Hypermedia Information Systems in Industry

The requirements for industrial strength hypermedia are well known. If hypermedia applications are to be used successfully in the industrial environment, then considerable effort is required to integrate them into with the organisation’s current business practices. This implies that any proposed model must be simple to maintain and implement, as well as bringing real benefits to the organisation as a whole. This article discusses the development of such a system, its implementation and evaluation to support manufacturing operations at Pirelli Cables, Eastleigh

Using facial feedback to enhance turn-taking in a multimodal dialogue system

We describe the results of an experiment investigating whether an avatar’s facial feedback can enhance turn-taking, undertaken as part of a usability study of a preliminary version of the COMIC multimodal dialogue system. The study focused on the phase of the interaction where the avatar embodies a virtual sales agent that guides the user through a range of possible tiling options for his or her newly redesigned bathroom. Our experiment employed a between-subjects design, where subjects used the system in one of two face conditions: (1) the “expressive” condition, where lip sync, blinking, facial expressions, gaze shifting and head turning were enabled; or (2) the “zombie ” condition, where only lip sync was enabled. The results of the study were mixed, with some positive results on improving the interaction quality, but some unexpected negative results on task success and ease. On the positive side, the responses to our questionnaire indicated that the avatar’s thinking expression helped to convey that the system was busy processing input—confirming Edlund and Nordstrand’s (2002) finding—and that the facial expressions mitigated the system’s perceived sluggishness in responding verbally. However, after examining the videos of the interactions, we concluded that the avatar’s facial feedback—though helpful with some users—was unlikely to make up for the unnaturalness of the system’s half-duplex interaction on its own, and thus should be used together with explicit signals such as busy cursors. We did also find that the subjects in the expressive conditio

A conversation about implicit bias

Explicit bias reflects our perceptions at a conscious level. In contrast, implicit bias is unintentional and operates at a level below our conscious awareness. Implicit stereotypes shaping implicit biases are widely studied in criminal justice, medicine, CEO selection at Fortune 500 companies, etc. However, the problem of unconscious bias remains. E.g., while women constitute an increasing proportion of all STEM undergraduates, they still make up only a small proportion of faculty members at research universities, and they are substantially under-represented in organizational leadership and as recipients of professional awards and prizes. Can we afford to have unintentional perceptions continue to hinder the success and advancement of women and other underrepresented groups? Can we afford to continue to underuse human capital in science? This session at the 2015 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM) aimed to illuminate what statisticians need to know and do to break the glass ceiling of implicit bias

Randomised controlled trial of video clips and interactive games to improve vision in children with amblyopia using the I-BiT system

Background Traditional treatment of amblyopia involves either wearing a patch or atropine penalisation of the better eye. A new treatment is being developed on the basis of virtual reality technology allowing either DVD footage or computer games which present a common background to both eyes and the foreground, containing the imagery of interest, only to the amblyopic eye. Methods A randomised control trial was performed on patients with amblyopia aged 4–8 years with three arms. All three arms had dichoptic stimulation using shutter glass technology. One arm had DVD footage shown to the amblyopic eye and common background to both, the second used a modified shooter game, Nux, with sprite and targets presented to the amblyopic eye (and background to both) while the third arm had both background and foreground presented to both eyes (non-interactive binocular treatment (non-I-BiT) games). Results Seventy-five patients were randomised; 67 were residual amblyopes and 70 had an associated strabismus. The visual acuity improved in all three arms by approximately 0.07 logMAR in the amblyopic eye at 6 weeks. There was no difference between I-BiT DVD and non-I-BiT games compared with I-BiT games (stated primary outcome) in terms of gain in vision. Conclusions There was a modest vision improvement in all three arms. Treatment was well tolerated and safe. There was no difference between the three treatments in terms of primary stated outcomes but treatment duration was short and the high proportion of previously treated amblyopia and strabismic amblyopia disadvantaged dichoptic stimulation treatment

Use of a health information exchange system in the emergency care of children

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Children may benefit greatly in terms of safety and care coordination from the information sharing promised by health information exchange (HIE). While information exchange capability is a required feature of the certified electronic health record, we known little regarding how this technology is used in general and for pediatric patients specifically.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using data from an operational HIE effort in central Texas, we examined the factors associated with actual system usage. The clinical and demographic characteristics of pediatric ED encounters (n = 179,445) were linked to the HIE system user logs. Based on the patterns of HIE system screens accessed by users, we classified each encounter as: no system usage, basic system usage, or novel system usage. Using crossed random effects logistic regression, we modeled the factors associated with basic and novel system usage.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Users accessed the system for 8.7% of encounters. Increasing patient comorbidity was associated with a 5% higher odds of basic usage and 15% higher odds for novel usage. The odds of basic system usage were lower in the face of time constraints and for patients who had not been to that location in the previous 12 months.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>HIE systems may be a source to fulfill users' information needs about complex patients. However, time constraints may be a barrier to usage. In addition, results suggest HIE is more likely to be useful to pediatric patients visiting ED repeatedly. This study helps fill an existing gap in the study of technological applications in the care of children and improves knowledge about how HIE systems are utilized.</p

Histamine receptor activation by unsaturated (allyl and propargyl) homologs of histamine

The spectrum of agonist activity for three new homologs of histamine (cis- and trans-imidazolylallylamine and imidazolylpropargylamine) was evaluated in the isolated guinea pig ileum and right atrium. The homologs were about three log units less potent than histamine in stimulating contractions of the longitudinal muscles of the ileum, but they were histamine-like, pharmacologically, because they were sensitive to blockade by pyrilamine and resistant to blockade by atropine. In the right atrium, these weak agonists were partially sensitive to blockade by cimetidine. The agonist activity of the cis-isomer in particular was completely blocked by a combination of cimetidine and propranolol, but resistant to reserpine treatment (neuronal catecholamine depletion). Therefore, these homologs of histamine have the ability to stimulate H 1 - and H 2 -histamine receptors and beta -adrenoreceptors in vitro .Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44880/1/11_2005_Article_BF01966582.pd

