513 research outputs found
The potential of low-intensity and online interventions for depression in low- and middle-income countries
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are confronted with a serious ‘mental health gap’, indicating an enormous disparity between the number of individuals in need of mental health care and the availability of professionals to provide such care (WHO in 2010). Traditional forms of mental health services (i.e. face-to-face, individualised assessments and interventions) are therefore not feasible. We propose three strategies for addressing this mental health gap: delivery of evidence-based, low-intensity interventions by non-specialists, the use of transdiagnostic treatment protocols, and strategic deployment of technology to facilitate access and uptake. We urge researchers from all over the world to conduct feasibility studies and randomised controlled studies on the effect of low-intensity interventions and technology supported (e.g. online) interventions in LMICs, preferably using an active control condition as comparison, to ensure we disseminate effective treatments in LMICs
Preliminary Bulbous Bow Design Tool Applying K Nearest Neighbours Classification and Regression Model
Designing bulbous bows for ships remains a challenging task. Their impact on different design attributes as well as their change in performance when operating off their intended design condition renders this as a multidimensional problem. This paper explores the application of machine learning techniques to a sample of in-service vessel data to develop a preliminary design tool. The ships' data was analysed together with their bulbous bow data to generate machine learning models using a supervised approach. The K Nearest Neighbours Classifier and Regression models were used as the basis of the tool. Together, these models can be used to predict whether to install a bulbous bow and the recommended dimensionless coefficients for new vessels. Generating this preliminary bulbous bow design tool required the introduction of new dimensionless coefficients that discretise the bulbous bow's longitudinal section. The preliminary design tool gives the designer the ability to determine whether a bulbous bow should be fitted and, if so, to obtain an initial estimate of the bulbous bow required for the vessel being designed, based on key input parameters that relate to the ship and its operation. The new design tool is demonstrated to provide preliminary design details for bulbous bows through the case studies
Optimal parametrizations of adiabatic paths
The parametrization of adiabatic paths is optimal when tunneling is
minimized. Hamiltonian evolutions do not have unique optimizers. However,
dephasing Lindblad evolutions do. The optimizers are simply characterized by an
Euler-Lagrange equation and have a constant tunneling rate along the path
irrespective of the gap. Application to quantum search algorithms recovers the
Grover result for appropriate scaling of the dephasing. Dephasing rates that
beat Grover imply hidden resources in Lindblad operators.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; To prevent from misunderstanding, we clarified
the discussion of an apparent speedup in the Grover algorithm; figures
improved + minor change
High-quality ion beams by irradiating a nano-structured target with a petawatt laser pulse
We present a novel laser based ion acceleration scheme, where a petawatt
circularly polarized laser pulse is shot on an ultra-thin (nano-scale)
double-layer target. Our scheme allows the production of high-quality light ion
beams with both energy and angular dispersion controllable by the target
properties. We show that extraction of all electrons from the target by
radiation pressure can lead to a very effective two step acceleration process
for light ions if the target is designed correctly. Relativistic protons should
be obtainable with pulse powers of a few petawatt. Careful analytical modeling
yields estimates for characteristic beam parameters and requirements on the
laser pulse quality, in excellent agreement with one and two-dimensional
Particle-in Cell simulations.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, accepted in New. J. Phy
Quantum response of dephasing open systems
We develop a theory of adiabatic response for open systems governed by
Lindblad evolutions. The theory determines the dependence of the response
coefficients on the dephasing rates and allows for residual dissipation even
when the ground state is protected by a spectral gap. We give quantum response
a geometric interpretation in terms of Hilbert space projections: For a two
level system and, more generally, for systems with suitable functional form of
the dephasing, the dissipative and non-dissipative parts of the response are
linked to a metric and to a symplectic form. The metric is the Fubini-Study
metric and the symplectic form is the adiabatic curvature. When the metric and
symplectic structures are compatible the non-dissipative part of the inverse
matrix of response coefficients turns out to be immune to dephasing. We give
three examples of physical systems whose quantum states induce compatible
metric and symplectic structures on control space: The qubit, coherent states
and a model of the integer quantum Hall effect.Comment: Article rewritten, two appendices added. 16 pages, 2 figure
Artificial intelligence in medicine and research – the good, the bad and the ugly
Artificial intelligence (AI) broadly refers to machines that simulate intelligent human behavior, and research into this field
is exponential and worldwide, with global players such as Microsoft battling with Google for supremacy and market share.
