Respiratory Infections during SARS Outbreak, Hong Kong, 2003

The effect of community hygienic measures during the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong was studied by comparing the proportion of positive specimens of various respiratory viruses in 2003 with those from 1998 to 2002. Community hygienic measures significantly reduced the incidence of various respiratory viral infections

A clinical risk score of myocardial fibrosis predicts adverse outcomes in aortic stenosis

Aims Midwall myocardial fibrosis on cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is a marker of early ventricular decompensation and adverse outcomes in aortic stenosis (AS). We aimed to develop and validate a novel clinical score using variables associated with midwall fibrosis. Methods and results One hundred forty-seven patients (peak aortic velocity (Vmax) 3.9 [3.2,4.4] m/s) underwent CMR to determine midwall fibrosis (CMR cohort). Routine clinical variables that demonstrated significant association with midwall fibrosis were included in a multivariate logistic score. We validated the prognostic value of the score in two separate outcome cohorts of asymptomatic patients (internal: n = 127, follow-up 10.3 [5.7,11.2] years; external: n = 289, follow-up 2.6 [1.6,4.5] years). Primary outcome was a composite of AS-related events (cardiovascular death, heart failure, and new angina, dyspnoea, or syncope). The final score consisted of age, sex, Vmax, high-sensitivity troponin I concentration, and electrocardiographic strain pattern [c-statistic 0.85 (95% confidence interval 0.78–0.91), P 57%). In the internal outcome cohort, AS-related event rates were >10-fold higher in high-risk patients compared with those at low risk (23.9 vs. 2.1 events/100 patient-years, respectively; log rank P < 0.001). Similar findings were observed in the external outcome cohort (31.6 vs. 4.6 events/100 patient-years, respectively; log rank P < 0.001). Conclusion We propose a clinical score that predicts adverse outcomes in asymptomatic AS patients and potentially identifies high-risk patients who may benefit from early valve replacement

Search for eccentric black hole coalescences during the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo

Despite the growing number of binary black hole coalescences confidently observed through gravitational waves so far, the astrophysical origin of these binaries remains uncertain. Orbital eccentricity is one of the clearest tracers of binary formation channels. Identifying binary eccentricity, however, remains challenging due to the limited availability of gravitational waveforms that include the effects of eccentricity. Here, we present observational results for a waveform-independent search sensitive to eccentric black hole coalescences, covering the third observing run (O3) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. We identified no new high-significance candidates beyond those that have already been identified with searches focusing on quasi-circular binaries. We determine the sensitivity of our search to high-mass (total source-frame mass M > 70 M⊙) binaries covering eccentricities up to 0.3 at 15 Hz emitted gravitational-wave frequency, and use this to compare model predictions to search results. Assuming all detections are indeed quasi-circular, for our fiducial population model, we place a conservative upper limit for the merger rate density of high-mass binaries with eccentricities 0 < e ≤ 0.3 at 16.9 Gpc−3 yr−1 at the 90% confidence level

Open data from the third observing run of LIGO, Virgo, KAGRA, and GEO

The global network of gravitational-wave observatories now includes five detectors, namely LIGO Hanford, LIGO Livingston, Virgo, KAGRA, and GEO 600. These detectors collected data during their third observing run, O3, composed of three phases: O3a starting in 2019 April and lasting six months, O3b starting in 2019 November and lasting five months, and O3GK starting in 2020 April and lasting two weeks. In this paper we describe these data and various other science products that can be freely accessed through the Gravitational Wave Open Science Center at https://gwosc.org. The main data set, consisting of the gravitational-wave strain time series that contains the astrophysical signals, is released together with supporting data useful for their analysis and documentation, tutorials, as well as analysis software packages

Generating user acceptance test plans from test cases

There are numerous studies on generating test cases from classifications. These test cases consists of related classes from different classifications. On the other hand, a User Acceptance Test Plan (UAT) consist of test plans. Each of these test plans is a scenario of sequence of input together with the corresponding output in association with the concerned processes. A test case can conform with one or more of these scenario. In real life system testing, the number of test plan in UAT is huge. A method which generates test plans from test cases would make the test cases generation study more comprehensive. In this paper, we report our study on the generation of test plans from test cases. Test plans are generated from test cases with reference to the abstract system architecture of the system. Furthermore, our method is implementable, i.e. the test plan generation can be automated. Consequently, the amount of time required to formulate a UAT can be reduced drastically

