Block preconditioners for linear systems arising from multiscale collocation with compactly supported RBFs

Symmetric collocation methods with radial basis functions allow approximation of the solution of a partial differential equation, even if the right-hand side is only known at scattered data points, without needing to generate a grid. However, the benefit of a guaranteed symmetric positive definite block system comes at a high computational cost. This cost can be alleviated somewhat by considering compactly supported radial basis functions and a multiscale technique. But the condition number and sparsity will still deteriorate with the number of data points. Therefore, we study certain block diagonal and triangular preconditioners. We investigate ideal preconditioners and determine the spectra of the preconditioned matrices before proposing more practical preconditioners based on a restricted additive Schwarz method with coarse grid correction (ARASM). Numerical results verify the effectiveness of the preconditioners

Mitomycin C versus 5-Fluorouracil for wound healing in glaucoma surgery.

BACKGROUND: Raised intraocular pressure is a risk factor for glaucoma. One treatment option is glaucoma drainage surgery (trabeculectomy). Antimetabolites are used during surgery to reduce postoperative scarring during wound healing. Two agents in common use are mitomycin C (MMC) and 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU). OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of MMC compared to 5-FU as an antimetabolite adjunct in trabeculectomy surgery. SEARCH METHODS: We searched CENTRAL (which contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group Trials Register) (2015 Issue 9), Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid MEDLINE In-Process and Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE Daily, Ovid OLDMEDLINE (January 1946 to October 2015), EMBASE (January 1980 to October 2015), Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature Database (LILACS) (January 1982 to October 2015), the ISRCTN registry (www.isrctn.com/editAdvancedSearch), ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov) and the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (www.who.int/ictrp/search/en). We did not use any date or language restrictions in the electronic searches for trials. We last searched the electronic databases on 2 October 2015. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials where wound healing had been modified with MMC compared to 5-FU. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently selected trials and collected data. The primary outcome was failure of a functioning trabeculectomy one year after surgery. Secondary outcomes included mean intraocular pressure at one year. We considered three subgroups: high risk of trabeculectomy failure (people with previous glaucoma surgery, extracapsular cataract surgery, African origin and people with secondary glaucoma or congenital glaucoma); medium risk of trabeculectomy failure (people undergoing trabeculectomy with extracapsular cataract surgery) and low risk of trabeculectomy failure (people who have received no previous surgical eye intervention). MAIN RESULTS: We identified 11 trials that enrolled 687 eyes of 679 participants. The studies were conducted in the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa. Five studies enrolled participants at low risk of trabeculectomy failure, five studies enrolled participants at high risk of failure, and one study enrolled people with both high and low risk of failure. None of the included trials enrolled participants with combined trabeculectomy/cataract surgery.We considered one study to be at low risk of bias in all domains, six studies to be at high risk of bias in one or more domains, and the remaining four studies to be at an unclear risk of bias in all domains.The risk of failure of trabeculectomy at one year after surgery was less in those participants who received MMC compared to those who received 5-FU, however the confidence intervals were wide and are compatible with no effect (risk ratio (RR) 0.54, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.30 to 1.00; studies = 11; I(2) = 40%). There was no evidence for any difference between groups at high and low risk of failure (test for subgroup differences P = 0.69).On average, people treated with MMC had lower intraocular pressure at one year (mean difference (MD) -3.05 mmHg, 95% CI -4.60 to -1.50), but the studies were inconsistent (I(2) = 52%). The size of the effect was greater in the high-risk group (MD -4.18 mmHg, 95% CI -6.73 to -1.64) compared to the low-risk group (MD -1.72 mmHg, 95% CI -3.28 to -0.16), but again the test for interaction was not statistically significant (P = 0.11).Similar proportions of eyes treated with MMC lost 2 or more lines of visual acuity one year after surgery compared to 5-FU, but the confidence intervals were wide (RR 1.05, 95% CI 0.54 to 2.06).Adverse events occurred relatively rarely, and estimates of effect were generally imprecise. There was some evidence for less epitheliopathy in the MMC group (RR 0.23, 95% CI 0.11 to 0.47) and less hyphaema in the MMC group (RR 0.62, 95% CI 0.42 to 0.91).None of the studies reported quality of life.Overall, we graded the quality of the evidence as low largely because of risk of bias in the included studies and imprecision in the estimate of effect. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: We found low-quality evidence that MMC may be more effective in achieving long-term lower intraocular pressure than 5-FU. Further comparative research on MMC and 5-FU is needed to enhance reliability and validity of the results shown in this review. Furthermore, the development of new agents that control postoperative scar tissue formation without side effects would be valuable and is justified by the results of this review

The video clip as commercial : presence and evolution of Product Pacement in the music video

