4,338 research outputs found
Opinion Mining on Non-English Short Text
As the type and the number of such venues increase, automated analysis of
sentiment on textual resources has become an essential data mining task. In
this paper, we investigate the problem of mining opinions on the collection of
informal short texts. Both positive and negative sentiment strength of texts
are detected. We focus on a non-English language that has few resources for
text mining. This approach would help enhance the sentiment analysis in
languages where a list of opinionated words does not exist. We propose a new
method projects the text into dense and low dimensional feature vectors
according to the sentiment strength of the words. We detect the mixture of
positive and negative sentiments on a multi-variant scale. Empirical evaluation
of the proposed framework on Turkish tweets shows that our approach gets good
results for opinion mining
Providing alternative measures for addressing adverse drug-drug interactions
First Online 30 March 2019Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) are documents used in daily clinical practice that provide advice on how to best diagnose and treat diseases in the form of a list of clinical recommendations. When simultaneously applying multiple CPGs to patients, this can lead to complex multiple drug regimens (polypharmacy) with the potential for harmful combinations of drugs. The need to address these adverse drug events calls forth for systems capable of not only automatically represent the common potential conflicts or interactions that can happen when merging CPGs but also systems capable of providing conflict-free alternatives. This paper presents a solution that represents CPGs as Computer-Interpretable Guidelines (CIGs) and allows the automatic identification of drug conflicts and the provision of alternative measures to resolve these conflicts.This work has been supported by COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-0070 43 and FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope UID/CEC/ 00319/2013. The work of Tiago Oliveira was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP18K18115
ciliaFA : a research tool for automated, high-throughput measurement of ciliary beat frequency using freely available software
Background: Analysis of ciliary function for assessment of patients suspected of primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) and
for research studies of respiratory and ependymal cilia requires assessment of both ciliary beat pattern and beat
frequency. While direct measurement of beat frequency from high-speed video recordings is the most accurate and
reproducible technique it is extremely time consuming. The aim of this study was to develop a freely available
automated method of ciliary beat frequency analysis from digital video (AVI) files that runs on open-source software
(ImageJ) coupled to Microsoft Excel, and to validate this by comparison to the direct measuring high-speed video
recordings of respiratory and ependymal cilia. These models allowed comparison to cilia beating between 3 and 52 Hz.
Methods: Digital video files of motile ciliated ependymal (frequency range 34 to 52 Hz) and respiratory epithelial cells
(frequency 3 to 18 Hz) were captured using a high-speed digital video recorder. To cover the range above between 18
and 37 Hz the frequency of ependymal cilia were slowed by the addition of the pneumococcal toxin pneumolysin.
Measurements made directly by timing a given number of individual ciliary beat cycles were compared with those
obtained using the automated ciliaFA system.
Results: The overall mean difference (± SD) between the ciliaFA and direct measurement high-speed digital imaging
methods was −0.05 ± 1.25 Hz, the correlation coefficient was shown to be 0.991 and the Bland-Altman limits of
agreement were from −1.99 to 1.49 Hz for respiratory and from −2.55 to 3.25 Hz for ependymal cilia.
Conclusions: A plugin for ImageJ was developed that extracts pixel intensities and performs fast Fourier
transformation (FFT) using Microsoft Excel. The ciliaFA software allowed automated, high throughput measurement of
respiratory and ependymal ciliary beat frequency (range 3 to 52 Hz) and avoids operator error due to selection bias. We
have included free access to the ciliaFA plugin and installation instructions in Additional file 1 accompanying this
manuscript that other researchers may use
Frontal mucocele with an accompanying orbital abscess mimicking a fronto-orbital mucocele: case report
BACKGROUND: Mucoceles are slowly expanding cystic lesions with respiratory epithelium containing mucus most commonly affecting the frontal and ethmoidal sinuses. They are caused by obstruction of sinus ostium. Mucoceles exert pressure on the bony boundaries and due to the proximity to the brain and orbit extension to these areas are common. CASE PRESENTATION: A case of a frontal mucocele with an accompanying orbital abscess mimicking a fronto-orbital mucocele is reported. A 77 year old female patient suffering from left sided proptosis and pain around the left eye was admitted to our department. She had a history of left frontal sinus mucocele one year ago that was offered an osteoplastic frontal sinus surgery that the patient refused. Patient had limitation of eye movements. Fundoscopic examination revealed a minimal papilledema. Coronal computerized tomography and orbital magnetic resonance imaging showed a frontal mucocele with suspicious erosion of the orbital roof and a superiorly localized extraconal mass displacing the orbit lateroinferiorly. Frontal and orbital masses had similar intensities. Thus surgery was planned for a fronto-orbital mucocele. During surgery no defect was found on the orbital roof. Frontal mucocele and orbital cystic mass was removed separately. Pathological examination showed a frontal mucocele and an orbital abscess wall. Postoperatively eye movements returned to normal and papilledema resolved. CONCLUSION: Fronto-orbital mucoceles are commonly encountered pathologies, but frontal mucocele with an orbital abscess is a rarely seen and should be kept in mind because their treatments differ
Redefining undergraduate nurse teaching during the coronavirus pandemic : use of digital technologies
During the current coronavirus pandemic, undergraduate nurse teaching is facing many challenges. Universities have had to close their campuses, which means that academics are working from home and may be coping with unfamiliar technology to deliver the theoretical part of the undergraduate nursing curriculum. Emergency standards from the Nursing and Midwifery Council have allowed theoretical instruction to be replaced with distance learning, requiring nursing academics to adapt to providing a completely virtual approach to their teaching. This article provides examples of tools that can be used to deliver the theoretical component of the undergraduate nursing curriculum and ways of supporting students and colleagues in these unprecedented time
