1,652 research outputs found

    Broadcast Journalism: Techniques of Radio & Television News -6/E.

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    This newest edition of Broadcast Journalism continues its long tradition of covering the basics of broadcasting-gathering news sources, interviewing, putting together a programme, news writing, reporting, editing, working in the studio, conducting live reports, and more. Two new authors have joined forces in this new edition to present behind the scenes perspectivess on multimedia broadcast news, where it is heading, and how you getb there. Technology is meshing global and local news. Constant interactivity between on-the-scene reporting and nearly instantaneous broadcasting to the world has changed the very nature of how broadcast journalists must think, act, write and report on a 24/7 basis. This new edition takes up this digital workflow and convergence. Students of broadcast journalism and professors alike will find that the sixth edition of Broadcast Journalism is comletely up-to-date

    Applied Deep Learning in Orthopaedics

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    The reemergence of deep learning in recent years has led to its successful application in a wide variety of fields. As a subfield of machine learning, deep learning offers an array of powerful algorithms for data-driven applications. Orthopaedics stands to benefit from the potential of deep learning for advancements in the field. This thesis investigated applications of deep learning for the field of orthopaedics through the development of three distinct projects. First, algorithms were developed for the automatic segmentation of the structures in the knee from MRI. The resulting algorithms can be used to accurately segment full MRI scans in a matter of seconds. Reconstructed structures from predicted segmentation maps yielded on average submillimeter geometric errors when compared to geometries from ground truth segmentation maps on a test set. The resulting frameworks can further be applied to develop algorithms for automatic segmentation of other anatomies and modalities in the future. Next, neural networks (NNs) were developed and evaluated for the prediction of muscle and joint reaction forces of patients performing activities of daily living (ADLs) in a gait lab environment. The performance of these models demonstrates the potential of NNs to supplement traditional gait lab data collection and has implications for the development of new gait lab workflows with less hardware and time requirements. Additionally, the models performed activity classification using standard gait lab data with near-perfect accuracy. Lastly, a deep learning-based computer vision system was developed for the detection and 6-degree of freedom (6-DoF) pose estimation of two surgical tracking tools routinely used in total knee replacement (TKR). The resulting model demonstrated competitive object detection capabilities and translation error as little as a few centimeters for the pose estimation task. A preliminary evaluation of the system shows promise for its applications in skill assessment and operations research. The development of these three projects represents a significant step towards the adoption of deep learning methodologies by the field of orthopaedics and shows potential for future additional applications

    Combating Cancer Through Public Health Practice in the United States: An In-Depth Look at the National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program

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    Cancer is the second leading cause of the death in the United States (U.S.). The National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program (NCCCP) is a national, public health practice program funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The NCCCP has been planning and implementing interventions to reduce the burden of cancer since 1998. Interventions are implemented across three areas primary prevention, early detection, and survivorship using health systems and environmental changes to promote sustainable cancer control. The aim of this chapter is to provide a summary of the NCCCP, and highlight specific examples of interventions and successes to aid cancer planning in other countries. Cancer plan analyses show that all NCCCP participant cancer plans address reducing tobacco use for cancer prevention and 98% contain activities to increase colorectal cancer screening. The vast majority implement activities to improve the quality of life following a cancer diagnosis (94%). Relatively fewer cancer plans contain activities to reduce radon exposure (42%), promote human papilloma virus vaccination (62%), and incorporate the use of genomics in cancer control (56%). The examples of NCCCP activities demonstrate success in controlling cancer and other non-communicable diseases through public health practice

    Effects of tobacco smoke and electronic cigarette vapor exposure on the oral and gut microbiota in humans: a pilot study

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    Background: The use of electronic cigarettes (ECs) has increased drastically over the past five years, primarily as an alternative to smoking tobacco cigarettes. However, the adverse effects of acute and long-term use of ECs on the microbiota have not been explored. In this pilot study, we sought to determine if ECs or tobacco smoking are associated with differences in the oral and gut microbiota, in comparison to non-smoking controls. Methods: We examined a human cohort consisting of 30 individuals: 10 EC users, 10 tobacco smokers, and 10 controls. We collected cross-sectional fecal, buccal swabs, and saliva samples from each participant. All samples underwent V4 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results: Tobacco smokers had significantly different bacterial profiles in all sample types when compared to controls, and in feces and buccal swabs when compared to EC users. The most significant associations were found in the gut, with a higher relative abundance of Prevotella (P = 0.006) and lowered Bacteroides (P = 0.036) in tobacco smokers. The Shannon diversity was also significantly reduced (P = 0.009) in fecal samples collected from tobacco smokers compared to controls. No significant difference was found in the alpha diversity, beta-diversity or taxonomic relative abundances between EC users and controls. Discussion: The current pilot data demonstrate that tobacco smoking is associated with signicant differences in the oral and gut microbiome in humans. However, validation in larger cohorts and greater understanding of the short and long-term impact of EC use on microbiota composition and function is warranted

