COPD: Optimizing Treatment

A guideline update and an expanded armamentarium have many physicians wondering how best to treat patients with COPD. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) carries a high disease burden. In 2012, it was the 4th leading cause of death worldwide.1,2 In 2015, the World Health Organization updated its Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines, classifying patients with COPD based on disease burden as determined by symptoms, airflow obstruction, and exacerbation history.3 These revisions, coupled with expanded therapeutic options within established classes of medications and new combination drugs to treat COPD (TABLE 1),3-6 have led to questions about interclass differences and the best treatment regimen for particular patients

Predicting the Quality of Synthesized and Natural Speech Impaired by Packet Loss and Coding Using PESQ and P.563 Models

This paper investigates the impact of independent and dependent losses and coding on speech quality predictions provided by PESQ (also known as ITU-T P.862) and P.563 models, when both naturally-produced and synthesized speech are used. Two synthesized speech samples generated with two different Text-to-Speech systems and one naturally-produced sample are investigated. In addition, we assess the variability of PESQ’s and P.563’s predictions with respect to the type of speech used (naturally-produced or synthesized) and loss conditions as well as their accuracy, by comparing the predictions with subjective assessments. The results show that there is no difference between the impact of packet loss on naturally-produced speech and synthesized speech. On the other hand, the impact of coding is different for the two types of stimuli. In addition, synthesized speech seems to be insensitive to degradations provided by most of the codecs investigated here. The reasons for those findings are particularly discussed. Finally, it is concluded that both models are capable of predicting the quality of transmitted synthesized speech under the investigated conditions to a certain degree. As expected, PESQ achieves the best performance over almost all of the investigated conditions

On the Number of Unbordered Factors

We illustrate a general technique for enumerating factors of k-automatic sequences by proving a conjecture on the number f(n) of unbordered factors of the Thue-Morse sequence. We show that f(n) = 4 and that f(n) = n infinitely often. We also give examples of automatic sequences having exactly 2 unbordered factors of every length

Impact of Different Active-Speech-Ratios on PESQ’s Predictions in Simulated VoIP Environment

In this work, we experimentally study how behaviour of the PESQ predictions varies with reference signal characteristic. In particular we investigate the impact of different Active-Speech-Ratios on speech quality prediction in simulated VoIP environment from objective and subjective testing point of view. This reference signal characteristic is defined very broadly by ITU-T Recommendation P.862.3. That is the reason to investigate an impact of this characteristic on speech quality prediction more in-depth. We assess the variability of PESQ’s predictions with respect to Active-Speech-Ratio and network conditions, as well as their accuracy, by comparing the predictions with subjective assessments

On Maximal Unbordered Factors

Given a string $S$ of length $n$, its maximal unbordered factor is the longest factor which does not have a border. In this work we investigate the relationship between $n$ and the length of the maximal unbordered factor of $S$. We prove that for the alphabet of size $\sigma \ge 5$ the expected length of the maximal unbordered factor of a string of length~$n$ is at least $0.99 n$ (for sufficiently large values of $n$). As an application of this result, we propose a new algorithm for computing the maximal unbordered factor of a string.Comment: Accepted to the 26th Annual Symposium on Combinatorial Pattern Matching (CPM 2015

Implementation of Innovative Technology for Evaluating High-speed Rail Passenger Transportation

The size and content of consumer value (CV) of the service for the transportation of passengers by the railways ofUkrainein long-distance communication by nighttime and daytime trains is determined. A comparison is made of the results of two approaches to researching the attitude of customers to the service – traditional (point-based) and new, taking into account the specific requirements of the total management of the customer value of the service. The directions of the managerial impact of CV on the passenger transportation in long-distance communication by the railways ofUkrainebased on the attitude of customers to the disadvantages and advantages of this service are determined.In three focus groups, discussions were held about travel by Ukrainian railways by daytime and nighttime trains. Based on the results, a list of the disadvantages and advantages that form the consumer value of such a transport service is formed. The list of 19 positive and negative statements reflected all stages of the trip by rail. Behind it, the Likert scale and the corresponding form for conducting an interview were developed. The number of respondents is 823. The sample is random.The results of the polls confidently prove that the prejudiced attitude of passengers towards daytime transportation has been overcome. The ratio of passengers of the railways ofUkrainein daytime transportation in long-distance traffic is better than in nighttime.Only one fifth of those traveling daytime and nighttime are fully satisfied with the level of advantages and disadvantages, which is not enough for most customers to make repeat purchases. However, such a hypothesis needs to be verified in future studies.The feeling of satisfaction among passengers of daytime trains with a positive value of consumer value does not arise in 29 %, which is a threat to the railway operator company. Women are generally worse off on transportation services than men.Personal experience using the train in general does not affect the attitude. However, the experience of using a nighttime train significantly reduces the consumer value of the transport service.The main conclusion is that when several customer segments are served simultaneously in a common space, the total management of the customer value of the service and the corresponding research methods are productive

