286 research outputs found
Hubungan Lingkar Kepala Dengan Perkembangan Anak Sindrom Down
Background: Down syndrome is congenital disease caused by abnormalities in 21st chromosome. Small head circumference and developmental delay are characteristics of children with Down Syndrome. Head circumference is the best predictor of growth and development of the brain. Overexpression genes on 21st chromosome alters the structure and function of the brain and eventually interfere with the child\u27s development.Objective:To analyze the association between head circumference and development of child with Down syndrome.Methods: This study was a retrospective observational analytic. Twenty one samples collected from medical records of children with Down syndrome in RSUP dr. Karyadi Semarang. Manually and x-ray photo head circumference, BB / TB, congenital heart disease, thyroid status, and development DDST II were collected in this study. Fisher were used for statistical analysis.Results: Bivariate Fisher test for head circumference which measured by x-ray photograph showed significant relation between head circumference (cephalic index) and the development of gross motor sector (p <0.001); personal social (p = 0.028) and general development (p = 0.012). Besides, for modulus index and manually measured, there were no significant relationship between head circumference and development of children with Down syndrome.Conclusion: There is an association between head circumference (cephalic index) and development of child with Down Syndrome
A surrogate model for simulation–optimization of aquifer systems subjected to seawater intrusion
This study presents the application of Evolutionary Polynomial Regression (EPR) as a pattern recognition system to predicate the behavior of nonlinear and computationally complex aquifer systems subjected to
seawater intrusion (SWI). The developed EPR models are integrated with a multi objective genetic algorithm
to examine the efficiency of different arrangements of hydraulic barriers in controlling SWI. The
objective of the optimization is to minimize the economic and environmental costs. The developed EPR model is trained and tested for different control scenarios, on sets of data including different pumping
patterns as inputs and the corresponding set of numerically calculated outputs. The results are compared
with those obtained by direct linking of the numerical simulation model with the optimization
tool. The results of the two above-mentioned simulation–optimization (S/O) strategies are in excellent
agreement. Three management scenarios are considered involving simultaneous use of abstraction and
recharge to control SWI. Minimization of cost of the management process and the salinity levels in the
aquifer are the two objective functions used for evaluating the efficiency of each management scenario.
By considering the effects of the unsaturated zone, a subsurface pond is used to collect the water and artificially
recharge the aquifer. The distinguished feature of EPR emerges in its application as the metamodel
in the S/O process where it significantly reduces the overall computational complexity and time. The
results also suggest that the application of other sources of water such as treated waste water (TWW)
and/or storm water, coupled with continuous abstraction of brackish water and its desalination and use is the most cost effective method to control SWI. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to investigate
the effects of different external sources of recharge water and different recovery ratios of desalination
plant on the optimal results
Microwave-assisted synthesis of black phosphorus quantum dots: Efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction
A simple and efficient approach to produce high quality black phosphorus quantum dots (BPQDs) in a common organic solvent using a microwave technique is developed in this work. This novel approach produces a stable dispersion of crystalline BPQDs with an average lateral size of 2.95 nm and thickness of 3.59 nm. We demonstrated that the as-prepared BPQDs can be an efficient electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Our BPQDs without any supporting catalyst exhibited an impressive electrocatalytic activity for OER with an overpotential of 450 mV at 10 mA cm-2, whilst the traditional CoOx electrocatalyst showed an overpotential of 480 mV. By integrating our BPQDs with CoOx, we achieved an outstanding electrocatalytic OER performance with an overpotential of 360 mV at 10 mA cm-2, a low Tafel slope of 58.5 mV dec-1 and excellent stability, which was even comparable to the commercial IrO2 and RuO2 systems. This work introduces a promising protocol to prepare scalable BPQDs for real-world applications including electrocatalysis
Acceptability of HIV self-sampling kits (TINY vial) among people of black African ethnicity in the UK: a qualitative study
Background:
Increasing routine HIV testing among key populations is a public health imperative, so improving access to acceptable testing options for those in need is a priority. Despite increasing targeted distribution and uptake of HIV self-sampling kits (SSKs) among men who have sex with men in the UK, little is known about why targeted SSK interventions for black African users are not as wide-spread or well-used. This paper addresses this key gap, offering insight into why some groups may be less likely than others to adopt certain types of SSK interventions in particular contexts. These data were collected during the development phase of a larger study to explore the feasibility and acceptability of targeted distribution of SSKs to black African people.
