Unifying Qualitative and Quantitative Database Preferences to Enhance Query Personalization

Data drives all aspects of our society, from everyday life, to business, to medicine, and science. It is well-known that query personalization can be an effective technique in dealing with the data scalability challenge, primarily from the human point of view. In order to personalize their query results, users need to express their preferences in an effective manner. There are two types of preferences: qualitative and quantitative. Each preference type has advantages and disadvantages with respect to expressiveness. The most important disadvantage of the quantitative model is that it cannot support all types of preferences while the qualitative model can only create a partial order over the data, which makes it impossible to rank all the results. The hypothesis of this dissertation is that it is possible to overcome the disadvantages of each preference type by combining both of them, in a single model, using the notion of intensity. This dissertation presents such a hybrid model and a practical system that has the ability to convert the intensity values of qualitative preferences into intensity values of quantitative preferences, without losing the qualitative information. The intensity values allow to create a total order over the tuples in the database that match a user’s preferences as well as to significantly increase the coverage of preferences. Hence, the proposed model eliminates the disadvantages of the existing two types of preferences. This dissertation formalizes the hybrid model using a preference graph and proposes an algorithm for efficient preference combination, which is evaluated in an experimental prototype. The experiments show that: (1) intensity plays a crucial role in determining the order of selecting and applying the preferences, and simply ordering the preferences based on the intensity value is not necessarily sufficient; (2) the model can achieve three orders of magnitude increase in coverage compared to other alternatives; (3) the solution proposed outperforms other Top-k algorithms by being able to use both qualitative and quantitative preferences at the same time, and (4) the algorithm proposed is efficient in terms of time complexity, returning tuples ordered by the intensity value in a matter of seconds

Joint energy and water management scheme for water supply systems in Romania

Keeping in mind the short-term and long-term aims of cost depletion and sustainable development respectively, a joint water and energy management scheme for water supply systems that leads to reduced energy losses is proposed. For water utilities, drinkable water's treatment and pumping and wastewater treatment are the main energy-consuming processes and a proportional part of this energy is wasted with non-revenue water. In Romania, these losses can reach critical levels so highlighting them becomes a crucial aspect in assessing the system's efficiency. This paper presents a scheme that combines energy audit and water balance techniques that can become a tool for both energy auditors and managers, by allowing the quantification of embedded energy of water losses. The methodology is adapted for the conditions in Romania, where data collection and processing is mainly done manually

Joint energy and water management scheme for water supply systems in Romania

Keeping in mind the short-term and long-term aims of cost depletion and sustainable development respectively, a joint water and energy management scheme for water supply systems that leads to reduced energy losses is proposed. For water utilities, drinkable water's treatment and pumping and wastewater treatment are the main energy-consuming processes and a proportional part of this energy is wasted with non-revenue water. In Romania, these losses can reach critical levels so highlighting them becomes a crucial aspect in assessing the system's efficiency. This paper presents a scheme that combines energy audit and water balance techniques that can become a tool for both energy auditors and managers, by allowing the quantification of embedded energy of water losses. The methodology is adapted for the conditions in Romania, where data collection and processing is mainly done manually

ORAL HEALTH KNOWLEDGE REGARDING DENTAL CARIES AMONG A GROUP OF MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS

Introduction. Schools are favorable environment for information dissemination on disease prevention and supporting the health-related behaviors in oral education and promotion programs. Material and methods. The study comprised 240 middle school students aged between 10 and 15 years, 57.5% of whom were female. Pupils received an anonymous questionnaire on the level of knowledge about risk factors for tooth decay and caries prevention methods and then an oral health experiential education lesson. Results. The knowledge level is relatively high in terms of sugar consumption's and tooth brushing role on dental caries. Subjects are less informed about the involvement of the dental plaque and other risk factors. Family is the main source of oral health information, and many students rarely visit the dentist. Conclusion. There is a need for preventive programs in schools, involving teachers and parents to develop a favorable environment to health education

