16 research outputs found
A Machine-Independent APL Interpreter
Available in IEEE Xplore digital library.The problem of writing machine-independent APL interpreters is solved by means of a systems
programming approach making use of an intermediate level language specially designed for that purpose. This
paper describes the language, as well as the procedure used to build universal interpreters. Three compilers
that translate this language for three different machines have been written so far, and an APL interpreter has
been finishe
Geospatial analyses identify regional hot spots of diffuse gastric cancer in rural Central America
Background: Geospatial technology has facilitated the discovery of disease distributions and etiology and helped target prevention programs. Globally, gastric cancer is the leading infection-associated cancer, and third leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide, with marked geographic variation. Central and South America have a significant burden, particularly in the mountainous regions. In the context of an ongoing population-based case-control study in Central America, our aim was to examine the spatial epidemiology of gastric cancer subtypes and H. pylori virulence factors. Methods: Patients diagnosed with gastric cancer from 2002 to 2013 in western Honduras were identified in the prospective gastric cancer registry at the principal district hospital. Diagnosis was based on endoscopy and confirmatory histopathology. Geospatial methods were applied using the ArcGIS v10.3.1 and SaTScan v9.4.2 platforms to examine regional distributions of the gastric cancer histologic subtypes (Lauren classification), and the H. pylori CagA virulence factor. Getis-Ord-Gi hot spot and Discrete Poisson SaTScan statistics, respectively, were used to explore spatial clustering at the village level (30-50 rural households), with standardization by each village's population. H. pylori and CagA serologic status was determined using the novel H. pylori multiplex assay (DKFZ, Germany). Results: Three hundred seventy-eight incident cases met the inclusion criteria (mean age 63.7, male 66.3%). Areas of higher gastric cancer incidence were identified. Significant spatial clustering of diffuse histology adenocarcinoma was revealed both by the Getis-Ord-GI∗hot spot analysis (P-value < 0.0015; range 0.00003-0.0014; 99%CI), and by the SaTScan statistic (P-value < 0.006; range 0.0026-0.0054). The intestinal subtype was randomly distributed. H. pylori CagA had significant spatial clustering only in association with the diffuse histology cancer hot spot (Getis-Ord-Gi∗P value ≤0.001; range 0.0001-0.0010; SaTScan statistic P value 0.0085). In the diffuse gastric cancer hot spot, the lowest age quartile range was 21-46 years, significantly lower than the intestinal cancers (P = 0.024). Conclusions: Geospatial methods have identified a significant cluster of incident diffuse type adenocarcinoma cases in rural Central America, suggest of a germline genetic association. Further genomic and geospatial analyses to identify potential spatial patterns of genetic, bacterial, and environmental risk factors may be informative
Description of Atmospheric Conditions at the Pierre Auger Observatory using the Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS)
Atmospheric conditions at the site of a cosmic ray observatory must be known
for reconstructing observed extensive air showers. The Global Data Assimilation
System (GDAS) is a global atmospheric model predicated on meteorological
measurements and numerical weather predictions. GDAS provides
altitude-dependent profiles of the main state variables of the atmosphere like
temperature, pressure, and humidity. The original data and their application to
the air shower reconstruction of the Pierre Auger Observatory are described. By
comparisons with radiosonde and weather station measurements obtained on-site
in Malarg\"ue and averaged monthly models, the utility of the GDAS data is
shown
International nosocomial infection control consortium (INICC) report, data summary of 36 countries, for 2004-2009
The results of a surveillance study conducted by the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) from January 2004 through December 2009 in 422 intensive care units (ICUs) of 36 countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe are reported. During the 6-year study period, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN; formerly the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance system [NNIS]) definitions for device-associated health care-associated infections, we gathered prospective data from 313,008 patients hospitalized in the consortium's ICUs for an aggregate of 2,194,897 ICU bed-days. Despite the fact that the use of devices in the developing countries' ICUs was remarkably similar to that reported in US ICUs in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were significantly higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals; the pooled rate of central line-associated bloodstream infection in the INICC ICUs of 6.8 per 1,000 central line-days was more than 3-fold higher than the 2.0 per 1,000 central line-days reported in comparable US ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia also was far higher (15.8 vs 3.3 per 1,000 ventilator-days), as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (6.3 vs. 3.3 per 1,000 catheter-days). Notably, the frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates to imipenem (47.2% vs 23.0%), Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (76.3% vs 27.1%), Escherichia coli isolates to ceftazidime (66.7% vs 8.1%), Staphylococcus aureus isolates to methicillin (84.4% vs 56.8%), were also higher in the consortium's ICUs, and the crude unadjusted excess mortalities of device-related infections ranged from 7.3% (for catheter-associated urinary tract infection) to 15.2% (for ventilator-associated pneumonia). Copyright © 2012 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
Thyroid function and thyroid autoimmunity in apparently healthy pregnant and non-pregnant Mexican women.
Background: Thyroid disorders are common in women of
reproductive age, and thyroid dysfunction during pregnancy
has been associated with adverse outcomes for
mother and child. Thyroid function and thyroid function
tests (TFTs) can be influenced by a variety of factors, such
as ethnicity, the presence of autoimmune thyroid disease
(AITD), dietary iodine intake, pregnancy, and methodological
differences. However, no large-scale studies have
been published which examine TFTs and prevalence of
AITD in Mexican pregnant women and women of reproductive
age.
Methods: TFTs and thyroid autoantibody testing were performed
on 660 pregnant and 104 non-pregnant women
from Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico. After removal of thyroid
autoantibody positive individuals and women with
thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) > 4.94 mIU/L, reference
intervals were calculated for TFT for non-pregnant
women and pregnant women by trimester.
Results: Anti-thyroidperoxidase antibodies (TPO-Ab)
and/or anti-thyroglobulin antibodies (Tg-Ab) were positive
in 14.4% and 13.5% of non-pregnant and pregnant
women, respectively. TSH values were significantly higher
in women who were positive for TPO-Ab and co-positive
for TPO-Ab and Tg-Ab. TSH values were also significantly
higher in Tg-Ab positive pregnant women. Other TFTs were
not significantly different based on antibody status. Using
antibody negative women, reference intervals were determined
for TFTs in pregnant (gestational age-specific) and
non-pregnant women
The nature and origin of ultra high-energy cosmic rays
Contains fulltext :
103833.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access