Methods:
We undertook 6 focus groups with members of the public who self-identified as black African (n = 48), 6 groups with specialists providing HIV and social services to black African people (n = 53), and interviews with HIV specialist consultants and policy-makers (n = 9). Framework analysis was undertaken, using inductive and deductive analysis to develop and check themes.
Results:
We found three valuable components of targeted SSK interventions for this population: the use of settings and technologies that increase choice and autonomy; targeted offers of HIV testing that preserve privacy and do not exacerbate HIV stigma; and ensuring that the specific kit being used (in this case, the TINY vial) is perceived as simple and reliable.
Conclusions:
This unique and rigorous research offers insights into participants’ views on SSK interventions, offering key considerations when targeting this population.. Given the plethora of HIV testing options, our work demonstrates that those commissioning and delivering SSK interventions will need to clarify (for users and providers) how each kit type and intervention design adds value. Most significantly, these findings demonstrate that without a strong locus of control over their own circumstances and personal information, black African people are less likely to feel that they can pursue an HIV test that is safe and secure. Thus, where profound social inequalities persist, so will inequalities in HIV testing uptake – by any means
Modulation of emotional appraisal by false physiological feedback during fMRI
BACKGROUND
James and Lange proposed that emotions are the perception of physiological reactions. Two-level theories of emotion extend this model to suggest that cognitive interpretations of physiological changes shape self-reported emotions. Correspondingly false physiological feedback of evoked or tonic bodily responses can alter emotional attributions. Moreover, anxiety states are proposed to arise from detection of mismatch between actual and anticipated states of physiological arousal. However, the neural underpinnings of these phenomena previously have not been examined.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
We undertook a functional brain imaging (fMRI) experiment to investigate how both primary and second-order levels of physiological (viscerosensory) representation impact on the processing of external emotional cues. 12 participants were scanned while judging face stimuli during both exercise and non-exercise conditions in the context of true and false auditory feedback of tonic heart rate. We observed that the perceived emotional intensity/salience of neutral faces was enhanced by false feedback of increased heart rate. Regional changes in neural activity corresponding to this behavioural interaction were observed within included right anterior insula, bilateral mid insula, and amygdala. In addition, right anterior insula activity was enhanced during by asynchronous relative to synchronous cardiac feedback even with no change in perceived or actual heart rate suggesting this region serves as a comparator to detect physiological mismatches. Finally, BOLD activity within right anterior insula and amygdala predicted the corresponding changes in perceived intensity ratings at both a group and an individual level.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE
Our findings identify the neural substrates supporting behavioural effects of false physiological feedback, and highlight mechanisms that underlie subjective anxiety states, including the importance of the right anterior insula in guiding second-order "cognitive" representations of bodily arousal state
Modulation of emotional appraisal by false physiological feedback during fMRI
BACKGROUND
James and Lange proposed that emotions are the perception of physiological reactions. Two-level theories of emotion extend this model to suggest that cognitive interpretations of physiological changes shape self-reported emotions. Correspondingly false physiological feedback of evoked or tonic bodily responses can alter emotional attributions. Moreover, anxiety states are proposed to arise from detection of mismatch between actual and anticipated states of physiological arousal. However, the neural underpinnings of these phenomena previously have not been examined.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
We undertook a functional brain imaging (fMRI) experiment to investigate how both primary and second-order levels of physiological (viscerosensory) representation impact on the processing of external emotional cues. 12 participants were scanned while judging face stimuli during both exercise and non-exercise conditions in the context of true and false auditory feedback of tonic heart rate. We observed that the perceived emotional intensity/salience of neutral faces was enhanced by false feedback of increased heart rate. Regional changes in neural activity corresponding to this behavioural interaction were observed within included right anterior insula, bilateral mid insula, and amygdala. In addition, right anterior insula activity was enhanced during by asynchronous relative to synchronous cardiac feedback even with no change in perceived or actual heart rate suggesting this region serves as a comparator to detect physiological mismatches. Finally, BOLD activity within right anterior insula and amygdala predicted the corresponding changes in perceived intensity ratings at both a group and an individual level.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE
Our findings identify the neural substrates supporting behavioural effects of false physiological feedback, and highlight mechanisms that underlie subjective anxiety states, including the importance of the right anterior insula in guiding second-order "cognitive" representations of bodily arousal state
Unifying dimensions in coherence relations: How various annotation frameworks are related
In this paper, we show how three often used and seemingly different discourse annotation frameworks – Penn Discourse Treebank (PDTB), Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST), and Segmented Discourse Representation Theory – can be related by using a set of unifying dimensions. These dimensions are taken from the Cognitive approach to Coherence Relations and combined with more fine-grained additional features from the frameworks themselves to yield a posited set of dimensions that can successfully map three frameworks. The resulting interface will allow researchers to find identical or at least closely related relations within sets of annotated corpora, even if they are annotated within different frameworks. Furthermore, we tested our unified dimension (UniDim) approach by comparing PDTB and RST annotations of identical news- paper texts and converting their original end label annotations of relations into the accompanying values per dimension. Subsequently, rates of overlap in the attributed values per dimension were analyzed. Results indicate that the pro- posed dimensions indeed create an interface that makes existing annotation systems “talk to each other.
