5,405 research outputs found
Pengiraan Persentil Taburan Panjang Larian bagi Carta Kawalan Purata Bergerak Berpemberat Eksponen Multivariat
Prabhu dan Runger (1997) telah mengemukakan cadangan dalam pemilihan
parameter-parameter untuk skema carta kawalan purata bergerak berpemberat
eksponen multivariat (MEWMA). Walau bagaimanapun, cadangan tersebut
hanya berdasarkan prestasi panjang larian purata (average run length - ARL).
Oleh itu, dalam makalah ini, kami akan mengira nilai-nilai persentil untuk
taburan panjang larian bagi pelbagai skema carta kawalan MEWMA yang
dikemukakan oleh Prabhu dan Runger (1997). Persentil-persentil yang dikira
akan membekalkan maklumat tambahan seperti kekerapan isyarat luar kawalan
palsu yang awal (early false out of control signals), panjang larian median
(median run length - MRL) dan kepencongan taburan panjang larian untuk
sesuatu skema tertentu. Maklumat-maklumat tambahan ini mungkin berguna
dalam membekalkan jurutera kawalan mutu pengetahuan mendalam dan
lengkap tentang sesuatu skema carta kawalan MEWMA yang dipilih berdasarkan
cadangan Prabhu dan Runger (1997)
Seasonal variation in breast cancer diagnosis in Singapore
This study investigates seasonality in the diagnosis of 3219 female breast carcinoma cases reported between 1995ā8 in Singapore. There is little evidence of marked seasonal variation. Angular regression suggested that observed differences in peak diagnosis with respect to menopausal status, tumour size, ER and PR status may be chance. Ā© 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co
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Prevalence and determinants of anxiety and depression in end stage renal disease (ESRD). A comparison between ESRD patients with and without coexisting diabetes mellitus
Objective: To compare anxiety and/or depressive symptoms between patients with end-stage renal disease with and without comorbid diabetes and identify factors associated with symptoms of distress in this population.
Methods: Data from two studies (conducted between 2010 and 2014) were pooled. A total of 526 patients on hemodialysis (68.8% with diabetes) completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Elevated symptoms were defined as HADS-Anxiety or HADS-Depression ā„ 8. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to estimate associations between diabetic status, and other socio-demographic and clinical factors with baseline clinical anxiety and depression.
Results: A total of 233 (45.4%) reported elevated anxiety symptoms and 256 (49.9%) reported elevated depressive symptoms sufficient for caseness. Rates were not different between patients with and without diabetes. Risk for clinical depression was higher in patients who were single/unpartnered (OR = 1.828), Chinese vs. Malay (OR = 2.05), or had lower albumin levels (OR = 0.932). None of the parameters were associated with anxiety caseness.
Conclusion: Sociocultural factors rather than comorbid burden may help identify patients at risk for depression. The high rates of anxiety and depression underlie the importance for monitoring and intervention in dialysis care
Heated Motorized Stage for Nanoscale Thin Film Deposition
ME450 Capstone Design and Manufacturing Experience: Fall 2015Thin film deposition is a technology of applying a very thin film of material onto a substrate surface to be coated, or onto a previously deposited coating to form layers. As a modified Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) method, Spatial ALD greatly improves the efficiency of the process by separating the half-reactions spatially instead of through the use of purge steps in convectional ALD. This paper proposes the use of heated motorized stage as a research prototype to further study the effect of deposition conditions such as gap size, gap alignment and substrate temperature on the SALD coating results. This strategy utilized three stepper motors and high precision non-contact gap sensors to control gap alignment and gap size between the substrate and the depositor. The details of the involved methodology, engineering analysis, validation of the final design and the design critiques are discussed in this paper.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/117338/1/ME450-F15-Project19-FinalReport.pd
Assessment of the variability of airborne contamination levels in an intensive care unit over a 24 hour period
Introduction: The objective of this study was to evaluate the variability in the dynamics and levels of airborne contamination within a hospital ICU in order to establish an improved understanding of the extent to which airborne bioburden contributes to cross-infection of patients. Microorganisms from the respiratory tract or skin can become airborne by coughing, sneezing and periods of increased activity such as bed changes and staff rounds. Current knowledge of the clinical microflora is limited however it is estimated that 10-33% of nosocomial infections are transmitted via air. Methods: Environmental air monitoring was conducted in Glasgow Royal Infirmary ICU, in the open ward and in patient isolation rooms. A sieve impactor air sampler was used to collect 500 L air samples every 15 minutes over 10 hour (08:00-18:00 h) and 24 hour (08:00-08:00 h) periods. Samples were collected, room activity logged and the bacterial contamination levels were recorded as CFU/m3 of air. Results: A high degree of variability in levels of airborne contamination was observed over the course of a 10 hour day and a 24 period in a hospital ICU. Counts ranged from 12-510 CFU/m3 over 24 hours in an isolation room occupied for 10 days by a patient with C. difficile infection. Contamination levels were found to be lowest during the night and in unoccupied rooms, with an average value of 20 CFU/m3. Peaks in airborne contamination showed a direct relation to an increase in room activity. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the degree of airborne contamination that can occur in an ICU over a 24 hour period. Numerous factors were found to contribute to microbial air contamination and consideration should be given to potential improved infection control strategies and decontamination technologies which could be deployed within the clinical environment to reduce the airborne contamination levels, with the ultimate aim of reducing healthcare-associated infections from environmental sources
