The condition of an evidentiary sample and potential issues with the handling and testing of a sample can lead to significant issues with the interpretation of DNA testing results. Forensic DNA interpretation standards are determined by laboratory validation studies that often involve small sample sizes. This dissertation presents novel methodologies to address several open problems in forensic DNA analysis and demonstrates the improvement of the reported statistics over existent methodologies. Establishing a dynamically calculated RFU threshold specific to each analysis run improves the identification of signal from noise in DNA test data. Objectively identifying data consistent with degraded DNA sample input allows for a better understanding of the nature of an evidentiary sample and affects the potential for identifying allelic dropout (missing data). The interpretation of mixtures of two or more individuals has been problematic and new mathematical frameworks are presented to assist in that interpretation. Assessing the weight of a DNA database match (a cold hit) relies on statistics that assume that all individuals in a database are unrelated - this dissertation explores the statistical consequences of related individuals being present in the database. Finally, this dissertation presents a statistical basis for determining if a DNA database search resulting in a very similar but nonetheless non-matching DNA profile indicates that a close relative of the source of the DNA in the database is likely to be the source of an evidentiary sample

A Versatile Tool for Student Projects: An ASM Programming Language for the Lego Mindstorm

Finding new and exciting senior design projects for undergraduate computer engineers can be challenging for both students and faculty advisors. The challenge is even more pronounced when attempting to construct interdisciplinary design projects to better meet ABET 2000 criteria and to better prepare graduating students for careers as engineers. We present an interdisciplinary, honors senior design project incorporating robotics control, algorithmic state machine design, reverse-engineering, assembly programming, and language, and basic compiler design. We believe this two-quarter project was extremely successful, and can be used as a model for similar design projects at other undergraduate institutions

A Versatile Tool for Student Projects: An ASM Programming Language for the Lego Mindstorm

Finding new and exciting senior design projects for undergraduate computer engineers can be challenging for both students and faculty advisors. The challenge is even more pronounced when attempting to construct interdisciplinary design projects to better meet ABET 2000 criteria and to better prepare graduating students for careers as engineers. We present an interdisciplinary, honors senior design project incorporating robotics control, algorithmic state machine design, reverse-engineering, assembly programming, and language, and basic compiler design. We believe this two-quarter project was extremely successful, and can be used as a model for similar design projects at other undergraduate institutions

Identifying Patterns in DNA Change

Now that a draft sequence of the human genome is nearly complete, questions regarding both the information contained within our genetic blueprints as well as the manner in which that information content changes over time can be addressed in ways that had not previously been possible. By their very nature, some of the nucleotide sequences present within our genome allow detailed examination of the mode and pattern of evolution that has shaped our genetic instructions over time spans of tens of millions of years. Alu repeats are one example. Using these relatively short, ubiquitous DNA sequences we explore the problem of attempting to predict the relative abundance of a variety of different possible substitution events that have accumulated over the past 20 million years. To perform well when applied to biological sequence data, computational methods must have the ability to tolerate both natural variation in the data and noise introduced in data measurement. As a result and due to their ability to search complex, noisy search spaces, Evolutionary computation techniques are particularly promising for the analysis of nucleotide sequence data and other biological data sets. We have used these techniques to address a key question in understanding the process of evolution: the effect of genomic context on substitutions (the degree to which the genomic information surrounding a particular region of a chromosome affects the changes to that region over time). We utilized genetic programming to predict changes in these DNA sequences over time. These approaches reveal that a significant proportion of DNA nucleotide substitutions within a given region are governed by a model that takes into consideration only the GC-content of the DNA sequences surrounding the region being considered

PocketMol: A Molecular Visualization Program for the Pocket PC

Molecular visualization programs are available on many platforms. They allow a user to visualize and manipulate molecular structures. PocketMol provides the same functionality on a Pocket PC handheld computer. Using standard protein data bank (pdb) files, the user can move, rotate, and scale a protein to explore its structure and function. The user can choose from a standard backbone view or a simplified view using only alpha carbon atoms. PocketMolGX uses the Microsoft Game API to provide fast animation that is quite smooth. PocketMol is designed as an aid for those wishing to explore or demonstrate protein structures without the availability of a full-size compute

PocketMol: A Molecular Visualization Program for the Pocket PC

Molecular visualization programs are available on many platforms. They allow a user to visualize and manipulate molecular structures. PocketMol provides the same functionality on a Pocket PC handheld computer. Using standard protein data bank (pdb) files, the user can move, rotate, and scale a protein to explore its structure and function. The user can choose from a standard backbone view or a simplified view using only alpha carbon atoms. PocketMolGX uses the Microsoft Game API to provide fast animation that is quite smooth. PocketMol is designed as an aid for those wishing to explore or demonstrate protein structures without the availability of a full-size compute