Family history in stone disease: how important is it for the onset of the disease and the incidence of recurrence?
The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible effect of a positive family history on the age at the onset of urinary stone disease and the frequency of subsequent symptomatic episodes relating to the disease. Between March 2006 and April 2009, patients with either a newly diagnosed or a previously documented stone disease were included in the study program. They were required to fill in a questionnaire and divided into two groups according to the positive family history of stone disease; group I comprised patients with a family history for urinary calculi and group II those without. Depending on the data obtained from questionnaires, all patients were evaluated in detail with respect to the age at the onset of the stone disease, stone passage and interventions over time, time to first recurrence (time interval between the onset of the disease and the first recurrence), number of total stone episodes and recurrence intervals. 1,595 patients suffering from urolithiasis with the mean age of 41.7 (14–69 years) were evaluated with respect to their past history of the disease. There were 437 patients in group I and 1,158 in group II. There was no statistically significant difference between the mean age value of two groups (P = 0.09). When both genders in group I were analyzed separately, female patients tended to have higher rate of family history positivity than males. Comparative evaluation of the age at the onset of the disease between the two groups did reveal that stone formation occured at younger ages in patients with positive family history [P = 0.01 (males), P = 0.01 (females)] and the mean age of onset of the disease was lower in males than females in group I (P = 0.01). Patients in group I had relatively more stone episodes from the onset of the disease [P < 0.01 (2–4 episodes), P < 0.01 (≥5 episodes)]. Male patients were associated with higher number of stone episodes (P = 0.01). Mean time interval between recurrences was noted to be significantly shorter in group I patients when compared with patients in group II [P < 0.01 (males), P = 0.02 (females)]. In conclusion, our results showed that urinary stone formation may occur at younger ages and that the frequency of symptom episodes may be higher in patients with a positive family history. We believe that the positive family history for urinary stone disease could give us valuable information concerning the onset as well as the severity of the disease
Discovering Communities for Microgrids with Spatial-Temporal Net Energy
Smart grid has integrated an increasing number of distributed energy resources to improve the efficiency and flexibility of power generation and consumption as well as the resilience of the power grid. The energy consumers on the power grid, e.g., households, equipped with distributed energy resources can be considered as “microgrids” that both generate and consume electricity. In this paper, we study the energy community discovery problems which identify energy communities for the microgrids to facilitate energy management, e.g., load balancing, energy sharing and trading on the grid. Specifically, we present efficient algorithms to discover such communities of microgrids considering both their geo-locations and net energy (NE) over any period. Finally, we experimentally validate the performance of the algorithms using both synthetic and real datasets
Vision-based real-time position control of a semi-automated system for robot-assisted joint fracture surgery
Purpose: Joint fracture surgery quality can be improved by robotic system with high-accuracy and high-repeatability fracture fragment manipulation. A new real-time vision-based system for fragment manipulation during robot-assisted fracture surgery was developed and tested. Methods: The control strategy was accomplished by merging fast open-loop control with vision-based control. This two-phase process is designed to eliminate the open-loop positioning errors by closing the control loop using visual feedback provided by an optical tracking system. Evaluation of the control system accuracy was performed using robot positioning trials, and fracture reduction accuracy was tested in trials on ex vivo porcine model.Results: The system resulted in high fracture reduction reliability with a reduction accuracy of 0.09mm (translations) and of (Formula presented.) (rotations), maximum observed errors in the order of 0.12mm (translations) and of (Formula presented.) (rotations), and a reduction repeatability of 0.02mm and (Formula presented.). Conclusions: The proposed vision-based system was shown to be effective and suitable for real joint fracture surgical procedures, contributing a potential improvement of their quality
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