Diagnosis of cystic fibrosis in a patient of Egyptian background.

PubMed

Yoshida, Rie; Ruge, Bobby

2016-10-20

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common genetically inherited condition in European-derived populations. However, it is being increasingly recognised in other populations, including people of Asian, Black African and Caribbean descent. We present a case detailing the diagnosis of CF in a 12-year-old patient of Egyptian background who had been treated for difficult asthma. In doing so, we aim to highlight the importance of considering CF in all patients, regardless of ethnicity. 2016 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

Students' Abstraction in Recognizing, Building with and Constructing a Quadrilateral

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Budiarto, Mega Teguh; Rahaju, Endah Budi; Hartono, Sugi

2017-01-01

This study aims to implement empirically students' abstraction with socio-cultural background of Indonesia. Abstraction is an activity that involves a vertical reorganization of previously constructed mathematics into a new mathematical structure. The principal components of the model are three dynamic nested epistemic actions: recognizing,…

A qualitative study on the role of cultural background in patients' perspectives on rehabilitation

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Low back pain (LBP) is one of the major concerns in health care. In Switzerland, musculoskeletal problems represent the third largest illness group with 9.4 million consultations per year. The return to work rate is increased by an active treatment program and saves societal costs. However, results after rehabilitation are generally poorer in patients with a Southeast European cultural background than in other patients. This qualitative research about the rehabilitation of patients with LBP and a Southeast European cultural background, therefore, explores possible barriers to successful rehabilitation. Methods We used a triangulation of methods combining three qualitative methods of data collection: 13 semi-structured in-depth interviews with patients who have a Southeast European cultural background and live in Switzerland, five semi-structured in-depth interviews and two focus groups with health professionals, and a literature review. Between June and December 2008, we recruited participants at a Rehabilitation Centre in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Results To cope with pain, patients prefer passive strategies, which are not in line with recommended coping strategies. Moreover, the families of patients tend to support passive behaviour and reduce the autonomy of patients. Health professionals and researchers propagate active strategies including activity in the presence of pain, yet patients do not consider psychological factors contributing to LBP. The views of physicians and health professionals are in line with research evidence demonstrating the importance of psychosocial factors for LBP. Treatment goals focusing on increasing daily activities and return to work are not well understood by patients partly due to communication problems, which is something that patients and health professionals are aware of. Additional barriers to returning to work are caused by poor job satisfaction and other work-related factors. Conclusions LBP

Comprehension of concrete and abstract words in semantic dementia

PubMed Central

Jefferies, Elizabeth; Patterson, Karalyn; Jones, Roy W.; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A.

2009-01-01

The vast majority of brain-injured patients with semantic impairment have better comprehension of concrete than abstract words. In contrast, several patients with semantic dementia (SD), who show circumscribed atrophy of the anterior temporal lobes bilaterally, have been reported to show reverse imageability effects, i.e., relative preservation of abstract knowledge. Although these reports largely concern individual patients, some researchers have recently proposed that superior comprehension of abstract concepts is a characteristic feature of SD. This would imply that the anterior temporal lobes are particularly crucial for processing sensory aspects of semantic knowledge, which are associated with concrete not abstract concepts. However, functional neuroimaging studies of healthy participants do not unequivocally predict reverse imageability effects in SD because the temporal poles sometimes show greater activation for more abstract concepts. We examined a case-series of eleven SD patients on a synonym judgement test that orthogonally varied the frequency and imageability of the items. All patients had higher success rates for more imageable as well as more frequent words, suggesting that (a) the anterior temporal lobes underpin semantic knowledge for both concrete and abstract concepts, (b) more imageable items – perhaps due to their richer multimodal representations – are typically more robust in the face of global semantic degradation and (c) reverse imageability effects are not a characteristic feature of SD. PMID:19586212

Modeling Patient Treatment With Medical Records: An Abstraction Hierarchy to Understand User Competencies and Needs.

PubMed

St-Maurice, Justin D; Burns, Catherine M

2017-07-28

Health care is a complex sociotechnical system. Patient treatment is evolving and needs to incorporate the use of technology and new patient-centered treatment paradigms. Cognitive work analysis (CWA) is an effective framework for understanding complex systems, and work domain analysis (WDA) is useful for understanding complex ecologies. Although previous applications of CWA have described patient treatment, due to their scope of work patients were previously characterized as biomedical machines, rather than patient actors involved in their own care. An abstraction hierarchy that characterizes patients as beings with complex social values and priorities is needed. This can help better understand treatment in a modern approach to care. The purpose of this study was to perform a WDA to represent the treatment of patients with medical records. The methods to develop this model included the analysis of written texts and collaboration with subject matter experts. Our WDA represents the ecology through its functional purposes, abstract functions, generalized functions, physical functions, and physical forms. Compared with other work domain models, this model is able to articulate the nuanced balance between medical treatment, patient education, and limited health care resources. Concepts in the analysis were similar to the modeling choices of other WDAs but combined them in as a comprehensive, systematic, and contextual overview. The model is helpful to understand user competencies and needs. Future models could be developed to model the patient's domain and enable the exploration of the shared decision-making (SDM) paradigm. Our work domain model links treatment goals, decision-making constraints, and task workflows. This model can be used by system developers who would like to use ecological interface design (EID) to improve systems. Our hierarchy is the first in a future set that could explore new treatment paradigms. Future hierarchies could model the patient as a

Nursing identity and patient-centredness in scholarly health services research: a computational text analysis of PubMed abstracts 1986-2013.

PubMed

Bell, Erica; Campbell, Steve; Goldberg, Lynette R

2015-01-22

The most important and contested element of nursing identity may be the patient-centredness of nursing, though this concept is not well-treated in the nursing identity literature. More conceptually-based mapping of nursing identity constructs are needed to help nurses shape their identity. The field of computational text analytics offers new opportunities to scrutinise how growing disciplines such as health services research construct nursing identity. This paper maps the conceptual content of scholarly health services research in PubMed as it relates to the patient-centeredness of nursing. Computational text analytics software was used to analyse all health services abstracts in the database PubMed since 1986. Abstracts were treated as indicative of the content of health services research. The database PubMed was searched for all research papers using the term "service" or "services" in the abstract or keywords for the period 01/01/1986 to 30/06/2013. A total of 234,926 abstracts were obtained. Leximancer software was used in 1) mapping of 4,144,458 instances of 107 concepts; 2) analysis of 106 paired concept co-occurrences for the nursing concept; and 3) sentiment analysis of the nursing concept versus patient, family and community concepts, and clinical concepts. Nursing is constructed within quality assurance or service implementation or workforce development concepts. It is relatively disconnected from patient, family or community care concepts. For those who agree that patient-centredness should be a part of nursing identity in practice, this study suggests that there is a need for development of health services research into both the nature of the caring construct in nursing identity and its expression in practice. More fundamentally, the study raises questions about whether health services research cultures even value the politically popular idea of nurses as patient-centred caregivers and whether they should.

Development and evaluation of a quality score for abstracts

PubMed Central

Timmer, Antje; Sutherland, Lloyd R; Hilsden, Robert J

2003-01-01

Background The evaluation of abstracts for scientific meetings has been shown to suffer from poor inter observer reliability. A measure was developed to assess the formal quality of abstract submissions in a standardized way. Methods Item selection was based on scoring systems for full reports, taking into account published guidelines for structured abstracts. Interrater agreement was examined using a random sample of submissions to the American Gastroenterological Association, stratified for research type (n = 100, 1992–1995). For construct validity, the association of formal quality with acceptance for presentation was examined. A questionnaire to expert reviewers evaluated sensibility items, such as ease of use and comprehensiveness. Results The index comprised 19 items. The summary quality scores showed good interrater agreement (intra class coefficient 0.60 – 0.81). Good abstract quality was associated with abstract acceptance for presentation at the meeting. The instrument was found to be acceptable by expert reviewers. Conclusion A quality index was developed for the evaluation of scientific meeting abstracts which was shown to be reliable, valid and useful. PMID:12581457

Generative electronic background music system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mazurowski, Lukasz

In this short paper-extended abstract the new approach to generation of electronic background music has been presented. The Generative Electronic Background Music System (GEBMS) has been located between other related approaches within the musical algorithm positioning framework proposed by Woller et al. The music composition process is performed by a number of mini-models parameterized by further described properties. The mini-models generate fragments of musical patterns used in output composition. Musical pattern and output generation are controlled by container for the mini-models - a host-model. General mechanism has been presented including the example of the synthesized output compositions.

A qualitative study on the role of cultural background in patients' perspectives on rehabilitation.

PubMed

Scheermesser, Mandy; Bachmann, Stefan; Schämann, Astrid; Oesch, Peter; Kool, Jan

2012-01-23

Low back pain (LBP) is one of the major concerns in health care. In Switzerland, musculoskeletal problems represent the third largest illness group with 9.4 million consultations per year. The return to work rate is increased by an active treatment program and saves societal costs. However, results after rehabilitation are generally poorer in patients with a Southeast European cultural background than in other patients. This qualitative research about the rehabilitation of patients with LBP and a Southeast European cultural background, therefore, explores possible barriers to successful rehabilitation. We used a triangulation of methods combining three qualitative methods of data collection: 13 semi-structured in-depth interviews with patients who have a Southeast European cultural background and live in Switzerland, five semi-structured in-depth interviews and two focus groups with health professionals, and a literature review. Between June and December 2008, we recruited participants at a Rehabilitation Centre in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. To cope with pain, patients prefer passive strategies, which are not in line with recommended coping strategies. Moreover, the families of patients tend to support passive behaviour and reduce the autonomy of patients. Health professionals and researchers propagate active strategies including activity in the presence of pain, yet patients do not consider psychological factors contributing to LBP. The views of physicians and health professionals are in line with research evidence demonstrating the importance of psychosocial factors for LBP. Treatment goals focusing on increasing daily activities and return to work are not well understood by patients partly due to communication problems, which is something that patients and health professionals are aware of. Additional barriers to returning to work are caused by poor job satisfaction and other work-related factors. LBP rehabilitation can be improved by addressing

What's the hospitalisation's impact on background treatments of patients over 65 years.

PubMed

Gasperini, Guillaume; Molinier, Sylvain; Marimoutou, Catherine; Denormandie, Philippe; Sanchez, Stéphane

2016-12-01

As our population aging increases, it requires a particular attention from the health system. Indeed, elderly are often frail, with several diseases and presenting high risk of adverse drug accident. Prescribing appropriately to the elderly has become an important matter. Hospitalization and consultation with the general practitioner are key moments for drug prescription. However, their real impact on background treatments of this population has been barely evaluated. A retrospective descriptive study was conducted with 300 patients over 65 years old, hospitalized at the Laveran military hospital in Marseille. Treatment modifications, consecutive to hospitalization and to the first consultation with the general practitioner, were identified and analyzed. We found an average prescription of 5.93 drugs in prehospital period and 66% of the patients with polypharmacy. Drugs for cardiovascular system were the most prescribed and the most modified. Hospitalization generated a rate of modification by prescription of 28.5% and the consultation with the general practitioner following this hospitalization led to further change in 48% of cases. Beside the important prevalence of patients with polypharmacy, this study shows that hospitalization entails a significant change in background treatments in that population at risk. Therefore, it is important to have a consensus in the re-evaluation of these treatments, in order to prevent the iatrogenic risk.

The Associations Between the Religious Background, Social Supports, and Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders in Taiwan

PubMed Central

Lin, Kuan-Han; Chen, Yih-Sharng; Chou, Nai-Kuan; Huang, Sheng-Jean; Wu, Chau-Chung; Chen, Yen-Yuan

2016-01-01

Abstract Prior studies have demonstrated important implications related to religiosity and a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) decision. However, the association between patients’ religious background and DNR decisions is vague. In particular, the association between the religious background of Buddhism/Daoism and DNR decisions has never been examined. The objective of this study was to examine the association between patients’ religious background and their DNR decisions, with a particular focus on Buddhism/Daoism. The medical records of the patients who were admitted to the 3 surgical intensive care units (SICU) in a university-affiliated medical center located at Northern Taiwan from June 1, 2011 to December 31, 2013 were retrospectively collected. We compared the clinical/demographic variables of DNR patients with those of non-DNR patients using the Student t test or χ2 test depending on the scale of the variables. We used multivariate logistic regression analysis to examine the association between the religious backgrounds and DNR decisions. A sample of 1909 patients was collected: 122 patients had a DNR order; and 1787 patients did not have a DNR order. Old age (P = 0.02), unemployment (P = 0.02), admission diagnosis of “nonoperative, cardiac failure/insufficiency” (P = 0.03), and severe acute illness at SICU admission (P < 0.01) were significantly associated with signing of DNR orders. Patients’ religious background of Buddhism/Daoism (P = 0.04), married marital status (P = 0.02), and admission diagnosis of “postoperative, major surgery” (P = 0.02) were less likely to have a DNR order written during their SICU stay. Furthermore, patients with poor social support, as indicated by marital and working status, were more likely to consent to a DNR order during SICU stay. This study showed that the religious background of Buddhism/Daoism was significantly associated with a lower likelihood of consenting to a DNR, and poor social

Genetic, Clinical, and Pathologic Backgrounds of Patients with Autosomal Dominant Alport Syndrome

PubMed Central

Kamiyoshi, Naohiro; Fu, Xue Jun; Morisada, Naoya; Nozu, Yoshimi; Ye, Ming Juan; Imafuku, Aya; Miura, Kenichiro; Yamamura, Tomohiko; Minamikawa, Shogo; Shono, Akemi; Ninchoji, Takeshi; Morioka, Ichiro; Nakanishi, Koichi; Yoshikawa, Norishige; Kaito, Hiroshi; Iijima, Kazumoto

2016-01-01

Background and objectives Alport syndrome comprises a group of inherited heterogeneous disorders involving CKD, hearing loss, and ocular abnormalities. Autosomal dominant Alport syndrome caused by heterozygous mutations in collagen 4A3 and/or collagen 4A4 accounts for <5% of patients. However, the clinical, genetic, and pathologic backgrounds of patients with autosomal dominant Alport syndrome remain unclear. Design, setting, participants, & measurements We conducted a retrospective analysis of 25 patients with genetically proven autosomal dominant Alport syndrome and their family members (a total of 72 patients) from 16 unrelated families. Patients with suspected Alport syndrome after pathologic examination who were referred from anywhere in Japan for genetic analysis from 2006 to 2015 were included in this study. Clinical, laboratory, and pathologic data were collected from medical records at the point of registration for genetic diagnosis. Genetic analysis was performed by targeted resequencing of 27 podocyte-related genes, including Alport–related collagen genes, to make a diagnosis of autosomal dominant Alport syndrome and identify modifier genes or double mutations. Clinical data were obtained from medical records. Results The median renal survival time was 70 years, and the median age at first detection of proteinuria was 17 years old. There was one patient with hearing loss and one patient with ocular lesion. Among 16 patients who underwent kidney biopsy, three showed FSGS, and seven showed thinning without lamellation of the glomerular basement membrane. Five of 13 detected mutations were reported to be causative mutations for autosomal recessive Alport syndrome in previous studies. Two families possessed double mutations in both collagen 4A3 and collagen 4A4, but no modifier genes were detected among the other podocyte–related genes. Conclusions The renal phenotype of autosomal dominant Alport syndrome was much milder than that of autosomal recessive

The influence of cultural background in intercultural dementia care: exemplified by Sami patients.

PubMed

Hanssen, Ingird

2013-06-01

To gain knowledge about how the original culture may influence communication and interaction with institutionalised patients with dementia and of what particular cultural aspects may come to the fore, exemplified by Sami patients. Qualitative narrative interviews with 15 interviewees, family members of Sami patients with dementia and nursing staff experienced with dementia care were conducted. Hermeneutic, thematic analysis was used. Although the way dementia influence mental functions, language, etc. is universal, behaviours, reactions and responses may be coloured by the patient's background culture. Knowledge of language, cultural codes and the patient's former life are primary keys to understanding. Rhythm of life, spirituality, singing and tangible aspects of traditional culture like clothes and food constitute important aspects of culture-appropriate care. © 2012 Nordic College of Caring Science.

The meaning of 'life' and other abstract words: Insights from neuropsychology.

PubMed

Hoffman, Paul

2016-09-01

There are a number of long-standing theories on how the cognitive processing of abstract words, like 'life', differs from that of concrete words, like 'knife'. This review considers current perspectives on this debate, focusing particularly on insights obtained from patients with language disorders and integrating these with evidence from functional neuroimaging studies. The evidence supports three distinct and mutually compatible hypotheses. (1) Concrete and abstract words differ in their representational substrates, with concrete words depending particularly on sensory experiences and abstract words on linguistic, emotional, and magnitude-based information. Differential dependence on visual versus verbal experience is supported by the evidence for graded specialization in the anterior temporal lobes for concrete versus abstract words. In addition, concrete words have richer representations, in line with better processing of these words in most aphasic patients and, in particular, patients with semantic dementia. (2) Abstract words place greater demands on executive regulation processes because they have variable meanings that change with context. This theory explains abstract word impairments in patients with semantic-executive deficits and is supported by neuroimaging studies showing greater response to abstract words in inferior prefrontal cortex. (3) The relationships between concrete words are governed primarily by conceptual similarity, while those of abstract words depend on association to a greater degree. This theory, based primarily on interference and priming effects in aphasic patients, is the most recent to emerge and the least well understood. I present analyses indicating that patterns of lexical co-occurrence may be important in understanding these effects. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Neuropsychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the British Psychological Society.

Bilingual/Bicultural Education: Titles and Abstracts of Doctoral Dissertations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California State Univ., Los Angeles. National Dissemination and Assessment Center.

Dissertation abstracts describing research on a wide variety of topics in bilingual education are presented. This publication is designed to provide background material for bilingual educators as well as practical procedures for bilingual teachers, administrators, counselors, and evaluators. The titles were acquired by using the two broad…

Construction of High School Students' Abstraction Levels in Understanding the Concept of Quadrilaterals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Budiarto, Mega Teguh; Khabibah, Siti; Setianingsih, Rini

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the abstraction thinking or the vertical reorganization activity of mathematical concepts of high school students while taking account of the abstraction that was constructed earlier, and the socio-cultural background. This study was qualitative in nature with task-based interviews as the method of…

Blindness to background: an inbuilt bias for visual objects.

PubMed

O'Hanlon, Catherine G; Read, Jenny C A

2017-09-01

Sixty-eight 2- to 12-year-olds and 30 adults were shown colorful displays on a touchscreen monitor and trained to point to the location of a named color. Participants located targets near-perfectly when presented with four abutting colored patches. When presented with three colored patches on a colored background, toddlers failed to locate targets in the background. Eye tracking demonstrated that the effect was partially mediated by a tendency not to fixate the background. However, the effect was abolished when the targets were named as nouns, whilst the change to nouns had little impact on eye movement patterns. Our results imply a powerful, inbuilt tendency to attend to objects, which may slow the development of color concepts and acquisition of color words. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/TKO1BPeAiOI. [Correction added on 27 January 2017, after first online publication: The video abstract link was added.]. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Dual-tracer background subtraction approach for fluorescent molecular tomography

PubMed Central

Holt, Robert W.; El-Ghussein, Fadi; Davis, Scott C.; Samkoe, Kimberley S.; Gunn, Jason R.; Leblond, Frederic

2013-01-01

Abstract. Diffuse fluorescence tomography requires high contrast-to-background ratios to accurately reconstruct inclusions of interest. This is a problem when imaging the uptake of fluorescently labeled molecularly targeted tracers in tissue, which can result in high levels of heterogeneously distributed background uptake. We present a dual-tracer background subtraction approach, wherein signal from the uptake of an untargeted tracer is subtracted from targeted tracer signal prior to image reconstruction, resulting in maps of targeted tracer binding. The approach is demonstrated in simulations, a phantom study, and in a mouse glioma imaging study, demonstrating substantial improvement over conventional and homogenous background subtraction image reconstruction approaches. PMID:23292612

[The image of general practitioners from the perspective of patients with and without a Turkish migration background - a qualitative study].

PubMed

Uslu, S; Natanzon, I; Joos, S

2014-06-01

In order to improve the medical care of people with migration background, the existing specialties in medical understanding must be taken into account. The aim of this study was to explore the image of general practitioners from the viewpoint of patients and to evaluate possible differences in the perception of patients with and without a Turkish migration background. 5 focus groups with participants with and without migration background were assessed in German language. In addition to a predefined interview guideline, the collage technique was used in order to explore the image of the practitioners through pictures. The content analysis was conducted according to Mayring using the software program ATLAS.ti. The patients revealed a highly positive image about the general practitioners. By means of the collage technique some negative aspects could be identified which were not discussed in the focus groups. Only minimal differences in the opinions of participants with and without Turkish migration background could be observed. These were a strongly negative attribution to the general practitioners with regard to financial aspects by the participants without migration background on the one hand and a rather paternalistic viewpoint by the participants with Turkish migration background on the other hand. Asked about an image change of general practitioners, the overall opinion has changed over the years from doctors being considered to be "powerful" and "unapproachable" to a "normal" level. Major reasons for this image change were attributed to the fact that patients are becoming increasingly informed about medical issues through the internet and the high work pressure of general practitioners. The image of general practitioners in Turkey was perceived more negative as compared to Germany. The image of general practitioners from the perspective of patients is predominantly positive. Altogether, only minor differences in the perception of German speaking patients with

Is searching full text more effective than searching abstracts?

