Distribution of the chi-squared test in nonstandard situations

The distribution of the X2 test under the null hypothesis is studied, when the parameters are estimated by the method of moments. A general formula, applicable also to other situations, is given. Three examples are studied in more detail and numerical reults are given, indicating how unsafe it can be to use a X2 distribution with a number of degrees of freedom smaller than or equal to the number of cell

Factors Influencing the efficacy of intra-articular steroid injections in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis

A retrospective chart review was performed of all patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) followed at our clinic who had an intra-articular steroid injection between 1 January 1997 and 31 December 2001. The aim of the study was to evaluate the outcome of intra-articular steroid injections (iaS) and determine prognostic factors. During the study period, 202 iaS were performed in 60 patients, of whom 37 had oligoarticular JIA, 15 had polyarticular, rheumatoid factor-negative JIA and four each had systemic and enthesitis-related JIA. The median duration of remission was 23.1months (range: 0-69months). At last follow-up, 103 joints (51%) of 47 patients were still in remission after a median follow-up time of 28months (range: 1-69months). For the total cohort, the remission was longer for wrist and finger joints [risk ratio (RR): 0.2], with concomitant treatment with methotrexate (RR: 0.28) and for enthesitis-related arthritis (RR: 0.34). For the group of knee joints, remission was longer with concomitant treatment with methotrexate (RR: 0.37), with triamcinolone hexacetonide (RR: 0.77) and with general anaesthesia for the procedure (RR: 0.56). Mild side effects were observed in 45 iaS (22.3%), and skin atrophy occurred at the injection site in 2% of injections, but no major adverse event occurred in our cohort. In conclusion, iaS is a safe procedure with a median duration of remission of 23.1months. The remission was longer in the joints of the upper extremity, with concomitant treatment with methotrexate and when the injection was performed under general anaesthesi

Decrease in the prevalence of paediatric adiposity in Switzerland from 2002 to 2007

Abstract Objective A national study in Switzerland in 2002 suggested nearly one in five schoolchildren was overweight. Since then, many programmes have been introduced in an attempt to control the problem. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of childhood overweight in Switzerland five years later. Design In both studies a cross-sectional, three-stage, probability-proportional-to-size cluster sampling of schools throughout Switzerland was used to obtain a representative sample of approximately 2500 children aged 6-13 years. Height and weight were measured and BMI calculated. The BMI references from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were used to determine the prevalences of underweight (100 000 compared with smaller communities (P < 0·05). Conclusions In summary, over the past 5 years, the prevalence of adiposity has decreased in Swiss children. These findings suggest that increased awareness combined with mainly school-based programmes aimed at physical activity and healthy nutrition may have helped to control this public health problem. Future monitoring in Switzerland will determine if these findings are sustaine

An electrospun Polymer Composite with Fullerene-Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Exohedral Complexes can act as Memory Device

In this work, a novel electrospun conductive polymer nanocomposite made of polycaprolactone with an exohedral complex made of multiwalled carbon nanotubes and fullerene C60 was prepared and characterized. The preparation was straightforward and the complexes self-assembled within the nanocomposite fibers. The nanocomposite showed electrical switching behavior due to charge accumulation of fullerene C60 upon electrical stimulation. Write-once read-many memory devices were fabricated by electrospinning a nanocomposite with 0.8%wt. fullerene C60 onto interdigitated coplanar electrodes. The device retained the ON state for more than 60 days and could be thermally reset, reprogrammed and erased with subsequent electrical and thermal cycling. Moreover, the electrical resistance of the device could be modulated by applying different programming voltage amplitudes and programming times, which revealed its adaptive behavior and potential application to neuromorphic systems.Comment: 41 pages, 16 figures, 4 table

Recta numérica: una actividad de códimo

El Pensamiento Computacional resulta de utilidad en situaciones de la vida cotidiana. Introducirlo en la educación primaria y secundaria permitirá despertar el interés de los estudiantes en continuar sus estudios en ciencias de la computación, a la vez que posibilitará que desarrollen estas habilidades desde temprano para que puedan aplicarla en su vida cotidiana. En este trabajo presentamos una actividad diseñada para Códimo y denominada Recta Numérica que fue pensada para alumnos entre 6 y 8 años, y con la cual se busca incentivar de manera transparente uno de los aspectos del Pensamiento Computacional: el diseño de algoritmos. Los alumnos deben jugar a ubicar un número en la recta numérica, haciéndolo avanzar por un laberinto, mediante el uso de bloques (o comandos) simples. El alumno refuerza un conocimiento adquirido en clases (lo números naturales, enteros y su ubicación en la recta), utilizando el pensamiento computacional.XVI Workshop Tecnología Informática Aplicada en Educación (WTIAE).Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

the rem observing software

The Rapid Eye Mount (REM) is a 60 cm robotic telescope located at La Silla, Chile. Its Observing Software (REMOS) is constituted by a set of distributed intercommunicating processes organized around a central manager. Together they grant the system safety, automatically schedule and perform observations with two simultaneous cameras of user-defined targets, and drive fast reaction to satellite alerts. Subsequent data reduction is left to pipelines managed by each camera

