Reliability and Validity of the Monitored Functional Task Evaluation (MFTE) for Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

This article describes the development of a new functional measure — the Monitored Functional Task Evaluation (MFTE) — a symptom-limited evaluation that is used to measure the functional performance of an individual with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and to document a client's physiological changes through repeated testing. Stage I of the study included developing the content validity of the instrument. Stage II consisted of establishing the performance profile, test-retest and inter-rater reliability using a convenience sample of 27 inpatients and outpatients who had COPD. In stage III, the criterion-related and discriminative validity of the instrument was verified in a retrospective sample of 124 inpatients and day patients who had COPD. Results indicated that there was high intra- and inter-rater reliability for the total score of MFTE. Significant correlation of the MFTE was found with parameters such as Moser's Activities of Daily Living (ADL) class, COPD disability class, 6-minute walking distance, work capacity in terms the ratio of the metabolic rate associated with a given activity to the resting metabolic rate, and the fatigue dimension of the Chronic Respiratory Disease Questionnaire. In addition, prediction of group membership to Moser's ADL class revealed that 52.4% of the original grouped cases could be correctly classified by the MFTE alone. In conclusion, the MFTE is a useful measure to evaluate functional performance as well as document physiological changes in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD from both conceptual and empirical perspectives

Self-consistent quantum effects in the quark meson coupling model

We derive the equation of state of nuclear matter including vacuum polarization effects arising from the nucleons and the sigma mesons in the quark-meson coupling model which incorporates explicitly quark degrees of freedom with quark coupled to the scalar and vector mesons. This leads to a softer equation of state for nuclear matter giving a lower value of incompressibility than would be reached without quantum effects. The {\it in-medium} nucleon and sigma meson masses are also calculated in a self-consistent manner.Comment: 10 pages, latex, 5 figure

Density Dependent Hadron Field Theory

A fully covariant approach to a density dependent hadron field theory is presented. The relation between in--medium NN interactions and field--theoretical meson--nucleon vertices is discussed. The medium dependence of nuclear interactions is described by a functional dependence of the meson--nucleon vertices on the baryon field operators. As a consequence, the Euler--Lagrange equations lead to baryon rearrangement self--energies which are not obtained when only a parametric dependence of the vertices on the density is assumed. It is shown that the approach is energy--momentum conserving and thermodynamically consistent. Solutions of the field equations are studied in the mean--field approximation. Descriptions of the medium dependence in terms of the baryon scalar and vector density are investigated. Applications to infinite nuclear matter and finite nuclei are discussed. Density dependent coupling constants obtained from Dirac--Brueckner calculations with the Bonn NN-potentials are used. Results from Hartree calculations for energy spectra, binding energies and charge density distributions of $^{16}O$, $^{40,48}Ca$ and $^{208}Pb$ are presented. Comparisons to data strongly support the importance of rearrangement in a relativistic density dependent field theory. Most striking is the simultanuous improvement of charge radii, charge densities and binding energies. The results indicate the appearance of a new "Coester line" in the nuclear matter equation of state.Comment: 48 LateX pages, 12 Figures, figures and full paper are available as postscript files by anonymous ftp at ftp://theorie.physik.uni-giessen.de/dd

Effect of tensor couplings in a relativistic Hartree approach for finite nuclei

The relativistic Hartree approach describing the bound states of both nucleons and anti-nucleons in finite nuclei has been extended to include tensor couplings for the $\omega$- and $\rho$-meson. After readjusting the parameters of the model to the properties of spherical nuclei, the effect of tensor-coupling terms rises the spin-orbit force by a factor of 2, while a large effective nucleon mass $m^{*}/M_{N} \approx 0.8$ sustains. The overall nucleon spectra of shell-model states are improved evidently. The predicted anti-nucleon spectra in the vacuum are deepened about 20 -- 30 MeV.Comment: 31 pages, 4 postscript figures include

Neutron star properties in the quark-meson coupling model

The effects of internal quark structure of baryons on the composition and structure of neutron star matter with hyperons are investigated in the quark-meson coupling (QMC) model. The QMC model is based on mean-field description of nonoverlapping spherical bags bound by self-consistent exchange of scalar and vector mesons. The predictions of this model are compared with quantum hadrodynamic (QHD) model calibrated to reproduce identical nuclear matter saturation properties. By employing a density dependent bag constant through direct coupling to the scalar field, the QMC model is found to exhibit identical properties as QHD near saturation density. Furthermore, this modified QMC model provides well-behaved and continuous solutions at high densities relevant to the core of neutron stars. Two additional strange mesons are introduced which couple only to the strange quark in the QMC model and to the hyperons in the QHD model. The constitution and structure of stars with hyperons in the QMC and QHD models reveal interesting differences. This suggests the importance of quark structure effects in the baryons at high densities.Comment: 28 pages, 10 figures, to appear in Physical Review

Biometric privacy protection : guidelines and technologies

Compared with traditional techniques used to establish the identity of a person, biometric systems offer a greater confidence level that the authenticated individual is not impersonated by someone else. However, it is necessary to consider different privacy and security aspects in order to prevent possible thefts and misuses of biometric data. The effective protection of the privacy must encompass different aspects, such as the perceived and real risks pertaining to the users, the specificity of the application, the adoption of correct policies, and data protection methods as well. This chapter focuses on the most important privacy issues related to the use of biometrics, it presents actual guidelines for the implementation of privacy-protective biometric systems, and proposes a discussion of the methods for the protection of biometric data

Anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2018

Anemia is a globally widespread condition in women and is associated with reduced economic productivity and increased mortality worldwide. Here we map annual 2000–2018 geospatial estimates of anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age (15–49 years) across 82 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), stratify anemia by severity and aggregate results to policy-relevant administrative and national levels. Additionally, we provide subnational disparity analyses to provide a comprehensive overview of anemia prevalence inequalities within these countries and predict progress toward the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target (WHO GNT) to reduce anemia by half by 2030. Our results demonstrate widespread moderate improvements in overall anemia prevalence but identify only three LMICs with a high probability of achieving the WHO GNT by 2030 at a national scale, and no LMIC is expected to achieve the target in all their subnational administrative units. Our maps show where large within-country disparities occur, as well as areas likely to fall short of the WHO GNT, offering precision public health tools so that adequate resource allocation and subsequent interventions can be targeted to the most vulnerable populations.Peer reviewe