PubMed Central

Lin, Jimmy

2009-01-01

Background With the growing availability of full-text articles online, scientists and other consumers of the life sciences literature now have the ability to go beyond searching bibliographic records (title, abstract, metadata) to directly access full-text content. Motivated by this emerging trend, I posed the following question: is searching full text more effective than searching abstracts? This question is answered by comparing text retrieval algorithms on MEDLINE® abstracts, full-text articles, and spans (paragraphs) within full-text articles using data from the TREC 2007 genomics track evaluation. Two retrieval models are examined: bm25 and the ranking algorithm implemented in the open-source Lucene search engine. Results Experiments show that treating an entire article as an indexing unit does not consistently yield higher effectiveness compared to abstract-only search. However, retrieval based on spans, or paragraphs-sized segments of full-text articles, consistently outperforms abstract-only search. Results suggest that highest overall effectiveness may be achieved by combining evidence from spans and full articles. Conclusion Users searching full text are more likely to find relevant articles than searching only abstracts. This finding affirms the value of full text collections for text retrieval and provides a starting point for future work in exploring algorithms that take advantage of rapidly-growing digital archives. Experimental results also highlight the need to develop distributed text retrieval algorithms, since full-text articles are significantly longer than abstracts and may require the computational resources of multiple machines in a cluster. The MapReduce programming model provides a convenient framework for organizing such computations. PMID:19192280

NASA Patent Abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 21) Abstracts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

Abstracts are cited for 87 patents and applications introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period of January 1982 through June 1982. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in mose cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

77 FR 10508 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Background Checks...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-22

... Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Background Checks for Contractor Employees (Renewal) AGENCY... the electronic docket, go to www.regulations.gov . Title: Background Checks for Contractor Employees... consolidated in 40 CFR part 9. Abstract: The EPA uses contractors to perform services throughout the nation...

Grounding Abstractness: Abstract Concepts and the Activation of the Mouth

PubMed Central

Borghi, Anna M.; Zarcone, Edoardo

2016-01-01

One key issue for theories of cognition is how abstract concepts, such as freedom, are represented. According to the WAT (Words As social Tools) proposal, abstract concepts activate both sensorimotor and linguistic/social information, and their acquisition modality involves the linguistic experience more than the acquisition of concrete concepts. We report an experiment in which participants were presented with abstract and concrete definitions followed by concrete and abstract target-words. When the definition and the word matched, participants were required to press a key, either with the hand or with the mouth. Response times and accuracy were recorded. As predicted, we found that abstract definitions and abstract words yielded slower responses and more errors compared to concrete definitions and concrete words. More crucially, there was an interaction between the target-words and the effector used to respond (hand, mouth). While responses with the mouth were overall slower, the advantage of the hand over the mouth responses was more marked with concrete than with abstract concepts. The results are in keeping with grounded and embodied theories of cognition and support the WAT proposal, according to which abstract concepts evoke linguistic-social information, hence activate the mouth. The mechanisms underlying the mouth activation with abstract concepts (re-enactment of acquisition experience, or re-explanation of the word meaning, possibly through inner talk) are discussed. To our knowledge this is the first behavioral study demonstrating with real words that the advantage of the hand over the mouth is more marked with concrete than with abstract concepts, likely because of the activation of linguistic information with abstract concepts. PMID:27777563

Language background in early life may be related to neuropsychiatry symptoms in patients with Alzheimer disease.

PubMed

Liu, Yi-Chien; Hsu, Jung-Lung; Wang, Shuu-Jin; Yip, Ping-Keung; Meguro, Kenichi; Fuh, Jong-Ling

2017-02-10

The relationship between early life experience and the occurrence of neuropsychiatry symptoms (NPSs) in patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) is unclear. From 2012 to 2014, we prospectively recruited 250 patients with probable AD from the memory clinic of Taipei Veterans General Hospital. All patients underwent standard assessments, including brain magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography, neuropsychological tests, neuropsychiatry inventory (NPI-Q) and related blood tests. A linear regression analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between NPSs and age, gender, disease severity, depression, language background (with or without Japanese education). Among the 250 participants, 113 (45.2%) were women. Their average age was 82.6 years. Of all the participants, 93 (37.2%) had received formal Japanese education, whereas 157 (62.8%) did not receive Japanese education. The participants with Japanese education were slightly younger (83.1 ± 3.6 vs. 81.4 ± 3.4, P = 0.006), with a higher proportion of them were women (30.5% vs. 69.8%, P < 0.001) and fewer years of total education (10.8 ± 4.5 vs. 7.7 ± 3.2, P < 0.001), compared to the participants without Japanese education. NPI-Q scores significantly differed between the two groups (15.8 vs. 24.1, P = 0.024). Both disease severity and language background predicted NPI-Q scores. Language background in early life may be related to NPSs in patients with AD, and this effect is more significant in patients with a lower education level than in those with a higher education level. More NPSs may be the result of negative effects on dominant language or early life experiences.

Illness Perception and Clinical Treatment Experiences in Patients with M. Maroteaux-Lamy (Mucopolysaccharidosis Type VI) and a Turkish Migration Background in Germany

PubMed Central

Dilger, Hansjörg; Leissner, Linn; Bosanska, Lenka; Lampe, Christina; Plöckinger, Ursula

2013-01-01

Introduction Mucopolysaccharidosis VI (MPS VI) is an inherited lysosomal storage disease caused by a mutation of the gene for arylsulfatase B (ASB). Of the thirty-one patients registered in Germany, almost fifty percent have a Turkish migration background. MPS VI is treated by enzyme replacement therapy (ERT), which is time-consuming and expensive. Methods This interdisciplinary study explored the illness perceptions and clinical treatment experiences among ten MPS VI patients with a Turkish migration background in two centers for metabolic diseases (Berlin and Mainz, Germany). The clinical treatment situation was observed and semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients and health care personnel, in addition to participatory observation in four patients' everyday environments in Berlin. The data from the interviews, patient records, and personal field notes were encoded, cross-related, and analyzed. Results Patients' acknowledgement of the disease and coping strategies are influenced predominantly by the perception of their individual health status and the handling of the disease within their family. Patients' willingness to cooperate with treatment strategies is further modified by their knowledge of the disease and the relationships with their health care providers. In this analysis, cultural factors turned out to be marginally relevant. Conclusion As with other chronic and debilitating diseases, effective treatment strategies have to reach beyond delivering medication. Health care providers need to strengthen the support for patients with a migration background. In this regard, they should respect the patients' cultural and social background and their personal perception of the disease and the therapy. Yet structural and social aspects (clinical setting, family and educational background) may be more crucial here than “cultural barriers.” PMID:23826140

Refining a taxonomy for guideline implementation: results of an exercise in abstract classification

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background To better understand the efficacy of various implementation strategies, improved methods for describing and classifying the nature of these strategies are urgently required. The aim of this study was to develop and pilot the feasibility of a taxonomy to classify the nature and content of implementation strategies. Methods A draft implementation taxonomy was developed based on the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) data collection checklist. The draft taxonomy had four domains (professional, financial, organisational and regulatory) covering 49 distinct strategies. We piloted the draft taxonomy by using it to classify the implementation strategies described in the conference abstracts of the implementation stream of the 2010 Guideline International Network Conference. Five authors classified the strategies in each abstract individually. Final categorisation was then carried out in a face-to-face consensus meeting involving three authors. Results The implementation strategies described in 71 conference abstracts were classified. Approximately 15.5% of abstracts utilised strategies that could not be categorised using the draft taxonomy. Of those strategies that could be categorised, the majority were professionally focused (57%). A total of 41% of projects used only one implementation strategy, with 29% using two and 31% three or more. The three most commonly used strategies were changes in quality assurance, quality improvement and/or performance measurement systems, changes in information and communication technology, and distribution of guideline materials (via hard-copy, audio-visual and/or electronic means). Conclusions Further refinement of the draft taxonomy is required to provide hierarchical dimensions and granularity, particularly in the areas of patient-focused interventions, those concerned with audit and feedback and quality improvement, and electronic forms of implementation, including electronic decision support. PMID

Process improvement: a multi-registry database abstraction success story.

PubMed

Abrich, Victor; Rokey, Roxann; Devadas, Christopher; Uebel, Julie

2014-01-01

The St. Joseph Hospital/Marshfield Clinic Cardiac Database Registry submits data to the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) and to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) National Database. Delayed chart abstraction is problematic, since hospital policy prohibits patient care clarifications made to the medical record more than 1 month after hospital discharge. This can also lead to late identification of missed care opportunities and untimely notification to providers. Our institution was 3.5 months behind in retrospective postdischarge case abstraction. A process improvement plan was implemented to shorten this delay to 1 month postdischarge. Daily demand of incoming cases and abstraction capacity were determined for 4 employees. Demand was matched to capacity, with the remaining time allocated to reducing backlog. Daily demand of new cases was 17.1 hours. Daily abstraction capacity was 24 hours, assuming 6 hours of effective daily abstraction time per employee, leaving 7 hours per day for backlogged case abstraction. The predicted time to reach abstraction target was 10 weeks. This was accomplished after 10 weeks, as predicted, leading to a 60% reduction of backlogged cases. The delay of postdischarge chart abstraction was successfully shortened from 3.5 months to 1 month. We intend to maintain same-day abstraction efficiency without reaccumulating substantial backlog.

Comparison of Pain Thresholds and Analgesic Effects of Parecoxib Sodium in Surgical Patients of Different Racial and Religious Backgrounds.

PubMed

Li, Li-Biao; Hu, Yu; Liu, Chao; Gu, Miao-Ning

2015-06-01

To explore the differences of the thresholds of pain and analgesic effects of parecoxib sodium among patients with different racial and religious backgrounds. A total of 48 male patients aged 18 to 38 years who had undergone elective laparoscopic appendectomy under general anesthesia in our centers were enrolled in our study and then divided into 6 groups(n=8 in each group)based on their racial backgrounds(three levels:Mongoloid,Negroid,and Europoid)and religious backgrounds(two levels:without religion background,with religion background).All subjects received the same anesthesia,surgical procedure,and postoperative analgesia with parecoxib sodium. The temperature pain threshold and electrical pain threshold were detected 1h before and after analgesia. The threshold of pain was higher in Europoids than in Negroids and Mongoloids before and after treatment. The temperature pain threshold and electrical pain threshold were not significantly different between subjects with or without religious background(before analgesic therapy:F=251.119,P=0.130,F=275.861,P=0.059;after analgesic therapy:F=308.531,P=0.086,F=180.062,P=0.078). Also,there was no interaction between the racial and religious backgrous in terms of temperature pain threshold and electrical pain threshold(F=13.553,P=0.091,F=22.001,P= 0.089;after analgesic therapy:F=4.624,P=0.089,F=15.935,P=0.094). The threshold of pain differs among individuals with different racial background:it is highest in Europoids,followed by Negroids and Mongoloids. It shows no obvious difference in people with different religious backgrounds.

Publication Rates of Abstracts Presented at Five National Pharmacy Association Meetings

PubMed Central

Prohaska, Emily; Generali, Joyce; Zak, Kevin; Grauer, Dennis

2013-01-01

Background: Abstract presentations at professional meetings provide a medium for disseminating the findings of scholarly activity. Rates of abstract publication from various biomedical disciplines have been evaluated, with pharmacy noted to be lower than other specialties. Previous research on pharmacy abstract publication rates was conducted for a limited number of professional meetings but has not been assessed using Google Scholar. Objective: To determine the full publication rate of abstracts presented at the 2005 American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) Spring and Annual Meetings, American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Annual Meeting, and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Summer and Midyear Clinical Meetings. Methods: Publication status was assessed for abstracts presented during the 2005 ACCP Spring and Annual Meetings, APhA Annual Meeting, and ASHP Summer and Midyear Clinical Meetings using PubMed and Google Scholar. Data collected included abstract category, study category, practice site, database(s) in which publication appeared, time in months to publication, publication type, and journal of publication. Results: Evaluation of 2,000 abstracts presented in 2005 revealed an overall full publication rate of 19.8% (n = 384). Nearly all pharmacy abstracts were published as manuscripts (98.4%; n=378) and indexed in PubMed and Google Scholar (91.9%; n = 353), although a significant percentage were indexed in Google Scholar only (7.8%; n = 30). The mean time to full publication was 16.8 months (SD ±11.9 months). Conclusions: Results were consistent with previously reported full publication rates of abstracts from pharmacy association meetings, indicating that abstracts presented at pharmacy meetings continue to have a lower full publication rate than other health disciplines. PMID:24421465

Background factors associated with problem avoidance behavior in healthy partners of breast cancer patients.

PubMed

Shiozaki, Mariko; Sanjo, Makiko; Hirai, Kei

2017-08-01

We evaluated avoidance behaviors of healthy partners of breast cancer patients and sought to (1) describe men's perception of their own avoidance behavior and (2) identify the background factors associated with such behavior. An Internet-based survey was conducted, and analysis was performed on the responses of 368 male spouses of female breast cancer patients. Thirty to forty percent of spouses had some type of problem avoidance behavior toward their wives. There was a high correlation (r = 0.70, P < .001) between problem avoidance behavior at the time of diagnosis and subsequent problem behavior (mean follow-up period after diagnosis: 1.3 + 1.1 years). The characteristics of spouses with avoidant behaviors included having wives with recurrence, having wives treated with anticancer drug therapy or total resection, and having their own experience of cancer. Covariance structure analysis revealed 2 factors related to the background of spouses with problem avoidance behavior: (1) having a sense of difficulty in coping (beta = 0.68, P < .001) and (2) having a poor marital relationship (beta = -0.27, P < .001). Our findings suggest that problem avoidance behavior among healthy male partners of breast cancer patients is common and correlates with difficulty coping and a poor marital relationship. It is important to address both the problem avoidance behavior itself and to support couples early, before this behavior surfaces. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The identification of clinically important elements within medical journal abstracts: Patient-Population-Problem, Exposure-Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Duration and Results (PECODR).

PubMed

Dawes, Martin; Pluye, Pierre; Shea, Laura; Grad, Roland; Greenberg, Arlene; Nie, Jian-Yun

2007-01-01

Information retrieval in primary care is becoming more difficult as the volume of medical information held in electronic databases expands. The lexical structure of this information might permit automatic indexing and improved retrieval. To determine the possibility of identifying the key elements of clinical studies, namely Patient-Population-Problem, Exposure-Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Duration and Results (PECODR), from abstracts of medical journals. We used a convenience sample of 20 synopses from the journal Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) and their matching original journal article abstracts obtained from PubMed. Three independent primary care professionals identified PECODR-related extracts of text. Rules were developed to define each PECODR element and the selection process of characters, words, phrases and sentences. From the extracts of text related to PECODR elements, potential lexical patterns that might help identify those elements were proposed and assessed using NVivo software. A total of 835 PECODR-related text extracts containing 41,263 individual text characters were identified from 20 EBM journal synopses. There were 759 extracts in the corresponding PubMed abstracts containing 31,947 characters. PECODR elements were found in nearly all abstracts and synopses with the exception of duration. There was agreement on 86.6% of the extracts from the 20 EBM synopses and 85.0% on the corresponding PubMed abstracts. After consensus this rose to 98.4% and 96.9% respectively. We found potential text patterns in the Comparison, Outcome and Results elements of both EBM synopses and PubMed abstracts. Some phrases and words are used frequently and are specific for these elements in both synopses and abstracts. Results suggest a PECODR-related structure exists in medical abstracts and that there might be lexical patterns specific to these elements. More sophisticated computer-assisted lexical-semantic analysis might refine these results, and pave the way

Temporal abstraction-based clinical phenotyping with Eureka!

PubMed

Post, Andrew R; Kurc, Tahsin; Willard, Richie; Rathod, Himanshu; Mansour, Michel; Pai, Akshatha Kalsanka; Torian, William M; Agravat, Sanjay; Sturm, Suzanne; Saltz, Joel H

2013-01-01

Temporal abstraction, a method for specifying and detecting temporal patterns in clinical databases, is very expressive and performs well, but it is difficult for clinical investigators and data analysts to understand. Such patterns are critical in phenotyping patients using their medical records in research and quality improvement. We have previously developed the Analytic Information Warehouse (AIW), which computes such phenotypes using temporal abstraction but requires software engineers to use. We have extended the AIW's web user interface, Eureka! Clinical Analytics, to support specifying phenotypes using an alternative model that we developed with clinical stakeholders. The software converts phenotypes from this model to that of temporal abstraction prior to data processing. The model can represent all phenotypes in a quality improvement project and a growing set of phenotypes in a multi-site research study. Phenotyping that is accessible to investigators and IT personnel may enable its broader adoption.

Perceived Discrimination in Patients With Psychiatric Disorder and Turkish Migration Background in Germany.

PubMed

Müller, Matthias J; Koch, Eckhardt

2016-07-01

Perceived discrimination (PD) has a negative impact on the course of psychiatric disorders. We have investigated PD in inpatients with affective or anxiety disorder and Turkish migration background (TP) or native Germans (GP). Migration-related, clinical, and sociodemographic data of n = 62 TP and n = 62 GP, matched for age, sex, and psychiatric diagnoses, were retrospectively analyzed. PD was assessed as one of 10 questions related to migration and acculturation (yes/no, severity 0-10). PD prevalence rates were compared between TP and GP; relationships of PD with other variables were analyzed using bivariate correlations and multiple regression analyses. A PD prevalence of 26% in TP and 1% in GP was found (odds ratio, 21.2 [2.7-165.8]). Migration background was the strongest predictor of PD in the total group. Within the TP sample, asylum-seeking status and migration-related distress were significantly predictive of PD. In patients with psychiatric disorder in Germany, PD seems to be strongly related to migration-related distress.

PS2-06: Best Practices for Advancing Multi-site Chart Abstraction Research

PubMed Central

Blick, Noelle; Cole, Deanna; King, Colleen; Riordan, Rick; Von Worley, Ann; Yarbro, Patty

2012-01-01

Background/Aims Multi-site chart abstraction studies are becoming increasingly common within the HMORN. Differences in systems among HMORN sites can pose significant obstacles to the success of these studies. It is therefore crucial to standardize abstraction activities by following best practices for multi-site chart abstraction, as consistency of processes across sites will increase efficiencies and enhance data quality. Methods Over the past few months the authors have been meeting to identify obstacles to multi-site chart abstraction and to address ways in which multi-site chart abstraction processes can be systemized and standardized. The aim of this workgroup is to create a best practice guide for multi-site chart abstraction studies. Focus areas include: abstractor training, format for chart abstraction (database, paper, etc), data quality, redaction, mechanism for transferring data, site specific access to medical records, IRB/HIPAA concerns, and budgetary issues. Results The results of the workgroup’s efforts (the best practice guide) will be presented by a panel of experts at the 2012 HMORN conference. The presentation format will also focus on discussion among attendees to elicit further input and to identify areas that need to be further addressed. Subsequently, the best practice guide will be posted on the HMORN website. Discussion The best practice guide for multi-site chart abstraction studies will establish sound guidelines and serve as an aid to researchers embarking on multi-site chart abstraction studies. Efficiencies and data quality will be further enhanced with standardized multi-site chart abstraction practices.

Temporal abstraction for the analysis of intensive care information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hadad, Alejandro J.; Evin, Diego A.; Drozdowicz, Bartolomé; Chiotti, Omar

2007-11-01

This paper proposes a scheme for the analysis of time-stamped series data from multiple monitoring devices of intensive care units, using Temporal Abstraction concepts. This scheme is oriented to obtain a description of the patient state evolution in an unsupervised way. The case of study is based on a dataset clinically classified with Pulmonary Edema. For this dataset a trends based Temporal Abstraction mechanism is proposed, by means of a Behaviours Base of time-stamped series and then used in a classification step. Combining this approach with the introduction of expert knowledge, using Fuzzy Logic, and multivariate analysis by means of Self-Organizing Maps, a states characterization model is obtained. This model is feasible of being extended to different patients groups and states. The proposed scheme allows to obtain intermediate states descriptions through which it is passing the patient and that could be used to anticipate alert situations.

Abstraction and Consolidation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monaghan, John; Ozmantar, Mehmet Fatih

2006-01-01

The framework for this paper is a recently developed theory of abstraction in context. The paper reports on data collected from one student working on tasks concerned with absolute value functions. It examines the relationship between mathematical constructions and abstractions. It argues that an abstraction is a consolidated construction that can…

A "how-to" guide in preparing abstracts and poster presentations.

PubMed

Boullata, Joseph I; Mancuso, Carissa E

2007-12-01

The preparation of an abstract or poster to share information from a project or case report with colleagues is a professional goal for many nutrition support practitioners. This paper provides an approach to help practitioners prepare an abstract for submission and subsequently a poster for presentation at a meeting. A nutrition support question that required collecting and evaluating information, or a unique patient case or case series, can serve as the focus of an abstract and subsequent poster. The professional meeting selected should be appropriate for the abstract topic, and the authors should closely adhere to the organization's abstract submission guidelines. The well-prepared abstract will then serve as the outline for the poster content; the visual aspect of the poster is also important to effectively communicate the information to colleagues at the meeting. Adequate time is required to prepare both the abstract and the poster in order to fittingly reflect the value of the information. Efforts in preparing the abstract will be worthwhile once the abstract has been accepted by reviewers for a poster session at the meeting. Likewise, the effort in preparing the poster in advance allows the presenter to enjoy the poster session and discuss the project with colleagues.

