5,477 research outputs found
Adoption of Free Open Source Geographic Information System Solution for Health Sector in Zanzibar Tanzania
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The study aims at developing in-depth understanding on how Open Source Geographic Information System technology is used to provide solutions for data visualization in the health sector of Zanzibar, Tanzania. The study focuses on implementing the health visualization solutions for the purpose of bridging the gap during the transition period from proprietary software to the Free Open-Source Software using Key Indicator Data System. The developed tool facilitates data integration between the two District Health Information Software versions and hence served as a gateway solution during the transition process. Implementation challenges that include outdated spatial data and the reluctance of the key users in coping with the new Geographical Information System technologies were also identified. Participatory action research and interviews were used in understanding the requirements for the new tool to facilitate the smooth system development for better health service delivery.\u
The effect of the thermal conductivity of the substrate on droplet evaporation
The evaporation of liquid droplets is of fundamental importance to industry, with a vast number of applications including ink-jet printing, spray cooling and DNA mapping, and has been the subject of considerable theoretical and experimental research in recent years. Significant recent papers include those by Deegan [1], Deegan et al. [2], Hu and Larson [3], Poulard et al. [4], Sultan et al. [5], and Shahidzadeh-Bonn et al. [6]
Reconnection of superfluid vortex bundles
Using the vortex filament model and the Gross Pitaevskii nonlinear
Schroedinger equation, we show that bundles of quantised vortex lines in helium
II are structurally robust and can reconnect with each other maintaining their
identity. We discuss vortex stretching in superfluid turbulence and show that,
during the bundle reconnection process, Kelvin waves of large amplitude are
generated, in agreement with the finding that helicity is produced by nearly
singular vortex interactions in classical Euler flows.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Social vs. practical problems in attaining a colonoscopy: Different patient profiles?
Background: Colonoscopy is an effective procedure for identifying precancerous polyps and cancerous lesions, but it is unlike other cancer screening tools in that it requires sedation and thus assistance from at least one other individual. The intent of this paper was to identify logistical problems in completing the colonoscopy and to examine their relationships with sociodemographic characteristics.
Methods: All eligible patients (n = 2500) from two academic-affiliated colonoscopy centers (one free standing, one hospital-based) were invited to participate in an onsite, pre-colonoscopy survey; patients agreeing to participate (n = 1841, RR = 73.6%) received a $5.00 gift card. Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) was used to identify the underlying dimensional structure of the problems. Bivariate statistics were performed to compare demographic variables and health literacy levels among patients reporting problems. Multivariate logistic regression with a backwards conditional solution was used to determine the demographic variables independently associated with problems.
Results: Multiple correspondence analyses indicated two dimensions of problems (social and practical). Using logistic regression, social problems (e.g., finding someone to accompany the patient) were associated with not living in the same home as the driver, not working due to disability, and younger age. Practical problems (e.g., making an appointment) were associated with “other” minority race, poorer health, lower health literacy, and younger age.
Conclusion: Patients experience different problems completing the colonoscopy based on socio-demographics. Particularly at risk are patients who find it difficult to navigate the system, are of younger age, or who may have smaller social networks
Genetic Variability in Sorghum Exotic Accessions for Nutritional Attributes and Methane Emission Potential
Sorghum an important fodder crop grown for multiple uses as fodder, food and fuel constitute major chunk of forage produced in India. Over the past years Indian farmer’s preference to dual purpose sorghum has changed. Introduction of dual-purpose sorghum varieties to sustain rural development, enhance renewable energy production and improve food security has been stressed Genetic variability of sorghum may be exploited to bred dual purpose hybrids/varieties for higher fodder yield without compromising grain yield.Substantial variations in the fodder value of sorghum stovers have been reported that supports the concept of genetic enhancement to improve dual-purpose sorghum cultivars. Under the present study exotic accessions of sorghum were evaluated for their genetic variability in nutritive value and methane production potential
Superfluid 4He dynamics beyond quasiparticle excitations
The dynamics of superfluid 4He at and above the Landau quasiparticle regime
is investigated by high precision inelastic neutron scattering measurements of
the dynamic structure factor. A highly structured response is observed above
the familiar phonon-maxon-roton spectrum, characterized by sharp thresholds for
phonon-phonon, maxon-roton and roton-roton coupling processes. The experimental
dynamic structure factor is compared to the calculation of the same physical
quantity by a Dynamic Many-body theory including three-phonon processes
self-consistently. The theory is found to provide a quantitative description of
the dynamics of the correlated bosons for energies up to about three times that
of the Landau quasiparticles.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Classification of Quantitative Light-Induced Fluorescence Images Using Convolutional Neural Network
Images are an important data source for diagnosis and treatment of oral
diseases. The manual classification of images may lead to misdiagnosis or
mistreatment due to subjective errors. In this paper an image classification
model based on Convolutional Neural Network is applied to Quantitative
Light-induced Fluorescence images. The deep neural network outperforms other
state of the art shallow classification models in predicting labels derived
from three different dental plaque assessment scores. The model directly
benefits from multi-channel representation of the images resulting in improved
performance when, besides the Red colour channel, additional Green and Blue
colour channels are used.Comment: Full version of ICANN 2017 submissio
Management of infertility in a patient presenting with ovarian dysfunction and McCune-Albright syndrome
Persistent autonomous ovarian dysfunction in McCune-Albright syndrome
(MAS) patients is associated with the development of multiple dominant
follicles, premature luteinization, cyst formation, and anovulatory
infertility. Due to the mosaic distribution of the mutation, ovaries may
be unequally affected. In the current patient, the least affected ovary
became quiescent upon GnRH agonist-induced gonadotropin suppression.
Normoovulatory cycles were restored after subsequent removal of the
affected right ovary, and a pregnancy was established within 3 months. A
healthy unaffected girl was born at term after an uneventful pregnancy.
The placental tissue was normal, and the mutation was not detected in the
placenta, umbilical cord structures, or umbilical cord blood. GnRH analog
administration may help to identify those MAS patients who might benefit
from unilateral ovariectomy. Because a healthy baby was born, evidence is
provided suggesting that MAS is not passed on to the children from the
parents
Delivering Live Multimedia Streams to Mobile Hosts in a Wireless Internet with Multiple Content Aggregators
We consider the distribution of channels of live multimedia content (e.g., radio or TV broadcasts) via multiple content aggregators. In our work, an aggregator receives channels from content sources and redistributes them to a potentially large number of mobile hosts. Each aggregator can offer a channel in various configurations to cater for different wireless links, mobile hosts, and user preferences. As a result, a mobile host can generally choose from different configurations of the same channel offered by multiple alternative aggregators, which may be available through different interfaces (e.g., in a hotspot). A mobile host may need to handoff to another aggregator once it receives a channel. To prevent service disruption, a mobile host may for instance need to handoff to another aggregator when it leaves the subnets that make up its current aggregator�s service area (e.g., a hotspot or a cellular network).\ud
In this paper, we present the design of a system that enables (multi-homed) mobile hosts to seamlessly handoff from one aggregator to another so that they can continue to receive a channel wherever they go. We concentrate on handoffs between aggregators as a result of a mobile host crossing a subnet boundary. As part of the system, we discuss a lightweight application-level protocol that enables mobile hosts to select the aggregator that provides the �best� configuration of a channel. The protocol comes into play when a mobile host begins to receive a channel and when it crosses a subnet boundary while receiving the channel. We show how our protocol can be implemented using the standard IETF session control and description protocols SIP and SDP. The implementation combines SIP and SDP�s offer-answer model in a novel way
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