Virtualization Technology to Allocate Data Centre Resources Dynamically Based on Application Demands in Cloud Computing

No Abstrac

A Web-based interactive Student Advising system using Java frameworks

The use of open source frameworks and tools has become popular in Java development. These frameworks and tools have core strengths and weaknesses and are selected accordingly for development. Consequently, one of the key issues that developers face is to integrate and configure these tools together. This paper demonstrates the use of popular Java frameworks and tools to develop a Web-based interactive Student Registration and Advising system

How States Use Medicaid to Cover Key Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Services: Results of a 50-State Survey (2018 Update)

There is now substantial evidence that young children’s mental health plays a critical role in their early learning and school readiness, long-term school success and self-sufficiency, and future health and mental health outcomes. Fortunately, many states are working to strengthen supports for infants’ and young children’s mental health. This brief examines states’ Medicaid coverage for key infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) services, along with policies that contribute to service access and quality. It presents the results of an updated 50-state survey that gathered information from state administrators about Medicaid coverage and policies related to the following services for children from birth to age 6: Child screening for social-emotional problems; Maternal depression screening in pediatric and family medicine settings; Developmentally appropriate diagnosis using DC:0–5; Family navigators to help families access services; Mental health services in pediatric, child care and early education, and home settings; Dyadic (parent-child) treatment; Parenting programs to address child mental health need

Deep-learning based segmentation of challenging myelin sheaths

The segmentation of axons and myelin in electron microscopy images allows neurologists to highlight the density of axons and the thickness of the myelin surrounding them. These properties are of great interest for preventing and anticipating white matter diseases. This task is generally performed manually, which is a long and tedious process. We present an update of the methods used to compute that segmentation via machine learning. Our model is based on the architecture of the U-Net network. Our main contribution consists in using transfer learning in the encoder part of the UNet network, as well as test time augmentation when segmenting. We use the SE-Resnet50 backbone weights which was pre-trained on the ImageNet 2012 dataset. We used a data set of 23 images with the corresponding segmented masks, which also was challenging due to its extremely small size. The results show very encouraging performances compared to the state-of-the-art with an average precision of 92% on the test images. It is also important to note that the available samples were taken from elderly mices in the corpus callosum. This represented an additional difficulty, compared to related works that had samples taken from the spinal cord or the optic nerve of healthy individuals, with better contours and less debri

On the symmetry of the central dome of the Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal attracts millions of visitors annually. It is renowned for its perfection, symmetry and attention to detail; its beauty and magnificence appeal to almost all viewers. It does, however, possess some slight imperfections that escape most observers. Revisiting both, the appreciations and criticisms, this study analyses possible flaws in the symmetry of the external central dome and discusses likely reasons for the flaws

Are all metal-on-metal hip revision operations contributing to the National Joint Registry implant survival curves? : a study comparing the London Implant Retrieval Centre and National Joint Registry datasets

AIMS: The National Joint Registry for England, Wales and Northern Ireland (NJR) has extended its scope to report on hospital, surgeon and implant performance. Data linkage of the NJR to the London Implant Retrieval Centre (LIRC) has previously evaluated data quality for hip primary procedures, but did not assess revision records. METHODS: We analysed metal-on-metal hip revision procedures performed between 2003 and 2013. A total of 69 929 revision procedures from the NJR and 929 revised pairs of components from the LIRC were included. RESULTS: We were able to link 716 (77.1%) revision procedures on the NJR to the LIRC. This meant that 213 (22.9%) revision procedures at the LIRC could not be identified on the NJR. We found that 349 (37.6%) explants at the LIRC completed the full linkage process to both NJR primary and revision databases. Data completion was excellent (> 99.9%) for revision procedures reported to the NJR. DISCUSSION: This study has shown that only approximately one third of retrieved components at the LIRC, contributed to survival curves on the NJR. We recommend prospective registry-retrieval linkage as a tool to feedback missing and erroneous data to the NJR and improve data quality. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: Prospective Registry - retrieval linkage is a simple tool to evaluate and improve data quality on the NJR. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2016;98-B:33-9

A Hybrid Energy Model for Region Based Curve Evolution - Application to CTA Coronary Segmentation

Background and Objective: State-of-the-art medical imaging techniques have enabled non-invasive imaging of the internal organs. However, high volumes of imaging data make manual interpretation and delineation of abnormalities cumbersome for clinicians. These challenges have driven intensive research into efficient medical image segmentation. In this work, we propose a hybrid region-based energy formulation for effective segmentation in computed tomography angiography (CTA) imagery. Methods: The proposed hybrid energy couples an intensity-based local term with an efficient discontinuity-based global model of the image for optimal segmentation. The segmentation is achieved using a level set formulation due to the computational robustness. After validating the statistical significance of the hybrid energy, we applied the proposed model to solve an important clinical problem of 3D coronary segmentation. An improved seed detection method is used to initialize the level set evolution. Moreover, we employed an auto-correction feature that captures the emerging peripheries during the curve evolution for completeness of the coronary tree. Results: We evaluated the segmentation accuracy of the proposed energy model against the existing techniques in two stages. Qualitative and quantitative results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework with a consistent mean sensitivity and specificity measures of 80% across the CTA data. Moreover, a high degree of agreement with respect to the inter-observer differences justifies the generalization of the proposed method. Conclusions: The proposed method is effective to segment the coronary tree from the CTA volume based on hybrid image based energy, which can improve the clinicians ability to detect arterial abnormalities

AMR Sign - An Arthroscopic S-shaped Fold Signifying Adequate Medial Meniscus Repair

Introduction: The preferred management of medial meniscus tears has notably moved from meniscectomies towards repair. With a higher volume of meniscal repairs being done all across the world with every passing day, the lack of an objective and definitive sign suggesting the adequacy of its repair is daunting. The purpose of our study was to introduce a unique and novel arthroscopic sign formed after adequate repair of the medial meniscus, the AMR (Adequacy of Medial meniscus Repair) sign. We hypothesised that it is not only the objective end point for repair, but can also form the indicator for excellent clinical, functional, and radiological outcome even in the long term. Materials and methods: This was a multicentric, prospective study initiated by the corresponding author, and the findings validated subsequently by the other authors. Overall, it included 804 patients of isolated medial meniscus tear operated with arthroscopic all-inside technique between January 2014 and December 2017. Patients were segregated into three groups based on whether an S-shaped curve in the free, inner edge of the medial meniscus sign was formed post-repair, lost after further tightening, or not formed upon subjective completion of repair. All the patients were followed-up and evaluated based of medial joint line tenderness, McMurray’s test for medial meniscus, IKDC score, WOMET score, and radiologically using an MRI at the terminal follow-up. Results: The mean terminal follow-up was 42.34±4.54 months. There was significant (p<0.01) improvement in all patients at the terminal follow-up post-surgery, irrespective of the group. The group in which AMR sign was formed and maintained showed a significantly better functional outcome on terminal follow-up as well as lower failure rates compared to the other two groups. Conclusion: AMR sign is an S-shaped fold at the inner, free edge of medial meniscus, formed after an adequate repair of isolated medial meniscus tear, as viewed on arthroscopy. It is an objective sign denoting regained integrity of the collagen architecture of the medial meniscus following repair. It is also a reliable indicator of excellent long term functional, clinical, and radiological outcome and also lower failure rates in patients after arthroscopic medial meniscus repair