Impact of Different Active-Speech-Ratios on PESQ’s Predictions in Case of Independent and Dependent Losses (in Presence of Receiver-Side Comfort-Noise)

This paper deals with the investigation of PESQ’s behavior under independent and dependent loss conditions from an Active-Speech-Ratio perspective in presence of receiver-side comfort-noise. This reference signal characteristic is defined very broadly by ITU-T Recommendation P.862.3. That is the reason to investigate an impact of this characteristic on speech quality prediction more in-depth. We assess the variability of PESQ’s predictions with respect to Active-Speech-Ratios and loss conditions, as well as their accuracy, by comparing the predictions with subjective assessments. Our results show that an increase in amount of speech in the reference signal (expressed by the Active-Speech-Ratio characteristic) may result in an increase of the reference signal sensitivity to packet loss change. Interestingly, we have found two additional effects in this investigated case. The use of higher Active-Speech-Ratios may lead to negative shifting effect in MOS domain and also PESQ’s predictions accuracy declining. Predictions accuracy could be improved by higher packet losses

Radio Labelings of Distance Graphs

A radio $k$-labeling of a connected graph $G$ is an assignment $c$ of non negative integers to the vertices of $G$ such that $$|c(x) - c(y)| \geq k+1 - d(x,y),$$ for any two vertices $x$ and $y$, $x\ne y$, where $d(x,y)$ is the distance between $x$ and $y$ in $G$. In this paper, we study radio labelings of distance graphs, i.e., graphs with the set $\Z$ of integers as vertex set and in which two distinct vertices $i, j \in \Z$ are adjacent if and only if $|i - j| \in D$.Comment: 14 page

Natural history of Arabidopsis thaliana and oomycete symbioses

Molecular ecology of plant–microbe interactions has immediate significance for filling a gap in knowledge between the laboratory discipline of molecular biology and the largely theoretical discipline of evolutionary ecology. Somewhere in between lies conservation biology, aimed at protection of habitats and the diversity of species housed within them. A seemingly insignificant wildflower called Arabidopsis thaliana has an important contribution to make in this endeavour. It has already transformed botanical research with deepening understanding of molecular processes within the species and across the Plant Kingdom; and has begun to revolutionize plant breeding by providing an invaluable catalogue of gene sequences that can be used to design the most precise molecular markers attainable for marker-assisted selection of valued traits. This review describes how A. thaliana and two of its natural biotrophic parasites could be seminal as a model for exploring the biogeography and molecular ecology of plant–microbe interactions, and specifically, for testing hypotheses proposed from the geographic mosaic theory of co-evolution

Evidence that soyasaponin Bb retards disease progression in a murine model of polycystic kidney disease

Evidence that soyasaponin Bb retards disease progression in a murine model of polycystic kidney disease.BackgroundWe reported a lessened cyst growth in the pcy mouse model of polycystic kidney disease (PKD) when mice were fed a soy protein isolate (SPI)–based diet and hypothesized that the soyasaponins may be associated with this therapeutic effect. The effects of feeding a saponin-enriched alcohol extract (SEAE) from SPI, an isoflavone- and saponin-enriched soy supplement (Novasoy 400®), or a 99.5% pure soyasaponin Bb powder on cyst growth are reported here.MethodsThe therapeutic effects of the soyasaponins were studied in 60-day-old male pcy mice in two separate, 90-day feeding trials. In the first study, mice were fed either a casein-based (control) diet, a diet in which SPI replaced the casein or the control diet supplemented with SEAE. In the second study, mice were fed the control diet unsupplemented or supplemented with either a soyasaponin- and isoflavone-enriched soy product (Novasoy 400®) or a 99.5% pure soyasaponin Bb powder.ResultsIn study 1, kidney weight, water content, and plasma creatinine and urea levels were markedly reduced in the SEAE-fed animals compared to tissues from the control group; likewise, mice fed the SPI-based diet showed a decreased plasma creatinine, but only a slightly reduced plasma urea. In study 2, kidney weight, water content, plasma creatinine and urea levels were significantly reduced in mice fed the soyasaponin Bb powder and the Novasoy-400® supplement, compared to controls.ConclusionSoyasaponin Bb can impede kidney enlargement and cyst growth in the pcy mouse model of PKD. Further studies are needed to determine its most effective dose and mechanism of action