Evaluating Patient Activation Measure (PAM) Scores and Readmission Rates Following Implementation of a Nurse-Initiated Multi-Faceted Strategy for Patients on a U.S. Navy Inpatient Oncology Unit: A Quality Improvement Project

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-30

5b. GRANT NUMBER N/A of a Nurse-Initiated Multi-Faceted Strategy for Patients on a U.S. Navy Inpatient Oncology Unit: A Quality...13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES N/A 14. ABSTRACT Background: Chronically ill patients often experience multiple hospitalizations. Oncology patients...have been shown to have more readmissions to the hospital than non- oncology patients. Recent reports estimate a $17.4 billion cost burden is

The Impact of a Patient Safety Program on Medical Error Reporting

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-05-01

307 The Impact of a Patient Safety Program on Medical Error Reporting Donald R. Woolever Abstract Background: In response to the occurrence of...a sentinel event—a medical error with serious consequences—Eglin U.S. Air Force (USAF) Regional Hospital developed and implemented a patient safety...communication, teamwork, and reporting. Objective: To determine the impact of a patient safety program on patterns of medical error reporting. Methods: This

Quality of reporting of trial abstracts needs to be improved: using the CONSORT for abstracts to assess the four leading Chinese medical journals of traditional Chinese medicine

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Due to language limitations, the abstract of journal article may be the only way for people of non-Chinese speaking countries to know about trials in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, little is known about the reporting quality of these trial abstracts. Our study is to assess the reporting quality of abstracts of randomized controlled trials (RCT) published in four leading Chinese medical journals of TCM, and to identify any differences in reporting between the Chinese and English version of the same abstract publication. Method Two reviewers hand-searched the Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, the Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine, the China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica and the Chinese Acupuncture & Moxibustion for all abstracts of RCTs published between 2006 and 2007. Two reviewers independently assessed the reporting quality of the Chinese and English version of all eligible abstracts based on a modified version of the CONSORT for reporting randomised trials in journal and conference abstracts (CONSORT for abstracts). Results We identified a total of 345 RCTs of TCM with both a Chinese and English abstract. More than half of Chinese abstracts reported details of the trial participants (68%; 234/345), control group intervention (52%; 179/345), the number of participants randomized (73%; 253/345) and benefits when interpreting the trial results (55%; 190/345). Reporting of methodological quality or key features of trial design and trial results were poor; only 2% (7/345) included details of the trial design, 3% (11/345) defined the primary outcome, 5% (17/345) described the methods of random sequence generation, and only 4% (13/345) reported the number of participants analyzed. No abstracts provided details on allocation concealment and trial registration. The percentage agreement in reporting (between the Chinese and English version of the same abstract) ranged from 84% to 100% across individual

Reliability of medical record abstraction by non-physicians for orthopedic research.

PubMed

Mi, Michael Y; Collins, Jamie E; Lerner, Vladislav; Losina, Elena; Katz, Jeffrey N

2013-06-09

Medical record review (MRR) is one of the most commonly used research methods in clinical studies because it provides rich clinical detail. However, because MRR involves subjective interpretation of information found in the medical record, it is critically important to understand the reproducibility of data obtained from MRR. Furthermore, because medical record review is both technically demanding and time intensive, it is important to establish whether trained research staff with no clinical training can abstract medical records reliably. We assessed the reliability of abstraction of medical record information in a sample of patients who underwent total knee replacement (TKR) at a referral center. An orthopedic surgeon instructed two research coordinators (RCs) in the abstraction of inpatient medical records and operative notes for patients undergoing primary TKR. The two RCs and the surgeon each independently reviewed 75 patients' records and one RC reviewed the records twice. Agreement was assessed using the proportion of items on which reviewers agreed and the kappa statistic. The kappa for agreement between the surgeon and each RC ranged from 0.59 to 1 for one RC and 0.49 to 1 for the other; the percent agreement ranged from 82% to 100% for one RC and 70% to 100% for the other. The repeated abstractions by the same RC showed high intra-rater agreement, with kappas ranging from 0.66 to 1 and percent agreement ranging from 97% to 100%. Inter-rater agreement between the two RCs was moderate with kappa ranging from 0.49 to 1 and percent agreement ranging from 76% to 100%. The MRR method used in this study showed excellent reliability for abstraction of information that had low technical complexity and moderate to good reliability for information that had greater complexity. Overall, these findings support the use of non-surgeons to abstract surgical data from operative notes.

Genetic, Clinical, and Pathologic Backgrounds of Patients with Autosomal Dominant Alport Syndrome.

PubMed

Kamiyoshi, Naohiro; Nozu, Kandai; Fu, Xue Jun; Morisada, Naoya; Nozu, Yoshimi; Ye, Ming Juan; Imafuku, Aya; Miura, Kenichiro; Yamamura, Tomohiko; Minamikawa, Shogo; Shono, Akemi; Ninchoji, Takeshi; Morioka, Ichiro; Nakanishi, Koichi; Yoshikawa, Norishige; Kaito, Hiroshi; Iijima, Kazumoto

2016-08-08

Alport syndrome comprises a group of inherited heterogeneous disorders involving CKD, hearing loss, and ocular abnormalities. Autosomal dominant Alport syndrome caused by heterozygous mutations in collagen 4A3 and/or collagen 4A4 accounts for <5% of patients. However, the clinical, genetic, and pathologic backgrounds of patients with autosomal dominant Alport syndrome remain unclear. We conducted a retrospective analysis of 25 patients with genetically proven autosomal dominant Alport syndrome and their family members (a total of 72 patients) from 16 unrelated families. Patients with suspected Alport syndrome after pathologic examination who were referred from anywhere in Japan for genetic analysis from 2006 to 2015 were included in this study. Clinical, laboratory, and pathologic data were collected from medical records at the point of registration for genetic diagnosis. Genetic analysis was performed by targeted resequencing of 27 podocyte-related genes, including Alport-related collagen genes, to make a diagnosis of autosomal dominant Alport syndrome and identify modifier genes or double mutations. Clinical data were obtained from medical records. The median renal survival time was 70 years, and the median age at first detection of proteinuria was 17 years old. There was one patient with hearing loss and one patient with ocular lesion. Among 16 patients who underwent kidney biopsy, three showed FSGS, and seven showed thinning without lamellation of the glomerular basement membrane. Five of 13 detected mutations were reported to be causative mutations for autosomal recessive Alport syndrome in previous studies. Two families possessed double mutations in both collagen 4A3 and collagen 4A4, but no modifier genes were detected among the other podocyte-related genes. The renal phenotype of autosomal dominant Alport syndrome was much milder than that of autosomal recessive Alport syndrome or X-linked Alport syndrome in men. It may, thus, be difficult to make an

[New procedures for recognition and differentiation of depression in immigrants. Case report of a patient with Turkish immigrant background].

PubMed

Schouler-Ocak, M; Aichberger, M C; Heredia Montesinos, A; Bromand, Z; Rapp, M A; Heinz, A

2010-07-01

Depression is a cross-cultural disorder, which displays cultural differences in symptom presentation and prevalence. The guidelines for the assessment of cultural influencing factors for the medical history and therapy and the consideration of stressors associated with the immigration process can help to better understand the socio-cultural background of patients with an immigration background and facilitate the differential diagnosis. Using these strategies, psychiatry and psychotherapy are better prepared to deal with this large heterogeneous population given the fact that one fifth of Germany's population has an immigration background. The transcultural aspects of depression are illustrated with a case report.

The Effects of Music Intervention on Background Pain and Anxiety in Burn Patients: Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.

PubMed

Najafi Ghezeljeh, Tahereh; Mohades Ardebili, Fatimah; Rafii, Forough; Haghani, Hamid

2016-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the effect of music on the background pain, anxiety, and relaxation levels in burn patients. In this pretest-posttest randomized controlled clinical trial, 100 hospitalized burn patients were selected through convenience sampling. Subjects randomly assigned to music and control groups. Data related to demographic and clinical characteristics, analgesics, and physiologic measures were collected by researcher-made tools. Visual analog scale was used to determine pain, anxiety, and relaxation levels before and after the intervention in 3 consecutive days. Patients' preferred music was offered once a day for 3 days. The control group only received routine care. Data were analyzed using SPSS-PC (V. 20.0). According to paired t-test, there were significant differences between mean scores of pain (P < .001), anxiety (P < .001), and relaxation (P < .001) levels before and after intervention in music group. Independent t-test indicated a significant difference between the mean scores of changes in pain, anxiety, and relaxation levels before and after intervention in music and control groups (P < .001). No differences were detected in the mean scores of physiologic measures between groups before and after music intervention. Music is an inexpensive, appropriate, and safe intervention for applying to burn patients with background pain and anxiety at rest. To produce more effective comfort for patients, it is necessary to compare different types and time lengths of music intervention to find the best approach.

How do clinicians with different training backgrounds manage walk-in patients in the ED setting?

PubMed

Harris, Tim; McDonald, Keith

2014-12-01

To compare the initial assessment and management of walk-in emergency department (ED) patients between different types of healthcare providers. A large teaching hospital with an annual ED census of 140 000 adult patients. A random sample of 384 patients who self-presented to the ED was obtained. A detailed analysis of each patient record was performed by two clinicians. Data were obtained on the presenting condition, and disposition of each patient, either into the ED for further assessment, or discharge. GPs were significantly more likely to discharge patients home as compared to emergency nurses. ED senior nurses were more likely than GPs to stream patients into the ED for further assessment. Of the patients referred into the ED for further assessment by senior ED nurses, the majority were discharged home. There were insufficient numbers of emergency physician assessments for meaningful statistical analysis. The clinician groups studied here demonstrated different patterns of discharge and referral, reflecting their training and experience. When planning operational procedures, the training and background of the staff allocated to each area should be considered. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

2018 Congress Poster Abstracts

PubMed

2018-02-21

Each abstract has been indexed according to the first author. Abstracts appear as they were submitted and have not undergone editing or the Oncology Nursing Forum’s review process. Only abstracts that will be presented appear here. Poster numbers are subject to change. For updated poster numbers, visit congress.ons.org or check the Congress guide. Data published in abstracts presented at the ONS 43rd Annual Congress are embargoed until the conclusion of the presentation. Coverage and/or distribution of an abstract, poster, or any of its supplemental material to or by the news media, any commercial entity, or individuals, including the authors of said abstract, is strictly prohibited until the embargo is lifted. Promotion of general topics and speakers is encouraged within these guidelines.

Two sides of the coin: patient and provider perceptions of health care delivery to patients from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Australia is a culturally diverse nation with one in seven Australians born in a non-English speaking country. Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) populations are at a high risk of developing preventable chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, renal disease, and chronic respiratory disease, especially communities from the Pacific Islands, the Middle East, North Africa, the Indian subcontinent and China. Previous studies have shown that access to services may be a contributing factor. This study explores the experiences, attitudes and opinions of immigrants from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds and their health care providers with regard to chronic disease care. Methods Five focus groups were conducted comprising participants from an Arabic speaking background, or born in Sudan, China, Vietnam or Tonga. A total of 50 members participated. All focus groups were conducted in the participants’ language and facilitated by a trained multicultural health worker. In addition, 14 health care providers were interviewed by telephone. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed. All qualitative data were analysed with the assistance of QSR NVivo 8 software. Results Participants were generally positive about the quality and accessibility of health services, but the costs of health care and waiting times to receive treatment presented significant barriers. They expressed a need for greater access to interpreters and culturally appropriate communication and education. They mentioned experiencing racism and discriminatory practices. Health professionals recommended recruiting health workers from CALD communities to assist them to adequately elicit and address the needs of patients from CALD backgrounds. Conclusions CALD patients, carers and community members as well as health professionals all highlighted the need for establishing culturally tailored programs for chronic disease prevention and management

Processing emotion from abstract art in frontotemporal lobar degeneration

PubMed Central

Cohen, Miriam H.; Carton, Amelia M.; Hardy, Christopher J.; Golden, Hannah L.; Clark, Camilla N.; Fletcher, Phillip D.; Jaisin, Kankamol; Marshall, Charles R.; Henley, Susie M.D.; Rohrer, Jonathan D.; Crutch, Sebastian J.; Warren, Jason D.

2016-01-01

Abstract art may signal emotions independently of a biological or social carrier: it might therefore constitute a test case for defining brain mechanisms of generic emotion decoding and the impact of disease states on those mechanisms. This is potentially of particular relevance to diseases in the frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) spectrum. These diseases are often led by emotional impairment despite retained or enhanced artistic interest in at least some patients. However, the processing of emotion from art has not been studied systematically in FTLD. Here we addressed this issue using a novel emotional valence matching task on abstract paintings in patients representing major syndromes of FTLD (behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, n=11; sematic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA), n=7; nonfluent variant primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA), n=6) relative to healthy older individuals (n=39). Performance on art emotion valence matching was compared between groups taking account of perceptual matching performance and assessed in relation to facial emotion matching using customised control tasks. Neuroanatomical correlates of art emotion processing were assessed using voxel-based morphometry of patients' brain MR images. All patient groups had a deficit of art emotion processing relative to healthy controls; there were no significant interactions between syndromic group and emotion modality. Poorer art emotion valence matching performance was associated with reduced grey matter volume in right lateral occopitotemporal cortex in proximity to regions previously implicated in the processing of dynamic visual signals. Our findings suggest that abstract art may be a useful model system for investigating mechanisms of generic emotion decoding and aesthetic processing in neurodegenerative diseases. PMID:26748236

Field methods in medical record abstraction: assessing the properties of comparative effectiveness estimates.

PubMed

Cook, Elizabeth A; Schneider, Kathleen M; Robinson, Jennifer; Wilwert, June; Chrischilles, Elizabeth; Pendergast, Jane; Brooks, John

2014-09-15

Comparative effectiveness studies using Medicare claims data are vulnerable to treatment selection biases and supplemental data from a sample of patients has been recommended for examining the magnitude of this bias. Previous research using nationwide Medicare claims data has typically relied on the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) for supplemental data. Because many important clinical variables for our specific research question are not available in the MCBS, we collected medical record data from a subsample of patients to assess the validity of assumptions and to aid in the interpretation of our estimates. This paper seeks to describe and document the process used to collect and validate this supplemental information. Medicare claims data files for all patients with fee-for-service Medicare benefits who had an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in 2007 or 2008 were obtained. Medical records were obtained and abstracted for a stratified subsample of 1,601 of these patients, using strata defined by claims-based measures of physician prescribing practices and drug treatment combinations. The abstraction tool was developed collaboratively by study clinicians and researchers, leveraging important elements from previously validated tools. Records for 2,707 AMI patients were requested from the admitting hospitals and 1,751 were received for an overall response rate of 65%; 1,601 cases were abstracted by trained personnel at a contracted firm. Data were collected with overall 96% inter-abstractor agreement across all variables. Some non-response bias was detected at the patient and facility level. Although Medicare claims data are a potentially powerful resource for conducting comparative effectiveness analyses, observational databases are vulnerable to treatment selection biases. This study demonstrates that it is feasible to abstract medical records for Medicare patients nationwide and collect high quality data, to design the sampling purposively to address

[Alcohol- and substance abuse among mentally ill patients with migration background in Austria].

PubMed

Stompe, Thomas; Ritter, Kristina; Holzer, David; Topitz, Andrea; Wenzel, Thomas

2016-09-01

The refugee movements of the recent years are confronting the health care with new challenges. However, it has turned out that in Austria data on the mental health of migrants are nearly not available. Especially data on the frequency and patterns of comorbid substance abuse of migrants with mental disorders do not exist even from international studies. We analyzed data from 1819 patients (1726 first generation, 93 second generation) treated in the outpatient clinic for transcultural psychiatry and migration related disorders at the Vienna General Hospital: In first-generation migrants the cultural and religious background of the region of origin has the greatest impact on the frequency and the patterns of misused substances. In second-generation migrants the consumer habits approximate to those of the majority of the society. The primary diagnosis plays a minor role. Only patients with personality disorders exhibit higher rates of illicit substance compared with other diagnoses.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 08)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

This bibliography is issued in two sections; abstracts and indexes. The Abstract Section cites 180 patents and applications for patents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period of July 1975 through December 1975. Each entry in the Abstract Section consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or application for patent. The index Section contains entries for 2,905 patents and applications for patent citations covering the period May 1969 through December 1975. The Index Section contains five indexes -- subject, inventor, source, number and accession number.

Refractory Access Disorders and the Organization of Concrete and Abstract Semantics: Do they Differ?

PubMed Central

Hamilton, A. Cris; Coslett, H. Branch

2010-01-01

Patients with “refractory semantic access deficits” demonstrate several unique features that make them important sources of insight into the organization of semantic representations. Here we attempt to replicate several novel findings from single-case studies reported in the literature. Patient UM– 103 displays the cardinal features of a “refractory semantic access deficit” and showed many of the same effects of semantic relatedness reported in the literature. However, when probing concrete and abstract words, this patient revealed very different patterns of performance compared to two previously reported patients. We discuss the implications of our data for models of semantic organization of abstract and concrete words. PMID:18569737

Abstracting Concepts and Methods.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borko, Harold; Bernier, Charles L.

This text provides a complete discussion of abstracts--their history, production, organization, publication--and of indexing. Instructions for abstracting are outlined, and standards and criteria for abstracting are stated. Management, automation, and personnel are discussed in terms of possible economies that can be derived from the introduction…

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 07)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

This bibliography is issued in two sections: Section 1 - Abstracts, and Section 2 - Indexes. This issue of the Abstract Section cites 158 patents and applications for patent introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period of January 1975 through June 1975. Each entry in the Abstract Section consists of a citation, an abstract, and, in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or application for patent. This issue of the Index Section contains entries for 2830 patent and application for patent citations covering the period May 1969 through June 1975. The index section contains five indexes -- subject, inventor, source, number and accession number.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 09)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

This bibliography is issued in two sections: Section 1 - Abstracts, and Section 2 - Indexes. This issue of the Abstract Section cites 200 patents and applications for patent introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period of January 1976 through June 1976. Each entry in the Abstract Section consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or application for patent. This issue of the Index Section contains entries for 2994 patent and application for patent citations covering the period May 1969 through June 1976. The Index Section contains five indexes -- subject, inventor, source, number and accession number.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 13)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

This bibliography is issued in two sections: Section 1 - Abstracts, and Section 2 - Indexes. This issue of the Abstract Section cites 161 patents and applications for patent introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period January 1978 through June 1978. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or application for patent.

Two sides of the coin: patient and provider perceptions of health care delivery to patients from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

PubMed

Komaric, Nera; Bedford, Suzanne; van Driel, Mieke L

2012-09-18

Australia is a culturally diverse nation with one in seven Australians born in a non-English speaking country. Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) populations are at a high risk of developing preventable chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, renal disease, and chronic respiratory disease, especially communities from the Pacific Islands, the Middle East, North Africa, the Indian subcontinent and China. Previous studies have shown that access to services may be a contributing factor. This study explores the experiences, attitudes and opinions of immigrants from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds and their health care providers with regard to chronic disease care. Five focus groups were conducted comprising participants from an Arabic speaking background, or born in Sudan, China, Vietnam or Tonga. A total of 50 members participated. All focus groups were conducted in the participants' language and facilitated by a trained multicultural health worker. In addition, 14 health care providers were interviewed by telephone. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed. All qualitative data were analysed with the assistance of QSR NVivo 8 software. Participants were generally positive about the quality and accessibility of health services, but the costs of health care and waiting times to receive treatment presented significant barriers. They expressed a need for greater access to interpreters and culturally appropriate communication and education. They mentioned experiencing racism and discriminatory practices. Health professionals recommended recruiting health workers from CALD communities to assist them to adequately elicit and address the needs of patients from CALD backgrounds. CALD patients, carers and community members as well as health professionals all highlighted the need for establishing culturally tailored programs for chronic disease prevention and management in CALD populations. Better health care

Abstract Interpreters for Free

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Might, Matthew

In small-step abstract interpretations, the concrete and abstract semantics bear an uncanny resemblance. In this work, we present an analysis-design methodology that both explains and exploits that resemblance. Specifically, we present a two-step method to convert a small-step concrete semantics into a family of sound, computable abstract interpretations. The first step re-factors the concrete state-space to eliminate recursive structure; this refactoring of the state-space simultaneously determines a store-passing-style transformation on the underlying concrete semantics. The second step uses inference rules to generate an abstract state-space and a Galois connection simultaneously. The Galois connection allows the calculation of the "optimal" abstract interpretation. The two-step process is unambiguous, but nondeterministic: at each step, analysis designers face choices. Some of these choices ultimately influence properties such as flow-, field- and context-sensitivity. Thus, under the method, we can give the emergence of these properties a graph-theoretic characterization. To illustrate the method, we systematically abstract the continuation-passing style lambda calculus to arrive at two distinct families of analyses. The first is the well-known k-CFA family of analyses. The second consists of novel "environment-centric" abstract interpretations, none of which appear in the literature on static analysis of higher-order programs.