Healthcare Services Use Among Dental Patients

Regular medical attendance proved to have a positive impact on health, therefore the aim of the study is to detect the reasons and frequency for health care use among a group of 110 urban dental patients aged between 33 and 75 years, 50% males. The subjects completed an anonymous questionnaire with items related to their medical visits patterns: reason (treatment/control and emergency) and frequency of healthcare services use; self-assessed oral and general health and socio-demographic data. Most of the patients were adults (81.8%) and with more than 12 years of study (50%). In terms of reason for attending the dental office, 72% visited the dentist for emergency reasons, mainly men, elderly, patients with low level of education, and those who self-rated their oral health as satisfying or poor. Regarding medical visits, 54% from all patients attended healthcare for emergency reasons, regardless age, gender, education level and self-perceived general health. The results showed that worse healthcare services use is associated with low education level and gender, especially men visited the dentist when there is pain only. There is need to increase the number of individuals who use regular health care, for prevention and early detection of diseases

MYELOPROLIFERATIVE NEOPLASMS WITH CONCURRENT BCR-ABL FUSION GENE AND JAK2V617F MUTATION

This study investigates the occurrence of BCR-ABL fusion gene and JAK2V617F mutation in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) patients at diagnosis, in order to evaluate the clinical features, and compare them to the literature data. The study was conducted between January 2012 and February 2014 and included 190 cases of MPN from Regional Institute of Oncology Iasi. Molecular evaluation of BCR-ABL transcript and JAK2V617F mutation by RT-PCR, were assessed for diagnosis and monitorization. Only 2 patients showed simultaneous occurrence of both the JAK2V617F mutation and the BCR/ABL translocation. Pacient 1 presented a complex clinical picture with clinical signs of CML and essential thrombocythemia, while the second patient had a clinical picture suggestive of polycythemia vera. The screening for the JAK2V617F mutation and BCR-ABL should be considered at MPN diagnosis. Following these patients up might provide new data regarding the long term evolution of such cases

Hyperthyroidism in Pregnancy: The Delicate Balance between Too Much or Too Little Antithyroid Drug

Overt hyperthyroidism (HT) during pregnancy is associated with a risk of maternal–fetal complications. Antithyroid drugs (ATD) have a potential risk for teratogenic effects and fetal–neonatal hypothyroidism. This study evaluated ATD treatment and thyroid function control during pregnancy, and pregnancy outcome in women with HT. Patients and methods: A retrospective analysis of 36 single fetus pregnancies in 29 consecutive women (median age 30.3 ± 4.7 years) with HT diagnosed before or during pregnancy; a control group of 39 healthy euthyroid pregnant women was used. Results: Twenty-six women had Graves’ disease (GD, 33 pregnancies), 1 had a hyperfunctioning autonomous nodule, and 2 had gestational transient thyrotoxicosis (GTT). Methimazole (MMI) was administered in 22 pregnancies (78.5%), Propylthiouracil (PTU) in 2 (7.1%), switch from MMI to PTU in 4 (14.2%), no treatment in 8 pregnancies (3 with subclinical HT, 5 euthyroid with previous GD remission before conception). In the 8 pregnancies of GD patients diagnosed during gestation or shortly before (<6 weeks), i.e., with fetal exposure to uncontrolled HT, there was 1 spontaneous abortion at 5 weeks (3.4% of all ATD-treated pregnancies), and 1 premature delivery at 32 weeks with neonatal death in 24 h (3.4%); 1 child had neonatal hyperthyroidism (3.3% of live children in GD women) and a small atrial sept defect (4% of live children in ATD treated women). In women treated more than 6 months until conception (20 pregnancies): (a) median ATD doses were lower than those in women diagnosed shortly before or during pregnancy; (b) ATD was withdrawn in 40% of pregnancies in trimester (T)1, all on MMI < 10 mg/day (relapse in 14.2%), and in up to 55% in T3; (c) TSH level was below normal in 37%, 35% and 22% of pregnancies in T1, T2 and T3 respectively; FT4 was increased in 5.8% (T1) and subnormal in 11.75% in T2 and T3; (d) no fetal birth defects were recorded; one fetal death due to a true umbilical cord knot was registered. Mean birth weight was similar in both ATD-treated and control groups. Hyperthyroidism relapsed postpartum in 83% of GD patients (at median 3 ± 2.6 months). Conclusion: In hyperthyroid women with long-term ATD treatment before conception, drugs could be withdrawn in T1 in 40% of them, the thyroid function control was better, and pregnancy and fetal complications were rarer, compared to women diagnosed during pregnancy. Frequent serum TSH and FT4 monitoring is needed to maintain optimal thyroid function during pregnancy