Age group differences in performance using diverse input modalities: insertion task evaluation

Novel input modalities such as touch, tangibles or gestures try to exploit human's innate skills rather than imposing new learning processes. However, no work has been reported that systematically evaluates how these interfaces influence users' performance, that is, assesses if one interface can be more or less appropriate for interaction regarding: (1) different age groups; and (2) different basic tasks, as content insertion or manipulation. This work presents itself as an exploratory evaluation about whether or not the users' efficiency is indeed influenced by different input modalities and age. We conducted a usability evaluation with 60 subjects to understand how different interfaces may influence the speed and accuracy of three specific age groups (children, young adults and older-adults) when dealing with a basic content insertion task. Four input modalities were considered to perform the task (keyboard, touch, tangibles and gestures) and the methodology was based on usability testing (speed, accuracy and user preference). Overall, results show that there is a statistically significant difference in speed of task completion between the age groups, and there may be indications that the type of interface that is used can indeed influence efficiency in insertion tasks, and not so much other factors like age. Also, the study raises new issues regarding the "old" mouse input versus the "new" input modalities.FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (SFRH/BD/81541/2011)COMPETE: POCI-01-0145- FEDER-007043 and FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/201

The difference in congenital cholesteatoma CT findings based on the type of mass

AbstractObjectiveA retrospective assessment of differences in congenital cholesteatoma CT findings with a focus on type of cholesteatoma mass.Materials and methodsThe medical records and CT images of 14 patients with congenital cholesteatomas in the middle ear who underwent surgery at our institution between January 2009 and July 2014 were reviewed. Cholesteatomas were classified as closed type, open type, or mixed type based on intraoperative findings. The CT findings including cholesteatoma size, location, and shape were retrospectively reviewed.ResultsEight patients had closed type cholesteatomas, four had mixed type, and two had open type. The mean size of all cholesteatomas was 5.1mm. None of the cholesteatoma types indicated a tendency towards a certain location. The round shape was observed more frequently in closed type cholesteatomas than in other types (closed: 5/8; mixed: 1/4; open: 0/2). Two large closed type cholseteatomas and two mixed type cholesteatomas exhibited a constricted shape. Both of the open type cholesteatomas displayed an irregular shape.ConclusionSmall closed type congenital cholesteatomas were typically observed as round shaped lesions, but large closed type cholesteatomas and other type cholesteatomas tended to display shapes other than round

FOLFIRI Plus Bevacizumab 5 mg/kg Versus 10 mg/kg as Second-line Therapy in Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Who Have Failed First-line Bevacizumab Plus Oxaliplatin-based Therapy: A Randomized Phase III Study (EAGLE Study)

We planned a multicenter randomized phase III study to evaluate the efficacy of appropriate dose of bevacizumab (5 or 10 mg/kg) with FOLFIRI in patients with advanced/metastatic colorectal cancer who have failed prior bevacizumab plus oxaliplatin-based therapy. The primary endpoint is progression-free survival. The secondary endpoints are the toxicity, response rate, time to treatment failure, overall survival, overall survival from the start of the first-line treatment and second progression-free survival (time duration from the initiation of the first-line treatment until progression after the protocol treatment). A total of 370 patients were considered to be appropriate for this trial

Nanofiber fabrication in a temperature and humidity controlled environment for improved fibre consistency