Modelling and model checking suspendible business processes via statechart diagrams and CSP

When modelling object behaviour with UML statechart diagrams, the history mechanism can be useful for modelling the suspension of a “normal” business process upon certain “abnormal” events together with the subsequent resumption, as illustrated by the examples in this paper. However, previous approaches to model checking statechart diagrams often ignore the history mechanism. We enhanced such a previous approach based on Communicating Sequential Processes (CSP) and developed a support tool for it

Overexpression of Cd36_03760 in Candida dubliniensis abrogates development of biofilms

Objectives: To investigate the in vitro effects of overexpression of Cd36_03760 on the development of biofilms in Candida dubliniensis Methods: C. dubliniensis strains that overexpress Cd36_03760 were constructed using a PCR-based gene targeting method. Overexpression was verified by real time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) using gene-specific primers upon addition of doxycycline. C. dubliniensis biofilms were prepared in polystyrene, flat bottom 96-well microtiter plates. The cell suspension (1 mL, 107cells/mL in PBS) was transferred to the wells and incubated at 37oC, 75 rpm for 90 min. After the removal of loosely adherent cells, fresh YPD (1 mL) with doxycycline (50 µg/mL) was added to the wells and incubated for 48 h for biofilm formation. The amount of protein in the extracellular matrix of the C. dubliniensis biofilms was determined using a BCA protein assay. The development of biofilms was qualitatively assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Results: BCA protein assay indicated that the amount of protein in C. dubliniensis biofilms that overexpressed Cd36_03760 was reduced by ~35% (P \u3c 0.05) compared to its control. The SEM and CLSM results confirmed that overexpression of Cd36_03760 in C. dubliniensis abrogated the biofilm architecture: the biofilms were scanty, less dense, and less organised compared to its control which was relatively confluent. Conclusions: Cd36_03760 is a gene that is involved in biofilm development in C. dubliniensis. Overexpression of Cd36_03760 in C. dubliniensis disintegrates the biofilms. It sheds light on further development of novel antifungal interventions against this emerging human fungal pathogen by selectively inhibiting the activity of enzymes that are involved in biofilm development

Development of a voltage and frequency control strategy for an autonomous LV network with Distributed Generators

This paper presents a novel control strategy to operate a low-voltage (LV) micro-grid in grid connected operation mode as well as autonomous operation mode. Depending on the inverter output impedance which is mainly resistive due to the LV cables a proper control strategy based on an unbalanced resistive droop approach is developed. The control strategy is verified by simulating fast changes of power production and simulating excess, shortage and average scenarios. Additionally, the control system can operate in an unbalanced network and can improve the active and reactive power distribution using a data communication system

Compositional Development of BPMN

International audienceBusiness Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) intends to bridge the gap between business process design and implementation. Previously we provided a process semantics to a subset of BPMN in the language of Communicating Sequential Processes (CSP). This semantics allows developers to formally analyse and compare BPMN diagrams using CSP’s traces and failures refinements. In this paper we introduce a comprehensive set of operations for constructing BPMN diagrams, provide them a CSP semantics, and characterise the conditions under which the operations are monotonic with respect to CSP refinements, thereby allowing compositional development of business processes

Blocking reactions between indium-tin oxide and poly (3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulphonate) with a self-assembly monolayer

In the fabrication of polymeric electroluminescent devices with indium-tin oxide (ITO) as anode, indium contamination of the polymers can greatly degrade the device performance. In the present study, we have used x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to measure indium incorporation in poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulphonate), referred to as PEDOT:PSS, which were spincast on bare ITO and encapsulated ITO. We found that the deposition of a self-assembled monolayer of alkylsiloxanes on ITO prior to spincasting PEDOT:PSS was effective and practical in blocking the reactions between ITO and PEDOT:PSS. © 2002 American Institute of Physics