    Best time to assess complete clinical response after chemoradiotherapy in squamous cell carcinoma of the anus (ACT II): a post-hoc analysis of randomised controlled phase 3 trial

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    Background: Guidelines for anal cancer recommend assessment of response at 6–12 weeks after starting treatment. Using data from the ACT II trial, we determined the optimum timepoint to assess clinical tumour response after chemoradiotherapy. Methods: The previously reported ACT II trial was a phase 3 randomised trial of patients of any age with newly diagnosed, histologically confirmed, squamous cell carcinoma of the anus without metastatic disease from 59 centres in the UK. We randomly assigned patients (by minimisation) to receive either intravenous mitomycin (one dose of 12 mg/m2 on day 1) or intravenous cisplatin (one dose of 60 mg/m2 on days 1 and 29), with intravenous fluorouracil (one dose of 1000 mg/m2 per day on days 1–4 and 29–32) and radiotherapy (50·4 Gy in 28 daily fractions); and also did a second randomisation after initial therapy to maintenance chemotherapy (fluorouracil and cisplatin) or no maintenance chemotherapy. The primary outcome was complete clinical response (the absence of primary and nodal tumour by clinical examination), in addition to overall survival and progression-free survival from time of randomisation. In this post-hoc analysis, we analysed complete clinical response at three timepoints: 11 weeks from the start of chemoradiotherapy (assessment 1), 18 weeks from the start of chemoradiotherapy (assessment 2), and 26 weeks from the start of chemoradiotherapy (assessment 3) as well as the overall and progression-free survival estimates of patients with complete clinical response or without complete clinical response at each assessment. We analysed both the overall trial population and a subgroup of patients who had attended each of the three assessments by modified intention-to-treat. This study is registered at controlled-trials.com, ISRCTN 26715889. Findings: We enrolled 940 patients from June 4, 2001, until Dec 16, 2008. Complete clinical response was achieved in 492 (52%) of 940 patients at assessment 1 (11 weeks), 665 (71%) of patients at assessment 2 (18 weeks), and 730 (78%) of patients at assessment 3 (26 weeks). 691 patients attended all three assessments and in this subgroup, complete clinical response was reported in 441 (64%) patients at assessment 1, 556 (80%) at assessment 2, and 590 (85%) at assessments 3. 151 (72%) of the 209 patients who had not had a complete clinical response at assessment 1 had a complete clinical response by assessment 3. In the overall trial population of 940 patients, 5 year overall survival in patients who had a clinical response at assessments 1, 2, 3 was 83% (95% CI 79–86), 84% (81–87), and 87% (84–89), respectively and was 72% (66–78), 59% (49–67), and 46% (37–55) for patients who did not have a complete clinical response at assessments 1, 2, 3, respectively. In the subgroup of 691 patients, 5 year overall survival in patients who had a clinical response at assessment 1, 2, 3 was 85% (81–88), 86% (82–88), and 87% (84–90), respectively, and was 75% (68–80), 61% (50–70), and 48% (36–58) for patients who did not have a complete clinical response at assessment 1, 2, 3, respectively. Similarly, progression-free survival in both the overall trial population and the subgroup was longer in patients who had a complete clinical response, compared with patients who did not have a complete clinical response, at all three assessments. Interpretation: Many patients who do not have a complete clinical response when assessed at 11 weeks after commencing chemoradiotherapy do in fact respond by 26 weeks, and the earlier assessment could lead to some patients having unnecessary surgery. Our data suggests that the optimum time for assessment of complete clinical response after chemoradiotherapy for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the anus is 26 weeks from starting chemoradiotherapy. We suggest that guidelines should be revised to indicate that later assessment is acceptable. Funding: Cancer Research UK

    J/Psi and Psi' total cross sections and formation times from data for charmonium suppression in pApA collisions

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    The recent data for E866 experiment on the x_F dependence for charmonium suppression in pA collisions at 800 GeV are analyzed using a time- and energy-dependent preformed charmonium absorption cross section \sigma_{abs}^\psi(\tau,\sqrt{s}). For \sqrt{s}=10 GeV the initially (\tau=0) produced premeson has an absorption cross section of \sigma_{pr}~3mb. At the same energy but for \tau -> \infty one deduces for the total cross sections \sigma_{tot}^{J/Psi N}=(2.8\pm 0.3)mb, \sigma_{tot}^{J/Psi N}= (10.5\pm 3.6)mb. The date are compatible with a formation time \tau_{1/2}=0.6 fm/c.Comment: 13 pages of Latex including 2 figures; typos in the abstract are correcte