Paper Abstract Animals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sutley, Jane

2010-01-01

Abstraction is, in effect, a simplification and reduction of shapes with an absence of detail designed to comprise the essence of the more naturalistic images being depicted. Without even intending to, young children consistently create interesting, and sometimes beautiful, abstract compositions. A child's creations, moreover, will always seem to…

Reliability of reporting nosocomial infections in the discharge abstract and implications for receipt of revenues under prospective reimbursement.

PubMed Central

Massanari, R M; Wilkerson, K; Streed, S A; Hierholzer, W J

1987-01-01

Proper reporting of discharge diagnoses, including complications of medical care, is essential for maximum recovery of revenues under the prospective reimbursement system. To evaluate the effectiveness of abstracting techniques in identifying nosocomial infections at discharge, discharge abstracts of patients with nosocomial infections were reviewed during September through November of 1984. Patients with nosocomial infections were identified using modified Centers for Disease Control (CDC) definitions and trained surveillance technicians. Records which did not include the diagnosis of nosocomial infections in the discharge abstract were identified, and potential lost revenues were estimated. We identified 631 infections in 498 patients. On average, only 57 per cent of the infections were properly recorded and coded in the discharge abstract. Of the additional monies which might be anticipated by the health care institution to assist in the cost of care of adverse events, approximately one-third would have been lost due to errors in coding in the discharge abstract. Although these lost revenues are substantial, they constitute but a small proportion of the potential costs to the institution when patients acquire nosocomial infections. PMID:3105338

ASTRONAUTICS INFORMATION. Abstracts Vol. III, No. 1. Abstracts 3,082- 3,184

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

1961-01-01

Abstracts are presented on astronautics. The abstracts are generally restricted to spaceflight and to applicable techniques and data. The publication covers the period of January 1961. 102 references. (J.R.D.)

Developing a research agenda for patient safety in primary care. Background, aims and output of the LINNEAUS collaboration on patient safety in primary care

PubMed Central

Esmail, Aneez; Valderas, Jose M.; Verstappen, Wim; Godycki-Cwirko, Maciek; Wensing, Michel

2015-01-01

ABSTRACT This paper is an introduction to a supplement to The European Journal of General Practice, bringing together a body of research focusing on the issue of patient safety in relation to primary care. The supplement represents the outputs of the LINNEAUS collaboration on patient safety in primary care, which was a four-year (2009–2013) coordination and support action funded under the Framework 7 programme by the European Union. Being a coordination and support action, its aim was not to undertake new research, but to build capacity through engaging primary care researchers and practitioners in identifying some of the key challenges in this area and developing consensus statements, which will be an essential part in developing a future research agenda. This introductory article describes the aims of the LINNEAUS collaboration, provides a brief summary of the reasons to focus on patient safety in primary care, the epidemiological and policy considerations, and an introduction to the papers included in the supplement. PMID:26339828

JTSA: an open source framework for time series abstractions.

PubMed

Sacchi, Lucia; Capozzi, Davide; Bellazzi, Riccardo; Larizza, Cristiana

2015-10-01

The evaluation of the clinical status of a patient is frequently based on the temporal evolution of some parameters, making the detection of temporal patterns a priority in data analysis. Temporal abstraction (TA) is a methodology widely used in medical reasoning for summarizing and abstracting longitudinal data. This paper describes JTSA (Java Time Series Abstractor), a framework including a library of algorithms for time series preprocessing and abstraction and an engine to execute a workflow for temporal data processing. The JTSA framework is grounded on a comprehensive ontology that models temporal data processing both from the data storage and the abstraction computation perspective. The JTSA framework is designed to allow users to build their own analysis workflows by combining different algorithms. Thanks to the modular structure of a workflow, simple to highly complex patterns can be detected. The JTSA framework has been developed in Java 1.7 and is distributed under GPL as a jar file. JTSA provides: a collection of algorithms to perform temporal abstraction and preprocessing of time series, a framework for defining and executing data analysis workflows based on these algorithms, and a GUI for workflow prototyping and testing. The whole JTSA project relies on a formal model of the data types and of the algorithms included in the library. This model is the basis for the design and implementation of the software application. Taking into account this formalized structure, the user can easily extend the JTSA framework by adding new algorithms. Results are shown in the context of the EU project MOSAIC to extract relevant patterns from data coming related to the long term monitoring of diabetic patients. The proof that JTSA is a versatile tool to be adapted to different needs is given by its possible uses, both as a standalone tool for data summarization and as a module to be embedded into other architectures to select specific phenotypes based on TAs in a large

ASTRONAUTICS INFORMATION. ABSTRACTS, VOL. V, NO. 3. Abstracts 5,201- 5,330

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hardgrove, B.J.; Warren, F.L. comps.

1962-03-01

Abstracts of astronautics information covering the period March 1962 are presented. The 129 abstracts cover the subject of spaceflight and applicable data and techniques. Author, subject, and source indexes are included. (M.C.G.)

Check Sample Abstracts.

PubMed

Alter, David; Grenache, David G; Bosler, David S; Karcher, Raymond E; Nichols, James; Rajadhyaksha, Aparna; Camelo-Piragua, Sandra; Rauch, Carol; Huddleston, Brent J; Frank, Elizabeth L; Sluss, Patrick M; Lewandrowski, Kent; Eichhorn, John H; Hall, Janet E; Rahman, Saud S; McPherson, Richard A; Kiechle, Frederick L; Hammett-Stabler, Catherine; Pierce, Kristin A; Kloehn, Erica A; Thomas, Patricia A; Walts, Ann E; Madan, Rashna; Schlesinger, Kathie; Nawgiri, Ranjana; Bhutani, Manoop; Kanber, Yonca; Abati, Andrea; Atkins, Kristen A; Farrar, Robert; Gopez, Evelyn Valencerina; Jhala, Darshana; Griffin, Sonya; Jhala, Khushboo; Jhala, Nirag; Bentz, Joel S; Emerson, Lyska; Chadwick, Barbara E; Barroeta, Julieta E; Baloch, Zubair W; Collins, Brian T; Middleton, Owen L; Davis, Gregory G; Haden-Pinneri, Kathryn; Chu, Albert Y; Keylock, Joren B; Ramoso, Robert; Thoene, Cynthia A; Stewart, Donna; Pierce, Arand; Barry, Michelle; Aljinovic, Nika; Gardner, David L; Barry, Michelle; Shields, Lisa B E; Arnold, Jack; Stewart, Donna; Martin, Erica L; Rakow, Rex J; Paddock, Christopher; Zaki, Sherif R; Prahlow, Joseph A; Stewart, Donna; Shields, Lisa B E; Rolf, Cristin M; Falzon, Andrew L; Hudacki, Rachel; Mazzella, Fermina M; Bethel, Melissa; Zarrin-Khameh, Neda; Gresik, M Vicky; Gill, Ryan; Karlon, William; Etzell, Joan; Deftos, Michael; Karlon, William J; Etzell, Joan E; Wang, Endi; Lu, Chuanyi M; Manion, Elizabeth; Rosenthal, Nancy; Wang, Endi; Lu, Chuanyi M; Tang, Patrick; Petric, Martin; Schade, Andrew E; Hall, Geraldine S; Oethinger, Margret; Hall, Geraldine; Picton, Avis R; Hoang, Linda; Imperial, Miguel Ranoa; Kibsey, Pamela; Waites, Ken; Duffy, Lynn; Hall, Geraldine S; Salangsang, Jo-Anne M; Bravo, Lulette Tricia C; Oethinger, Margaret D; Veras, Emanuela; Silva, Elvia; Vicens, Jimena; Silva, Elvio; Keylock, Joren; Hempel, James; Rushing, Elizabeth; Posligua, Lorena E; Deavers, Michael T; Nash, Jason W; Basturk, Olca; Perle, Mary Ann; Greco, Alba; Lee, Peng; Maru, Dipen; Weydert, Jamie Allen; Stevens, Todd M; Brownlee, Noel A; Kemper, April E; Williams, H James; Oliverio, Brock J; Al-Agha, Osama M; Eskue, Kyle L; Newlands, Shawn D; Eltorky, Mahmoud A; Puri, Puja K; Royer, Michael C; Rush, Walter L; Tavora, Fabio; Galvin, Jeffrey R; Franks, Teri J; Carter, James Elliot; Kahn, Andrea Graciela; Lozada Muñoz, Luis R; Houghton, Dan; Land, Kevin J; Nester, Theresa; Gildea, Jacob; Lefkowitz, Jerry; Lacount, Rachel A; Thompson, Hannis W; Refaai, Majed A; Quillen, Karen; Lopez, Ana Ortega; Goldfinger, Dennis; Muram, Talia; Thompson, Hannis

2009-02-01

The following abstracts are compiled from Check Sample exercises published in 2008. These peer-reviewed case studies assist laboratory professionals with continuing medical education and are developed in the areas of clinical chemistry, cytopathology, forensic pathology, hematology, microbiology, surgical pathology, and transfusion medicine. Abstracts for all exercises published in the program will appear annually in AJCP.

International Conference on Aerosols and Background Pollution Abstracts Held in Galway, Ireland on 13-15 June 1989

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-06-15

Andes near Santiago de Chile extinction coefficients have been determined at elevations above 3000 meters. Values betwee 0.018 km and 0.15 km have been...McGovern 1515 North Atlantic Aerosol Background concentrations measured at a Hebridean coastal site N.H. Smith, P.M. Park and I.E. Consterdine 1530...ocean V. Dreiling, R. Maser and L. Schutz 1615 Measurements of aerosol concentration and distribution at Helgoland Island P. Brand, J. Gebhart, M. Below

Abstract Datatypes in PVS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Owre, Sam; Shankar, Natarajan

1997-01-01

PVS (Prototype Verification System) is a general-purpose environment for developing specifications and proofs. This document deals primarily with the abstract datatype mechanism in PVS which generates theories containing axioms and definitions for a class of recursive datatypes. The concepts underlying the abstract datatype mechanism are illustrated using ordered binary trees as an example. Binary trees are described by a PVS abstract datatype that is parametric in its value type. The type of ordered binary trees is then presented as a subtype of binary trees where the ordering relation is also taken as a parameter. We define the operations of inserting an element into, and searching for an element in an ordered binary tree; the bulk of the report is devoted to PVS proofs of some useful properties of these operations. These proofs illustrate various approaches to proving properties of abstract datatype operations. They also describe the built-in capabilities of the PVS proof checker for simplifying abstract datatype expressions.

Modelling abstraction licensing strategies ahead of the UK's water abstraction licensing reform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klaar, M. J.

2012-12-01

Within England and Wales, river water abstractions are licensed and regulated by the Environment Agency (EA), who uses compliance with the Environmental Flow Indicator (EFI) to ascertain where abstraction may cause undesirable effects on river habitats and species. The EFI is a percentage deviation from natural flow represented using a flow duration curve. The allowable percentage deviation changes with different flows, and also changes depending on an assessment of the sensitivity of the river to changes in flow (Table 1). Within UK abstraction licensing, resource availability is expressed as a surplus or deficit of water resources in relation to the EFI, and utilises the concept of 'hands-off-flows' (HOFs) at the specified flow statistics detailed in Table 1. Use of a HOF system enables abstraction to cease at set flows, but also enables abstraction to occur at periods of time when more water is available. Compliance at low flows (Q95) is used by the EA to determine the hydrological classification and compliance with the Water Framework Directive (WFD) for identifying waterbodies where flow may be causing or contributing to a failure in good ecological status (GES; Table 2). This compliance assessment shows where the scenario flows are below the EFI and by how much, to help target measures for further investigation and assessment. Currently, the EA is reviewing the EFI methodology in order to assess whether or not it can be used within the reformed water abstraction licensing system which is being planned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to ensure the licensing system is resilient to the challenges of climate change and population growth, while allowing abstractors to meet their water needs efficiently, and better protect the environment. In order to assess the robustness of the EFI, a simple model has been created which allows a number of abstraction, flow and licensing scenarios to be run to determine WFD compliance using the

Educational background of nurses and their perceptions of the quality and safety of patient care.

PubMed

Swart, Reece P; Pretorius, Ronel; Klopper, Hester

2015-04-30

International health systems research confirms the critical role that nurses play in ensuring the delivery of high quality patient care and subsequent patient safety. It is therefore important that the education of nurses should prepare them for the provision of safe care of a high quality. The South African healthcare system is made up of public and private hospitals that employ various categories of nurses. The perceptions of the various categories of nurses with reference to quality of care and patient safety are unknown in South Africa (SA). To determine the relationship between the educational background of nurses and their perceptions of quality of care and patient safety in private surgical units in SA. A descriptive correlational design was used. A questionnaire was used for data collection, after which hierarchical linear modelling was utilised to determine the relationships amongst the variables. Both the registered- and enrolled nurses seemed satisfied with the quality of care and patient safety in the units were they work. Enrolled nurses (ENs) indicated that current efforts to prevent errors are adequate, whilst the registered nurses (RNs) obtained high scores in reporting incidents in surgical wards. From the results it was evident that perceptions of RNs and ENs related to the quality of care and patient safety differed. There seemed to be a statistically-significant difference between RNs and ENs perceptions of the prevention of errors in the unit, losing patient information between shifts and patient incidents related to medication errors, pressure ulcers and falls with injury.

Overcoming the Challenges of Unstructured Data in Multi-site, Electronic Medical Record-based Abstraction

PubMed Central

Polnaszek, Brock; Gilmore-Bykovskyi, Andrea; Hovanes, Melissa; Roiland, Rachel; Ferguson, Patrick; Brown, Roger; Kind, Amy JH

2014-01-01

Background Unstructured data encountered during retrospective electronic medical record (EMR) abstraction has routinely been identified as challenging to reliably abstract, as this data is often recorded as free text, without limitations to format or structure. There is increased interest in reliably abstracting this type of data given its prominent role in care coordination and communication, yet limited methodological guidance exists. Objective As standard abstraction approaches resulted in sub-standard data reliability for unstructured data elements collected as part of a multi-site, retrospective EMR study of hospital discharge communication quality, our goal was to develop, apply and examine the utility of a phase-based approach to reliably abstract unstructured data. This approach is examined using the specific example of discharge communication for warfarin management. Research Design We adopted a “fit-for-use” framework to guide the development and evaluation of abstraction methods using a four step, phase-based approach including (1) team building, (2) identification of challenges, (3) adaptation of abstraction methods, and (4) systematic data quality monitoring. Measures Unstructured data elements were the focus of this study, including elements communicating steps in warfarin management (e.g., warfarin initiation) and medical follow-up (e.g., timeframe for follow-up). Results After implementation of the phase-based approach, inter-rater reliability for all unstructured data elements demonstrated kappas of ≥ 0.89 -- an average increase of + 0.25 for each unstructured data element. Conclusions As compared to standard abstraction methodologies, this phase-based approach was more time intensive, but did markedly increase abstraction reliability for unstructured data elements within multi-site EMR documentation. PMID:27624585

Abstracts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Biology Teacher, 1976

1976-01-01

Presents abstracts of 63 papers to be presented at the 1976 Convention of the National Association of Biology Teachers, October 14-17, 1976, Denver, Colorado. Papers cover a wide range of biology and science education topics with the majority concentrating upon the convention's main program, "Ecosystems: 1776-1976-?". (SL)

Imbalance between abstract and concrete repetitive thinking modes in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Maurage, Pierre; Philippot, Pierre; Grynberg, Delphine; Leleux, Dominique; Delatte, Benoît; Mangelinckx, Camille; Belge, Jan-Baptist; Constant, Eric

2017-10-01

Repetitive thoughts can be divided in two modes: abstract/analytic (decontextualized and dysfunctional) and concrete/experiential (problem-focused and adaptive). They constitute a transdiagnostic process involved in many psychopathological states but have received little attention in schizophrenia, as earlier studies only indexed increased ruminations (related to dysfunctional repetitive thoughts) without jointly exploring both modes. This study explored the two repetitive thinking modes, beyond ruminations, to determine their imbalance in schizophrenia. Thirty stabilized patients with schizophrenia and 30 matched controls completed the Repetitive Response Scale and the Mini Cambridge-Exeter Repetitive Thought Scale, both measuring repetitive thinking modes. Complementary measures related to schizophrenic symptomatology, depression and anxiety were also conducted. Compared to controls, patients with schizophrenia presented an imbalance between repetitive thinking modes, with increased abstract/analytic and reduced concrete/experiential thoughts, even after controlling for comorbidities. Schizophrenia is associated with stronger dysfunctional repetitive thoughts (i.e. abstract thinking) and impaired ability to efficiently use repetitive thinking for current problem-solving (i.e. concrete thinking). This imbalance confirms the double-faced nature of repetitive thinking modes, whose influence on schizophrenia's symptomatology should be further investigated. The present results also claim for evaluating these processes in clinical settings and for rehabilitating the balance between opposite repetitive thinking modes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Visual signal detection in structured backgrounds. II. Effects of contrast gain control, background variations, and white noise

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eckstein, M. P.; Ahumada, A. J. Jr; Watson, A. B.

1997-01-01

Studies of visual detection of a signal superimposed on one of two identical backgrounds show performance degradation when the background has high contrast and is similar in spatial frequency and/or orientation to the signal. To account for this finding, models include a contrast gain control mechanism that pools activity across spatial frequency, orientation and space to inhibit (divisively) the response of the receptor sensitive to the signal. In tasks in which the observer has to detect a known signal added to one of M different backgrounds grounds due to added visual noise, the main sources of degradation are the stochastic noise in the image and the suboptimal visual processing. We investigate how these two sources of degradation (contrast gain control and variations in the background) interact in a task in which the signal is embedded in one of M locations in a complex spatially varying background (structured background). We use backgrounds extracted from patient digital medical images. To isolate effects of the fixed deterministic background (the contrast gain control) from the effects of the background variations, we conduct detection experiments with three different background conditions: (1) uniform background, (2) a repeated sample of structured background, and (3) different samples of structured background. Results show that human visual detection degrades from the uniform background condition to the repeated background condition and degrades even further in the different backgrounds condition. These results suggest that both the contrast gain control mechanism and the background random variations degrade human performance in detection of a signal in a complex, spatially varying background. A filter model and added white noise are used to generate estimates of sampling efficiencies, an equivalent internal noise, an equivalent contrast-gain-control-induced noise, and an equivalent noise due to the variations in the structured background.

Research Abstracts of 1982.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-12-01

Third Molars in Naval Personnel,- (Abstract #1430) 7. A. SEROWSKI* and F. AKER --"The Effect of Marine and Fresh-Water Atmospheric Environments on...Packaged Dental Instrument4’, (Abstract #1133) 8. I. L. SHKLAIR*, R. W. GAUGLER, R. G. WALTER -.The Effect of Three Surfactants on Controlling Caries...Insoluble Streptococcal Glucan"’. e (Abstract #102) - _/_ / 10. R. G. WALTER* and I. L. SHKLAIR - The Effect of T-10 Dextran on Caries and Plaque in

A research agenda on patient safety in primary care. Recommendations by the LINNEAUS collaboration on patient safety in primary care

PubMed Central

Verstappen, Wim; Gaal, Sander; Bowie, Paul; Parker, Diane; Lainer, Miriam; Valderas, Jose M.; Wensing, Michel; Esmail, Aneez

2015-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: Healthcare can cause avoidable serious harm to patients. Primary care is not an exception, and the relative lack of research in this area lends urgency to a better understanding of patient safety, the future research agenda and the development of primary care oriented safety programmes. Objective: To outline a research agenda for patient safety improvement in primary care in Europe and beyond. Methods: The LINNEAUS collaboration partners analysed existing research on epidemiology and classification of errors, diagnostic and medication errors, safety culture, and learning for and improving patient safety. We discussed ideas for future research in several meetings, workshops and congresses with LINNEAUS collaboration partners, practising GPs, researchers in this field, and policy makers. Results: This paper summarizes and integrates the outcomes of the LINNEAUS collaboration on patient safety in primary care. It proposes a research agenda on improvement strategies for patient safety in primary care. In addition, it provides background information to help to connect research in this field with practicing GPs and other healthcare workers in primary care. Conclusion: Future research studies should target specific primary care domains, using prospective methods and innovative methods such as patient involvement. PMID:26339841

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 05)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

This bibliography is issued in two sections: Section 1 - Abstracts, and section 2 - Indexes. The abstract section cites 217 patents and applications for patent introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period of January 1974 through June 1974. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and, in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or application for patent. The index section contains entries for 2653 patent and application for patent citations covering the period May 1969 through June 1974. The index section contains five indexes -- subject, inventor, source, number and accession number.

Background parenchymal enhancement over exam time in patients with and without breast cancer.