Ten-year mortality, disease progression, and treatment-related side effects in men with localised prostate cancer from the ProtecT randomised controlled trial according to treatment received

Background The ProtecT trial reported intention-to-treat analysis of men with localised prostate cancer randomly allocated to active monitoring (AM), radical prostatectomy, and external beam radiotherapy. Objective To report outcomes according to treatment received in men in randomised and treatment choice cohorts. Design, setting, and participants This study focuses on secondary care. Men with clinically localised prostate cancer at one of nine UK centres were invited to participate in the treatment trial comparing AM, radical prostatectomy, and radiotherapy. Intervention Two cohorts included 1643 men who agreed to be randomised and 997 who declined randomisation and chose treatment. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis Analysis was carried out to assess mortality, metastasis and progression and health-related quality of life impacts on urinary, bowel, and sexual function using patient-reported outcome measures. Analysis was based on comparisons between groups defined by treatment received for both randomised and treatment choice cohorts in turn, with pooled estimates of intervention effect obtained using meta-analysis. Differences were estimated with adjustment for known prognostic factors using propensity scores. Results and limitations According to treatment received, more men receiving AM died of PCa (AM 1.85%, surgery 0.67%, radiotherapy 0.73%), whilst this difference remained consistent with chance in the randomised cohort (p = 0.08); stronger evidence was found in the exploratory analyses (randomised plus choice cohort) when AM was compared with the combined radical treatment group (p = 0.003). There was also strong evidence that metastasis (AM 5.6%, surgery 2.4%, radiotherapy 2.7%) and disease progression (AM 20.35%, surgery 5.87%, radiotherapy 6.62%) were more common in the AM group. Compared with AM, there were higher risks of sexual dysfunction (95% at 6 mo) and urinary incontinence (55% at 6 mo) after surgery, and of sexual dysfunction (88% at 6 mo) and bowel dysfunction (5% at 6 mo) after radiotherapy. The key limitations are the potential for bias when comparing groups defined by treatment received and changes in the protocol for AM during the lengthy follow-up required in trials of screen-detected PCa. Conclusions Analyses according to treatment received showed increased rates of disease-related events and lower rates of patient-reported harms in men managed by AM compared with men managed by radical treatment, and stronger evidence of greater PCa mortality in the AM group. Patient summary More than 95 out of every 100 men with low or intermediate risk localised prostate cancer do not die of prostate cancer within 10 yr, irrespective of whether treatment is by means of monitoring, surgery, or radiotherapy. Side effects on sexual and bladder function are better after active monitoring, but the risks of spreading of prostate cancer are more common

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Functional and quality of life outcomes of localised prostate cancer treatments (prostate testing for cancer and treatment [ProtecT] study)

Objective To investigate the functional and quality of life (QoL) outcomes of treatments for localised prostate cancer and inform treatment decision-making. Patients and Methods Men aged 50–69 years diagnosed with localised prostate cancer by prostate-specific antigen testing and biopsies at nine UK centres in the Prostate Testing for Cancer and Treatment (ProtecT) trial were randomised to, or chose one of, three treatments. Of 2565 participants, 1135 men received active monitoring (AM), 750 a radical prostatectomy (RP), 603 external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT) with concurrent androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) and 77 low-dose-rate brachytherapy (BT, not a randomised treatment). Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) completed annually for 6 years were analysed by initial treatment and censored for subsequent treatments. Mixed effects models were adjusted for baseline characteristics using propensity scores. Results Treatment-received analyses revealed different impacts of treatments over 6 years. Men remaining on AM experienced gradual declines in sexual and urinary function with age (e.g., increases in erectile dysfunction from 35% of men at baseline to 53% at 6 years and nocturia similarly from 20% to 38%). Radical treatment impacts were immediate and continued over 6 years. After RP, 95% of men reported erectile dysfunction persisting for 85% at 6 years, and after EBRT this was reported by 69% and 74%, respectively (P < 0.001 compared with AM). After RP, 36% of men reported urinary leakage requiring at least 1 pad/day, persisting for 20% at 6 years, compared with no change in men receiving EBRT or AM (P < 0.001). Worse bowel function and bother (e.g., bloody stools 6% at 6 years and faecal incontinence 10%) was experienced by men after EBRT than after RP or AM (P < 0.001) with lesser effects after BT. No treatment affected mental or physical QoL. Conclusion Treatment decision-making for localised prostate cancer can be informed by these 6-year functional and QoL outcomes

Genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in a UK university identifies dynamics of transmission

AbstractUnderstanding SARS-CoV-2 transmission in higher education settings is important to limit spread between students, and into at-risk populations. In this study, we sequenced 482 SARS-CoV-2 isolates from the University of Cambridge from 5 October to 6 December 2020. We perform a detailed phylogenetic comparison with 972 isolates from the surrounding community, complemented with epidemiological and contact tracing data, to determine transmission dynamics. We observe limited viral introductions into the university; the majority of student cases were linked to a single genetic cluster, likely following social gatherings at a venue outside the university. We identify considerable onward transmission associated with student accommodation and courses; this was effectively contained using local infection control measures and following a national lockdown. Transmission clusters were largely segregated within the university or the community. Our study highlights key determinants of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and effective interventions in a higher education setting that will inform public health policy during pandemics.</jats:p