Obtaining self-samples to diagnose curable sexually transmitted infections: a systematic review of patients' experiences

BACKGROUND: Routine screening is key to sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention and control. Previous studies suggest that clinic-based screening programmes capture only a small proportion of people with STIs. Self-sampling using non- or minimally invasive techniques may be beneficial for those reluctant to actively engage with conventional sampling methods. We systematically reviewed studies of patients' experiences of obtaining self-samples to diagnose curable STIs. METHODS: We conducted an electronic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsychINFO, BNI, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews to identify relevant articles published in English between January 1980 and March 2014. Studies were included if participants self-sampled for the diagnosis of a curable STI and had specifically sought participants' opinions of their experience, acceptability, preferences, or willingness to self-sample. RESULTS: The initial search yielded 558 references. Of these, 45 studies met the inclusion criteria. Thirty-six studies assessed patients' acceptability and experiences of self-sampling. Pooled results from these studies shows that self-sampling is a highly acceptable method with 85% of patients reporting the method to be well received and acceptable. Twenty-eight studies reported on ease of self-sampling; the majority of patients (88%) in these studies found self-sampling an "easy" procedure. Self-sampling was favoured compared to clinician sampling, and home sampling was preferred to clinic-based sampling. Females and older participants were more accepting of self-sampling. Only a small minority of participants (13%) reported pain during self-sampling. Participants were willing to undergo self-sampling and recommend others. Privacy and safety were the most common concerns. CONCLUSION: Self-sampling for diagnostic testing is well accepted with the majority having a positive experience and willingness to use again. Standardization of self-sampling procedures and rigorous validation of outcome measurement will lead to better comparability across studies. Future studies need to conduct rigorous economic evaluations of self-sampling to inform policy development for the management of STI

GuitarApprentice: A Mobile Application for Acoustic Guitar Learning using Fast Fourier Transform algorithm

The objective of the project is to create a learning-based mobile application for learning to play an acoustic guitar. The application also aims to select the best algorithm to detect chords and display the chords detection in pictorial form for easier understanding. Beginner guitarists have difficulty to know how well they have learnt or improved in learning to play guitar chords. It is also difficult to detect chords and display the chords detected in pictorial form. The scope of the study is limited to beginner guitarists who are in the age range of teenagers and adults. The methodology uses the prototyping model for rapid building and testing that overlaps until the project ends. The results of the project are the suitable algorithm for chords detection and prototype of the mobile app. The statistics and survey prove that the project is significant for the beginner guitarists with mobile devices

Trial history biases the spatial programming of antisaccades

The historical context in which saccades are made influences their latency and error rates, but less is known about how context influences their spatial parameters. We recently described a novel spatial bias for antisaccades, in which the endpoints of these responses deviate towards alternative goal locations used in the same experimental block, and showed that expectancy (prior probability) is at least partly responsible for this ‘alternate-goal bias'. In this report we asked whether trial history also plays a role. Subjects performed antisaccades to a stimulus randomly located on the horizontal meridian, on a 40° angle downwards from the horizontal meridian, or on a 40° upward angle, with all three locations equally probable on any given trial. We found that the endpoints of antisaccades were significantly displaced towards the goal location of not only the immediately preceding trial (n−1) but also the penultimate (n−2) trial. Furthermore, this bias was mainly present for antisaccades with a short latency of <250ms and was rapidly corrected by secondary saccades. We conclude that the location of recent antisaccades biases the spatial programming of upcoming antisaccades, that this historical effect persists over many seconds, and that it influences mainly rapidly generated eye movements. Because corrective saccades eliminate the historical bias, we suggest that the bias arises in processes generating the response vector, rather than processes generating the perceptual estimate of goal locatio

UW-BHI at MEDIQA 2019: An Analysis of Representation Methods for Medical Natural Language Inference