To fabricate nanofibers with reproducible characteristics, an important demand for many applications, the effect of controlled atmospheric conditions on resulting electrospun cellulose acetate (CA) nanofibers was evaluated for temperature ranging 17.5 - 35°C and relative humidity ranging 20% - 70%. With the potential application of nanofibers in many industries, especially membrane and filter fabrication, their reproducible production must be established to ensure commercially viability.
Cellulose acetate (CA) solution (0.2 g/ml) in a solvent mixture of acetone/DMF/ethanol (2:2:1) was electrospun into nonwoven fibre mesh with the fibre diameter ranging from 150nm to 1µm.
The resulting nanofibers were observed and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), showing a correlation of reducing average fibre diameter with increasing atmospheric temperature. A less pronounced correlation was seen with changes in relative humidity regarding fibre diameter, though it was shown that increased humidity reduced the effect of fibre beading yielding a more consistent, and therefore better quality of fibre fabrication.
Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies observed lower melt enthalpies for finer CA nanofibers in the first heating cycle confirming the results gained from SEM analysis. From the conditions that were explored in this study the temperature and humidity that gave the most suitable fibre mats for a membrane purpose were 25.0°C and 50%RH due to the highest level of fibre diameter uniformity, the lowest level of beading while maintaining a low fibre diameter for increased surface area and increased pore size homogeneity. This study has highlighted the requirement to control the atmospheric conditions during the electrospinning process in order to fabricate reproducible fibre mats

Seasonal characteristics of trace gas transport into the extratropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere

To investigate the seasonal characteristics of trace gas distributions in the extratropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (ExUTLS) as well as stratosphere–troposphere exchange processes, origin fractions of air masses originating in the stratosphere, tropical troposphere, midlatitude lower troposphere (LT), and high-latitude LT in the ExUTLS are estimated using 10-year backward trajectories calculated with European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA-Interim data as the meteorological input. Time series of trace gases obtained from ground-based and airborne observations are incorporated into the trajectories, thus reconstructing spatiotemporal distributions of trace gases in the ExUTLS. The reconstructed tracer distributions are analyzed with the origin fractions and the stratospheric age of air (AoA) estimated using the backward trajectories. The reconstructed distributions of SF6 and CO2 in the ExUTLS are linearly correlated with those of AoA because of their chemically passive behavior and quasi-stable increasing trends in the troposphere. Distributions of CH4, N2O, and CO are controlled primarily by chemical decay along the transport path from the source region via the stratosphere and subsequent mixing of such stratospheric air masses with tropospheric air masses in the ExUTLS.</p

Coexpression Analysis of Tomato Genes and Experimental Verification of Coordinated Expression of Genes Found in a Functionally Enriched Coexpression Module

Gene-to-gene coexpression analysis is a powerful approach to infer the function of uncharacterized genes. Here, we report comprehensive identification of coexpression gene modules of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and experimental verification of coordinated expression of module member genes. On the basis of the gene-to-gene correlation coefficient calculated from 67 microarray hybridization data points, we performed a network-based analysis. This facilitated the identification of 199 coexpression modules. A gene ontology annotation search revealed that 75 out of the 199 modules are enriched with genes associated with common functional categories. To verify the coexpression relationships between module member genes, we focused on one module enriched with genes associated with the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. A non-enzyme, non-transcription factor gene encoding a zinc finger protein in this module was overexpressed in S. lycopersicum cultivar Micro-Tom, and expression levels of flavonoid pathway genes were investigated. Flavonoid pathway genes included in the module were up-regulated in the plant overexpressing the zinc finger gene. This result demonstrates that coexpression modules, at least the ones identified in this study, represent actual transcriptional coordination between genes, and can facilitate the inference of tomato gene function

Claudin-1, -3 and -4 proteins and mRNA expression in benign and malignant breast lesions: a research study

INTRODUCTION: We compared levels of protein and mRNA expression of three members of the claudin (CLDN) family in malignant breast tumours and benign lesions. METHODS: Altogether, 56 sections from 52 surgically resected breast specimens were analyzed for CLDN1, CLDN3 and CLDN4 expression by immunohistochemistry. mRNA was also analyzed using real-time PCR in 17 of the 52 cases. RESULTS: CLDNs were rarely observed exclusively at tight junction structures. CLDN1 was present in the membrane of normal duct cells and in some of the cell membranes from ductal carcinoma in situ, and was frequently observed in eight out of nine areas of apocrine metaplasia, whereas invasive tumours were negative for CLDN1 or it was present in a scattered distribution among such tumour cells (in 36/39 malignant tumours). CLDN3 was present in 49 of the 56 sections and CLDN4 was present in all 56 tissue sections. However, CLDN4 was highly positive in normal epithelial cells and was decreased or absent in 17 out of 21 ductal carcinoma grade 1, in special types of breast carcinoma (mucinous, papillary, tubular) and in areas of apocrine metaplasia. CLDN1 mRNA was downregulated by 12-fold in the sample (tumour) group as compared with the control group using GAPDH as the reference gene. CLDN3 and CLDN4 mRNA exhibited no difference in expression between invasive tumours and surrounding tissue. CONCLUSIONS: The significant loss of CLDN1 protein in breast cancer cells suggests that CLDN1 may play a role in invasion and metastasis. The loss of CLDN4 expression in areas of apocrine metaplasia and in the majority of grade 1 invasive carcinomas also suggests a particular role for this protein in mammary glandular cell differentiation and carcinogenesis

