(Sub)mm Interferometry Applications in Star Formation Research

This contribution gives an overview about various applications of (sub)mm interferometry in star formation research. The topics covered are molecular outflows, accretion disks, fragmentation and chemical properties of low- and high-mass star-forming regions. A short outlook on the capabilities of ALMA is given as well.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, in proceedings to "2nd European School on Jets from Young Star: High Angular Resolution Observations". A high-resolution version of the paper can be found at http://www.mpia.de/homes/beuther/papers.htm

Total Intravenous Anesthesia Including Ketamine versus Volatile Gas Anesthesia for Combat-related Operative Traumatic Brain Injury

Background: Traumatic brain injury is a leading cause of death and severe neurologic disability. The effect of anesthesia techniques on neurologic outcomes in traumatic brain injury and potential benefits of total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) compared with volatile gas anesthesia (VGA), although proposed, has not been well evaluated. The purpose of this study was to compare TIVA versus VGA in patients with combatrelated traumatic brain injury. Methods: The authors retrospectively reviewed 252 patients who had traumatic brain injury and underwent operative neurosurgical intervention. Statistical analyses, including propensity score and matched analyses, were performed to assess differences between treatment groups (TIVA vs. VGA) and good neurologic outcome. Results: Two hundred fourteen patients met inclusion criteria and were analyzed; 120 received VGA and 94 received TIVA. Good neurologic outcome (Glasgow Outcome Score 4 -5) and decreased mortality were associated with TIVA compared with VGA (75% vs. 54%; P ‫؍‬ 0.002 and 5% vs. 16%; P ‫؍‬ 0.02, respectively). Multivariate logistic regression found admission Glasgow Coma Scale score of 8 or greater (odds ratio, 13.3; P < 0.001) and TIVA use (odds ratio, 2.3; P ‫؍‬ 0.05) to be associated with good neurologic outcomes. After controlling for confounding factors using propensity analysis and repeated one-to-one matching of patients receiving TIVA with those receiving VGA with regard to Injury Severity Score, Glasgow Coma Scale score, base deficit, Head Abbreviated Injury Score, and craniectomy or craniotomy, the authors could not find an association between treatment and neurologic outcome. Conclusion: Total intravenous anesthesia often including ketamine was not associated with improved neurologic outcom

Original Article Randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness-Based Therapy for Dyspnea in Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease

Abstract Objectives: Patients with chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) suffer from significant dyspnea and may benefit from complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies aimed at mitigating symptoms. The objective of this study was to test the efficacy of a mindfulness-based breathing therapy (MBBT) on improving symptoms and health-related quality of life in those with COPD. Design: We conducted a randomized controlled trial of 8-week mindfulness-based breathing therapy (MBBT) compared to support groups to test efficacy on improving symptoms and health-related quality of life in those with COPD. Setting: The setting for this study was an academic-affiliated veterans healthcare system. Subjects: The subjects consisted of 86 patients with COPD. Interventions: MBBT included weekly meetings practicing mindfulness mediation and relaxation response. Outcome measures: The main outcome measure was a post 6-minute-walk test (6MWT) Borg dyspnea assessment. Other outcome measures included health-related quality of life measures, 6MWT distance, symptom scores, exacerbation rates, and measures of stress and mindfulness. Analysis of covariance compared differences in outcomes between groups; paired t test evaluated changes within groups. Results: Participants were predominantly elderly men with moderate to severe COPD. We found no improvements in dyspnea (post 6MWT Borg difference between the MBBT and support group was 0.3 (95% confidence interval [CI]: À

Hyperbolic contraction measuring systems for extensional flow

In this paper an experimental method for extensional measurements on medium viscosity fluids in contraction flow is evaluated through numerical simulations and experimental measurements. This measuring technique measures the pressure drop over a hyperbolic contraction, caused by fluid extension and fluid shear, where the extensional component is assumed to dominate. The present evaluative work advances our previous studies on this experimental method by introducing several contraction ratios and addressing different constitutive models of varying shear and extensional response. The constitutive models included are those of the constant viscosity Oldroyd-B and FENE-CR models, and the shear-thinning LPTT model. Examining the results, the impact of shear and first normal stress difference on the measured pressure drop are studied through numerical pressure drop predictions. In addition, stream function patterns are investigated to detect vortex development and influence of contraction ratio. The numerical predictions are further related to experimental measurements for the flow through a 15:1 contraction ratio with three different test fluids. The measured pressure drops are observed to exhibit the same trends as predicted in the numerical simulations, offering close correlation and tight predictive windows for experimental data capture. This result has demonstrated that the hyperbolic contraction flow is well able to detect such elastic fluid properties and that this is matched by numerical predictions in evaluation of their flow response. The hyperbolical contraction flow technique is commended for its distinct benefits: it is straightforward and simple to perform, the Hencky strain can be set by changing contraction ratio, non-homogeneous fluids can be tested, and one can directly determine the degree of elastic fluid behaviour. Based on matching of viscometric extensional viscosity response for FENE-CR and LPTT models, a decline is predicted in pressure drop for the shear-thinning LPTT model. This would indicate a modest impact of shear in the flow since such a pressure drop decline is relatively small. It is particularly noteworthy that the increase in pressure drop gathered from the experimental measurements is relatively high despite the low Deborah number range explored

