Embodied Interactions with E-Textiles and the Internet of Sounds for Performing Arts

This paper presents initial steps towards the design of an embedded system for body-centric sonic performance. The proposed prototyping system allows performers to manipulate sounds through gestural interactions captured by textile wearable sensors. The e-textile sensor data control, in real-time, audio synthesis algorithms working with content from Audio Commons, a novel web-based ecosystem for repurposing crowd-sourced audio. The system enables creative embodied music interactions by combining seamless physical e-textiles with web-based digital audio technologies

Population‐based cohort study of outcomes following cholecystectomy for benign gallbladder diseases

Background The aim was to describe the management of benign gallbladder disease and identify characteristics associated with all‐cause 30‐day readmissions and complications in a prospective population‐based cohort. Methods Data were collected on consecutive patients undergoing cholecystectomy in acute UK and Irish hospitals between 1 March and 1 May 2014. Potential explanatory variables influencing all‐cause 30‐day readmissions and complications were analysed by means of multilevel, multivariable logistic regression modelling using a two‐level hierarchical structure with patients (level 1) nested within hospitals (level 2). Results Data were collected on 8909 patients undergoing cholecystectomy from 167 hospitals. Some 1451 cholecystectomies (16·3 per cent) were performed as an emergency, 4165 (46·8 per cent) as elective operations, and 3293 patients (37·0 per cent) had had at least one previous emergency admission, but had surgery on a delayed basis. The readmission and complication rates at 30 days were 7·1 per cent (633 of 8909) and 10·8 per cent (962 of 8909) respectively. Both readmissions and complications were independently associated with increasing ASA fitness grade, duration of surgery, and increasing numbers of emergency admissions with gallbladder disease before cholecystectomy. No identifiable hospital characteristics were linked to readmissions and complications. Conclusion Readmissions and complications following cholecystectomy are common and associated with patient and disease characteristics

In vitro propagation of Cyrtopodium saintlegerianum rchb. f. (orchidaceae), a native orchid of the Brazilian savannah

In order to enable production of large quantities of plantlets for reintroduction programs, as well as economic exploration, Cyrtopodium saintlegerianum seeds were sown on Knudson culture medium. After seed germination, the protocorms were inoculated on Knudson culture medium supplemented with 6-benzyladenine (BA) and α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). The obtained shoots were individually inoculated in Knudson supplemented with gibberellic acid (GA3 ) in order to promote elongation. Seedlings were evaluated and then transplanted into trays containing commercial substrate Plantmax®-HT, or crushed Acuri leaf sheath. Auxin/ cytokinin ratio influenced in vitro propagation of C. saintlegerianum, resulting in increased shoot number when 2.0 mg L-1 BA was added to the culture medium in the absence or presence of 0.5 mg L-1 NAA. This species proved to be promising for massal in vitro multiplication. Despite having incremented in vitro shoots elongation, the use of GA3 is unnecessary since it contributed negatively in the acclimatization of plants

Global variation in anastomosis and end colostomy formation following left-sided colorectal resection

Background End colostomy rates following colorectal resection vary across institutions in high-income settings, being influenced by patient, disease, surgeon and system factors. This study aimed to assess global variation in end colostomy rates after left-sided colorectal resection. Methods This study comprised an analysis of GlobalSurg-1 and -2 international, prospective, observational cohort studies (2014, 2016), including consecutive adult patients undergoing elective or emergency left-sided colorectal resection within discrete 2-week windows. Countries were grouped into high-, middle- and low-income tertiles according to the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI). Factors associated with colostomy formation versus primary anastomosis were explored using a multilevel, multivariable logistic regression model. Results In total, 1635 patients from 242 hospitals in 57 countries undergoing left-sided colorectal resection were included: 113 (6·9 per cent) from low-HDI, 254 (15·5 per cent) from middle-HDI and 1268 (77·6 per cent) from high-HDI countries. There was a higher proportion of patients with perforated disease (57·5, 40·9 and 35·4 per cent; P < 0·001) and subsequent use of end colostomy (52·2, 24·8 and 18·9 per cent; P < 0·001) in low- compared with middle- and high-HDI settings. The association with colostomy use in low-HDI settings persisted (odds ratio (OR) 3·20, 95 per cent c.i. 1·35 to 7·57; P = 0·008) after risk adjustment for malignant disease (OR 2·34, 1·65 to 3·32; P < 0·001), emergency surgery (OR 4·08, 2·73 to 6·10; P < 0·001), time to operation at least 48 h (OR 1·99, 1·28 to 3·09; P = 0·002) and disease perforation (OR 4·00, 2·81 to 5·69; P < 0·001). Conclusion Global differences existed in the proportion of patients receiving end stomas after left-sided colorectal resection based on income, which went beyond case mix alone

SYNTHESIS and PROPERTIES of NEW BRADYKININ POTENTIATING PEPTIDES

UNIV São Paulo,DEPT BIOCHEM,05508 São Paulo,BRAZILUNIV COLORADO,SCH MED,DEPT BIOCHEM,DENVER,CO 80220ESCOLA PAULISTA MED,DEPT BIOPHYS & PHYSIOL,04023 São Paulo,BRAZILESCOLA PAULISTA MED,DEPT BIOPHYS & PHYSIOL,04023 São Paulo,BRAZILWeb of Scienc

Designing web-connected physical artefacts for the 'aesthetic'of the home

Web-based technologies are often built to capitalize on the flexibility and fluidity that is supported by the internet, with the value of 'access anywhere'underpinning a blurring of boundaries across home and work. Yet the home is well known in HCI to have a unique set of qualities that can usefully be drawn upon when designing to support domestic life. In this paper we ask what it means to design domestic web-connected technologies, placing the aesthetic and material properties intrinsic to the home and home life at the centre of our design exploration. We present three concepts that were selected and prototyped from a broader process of research-through-design: Tokens of Search provides tangible handles to web resources; Hole in Space connects the home intimately to a remote place; and Manhattan enables the tangible exploration of events in the community, putting the home at the centre. Discussions in the paper consider not only how aesthetics is articulated in the material and digital properties of the artefacts, but also how a consideration of the properties of the home can create a potentially new design space to explore