    Unwinding of a cholesteric liquid crystal and bidirectional surface anchoring

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    We examine the influence of bidirectional anchoring on the unwinding of a planar cholesteric liquid crystal induced by the application of a magnetic field. We consider a liquid crystal layer confined between two plates with the helical axis perpendicular to the substrates. We fixed the director twist on one boundary and allow for bidirectional anchoring on the other by introducing a high-order surface potential. By minimizing the total free energy for the system, we investigate the untwisting of the cholesteric helix as the liquid crystal attempts to align with the magnetic field. The transitions between metastable states occur as a series of pitchjumps as the helix expels quarter or half-turn twists, depending on the relative sizes of the strength of the surface potential and the bidirectional anchoring. We show that secondary easy axis directions can play a significant role in the unwinding of the cholesteric in its transition towards a nematic, especially when the surface anchoring strength is large

    First principles methods using CASTEP.

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    Abstract. The CASTEP code for first principles electronic structure calculations will be described. A brief, nontechnical overview will be given and some of the features and capabilities highlighted. Some features which are unique to CASTEP will be described and near-future development plans outlined

    A specific case in the classification of woods by FTIR and chemometric: discrimination of Fagales from Malpighiales

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    Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic data was used to classify wood samples from nine species within the Fagales and Malpighiales using a range of multivariate statistical methods. Taxonomic classification of the family Fagaceae and Betulaceae from Angiosperm Phylogenetic System Classification (APG II System) was successfully performed using supervised pattern recognition techniques. A methodology for wood sample discrimination was developed using both sapwood and heartwood samples. Ten and eight biomarkers emerged from the dataset to discriminate order and family, respectively. In the species studied FTIR in combination with multivariate analysis highlighted significant chemical differences in hemicelluloses, cellulose and guaiacyl (lignin) and shows promise as a suitable approach for wood sample classification

    DNA methylation across the genome in aged human skeletal muscle tissue and muscle-derived cells: the role of HOX genes and physical activity.

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    Skeletal muscle tissue demonstrates global hypermethylation with age. However, methylome changes across the time-course of differentiation in aged human muscle derived cells, and larger coverage arrays in aged muscle tissue have not been undertaken. Using 850K DNA methylation arrays we compared the methylomes of young (27 ± 4.4 years) and aged (83 ± 4 years) human skeletal muscle and that of young/aged heterogenous muscle-derived human primary cells (HDMCs) over several time points of differentiation (0, 72 h, 7, 10 days). Aged muscle tissue was hypermethylated compared with young tissue, enriched for; pathways-in-cancer (including; focal adhesion, MAPK signaling, PI3K-Akt-mTOR signaling, p53 signaling, Jak-STAT signaling, TGF-beta and notch signaling), rap1-signaling, axon-guidance and hippo-signalling. Aged cells also demonstrated a hypermethylated profile in pathways; axon-guidance, adherens-junction and calcium-signaling, particularly at later timepoints of myotube formation, corresponding with reduced morphological differentiation and reductions in MyoD/Myogenin gene expression compared with young cells. While young cells showed little alterations in DNA methylation during differentiation, aged cells demonstrated extensive and significantly altered DNA methylation, particularly at 7 days of differentiation and most notably in focal adhesion and PI3K-AKT signalling pathways. While the methylomes were vastly different between muscle tissue and HDMCs, we identified a small number of CpG sites showing a hypermethylated state with age, in both muscle tissue and cells on genes KIF15, DYRK2, FHL2, MRPS33, ABCA17P. Most notably, differential methylation analysis of chromosomal regions identified three locations containing enrichment of 6-8 CpGs in the HOX family of genes altered with age. With HOXD10, HOXD9, HOXD8, HOXA3, HOXC9, HOXB1, HOXB3, HOXC-AS2 and HOXC10 all hypermethylated in aged tissue. In aged cells the same HOX genes (and additionally HOXC-AS3) displayed the most variable methylation at 7 days of differentiation versus young cells, with HOXD8, HOXC9, HOXB1 and HOXC-AS3 hypermethylated and HOXC10 and HOXC-AS2 hypomethylated. We also determined that there was an inverse relationship between DNA methylation and gene expression for HOXB1, HOXA3 and HOXC-AS3. Finally, increased physical activity in young adults was associated with oppositely regulating HOXB1 and HOXA3 methylation compared with age. Overall, we demonstrate that a considerable number of HOX genes are differentially epigenetically regulated in aged human skeletal muscle and HDMCs and increased physical activity may help prevent age-related epigenetic changes in these HOX genes
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