745 research outputs found
Elemen Arsitektur Sebagai Perantara Komunikasi Antar Manusia
Dalam suatu keluarga yang beranggotakan orang tua dan anak, komunikasi menjadi hal yang penting dalam mengaplikasikan kontrol orang tua terhadap anak demi masa depannya yang lebih baik. Arsitektur sebagai ruang bagi seseorang dalam berkomunikasi, memiliki pengaruh terhadap komunikasinya. Komunikasi yang kurang harmonis dalam suatu keluarga bisa jadi disebabkan atas faktor arsitektur di lingkungannya, baik atas pola ruang maupun suasananya. Penulis merespon ketidakharmonisan komunikasi orang tua-anak tersebut dengan merancang sarana edukasi pola asuh orang tua terhadap anak, yang dapat menjadi ruang baru bagi keduanya dalam berkomunikasi. Dalam obyek rancang ini, penulis menghadirkan beberapa elemen arsitektur yang ditentukan dengan melakukan studi terlebih dahulu atas literatur yang telah ada. Sehingga dengan adanya elemen tersebut, arsitektur dapat menjadi media maupun perantara bagi orang tua-anak dalam berkomunikasi yang baik
Visualisation of heterogeneous data with simultaneous feature saliency using Generalised Generative Topographic Mapping
Most machine-learning algorithms are designed for datasets with features of a single type whereas very little attention has been given to datasets with mixed-type features. We recently proposed a model to handle mixed types with a probabilistic latent variable formalism. This proposed model describes the data by type-specific distributions that are conditionally independent given the latent space and is called generalised generative topographic mapping (GGTM). It has often been observed that visualisations of high-dimensional datasets can be poor in the presence of noisy features. In this paper we therefore propose to extend the GGTM to estimate feature saliency values (GGTMFS) as an integrated part of the parameter learning process with an expectation-maximisation (EM) algorithm. The efficacy of the proposed GGTMFS model is demonstrated both for synthetic and real datasets
Electrical transport and optical studies of ferromagnetic Cobalt doped ZnO nanoparticles exhibiting a metal-insulator transition
The observed correlation of oxygen vacancies and room temperature
ferromagnetic ordering in Co doped ZnO1-o nanoparticles reported earlier (Naeem
et al Nanotechnology 17, 2675-2680) has been further explored by transport and
optical measurements. In these particles room temperature ferromagnetic
ordering had been observed to occur only after annealing in forming gas. In the
current work the optical properties have been studied by diffuse reflection
spectroscopy in the UV-Vis region and the band gap of the Co doped compositions
has been found to decrease with Co addition. Reflections minima are observed at
the energies characteristic of Co+2 d-d (tethrahedral symmetry) crystal field
transitions, further establishing the presence of Co in substitutional sites.
Electrical transport measurements on palletized samples of the nanoparticles
show that the effect of a forming gas is to strongly decrease the resistivity
with increasing Co concentration. For the air annealed and non-ferromagnetic
samples the variation in the resistivity as a function of Co content are
opposite to those observed in the particles prepared in forming gas. The
ferromagnetic samples exhibit an apparent change from insulator to metal with
increasing temperatures for T>380K and this change becomes more pronounced with
increasing Co content. The magnetic and resistive behaviors are correlated by
considering the model by Calderon et al [M. J. Calderon and S. D. Sarma, Annals
of Physics 2007 (Accepted doi: 10.1016/j.aop.2007.01.010] where the
ferromagnetism changes from being mediated by polarons in the low temperature
insulating region to being mediated by the carriers released from the weakly
bound states in the higher temperature metallic region.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Characterising the progress in HIV/AIDS research in the Middle East and North Africa.
