Anatomy of a Project: The Ideal Meets the Real World

1. Developing a PICO Question Christine Yatsko, MSN, RN, GCNS-BC 2. Literature Review and Outcomes Kristine Petre, MLS, AHIP, CCM 3. Dissemination Kim Hitchings, MSN, RN, NEA-BC 4. What Did You Learn? Tricia Bernecker, PhD, R

Wood traits explain microbial but not termite‐driven decay in Australian tropical rainforest and savanna

1. Variation in decay rates across woody species is a key uncertainty in predicting the fate of carbon stored in deadwood, especially in the tropics. Quantifying the relative contributions of biotic decay agents, particularly microbes and termites, under different climates and across species with diverse wood traits could help explain this variation. 2. To fill this knowledge gap, we deployed woody stems from 16 plant species native to either rainforest (n = 10) or savanna (n = 6) in northeast Australia, with and without termite access. For comparison, we also deployed standardized, non-native pine blocks at both sites. We hypothesized that termites would increase rates of deadwood decay under conditions that limit microbial activity. Specifically, termite contributions to wood decay should be greater under dry conditions and in wood species with traits that constrain microbial decomposers. 3. Termite discovery of stems was surprisingly low with only 17.6% and 22.6% of accessible native stems discovered in the rainforest and savanna respectively. Contrary to our hypothesis, stems discovered by termites decomposed faster only in the rainforest. Termites discovered and decayed pine blocks at higher rates than native stems in both the rainforest and savanna. 4. We found significant variation in termite discovery and microbial decay rates across native wood species within the same site. Although wood traits explained 85% of the variation in microbial decay, they did not explain termite-driven decay. For stems undiscovered by termites, decay rates were greater in species with higher wood nutrient concentrations and syringyl:guiacyl lignin ratios but lower carbon concentrations and wood densities. 5. Synthesis. Ecosystem-scale predictions of deadwood turnover and carbon storage should account for the impact of wood traits on decomposer communities. In tropical Australia, termite-driven decay was lower than expected for native wood on the ground. Even if termites are present, they may not always increase decomposition rates of fallen native wood in tropical forests. Our study shows how the drivers of wood decay differ between Australian tropical rainforest and savanna; further research should test whether such differences apply world-wide

SPAM detection: Naïve bayesian classification and RPN expression-based LGP approaches compared

An investigation is performed of a machine learning algorithm and the Bayesian classifier in the spam-filtering context. The paper shows the advantage of the use of Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) expressions with feature extraction compared to the traditional Naïve Bayesian classifier used for spam detection assuming the same features. The performance of the two is investigated using a public corpus and a recent private spam collection, concluding that the system based on RPN LGP (Linear Genetic Programming) gave better results compared to two popularly used open source Bayesian spam filters. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016

Шкала оценки сопутствующих заболеваний у ареактивных пациентов (CoCoS): лингвокультурная адаптация русскоязычной версии (сообщение)