PubMed

Melsaether, Amy; Pujara, Akshat C; Elias, Kristin; Pysarenko, Kristine; Gudi, Anjali; Dodelzon, Katerina; Babb, James S; Gao, Yiming; Moy, Linda

2017-01-01

To compare background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) over time in patients with and without breast cancer. This retrospective Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant study included 116 women (25-84 years, mean 54 years) with breast cancer who underwent breast magnetic resonance imaging at 3T between 1/2/2009 and 12/29/2009 and 116 age and date-of-exam-matched women without breast cancer (23-84 years, mean 51 years). Two independent, blinded readers (R1, R2) recorded BPE (minimal, mild, moderate, marked) at three times (100, 210, and 320 seconds postcontrast). Subsequent cancers were diagnosed in 9/96 control patients with follow up (12.6-93.0 months, mean 63.6 months). Exact Mann-Whitney, Fisher's exact, and McNemar tests were performed. Mean BPE was not found to be different between patients with and without breast cancer at any time (P = 0.36-0.64). At time 2 as compared with time 1, there were significantly more patients, both with and without breast cancer, with BPE >minimal (R1: 90 vs. 41 [P < 0.001] and 81 vs. 36 [P < 0.001]; R2: 84 vs. 52 [P < 0.001] and 79 vs. 43 [P < 0.001]) and BPE >mild (R1: 59 vs. 10 [P < 0.001] and 47 vs. 13 [P < 0.001]; R2: 49 vs. 12 [P < 0.001] and 41 vs. 18 [P < 0.001]). BPE changes between times 2 and 3 were not significant (P = 0.083-1.0). Odds ratios for control patients developing breast cancer were significant only for R2 and ranged up to 7.67 (1.49, 39.5; P < 0.01) for BPE >mild at time 2. BPE changes between the first and second postcontrast scans and stabilizes thereafter in most patients. Further investigation into the most clinically relevant timepoint for BPE assessment is warranted. 3 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017;45:74-83. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Automatic Abstraction in Planning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Christensen, J.

1991-01-01

Traditionally, abstraction in planning has been accomplished by either state abstraction or operator abstraction, neither of which has been fully automatic. We present a new method, predicate relaxation, for automatically performing state abstraction. PABLO, a nonlinear hierarchical planner, implements predicate relaxation. Theoretical, as well as empirical results are presented which demonstrate the potential advantages of using predicate relaxation in planning. We also present a new definition of hierarchical operators that allows us to guarantee a limited form of completeness. This new definition is shown to be, in some ways, more flexible than previous definitions of hierarchical operators. Finally, a Classical Truth Criterion is presented that is proven to be sound and complete for a planning formalism that is general enough to include most classical planning formalisms that are based on the STRIPS assumption.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 32)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1988-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 136 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period July through December 1987. Each entry consists of a citation , an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 29)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1986-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 115 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period January 1986 through June 1986. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent application.

Abstract and concrete repetitive thinking modes in alcohol-dependence.

PubMed

Grynberg, Delphine; de Timary, Philippe; Philippot, Pierre; D'Hondt, Fabien; Briane, Yasmine; Devynck, Faustine; Douilliez, Céline; Billieux, Joël; Heeren, Alexandre; Maurage, Pierre

2016-01-01

Emotional and interpersonal deficits play a crucial role in alcohol-related disorders as they predict alcohol consumption and relapse. Recent models of emotion regulation in psychopathology postulate that these deficits are centrally related to increased abstract/analytic repetitive thinking, combined with reduced concrete/experiential repetitive thinking. As this assumption has not been tested in addictions, this study aimed at investigating repetitive thinking modes in a large sample of alcohol-dependent individuals. One hundred recently detoxified alcohol-dependent individuals (29 females; mean age = 49.51-years-old) recruited during the 3rd week of their treatment in a detoxification center were compared to 100 healthy controls (29 females; mean age = 48.51-years-old) recruited in the experimenters' social network, matched at the group level for age, gender, and educational level. All participants completed the Mini Cambridge Exeter Repetitive Thought Scale measuring abstract/analytic and concrete/experiential repetitive thinking modes as well as complementary psychopathological measures (Beck Depression Inventory and State/Trait Anxiety Inventory). Alcohol-dependent individuals have similar levels of concrete repetitive thinking as controls but report significantly higher levels of abstract repetitive thinking (p < 0.001; d = 1.28). This effect remains significant after controlling for depression and anxiety. Relative to healthy controls, alcohol-dependent patients report more frequent use of abstract/analytic repetitive thinking, with preserved concrete/experiential thinking. Despite the cross-sectional nature of the study, the frequent use of abstract repetitive thinking thus appears to constitute a main feature of alcohol-dependence.

Abstracting ICU Nursing Care Quality Data From the Electronic Health Record.

PubMed

Seaman, Jennifer B; Evans, Anna C; Sciulli, Andrea M; Barnato, Amber E; Sereika, Susan M; Happ, Mary Beth

2017-09-01

The electronic health record is a potentially rich source of data for clinical research in the intensive care unit setting. We describe the iterative, multi-step process used to develop and test a data abstraction tool, used for collection of nursing care quality indicators from the electronic health record, for a pragmatic trial. We computed Cohen's kappa coefficient (κ) to assess interrater agreement or reliability of data abstracted using preliminary and finalized tools. In assessing the reliability of study data ( n = 1,440 cases) using the finalized tool, 108 randomly selected cases (10% of first half sample; 5% of last half sample) were independently abstracted by a second rater. We demonstrated mean κ values ranging from 0.61 to 0.99 for all indicators. Nursing care quality data can be accurately and reliably abstracted from the electronic health records of intensive care unit patients using a well-developed data collection tool and detailed training.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 31)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1987-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 85 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period January 1987 through June 1987. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 24)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1984-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 167 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period July 1983 through December 1983. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 27)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1985-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 92 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period January 1985 through June 1985. Each entry consist of a citation, and abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 45)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1994-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 137 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period Jan. 1994 through Jun. 1994. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography. A continuing bibliography (supplement 22). Section 1: Abstracts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1983-01-01

Abstracts are cited for 234 patents and patent applications introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period July 1982 through December 1982. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 35)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1989-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 58 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information systems during the period January 1989 through June 1989. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 37)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1989-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 76 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information systems during the period January 1990 through June 1990. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 30)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1987-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 105 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period July 1986 through December 1986. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 38)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 132 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period July 1990 through December 1990. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 39)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 154 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information systems during the period Jan. 1991 through Jun. 1991. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 43)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 128 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period Jan. 1993 through Jun. 1993. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 42)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 174 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period July 1992 through December 1992. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 36)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 63 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information systems during the period July 1989 through December 1989. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 40)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 181 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period July 1991 through December 1991. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 28)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1986-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 109 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information System during the period July 1985 through December 1985. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA Patent Abstracts Bibliography: A Continuing Bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (Supplement 48)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 85 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period July 1995 through December 1995. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 25)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1984-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 102 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period January 1984 through June 1984. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 33)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1988-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 16 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information systems during the period January 1988 through June 1988. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 15)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

Abstracts are cited for 240 patents and applications for patents introduced into the NASA scientific system during the period of January 1979 through June 1979. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or application for patent.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 26)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1985-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 172 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period July 1984 through December 1984. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 16)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

Abstracts are cited for 138 patents and patent applications introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period July 1979 through December 1979. Each entry cib consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 23)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1983-01-01

Abstracts are cited for 129 patents and patent applications introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period January 1983 through June 1983. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 18)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Abstracts are cited for 120 patents and patent applications for patents introduced into the NASA scientific system during the period of July 1980 through December 1980. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or application for patent.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 34)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1989-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 124 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information systems during the period July 1988 through December 1988. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 41)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 131 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period Jan. 1992 through Jun. 1992. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 44)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1994-01-01

Abstracts are provided for 131 patents and patent applications entered into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period Jun. 1993 through Dec. 1993. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 20)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

Abstracts are cited for 165 patents and patent applications introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period July 1981 through December 1981. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or patent application.

Abstraction and art.

PubMed

Gortais, Bernard

2003-07-29

In a given social context, artistic creation comprises a set of processes, which relate to the activity of the artist and the activity of the spectator. Through these processes we see and understand that the world is vaster than it is said to be. Artistic processes are mediated experiences that open up the world. A successful work of art expresses a reality beyond actual reality: it suggests an unknown world using the means and the signs of the known world. Artistic practices incorporate the means of creation developed by science and technology and change forms as they change. Artists and the public follow different processes of abstraction at different levels, in the definition of the means of creation, of representation and of perception of a work of art. This paper examines how the processes of abstraction are used within the framework of the visual arts and abstract painting, which appeared during a period of growing importance for the processes of abstraction in science and technology, at the beginning of the twentieth century. The development of digital platforms and new man-machine interfaces allow multimedia creations. This is performed under the constraint of phases of multidisciplinary conceptualization using generic representation languages, which tend to abolish traditional frontiers between the arts: visual arts, drama, dance and music.

Use of Syllabic Logograms to Help Dyslexic Readers of English Visualize Abstract Words as Pictures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saez-Rodriguez, Alberto

2009-01-01

Background: Dyslexics read concrete words better than abstract ones. As a result, one of the major problems facing dyslexics is the fact that only part of the information that they require to communicate is concrete, i.e. can easily be pictured. Method: The experiment involved dyslexic third-grade, English-speaking children (8-year-olds) divided…

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 19)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Abstracts are cited for 130 patents and patent applications introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period of January 1981 through July 1981. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or application for patent.

Cooperative Educational Abstracting Service (CEAS). (Abstract Series No. 103-122, March 1972).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

International Bureau of Education, Geneva (Switzerland).

This document is a compilation of 20 English-language abstracts concerning various aspects of education in Switzerland, New Zealand, Chile, Poland, Argentina, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, and France. The abstracts are informative in nature, each being approximately 1,500 words in length. They are based on documents submitted by each of the…

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 17)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1980-01-01

Abstracts are cited for 150 patents and applications for patents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period January 1980 through June 1980. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or application for patent.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 14)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

Abstracts are cited for 213 patents and applications for patent introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period of July 1978 through December 1978. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or application for patent.

Cognitive and anatomic double dissociation in the representation of concrete and abstract words in semantic variant and behavioral variant frontotemporal degeneration.

PubMed

Cousins, Katheryn A Q; York, Collin; Bauer, Laura; Grossman, Murray

2016-04-01

We examine the anatomic basis for abstract and concrete lexical representations in semantic memory by assessing patients with focal neurodegenerative disease. Prior evidence from healthy adult studies suggests that there may be an anatomical dissociation between abstract and concrete representations: abstract words more strongly activate the left inferior frontal gyrus relative to concrete words, while concrete words more strongly activate left anterior-inferior temporal regions. However, this double dissociation has not been directly examined. We test this dissociation in two patient groups with focal cortical atrophy in each of these regions, the behavioral variant of Frontotemporal Degeneration (bvFTD) and the semantic variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia (svPPA). We administered an associativity judgment task for abstract and concrete words, where subjects select which of two words is best associated with a given target word. Both bvFTD and svPPA patients were significantly impaired in their overall performance compared to controls. While controls treated concrete and abstract words equally, we found a category-specific double dissociation in patients' judgments: bvFTD patients showed a concreteness effect (CE), with significantly worse performance for abstract compared to concrete words, while svPPA patients showed reversal of the CE, with significantly worse performance for concrete over abstract words. Regression analyses also revealed an anatomic double dissociation: The CE is associated with inferior frontal atrophy in bvFTD, while reversal of the CE is associated with left anterior-inferior temporal atrophy in svPPA. These results support a cognitive and anatomic model of semantic memory organization where abstract and concrete representations are supported by dissociable neuroanatomic substrates. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Efficacy of tofacitinib in patients with rheumatoid arthritis stratified by background methotrexate dose group.

PubMed

Fleischmann, R; Mease, P J; Schwartzman, S; Hwang, L-J; Soma, K; Connell, C A; Takiya, L; Bananis, E

2017-01-01

Tofacitinib is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This post hoc analysis investigated the effect of methotrexate (MTX) dose on the efficacy of tofacitinib in patients with RA. ORAL Scan (NCT00847613) was a 2-year, randomized, Phase 3 trial evaluating tofacitinib in MTX-inadequate responder (IR) patients with RA. Patients received tofacitinib 5 or 10 mg twice daily (BID), or placebo, with low (≤12.5 mg/week), moderate (>12.5 to <17.5 mg/week), or high (≥17.5 mg/week) stable background MTX. Efficacy endpoints (at months 3 and 6) included American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 20/50/70 response rates, and mean change from baseline in Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI), Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28)-4(erythrocyte sedimentation rate [ESR]), Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI), and modified Total Sharp score. 797 patients were treated with tofacitinib 5 mg BID (N = 321), tofacitinib 10 mg BID (N = 316), or placebo (N = 160); 242, 333, and 222 patients received low, moderate, and high MTX doses, respectively. At months 3 and 6, ACR20/50/70 response rates were greater for both tofacitinib doses vs placebo across all MTX doses. At month 3, mean changes from baseline in CDAI and HAQ-DI were significantly greater for both tofacitinib doses vs placebo, irrespective of MTX category; improvements were maintained at month 6. Both tofacitinib doses demonstrated improvements in DAS28-4(ESR), and less structural progression vs placebo, across MTX doses at month 6. Tofacitinib plus MTX showed greater clinical and radiographic efficacy than placebo in MTX-IR patients with RA, regardless of MTX dose.

Abstraction and reformulation in artificial intelligence.

PubMed Central

Holte, Robert C.; Choueiry, Berthe Y.

2003-01-01

This paper contributes in two ways to the aims of this special issue on abstraction. The first is to show that there are compelling reasons motivating the use of abstraction in the purely computational realm of artificial intelligence. The second is to contribute to the overall discussion of the nature of abstraction by providing examples of the abstraction processes currently used in artificial intelligence. Although each type of abstraction is specific to a somewhat narrow context, it is hoped that collectively they illustrate the richness and variety of abstraction in its fullest sense. PMID:12903653

Abstraction and reformulation in artificial intelligence.

PubMed

Holte, Robert C; Choueiry, Berthe Y

2003-07-29

This paper contributes in two ways to the aims of this special issue on abstraction. The first is to show that there are compelling reasons motivating the use of abstraction in the purely computational realm of artificial intelligence. The second is to contribute to the overall discussion of the nature of abstraction by providing examples of the abstraction processes currently used in artificial intelligence. Although each type of abstraction is specific to a somewhat narrow context, it is hoped that collectively they illustrate the richness and variety of abstraction in its fullest sense.

Completing treatment for latent tuberculosis: patient background matters.

PubMed

Kan, B; Kalin, M; Bruchfeld, J

2013-05-01

Treatment of latent infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis effectively reduces future activation and transmission of tuberculosis. However, patient adherence to preventive treatment influences its effectiveness. Treatment completion is commonly considered as a proxy for adherence. To identify factors associated with failure to complete preventive treatment. Data from 415 consecutive patients who started preventive treatment at the Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, between 2002 and 2007 were collected and treatment completion was evaluated. Patients were classified as 'completers' or 'non-completers'. Association between treatment completion status and patient characteristics was assessed using logistic regression. Younger patients, patients originating from Somalia and asylum seekers were more likely to be non-completers. The proportion of completers increased from 71% in 2002 to 87% in 2007. However, this trend appears to be caused mostly by an increase in the proportion of European patients. The finding of a low rate of treatment completion among Somalis should be regarded as a call for intervention on the individual patient level, also taking into account socio-cultural aspects such as perceptions of health care by the Somali community. Treatment completion continues to be of concern as it is not improving among risk populations.

Residents' Attitude, Knowledge, and Perceived Preparedness Toward Caring for Patients from Diverse Sociocultural Backgrounds.

PubMed

Marshall, Jessie Kimbrough; Cooper, Lisa A; Green, Alexander R; Bertram, Amanda; Wright, Letitia; Matusko, Niki; McCullough, Wayne; Sisson, Stephen D

2017-01-01

Purpose: Training residents to deliver care to increasingly diverse patients in the United States is an important strategy to help alleviate racial and ethnic disparities in health outcomes. Cross-cultural care training of residents continues to present challenges. This study sought to explore the associations among residents' cross-cultural attitudes, preparedness, and knowledge about disparities to better elucidate possible training needs. Methods: This cross-sectional study used web-based questionnaires from 2013 to 2014. Eighty-four internal medicine residency programs with 954 residents across the United States participated. The main outcome was perceived preparedness to care for sociocultural diverse patients. Key Results: Regression analysis showed attitude toward cross-cultural care (beta coefficient [β]=0.57, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.49-0.64, p <0.001) and report of serving a large number of racial/ethnic minorities (β=0.90, 95% CI: 0.56-1.24, p <0.001), and low-socioeconomic status patients (β=0.74, 95% CI: 0.37-1.10, p <0.001) were positively associated with preparedness. Knowledge of disparities was poor and did not differ significantly across postgraduate year (PGY)-1, PGY-2, and PGY-3 residents (mean scores: 56%, 58%, and 55%, respectively; p =0.08). Conclusion: Residents' knowledge of health and healthcare disparities is poor and does not improve during training. Residents' preparedness to provide cross-cultural care is directly associated with their attitude toward cross-cultural care and their level of exposure to patients from diverse sociocultural backgrounds. Future studies should examine the role of residents' cross-cultural care-related attitudes on their ability to care for diverse patients.

Assessing abstracts of Iranian systematic reviews and metaanalysis indexed in WOS and Scopus using PRISMA.

PubMed

Kazerani, Maryam; Davoudian, Atefeh; Zayeri, Farid; Soori, Hamid

2017-01-01

Background: Systematic reviews and meta-analysis have significant advantages over conventional reviews in that all available data should be presented. This study aimed to evaluate Iranian systematic reviews and meta-analysis abstracts indexed in WOS and Scopus during 2003-2012 based on PRISMA checklist. Methods: This is an analytical study. We evaluated 46 article abstracts indexed in WOS, 89 article abstracts indexed in Scopus and 158 article abstracts indexed in WOS and Scopus both (overlapped group). The quality of the abstracts was evaluated according to the PRISMA checklist for abstracts. Some indicators including distribution per year, total citation, average citations per year, average citations per documents and average citations per year in each article were determined through searching the WOS and Scopus Databases' analytical section. Then, the correlations between the abstract's PRISMA scores, average citations per year, and publication year were calculated. Results: The abstract's quality is not desirable as far as the PRISMA criteria are concerned. In other words, none of the articles' abstracts is in line with the PRISMA items. The average of scores of the current study was 5.9 while the maximum score was 12. The PRISMA criteria showed the highest compliance with "Objectives" (98.6%), the second highest with "Synthesis of result" (85%) and "Title" (80.2%) and the lowest compliance with "Registration" (2%). There was a positive correlation between the compliance of PRISMA score and the average citations per year while there was a negative correlation between PRISMA score and the publication year. Conclusion: It seems that the suggested criteria for reporting Iranian systematic reviews and meta-analysis are not considered adequately by the writers and even scientific journal editors.

Abstraction and art.

PubMed Central

Gortais, Bernard

2003-01-01

In a given social context, artistic creation comprises a set of processes, which relate to the activity of the artist and the activity of the spectator. Through these processes we see and understand that the world is vaster than it is said to be. Artistic processes are mediated experiences that open up the world. A successful work of art expresses a reality beyond actual reality: it suggests an unknown world using the means and the signs of the known world. Artistic practices incorporate the means of creation developed by science and technology and change forms as they change. Artists and the public follow different processes of abstraction at different levels, in the definition of the means of creation, of representation and of perception of a work of art. This paper examines how the processes of abstraction are used within the framework of the visual arts and abstract painting, which appeared during a period of growing importance for the processes of abstraction in science and technology, at the beginning of the twentieth century. The development of digital platforms and new man-machine interfaces allow multimedia creations. This is performed under the constraint of phases of multidisciplinary conceptualization using generic representation languages, which tend to abolish traditional frontiers between the arts: visual arts, drama, dance and music. PMID:12903659

Interpersonal, Nonverbal, and Small Group Communication: Abstracts of Doctoral Dissertations Published in "Dissertation Abstracts International," July through December 1979 (Vol. 40 Nos. 1 through 6).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills, Urbana, IL.

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 24 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: a social skills training program; facial kinesic correlates of terminal cancer patients; the relationships among indices of social cognition, motivation, and…

Metacognition and abstract reasoning.

PubMed

Markovits, Henry; Thompson, Valerie A; Brisson, Janie

2015-05-01

The nature of people's meta-representations of deductive reasoning is critical to understanding how people control their own reasoning processes. We conducted two studies to examine whether people have a metacognitive representation of abstract validity and whether familiarity alone acts as a separate metacognitive cue. In Study 1, participants were asked to make a series of (1) abstract conditional inferences, (2) concrete conditional inferences with premises having many potential alternative antecedents and thus specifically conducive to the production of responses consistent with conditional logic, or (3) concrete problems with premises having relatively few potential alternative antecedents. Participants gave confidence ratings after each inference. Results show that confidence ratings were positively correlated with logical performance on abstract problems and concrete problems with many potential alternatives, but not with concrete problems with content less conducive to normative responses. Confidence ratings were higher with few alternatives than for abstract content. Study 2 used a generation of contrary-to-fact alternatives task to improve levels of abstract logical performance. The resulting increase in logical performance was mirrored by increases in mean confidence ratings. Results provide evidence for a metacognitive representation based on logical validity, and show that familiarity acts as a separate metacognitive cue.

