Landmarks: Navigating Spacetime and Digital Mobility

In this essay we will examine how we can conceptualize digital mobility as spatial navigation. Digital mobility occurs in media where the user navigates through space and actually becomes, simultaneously, creator, performer, and navigator of a spatial story. In this sense, the on-screen navigator simultaneously makes and reads space. We argue that in digital mobilities the user/player becomes simultaneously I-narrator, actor and agent of narrative. The user navigates through space and becomes, in fact, a digital pedestrian. Different from the (virtual) mobility of analogue moving-image media in that the interaction between user and space is much more fluid and the user becomes both actor and navigator, digital mobility is clearly central to the use of mobile screens, such as mobile phones, navigation devices, or portable game consoles in which case one carries the screen and interacts with it, while being on the move. Moreover, we also believe that digital mobility can be a central quality of certain digital practices during which users are not literally on the move but still have to navigate through, and control digital environments through spatial interaction. This can for example be the case when playing certain games or consulting Google Earth on a desktop computer

An analysis of anemia and child mortality

The relationship of anemia as a risk factor for child mortality was analyzed by using cross-sectional, longitudinal and case-control studies, and randomized trials. Five methods of estimation were adopted: 1) the proportion of child deaths attributable to anemia; 2) the proportion of anemic children who die in hospital studies; 3) the population-attributable risk of child mortality due to anemia; 4) survival analyses of mortality in anemic children; and 5) cause-specific anemia-related child mortality. Most of the data available were hospital based. For children aged 0-5 y the percentage of deaths due to anemia was comparable for reports from highly malarious areas in Africa (Sierra Leone 11.2%, Zaire 12.2%, Kenya 14.3%). Ten values available for hemoglobin values /L showed a variation in case fatality from 2 to 29.3%. The data suggested little if any dose-response relating increasing hemoglobin level (whether by mean value or selected cut-off values) with decreasing mortality. Although mortality was increased in anemic children with hemoglobin /L, the evidence for increased risk with less severe anemia was inconclusive. The wide variation for mortality with hemoglobin /L is related to methodological variation and places severe limits on causal inference; in view of this, it is premature to generate projections on population-attributable risk. A preliminary survival analysis of an infant cohort from Malawi indicated that if the hemoglobin decreases by 10 g/L at age 6 mo, the risk of dying becomes 1.72 times higher. Evidence from a number of studies suggests that mortality due to malarial severe anemia is greater than that due to iron-deficiency anemia. Data are scarce on anemia and child mortality from non-malarious regions. Primary prevention of iron-deficiency anemia and malaria in young children could have substantive effects on reducing child mortality from severe anemia in children living in malarious areas

CBCT-to-CT synthesis with a single neural network for head-and-neck, lung and breast cancer adaptive radiotherapy

Purpose: CBCT-based adaptive radiotherapy requires daily images for accurate dose calculations. This study investigates the feasibility of applying a single convolutional network to facilitate CBCT-to-CT synthesis for head-and-neck, lung, and breast cancer patients. Methods: Ninety-nine patients diagnosed with head-and-neck, lung or breast cancer undergoing radiotherapy with CBCT-based position verification were included in this study. CBCTs were registered to planning CTs according to clinical procedures. Three cycle-consistent generative adversarial networks (cycle-GANs) were trained in an unpaired manner on 15 patients per anatomical site generating synthetic-CTs (sCTs). Another network was trained with all the anatomical sites together. Performances of all four networks were compared and evaluated for image similarity against rescan CT (rCT). Clinical plans were recalculated on CT and sCT and analysed through voxel-based dose differences and {\gamma}-analysis. Results: A sCT was generated in 10 seconds. Image similarity was comparable between models trained on different anatomical sites and a single model for all sites. Mean dose differences < 0.5% were obtained in high-dose regions. Mean gamma (2%,2mm) pass-rates > 95% were achieved for all sites. Conclusions: Cycle-GAN reduced CBCT artefacts and increased HU similarity to CT, enabling sCT-based dose calculations. The speed of the network can facilitate on-line adaptive radiotherapy using a single network for head-and-neck, lung and breast cancer patients.Comment: Submitted to Medical Physics; 2019-12-2

A simple E-learning system based on classroom competition

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16020-2_42Proceedings of 5th European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning, EC-TEL 2010, Barcelona, Spain, September 28 - October 1, 2010.We present an e-learning system based on online forms that allows teachers to easily organise competitions in a classroom. This system is used in a preliminary study to evaluate whether cooperative competition is positive or not in education, and to identify which are the characteristics this kind of activity should have to be no harmful for students, motivating and helping them in their learning process.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (TIN2008-06566-C04-02), and the Community of Madrid (S2009TIC- 1542)

Decrease of free thyroxine levels after controlled ovarian hyperstimulation

Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation could lead to opposing effects on thyroid function. Therefore, in a prospective study of 65 women undergoing controlled ovarian hyperstimulation, thyroid hormones, T4-binding globulin, TPO antibodies, gonadotropins, estradiol, and PRL were measured before and after controlled ovarian hyperstimulation. After ovarian stimulation (mean +/- SE of mean): free T4 decreased, 14.4 +/- 0.2 vs. 12.9 +/- 0.2 pmol/L (P < 0.0001); thyroid-stimulating hormone increased, 2.3 +/- 0.3 vs. 3.0 +/- 0.4 mU/L (P < 0.0001); T4-binding globulin increased, 25.2 +/- 0.7 vs. 33.9 +/- 0.9 mg/L (P < 0.0001); total T4 increased, 98.1 +/- 2.3 vs. 114.6 +/- 2.5 nmol/L (P < 0.0001); total T3 increased, 2.0 +/- 0.04 vs. 2.3 +/- 0.07 nmol/L (P < 0.0001); TPO antibodies decreased, 370 +/- 233 U/mL vs. 355 +/- 224 U/mL (P < 0.0001); LH decreased, 8.1 +/- 1.1 vs. 0.4 +/-0.1 U/L (P < 0.0001); FSH did not change, 6.5 +/- 0.6 vs. 7.9 +/- 0.9 U/L (P = 0.08); human CG increased, <2 +/- 0.0 vs. 195 +/- 16 U/L (P < 0.0001); estradiol increased, 359.3 +/- 25.9 pmol/L vs. 3491.8 +/-298.3 pmol/L (P < 0.0001); and PRL increased, 0.23 +/- 0.02 vs. 0.95 +/- 0.06 U/L (P < 0.0001). Because low maternal free T4 and elevated maternal thyroid-stimulating hormone levels during early gestation have been reported to be associated with impaired psychomotor development in the offspring, our findings indicate the need for additional studies in the children of women who where exposed to high levels of estrogens around the time of conception

Psychometric properties of an interviewer-administered version of the Kessler Psychological Distress scale (K10) among Dutch, Moroccan and Turkish respondents

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