   Identification of complications and control of comorbidities are essential in monitoring the patients with chronic disorders of consciousness and predicting their outcomes. The researchers of the Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences of the University of L'Aquila (Italy) developed the Comorbidities Coma Scale (CoCoS) for a comprehensive assessment of such patients. Lack of an officially validated version of the scale hampers its use in Russia, while using versions which have not been completely validated prevents clinicians from obtaining reliable results when examining patients with chronic disorders of consciousness.   Aim. To develop the official Russian language version of the Comorbidities Coma Scale, considering various linguistic and cultural parameters, as a part of the 1st stage of the validation study.   Material and methods. The first stage of validation was completed: direct and reverse translation of the scale was performed by two independent medical translators. The translated version was assessed by an expert board including an expert translator, neurologists, and critical care specialists. Pilot test and two meetings of the expert board, before and after testing, were arranged to assess the results and approve the final Russian version of the scale.   Results. During the first meeting of the expert board, corrections were made in the Russian language version of the scale in terms of language and cultural adaptation. Pilot testing was carried out based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The researchers had no difficulties in understanding and interpreting the instructions for the scale. The second meeting of the expert board was held thereupon, and the final version of the Russian language version of the scale was adopted, which is available on the website of the Center for Validation of Health Status Questionnaires and Scales of the Research Center of Neurology.   Conclusion. The first stage of validation, i. e., linguistic and cultural adaptation, was carried out at the Research Center of Neurology (Moscow, Russia). For the first time, the Russian version of the scale for assessing comorbidities in patients with chronic disorders of consciousness was presented and approved for the practical use. The future publications will address the psychometric results of the scale such as sensitivity, validity, reliability.   Выявление осложнений и контроль над течением сопутствующих заболеваний является важнейшим этапом в отслеживании динамики и прогнозе исходов у пациентов с хроническими нарушениями сознания. Для проведения оценки состояния у данной категории пациентов сотрудниками департамента биотехнологических и прикладных клинических наук университета L'Aquila (Италия) была разработана шкала — Comorbidities Coma Scale (CoCoS). Отсутствие официально валидированной версии данной шкалы затрудняет ее применение в России, а использование версий, не прошедших все необходимые этапы валидации, препятствует получению достоверных результатов при обследовании пациентов с хроническими нарушениями сознания.   Цель. Разработка официальной русскоязычной версии Шкалы оценки сопутствующих заболеваний у ареактивных пациентов с учетом языковых и культурных особенностей ее пользователей в рамках проведения 1-го этапа валидационного исследования.   Материал и методы. Письменное разрешение на адаптацию шкалы CoCoS было получено сотрудниками группы валидации международных шкал и опросников Научного центра неврологии (ФГБНУ НЦН, г. Москва, Россия) у разработчика оригинальной версии Francesca Pistoia. Провели первый этап валидации: выполнен прямой и обратный перевод шкалы двумя независимыми медицинскими переводчиками. Произведена оценка разработанной версии экспертной комиссией с участием переводчика-эксперта, неврологов и анестезиологов-реаниматологов. Провели пилотное тестирование на 15 пациентах с диагнозом хронического нарушения сознания и два заседания экспертной комиссии до и после тестирования для оценки результатов и утверждения окончательной русскоязычной версии шкалы.   Результаты. В ходе первого заседания экспертной комиссии внесли поправки в русскоязычную версию шкалы в рамках языковой и культурной адаптации: были изменены единицы измерения лабораторных показателей с мг/дл на ммоль/л в 7-м и 14-м пунктах (оценка гликемии и концентрации креатинина, соответственно). Изменен термин «надаортальные сосуды» на «брахиоцефальные артерии» в 10-м пункте, сопоставлены предложенные варианты повреждения мягких тканей со стадиями развития пролежней согласно NPUAP — EPUAP [18] в 21-м пункте, добавлен параметр индекс массы тела (ИМТ) для оценки выраженности недостаточности питания. В ходе пилотного тестирования с учетом критериев включения и исключения сложностей при понимании и интерпретации инструкций шкалы у исследователей не возникло. По итогам состоялось второе заседание экспертной комиссии, на котором приняли окончательный вариант русскоязычной версии шкалы. Он доступен для ознакомления на сайте группы валидациимеждународных шкал и опросников ФГБНУ НЦН https://www.neurology.ru/reabilitaciya/centr-validacii-mezhdunarodnyh-shkal-i-oprosnikov, а также по QR-коду.   Заключение. На базе ФГБНУ НЦН выполнили первый этап валидации — лингвокультурную адаптацию. Впервые представили и рекомендовали к использованию русскоязычную версию Шкалы оценки сопутствующих заболеваний у ареактивных пациентов. В последующих публикациях будут представлены результаты оценки психометрических свойств (чувствительность, валидность, надежность) русскоязычной версии данной шкалы

Comorbidities Coma Scale (CoCoS): Linguistic and Cultural Adaptation of the Russian-Language Version

Identification of complications and control of comorbidities are essential in monitoring the patients with chronic disorders of consciousness and predicting their outcomes. The researchers of the Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences of the University of L'Aquila (Italy) developed the Comorbidities Coma Scale (CoCoS) for a comprehensive assessment of such patients. Lack of an officially validated version of the scale hampers its use in Russia, while using versions which have not been completely validated prevents clinicians from obtaining reliable results when examining patients with chronic disorders of consciousness.   Aim. To develop the official Russian language version of the Comorbidities Coma Scale, considering various linguistic and cultural parameters, as a part of the 1st stage of the validation study.   Material and methods. The first stage of validation was completed: direct and reverse translation of the scale was performed by two independent medical translators. The translated version was assessed by an expert board including an expert translator, neurologists, and critical care specialists. Pilot test and two meetings of the expert board, before and after testing, were arranged to assess the results and approve the final Russian version of the scale.   Results. During the first meeting of the expert board, corrections were made in the Russian language version of the scale in terms of language and cultural adaptation. Pilot testing was carried out based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The researchers had no difficulties in understanding and interpreting the instructions for the scale. The second meeting of the expert board was held thereupon, and the final version of the Russian language version of the scale was adopted, which is available on the website of the Center for Validation of Health Status Questionnaires and Scales of the Research Center of Neurology.   Conclusion. The first stage of validation, i. e., linguistic and cultural adaptation, was carried out at the Research Center of Neurology (Moscow, Russia). For the first time, the Russian version of the scale for assessing comorbidities in patients with chronic disorders of consciousness was presented and approved for the practical use. The future publications will address the psychometric results of the scale such as sensitivity, validity, reliability

