940 research outputs found
From Functional Analysis to CAD Modelling Based on Knowledge Transformation Driven by the Design Process
Part 5: Modelling for PLMInternational audienceMost of industries currently spend too much time to find information on past product design process. This considerably reduces the time it can devote to innovation. The authors assume that the design process meta-model seems very interesting for modelling the design rational and then for accelerating information retrieval. Indeed, the model of the design process partly supports every resources involved in decision making activities (i.e. who, what, when, why, where, how). The authors therefore propose the use of a MBE architecture for driving the product modelling based on the design process model. The UML activity diagrams and the IDEFØ meta-model are linked for supporting automatic generation ofproduct models using specific transformation knowledge. The CAD model is partly generated from the product functional analysis
Effect of photoperiod and host distribution on the horizontal transmission of Isaria fumosorosea (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae) in greenhouse whitefly assessed using a novel model bioassay
A model bioassay was used to evaluate the epizootic potential and determine the horizontal transmission efficiency of Isaria fumosorosea Trinidadian strains against Trialeurodes vaporariorum pharate adults under optimum conditions (25±0.5°C, ~100% RH) at two different photoperiods. Untreated pharate adults were arranged on laminated graph paper at different distributions to simulate varying infestation levels on a leaf surface. Four potential hosts were located 7, 14 and 21 mm away from a central sporulating cadaver simulating high, medium and low infestation levels, respectively. Percent hosts colonized were recorded 7, 12, 14 and 21 days post-treatment during a 16- and 24-h photophase. After 21 days, mean percent hosts colonized at the highest, middle and lowest infestation levels were 93 and 100%, 22 and 58%, 25 and 39% under a 16- and 24-h photophase, respectively. From the results, it was concluded that the longer the photophase, the greater the percentage of hosts colonized, and as host distance increased from the central sporulating cadaver, colonization decreased. The use of this novel model bioassay technique is the first attempt to evaluate the epizootic potential and determine the horizontal transmission efficiency of I. fumosorosea Trinidadian strains under optimal environmental conditions at different photoperiods. This bioassay can be used to assess horizontal transmission efficiency for the selection of fungi being considered for commercial biopesticide development
Overcoming challenges to data quality in the ASPREE clinical trial
© 2019 The Author(s). Background: Large-scale studies risk generating inaccurate and missing data due to the complexity of data collection. Technology has the potential to improve data quality by providing operational support to data collectors. However, this potential is under-explored in community-based trials. The Aspirin in reducing events in the elderly (ASPREE) trial developed a data suite that was specifically designed to support data collectors: the ASPREE Web Accessible Relational Database (AWARD). This paper describes AWARD and the impact of system design on data quality. Methods: AWARD's operational requirements, conceptual design, key challenges and design solutions for data quality are presented. Impact of design features is assessed through comparison of baseline data collected prior to implementation of key functionality (n = 1000) with data collected post implementation (n = 18,114). Overall data quality is assessed according to data category. Results: At baseline, implementation of user-driven functionality reduced staff error (from 0.3% to 0.01%), out-of-range data entry (from 0.14% to 0.04%) and protocol deviations (from 0.4% to 0.08%). In the longitudinal data set, which contained more than 39 million data values collected within AWARD, 96.6% of data values were entered within specified query range or found to be accurate upon querying. The remaining data were missing (3.4%). Participant non-attendance at scheduled study activity was the most common cause of missing data. Costs associated with cleaning data in ASPREE were lower than expected compared with reports from other trials. Conclusions: Clinical trials undertake complex operational activity in order to collect data, but technology rarely provides sufficient support. We find the AWARD suite provides proof of principle that designing technology to support data collectors can mitigate known causes of poor data quality and produce higher-quality data. Health information technology (IT) products that support the conduct of scheduled activity in addition to traditional data entry will enhance community-based clinical trials. A standardised framework for reporting data quality would aid comparisons across clinical trials
From Functional Analysis to CAD Modelling Based on Knowledge Transformation Driven by the Design Process
Most of industries currently spend too much time to find information on past product design process. This considerably reduces the time it can devote to innovation. The authors assume that the design process meta-model seems very interesting for modelling the design rational and then for accelerating information retrieval. Indeed, the model of the design process partly supports every resources involved in decision making activities (i.e. who, what, when, why, where, how). The authors therefore propose the use of a MBE architecture for driving the product modelling based on the design process model. The UML activity diagrams and the IDEFØ meta-model are linked for supporting automatic generation of product models using specific transformation knowledge. The CAD model is partly generated from the product functional analysis
LBA18_PRDurable clinical benefit with nivolumab (NIVO) plus low-dose ipilimumab (IPI) as first-line therapy in microsatellite instability-high/mismatch repair deficient (MSI-H/dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC)
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Prevalence and predictors of complementary and alternative medicine modalities in patients with chronic hepatitis B
Background & Aims
The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) can interact with antiviral treatment or influence health‐seeking behaviour. We aimed to study the use of individual CAM modalities in CHB and explore determinants of use, particularly migration‐related, socio‐economic and clinical factors.
