Prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy and relation to glycemic control therapies at baseline in the BARI 2D cohort

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74968/1/j.1529-8027.2009.00200.x.pd

The Impact of Beverages on Ingestive Behavior

Nutrients is planning a Special Issue focusing on beverages and ingestive behavior. This Special Issue will focus on research related to all aspects of beverage consumption and post-ingestive consequences. There continues to be much controversy surrounding the influence of beverage choice on health outcomes. Research investigating the impact of beverage choice has on human health and post-ingestive consequences continue to grow. We know from the growing body of literature that beverage choice has a substantial impact on metabolism, food reinforcement and eating behaviors

Intracardiac Ultrasound Guided Systems for Transcatheter Cardiac Interventions

Transcatheter cardiac interventions are characterized by their percutaneous nature, increased patient safety, and low hospitalization times. Transcatheter procedures involve two major stages: navigation towards the target site and the positioning of tools to deliver the therapy, during which the interventionalists face the challenge of visualizing the anatomy and the relative position of the tools such as a guidewire. Fluoroscopic and transesophageal ultrasound (TEE) imaging are the most used techniques in cardiac procedures; however, they possess the disadvantage of radiation exposure and suboptimal imaging. This work explores the potential of intracardiac ultrasound (ICE) within an image guidance system (IGS) to facilitate the two stages of cardiac interventions. First, a novel 2.5D side-firing, conical Foresight ICE probe (Conavi Medical Inc., Toronto) is characterized, calibrated, and tracked using an electromagnetic sensor. The results indicate an acceptable tracking accuracy within some limitations. Next, an IGS is developed for navigating the vessels without fluoroscopy. A forward-looking, tracked ICE probe is used to reconstruct the vessel on a phantom which mimics the ultrasound imaging of an animal vena cava. Deep learning methods are employed to segment the complex vessel geometry from ICE imaging for the first time. The ICE-reconstructed vessel showed a clinically acceptable range of accuracy. Finally, a guidance system was developed to facilitate the positioning of tools during a tricuspid valve repair. The designed system potentially facilitates the positioning of the TriClip at the coaptation gap by pre-mapping the corresponding site of regurgitation in 3D tracking space

A Theory of Program Refinement

We give a canonical program refinement calculus based on the lambda calculus and classical first-order predicate logic, and study its proof theory and semantics. The intention is to construct a metalanguage for refinement in which basic principles of program development can be studied. The idea is that it should be possible to induce a refinement calculus in a generic manner from a programming language and a program logic. For concreteness, we adopt the simply-typed lambda calculus augmented with primitive recursion as a paradigmatic typed functional programming language, and use classical first-order logic as a simple program logic. A key feature is the construction of the refinement calculus in a modular fashion, as the combination of two orthogonal extensions to the underlying programming language (in this case, the simply-typed lambda calculus). The crucial observation is that a refinement calculus is given by extending a programming language to allow indeterminate expressions (or 'stubs') involving the construction 'some program x such that P'. Factoring this into 'some x ...' and '... such that P', we first study extensions to the lambda calculus providing separate analyses of what we might call 'true' stubs, and structured specifications. The questions we are concerned with in these calculi are how do stubs interact with the programming language, and what is a suitable notion of structured specification for program development. The full refinement calculus is then constructed in a natural way as the combination of these two subcalculi. The claim that the subcalculi are orthogonal extensions to the lambda calculus is justified by a result that a refinement can actually be factored into simpler judgements in the subcalculi, that is, into logical reasoning and simple decomposition. The semantics for the calculi are given using Henkin models with additional structure. Both simply-typed lambda calculus and first-order logic are interpreted using Henkin models themselves. The two subcalculi require some extra structure and the full refinement calculus is modelled by Henkin models with a combination of these extra requirements. There are soundness and completeness results for each calculus, and by virtue of there being certain embeddings of models we can infer that the refinement calculus is a conservative extension of both of the subcalculi which, in turn, are conservative extensions of the lambda calculus

