47 research outputs found

    Visualization for Information Retrieval based on Fast Search Technology

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    The core of search engine is information retrieval technique. Using information retrieval system backs more retrieval results, some of them more relevant than other, and some is not relevant. While using search engine to retrieve information has grown very substantially, there remain problems with the information retrieval systems. The interface of the systems does not help them to perceive the precision of these results. It is therefore not surprising that graphical visualizations have been employed in search engines to assist users. The main objective of Internet users is to find the required information with high efficiency and effectiveness. In this paper we present brief sides of information visualization's role in enhancing web information retrieval system as in some of its techniques such as tree view, title view, map view, bubble view and cloud view and its tools such as highlighting and Colored Query Result

    Factor structure and internal consistency of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Subjective Vitality Scale (VS), and the relationship between them: a study from France

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The objectives of this study were to test the factor structure and internal consistency of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Subjective Vitality Scale (VS) in elderly French people, and to test the relationship between these two questionnaires.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using a standard 'forward-backward' translation procedure, the English language versions of the two instruments (i.e. the 12-item General Health Questionnaire and the Subjective Vitality Scale) were translated into French. A sample of adults aged 58–72 years then completed both questionnaires. Internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The factor structures of the two instruments were extracted by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Finally, the relationship between the two instruments was assessed by correlation analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In all, 217 elderly adults participated in the study. The mean age of the respondents was 61.7 (SD = 6.2) years. The mean GHQ-12 score was 17.4 (SD = 8.0), and analysis showed satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient = 0.78). The mean VS score was 22.4 (SD = 7.4) and its internal consistency was found to be good (Cronbach's alpha coefficient = 0.83). While CFA showed that the VS was uni-dimensional, analysis for the GHQ-12 demonstrated a good fit not only to the two-factor model (positive vs. negative items) but also to a three-factor model. As expected, there was a strong and significant negative correlation between the GHQ-12 and the VS (r = -0.71, P < 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results showed that the French versions of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Subjective Vitality Scale (VS) are reliable measures of psychological distress and vitality. They also confirm a significant negative correlation between these two instruments, lending support to their convergent validity in an elderly French population. The findings indicate that both measures have good structural characteristics.</p

    Potential Role for a Panel of Immunohistochemical Markers in the Management of Endometrial Carcinoma

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    Background In order to improve the efficacy of endometrial carcinoma (EC) treatment, identifying prognostic factors for high risk patients is a high research priority. This study aimed to assess the relationships among the expression of estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), Ki-67, and the different histopathological prognostic parameters in EC and to assess the value of these in the management of EC. Methods We examined 109 cases of EC. Immunohistochemistry for ER, PR, HER2, and Ki-67 were evaluated in relation to age, tumor size, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage and grade, depth of infiltration, cervical and ovarian involvement, lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI), and lymph node (LN) metastasis. Results The mean age of patients in this study was 59.8 ± 8.2 years. Low ER and PR expression scores and high Ki-67 expression showed highly significant associations with non-endometrioid histology (p = .007, p < .001, and p < .001, respectively) and poor differentiation (p = .007, p < .001, and p <. 001, respectively). Low PR score showed a significant association with advanced stage (p = .009). Low ER score was highly associated with LVSI (p = .006), and low PR scores were associated significantly with LN metastasis (p = .026). HER2 expression was significantly related to advanced stages (p = .04), increased depth of infiltration (p = .02), LVSI (p = .017), ovarian involvement (p = .038), and LN metastasis (p = .038). There was a close relationship between HER2 expression and uterine cervical involvement (p = .009). Higher Ki-67 values were associated with LN involvement (p = .012). Conclusions The over-expression of HER2 and Ki-67 and low expression of ER and PR indicate a more malignant EC behavior. An immunohistochemical panel for the identification of high risk tumors can contribute significantly to prognostic assessments

    Development of Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention as a National Reperfusion Strategy for Patients with ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction and Assessment of Its Use in Egypt

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    Objective: Early treatment of acute ischemia of the heart by performing immediate percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to restore blood flow in patients with the clinical presentation of an acute coronary syndrome and more specifically with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) can save lives. This study aims to identify the mean time (door to balloon time and first contact to balloon time) to primary PCI for STEMI patients and to assess the percentage of primary PCI and its success rate in Egypt. Methods: A registry study of patients presenting to cardiac centers in Egypt was designed, where patients’ basic characteristics, the treatment strategy, and the door to balloon time and the first contact to balloon time were assessed. Results: One thousand six hundred fifty STEMI patients with a mean age of 57 years were included in the study. Immediate transfer for primary PCI was the most used treatment strategy, representing 74.6% of all treatment strategies used. The door to balloon time and the first contact to balloon time were 50 and 60 minutes, respectively, with a primary PCI success rate of 65.1%. Conclusion: The registry study results showed a marked improvement by implementation of the best treatment strategy with respect to the time factor to achieve a better outcome for STEMI patients in Egypt

    Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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    BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

