Antibiotic consumption in Portugal: 2010 and 2011

The use of antibiotics has contributed to a marked decrease in morbidity caused by communicable and infec- tious diseases over the past few years. The aim of our study is to evaluate the use of antibiotics in clinic in 2010 and 2011, considering two different methodologies: the defined daily dose per 1000 inhabitants per day (DHD) and the number of packages per 1000 inhabitants per day (PHD)

Moving Toward Non-transcription Based Discourse Analysis in Stable and Progressive Aphasia

Measurement of communication ability at the discourse level holds promise for predicting how well persons with stable (e.g., stroke-induced), or progressive aphasia navigate everyday communicative interactions. However, barriers to the clinical utilization of discourse measures have persisted. Recent advancements in the standardization of elicitation protocols and the existence of large databases for development of normative references have begun to address some of these barriers. Still, time remains a consistently reported barrier by clinicians. Non-transcription based discourse measurement would reduce the time required for discourse analysis, making clinical utilization a reality. The purpose of this article is to present evidence regarding discourse measures (main concept analysis, core lexicon, and derived efficiency scores) that are well suited to non-transcription based analysis. Combined with previous research, our results suggest that these measures are sensitive to changes following stroke or neurodegenerative disease. Given the evidence, further research specifically assessing the reliability of these measures in clinical implementation is warranted

Dynamic communicability and epidemic spread: a case study on an empirical dynamic contact network

We analyze a recently proposed temporal centrality measure applied to an empirical network based on person-to-person contacts in an emergency department of a busy urban hospital. We show that temporal centrality identifies a distinct set of top-spreaders than centrality based on the time-aggregated binarized contact matrix, so that taken together, the accuracy of capturing top-spreaders improves significantly. However, with respect to predicting epidemic outcome, the temporal measure does not necessarily outperform less complex measures. Our results also show that other temporal markers such as duration observed and the time of first appearance in the the network can be used in a simple predictive model to generate predictions that capture the trend of the observed data remarkably well.Comment: 31 pages, 15 figures, 11 tables; typos corrected; references added; Figure 3 added; some changes to the conclusion and introductio

Adaptive Controller Placement for Wireless Sensor-Actuator Networks with Erasure Channels

Wireless sensor-actuator networks offer flexibility for control design. One novel element which may arise in networks with multiple nodes is that the role of some nodes does not need to be fixed. In particular, there is no need to pre-allocate which nodes assume controller functions and which ones merely relay data. We present a flexible architecture for networked control using multiple nodes connected in series over analog erasure channels without acknowledgments. The control architecture proposed adapts to changes in network conditions, by allowing the role played by individual nodes to depend upon transmission outcomes. We adopt stochastic models for transmission outcomes and characterize the distribution of controller location and the covariance of system states. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed architecture has the potential to give better performance than limiting control calculations to be carried out at a fixed node.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, to be published in Automatic

Entanglement invariant for the double Jaynes-Cummings model

We study entanglement dynamics between four qubits interacting through two isolated Jaynes-Cummings hamiltonians, via the entanglement measure based on the wedge product. We compare the results with similar results obtained using bipartite concurrence resulting in what is referred to as "entanglement sudden death". We find a natural entanglement invariant under evolution demonstrating that entanglement sudden death is caused by ignoring (tracing over) some of the system's degrees of freedom that become entangled through the interaction.Comment: Sec. V has largely been rewritten. An error pertaining to the entanglement invariant has been corrected and a correct invariant valid for a much larger set of states have been found, Eq. (25

Rats, water, and disseminated sclerosis: an œtiological study

1.) That a large proportion of patients suffering from disseminated sclerosis give a history of exposure to damp, especially of the hands and feet. 2.) That a large proportion give also a history of association with rats at home or at work. 3.) That a study of the occupation of those dying of the disease in England and ';ales in 1925 shows a heavy incidence in those occupations which would expose the worker to the above etiological factors. 4.) That the geographical distribution of cases in isnerica, and to a lesser extent in London round inland waters is in keeping with the clinical and occupational findings. 5.) That bacteriological opinion suggests a leptospira related to leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae as the casual organism of disseminated sclerosis, and that there is a strong probability that these organisms have an ineffective and a non-ineffective phase. 6.) That in general the association of rats, 'damp, and disseminated sclerosis is too frequent to be dismissed as merely accidental) without further investigation

Development of a Team Human Reliability Tool (ROCCI)

Human Reliability Assessments (HRA) have been developed so designers and users can understand how likely it is for a human to make an error when using a product or system in the workplace. This is called the reliability of the product. Approximately twenty-six techniques exist to assess the reliability of an individual human in a process. However, often a team of people interact within a system and not just one individual on their own. Hence a new generation of HRAs is needed to assess the effects of teamwork on reliability. This EPSRC CASE studentship, supported by BAE systems, develops a prototype, which enables a designer to quantify and answer to the question: “If I allocate this team to execute that task in System X, how likely is it that they will succeed?” This prototype assumes that a process can be defined in the form of a flow diagram and that roles can be allocated to execute it. Then, using one of those twenty-six techniques, individual reliabilities can be calculated. These are then modulated, by considering how the team interaction affects the three core elements of Trust, Communication and Decision Making Power Distance. This creates an ‘interactive reliability’ factor for each individual in the team. These individual reliability factors are combined according to the team architecture for the process in order to determine the overall team reliability factor. The methods of development include: stakeholder interviews; the evolution of requirements specification; sensitivity analysis; and a stakeholder review of the tool. The information from these analyses produced a model about team interaction and the requirements for the new tool together with statements and algorithms that need to be used in the new tool: ROCCI. This technique is useful for use in the early stages of the design process. The successful prototype can be extended into applications for operations and used to assess and adapt products and systems, which involve teams

Integrated DNA walking system to characterize a broad spectrum of GMOs in food/feed matrices

Background: In order to provide a system fully integrated with qPCR screening, usually used in GMO routine analysis, as well as being able to detect, characterize and identify a broad spectrum of GMOs in food/feed matrices, two bidirectional DNA walking methods targeting p35S or tNOS, the most common transgenic elements found in GM crops, were developed. These newly developed DNA walking methods are completing the previously implemented DNA walking method targeting the t35S pCAMBIA element. Results: First, the newly developed DNA walking methods, anchored on the sequences used for the p35S or tNOS qPCR screening, were tested on Bt rice that contains these two transgenic elements. Second, the methods were assessed on a maize sample containing a low amount of the GM MON863 event, representing a more complex matrix in terms of genome size and sensitivity. Finally, to illustrate its applicability in GMO routine analysis by enforcement laboratories, the entire workflow of the integrated strategy, including qPCR screening to detect the potential presence of GMOs and the subsequent DNA walking methods to characterize and identify the detected GMOs, was applied on a GeMMA Scheme Proficiency Test matrix. Via the characterization of the transgene flanking region between the transgenic cassette and the plant genome as well as of a part of the transgenic cassette, the presence of GMOs was properly confirmed or infirmed in all tested samples. Conclusion: Due to their simple procedure and their short time-frame to get results, the developed DNA walking methods proposed here can be easily implemented in GMO routine analysis by the enforcement laboratories. In providing crucial information about the transgene flanking regions and/or the transgenic cassettes, this DNA walking strategy is a key molecular tool to prove the presence of GMOs in any given food/feed matrix