Transcomposition: The Future is Fungal

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Parameterizing Inanimate Agents: The Motion of a Virtual Ball and the Behaviour of a Machine-Learning Interactive System

In this thesis we parameterized interactive objects and systems and investigated their effects on perceived agency. In one experiment we developed a virtual reality simulation in which the motion path of a virtual ball is parameterized by the magnitude and direction of its jerk component. Subjects classified several motions paths into animate and inanimate categories. We found that motion paths with a large jerky deviation from our definition of an inanimate zero jerk motion path, per the subject's physical point of view, are classified as animate by the subject. In another experiment, we developed a Living Architecture System whose interactive behaviours are defined by a set of modifiable control parameters. We focused on two behaviour modes which are differentiated by the usage of these control parameters: one in which static values were hand-picked to produce what we had determined to be aesthetically interesting interactive behaviour, and one in which a machine learning algorithm assumes full real-time control of each parameter with restrictions. We measured the subject's experience with skin-conductance and brain activity before and after exposure to one of the behaviour modes and follow with a questionnaire. We found that, after exposure, subjects who experienced static parameters had a decrease in skin-conductance while subjects who experienced the machine learning algorithm had an increase in skin-conductance. However, the statistically significant results of the second experiment remain inconclusive because of the small sample set

Prediction Scores Do Not Correlate with Clinically Adjudicated Categories of Pulmonary Embolism in Critically Ill Patients

Copyright © 2014 Hindawi Publishing Corporation. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.BACKGROUND: Prediction scores for pretest probability of pulmonary embolism (PE) validated in outpatient settings are occasionally used in the intensive care unit (ICU).OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the correlation of Geneva and Wells scores with adjudicated categories of PE in ICU patients.METHODS: In a randomized trial of thromboprophylaxis, patients with suspected PE were adjudicated as possible, probable or definite PE. Data were then retrospectively abstracted for the Geneva Diagnostic PE score, Wells, Modified Wells and Simplified Wells Diagnostic scores. The chance-corrected agreement between adjudicated categories and each score was calculated. ANOVA was used to compare values across the three adjudicated PE categories.RESULTS: Among 70 patients with suspected PE, agreement was poor between adjudicated categories and Geneva pretest probabilities (kappa 0.01 [95% CI −0.0643 to 0.0941]) or Wells pretest probabilities (kappa −0.03 [95% CI −0.1462 to 0.0914]). Among four possible, 16 probable and 50 definite PEs, there were no significant differences in Geneva scores (possible = 4.0, probable = 4.7, definite = 4.5; P=0.90), Wells scores (possible = 2.8, probable = 4.9, definite = 4.1; P=0.37), Modified Wells (possible = 2.0, probable = 3.4, definite = 2.9; P=0.34) or Simplified Wells (possible = 1.8, probable = 2.8, definite = 2.4; P=0.30).CONCLUSIONS: Pretest probability scores developed outside the ICU do not correlate with adjudicated PE categories in critically ill patients. Research is needed to develop prediction scores for this population

Parathyroid hormone for the treatment of osteoporosis: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Human parathyroid hormone (hPTH)(1–34) was approved in 2004 for the treatment of severe osteoporosis. Members of the Osteoporosis Canada clinical guidelines committee conducted a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to assess the efficacy and safety of hPTH for fracture prevention in postmenopausal women and men with osteoporosis. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, HTA, Current Contents and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Registry for published data from 1966 to February 2005. A systematic literature search for RCTs was conducted using the Cochrane Collaborative approach. We identified 12 trials that randomly assigned patients either to hPTH or placebo or to hPTH or an active comparator and were at least 1 year in duration. Outcomes included change in bone mineral density (BMD), fractures, back pain and adverse events. Two independent reviewers abstracted data on study characteristics and outcomes. RESULTS: hPTH(1–34) significantly increases lumbar spine BMD, with smaller increases at the femoral neck and total hip. hPTH(1–84) significantly increases lumbar spine BMD. The data show a significant reduction in both vertebral and nonvertebral fractures with hPTH(1–34) in postmenopausal women with previous vertebral fractures. There were no data on fractures comparing the approved dose of hPTH(1–34) with active comparators. INTERPRETATION: There is Level I evidence that hPTH(1–34) significantly increases BMD at all skeletal sites except the radius and significantly reduces the risk of new vertebral and nonvertebral fractures in postmenopausal women with prior fractures