Representation of perfectly reconstructed octave decomposition filter banks with set of decimators {2,4,4} via tree structure

In this letter, we prove that a filter bank with set of decimators {2,4,4} achieves perfect reconstruction if and only if it can be represented via a tree structure and each branch of the tree structure achieves perfect reconstruction

High Density of Tumor-Associated Macrophage Staining Correlates with Poor Clinicopathologic Markers in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Meta-Analysis

Background: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) develops within a complex cellular microenvironment that promotes tumor growth, but also represents many potential therapeutic targets. Macrophage presence within that environment has been implicated in the growth, aggression, and persistence of HNSCC. Current literature reports variable degrees of association between tumor-associated macrophage (TAMs) density and clinicopathologic markers of disease.Inconsistent findings may result from grouping of TAM subtypes, which include both M1 (pro-inflammatory) and M2 (immunosuppressive). Our aim is to define the prognostic significance of the phenotypes of tumor-associated macrophages in HNSCC. Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis of the existing publications investigating the relationship between TAMs (total and M2 subtype) and T stage, nodal involvement, vascular invasion, lymphatic invasion, and tumor differentiation. Forest plots and risk ratios were generated to report overall effect. Results: Higher density of both total and M2 subtype of TAMs in the tumor microenvironment is associated with advanced T stage, increased rates of nodal positivity, presence of vascular invasion, and presence of lymphatic invasion (p \u3c 0.0001). There is no significant association between either total or M2 TAM density and tumor differentiation. Conclusion: Increased density of TAMs, including those of the M2 phenotype, correlates with poor clinicopathologic markers in HNSCC, and therefore poor clinical prognosis. It is unknown whether this relationship is causative or correlative. Additional investigation into the mechanisms behind TAM recruitment and differentiation, and effect of TAM population manipulation on tumor behavior will help define the feasibility of TAM-targeted therapies

Tourism Web Aceptance Model (TWAM) : A study of intention to book e-tourism product

The tourism web acceptance model (T-WAM) is a model of consumers’ acceptance of information technology (IT) designed for e-tourism. The model aims to explain intention to book tourism products online better than other models do. Results from a survey collected from 389 Tunisian consumers show that the T-WAM is more robust than other models and theories (e.g. TAM, TPB, DTPB, flow theory) to explain behavioral intention in the context of e-tourism. The explained variance of intention to book is about 51% (R² = 50.6%). Results are discussed in detail, and recommendations, limitations, and suggestions for future research are provided

The enumeration of generalized Tamari intervals

Let $v$ be a grid path made of north and east steps. The lattice $\rm{T{\scriptsize AM}}(v)$, based on all grid paths weakly above $v$ and sharing the same endpoints as $v$, was introduced by Pr\'eville-Ratelle and Viennot (2014) and corresponds to the usual Tamari lattice in the case $v=(NE)^n$. Our main contribution is that the enumeration of intervals in $\rm{T{\scriptsize AM}}(v)$, over all $v$ of length $n$, is given by $\frac{2 (3n+3)!}{(n+2)! (2n+3)!}$. This formula was first obtained by Tutte(1963) for the enumeration of non-separable planar maps. Moreover, we give an explicit bijection from these intervals in $\rm{T{\scriptsize AM}}(v)$ to non-separable planar maps.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures. Title changed, originally titled "From generalized Tamari intervals to non-separable planar maps (extended abstract)", submitte

Which Drug to Discontinue 3 Months After Combination Therapy of Tadalafil plus Tamsulosin for Men with Lower Urinary Tract Symptom and Erectile Dysfunction? Results of a Prospective Observational Trial

Background: Safety and efficacy of tamsulosin and tadalafil for men with benign prostatic enlargement (BPE) and/or erectile dysfunction (ED) are defined. However, there are only a few pilot studies on combination therapy with these drugs for men with lower urinary tract symptom (LUTS)/BPE and ED. Moreover, preliminary reports are limited to 12 wk, without any information about subsequent therapies. Objective: To evaluate the impact of discontinuation of tamsulosin versus tadalafil 12 wk after combination therapy. Design, setting, and participants: Fifty consecutive patients with moderate-to-severe LUTS (International Prostate Symptom Score [IPSS] > 7) and mild-to-severe ED (International Index of Erectile Function-5 [IIEF-5] < 22) were treated with combination therapy (tamsulosin 0.4 mg/d plus tadalafil 5 mg/d) for 12 wk. After 12 wk, 25 patients discontinued tamsulosin (Group TAD), while 25 patients discontinued tadalafil (Group TAM). Outcome measurements and statistical analysis: Efficacy variables were IPSS (total, voiding, storage) and IIEF-5. Paired samples t test and analysis of variance were used. Results and limitations: Groups TAD and TAM presented similar features (age, BMI, metabolic profile) including symptoms scores at baseline. Similar and significant improvements in IPSS (total, voiding, and storage) and IIEF-5 were recorded in both groups after 12 wk of combination therapy (all p < 0.001). Total IPSS was similar between the two groups at the end of the trial. However, we found between-group significant differences from baseline to 24 wk and from 12 to 24 wk in storage-IPSS (Group TAD: –3.32 vs Group TAM: –1.24, p = 0.002; Group TAD: +0.24 vs Group TAM: +1.20, p = 0.040, respectively) and in IIEF-5 (Group TAD: +4.64 vs Group TAM: +0.16, p < 0.001; Group TAD: –1.64 vs Group TAM: –4.40, p = 0.003). No significant treatment-related adverse event was recorded in both groups. Conclusions: After 12 wk of combination therapy, monotherapy with tadalafil for further 12 wk allows to preserve the improvement of storage IPSS and IIEF-5, in addition to total IPSS. Patient summary: In this report we evaluated the discontinuation of tamsulosin or tadalafil after 12 wk of combination therapy. We found that tadalafil monotherapy, for a further 12 wk, aids in retaining the improvement of storage symptoms and erectile function

Dichotomous development of the gut microbiome in preterm infants.