The concept of implementation of the decentralized application level structure for providers of a typical next generation network

Based on the IPCC concept, the architecture of the Next Generation Network with the Decentralized Structure Applications Level to improve the quality control of the intellectual services (ISes) provisioning is proposed. It is recommended to evaluate the effectiveness of the control of provisioning ISes by means of the complex criterion, which takes into account the interests of three participants of ISes: process service providers, equipment suppliers and network users. The subcriteria are defined for each participant. The method used for the calculation of each subcriterion has been proposed as well. The problem of the association of subcriteria into the resulting complex criterion has been solved

МОДЕЛЬ ТЯГОВОГО АСИНХРОННОГО ЕЛЕКТРОПРИВОДА В РЕЖИМІ ЕЛЕКТРОДИНАМІЧНОГО ГАЛЬМУВАННЯ ЗІ СКАЛЯРНИМ ЗАКОНОМ КЕРУВАННЯ

This article is devoted to the problem of traction asynchronous electric drive operation in normal and abnormal conditions in the mode of electrodynamic braking. The proposed simulation model allows us to study the dynamical processes that arise in a traction asynchronous electric drive while driving on sections with different coupling coefficient of wheel pairs with a rail. The simulation model is rather versatile, which allows us to analyze in detail the electromagnetic and electromechanical processes occurring in a frequency controlled driven asynchronous electric drive taking into account changing conditions of rolling stock operation in electrodynamic braking, to evaluate the energy and operational parameters, to investigate the influence of parameters of the frequency converter, traction engine, parameters links of direct current to the nature of the transition processes, using modern methods of mathematics some simulation. As an example, the results of the simulation of a traction asynchronous electric motor with a scalar control law in the mode of electrodynamic braking with stabilization of the voltage in the DC link and the control of the braking effort, depending on the coupling coefficient of the wheel coupling with the rail, are given. The proposed system of protection against excessive slipping and skid wheel pairs can prevent the occurrence of abnormal operating mode of the traction asynchronous electric drive in the mode of traction and electrodynamic braking with a sharp change in the coupling coefficient of the wheel coupling with a rail, to identify the restoration of a satisfactory coupling coefficient and to analyze the need for adjusting the traction and braking torque of the traction asynchronous electric motor depending on the condition of the surface of the rails.Данная статья посвящена проблеме работы тягового асинхронного электропривода в штатных и аномальных условиях в режиме электродинамического торможения. Предложенная имитационная модель позволяет проводить исследования динамических процессов, возникающих в тяговом асинхронном электроприводе при движении на участках с разным коэффициентом сцепления колесных пар с рельсом, а также с учетом основного и дополнительного сопротивлений движения.Дана стаття присвячена проблемі роботи тягового асинхронного електропривода (ТАЕП) у штатних та аномальних умовах у режимі електродинамічного гальмування. Запропонована імітаційна модель дозволяє проводити дослідження динамічних процесів, які виникають у тяговому асинхронному електроприводі при русі на ділянках з різним коефіцієнтом зчеплення колісних пар з рейкою з урахуванням основного та додаткового опорів руху

Construction of an Analytical Method for Limiting the Complexity of Neural-fuzzy Models with Guaranteed Accuracy

We have proposed an analytical method for limiting the complexity of neural-fuzzy models that provide for the guaranteed accuracy of their implementation when approximating functions with two or more derivatives. The method makes it possible to determine the required minimal number of parameters for systems that employ fuzzy logic, as well as neural models.We have estimated the required number of neurons (terms) in a model, which ensure the accuracy required for the area of a model curve to approach the system one along the sections of function approximation. The estimate for an approximation error was obtained based on the residual members of decomposition, in the Lagrangian form, of areas of the approximated system function into a Maclaurin series. The results received make it possible to determine the required number of approximation sections and the number of neurons (terms) in order to ensure the assigned relative and absolute error of approximation.We have estimated the required number of neurons (terms) that provide for the necessary accuracy of model implementation based on the maximum deviation between the system and model curves along the section of approximation. This makes it possible to select, depending on the assigned required accuracy, the number of terms of fuzzy variables, input and output variables, linguistic rules, coordinates of modal values along the axes of input and output variables.To verify validity of the proposed solutions, we modeled the system curves in the Matlab/Simulink environment, which confirmed the guaranteed accuracy of their implementation in accordance with the analytical calculations reported earlier.The results obtained could be applied in modern intelligent technical systems of management, control, diagnosis, and decision-making. Using the proposed methods for selecting and applying the minimal number of terms (neurons) would help reduce the required computing power in nonlinear system