Sex, sailors and colonies: Narratives of ambiguity in the works of Pierre Loti

This book focuses on the oeuvre of nineteenth-century author and naval captain Julien Viaud (1850-1923) who wrote under the pseudonym Pierre Loti. Considered a best-seller in his day and a distinguished naval figure, Loti\u27s contribution to French naval and literary history is significant. This work suggests a new reading of Loti\u27s literature that positions his texts within the critical theoretical paradigms of Postcolonialism and Queer Theory. This study examines both Loti\u27s fictional and non-fictional opus. It explores the dominant themes relayed throughout his oeuvre including his portrayal of exotic sexuality as being underpinned by a desire to elude articulation, his uncertain approach to colonialism given the constant shift between his identity as a colonising sailor and sympathising exoticist and Loti\u27s own self-representation in both his fictional and non-fictional works. His constant re-invention of «Pierre Loti» as a persona in his writing creates a question about who Loti really is and how much of the man is represented in the so-called autobiographical text. These seemingly disparate themes of sexuality, colonialism and personal identity are all interrogated as posssible sites of ambiguity, thus revealing the general scope and complexity of Loti\u27s work. [Retrieved from publisher\u27s website

Homogeneity, “glocalism” or somewhere in between?: A literary interpretation of identity in the era of globalization

Purpose – This paper aims to expand current theories of globalisation to a consideration of its impact on the individual. Much work has been done on the impact of globalisation on social, political and economic structures. In this paper, globalisation, for the individual, reflects a re-conceptualisation of the Self/Other encounter. In order to explore this Self/Other dimension, the paper analyses the literary work of nineteenth-century writer Pierre Loti since his work begins to problematise this important motif. His work also provides insight into the effect on the individual when encountering the Other in a globalised context. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing from literary criticism, the paper adopts an interpretive approach. Using the fiction and non-fiction work of Pierre Loti, an integrated psychoanalytical, postcolonial analysis is conducted to draw out possible insights into how Loti conceptualises the Other and is thus transformed himself. Findings – The paper finds that the Self/Other encounter shifts in the era of globalisation. The blurring of the Self/Other is part of the impact of globalisation on the individual. Further, the paper argues that Loti was the first to problematise Self/Other at a point in history where the distinction seemed clear. Loti\u27s work is instructive for tracing the dissolution of the Self/Other encounter since the themes and issues raised in his early work foreshadow our contemporary experience of globalisation. Research limitations/implications – This paper takes a specific view of globalisation through an interpretive lens. It also uses one specific body of work to answer the research question of what impact globalisation has on the individual. A broader sampling and application of theoretical strains out of the literary criticism canon would expand the parameters of this study. Originality/value – This paper makes an original contribution to current theorisations of globalisation in that it re-conceptualises classical understandings of the Self/Other divide. The finding that the Self/Other divide is altered in the current era of globalisation has impact for cultural and marketing theory since it re-focuses attention on the shifting nature of identity and how we encounter the Other in our daily existence. Copyright © Emerald Group Publishing Limited Publication of this article is forthcoming

Does sustainability matter in the B2B environment: A study in marketing attitudes and the constraints of “going green” in the B2B context.

There is a significant body of literature on consumer perceptions of sustainability in both marketing communications and products/services. This research contributes to the less studied context of business to business (B2B) marketing and how marketers in this context perceive sustainability. Green marketing has an important role to play in achieving sustainable development in the B2B context. Marketers have a vital responsibility to communicate on relevant products/services, create awareness on environmental issues among industry customers and promote sustainable consumption. However, previous research has also suggested that, as yet, green marketing and indeed marketing’s broader influence on attitudes towards sustainability, are yet to be fully mobilised, particularly in the B2B environment. Given the important role of marketers in achieving sustainable development, this research focuses on why mobilisation of a sustainability agenda is yet to really eventuate and what the opinion of marketers working in B2B environment regarding green marketing actually is