Methods
A total of 436 CHB outpatients who attended the Toronto Centre for Liver Disease in 2015‐2016 were included in this cross‐sectional study. Using the comprehensive I‐CAM questionnaire and health records, data were collected on socio‐demographic and clinical variables and on usage of 16 CAM modalities in the last year.
Results
Sixty percent of patients were male, 74% were Asian and 46% were using antiviral treatment. Three‐hundred and nine (71%) patients used CAM. Vitamin/mineral preparations (45% of patients) were most commonly used. Overall CAM use and the specific use of potentially injurious CAM, such as green tea extract (9.2%) and St. John's wort (0.2%), were not associated with liver disease severity. Female sex, family history of CHB, lower serum HBV DNA, and higher socio‐economic status were independently associated with bio‐holistic CAM use, the clinically most‐relevant CAM group (P < 0.05); ethnicity, antiviral therapy use and liver disease severity were not.
Conclusions
CAM use among CHB patients was extensive, especially use of vitamin and mineral preparations, but without direct influence on liver disease severity. Bio‐holistic CAM use appeared to be associated with socio‐economic status rather than with ethnicity or liver disease severity. Despite the rare use of hepatotoxins, physicians should actively inquire about it
Tomato: a crop species amenable to improvement by cellular and molecular methods
Tomato is a crop plant with a relatively small DNA content per haploid genome and a well developed genetics. Plant regeneration from explants and protoplasts is feasable which led to the development of efficient transformation procedures.
In view of the current data, the isolation of useful mutants at the cellular level probably will be of limited value in the genetic improvement of tomato. Protoplast fusion may lead to novel combinations of organelle and nuclear DNA (cybrids), whereas this technique also provides a means of introducing genetic information from alien species into tomato. Important developments have come from molecular approaches. Following the construction of an RFLP map, these RFLP markers can be used in tomato to tag quantitative traits bred in from related species. Both RFLP's and transposons are in the process of being used to clone desired genes for which no gene products are known. Cloned genes can be introduced and potentially improve specific properties of tomato especially those controlled by single genes. Recent results suggest that, in principle, phenotypic mutants can be created for cloned and characterized genes and will prove their value in further improving the cultivated tomato.
D* Production in Deep Inelastic Scattering at HERA
This paper presents measurements of D^{*\pm} production in deep inelastic
scattering from collisions between 27.5 GeV positrons and 820 GeV protons. The
data have been taken with the ZEUS detector at HERA. The decay channel
(+ c.c.) has been used in the study. The
cross section for inclusive D^{*\pm} production with
and is 5.3 \pms 1.0 \pms 0.8 nb in the kinematic region
{ GeV and }. Differential cross
sections as functions of p_T(D^{*\pm}), and are
compared with next-to-leading order QCD calculations based on the photon-gluon
fusion production mechanism. After an extrapolation of the cross section to the
full kinematic region in p_T(D^{*\pm}) and (D^{*\pm}), the charm
contribution to the proton structure function is
determined for Bjorken between 2 10 and 5 10.Comment: 17 pages including 4 figure
Observation of Scaling Violations in Scaled Momentum Distributions at HERA
Charged particle production has been measured in deep inelastic scattering
(DIS) events over a large range of and using the ZEUS detector. The
evolution of the scaled momentum, , with in the range 10 to 1280
, has been investigated in the current fragmentation region of the Breit
frame. The results show clear evidence, in a single experiment, for scaling
violations in scaled momenta as a function of .Comment: 21 pages including 4 figures, to be published in Physics Letters B.
Two references adde
Observation of hard scattering in photoproduction events with a large rapidity gap at HERA
Events with a large rapidity gap and total transverse energy greater than 5
GeV have been observed in quasi-real photoproduction at HERA with the ZEUS
detector. The distribution of these events as a function of the
centre of mass energy is consistent with diffractive scattering. For total
transverse energies above 12 GeV, the hadronic final states show predominantly
a two-jet structure with each jet having a transverse energy greater than 4
GeV. For the two-jet events, little energy flow is found outside the jets. This
observation is consistent with the hard scattering of a quasi-real photon with
a colourless object in the proton.Comment: 19 pages, latex, 4 figures appended as uuencoded fil
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