OBJECTIVES: The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is perceived to have limited HIV data. The objective of this study was to quantitatively characterise the progress in HIV research in this region since the discovery of the epidemic. METHODS: Four indices were defined and implemented to measure the progress of HIV research using the PubMed, Embase, MENA HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Synthesis Project and US Census Bureau HIV/AIDS Surveillance databases. The four indices provide complementary measures to characterise different aspects of the progress of HIV research. RESULTS: A total of 2118, 2352, 683 and 4889 records were identified through the PubMed, the Embase, the Synthesis Project and the HIV Prevalence indices, respectively. The proportion of the total global HIV records that relate to MENA is 1.2%. Overall, the indices show steady progress in the number of new records every year, with an accelerated pace in the last few years. The rate of progress in MENA was also higher than the rate of progress in HIV records globally. There is no evidence so far of stabilisation or a peak in the number of new records year by year. About half of the records were produced after the year 2005. The number of records shows large heterogeneity across countries. CONCLUSIONS: MENA has witnessed a rapid growth in HIV research over the last decade. However, there are still large gaps in HIV scientific evidence in the region, and the progress is far from being uniform across countries. Ongoing and future research needs to be geared towards academic standard and production of scientific publications
Images in Clinical Urology: Complex open pyeloplasty in a pelvic kidney
A pelvic kidney occurs in between 1 in 2200 and 1 in 3000 people,1 due to failure of ascent during development. It is commonly asymptomatic and usually functions normally. Pelvic ureteral junction obstruction can either be congenital or acquired, and is characterized by intrinsic stenosis or extrinsic compression of the ureter at the junction with the pelvicalyceal renal system. This can cause symptomatic or asymptomatic hydronephrosis. We describe the complex case and management of a patient with a massive pelvic ureteral junction obstruction in a pelvic kidney
Magnetic response of core-shell cobalt ferrite nanoparticles at low temperature
Cobaltferritenanoparticles (size: 26Âą4nm) have been synthesized by coprecipitation route. The coercivity of nanoparticles follows a simple model of thermal activation of particle moments over the anisotropy barrier in the temperature range of 30â300K in accordance with Knellerâs law; however, at low temperatures
Improving the standards-based management: recognition initiative to provide high-quality, equitable maternal health services in Malawi. An implementation research protocol: Table 1
Background:
The Government of Malawi is seeking
evidence to improve implementation of its flagship
quality of care improvement initiative
â
the Standards
Based Management-Recognition for Reproductive
Health (SBM-R(RH)).
Objective:
This implementation study will assess the
quality of maternal healthcare in facilities where the
SBM-R(RH) initiative has been employed, identify
factors that support or undermine effectiveness of the
initiative and develop strategies to further enhance its
operation.
Methods:
Data will be collected in 4 interlinked
modules using quantitative and qualitative research
methods. Module 1 will develop the programme theory
underlying the SBM-R(RH) initiative, using document
review and in-depth interviews with policymakers and
programme managers. Module 2 will quantitatively
assess the quality and equity of maternal healthcare
provided in facilities where the SBM-R(RH) initiative
has been implemented, using the Malawi Integrated
Performance Standards for Reproductive Health.
Module 3 will conduct an organisational ethnography
to explore the structures and processes through which
SBM-R(RH) is currently operationalised. Barriers and
facilitators will be identified. Module 4 will involve
coordinated co-production of knowledge by
researchers, policymakers and the public, to identify
and test strategies to improve implementation of the
initiative.
Potential impact:
The research outcomes will
provide empirical evidence of strategies that will
enhance the facilitators and address the barriers to
effective implementation of the initiative. It will also
contribute to the theoretical advances in the emerging
science of implementation research
Maternal deaths in Pakistan : intersection of gender, class and social exclusion.
Background: A key aim of countries with high maternal mortality rates is to increase availability of competent
maternal health care during pregnancy and childbirth. Yet, despite significant investment, countries with the
highest burdens have not reduced their rates to the expected levels. We argue, taking Pakistan as a case study,
that improving physical availability of services is necessary but not sufficient for reducing maternal mortality
because gender inequities interact with caste and poverty to socially exclude certain groups of women from
health services that are otherwise physically available.
