Cost-effectiveness of counselling, graded-exercise and usual care for chronic fatigue: evidence from a randomised trial in primary care

Fatigue is common and has been shown to result in high economic costs to society. The aim of this study is to compare the cost-effectiveness of two active therapies, graded-exercise (GET) and counselling (COUN) with usual care plus a self-help booklet (BUC) for people presenting with chronic fatigue

The Ping-Pong Olympics of Antisuit Injunction in FRAND Litigation

In the past two years, antisuit injunctions (ASIs) and subsequent legal proceedings associated with standard-essential patents (SEPs) subject to fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) commitments have proliferated in multiple jurisdictions. This phenomenon reveals not only the transnational nature of technical standards and FRAND-encumbered SEPs but also the jurisdictional tension between different national courts. This Article explains the emergence of ASIs in FRAND scenarios and recent developments in six jurisdictions with major interests in standard development and adoption. Countries have developed different approaches to ASIs based on their own domestic rules and interests. We believe that to promote technical compatibility and international comity, it is necessary to facilitate legal compatibility between jurisdictions at the policy level. Currently, courts in multiple jurisdictions are competing to grant ASIs and anti-anti-suit injunctions (AASIs), leading to fragmented decisions and significant costs for global standardization. We propose to include an exclusive forum selection clause in the policy documents of standard-setting organizations (SSOs) to reduce undesirable transaction costs stemming from ASIs and subsequent legal actions. Our proposal is more realistic and cost-effective than others concerning FRAND dispute resolution

Cheating off your neighbors: Improving activity recognition through corroboration

Understanding the complexity of human activities solely through an individual's data can be challenging. However, in many situations, surrounding individuals are likely performing similar activities, while existing human activity recognition approaches focus almost exclusively on individual measurements and largely ignore the context of the activity. Consider two activities: attending a small group meeting and working at an office desk. From solely an individual's perspective, it can be difficult to differentiate between these activities as they may appear very similar, even though they are markedly different. Yet, by observing others nearby, it can be possible to distinguish between these activities. In this paper, we propose an approach to enhance the prediction accuracy of an individual's activities by incorporating insights from surrounding individuals. We have collected a real-world dataset from 20 participants with over 58 hours of data including activities such as attending lectures, having meetings, working in the office, and eating together. Compared to observing a single person in isolation, our proposed approach significantly improves accuracy. We regard this work as a first step in collaborative activity recognition, opening new possibilities for understanding human activity in group settings

Constrained analytical interrelations in neutrino mixing

Hermitian squared mass matrices of charged leptons and light neutrinos in the flavor basis are studied under general additive lowest order perturbations away from the tribimaximal (TBM) limit in which a weak basis with mass diagonal charged leptons is chosen. Simple analytical expressions are found for the three measurable TBM-deviants in terms of perturbation parameters appearing in the neutrino and charged lepton eigenstates in the flavor basis. Taking unnatural cancellations to be absent and charged lepton perturbation parameters to be small, interrelations are derived among masses, mixing angles and the amount of CP-violation.Comment: To be published in the Springer Proceedings in the Physics Series under the heading of the XXI DAE-BRNS Symposium (Guwahati, India

Proximate, Vitamins and Mineral Composition of Vitex doniana (black plum) Fruit Pulp

Samples of Vitex doniana fruit (black plum) were collected from Vunchi village in Bida metropolis. The dried endocarp was washed, ground into powder and analysed for the proximate, vitamins and mineral compositions. The values (%DW) of moisture, ash, crude protein, crude fibre, crude fat and carbohydrate available were 16.66, 11.50, 8.24, 0.58, 34.62 and 28.40, respectively. Levels of Vitamin A, B1, B2, B6 and C were 0.27, 18.33, 4.80, 20.45 and 35.58 (mg/100g DW) respectively. Mineral (mg/100g DW) were: potassium (16.5), sodium (10.40), calcium (30.27), iron (5.20), Copper (2.70), magnesium (20.10) and phosphorus (16.50). The result indicates that Vitex doniana fruit pulp could be promoted as: carbohydrate and lipid supplements for cereal-based diets in rural communities, another cheaper source of raw material for juice production, fortified into feed of ruminants, while its moderate calcium value could be used for the management of oesteomalacia

Safety and Efficacy of Tien-Hsien Liquid Practical in Patients with Refractory Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel-Group, Phase IIa Trial

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of Tien-Hsien Liquid Practical (THL-P), a Chinese herbal mixture, in patients with refractory metastatic breast cancer, we performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, phase IIa pilot trial. Patients were randomly assigned to either receive THL-P or matching placebo and followed up every 4 weeks for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint was changes in the global health status/quality of life (GHS/QOL) scale. The secondary endpoints were changes in functional and symptom scales, immunomodulating effects, and adverse events. Sixty-three patients were enrolled between June 2009 and June 2011. The intent-to-treat population included 28 patients in the THL-P group and 11 patients in the placebo group. Compared to the placebo group, the THL-P group had significant improvement from baseline to last visit in GHS/QOL (41.7 versus −33.3; P < 0.05), CD3, CD4/CD8, CD19, CD16+56 positive cells (P < 0.05), and higher levels of physical, role, emotional, and cognitive functioning, as well as decreased fatigue and systemic side effects. Treatment-related adverse events were mild constipation and localized itching, and no serious adverse events were reported. THL-P appears to be a safe alternative adjuvant treatment for patients with refractory metastatic breast cancer, as it effectively improves QOL and palliates cancer-related symptoms

Brain-Computer Interface Controlled Functional Electrical Stimulation System for Ankle Movement

Abstract Background Many neurological conditions, such as stroke, spinal cord injury, and traumatic brain injury, can cause chronic gait function impairment due to foot-drop. Current physiotherapy techniques provide only a limited degree of motor function recovery in these individuals, and therefore novel therapies are needed. Brain-computer interface (BCI) is a relatively novel technology with a potential to restore, substitute, or augment lost motor behaviors in patients with neurological injuries. Here, we describe the first successful integration of a noninvasive electroencephalogram (EEG)-based BCI with a noninvasive functional electrical stimulation (FES) system that enables the direct brain control of foot dorsiflexion in able-bodied individuals. Methods A noninvasive EEG-based BCI system was integrated with a noninvasive FES system for foot dorsiflexion. Subjects underwent computer-cued epochs of repetitive foot dorsiflexion and idling while their EEG signals were recorded and stored for offline analysis. The analysis generated a prediction model that allowed EEG data to be analyzed and classified in real time during online BCI operation. The real-time online performance of the integrated BCI-FES system was tested in a group of five able-bodied subjects who used repetitive foot dorsiflexion to elicit BCI-FES mediated dorsiflexion of the contralateral foot. Results Five able-bodied subjects performed 10 alternations of idling and repetitive foot dorsifiexion to trigger BCI-FES mediated dorsifiexion of the contralateral foot. The epochs of BCI-FES mediated foot dorsifiexion were highly correlated with the epochs of voluntary foot dorsifiexion (correlation coefficient ranged between 0.59 and 0.77) with latencies ranging from 1.4 sec to 3.1 sec. In addition, all subjects achieved a 100% BCI-FES response (no omissions), and one subject had a single false alarm. Conclusions This study suggests that the integration of a noninvasive BCI with a lower-extremity FES system is feasible. With additional modifications, the proposed BCI-FES system may offer a novel and effective therapy in the neuro-rehabilitation of individuals with lower extremity paralysis due to neurological injuries