This paper reviews the “good” aspects of AI in medicine for individuals who embrace the 4P model of medicine (Predictive,
Preventive, Personalized, and Participatory) to medical assistants in diagnostics, surgery, and research. The “bad” aspects
relate to the potential for errors, culpability, ethics, data loss and data breaches, and so on. The “ugly” aspects are deliberate
personal malfeasances and outright scientific misconduct including the ease of plagiarism and fabrication, with particular
reference to the novel ChatGPT as well as AI software that can also fabricate graphs and images. The issues pertaining to
the potential dangers of creating rogue, super‑intelligent AI systems that lead to a technological singularity and the ensuing
perceived existential threat to mankind by leading AI researchers are also briefly discussed.peer-reviewe
Параметрична логістична модель планування роботи різних видів транспорту
Запропонована логістична модель планування роботи різних видів транспорту вантажної станції за умов ефективного використання вантажно-розвантажувальних механізмів, вантажних фронтів та складської обробки вантажів.Предложенная логистическая модель планирования работы различных видов транспорта грузовой станции в условиях эффективного использования погрузочно-разгрузочных механизмов, грузовых фронтов и складской обработки грузов.The proposed model of logistic planning of transport modes cargo station for the effective use of material handling equipment, commercial fronts and warehouse handling
Checking Whether an Automaton Is Monotonic Is NP-complete
An automaton is monotonic if its states can be arranged in a linear order
that is preserved by the action of every letter. We prove that the problem of
deciding whether a given automaton is monotonic is NP-complete. The same result
is obtained for oriented automata, whose states can be arranged in a cyclic
order. Moreover, both problems remain hard under the restriction to binary
input alphabets.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures. CIAA 2015. The final publication is available at
http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-22360-5_2
Validation of four-dimensional flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance for aortic stenosis assessment
The management of patients with aortic stenosis (AS) crucially depends on accurate diagnosis. The main aim of this study were to validate the four-dimensional flow (4D flow) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) methods for AS assessment. Eighteen patients with clinically severe AS were recruited. All patients had pre-valve intervention 6MWT, echocardiography and CMR with 4D flow. Of these, ten patients had a surgical valve replacement, and eight patients had successful transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). TAVI patients had invasive pressure gradient assessments. A repeat assessment was performed at 3–4 months to assess the remodelling response. The peak pressure gradient by 4D flow was comparable to an invasive pressure gradient (54 ± 26 mmHG vs 50 ± 34 mmHg, P = 0.67). However, Doppler yielded significantly higher pressure gradient compared to invasive assessment (61 ± 32 mmHG vs 50 ± 34 mmHg, P = 0.0002). 6MWT was associated with 4D flow CMR derived pressure gradient (r = −0.45, P = 0.01) and EOA (r = 0.54, P < 0.01) but only with Doppler EOA (r = 0.45, P = 0.01). Left ventricular mass regression was better associated with 4D flow derived pressure gradient change (r = 0.64, P = 0.04). 4D flow CMR offers an alternative method for non-invasive assessment of AS. In addition, 4D flow derived valve metrics have a superior association to prognostically relevant 6MWT and LV mass regression than echocardiography
Assessment of Minimal Residual Disease in Standard-Risk AML
BACKGROUND: Despite the molecular heterogeneity of standard-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML), treatment decisions are based on a limited number of molecular genetic markers and morphology-based assessment of remission. Sensitive detection of a leukemia-specific marker (e.g., a mutation in the gene encoding nucleophosmin [NPM1]) could improve prognostication by identifying submicroscopic disease during remission. METHODS: We used a reverse-transcriptase quantitative polymerase-chain-reaction assay to detect minimal residual disease in 2569 samples obtained from 346 patients with NPM1-mutated AML who had undergone intensive treatment in the National Cancer Research Institute AML17 trial. We used a custom 51-gene panel to perform targeted sequencing of 223 samples obtained at the time of diagnosis and 49 samples obtained at the time of relapse. Mutations associated with preleukemic clones were tracked by means of digital polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Molecular profiling highlighted the complexity of NPM1-mutated AML, with segregation of patients into more than 150 subgroups, thus precluding reliable outcome prediction. The determination of minimal-residual-disease status was more informative. Persistence of NPM1-mutated transcripts in blood was present in 15% of the patients after the second chemotherapy cycle and was associated with a greater risk of relapse after 3 years of follow-up than was an absence of such transcripts (82% vs. 30%; hazard ratio, 4.80; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.95 to 7.80; P<0.001) and a lower rate of survival (24% vs. 75%; hazard ratio for death, 4.38; 95% CI, 2.57 to 7.47; P<0.001). The presence of minimal residual disease was the only independent prognostic factor for death in multivariate analysis (hazard ratio, 4.84; 95% CI, 2.57 to 9.15; P<0.001). These results were validated in an independent cohort. On sequential monitoring of minimal residual disease, relapse was reliably predicted by a rising level of NPM1-mutated transcripts. Although mutations associated with preleukemic clones remained detectable during ongoing remission after chemotherapy, NPM1 mutations were detected in 69 of 70 patients at the time of relapse and provided a better marker of disease status. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of minimal residual disease, as determined by quantitation of NPM1-mutated transcripts, provided powerful prognostic information independent of other risk factors. (Funded by Bloodwise and the National Institute for Health Research; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN55675535.)
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