    Surgical site infection after gastrointestinal surgery in high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries: a prospective, international, multicentre cohort study

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    Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the most common infections associated with health care, but its importance as a global health priority is not fully understood. We quantified the burden of SSI after gastrointestinal surgery in countries in all parts of the world. Methods: This international, prospective, multicentre cohort study included consecutive patients undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection within 2-week time periods at any health-care facility in any country. Countries with participating centres were stratified into high-income, middle-income, and low-income groups according to the UN's Human Development Index (HDI). Data variables from the GlobalSurg 1 study and other studies that have been found to affect the likelihood of SSI were entered into risk adjustment models. The primary outcome measure was the 30-day SSI incidence (defined by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for superficial and deep incisional SSI). Relationships with explanatory variables were examined using Bayesian multilevel logistic regression models. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02662231. Findings: Between Jan 4, 2016, and July 31, 2016, 13 265 records were submitted for analysis. 12 539 patients from 343 hospitals in 66 countries were included. 7339 (58·5%) patient were from high-HDI countries (193 hospitals in 30 countries), 3918 (31·2%) patients were from middle-HDI countries (82 hospitals in 18 countries), and 1282 (10·2%) patients were from low-HDI countries (68 hospitals in 18 countries). In total, 1538 (12·3%) patients had SSI within 30 days of surgery. The incidence of SSI varied between countries with high (691 [9·4%] of 7339 patients), middle (549 [14·0%] of 3918 patients), and low (298 [23·2%] of 1282) HDI (p < 0·001). The highest SSI incidence in each HDI group was after dirty surgery (102 [17·8%] of 574 patients in high-HDI countries; 74 [31·4%] of 236 patients in middle-HDI countries; 72 [39·8%] of 181 patients in low-HDI countries). Following risk factor adjustment, patients in low-HDI countries were at greatest risk of SSI (adjusted odds ratio 1·60, 95% credible interval 1·05–2·37; p=0·030). 132 (21·6%) of 610 patients with an SSI and a microbiology culture result had an infection that was resistant to the prophylactic antibiotic used. Resistant infections were detected in 49 (16·6%) of 295 patients in high-HDI countries, in 37 (19·8%) of 187 patients in middle-HDI countries, and in 46 (35·9%) of 128 patients in low-HDI countries (p < 0·001). Interpretation: Countries with a low HDI carry a disproportionately greater burden of SSI than countries with a middle or high HDI and might have higher rates of antibiotic resistance. In view of WHO recommendations on SSI prevention that highlight the absence of high-quality interventional research, urgent, pragmatic, randomised trials based in LMICs are needed to assess measures aiming to reduce this preventable complication

    Visualization for Information Retrieval in Regional Distributed Environment

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    Information retrieval (IR) is the task of representing, storing, organizing, and offering access to information items. The problem for search engines is not only to find topic relevant results, but results consistent with the user’s information need. How to retrieve desired information from the Internet with high efficiency and good effectiveness is become the main concern of internet user-based. The interface of the systems does not help them to perceive the precision of these results. Speed, resources consuming, searching and retrieving process also aren't optimal. The search engine's aim is developing and improving the performance of information retrieval system and gifting the user whatever his culture' level. The proposed system is using information visualization for interface problems, and for improving other side of web IR system's problems, it uses the regional crawler on distributed search environment with conceptual query processing and enhanced vector space information retrieval model (VSM). It is an effective attempt to match renewal user's needs and get a better performance than ordinary system

    Islamic Art as an inspiring source of aesthetic and functional integration among glass and fabrics in designing the wall hangings

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    Islamic art is considered as the most rich  art in desining elements that depend on simplifying and facilitating. The muslim artist was significantly interested in the wall hangings; he depended on decorating his walls by writings and the intergraded and diverse geometic and botanical ornaments using various materials such as fabrics and tiles that covered with enamel paint. The wall hanging is one of the important effective elements in the interior design because it has a significant effect in enriching and integration of interior emptiness in terms of  the aesthetic and function. It gives an aesthetic touch resulting to achieve several functional purposes as providing the privacy, concealing a part of the light, and emphasizing on the impression and identity of the place. The wall hangings of fabrics depend in its conent on the fabric design quality, the functional integration of the fabric, and the elements of its structural composition, in addition to the formalism elements as they interact together in order to give aesthetic and functional values. Glass is considered one of the most distinguished materials by chemical and physical characteristics that discriminate it from others in terms of its surface smoothness, shininess, brightness, and variety of its color degrees. With the scientific and technological development, glass has been able to breakthrough several domains because its appearing surface attracts the viewer. In addition to its stiffness and its strength to bear, but it is a material that is difficult to be merged with other materials. Although the development in manufacturing both of the fabric wall hangings and the glass wall hangings, it misses more development and creativity. Herein the question of the research appeared represented in the following: The Question of the Research: How to merge between glass and fabrics materials in designing the wall hangings? The Research purposes to: Creation of innovative glass fabric formulations from Islamic art in designing the wall hangings
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