REM: Automatic for the People

We present the result of a year-long effort to think, design, build, realize, and manage the robotic, autonomous REM observatory, placed since June 2003 on the cerro La Silla, ESO Chile. The various aspects of the management and control are here surveyed, with the nice ideas and the wrong dead ends we encountered under way. Now REM is offered to the international astronomical community, a real, schedulable telescope, automatic for the People

The circulation of psychological, psychiatrical, and psychoanalytical knowledge in Argentina (1900-1993): historiographical and historical notes

Se presenta un modelo historiográfico crítico sobre la circulación de saberes psicológicos, psiquiátricos y psicoanalíticos, que contempla distintos planos de análisis: conexiones individuales e institucionales entre autores y de corrientes locales con otras foráneas; los medios específicos y las asimetrías en el intercambio de saberes; procesos de lectura, apropiación y uso de los mismos, así como su transformación según las características locales. Se ofrecen los resultados de este modelo historiográfico en investigaciones en la Argentina durante el siglo XX.A critical historiographical model is present on the circulation of knowledge form psychology, psychiatry and psychoanalysis, which considers several levels of analysis: individual and institutional connections between local authors and disciplines with foreign ones; specific means and asymmetries in knowledge exchange; their reading processes, appropriation and uses, and their transformation according to local characteristics. The results of using this historiographical model in research in Argentina during XXth Century are shown.Fil: Macchioli, Florencia Adriana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología. Instituto de Investigaciones; ArgentinaFil: García, Luciano Nicolás. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología. Instituto de Investigaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Molinari, Victoria. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Psicología; ArgentinaFil: Benitez, Sebastian Matias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología. Instituto de Investigaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cardaci, Gabriela Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Psicología. Instituto de Investigaciones; Argentin

Randomised trial of oral versus sequential intravenous/oral cephalosporins in children with pyelonephritis

The hypothesis was tested that oral antibiotic treatment in children with acute pyelonephritis and scintigraphy-documented lesions is equally as efficacious as sequential intravenous/oral therapy with respect to the incidence of renal scarring. A randomised multi-centre trial was conducted in 365 children aged 6 months to 16years with bacterial growth in cultures from urine collected by catheter. The children were assigned to receive either oral ceftibuten (9mg/kg once daily) for 14days or intravenous ceftriaxone (50mg/kg once daily) for 3days followed by oral ceftibuten for 11days. Only patients with lesions detected on acute-phase dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) scintigraphy underwent follow-up scintigraphy. Efficacy was evaluated by the rate of renal scarring after 6 months on follow-up scintigraphy. Of 219 children with lesions on acute-phase scintigraphy, 152 completed the study; 80 (72 females, median age 2.2 years) were given ceftibuten and 72 (62 females, median age 1.6years) were given ceftriaxone/ceftibuten. Patients in the intravenous/oral group had significantly higher C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations at baseline and larger lesion(s) on acute-phase scintigraphy. Follow-up scintigraphy showed renal scarring in 21/80 children treated with ceftibuten and 33/72 with ceftriaxone/ceftibuten (p = 0.01). However, after adjustment for the confounding variables (CRP and size of acute-phase lesion), no significant difference was observed for renal scarring between the two groups (p = 0.2). Renal scarring correlated with the extent of the acute-phase lesion (r = 0.60, p < 0.0001) and the grade of vesico-ureteric reflux (r = 0.31, p = 0.03), and was more frequent in refluxing renal units (p = 0.04). The majority of patients, i.e. 44 in the oral group and 47 in the intravenous/oral group, were managed as out-patients. Side effects were not observed. From this study, we can conclude that once-daily oral ceftibuten for 14days yielded comparable results to sequential ceftriaxone/ceftibuten treatment in children aged 6months to 16years with DMSA-documented acute pyelonephritis and it allowed out-patient management in the majority of these childre