Educational aspirations in inner city schools
The research aimed to assess the nature and level of pupilsā educational aspirations and to elucidate the factors that influence these aspirations. A sample of five inner city comprehensive secondary schools were selected by their Local Authority because of poor pupil attendance, below average examination results and low rates of continuing in full-time education after the age of 16. Schools were all ethnically mixed and co-educational. Over 800 pupils aged 12-14 completed a questionnaire assessing pupilsā experience of home, school and their peers. A sub-sample of 48 pupils selected by teachers to reflect ethnicity and ability levels in individual schools also participated in detailed focus group interviews. There were no significant differences in aspirations by gender or year group, but differences between ethnic groups were marked. Black African, Asian Other and Pakistani groups had significantly higher educational aspirations than the White British group, who had the lowest aspirations. The results suggest the high aspirations of Black African, Asian Other and Pakistani pupils are mediated through strong academic self-concept, positive peer support, a commitment to schooling and high educational aspirations in the home. They also suggest that low educational aspirations may have different mediating influences in different ethnic groups. The low aspirations of White British pupils seem to relate most strongly to poor academic self-concept and low educational aspirations in the home, while for Black Caribbean pupils disaffection, negative peers and low commitment to schooling appear more relevant. Interviews with pupils corroborated the above findings and further illuminated the factors students described as important in their educational aspirations. The results are discussed in relation to theories of aspiration which stress its nature as a cultural capacity
Simple model for decay of superdeformed nuclei
Recent theoretical investigations of the decay mechanism out of a
superdeformed nuclear band have yielded qualitatively different results,
depending on the relative values of the relevant decay widths. We present a
simple two-level model for the dynamics of the tunneling between the
superdeformed and normal-deformed bands, which treats decay and tunneling
processes on an equal footing. The previous theoretical results are shown to
correspond to coherent and incoherent limits of the full tunneling dynamics.
Our model accounts for experimental data in both the A~150 mass region, where
the tunneling dynamics is coherent, and in the A~190 mass region, where the
tunneling dynamics is incoherent.Comment: 4 page
Treatment for Landfill Leachate via Physicochemical Approaches: An Overview
Leachate waste consists of various mixtures of organic, inorganic, and heavy metal contaminants, which are responsible for groundwater and surface water contamination. Landfills apply physical, chemical, and biological processes for the treatment of leachate. Most studies on leachate treatment by coagulation and flocculation are based on the selection and performance of natural based biopolymers in comparison with various inorganic metal salts and grafted polymers used for the removal of contaminants. In addition, adsorption processes utilizing non-conventional activated carbons as absorbents are the current emerging focus of the researchers in leachate treatment. These adsorbents are low-in-cost, efficient, and renewable compared to conventional adsorbents. The present paper aimed to evaluate and review the technology utilising various greener approaches in coagulation, flocculation, and adsorption as the physicochemical approaches to leachate treatment. The challenges and future work regarding the development of these green products in the commercial markets were comprehensively evaluated.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Impact of CD14 Promoter Variants on Measles Vaccine Responses and Vaccine Failure in Children from Australia and Mozambique
Estimation of the effect of SLCO1B1 polymorphisms on lopinavir plasma concentration in HIV-Infected Adults
BackgroundāThe organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATP)/SLCO family represents an important class of hepatic drug uptake transporters that mediate the sodium independent transport of a diverse range of amphipathic organic compounds, including the protease inhibitors. The
SLCO1B1 521T>C (rs4149056) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) has been consistently associated with reduced transport activity in vivo, and we previously showed an association of this polymorphism with lopinavir plasma concentrations. The aim of this study was to develop a
population pharmacokinetic (PK) model to quantify the impact of 521T>C.
MethodsāA population PK analysis was performed with 594 plasma samples from 375 patients receiving lopinavir/ritonavir. Non-linear mixed effects modelling was applied to explore the effects of SLCO1B1 521T>C and patient demographics. Simulations of the lopinavir
concentration profile were performed with different dosing regimens considering the different alleles.
ResultsāA one-compartment model with first-order absorption best described the data.
Population clearance was 5.67 L/h with inter-patient variability of 37%. Body weight was the only
demographic factor influencing clearance, which increased 0.5 L/h for every 10 kg increase.
Homozygosity for the C allele was associated with a 37% lower clearance, and 14% for heterozygosity, which were statistically significant.
ConclusionāThese data show an association between SLCO1B1 521T>C and lopinavir clearance. The association is likely to be mediated through reduced uptake by hepatocytes leading
to higher plasma concentrations of lopinavir. Further studies are now required to confirm the association and to assess the influence of other polymorphisms in the SLCO family on lopinavir
PK
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