Methods: Using a critical ethnographic approach, two case studies of women who died during childbirth were
pieced together from information gathered during the first six months of fieldwork in a village in Northern Punjab,
Pakistan.
Findings: Shida did not receive the necessary medical care because her heavily indebted family could not afford it.
Zainab, a victim of domestic violence, did not receive any medical care because her martial family could not afford
it, nor did they think she deserved it. Both women belonged to lower caste households, which are materially poor
households and socially constructed as inferior.
Conclusions: The stories of Shida and Zainab illustrate how a rigidly structured caste hierarchy, the gendered
devaluing of females, and the reinforced lack of control that many impoverished women experience conspire to
keep women from lifesaving health services that are physically available and should be at their disposal
Clinical effects of Streptococcus salivarius K12 in hospitalized COVID-19 patients: results of a preliminary study
Anatomical and physiological considerations indicate that the oral cavity is a primary source of the lung microbiota community, and recent studies have shown that the microbiota in the lungs contributes to immunological homeostasis, potentially altering the organâs susceptibility to viral infection, including SARS-CoV-2. It has been proposed that, in the case of viral infection, lung Gram-negative bacteria could promote the cytokine cascade with a better performance than a microbiota mainly constituted by Gram-positive bacteria. Recent observations also suggest that Prevotella-rich oral microbiotas would dominate the oral cavity of SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. In comparison, Streptococcus-rich microbiotas would dominate the oral cavity of healthy people. To verify if the modulation of the oral microbiota could have an impact on the current coronavirus disease, we administered for 14 days a well-recognized and oral-colonizing probiotic (S. salivarius K12) to hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The preliminary results of our randomized and controlled trial seem to prove the potential role of this oral strain in improving the course of the main markers of pathology, as well as its ability to apparently reduce the death rate from COVID-19. Although in a preliminary and only circumstantial way, our results seem to confirm the hypothesis of a direct involvement of the oral microbiota in the construction of a lung microbiota whose taxonomic structure could modulate the inflammatory processes generated at the pulmonary and systemic level by a viral infection
Safety and feasibility of early single-dose mitomycin C bladder instillation after robot-assisted radical nephroureterectomy
Objectives:
To assess the safety and feasibility of early singleâdose mitomycin C (MMC) bladder instillation after robotâassisted radical nephroureterectomy (RARNU) at a tertiary kidney cancer centre. RARNU with bladder cuff excision and subsequent MMC bladder instillation to reduce recurrence risk is the âgold standardâ for highârisk upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UUTUC). We adapted a RARNU technique with precise distal ureteric dissection, bladder cuff excision and watertight bladder closure.
Patients and Methods:
We retrospectively reviewed all patients undergoing RARNU for UUTUC at our centre performed as a standardised transperitoneal procedure comprising of: bladder cuff excision, twoâlayer watertight closure and intraoperative bladder leak test; without reâdocking/reâpositioning of the robotic surgical system. Patient demographics, the timing of MMC instillation, adverse events (surgical and potentially MMCârelated) and length of stay (LOS) were assessed according to the ClavienâDindo classification.
Results:
A total of 69 patients underwent a RARNU with instillation of MMC. The median (interquartile range [IQR]) age was 70 (62â78) years. The median (IQR) day of MMC instillation was 2 (1â3) days and the median (IQR) LOS was 2 (2â4) days, with urethral catheter removal on day of discharge in all cases. Only Grade I ClavienâDindo complications occurred in seven patients (10%); five had ileus, one a wound infection and one a selfâlimiting delirium, all managed conservatively. No adverse events potentially related to MMC instillation were noted within 30 days postoperatively.
Conclusion:
The use of intravesical MMC instillation given in the immediate postoperative period appears feasible and safe in patients undergoing RARNU with intraoperative confirmation of a waterâtight closure ensuring early catheterâfree discharge, with no significant adverse events. The potential reduction in intravesical recurrence in patients receiving early MMC needs to be assessed with longitudinal followâup studies
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