Publication Rates and Inconsistencies of the Abstracts Presented at the National Anatomy Congresses in 2007 and 2008

PubMed Central

Gürses, İlke Ali; Gayretli, Özcan; Gürtekin, Başak; Öztürk, Adnan

2017-01-01

Background: Despite significant efforts made for, most abstracts presented during a meeting do not proceed and publish as a manuscript in scientific journals. Aims: To investigate publication rates of national anatomy congresses. Study Design: Descriptive study. Methods: All abstracts presented at two annual meetings in 2007 and 2008 were extracted. PubMed and Google Scholar database search used for publication history. Presentation and study types, publication rates and mean publishing times were evaluated. Inconsistency rates between meeting abstract and final published article were also considered. Results: Among 342 abstracts, 195 (57%) were followed by a full-text article. Publication rates for oral and poster presentations were 75% and 52.2%, respectively. The mean publication time was 23.7±23 months. Overall, 89.2% of the articles were published within 5 years. There were no inconsistencies in 50 (25.6%) articles, while 145 (74.4%) had inconsistencies compared to the abstracts presented at the congress. Getting adequate information for 45 (23.1%) articles was not possible. There was no standard reporting format for the abstracts. Conclusion: Our study shows that, overall publication rates for abstracts presented at national anatomy meetings were higher than those presented at national meetings for clinical specialties. PMID:28251026

Concept Formation and Abstraction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lunzer, Eric A.

1979-01-01

This paper examines the nature of concepts and conceptual processes and the manner of their formation. It argues that a process of successive abstraction and systematization is central to the evolution of conceptual structures. Classificatory processes are discussed and three levels of abstraction outlined. (Author/SJL)

Abstraction Techniques for Parameterized Verification

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-11-01

approach for applying model checking to unbounded systems is to extract finite state models from them using conservative abstraction techniques. Prop...36 2.5.1 Multiple Reference Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 2.5.2 Adding Monitor Processes...model checking to complex pieces of code like device drivers depends on the use of abstraction methods. An abstraction method extracts a small finite

The Future of Phosphorus for Food Security: Making Media to Recover the Nutrient from Water (abstract)

EPA Science Inventory

The abstract is only allowed to be 500 words maximum and is supposed to represent the theme of the conference so I am focusing my information more on the background of why phosphorus is important to recovery then giving a little less detail on the material I've made for this purp...

Geophysical abstracts 167, October-December 1956

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rabbitt, Mary C.; Vitaliano, Dorothy B.; Vesselowsky, S.T.; ,

1956-01-01

Geophysical Abstracts includes abstracts of technical papers and books on the physics of the solid earth, the application of physical methods and techniques to geologic problems, and geophysical exploration. The table of contents, which is alphabetically arranged, shows the material covered.Abstracts are prepared only of material that is believed to be generally available. Ordinarily abstracts are not published of material with limited circulation (such as dissertations, open-file reports, or memoranda) or of other papers presented orally at meetings unless summaries of substantial length are published. Abstracts of papers in Japanese and Chinese are based on abstracts or summaries in a western language accompanying the paper.

Geophysical abstracts 164, January-March 1956

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rabbitt, Mary C.; Vitaliano, Dorothy B.; Vesselowsky, S.T.; ,

1956-01-01

Geophysical Abstracts includes abstracts of technical papers and books on the physics of the solid earth, the application of physical methods and techniques to geologic problems, and geophysical exploration. A new table of contents, alphabetically arranged, has been adapted to show more clearly the material covered.Abstracts are prepared only of material that is believed to be generally available. Ordinarily abstracts are not published of material with limited circulation (such as dissertations, open-file reports, or memoranda) or of papers presented orally at meetings unless summaries of substantial length are published. Abstracts of papers in Japanese and Chinese are based on abstracts or summaries in a western language accompanying the paper.

Geophysical abstracts 166, July-September 1956

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rabbitt, Mary C.; Vitaliano, Dorothy B.; Vesselowsky, S.T.; ,

1956-01-01

Geophysical Abstracts includes abstracts of technical papers and books on the physics of the solid earth, the application of physical methods and techniques to geologic problems, and geophysical exploration. The table of contents, which is alphabetically arranged, shows the material covered.Abstracts are prepared only of material that is believed to be generally available. Ordinarily abstracts are not published of material with limited circulation (such as dissertations, open-file reports, or memoranda) or of other papers presented orally at meetings unless summaries of substantial length are published. Abstracts of papers in Japanese and Chinese are based on abstracts or summaries in a western language accompanying the paper.

Geophysical abstracts 165, April-June 1956

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rabbitt, Mary C.; Vitaliano, Dorothy B.; Vesselowsky, S.T.; ,

1956-01-01

Geophysical Abstracts includes abstracts of technical papers and books on the physics of the solid earth, the application of physical methods and techniques to geologic problems, and geophysical exploration. The table of contents, which is alphabetically arranged, shows the material covered.Abstracts are prepared only of material that is believed to be generally available. Ordinarily abstracts are not published of material with limited circulation (such as dissertations, open-file reports, or memoranda) or of other papers presented orally at meetings unless summaries of substantial length are published. Abstracts of papers in Japanese and Chinese are based on abstracts or summaries in a western language accompanying the paper.

[Specifics of hormonal and energy balance in patients with hyperplasia and endometrial neoplasia with metabolic syndrome in the background].

PubMed

Chernyshova, A L; Kolomiets, L A; Bochkarëva, N V; Kondakova, I V

2013-01-01

We conducted a comparative investigation of the hormonal status (LH, FSH, estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, prolactin, SHBG), energy status (leptin, ghrelin, insulin), and carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in patients with endometrial hyperplasia and neoplasia (168 patients) with or without metabolic syndrome in the background. Patients with metabolic syndrome had a high frequency of elevated estrogen (72%), testosterone (65%), insulin (81%), leptin (68%). There was a marked increase in the basal level of luteinizing hormone, prolactin, index, LH/FSH, but decrease in FSH and progesterone. There were significant changes in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. The possible mechanisms for the contribution of the investigated factors to the development of the pathological processes in the endometrium are presented.

Energy Research Abstracts. [DOE abstract journal

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1981-01-01

Energy Research Abstracts (ERA) provides abstracting and indexing coverage of all scientific and technical reports, journal articles, conference papers and proceedings, books, patents, theses, and monographs originated by the US Department of Energy, its laboratories, energy centers, and contractors. ERA also covers other energy information prepared in report form by federal and state government organizations, foreign governments, and domestic and foreign universities and research organizations. ERA coverage of non-report literature is limited to that generated by Department of Energy activity. ERA is comprehensive in its subject scope, encompassing the DOE's research, development, demonstration, and technological programs resulting from its broadmore » charter for energy sources, conservation, safety, environmental impacts, and regulation. Corporate, author, subject, report number, and contract number indexes are included. ERA is available on an exchange basis to universities, research intitutions, industrial firms, and publishers of scientific information. Federal, state, and municipal agencies concerned with energy development, conservation, and usage may obtain ERA free of charge. Inquiries should be directed to the Technical Information Center, P.O. Box 62, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830. ERA is available to the public on a subscription basis for 24 semimonthly issues including a semiannual index and an annual index. All citations announced in ERA exist as separate records in the DOE Energy Data Base.« less

Finding Feasible Abstract Counter-Examples

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pasareanu, Corina S.; Dwyer, Matthew B.; Visser, Willem; Clancy, Daniel (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

A strength of model checking is its ability to automate the detection of subtle system errors and produce traces that exhibit those errors. Given the high computational cost of model checking most researchers advocate the use of aggressive property-preserving abstractions. Unfortunately, the more aggressively a system is abstracted the more infeasible behavior it will have. Thus, while abstraction enables efficient model checking it also threatens the usefulness of model checking as a defect detection tool, since it may be difficult to determine whether a counter-example is feasible and hence worth developer time to analyze. We have explored several strategies for addressing this problem by extending an explicit-state model checker, Java PathFinder (JPF), to search for and analyze counter-examples in the presence of abstractions. We demonstrate that these techniques effectively preserve the defect detection ability of model checking in the presence of aggressive abstraction by applying them to check properties of several abstracted multi-threaded Java programs. These new capabilities are not specific to JPF and can be easily adapted to other model checking frameworks; we describe how this was done for the Bandera toolset.

Perceptions of disease aetiology and the effect of own behaviour on health among poly-pharmacy patients with non-Western backgrounds in Denmark.

PubMed

Molin, Katrine Rutkær; Mygind, Anna; Nørgaard, Lotte Stig

2013-12-01

To examine the perceptions of disease aetiology and the effect of own behaviour on health among poly-pharmacy patients with non-Western backgrounds in Denmark. The study was based on 26 extended medication reviews with patients of non-Western backgrounds aged 50+ who use at least four prescription drugs regularly. The reviews were conducted by 12 pharmacists with the same mother-tongue background as the participants. The reviews included patient interviews on which the data in this article are based. In total, four open-ended questions from the patient interviews were analysed by the means of Giorgi's phenomenological method. The analysis shows that stress was most commonly perceived as the cause of the participants' diseases for reasons that included (1) having left their country of origin and family, (2) worry over the political situation in their country of origin and (3) the problems involved in living as an immigrant in Denmark. Most of the participants perceived their own efforts as having little impact on their own health status, although some participants considered them as having considerable influence. To a great extent, the explanations of the participants about possible disease aetiology are focused on stress, immigration and psychological well-being. Although many participants perceived that their own efforts did not have much impact on their health status, our study revealed a large diversity in the responses of non-Western immigrants, particularly regarding the importance of their own efforts on their health status. © 2013 The Authors. IJPP © 2013 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Co-operative Educational Abstracting Service (CEAS). [Abstract Series No. 1-4, 1969-1971].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

International Bureau of Education, Geneva (Switzerland).

This document is a compilation of 163 English-language abstracts concerning various aspects of education in Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Iceland, India, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Thailand, UAR, U.S., USSR, and Yugoslavia. The abstracts are informative in nature and are approximately 1,500 words…

Visually defining and querying consistent multi-granular clinical temporal abstractions.

PubMed

Combi, Carlo; Oliboni, Barbara

2012-02-01

The main goal of this work is to propose a framework for the visual specification and query of consistent multi-granular clinical temporal abstractions. We focus on the issue of querying patient clinical information by visually defining and composing temporal abstractions, i.e., high level patterns derived from several time-stamped raw data. In particular, we focus on the visual specification of consistent temporal abstractions with different granularities and on the visual composition of different temporal abstractions for querying clinical databases. Temporal abstractions on clinical data provide a concise and high-level description of temporal raw data, and a suitable way to support decision making. Granularities define partitions on the time line and allow one to represent time and, thus, temporal clinical information at different levels of detail, according to the requirements coming from the represented clinical domain. The visual representation of temporal information has been considered since several years in clinical domains. Proposed visualization techniques must be easy and quick to understand, and could benefit from visual metaphors that do not lead to ambiguous interpretations. Recently, physical metaphors such as strips, springs, weights, and wires have been proposed and evaluated on clinical users for the specification of temporal clinical abstractions. Visual approaches to boolean queries have been considered in the last years and confirmed that the visual support to the specification of complex boolean queries is both an important and difficult research topic. We propose and describe a visual language for the definition of temporal abstractions based on a set of intuitive metaphors (striped wall, plastered wall, brick wall), allowing the clinician to use different granularities. A new algorithm, underlying the visual language, allows the physician to specify only consistent abstractions, i.e., abstractions not containing contradictory conditions on

Assessing abstracts of Iranian systematic reviews and metaanalysis indexed in WOS and Scopus using PRISMA

PubMed Central

Kazerani, Maryam; Davoudian, Atefeh; Zayeri, Farid; Soori, Hamid

2017-01-01

Background: Systematic reviews and meta-analysis have significant advantages over conventional reviews in that all available data should be presented. This study aimed to evaluate Iranian systematic reviews and meta-analysis abstracts indexed in WOS and Scopus during 2003-2012 based on PRISMA checklist. Methods: This is an analytical study. We evaluated 46 article abstracts indexed in WOS, 89 article abstracts indexed in Scopus and 158 article abstracts indexed in WOS and Scopus both (overlapped group). The quality of the abstracts was evaluated according to the PRISMA checklist for abstracts. Some indicators including distribution per year, total citation, average citations per year, average citations per documents and average citations per year in each article were determined through searching the WOS and Scopus Databases’ analytical section. Then, the correlations between the abstract's PRISMA scores, average citations per year, and publication year were calculated. Results: The abstract’s quality is not desirable as far as the PRISMA criteria are concerned. In other words, none of the articles’ abstracts is in line with the PRISMA items. The average of scores of the current study was 5.9 while the maximum score was 12. The PRISMA criteria showed the highest compliance with "Objectives" (98.6%), the second highest with "Synthesis of result" (85%) and "Title" (80.2%) and the lowest compliance with "Registration" (2%). There was a positive correlation between the compliance of PRISMA score and the average citations per year while there was a negative correlation between PRISMA score and the publication year. Conclusion: It seems that the suggested criteria for reporting Iranian systematic reviews and meta-analysis are not considered adequately by the writers and even scientific journal editors. PMID:28955668

Designing for Mathematical Abstraction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pratt, Dave; Noss, Richard

2010-01-01

Our focus is on the design of systems (pedagogical, technical, social) that encourage mathematical abstraction, a process we refer to as "designing for abstraction." In this paper, we draw on detailed design experiments from our research on children's understanding about chance and distribution to re-present this work as a case study in designing…

Scientific meeting abstracts: significance, access, and trends.

PubMed Central

Kelly, J A

1998-01-01

Abstracts of scientific papers and posters that are presented at annual scientific meetings of professional societies are part of the broader category of conference literature. They are an important avenue for the dissemination of current data. While timely and succinct, these abstracts present problems such as an abbreviated peer review and incomplete bibliographic access. METHODS: Seventy societies of health sciences professionals were surveyed about the publication of abstracts from their annual meetings. Nineteen frequently cited journals also were contacted about their policies on the citation of meeting abstracts. Ten databases were searched for the presence of meetings abstracts. RESULTS: Ninety percent of the seventy societies publish their abstracts, with nearly half appearing in the society's journal. Seventy-seven percent of the societies supply meeting attendees with a copy of each abstract, and 43% make their abstracts available in an electronic format. Most of the journals surveyed allow meeting abstracts to be cited. Bibliographic access to these abstracts does not appear to be widespread. CONCLUSIONS: Meeting abstracts play an important role in the dissemination of scientific knowledge. Bibliographic access to meeting abstracts is very limited. The trend toward making meeting abstracts available via the Internet has the potential to give a broader audience access to the information they contain. PMID:9549015

Foundations of the Bandera Abstraction Tools

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hatcliff, John; Dwyer, Matthew B.; Pasareanu, Corina S.; Robby

2003-01-01

Current research is demonstrating that model-checking and other forms of automated finite-state verification can be effective for checking properties of software systems. Due to the exponential costs associated with model-checking, multiple forms of abstraction are often necessary to obtain system models that are tractable for automated checking. The Bandera Tool Set provides multiple forms of automated support for compiling concurrent Java software systems to models that can be supplied to several different model-checking tools. In this paper, we describe the foundations of Bandera's data abstraction mechanism which is used to reduce the cardinality (and the program's state-space) of data domains in software to be model-checked. From a technical standpoint, the form of data abstraction used in Bandera is simple, and it is based on classical presentations of abstract interpretation. We describe the mechanisms that Bandera provides for declaring abstractions, for attaching abstractions to programs, and for generating abstracted programs and properties. The contributions of this work are the design and implementation of various forms of tool support required for effective application of data abstraction to software components written in a programming language like Java which has a rich set of linguistic features.

Is It Really Abstract?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kernan, Christine

2011-01-01

For this author, one of the most enjoyable aspects of teaching elementary art is the willingness of students to embrace the different styles of art introduced to them. In this article, she describes a project that allows upper-elementary students to learn about abstract art and the lives of some of the master abstract artists, implement the idea…

Water Pollution Abstracts. Volume 43, Number 4, Abstracts 645-849.

DTIC Science & Technology

WATER POLLUTION, *ABSTRACTS, PURIFICATION, WASTES(INDUSTRIAL), CONTROL, SEWAGE, WATER SUPPLIES, PUBLIC HEALTH, PETROLEUM PRODUCTS, DEGRADATION, DAMS...ESTUARIES, PLANKTON, PHOTOSYNTHESIS, VIRUSES, SEA WATER , MICROBIOLOGY, UNITED KINGDOM.

Family background of Diabetes Mellitus, obesity and hypertension affects the phenotype and first symptom of patients with PCOS.

PubMed

Kulshreshtha, Bindu; Singh, Seerat; Arora, Arpita

2013-12-01

The phenotypic variability among PCOS could be due to differences in insulin patterns. Hyperinsulinemia commonly accompanies Diabetes Mellitus (DM), obesity, hypertension and CAD, though, to a variable degree. We speculate that a family history of these diseases could differentially affect the phenotype of PCOS. To study the effect of DM/CAD/HT and obesity on the phenotype of PCOS. PCOS patients and age matched controls were enquired for a family background of DM, hypertension, CAD and obesity among parents and grandparents. Regression modelling was employed to examine predictors of obesity and first symptom in PCOS patients. There were 88 PCOS women and 77 age-matched controls (46 lean, 31 obese). A high prevalence of DM, CAD, obesity and hypertension was observed among parents and grandparents of women with PCOS compared to controls. Hypertension and CAD manifested more in father's side of family. BMI of PCOS subjects was significantly related to parental DM and obesity after correcting for age. First symptom of weight gain was significantly associated with number of parents with DM (p = 0.02) and first symptom of irregular periods was associated with number of parents with hypertension (p = 0.06). A family background of DM/HT and obesity diseases affects the phenotype of PCOS.

Data Abstraction in GLISP.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Novak, Gordon S., Jr.

GLISP is a high-level computer language (based on Lisp and including Lisp as a sublanguage) which is compiled into Lisp. GLISP programs are compiled relative to a knowledge base of object descriptions, a form of abstract datatypes. A primary goal of the use of abstract datatypes in GLISP is to allow program code to be written in terms of objects,…

Processing emotion from abstract art in frontotemporal lobar degeneration.

PubMed

Cohen, Miriam H; Carton, Amelia M; Hardy, Christopher J; Golden, Hannah L; Clark, Camilla N; Fletcher, Phillip D; Jaisin, Kankamol; Marshall, Charles R; Henley, Susie M D; Rohrer, Jonathan D; Crutch, Sebastian J; Warren, Jason D

2016-01-29

art may signal emotions independently of a biological or social carrier: it might therefore constitute a test case for defining brain mechanisms of generic emotion decoding and the impact of disease states on those mechanisms. This is potentially of particular relevance to diseases in the frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) spectrum. These diseases are often led by emotional impairment despite retained or enhanced artistic interest in at least some patients. However, the processing of emotion from art has not been studied systematically in FTLD. Here we addressed this issue using a novel emotional valence matching task on abstract paintings in patients representing major syndromes of FTLD (behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, n=11; sematic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA), n=7; nonfluent variant primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA), n=6) relative to healthy older individuals (n=39). Performance on art emotion valence matching was compared between groups taking account of perceptual matching performance and assessed in relation to facial emotion matching using customised control tasks. Neuroanatomical correlates of art emotion processing were assessed using voxel-based morphometry of patients' brain MR images. All patient groups had a deficit of art emotion processing relative to healthy controls; there were no significant interactions between syndromic group and emotion modality. Poorer art emotion valence matching performance was associated with reduced grey matter volume in right lateral occopitotemporal cortex in proximity to regions previously implicated in the processing of dynamic visual signals. Our findings suggest that abstract art may be a useful model system for investigating mechanisms of generic emotion decoding and aesthetic processing in neurodegenerative diseases. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Youth Studies Abstracts. Vol. 4 No. 3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Youth Studies Abstracts, 1985

1985-01-01

This volume contains 169 abstracts of documents dealing with youth and educational programs for youth. Included in the volume are 97 abstracts of documents dealing with social and educational developments; 56 abstracts of program reports, reviews, and evaluations; and 16 abstracts of program materials. Abstracts are grouped according to the…

Thyra Abstract Interface Package

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bartlett, Roscoe A.

2005-09-01

Thrya primarily defines a set of abstract C++ class interfaces needed for the development of abstract numerical atgorithms (ANAs) such as iterative linear solvers, transient solvers all the way up to optimization. At the foundation of these interfaces are abstract C++ classes for vectors, vector spaces, linear operators and multi-vectors. Also included in the Thyra package is C++ code for creating concrete vector, vector space, linear operator, and multi-vector subclasses as well as other utilities to aid in the development of ANAs. Currently, very general and efficient concrete subclass implementations exist for serial and SPMD in-core vectors and multi-vectors. Codemore » also currently exists for testing objects and providing composite objects such as product vectors.« less

Knowledge acquisition for temporal abstraction.

PubMed

Stein, A; Musen, M A; Shahar, Y

1996-01-01

Temporal abstraction is the task of detecting relevant patterns in data over time. The knowledge-based temporal-abstraction method uses knowledge about a clinical domain's contexts, external events, and parameters to create meaningful interval-based abstractions from raw time-stamped clinical data. In this paper, we describe the acquisition and maintenance of domain-specific temporal-abstraction knowledge. Using the PROTEGE-II framework, we have designed a graphical tool for acquiring temporal knowledge directly from expert physicians, maintaining the knowledge in a sharable form, and converting the knowledge into a suitable format for use by an appropriate problem-solving method. In initial tests, the tool offered significant gains in our ability to rapidly acquire temporal knowledge and to use that knowledge to perform automated temporal reasoning.

