Choosing a suitable data-analytics software for a company’s operations

Abstract. In this research, the purpose was to study the different factors that contribute to a company’s consideration around choosing a suitable data-analytics software to be adopted into their operations. The research was based around the notion that there currently exists a gap between the information technology and the companies, where valuable data is being wasted by the companies at the cost of their competitiveness due to their limited capabilities in data analytics. Data-analytics software were noted to be potentially valuable for the companies by being able to help bridging the gap between them and the information technology by allowing them to make more use out of data in their operations, but this was not to be taken for granted at any situation due to the overall complexity and extent of the phenomenon. The research was conducted by performing a literature review on the existing scientific literature around the phenomenon and a case study, which provided a concrete example from a real-world setting. The combined results from these research methods were then analyzed together in a further analysis to identify relevant factors and describe their possible effects as opportunities and challenges for every company to consider, which may eventually steer their choice of a suitable data-analytics software into one direction or another. This research tries to provide better understanding around this process, which is supposed to lead to a specific choice and uncover the reasoning behind it. This can essentially present useful guidelines for the companies interested in adopting data-analytics software into their operations. The results of the research pointed out that there are plenty of different options for a company to choose from, which can prove out to be suitable for their operations. The choice itself is eventually based on the company’s own characteristics and requirements, which may require different forms of evaluations depending on their nature. In addition, it was emphasized that users should be given a central role in the consideration, because they are eventually responsible for the creation of value through data-analytics software and they are significantly being affected by the quality of the software. The opportunities and challenges also presented important points to consider, because their potential effects can easily be overlooked by many companies. The results emphasized that companies should approach the choice with careful consideration from a unique perspective, where the presented issues can essentially be utilized as useful guidelines to increase their chances of finding a suitable data-analytics software for their operations and eventually gaining value from it. However, it can be argued that data-analytics software are still surrounded with a fair amount of uncertainty relating to the companies’ return of investment, which suggests that there is still a lot of work to be done in this field

Pairing instabilities in quasi-two-dimensional Fermi gases

We study non-equilibrium dynamics of ultracold two-component Fermi gases in low-dimensional geometries after the interactions are quenched from weakly interacting to strongly interacting regime. We develop a T-matrix formalism that takes into account the interplay between Pauli blocking and tight confinement in low-dimensional geometries. We employ our formalism to study the formation of molecules in quasi-two-dimensional Fermi gases near Feshbach resonance and show that the rate at which molecules form depends strongly on the transverse confinement. Furthermore, Pauli blocking gives rise to a sizable correction to the binding energy of molecules.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Splitting times of doubly quantized vortices in dilute Bose-Einstein condensates

Recently, the splitting of a topologically created doubly quantized vortex into two singly quantized vortices was experimentally investigated in dilute atomic cigar-shaped Bose-Einstein condensates [Y. Shin et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 160406 (2004)]. In particular, the dependency of the splitting time on the peak particle density was studied. We present results of theoretical simulations which closely mimic the experimental set-up. Contrary to previous theoretical studies, claiming that thermal excitations are the essential mechanism in initiating the splitting, we show that the combination of gravitational sag and time dependency of the trapping potential alone suffices to split the doubly quantized vortex in time scales which are in good agreement with the experiments. We also study the dynamics of the resulting singly quantized vortices which typically intertwine--especially, a peculiar vortex chain structure appears for certain parameter values.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Cellular state landscape and herpes simplex virus type 1 infection progression are connected

Prediction, prevention and treatment of virus infections require understanding of cell-to-cell variability that leads to heterogenous disease outcomes, but the source of this heterogeneity has yet to be clarified. To study the multimodal response of single human cells to herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection, we mapped high-dimensional viral and cellular state spaces throughout the infection using multiplexed imaging and quantitative single-cell measurements of viral and cellular mRNAs and proteins. Here we show that the high-dimensional cellular state scape can predict heterogenous infections, and cells move through the cellular state landscape according to infection progression. Spatial information reveals that infection changes the cellular state of both infected cells and of their neighbors. The multiplexed imaging of HSV-1-induced cellular modifications links infection progression to changes in signaling responses, transcriptional activity, and processing bodies. Our data show that multiplexed quantification of responses at the single-cell level, across thousands of cells helps predict infections and identify new targets for antivirals

Polyprotein processing as a determinant for in vitro activity of Semliki Forest virus replicase

Peer reviewe

Whom to blame for metastasis, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition or the tumor microenvironment?