El vídeo musical se define como un formato esencialmente publicitario. Por ello, en este artículo se pretende analizar la presencia de la técnica del Product placement y su evolución desde el comienzo del videoclip hasta la actualidad. El estudio se realiza sobre una muestra de 32 vídeos musicales ganadores del premio de la cadena MTV en la categoría de mejor vídeo del año. Se observa tras el estudio la ausencia de dicha técnica de marketing publicitario en los primeros años de desarrollo del videoclip como formato y la mayor presencia en los clips más actuales, conscientes de su valor comercial.Music video is defined as an essentially advertising format. Therefore, this article analyzes the presence of product placement technique and its evolution since the beginning of the music video until now. The study was conducted on a sample of 32 music videos MTV’s awards recipients in the category of best video of the year. It is observed after studying the absence of such advertising marketing technique in the early years of development of the music video format and greater presence in the present, aware of the commercial value

The length of the shoot in the music video : towards a categorizing in the formal resources of the contemporary music video

Este artículo tiene como objetivo descubrir prácticas habituales en la realización y la edición del vídeo musical actual. Incluso si el formato propone una gran variedad de alternativas, consideramos que la repetición de opciones formales podría conducir a la enunciación de un código. Creemos que determinados planos serán más frecuentes y que su duración vendrá determinada por el tamaño del encuadre, los posibles cambios de encuadre a través del movimiento de cámara y la duración de la acción representada con respecto a la duración de la acción filmada. Realizaremos un análisis de contenido sobre una muestra de videoclips.Artikulu honen helburua da gaur egungo bideo musikalen errealizazioan eta edizioan ohikoak diren praktikak aurkitzea. Nahiz eta formatuak aukera ugari proposatzen dituen, iruditzen zaigu hautu formalen errepikapenak kode bat finkatzera eraman dezakeela. Uste dugu plano jakin batzuk sarriago erabiltzen direla, eta haien iraupena hiru elementu hauek erabakitzen dutela: enkoadraketaren neurriak, kamera-mugimenduen bitartez egin daitezkeen enkoadraketa-aldaketek, eta irudikatutako ekintzaren iraupenaren eta filmatutako ekintzaren iraupenaren arteko erlazioak. Bideoklip batzuk lagintzat hartu, eta haien edukien azterketa egingo dugu.This paper aims to discover usual practices in the filming and the edition on the current music video. Even if the format proposes a large range of possibilities, we consider that the formal options repetition could lead to formulate a code. We think that some shoots will be more frequent and that their length will be defined by the frame size, the possible changing in the frames by the camera motion and the represented action length with regard to the filmed action length. We will apply a content analysis on a music video sample

Video clip editing and duration of the shot : analysis of the editing in ‘I Took a Pill in Ibiza’ (Mike Posner)

El vídeo musical es un formato audiovisual creado generalmente por la industria discográfica con un objetivo comercial, promocional o conducente a la formación de la imagen pública de un intérprete musical. Esta investigación tiene como objetivo describir prácticas habituales en la realización y la edición del vídeo musical actual en un aspecto concreto: la duración del plano en función de su encuadre. Realizamos un análisis textual del videoclip de Mike Posner I Took a Pill in Ibiza (Jon Jon Augustavo, 2016). En este caso, los planos más frecuentes del videoclip son los planos cortos y sus duraciones medias están alrededor de los dos segundos, con una escala en duraciones medias paralela a la escala de los encuadres.Music videos are an audiovisual format that is created by the music industry for a performer’s public image and commercial purposes. This research aims to describe common practices in production and editing of current music videos regarding one particular aspect: the duration of the shot according to its frame. We carried out a textual analysis of Mike Posner’s video clip I took a Pill in Ibiza (Jon Jon Augustavo, 2016). In this case, the most frequent shots in the video clip are close shots, and the average duration is around two seconds. The average length of the shots creates a scale of durations which is equivalent to the scale of the size of the frames

Diseño de una operadora de turismo para el desarrollo del turismo sostenible del cantón General Antonio Elizalde (Bucay), provincia del Guayas.

"El presente trabajo propone un Análisis de la oferta turística y su relación con el grado de desarrollo en el Cantón General Antonio Elizalde (Bucay), Provincia del Guayas, que tiene como objetivo principal ofertar turísticamente dicho Cantón de una manera sostenible para lo cual se realizó un estudio de factibilidad. Para la realización del presente estudio se cuenta con el respaldo del Gobierno Autónomo Descentralizado del Cantón General Antonio Elizalde. El estudio de mercado determina como resultado que existe una oferta turística baja debido a un servicio inadecuado por parte de la comunidad, falta de capacitación a los propietarios de plantas turísticas y ausencia de productos turísticos. Se detalló el diseño de una Operadora de Turismo para el desarrollo del turismo sostenible en el cantón General Antonio Elizalde (Bucay). Con el estudio de costos e ingresos, nos permiten determinar las utilidades del proyecto, se realizó la evaluación tomando específicamente variables de evaluación como: TIR (Tasa Interna de Retorno del 42%); VAN (Valor Actual Neto de $ 61.015,98), de esta manera se puede cumplir con los objetivos planteados.