BackgroundPreterm infants are at risk of developing intestinal dysbiosis with an increased proportion of Gammaproteobacteria. In this study, we sought the clinical determinants of the relative abundance of feces-associated Gammaproteobacteria in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. Fecal microbiome was characterized at ≤ 2 weeks and during the 3rd and 4th weeks after birth, by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Maternal and infant clinical characteristics were extracted from electronic medical records. Data were analyzed by linear mixed modeling and linear regression.ResultsClinical data and fecal microbiome profiles of 45 VLBW infants (gestational age 27.9 ± 2.2 weeks; birth weight 1126 ± 208 g) were studied. Three stool samples were analyzed for each infant at mean postnatal ages of 9.9 ± 3, 20.7 ± 4.1, and 29.4 ± 4.9 days. The average relative abundance of Gammaproteobacteria was 42.5% (0-90%) at ≤ 2 weeks, 69.7% (29.9-86.9%) in the 3rd, and 75.5% (54.5-86%) in the 4th week (p < 0.001). Hierarchical and K-means clustering identified two distinct subgroups: cluster 1 started with comparatively low abundance that increased with time, whereas cluster 2 began with a greater abundance at ≤ 2 weeks (p < 0.001) that decreased over time. Both groups resembled each other by the 3rd week. Single variants of Klebsiella and Staphylococcus described variance in community structure between clusters and were shared between all infants, suggesting a common, hospital-derived source. Fecal Gammaproteobacteria was positively associated with vaginal delivery and antenatal steroids.ConclusionsWe detected a dichotomy in gut microbiome assembly in preterm infants: some preterm infants started with low relative gammaproteobacterial abundance in stool that increased as a function of postnatal age, whereas others began with and maintained high abundance. Vaginal birth and antenatal steroids were identified as predictors of Gammaproteobacteria abundance in the early (≤ 2 weeks) and later (3rd and 4th weeks) stool samples, respectively. These findings are important in understanding the development of the gut microbiome in premature infants

Factors Affecting on Users’ Intentions toward 4G Mobile Services in Bangladesh

This study discusses the amalgamation of Technology Acceptance Model with the underlying 8 factors to investigate the intensity of users’ intentions towards 4G adoptions in Bangladesh. So, it has tried to list all the latest released facilities and the adoption tendency. A sample size of 119 respondents with random sampling as well as in-depth interviewing methods have used and collected primary data from different institutions across Bangladesh with a self-administered field survey questionnaire as well as having secondary sources from different webs, books, journals, annual reports, and unpublished research works. The SPSS and the 5-Point-Likert scale have used to validate the results. Also the tests include correlation, multiple regression technique, ANOVA, and co-efficient of variance have used. The study indicates that 36% respondents are positively prone to 4G (r2=.362, f=5.531, p=.000). Besides, among the 8 factors, the image has the greatest influence on it (β=.249, t=2.558, p=.012) followed by the variety of services (β=.189, t=1.608, p=.111), the perceived enjoyment (β=.148, t=1.803, p=0.109), the perceived ease of use (β=0.108, t=0.916, p=0.368), the personal Innovativeness (β=.098, t=.934, p=.352), and the network effects (β=.002, t=.025, p=.980). Conversely, the price (β=-.027, t=-.406, p=.685) and the perceived usefulness (β=-.069, t=-.629, p=.303) have a rare impact on it. However, with the outcomes, the telecommunication services providers will be able to accelerate the wining strategies at different levels in Bangladesh. As there are few studies published in this regard, future research is necessary to investigate the financial and industrial implications associated with it

The United States Chiropractic Workforce: An alternative or complement to primary care?

UnlabelledBackgroundIn the United States (US) a shortage of primary care physicians has become evident. Other health care providers such as chiropractors might help address some of the nation's primary care needs simply by being located in areas of lesser primary care resources. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the distribution of the chiropractic workforce across the country and compare it to that of primary care physicians.MethodsWe used nationally representative data to estimate the per 100,000 capita supply of chiropractors and primary care physicians according to the 306 predefined Hospital Referral Regions. Multiple variable Poisson regression was used to examine the influence of population characteristics on the supply of both practitioner-types.ResultsAccording to these data, there are 74,623 US chiropractors and the per capita supply of chiropractors varies more than 10-fold across the nation. Chiropractors practice in areas with greater supply of primary care physicians (Pearson's correlation 0.17, p-value < 0.001) and appear to be more responsive to market conditions (i.e. more heavily influenced by population characteristics) in regards to practice location than primary care physicians.ConclusionThese findings suggest that chiropractors practice in areas of greater primary care physician supply. Therefore chiropractors may be functioning in more complementary roles to primary care as opposed to an alternative point of access