Recent advances in distributed language modeling have led to large performance increases on a variety of natural language processing (NLP) tasks. However, it is not well understood how these methods may be augmented by knowledge-based approaches. This paper compares the performance and internal representation of an Enhanced Sequential Inference Model (ESIM) between three experimental conditions based on the representation method: Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT), Embeddings of Semantic Predications (ESP), or Cui2Vec. The methods were evaluated on the Medical Natural Language Inference (MedNLI) subtask of the MEDIQA 2019 shared task. This task relied heavily on semantic understanding and thus served as a suitable evaluation set for the comparison of these representation methods

Inuvialuit Living Art: Co-Creating Local Community Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Research

This thesis explores Inuvialuit cultural heritage through the lens of Inuvialuit Pitqusiat Inuusimitkun or living art, a term coined by Iñupiaq/Inuvialuk Elder Pauline Saturgina Tardiff and translated to Sallirmiutun by Inuvialuit Elders Albert and Shirley Elias. Using semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and ethnography, it brings together the knowledge of 11 Inuvialuit artists to discuss Inuvialuit living art through: its ability to tell stories through time and space; its role in surviving and thriving on the land; and its connection to inner “heartwork”. Using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) framework, it outlines the 2019 Inuvialuit Living History Culture Camp at Ivvavik National Park, where living art, photovoice, and participatory design were employed in action with nine Inuvialuit research partners to co-create visual products and documentation of Inuvialuit cultural heritage. This thesis concludes that living art is a vital aspect of Inuvialuit cultural heritage and advocates for continued engagements with living art, musicality, and a heart-centred approach in the future of archaeological research

Adaptive backstepping based nonlinear control of an interior permanent magnet synchronous motor drive

Permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSM) have shown increasing popularity in recent years for industrial drive applications due to the recent developments in magnetic materials, power converters, and digital signal processors. In particular, Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (IPMSM) drives are widely used in high performance drive (HPD) applications. Fast and accurate speed response and quick recovery of speed from any disturbances are essential. The control of a high performance permanent magnet synchronous motor drive for general industrial application has received wide spread interest of researchers. In this work, a novel speed and position control scheme for an IPMSM is developed based on a nonlinear adaptive control scheme. The vector control scheme is used to simplify control of the IPMSM. System model equations are represented in the synchronously rotating reference frame and provide the basis for the controller which is designed using the adaptive backstepping technique. Using Lyapunov’s stability theory, it is also shown that the control variables are asymptotically stable. The complete system model is developed and then simulated using MATLAB/Simulink software. Performance of the proposed controller is investigated extensively at different dynamic operating conditions such as sudden load change, command speed change, command position change and parameter variations. The results show the global stability of the proposed controller and hence found to be suitable for high performance industrial drive applications. The real time implementation of the complete drive system is currently underway

Topological Structure of Fractal Squares

Given an integer $n\geq 2$ and a digit set ${\mathcal D}\subsetneq {0,1,...,n-1}^2$, there is a self-similar set $F \subset {\Bbb R}^2$ satisfying the set equation: $F=(F+{\mathcal D})/n$. We call such $F$ a fractal square. By studying a periodic extension $H= F+ {\mathbb Z}^2$, we classify $F$ into three types according to their topological properties. We also provide some simple criteria for such classification.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figure

GuitarApprentice: A Mobile Application for Acoustic Guitar Learning using Fast Fourier Transform algorithm

The objective of the project is to create a learning-based mobile application for learning to play an acoustic guitar. The application also aims to select the best algorithm to detect chords and display the chords detection in pictorial form for easier understanding. Beginner guitarists have difficulty to know how well they have learnt or improved in learning to play guitar chords. It is also difficult to detect chords and display the chords detected in pictorial form. The scope of the study is limited to beginner guitarists who are in the age range of teenagers and adults. The methodology uses the prototyping model for rapid building and testing that overlaps until the project ends. The results of the project are the suitable algorithm for chords detection and prototype of the mobile app. The statistics and survey prove that the project is significant for the beginner guitarists with mobile devices