Telomerase activity of the Lugol-stained and -unstained squamous epithelia in the process of oesophageal carcinogenesis

Up-regulation of telomerase has been reported in many cancers. Our aim was to characterize telomerase activity in various states of the oesophagus to facilitate better understanding of carcinogenesis of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma. During endoscopic examinations, we obtained 45 Lugol-stained normal epithelia, 31 Lugol-unstained epithelia (14 oesophagitis, 7 mild dysplasia, 5 severe dysplasia and 5 intramucosal cancer) and 9 advanced cancer. Telomerase activity was semi-quantified by a telomeric repeat amplification protocol using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase mRNA was examined by in situ hybridization. In the Lugol-stained normal epithelia, telomerase activity increased in proportion to the increase of severity of the accompanying lesions, with a rank order of advanced cancer, intramucosal cancer, mild dysplasia and oesophagitis. In the Lugol-unstained lesions and advanced cancer, telomerase activity was highest in advanced cancer. Up-regulation of telomerase in normal squamous epithelium may be a marker of progression of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Copyright 2001 Cancer Research Campaign © 2001 Cancer Research Campaignhttp://www.bjcancer.co

Mechanical Properties of Glassy Polyethylene Nanofibers via Molecular Dynamics Simulations

The extent to which the intrinsic mechanical properties of polymer fibers depend on physical size has been a matter of dispute that is relevant to most nanofiber applications. Here, we report the elastic and plastic properties determined from molecular dynamics simulations of amorphous, glassy polymer nanofibers with diameter ranging from 3.7 to 17.7 nm. We find that, for a given temperature, the Young’s elastic modulus E decreases with fiber radius and can be as much as 52% lower than that of the corresponding bulk material. Poisson’s ratio ν of the polymer comprising these nanofibers was found to decrease from a value of 0.3 to 0.1 with decreasing fiber radius. Our findings also indicate that a small but finite stress exists on the simulated nanofibers prior to elongation, attributable to surface tension. When strained uniaxially up to a tensile strain of ε = 0.2 over the range of strain rates and temperatures considered, the nanofibers exhibit a yield stress σy between 40 and 72 MPa, which is not strongly dependent on fiber radius; this yield stress is approximately half that of the same polyethylene simulated in the amorphous bulk.DuPont MIT AllianceDuPont (Firm) (Young Professor Award

Positional variations among heterogeneous nucleosome maps give dynamical information on chromatin

Although nucleosome remodeling is essential to transcriptional regulation in eukaryotes, little is known about its genome-wide behavior. Since a number of nucleosome positioning maps in vivo have been recently determined, we examined if their comparisons might be used for obtaining a genome-wide profile of nucleosome remodeling. Using seven yeast maps, the local variability of nucleosomes, measured by the entropy, was significantly higher in a set of reported unstable nucleosomes. The binding sites of four transcription factors, known as the remodeling factors, were distinctively high both in entropy and linker ratio, whereas those of Yhp1, their potential inhibitor, showed the lowest values in both of them. Taken together, our map shows the general information of nucleosome dynamics reasonably well. The “nucleosome dynamics” map provides the new significant correlation with the degree of expression variety instead of their intensity. Furthermore, the associations with gene function and histone modification were also discussed here