From desktop to mobile : a framework for function and content transformation

The use of mobile phones and other mobile devices are becoming widespread and almost all of these mobile devices have some sort of mobile Internet access. Due to the increase in mobile Internet usage, many websites need altering in order to become mobile compatible. Creating a mobile compatible version of a website is challenging due to formatting and capability restrictions imposed by the mobile device. Currently, one of the popular methods of creating a mobile compatible website involves the creation of a new, dedicated mobile version of the website. However, this approach can prove to be expensive, and repetitive, since a fully functional desktop version of the website often already exists. A second method involves the use of a transformation proxy to transform the traditional website into a mobile compatible version. This research develops a transformation framework that enables a web developer to create a single set of source files that can be used to render output compatible with both traditional and mobile devices. In developing this framework, capabilities and restrictions of the mobile device were examined. Furthermore, current mobile web development guidelines and best practices were discussed. This resulted in the development of a method to identify and outline areas of a traditional website for transformation into a mobile friendly format. Furthermore, a transformation engine that allowed processing of the traditional website into a mobile compatible website was developed. This transformation engine extracted the outlined areas, and rendered the extracted content, all while maintaining the website’s original functionality. The development of a prototype verified that the transformation concepts are valid, and provided for the development of guidelines and recommendations. The development of a framework to enable the web developer to create a website once, and enable it to adapt its output for mobile devices, will have a positive impact on the development of content for the mobile web

Fuzzy information transmission analysis for continuous speech features

Feature information transmission analysis (FITA) estimates information transmitted by an acoustic feature by assigning tokens to categories according to the feature under investigation and comparing within-category to between-category confusions. FITA was initially developed for categorical features (e.g., voicing) for which the category assignments arise from the feature definition. When used with continuous features (e.g., formants), it may happen that pairs of tokens in different categories are more similar than pairs of tokens in the same category. The estimated transmitted information may be sensitive to category boundary location and the selected number of categories. This paper proposes a fuzzy approach to FITA that provides a smoother transition between categories and compares its sensitivity to grouping parameters with that of the traditional approach. The fuzzy FITA was found to be sufficiently robust to boundary location to allow automation of category boundary selection. Traditional and fuzzy FITA were found to be sensitive to the number of categories. This is inherent to the mechanism of isolating a feature by dividing tokens into categories, so that transmitted information values calculated using different numbers of categories should not be compared. Four categories are recommended for continuous features when twelve tokens are used.http://scitation.aip.org/content/asa/journal/jasaam201

Methanogenic communities in permafrost-affected soils of the Laptev Sea coast, Siberian Arctic, characterized by 16S rRNA gene fingerprints

Permafrost environments in the Arctic are characterized by extreme environmental conditions that demand a specific resistance from microorganisms to enable them to survive. In order to understand the carbon dynamics in the climate-sensitive Arctic permafrost environments, the activity and diversity of methanogenic communities were studied in three different permafrost soils of the Siberian Laptev Sea coast. The effect of temperature and the availability of methanogenic substrates on CH4 production was analysed. In addition, the diversity of methanogens was analysed by PCR with specific methanogenic primers and by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) followed by sequencing of DGGE bands reamplified from the gel. Our results demonstrated methanogenesis with a distinct vertical profile in each investigated permafrost soil. The soils on Samoylov Island showed at least two optima of CH4 production activity, which indicated a shift in the methanogenic community from mesophilic to psychrotolerant methanogens with increasing soil depth. Furthermore, it was shown that CH4 production in permafrost soils is substrate-limited, although these soils are characterized by the accumulation of organic matter. Sequence analyses revealed a distinct diversity of methanogenic archaea affiliated to Methanomicrobiaceae, Methanosarcinaceae and Methanosaetaceae. However, a relationship between the activity and diversity of methanogens in permafrost soils could not be shown

The relative importance of spectral cues for vowel recognition in severe noise

The importance of formants and spectral shape was investigated for vowel perception in severe noise. Twelve vowels were synthesized using two different synthesis methods, one where the original spectral detail was preserved, and one where the vowel was represented by the spectral peaks of the first three formants. In addition, formants F1 and F2 were suppressed individually to investigate the importance of each in severe noise. Vowels were presented to listeners in quiet and in speechshaped noise at signal to noise ratios (SNRs) of 0, 5, and 10 dB, and vowel confusions were determined in a number of conditions. Results suggest that the auditory system relies on formant information for vowel perception irrespective of the SNR, but that, as noise increases, it relies increasingly on more complete spectral information to perform formant extraction. A second finding was that, while F2 is more important in quiet or low noise conditions, F1 and F2 are of similar importance in severe noise.http://scitation.aip.org/content/asa/journal/jasaam2017Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineerin

Effect of tissue-harvesting site on yield of stem cells derived from adipose tissue: implications for cell-based therapies

The stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of adipose tissue contains an abundant population of multipotent adipose-tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs) that possess the capacity to differentiate into cells of the mesodermal lineage in vitro. For cell-based therapies, an advantageous approach would be to harvest these SVF cells and give them back to the patient within a single surgical procedure, thereby avoiding lengthy and costly in vitro culturing steps. However, this requires SVF-isolates to contain sufficient ASCs capable of differentiating into the desired cell lineage. We have investigated whether the yield and function of ASCs are affected by the anatomical sites most frequently used for harvesting adipose tissue: the abdomen and hip/thigh region. The frequency of ASCs in the SVF of adipose tissue from the abdomen and hip/thigh region was determined in limiting dilution and colony-forming unit (CFU) assays. The capacity of these ASCs to differentiate into the chondrogenic and osteogenic pathways was investigated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and (immuno)histochemistry. A significant difference (P = 0.0009) was seen in ASC frequency but not in the absolute number of nucleated cells between adipose tissue harvested from the abdomen (5.1 ± 1.1%, mean ± SEM) and hip/thigh region (1.2 ± 0.7%). However, within the CFUs derived from both tissues, the frequency of CFUs having osteogenic differentiation potential was the same. When cultured, homogeneous cell populations were obtained with similar growth kinetics and phenotype. No differences were detected in differentiation capacity between ASCs from both tissue-harvesting sites. We conclude that the yield of ASCs, but not the total amount of nucleated cells per volume or the ASC proliferation and differentiation capacities, are dependent on the tissue-harvesting site. The abdomen seems to be preferable to the hip/thigh region for harvesting adipose tissue, in particular when considering SVF cells for stem-cell-based therapies in one-step surgical procedures for skeletal tissue engineering

Effect of Hydrocortisone on Mortality and Organ Support in Patients With Severe COVID-19: The REMAP-CAP COVID-19 Corticosteroid Domain Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Evidence regarding corticosteroid use for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is limited. Objective: To determine whether hydrocortisone improves outcome for patients with severe COVID-19. Design, Setting, and Participants: An ongoing adaptive platform trial testing multiple interventions within multiple therapeutic domains, for example, antiviral agents, corticosteroids, or immunoglobulin. Between March 9 and June 17, 2020, 614 adult patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 were enrolled and randomized within at least 1 domain following admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) for respiratory or cardiovascular organ support at 121 sites in 8 countries. Of these, 403 were randomized to open-label interventions within the corticosteroid domain. The domain was halted after results from another trial were released. Follow-up ended August 12, 2020. Interventions: The corticosteroid domain randomized participants to a fixed 7-day course of intravenous hydrocortisone (50 mg or 100 mg every 6 hours) (n = 143), a shock-dependent course (50 mg every 6 hours when shock was clinically evident) (n = 152), or no hydrocortisone (n = 108). Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary end point was organ support-free days (days alive and free of ICU-based respiratory or cardiovascular support) within 21 days, where patients who died were assigned -1 day. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model that included all patients enrolled with severe COVID-19, adjusting for age, sex, site, region, time, assignment to interventions within other domains, and domain and intervention eligibility. Superiority was defined as the posterior probability of an odds ratio greater than 1 (threshold for trial conclusion of superiority >99%). Results: After excluding 19 participants who withdrew consent, there were 384 patients (mean age, 60 years; 29% female) randomized to the fixed-dose (n = 137), shock-dependent (n = 146), and no (n = 101) hydrocortisone groups; 379 (99%) completed the study and were included in the analysis. The mean age for the 3 groups ranged between 59.5 and 60.4 years; most patients were male (range, 70.6%-71.5%); mean body mass index ranged between 29.7 and 30.9; and patients receiving mechanical ventilation ranged between 50.0% and 63.5%. For the fixed-dose, shock-dependent, and no hydrocortisone groups, respectively, the median organ support-free days were 0 (IQR, -1 to 15), 0 (IQR, -1 to 13), and 0 (-1 to 11) days (composed of 30%, 26%, and 33% mortality rates and 11.5, 9.5, and 6 median organ support-free days among survivors). The median adjusted odds ratio and bayesian probability of superiority were 1.43 (95% credible interval, 0.91-2.27) and 93% for fixed-dose hydrocortisone, respectively, and were 1.22 (95% credible interval, 0.76-1.94) and 80% for shock-dependent hydrocortisone compared with no hydrocortisone. Serious adverse events were reported in 4 (3%), 5 (3%), and 1 (1%) patients in the fixed-dose, shock-dependent, and no hydrocortisone groups, respectively. Conclusions and Relevance: Among patients with severe COVID-19, treatment with a 7-day fixed-dose course of hydrocortisone or shock-dependent dosing of hydrocortisone, compared with no hydrocortisone, resulted in 93% and 80% probabilities of superiority with regard to the odds of improvement in organ support-free days within 21 days. However, the trial was stopped early and no treatment strategy met prespecified criteria for statistical superiority, precluding definitive conclusions. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02735707