Changes in the tumor microenvironment (TME) can trigger the activation of otherwise non-malignant cells to become highly aggressive and motile. This is evident during initial tumor growth when the poor vascularization in tumors generates hypoxic regions that trigger the latent embryonic program, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), in epithelial carcinoma cells (e-cars) leading to highly motile mesenchymal-like carcinoma cells (m-cars), which also acquire cancer stem cell properties. After that, specific bidirectional interactions take place between m-cars and the cellular components of TME at different stages of metastasis. These interactions include several vicious positive feedback loops in which m-cars trigger a phenotypic switch, causing normal stromal cells to become pro-tumorigenic, which then further promote the survival, motility, and proliferation of m-cars. Accordingly, there is not a single culprit accounting for metastasis. Instead both m-cars and the TME dynamically interact, evolve and promote metastasis. In this review, we discuss the current status of the known interactions between m-cars and the TME during different stages of metastasis and how these interactions promote the metastatic activity of highly malignant m-cars by promoting their invasive mesenchymal phenotype and CSC properties. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Effect of Inhaled Xenon on Cerebral White Matter Damage in Comatose Survivors of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Randomized Clinical Trial

IMPORTANCE: Evidence from preclinical models indicates that xenon gas can prevent the development of cerebral damage after acute global hypoxic-ischemic brain injury but, thus far, these putative neuroprotective properties have not been reported in human studies. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of inhaled xenon on ischemic white matter damage assessed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A randomized single-blind phase 2 clinical drug trial conducted between August 2009 and March 2015 at 2 multipurpose intensive care units in Finland. One hundred ten comatose patients (aged 24-76 years) who had experienced out-of-hospital cardiac arrest were randomized. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomly assigned to receive either inhaled xenon combined with hypothermia (33°C) for 24 hours (n = 55 in the xenon group) or hypothermia treatment alone (n = 55 in the control group). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary end point was cerebral white matter damage as evaluated by fractional anisotropy from diffusion tensor MRI scheduled to be performed between 36 and 52 hours after cardiac arrest. Secondary end points included neurological outcome assessed using the modified Rankin Scale (score 0 [no symptoms] through 6 [death]) and mortality at 6 months. RESULTS: Among the 110 randomized patients (mean age, 61.5 years; 80 men [72.7%]), all completed the study. There were MRI data from 97 patients (88.2%) a median of 53 hours (interquartile range [IQR], 47-64 hours) after cardiac arrest. The mean global fractional anisotropy values were 0.433 (SD, 0.028) in the xenon group and 0.419 (SD, 0.033) in the control group. The age-, sex-, and site-adjusted mean global fractional anisotropy value was 3.8% higher (95% CI, 1.1%-6.4%) in the xenon group (adjusted mean difference, 0.016 [95% CI, 0.005-0.027], P = .006). At 6 months, 75 patients (68.2%) were alive. Secondary end points at 6 months did not reveal statistically significant differences between the groups. In ordinal analysis of the modified Rankin Scale, the median (IQR) value was 1 (1-6) in the xenon group and 1 (0-6) in the control group (median difference, 0 [95% CI, 0-0]; P = .68). The 6-month mortality rate was 27.3% (15/55) in the xenon group and 34.5% (19/55) in the control group (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.49 [95% CI, 0.23-1.01]; P = .053). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Among comatose survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, inhaled xenon combined with hypothermia compared with hypothermia alone resulted in less white matter damage as measured by fractional anisotropy of diffusion tensor MRI. However, there was no statistically significant difference in neurological outcomes or mortality at 6 months. These preliminary findings require further evaluation in an adequately powered clinical trial designed to assess clinical outcomes associated with inhaled xenon among survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00879892

Production of qqQQ final states in ee collisions in the left-right symmetric model

We consider the reaction ee ->qqQQ as a test of lepton number non-conservation in the framework of the left-right-symmetric electroweak model. The main contributions to this process are due to Majorana neutrino exchange in t-channel and doubly charged Higgs (Delta{--}) exchange in s-channel with a pair of right-handed weak bosons (WR) as intermediate state. We show that in a linear ee collider with the collision energy of 1 TeV (1.5 TeV) the cross section of this process is 0.01 fb (1 fb), and it will, for the anticipated luminosity of 10**{35} cm**{-2}, be detectable below the WR threshold. We study the sensitivity of the reaction on the masses of the heavy neutrino, WR and Delta{--}.Comment: 24 pages, 9 eps figures, uses axodraw.st