Mutations in protocadherin 15 and cadherin 23 affect tip links and mechanotransduction in mammalian sensory hair cells
Immunocytochemical studies have shown that protocadherin-15 (PCDH15) and cadherin-23 (CDH23) are associated with tip links, structures thought to gate the mechanotransducer channels of hair cells in the sensory epithelia of the inner ear. The present report describes functional and structural analyses of hair cells from Pcdh15av3J (av3J), Pcdh15av6J (av6J) and Cdh23v2J (v2J) mice. The av3J and v2J mice carry point mutations that are predicted to introduce premature stop codons in the transcripts for Pcdh15 and Cdh23, respectively, and av6J mice have an in-frame deletion predicted to remove most of the 9th cadherin ectodomain from PCDH15. Severe disruption of hair-bundle morphology is observed throughout the early-postnatal cochlea in av3J/av3J and v2J/v2J mice. In contrast, only mild-to-moderate bundle disruption is evident in the av6J/av6J mice. Hair cells from av3J/av3J mice are unaffected by aminoglycosides and fail to load with [3H]-gentamicin or FM1-43, compounds that permeate the hair cell's mechanotransducer channels. In contrast, hair cells from av6J/av6J mice load with both FM1-43 and [3H]-gentamicin, and are aminoglycoside sensitive. Transducer currents can be recorded from hair cells of all three mutants but are reduced in amplitude in all mutants and have abnormal directional sensitivity in the av3J/av3J and v2J/v2J mutants. Scanning electron microscopy of early postnatal cochlear hair cells reveals tip-link like links in av6J/av6J mice, substantially reduced numbers of links in the av3J/av3J mice and virtually none in the v2J/v2J mice. Analysis of mature vestibular hair bundles reveals an absence of tip links in the av3J/av3J and v2J/v2J mice and a reduction in av6J/av6J mice. These results therefore provide genetic evidence consistent with PCDH15 and CDH23 being part of the tip-link complex and necessary for normal mechanotransduction
Using the MitoB method to assess levels of reactive oxygen species in ecological studies of oxidative stress
In recent years evolutionary ecologists have become increasingly interested in the effects of reactive
oxygen species (ROS) on the life-histories of animals. ROS levels have mostly been inferred indirectly
due to the limitations of estimating ROS from in vitro methods. However, measuring ROS (hydrogen
peroxide, H2O2) content in vivo is now possible using the MitoB probe. Here, we extend and refine
the MitoB method to make it suitable for ecological studies of oxidative stress using the brown trout
Salmo trutta as model. The MitoB method allows an evaluation of H2O2 levels in living organisms over
a timescale from hours to days. The method is flexible with regard to the duration of exposure and
initial concentration of the MitoB probe, and there is no transfer of the MitoB probe between fish. H2O2
levels were consistent across subsamples of the same liver but differed between muscle subsamples
and between tissues of the same animal. The MitoB method provides a convenient method for
measuring ROS levels in living animals over a significant period of time. Given its wide range of possible
applications, it opens the opportunity to study the role of ROS in mediating life history trade-offs in
ecological settings
Testing special relativity with geodetic VLBI
Geodetic Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) measures the group delay in
the barycentric reference frame. As the Earth is orbiting around the Solar
system barycentre with the velocity of 30 km/s, VLBI proves to be a handy
tool to detect the subtle effects of the special and general relativity theory
with a magnitude of . The theoretical correction for the
second order terms reaches up to 300~ps, and it is implemented in the geodetic
VLBI group delay model. The total contribution of the second order terms splits
into two effects - the variation of the Earth scale, and the deflection of the
apparent position of the radio source. The Robertson-Mansouri-Sexl (RMS)
generalization of the Lorenz transformation is used for many modern tests of
the special relativity theory. We develop an alteration of the RMS formalism to
probe the Lorenz invariance with the geodetic VLBI data. The kinematic approach
implies three parameters (as a function of the moving reference frame velocity)
and the standard Einstein synchronisation. A generalised relativistic model of
geodetic VLBI data includes all three parameters that could be estimated.
Though, since the modern laboratory Michelson-Morley and Kennedy-Thorndike
experiments are more accurate than VLBI technique, the presented equations may
be used to test the VLBI group delay model itself.Comment: Proceedings of the IAG 2017 Scientific Meeting, Kobe, Japa
The DUNDRUM Quartet: validation of structured professional judgement instruments DUNDRUM-3 assessment of programme completion and DUNDRUM-4 assessment of recovery in forensic mental health services
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Moving a forensic mental health patient from one level of therapeutic security to a lower level or to the community is influenced by more than risk assessment and risk management. We set out to construct and validate structured professional judgement instruments for consistency and transparency in decision making</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two instruments were developed, the seven-item DUNDRUM-3 programme completion instrument and the six item DUNDRUM-4 recovery instrument. These were assessed for all 95 forensic patients at Ireland's only forensic mental health hospital.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The two instruments had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.911 and 0.887). Scores distinguished those allowed no leave or accompanied leave from those with unaccompanied leave (ANOVA F = 38.1 and 50.3 respectively, p < 0.001). Scores also distinguished those in acute/high security units from those in medium or in low secure/pre-discharge units. Each individual item distinguished these levels of need significantly. The DUNDRUM-3 and DUNDRUM-4 correlated moderately with measures of dynamic risk and with the CANFOR staff rated unmet need (Spearman r = 0.5, p < 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The DUNDRUM-3 programme completion items distinguished significantly between levels of therapeutic security while the DUNDRUM-4 recovery items consistently distinguished those given unaccompanied leave outside the hospital and those in the lowest levels of therapeutic security. This data forms the basis for a prospective study of outcomes now underway.</p
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