Abstract Constructions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pietropola, Anne

1998-01-01

Describes a lesson designed to culminate a year of eighth-grade art classes in which students explore elements of design and space by creating 3-D abstract constructions. Outlines the process of using foam board and markers to create various shapes and optical effects. (DSK)

Background and design of the symptom burden in end-stage liver disease patient-caregiver dyad study.

PubMed

Hansen, Lissi; Lyons, Karen S; Dieckmann, Nathan F; Chang, Michael F; Hiatt, Shirin; Solanki, Emma; Lee, Christopher S

2017-10-01

Over half a million Americans are affected by cirrhosis, the cause of end-stage liver disease (ESLD). Little is known about how symptom burden changes over time in adults with ESLD and their informal caregivers, which limits our ability to develop palliative care interventions that can optimize symptom management and quality of life in different patient-caregiver dyads. The purpose of this article is to describe the background and design of a prospective, longitudinal descriptive study, "Symptom Burden in End-Stage Liver Disease Patient-Caregiver Dyads," which is currently in progress. The study is designed to (i) identify trajectories of change in physical and psychological symptom burden in adults with ESLD; (ii) identify trajectories of change in physical and psychological symptom burden in caregivers of adults with ESLD; and (iii) determine predictors of types of patient-caregiver dyads that would benefit from tailored palliative care interventions. We aim for a final sample of 200 patients and 200 caregivers who will be followed over 12 months. Integrated multilevel and latent growth mixture modeling will be used to identify trajectories of change in symptom burden, linking those changes to clinical events, and quality of life outcomes and characterizing types of patient-caregiver dyads based on patient-, caregiver-, and dyad-level factors. Challenges we have encountered include unexpected attrition of study participants, participants not returning their baseline questionnaires, and hiring and training of research staff. The study will lay the foundation for future research and innovation in ESLD, end-of-life and palliative care, and caregiving. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Is the Motor System Necessary for Processing Action and Abstract Emotion Words? Evidence from Focal Brain Lesions

PubMed Central

Dreyer, Felix R.; Frey, Dietmar; Arana, Sophie; von Saldern, Sarah; Picht, Thomas; Vajkoczy, Peter; Pulvermüller, Friedemann

2015-01-01

Neuroimaging and neuropsychological experiments suggest that modality-preferential cortices, including motor- and somatosensory areas, contribute to the semantic processing of action related concrete words. Still, a possible role of sensorimotor areas in processing abstract meaning remains under debate. Recent fMRI studies indicate an involvement of the left sensorimotor cortex in the processing of abstract-emotional words (e.g., “love”) which resembles activation patterns seen for action words. But are the activated areas indeed necessary for processing action-related and abstract words? The current study now investigates word processing in two patients suffering from focal brain lesion in the left frontocentral motor system. A speeded Lexical Decision Task on meticulously matched word groups showed that the recognition of nouns from different semantic categories – related to food, animals, tools, and abstract-emotional concepts – was differentially affected. Whereas patient HS with a lesion in dorsolateral central sensorimotor systems next to the hand area showed a category-specific deficit in recognizing tool words, patient CA suffering from lesion centered in the left supplementary motor area was primarily impaired in abstract-emotional word processing. These results point to a causal role of the motor cortex in the semantic processing of both action-related object concepts and abstract-emotional concepts and therefore suggest that the motor areas previously found active in action-related and abstract word processing can serve a meaning-specific necessary role in word recognition. The category-specific nature of the observed dissociations is difficult to reconcile with the idea that sensorimotor systems are somehow peripheral or ‘epiphenomenal’ to meaning and concept processing. Rather, our results are consistent with the claim that cognition is grounded in action and perception and based on distributed action perception circuits reaching into

ClinicalTrials.gov registration can supplement information in abstracts for systematic reviews: a comparison study

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The inclusion of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reported in conference abstracts in systematic reviews is controversial, partly because study design information and risk of bias is often not fully reported in the abstract. The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) requires trial registration of abstracts submitted for their annual conference as of 2007. Our goal was to assess the feasibility of obtaining study design information critical to systematic reviews, but not typically included in conference abstracts, from the trial registration record. Methods We reviewed all conference abstracts presented at the ARVO meetings from 2007 through 2009, and identified 496 RCTs; 154 had a single matching registration record in ClinicalTrials.gov. Two individuals independently extracted information from the abstract and the ClinicalTrials.gov record, including study design, sample size, inclusion criteria, masking, interventions, outcomes, funder, and investigator name and contact information. Discrepancies were resolved by consensus. We assessed the frequencies of reporting variables appearing in the abstract and the trial register and assessed agreement of information reported in both sources. Results We found a substantial amount of study design information in the ClinicalTrials.gov record that was unavailable in the corresponding conference abstract, including eligibility criteria associated with gender (83%; 128/154); masking or blinding of study participants (53%, 82/154), persons administering treatment (30%, 46/154), and persons measuring the outcomes (40%, 61/154)); and number of study centers (58%; 90/154). Only 34% (52/154) of abstracts explicitly described a primary outcome, but a primary outcome was included in the “Primary Outcome” field in the ClinicalTrials.gov record for 82% (126/154) of studies. One or more study interventions were reported in each abstract, but agreed exactly with those reported in Clinical

GENETIC BACKGROUND BUT NOT METALLOTHIONEIN PHENOTYPE DICTATES SENSITIVITY TO CADMIUM-INDUCED TESTICULAR INJURY IN MICE

EPA Science Inventory

Genetic Background but not Metallothionein Phenotype Dictates Sensitivity to
Cadmium-Induced Testicular Injury in Mice

Jie Liu1,2, Chris Corton3, David J. Dix4, Yaping Liu1, Michael P. Waalkes2
and Curtis D. Klaassen1

ABSTRACT

Parenteral administrati...

Abstracts of contributed papers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1994-08-01

This volume contains 571 abstracts of contributed papers to be presented during the Twelfth US National Congress of Applied Mechanics. Abstracts are arranged in the order in which they fall in the program -- the main sessions are listed chronologically in the Table of Contents. The Author Index is in alphabetical order and lists each paper number (matching the schedule in the Final Program) with its corresponding page number in the book.

CONSORT for Reporting Randomized Controlled Trials in Journal and Conference Abstracts: Explanation and Elaboration

PubMed Central

Hopewell, Sally; Clarke, Mike; Moher, David; Wager, Elizabeth; Middleton, Philippa; Altman, Douglas G; Schulz, Kenneth F

2008-01-01

Background Clear, transparent, and sufficiently detailed abstracts of conferences and journal articles related to randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are important, because readers often base their assessment of a trial solely on information in the abstract. Here, we extend the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) Statement to develop a minimum list of essential items, which authors should consider when reporting the results of a RCT in any journal or conference abstract. Methods and Findings We generated a list of items from existing quality assessment tools and empirical evidence. A three-round, modified-Delphi process was used to select items. In all, 109 participants were invited to participate in an electronic survey; the response rate was 61%. Survey results were presented at a meeting of the CONSORT Group in Montebello, Canada, January 2007, involving 26 participants, including clinical trialists, statisticians, epidemiologists, and biomedical editors. Checklist items were discussed for eligibility into the final checklist. The checklist was then revised to ensure that it reflected discussions held during and subsequent to the meeting. CONSORT for Abstracts recommends that abstracts relating to RCTs have a structured format. Items should include details of trial objectives; trial design (e.g., method of allocation, blinding/masking); trial participants (i.e., description, numbers randomized, and number analyzed); interventions intended for each randomized group and their impact on primary efficacy outcomes and harms; trial conclusions; trial registration name and number; and source of funding. We recommend the checklist be used in conjunction with this explanatory document, which includes examples of good reporting, rationale, and evidence, when available, for the inclusion of each item. Conclusions CONSORT for Abstracts aims to improve reporting of abstracts of RCTs published in journal articles and conference proceedings. It will help

Advance Organizers: Concret Versus Abstract.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corkill, Alice J.; And Others

1988-01-01

Two experiments examined the relative effects of concrete and abstract advance organizers on students' memory for subsequent prose. Results of the experiments are discussed in terms of the memorability, familiarity, and visualizability of concrete and abstract verbal materials. (JD)

Abstracting and indexing guide

USGS Publications Warehouse

,; ,

1974-01-01

These instructions have been prepared for those who abstract and index scientific and technical documents for the Water Resources Scientific Information Center (WRSIC). With the recent publication growth in all fields, information centers have undertaken the task of keeping the various scientific communities aware of current and past developments. An abstract with carefully selected index terms offers the user of WRSIC services a more rapid means for deciding whether a document is pertinent to his needs and professional interests, thus saving him the time necessary to scan the complete work. These means also provide WRSIC with a document representation or surrogate which is more easily stored and manipulated to produce various services. Authors are asked to accept the responsibility for preparing abstracts of their own papers to facilitate quick evaluation, announcement, and dissemination to the scientific community.

Publication Abstracts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD. Center for the Study of Social Organization of Schools.

This booklet contains abstracts of 62 documents published by the Johns Hopkins University Center for the Study of Social Organization of Schools from September 1967 to May 1970. The majority of the documents are research studies in the areas of desegregation, language development, educational opportunity, and educational games--most of them…

Analysis of the publication rate of the abstracts presented at a national gastroenterology meeting after 6 years

PubMed Central

Gandhi, Divyangkumar; Mclean, Richard W.; Laiyemo, Adeyinka O.

2017-01-01

Background/Aims Abstract presentations at scientific meetings provide an opportunity to convey the results of important research. Unfortunately, many abstracts are not eventually published as full manuscripts. We evaluated factors associated with publication of abstracts as manuscripts up to 6.5 years after presentation at the 73rd scientific meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in 2008. Methods All abstracts, excluding case reports, presented at the meeting were evaluated. We systematically searched for matching manuscripts indexed in PubMed or EMBASE up till May 2015. We used logistic regression models to determine factors associated with manuscript publication and calculated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results Of included 791 abstracts, 249 (31.5%) were published as manuscripts within 6.5 years. Oral presentation (OR=2.11; 95%CI: 1.15-3.87), multicenter studies (OR=2.67; 95%CI: 1.44-4.95), abstracts by University-based authors (OR=1.80; 95%CI: 1.20-2.72), and funded research (OR=2.15; 95%CI: 1.43-3.23) were more likely to be published. Winning an award at the meeting was not associated with manuscript publication (OR=1.09; 95%CI: 0.57-2.06). Conclusions There is an urgent need to improve dissemination of scientific knowledge through publication of abstracts presented at gastroenterology meetings as manuscripts. Mentors should endeavor to encourage their mentees to complete this final stage of their scholarly activities. PMID:27931019

Masticatory Muscle Sleep Background EMG Activity is Elevated in Myofascial TMD Patients

PubMed Central

Raphael, Karen G.; Janal, Malvin N.; Sirois, David A.; Dubrovsky, Boris; Wigren, Pia E.; Klausner, Jack J.; Krieger, Ana C.; Lavigne, Gilles J.

2013-01-01

Despite theoretical speculation and strong clinical belief, recent research using laboratory polysomnographic (PSG) recording has provided new evidence that frequency of sleep bruxism (SB) masseter muscle events, including grinding or clenching of the teeth during sleep, is not increased for women with chronic myofascial temporomandibular disorder (TMD). The current case-control study compares a large sample of women suffering from chronic myofascial TMD (n=124) with a demographically matched control group without TMD (n=46) on sleep background electromyography (EMG) during a laboratory PSG study. Background EMG activity was measured as EMG root mean square (RMS) from the right masseter muscle after lights out. Sleep background EMG activity was defined as EMG RMS remaining after activity attributable to SB, other orofacial activity, other oromotor activity and movement artifacts were removed. Results indicated that median background EMG during these non SB-event periods was significantly higher (p<.01) for women with myofascial TMD (median=3.31 μV and mean=4.98 μV) than for control women (median=2.83 μV and mean=3.88 μV) with median activity in 72% of cases exceeding control activity. Moreover, for TMD cases, background EMG was positively associated and SB event-related EMG was negatively associated with pain intensity ratings (0–10 numerical scale) on post sleep waking. These data provide the foundation for a new focus on small, but persistent, elevations in sleep EMG activity over the course of the night as a mechanism of pain induction or maintenance. PMID:24237356

Interpreting Abstract Interpretations in Membership Equational Logic

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fischer, Bernd; Rosu, Grigore

2001-01-01

We present a logical framework in which abstract interpretations can be naturally specified and then verified. Our approach is based on membership equational logic which extends equational logics by membership axioms, asserting that a term has a certain sort. We represent an abstract interpretation as a membership equational logic specification, usually as an overloaded order-sorted signature with membership axioms. It turns out that, for any term, its least sort over this specification corresponds to its most concrete abstract value. Maude implements membership equational logic and provides mechanisms to calculate the least sort of a term efficiently. We first show how Maude can be used to get prototyping of abstract interpretations "for free." Building on the meta-logic facilities of Maude, we further develop a tool that automatically checks and abstract interpretation against a set of user-defined properties. This can be used to select an appropriate abstract interpretation, to characterize the specified loss of information during abstraction, and to compare different abstractions with each other.

SEER Abstracting Tool (SEER*Abs)

Cancer.gov

With this customizable tool, registrars can collect and store data abstracted from medical records. Download the software and find technical support and reference manuals. SEER*Abs has features for creating records, managing abstracting work and data, accessing reference data, and integrating edits.

The Abstraction Process of Limit Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sezgin Memnun, Dilek; Aydin, Bünyamin; Özbilen, Ömer; Erdogan, Günes

2017-01-01

The RBC+C abstraction model is an effective model in mathematics education because it gives the opportunity to analyze research data through cognitive actions. For this reason, we aim to examine the abstraction process of the limit knowledge of two volunteer participant students using the RBC+C abstraction model. With this aim, the students'…

Subclinical hypothyroidism in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease at the background of carbohydrate metabolism disorders.

PubMed

Feisa, Snizhana V; Chopei, Ivan V

2018-01-01

Introduction: The prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is 25-30% in the general population and more than 75% among patients with carbohydrate metabolism disorders. One in six patients with NAFLD has concomitant subclinical hypothyroidism. The aim is to compare lipid and carbohydrate metabolism states in patients with NAFLD depending on the functional state of the thyroid gland. Materials and methods:215 patients with NAFLD and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2-DM) or pre-diabetes (PD) were involved in study and devided into 6 groups according to the functional state of the thyroid gland. Results: In cases of adding subclinical hypothyroidism systolic and diastolic blood pressure are rising. In patients with overt hypothyroidism average HOMA-IR index is 29,98±1,05, which exceeds the corresponding figure in patients with concomitant subclinical hypothyroidism. In patients whose hypothyroidism has been compensated by levothyroxine, HOMA-IR index was reduced to 18,56±1,58, indicating a tendency to restore the sensitivity of peripheral tissues to insulin, on the assumption under the medicatedcorrection of thyroid functional status. Levels of common cholesterol and triglycerides were higher in cases of NAFLD with subclinical or overt hypothyroidism than in patients with NAFLD and normal thyroid function. Replacement therapy by levothyroxine leads to improving of lipid changes in patients with NAFLD and concomitant overt hypothyroidism: the levels of common cholesterol and triglycerides were reducing from 6,04±1,18 mmol/l and 3,96±1,34 mmol/l to 5,97±1,1 mmol/l and 3,45±1,13 mmol/l in accordance. Conclusions: Concomitant subclinical hypothyroidism in patients with NAFLD at the background of carbohydrate metabolism disorders leads to atherogenic dyslipidemia, increasing of blood atherogenicity. The index of lipid accumulated product (LAP) and the resistance of peripheral tissues to insulin also increases.

Abstracts of Research Papers 1970.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drowatzky, John N., Ed.

This publication includes the abstracts of 199 research papers presented at the 1970 American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation convention in Seattle, Washington. Abstracts from symposia on environmental quality education, obesity, motor development, research methods, and laboratory equipment are also included. Each…

Heightened Background Cortical Synchrony in Patients With Epilepsy: EEG Phase Synchrony Analysis During Awake and Sleep Stages Using Novel Ensemble Measure.

PubMed

Nayak, Chetan S; Mariyappa, N; Majumdar, Kaushik K; Prasad, Pradeep D; Ravi, G S; Nagappa, M; Kandavel, Thennarasu; Taly, Arun B; Sinha, Sanjib

2018-05-01

Excessive cortical synchrony within neural ensembles has been implicated as an important mechanism driving epileptiform activity. The current study measures and compares background electroencephalographic (EEG) phase synchronization in patients having various types of epilepsies and healthy controls during awake and sleep stages. A total of 120 patients with epilepsy (PWE) subdivided into 3 groups (juvenile myoclonic epilepsy [JME], temporal lobe epilepsy [TLE], and extra-temporal lobe epilepsy [Ex-TLE]; n = 40 in each group) and 40 healthy controls were subjected to overnight polysomnography. EEG phase synchronization (SI) between the 8 EEG channels was assessed for delta, theta, alpha, sigma, and high beta frequency bands using ensemble measure on 10-second representative time windows and compared between patients and controls and also between awake and sleep stages. Mean ± SD of SI was compared using 2-way analysis of variance followed by pairwise comparison ( P ≤ .05). In both delta and theta bands, the SI was significantly higher in patients with JME, TLE, and Ex-TLE compared with controls, whereas in alpha, sigma, and high beta bands, SI was comparable between the groups. On comparison of SI between sleep stages, delta band: progressive increase in SI from wake ⇒ N1 ⇒ N2 ⇒ N3, whereas REM (rapid eye movement) was comparable to wake; theta band: decreased SI during N2 and increase during N3; alpha band: SI was highest in wake and lower in N1, N2, N3, and REM; and sigma and high beta bands: progressive increase in SI from wake ⇒ N1 ⇒ N2 ⇒ N3; however, sigma band showed lower SI during REM. This study found an increased background cortical synchronization in PWE compared with healthy controls in delta and theta bands during wake and sleep. This background hypersynchrony may be an important property of epileptogenic brain circuitry in PWE, which enables them to effortlessly generate a paroxysmal EEG depolarization shift.

Assessment of incidence of severe sepsis in Sweden using different ways of abstracting International Classification of Diseases codes: difficulties with methods and interpretation of results.

PubMed

Wilhelms, Susanne B; Huss, Fredrik R; Granath, Göran; Sjöberg, Folke

2010-06-01

To compare three International Classification of Diseases code abstraction strategies that have previously been reported to mirror severe sepsis by examining retrospective Swedish national data from 1987 to 2005 inclusive. Retrospective cohort study. Swedish hospital discharge database. All hospital admissions during the period 1987 to 2005 were extracted and these patients were screened for severe sepsis using the three International Classification of Diseases code abstraction strategies, which were adapted for the Swedish version of the International Classification of Diseases. Two code abstraction strategies included both International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision and International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes, whereas one included International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes alone. None. The three International Classification of Diseases code abstraction strategies identified 37,990, 27,655, and 12,512 patients, respectively, with severe sepsis. The incidence increased over the years, reaching 0.35 per 1000, 0.43 per 1000, and 0.13 per 1000 inhabitants, respectively. During the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision period, we found 17,096 unique patients and of these, only 2789 patients (16%) met two of the code abstraction strategy lists and 14,307 (84%) met one list. The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision period included 46,979 unique patients, of whom 8% met the criteria of all three International Classification of Diseases code abstraction strategies, 7% met two, and 84% met one only. The three different International Classification of Diseases code abstraction strategies generated three almost separate cohorts of patients with severe sepsis. Thus, the International Classification of Diseases code abstraction strategies for recording severe sepsis in use today provides an unsatisfactory way of estimating the true incidence of severe sepsis. Further studies relating

The role of the anterior temporal lobes in the comprehension of concrete and abstract words: rTMS evidence

PubMed Central

Pobric, Gorana; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A.; Jefferies, Elizabeth

2009-01-01

Conceptual knowledge allows us to bring meaning to our world. Studies of semantic dementia (SD) patients and some functional neuroimaging studies indicate that the anterior temporal lobes, bilaterally, are a core neural substrate for the formation of conceptual representations. The majority of SD patients (who have circumscribed atrophy of the anterior temporal lobes) have better comprehension of concrete than abstract words. However, this finding remains controversial, as some individual SD patients have exhibited reverse imageability effects, i.e., relative preservation of abstract knowledge. This would imply that the anterior temporal lobes are particularly crucial for processing sensory aspects of semantic knowledge, which are an important part of concrete but not abstract concepts. To adjudicate on this debate, we used offline, low-frequency, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to disrupt neural processing temporarily in the left or right temporal poles (TPs). We examined this effect using a synonym judgement task, comprising high, medium and low imageability items, which we have previously employed with a case-series of SD patients. The time required to make semantic decisions was slowed considerably, particularly for low imageability items, consistent with the pattern we observed in SD. These results confirm that both TPs make a critical contribution to semantic processing, even for abstract concepts that do not have strong sensory representations. PMID:19303592

A Shallow Underground Laboratory for Low-Background Radiation Measurements and Materials Development

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aalseth, Craig E.; Bonicalzi, Ricco; Cantaloub, Michael G.