Proyecto para mejorar la calidad de atención en el servicio de Emergencia del Hospital General José María Velasco Ibarra de la ciudad de Tena, en el período junio - diciembre 2019

The present work is projected to the development of a proposal that seeks to improve the quality indicators in the Emergency service, of the José María Velasco Ibarra Hospital in the city of Tena, province of Napo...El presente trabajo se proyecta al desarrollo de una propuesta, que busca mejorar los indicadores de calidad en el servicio de Emergencia, del Hospital José María Velasco Ibarra de la ciudad del Tena, provincia del Napo..

Cellulosomics, a gene-centric approach to investigating the intraspecific diversity and adaptation of Ruminococcus flavefaciens within the rumen

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Proteomic and network analysis characterize stage-specific metabolism in Trypanosoma cruzi

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Trypanosoma cruzi </it>is a Kinetoplastid parasite of humans and is the cause of Chagas disease, a potentially lethal condition affecting the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and nervous systems of the human host. Constraint-based modeling has emerged in the last decade as a useful approach to integrating genomic and other high-throughput data sets with more traditional, experimental data acquired through decades of research and published in the literature.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present a validated, constraint-based model of the core metabolism of <it>Trypanosoma cruzi </it>strain CL Brener. The model includes four compartments (extracellular space, cytosol, mitochondrion, glycosome), 51 transport reactions, and 93 metabolic reactions covering carbohydrate, amino acid, and energy metabolism. In addition, we make use of several replicate high-throughput proteomic data sets to specifically examine metabolism of the morphological form of <it>T. cruzi </it>in the insect gut (epimastigote stage).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This work demonstrates the utility of constraint-based models for integrating various sources of data (e.g., genomics, primary biochemical literature, proteomics) to generate testable hypotheses. This model represents an approach for the systematic study of <it>T. cruzi </it>metabolism under a wide range of conditions and perturbations, and should eventually aid in the identification of urgently needed novel chemotherapeutic targets.</p

The Holy Grail: A road map for unlocking the climate record stored within Mars' polar layered deposits

In its polar layered deposits (PLD), Mars possesses a record of its recent climate, analogous to terrestrial ice sheets containing climate records on Earth. Each PLD is greater than 2 ​km thick and contains thousands of layers, each containing information on the climatic and atmospheric state during its deposition, creating a climate archive. With detailed measurements of layer composition, it may be possible to extract age, accumulation rates, atmospheric conditions, and surface activity at the time of deposition, among other important parameters; gaining the information would allow us to “read” the climate record. Because Mars has fewer complicating factors than Earth (e.g. oceans, biology, and human-modified climate), the planet offers a unique opportunity to study the history of a terrestrial planet’s climate, which in turn can teach us about our own planet and the thousands of terrestrial exoplanets waiting to be discovered. During a two-part workshop, the Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS) hosted 38 Mars scientists and engineers who focused on determining the measurements needed to extract the climate record contained in the PLD. The group converged on four fundamental questions that must be answered with the goal of interpreting the climate record and finding its history based on the climate drivers. The group then proposed numerous measurements in order to answer these questions and detailed a sequence of missions and architecture to complete the measurements. In all, several missions are required, including an orbiter that can characterize the present climate and volatile reservoirs; a static reconnaissance lander capable of characterizing near surface atmospheric processes, annual accumulation, surface properties, and layer formation mechanism in the upper 50 ​cm of the PLD; a network of SmallSat landers focused on meteorology for ground truth of the low-altitude orbiter data; and finally, a second landed platform to access ~500 ​m of layers to measure layer variability through time. This mission architecture, with two landers, would meet the science goals and is designed to save costs compared to a single very capable landed mission. The rationale for this plan is presented below. In this paper we discuss numerous aspects, including our motivation, background of polar science, the climate science that drives polar layer formation, modeling of the atmosphere and climate to create hypotheses for what the layers mean, and terrestrial analogs to climatological studies. Finally, we present a list of measurements and missions required to answer the four major questions and read the climate record. 1. What are present and past fluxes of volatiles, dust, and other materials into and out of the polar regions? 2. How do orbital forcing and exchange with other reservoirs affect those fluxes? 3. What chemical and physical processes form and modify layers? 4. What is the timespan, completeness, and temporal resolution of the climate history recorded in the PLD