Evaluation of nurse's attitudes toward adult patients of size

Abstract Background: Obesity is a growing epidemic in the United States, with waistlines expanding (overweight) for almost 66% of the population (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999 -2004). The attitude of society, which includes healthcare providers, toward people of size has traditionally been negative, regardless of their own gender, age, experience, and occupation. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether bariatric sensitivity training could improve nursing attitudes and beliefs toward adult obese patients and whether nurses' own body mass index (BMI) affected their attitude and belief scores. Methods: An on-line survey was conducted of nursing attitudes and beliefs regarding adult obese patients. The responses were compared between 1 hospital that offered bariatric sensitivity training and 1 that did not. The primary study measures were 2 scales that have been validated to assess weight bias: Attitudes Toward Obese Persons (ATOP) and Beliefs Against Obese Persons (BAOP). The primary outcome measures were the scores derived from the ATOP and BAOP scales. Results: Data were obtained from 332 on-line surveys, to which 266 nurses responded with complete data, 145 from hospital 1 (intervention) and 121 from hospital 2 (control). The mean ATOP scores for hospital 1 were modestly greater than those for hospital 2 (18.0 versus 16.1, P ϭ .03). However, no differences were found between the 2 hospitals for the mean BAOP scores (67.1 versus 67.1, P ϭ .86). No statistically significant differences were found between the 2 hospitals among the BMI groups for either ATOP or BAOP. Within each hospital, no statistically significant trend was found among the BMI groups for either ATOP or BAOP. The association of BMI with the overall ATOP (r ϭ .13, P ϭ .04) and BOAP (r ϭ .12, P ϭ .05) scores was very weak, although marginally significant. The association of the overall ATOP score with the BAOP score was weak, although significant (r ϭ .26, P Ͻ .001). Conclusion: Annual bariatric sensitivity training might improve nursing attitudes toward obese patients, but it does not improve nursing beliefs, regardless of the respondent's BMI. (Surg Obes Relat Dis 2011;7:536 -540.

Improving the quality of self-monitoring blood glucose measurement: a study in reducing calibration errors. Diabetes Technol Ther.

ABSTRACT Background: Two independent studies reported that 16% of people who self-monitor blood glucose used incorrectly coded meters. The degree of analytical error, however, was not characterized. Our study objectives were to demonstrate that miscoding can cause analytical errors and to characterize the potential amount of bias that can occur. The impact of calibration error with three selfblood glucose monitoring systems (BGMSs), one of which has an autocoding feature, is reported. Methods: Fresh capillary fingerstick blood from 50 subjects, 18 men and 32 women ranging in age from 23 to 82 years, was used to measure glucose with three BGMSs. Two BGMSs required manual coding and were purposely miscoded using numbers different from the one recommended for the reagent lot used. Two properly coded meters of each BGMS were included to assess within-system variability. Different reagent lots were used to challenge a third system that had autocoding capability and could not be miscoded. Results: Some within-system comparisons showed deviations of greater than Ϯ30% when results obtained with miscoded meters were compared with data obtained with ones programmed using the correct code number. Similar erroneous results were found when the miscoded meter results were compared with those obtained with a glucose analyzer. For some miscoded meter and test strip combinations, error grid analysis showed that 90% of results fell into zones indicating altered clinical action. Such inaccuracies were not found with the BGMS having the autocoding feature. Conclusions: When certain meter code number settings of two BGMSs were used in conjunction with test strips having code numbers that did not match, statistically and clinically inaccurate results were obtained. Coding errors resulted in analytical errors of greater than Ϯ30% (Ϫ31.6 to ϩ60.9%). These results confirm the value of a BGMS with an automatic coding feature

Validation, comparison, and combination of algorithms for automatic detection of pulmonary nodules in computed tomography images: The LUNA16 challenge

Contains fulltext : 179531.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access)Automatic detection of pulmonary nodules in thoracic computed tomography (CT) scans has been an active area of research for the last two decades. However, there have only been few studies that provide a comparative performance evaluation of different systems on a common database. We have therefore set up the LUNA16 challenge, an objective evaluation framework for automatic nodule detection algorithms using the largest publicly available reference database of chest CT scans, the LIDC-IDRI data set. In LUNA16, participants develop their algorithm and upload their predictions on 888 CT scans in one of the two tracks: 1) the complete nodule detection track where a complete CAD system should be developed, or 2) the false positive reduction track where a provided set of nodule candidates should be classified. This paper describes the setup of LUNA16 and presents the results of the challenge so far. Moreover, the impact of combining individual systems on the detection performance was also investigated. It was observed that the leading solutions employed convolutional networks and used the provided set of nodule candidates. The combination of these solutions achieved an excellent sensitivity of over 95% at fewer than 1.0 false positives per scan. This highlights the potential of combining algorithms to improve the detection performance. Our observer study with four expert readers has shown that the best system detects nodules that were missed by expert readers who originally annotated the LIDC-IDRI data. We released this set of additional nodules for further development of CAD systems.13 p