Abstract: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory recently commissioned a new shallow underground laboratory, located at a depth of approximately 30 meters water-equivalent. This new addition to the small class of radiation measurement laboratories located at modest underground depths worldwide houses the latest generation of custom-made, high-efficiency, low-background gamma-ray spectrometers and gas proportional counters. This manuscript describes the unique capabilities present in the shallow underground laboratory; these include large-scale ultra-pure materials production and a suite of radiation detection systems. Reported data characterize the degree of background reduction achieved through a combination of underground location, graded shielding, and rejection of cosmic-ray events. Wemore » conclude by presenting measurement targets and future opportunities.« less

Food Science and Technology Abstracts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Elinor; Federman, Joan

1979-01-01

Introduces the reader to the Food Science and Technology Abstracts, a data file that covers worldwide literature on human food commodities and aspects of food processing. Topics include scope, subject index, thesaurus, searching online, and abstracts; tables provide a comparison of ORBIT and DIALOG versions of the file. (JD)

Full-Text Publication of Abstract-Presented Work in Physical Therapy: Do Therapists Publish What They Preach?

PubMed Central

Smith, Heather D.; Bogenschutz, Elizabeth D.; Bayliss, Amy J.; Altenburger, Peter A.

2011-01-01

Background and Objective Professional meetings, such as the American Physical Therapy Association's (APTA's) Combined Sections Meeting (CSM), provide forums for sharing information relevant to physical therapy. An indicator of whether therapists fully disseminate their work is the number of full-text peer-reviewed publications that result. The purposes of this study were: (1) to determine the full-text publication rate of work presented in abstract form at CSM and (2) to investigate factors influencing this rate. Methods A systematic search was undertaken to locate full-text publications of work presented in abstract form within the Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy sections at CSM between 2000 and 2004. Eligible publications were published within 5 years following abstract presentation. The influences of APTA section, year of abstract presentation, institution of origin, study design, sample size, study significance, reporting of a funding source, and presentation type on full-text publication rate were assessed. Characteristics of full-text publications were explored. Results Work presented in 1 out of 4 abstracts (25.4%) progressed to full-text publication. Odds of full-text publication increased if the abstract originated from a doctorate-granting or “other” institution, reported findings of an experimental study, reported a statistically significant finding, included a larger sample size, disclosed a funding source, or was presented as a platform presentation. More than one third (37.8%) of full-text publications were published in the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy or Physical Therapy, and 4 out of 10 full-text publications (39.2%) contained at least one major change from information presented in abstract form. Conclusions The full-text publication rate for information presented in abstract form within the Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy sections at CSM is low relative to comparative disciplines. Caution should be

Gender Differences in Stressors Related to Migration and Acculturation in Patients with Psychiatric Disorders and Turkish Migration Background.

PubMed

Müller, Matthias Johannes; Koch, Eckhardt

2017-06-01

Migration, acculturation, and psychiatric disorders may cause stress and adaptation processes differently in men and women, but empirical research is scarce. In a retrospective study n = 62 Turkish migrants and n = 62 native German inpatients with depressive or anxiety disorders, matched for age, gender, and diagnoses, were compared using a 10-item instrument for the assessment of migration- and acculturation related stressors (MIGSTR10). Gender differences in the prevalence of stressors and in the total sum of stressors were calculated and compared between migrants and indigenous patients. Results showed a higher global stress level in migrants and in women than in men with migration background. Regarding single stressors, the perceived loss of status was significantly more prevalent and more pronounced in men than in women (P < 0.05) whereas guilt feelings were more severe in women with Turkish migration background compared to men (P < 0.05). Gender differences of perceived stress should be taken into account in migration and acculturation research.

Assessing the Eventual Publication of Clinical Trial Abstracts Submitted to a Large Annual Oncology Meeting

PubMed Central

Wang, Ruibin; Prasad, Vinay; Bates, Susan E.; Fojo, Tito

2016-01-01

Background. Despite the ethical imperative to publish clinical trials when human subjects are involved, such data frequently remain unpublished. The objectives were to tabulate the rate and ascertain factors associated with eventual publication of clinical trial results reported as abstracts in the Proceedings of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (American Society of Clinical Oncology). Materials and Methods. Abstracts describing clinical trials for patients with breast, lung, colorectal, ovarian, and prostate cancer from 2009 to 2011 were identified by using a comprehensive online database (http://meetinglibrary.asco.org/abstracts). Abstracts included reported results of a treatment or intervention assessed in a discrete, prospective clinical trial. Publication status at 4−6 years was determined by using a standardized search of PubMed. Primary outcomes were the rate of publication for abstracts of randomized and nonrandomized clinical trials. Secondary outcomes included factors influencing the publication of results. Results. A total of 1,075 abstracts describing 378 randomized and 697 nonrandomized clinical trials were evaluated. Across all years, 75% of randomized and 54% of nonrandomized trials were published, with an overall publication rate of 61%. Sample size was a statistically significant predictor of publication for both randomized and nonrandomized trials (odds ratio [OR] per increase of 100 participants = 1.23 [1.11–1.36], p < .001; and 1.64 [1.15–2.34], p = .006, respectively). Among randomized studies, an industry coauthor or involvement of a cooperative group increased the likelihood of publication (OR 2.37, p = .013; and 2.21, p = .01, respectively). Among nonrandomized studies, phase II trials were more likely to be published than phase I (p < .001). Use of an experimental agent was not a predictor of publication in randomized (OR 0.76 [0.38–1.52]; p = .441) or nonrandomized trials (OR 0.89 [0.61–1.29]; p = .532). Conclusion

Newborn infants perceive abstract numbers

PubMed Central

Izard, Véronique; Sann, Coralie; Spelke, Elizabeth S.; Streri, Arlette

2009-01-01

Although infants and animals respond to the approximate number of elements in visual, auditory, and tactile arrays, only human children and adults have been shown to possess abstract numerical representations that apply to entities of all kinds (e.g., 7 samurai, seas, or sins). Do abstract numerical concepts depend on language or culture, or do they form a part of humans' innate, core knowledge? Here we show that newborn infants spontaneously associate stationary, visual-spatial arrays of 4–18 objects with auditory sequences of events on the basis of number. Their performance provides evidence for abstract numerical representations at the start of postnatal experience. PMID:19520833

Psychosocial needs of older cancer patients: a pilot study abstract.

PubMed

Houldin, A D; Wasserbauer, N

1996-08-01

Approximately 50% of all cancers occur in persons aged 65 and over (American Cancer Society, 1994). However, the special psychological problems of these patients have been inadequately addressed (Massie & Holland, 1989). The psychosocial needs of older cancer patients were surveyed in this pilot study. Two-thirds of the older adults surveyed experienced concerns or problems. Almost 50% of the sample did not receive adequate assistance in dealing with their emotional needs and 69% did not receive sufficient spiritual support. Older cancer patients experience psychosocial distress and may benefit from professional assistance in dealing with these concerns.

Innovation Abstracts; Volume XIV, 1992.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roueche, Suanne D., Ed.

1992-01-01

This series of 30 one- to two-page abstracts covering 1992 highlights a variety of innovative approaches to teaching and learning in the community college. Topics covered in the abstracts include: (1) faculty recognition and orientation; (2) the Amado M. Pena, Jr., Scholarship Program; (3) innovative teaching techniques, with individual abstracts…

Distinct Roles for the Anterior Cingulate and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortices During Conflict Between Abstract Rules

PubMed Central

Boschin, Erica A.; Brkic, Merima M.; Simons, Jon S.; Buckley, Mark J.

2017-01-01

Abstract Distinct patterns of activity within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) reported in neuroimaging studies during tasks involving conflict between competing responses have often been cited as evidence for their key contributions to conflict-monitoring and behavioral adaptation, respectively. However, supporting evidence from neuropsychological patients has been scarce and contradictory. We administered a well-studied analog of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, designed to elicit conflict between 2 abstract rules, to a cohort of 6 patients with damage to ACC or dlPFC. Patients who had sustained more significant damage to the ACC were not impaired either on a measure of “conflict cost” nor on measures of “conflict-induced behavioral adaptation.” In contrast, damage to dlPFC did not affect the conflict cost measure but abolished the patients’ ability to adapt their behavior following exposure to conflict, compared with controls. This pattern of results complements the findings from nonhuman primates with more circumscribed lesions to ACC or dlPFC on the same task and provides converging evidence that ACC is not necessary for performance when conflict is elicited between 2 abstract rules, whereas dlPFC plays a fundamental role in behavioral adaptation. PMID:28365775

Innovation Abstracts, Volume XV, 1993.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roueche, Suanne D., Ed.

1993-01-01

This volume of 30 one- to two-page abstracts from 1993 highlights a variety of innovative approaches to teaching and learning in the community college. Topics covered in the abstracts include: (1) role-playing to encourage critical thinking; (2) team learning techniques to cultivate business skills; (3) librarian-instructor partnerships to create…

Vague Language in Conference Abstracts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cutting, Joan

2012-01-01

This study examined abstracts for a British Association for Applied Linguistics conference and a Sociolinguistics Symposium, to define the genre of conference abstracts in terms of vague language, specifically universal general nouns (e.g. people) and research general nouns (e.g. results), and to discover if the language used reflected the level…

Presentation of self and symptoms in primary care consultations involving patients from non-English speaking backgrounds.

PubMed

Roberts, Celia; Sarangi, Srikant; Moss, Becky

2004-01-01

This paper draws on the PLEDGE research project (Patients with Limited English and Doctors in General Practice) 1 The Patients with Limited English and Doctors in General Practice (PLEDGE) project was funded by Sir Siegmund Warburg's Voluntary Settlement (2001-2003). The research team was: Celia Roberts, Roger Jones, Becky Moss, Srikant Sarangi and Val Wass. which has a database of 232 video-recorded interactions from GP surgeries in South East London. We focus on the opening episodes-the first opportunity the patient has to report on why they have come to see the doctor-to explore some of the contrasts in self presentation and the interactional work that doctors do when faced with the unexpected. Patients who speak a local London or standard variety of English present three aspects: a description of symptoms, the context in which they occurred, and an affective or epistemic stance. These 'micro discourse routines' are accomplished interactionally through the design of figure/ground relationships, framing and metacommunication and presentation of the 'moral self'. Although some patients from non-English speaking backgrounds use broadly similar 'micro discourse routines', the majority configure the relationship between medically salient facts, adequate contextual information and the stance which conveys the 'moral self' in different and apparently less 'orderly' ways. So openings often become protracted and harder work interactionally for both sides. While conversation analytic studies and communication skills textbooks represent the medical consultations as orderly, we suggest that such apparent orderliness must, at least, be partly the result of ironing out linguistic and cultural diversity. Interactional sociolinguistic analysis is used to shed light on the design of these routines and to provide analytic frameworks for doctors in reflecting on their own practice in ways which challenge patient-centred models.

Innovation Abstracts, Volume XVI, 1994.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roueche, Suanne D., Ed.

1994-01-01

This volume of 30 one- to two-page abstracts highlights a variety of innovative approaches to teaching and learning in the community college. Topics covered in the abstracts include: (1) music in the biology classroom; (2) pairing English as a second language and freshman composition students in writing activities; (3) moot court exercises in…

A grounded theory of abstraction in artificial intelligence.

PubMed Central

Zucker, Jean-Daniel

2003-01-01

In artificial intelligence, abstraction is commonly used to account for the use of various levels of details in a given representation language or the ability to change from one level to another while preserving useful properties. Abstraction has been mainly studied in problem solving, theorem proving, knowledge representation (in particular for spatial and temporal reasoning) and machine learning. In such contexts, abstraction is defined as a mapping between formalisms that reduces the computational complexity of the task at stake. By analysing the notion of abstraction from an information quantity point of view, we pinpoint the differences and the complementary role of reformulation and abstraction in any representation change. We contribute to extending the existing semantic theories of abstraction to be grounded on perception, where the notion of information quantity is easier to characterize formally. In the author's view, abstraction is best represented using abstraction operators, as they provide semantics for classifying different abstractions and support the automation of representation changes. The usefulness of a grounded theory of abstraction in the cartography domain is illustrated. Finally, the importance of explicitly representing abstraction for designing more autonomous and adaptive systems is discussed. PMID:12903672

A grounded theory of abstraction in artificial intelligence.

PubMed

Zucker, Jean-Daniel

2003-07-29

In artificial intelligence, abstraction is commonly used to account for the use of various levels of details in a given representation language or the ability to change from one level to another while preserving useful properties. Abstraction has been mainly studied in problem solving, theorem proving, knowledge representation (in particular for spatial and temporal reasoning) and machine learning. In such contexts, abstraction is defined as a mapping between formalisms that reduces the computational complexity of the task at stake. By analysing the notion of abstraction from an information quantity point of view, we pinpoint the differences and the complementary role of reformulation and abstraction in any representation change. We contribute to extending the existing semantic theories of abstraction to be grounded on perception, where the notion of information quantity is easier to characterize formally. In the author's view, abstraction is best represented using abstraction operators, as they provide semantics for classifying different abstractions and support the automation of representation changes. The usefulness of a grounded theory of abstraction in the cartography domain is illustrated. Finally, the importance of explicitly representing abstraction for designing more autonomous and adaptive systems is discussed.

Abstract Spatial Reasoning as an Autistic Strength

PubMed Central

Stevenson, Jennifer L.; Gernsbacher, Morton Ann

2013-01-01

Autistic individuals typically excel on spatial tests that measure abstract reasoning, such as the Block Design subtest on intelligence test batteries and the Raven’s Progressive Matrices nonverbal test of intelligence. Such well-replicated findings suggest that abstract spatial processing is a relative and perhaps absolute strength of autistic individuals. However, previous studies have not systematically varied reasoning level – concrete vs. abstract – and test domain – spatial vs. numerical vs. verbal, which the current study did. Autistic participants (N = 72) and non-autistic participants (N = 72) completed a battery of 12 tests that varied by reasoning level (concrete vs. abstract) and domain (spatial vs. numerical vs. verbal). Autistic participants outperformed non-autistic participants on abstract spatial tests. Non-autistic participants did not outperform autistic participants on any of the three domains (spatial, numerical, and verbal) or at either of the two reasoning levels (concrete and abstract), suggesting similarity in abilities between autistic and non-autistic individuals, with abstract spatial reasoning as an autistic strength. PMID:23533615

Patient's rights in Poland against the background of new regulations.

PubMed

Rabiega-Przylecka, Agnieszka

2012-03-01

Patient rights are the specification of general human rights. The rights define the patient position in relation to health institutions or medical professions providing, broadly understood, health services. The protection system of patient rights outlined by international legal and ethical regulations is detailed to specific social, political and economic realities by internal legal systems of individual states. Imperfections of the Polish health care system in relation to achieving adequate protection of patient rights, resulting, inter alia, from the lack of comprehensive regulation of the matter of patient rights, led the legislature to introduce new regulations concerning this aspect to the Polish legal order. The new Act of 6 November 2008 on Patient Rights and the Patient Rights Ombudsman (binding from 5 March 2009) is the first universally binding legal act in the Polish legal system entirely dealing with the matter of patient rights. It regulates the rights of the patient and correlated with them obligations of health care providers (public and non-public) irrespectively of both the legal form providers, as well as the sources of funding of the benefits provided. In particular, the Act states: the patient right to health services, right to obtain information, right to confidentiality of patient-linked information, right to consent to obtain health services, right to respect privacy and dignity of the patients, right to medical records and objecting to the doctor's opinion or decision, right to respect private and family life, right to pastoral care. The new regulations--besides the specification of the catalogue of patient rights--reinforced the institutional protection of patient rights by establishing a new central public administrative body having jurisdiction to protect patient rights--the Patient Rights Ombudsman. Poland, like other European countries, makes an attempt to improve the protection of patient rights. The introduction of the Act entirely

Pleasure Experience and Emotion Expression in Patients with Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

CHU, Min-yi; LI, Xu; LV, Qin-yu; Yl, Zheng-hui; CHEUNG, Eric F. C.; CHAN, Raymond C. K.

2017-01-01

Background Impairments in emotional experience and expression have been observed in patients with schizophrenia. However, most previous studies have been limited to either emotional experience (especially anhedonia) or expression. Few studies have examined both the experience and expression of emotion in schizophrenia patients at the same time. Aims The present study aimed to examine pleasure experience and emotion expression in patients with schizophrenia. In particular, we specifically examined the relationship between emotion impairments (both pleasure experience and expression) and negative symptoms. Methods One hundred and fifty patients completed the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale and Emotional Expressivity Scale. Results Schizophrenia patients exhibited deficits in experiencing pleasure, but showed intact reported emotion expression. Patients with prominent negative symptoms showed reduced anticipatory pleasure, especially in abstract anticipatory pleasure. Conclusion The present findings suggest that patients with schizophrenia have deficits in pleasure experience, while their abilities to express emotion appear intact. Such deficits are more severe in patients with prominent negative symptoms. PMID:29276350

Using ClinicalTrials.gov to Supplement Information in Ophthalmology Conference Abstracts about Trial Outcomes: A Comparison Study

PubMed Central

Scherer, Roberta W.; Huynh, Lynn; Ervin, Ann-Margret; Dickersin, Kay

2015-01-01

Background Including results from unpublished randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in a systematic review may ameliorate the effect of publication bias in systematic review results. Unpublished RCTs are sometimes described in abstracts presented at conferences, included in trials registers, or both. Trial results may not be available in a trials register and abstracts describing RCT results often lack study design information. Complementary information from a trials register record may be sufficient to allow reliable inclusion of an unpublished RCT only available as an abstract in a systematic review. Methods We identified 496 abstracts describing RCTs presented at the 2007 to 2009 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) meetings; 154 RCTs were registered in ClinicalTrials.gov. Two persons extracted verbatim primary and non-primary outcomes reported in the abstract and ClinicalTrials.gov record. We compared each abstract outcome with all ClinicalTrials.gov outcomes and coded matches as complete, partial, or no match. Results We identified 800 outcomes in 152 abstracts (95 primary [51 abstracts] and 705 [141 abstracts] non-primary outcomes). No outcomes were reported in 2 abstracts. Of 95 primary outcomes, 17 (18%) agreed completely, 53 (56%) partially, and 25 (26%) had no match with a ClinicalTrials.gov primary or non-primary outcome. Among 705 non-primary outcomes, 56 (8%) agreed completely, 205 (29%) agreed partially, and 444 (63%) had no match with a ClinicalTrials.gov primary or non-primary outcome. Among the 258 outcomes partially agreeing, we found additional information on the time when the outcome was measured more often in ClinicalTrials.gov than in the abstract (141/258 (55%) versus 55/258 (21%)). We found no association between the presence of non-matching “new” outcomes and year of registration, time to registry update, industry sponsorship, or multi-center status. Conclusion Conference abstracts may be a valuable source of

Construct Abstraction for Automatic Information Abstraction from Digital Images

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-05-30

objects and features and the names of objects of objects and features. For example, in Figure 15 the parts of the fish could be named the ‘mouth... fish -1 fish -2 fish -3 tennis shoe tennis racquet...of abstraction and generality. For example, an algorithm might usefully find a polygon ( blob ) in an image and calculate numbers such as the

Tips to Understanding and Writing Manuscript Abstracts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plakhotnik, Maria S.

2017-01-01

An abstract represents a short summary of key elements of the manuscript. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the function, contents, and types of manuscript abstracts. The essay concludes with a few tips for authors to writing effective abstracts.

Psychiatric emergencies of minors with and without migration background.

PubMed

Akkaya-Kalayci, Türkan; Popow, Christian; Waldhör, Thomas; Winkler, Dietmar; Özlü-Erkilic, Zeliha

2017-03-01

The conditions of children and adolescents with migration background receiving emergency psychiatric care in Europe are not well known. Migrants usually attend regular psychiatric care less frequently than the autochthonous population. We therefore speculated that, being undertreated, they would be overrepresented among psychiatric emergency care patients. We retrospectively analyzed the records of 1093 minors aged 4‑18 years treated during a period of three years at the psychiatric emergency outpatient clinic of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Medical University of Vienna. More minors with migration background than natives consulted our emergency clinic. Most frequent reasons for referral were suicide attempts by Turkish patients, acute stress disorder in Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian and in Austrian patients. Psychiatric diagnoses like eating and personality disorders were mostly diagnosed in natives. We found gender specific differences between the groups. The reasons for these differences possibly relate to deficits of adequate mental health-care in Austria, to intercultural and intrafamiliar conflicts related to acculturation distress in the migrant population. Prospective longitudinal studies focusing on the utilization of mental health care by the migrant children and the impact of the migration background on their mental health are needed for improving adequate culture-sensitive mental-health care for this population.

Evaluating Data Abstraction Assistant, a novel software application for data abstraction during systematic reviews: protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Saldanha, Ian J; Schmid, Christopher H; Lau, Joseph; Dickersin, Kay; Berlin, Jesse A; Jap, Jens; Smith, Bryant T; Carini, Simona; Chan, Wiley; De Bruijn, Berry; Wallace, Byron C; Hutfless, Susan M; Sim, Ida; Murad, M Hassan; Walsh, Sandra A; Whamond, Elizabeth J; Li, Tianjing

2016-11-22

Data abstraction, a critical systematic review step, is time-consuming and prone to errors. Current standards for approaches to data abstraction rest on a weak evidence base. We developed the Data Abstraction Assistant (DAA), a novel software application designed to facilitate the abstraction process by allowing users to (1) view study article PDFs juxtaposed to electronic data abstraction forms linked to a data abstraction system, (2) highlight (or "pin") the location of the text in the PDF, and (3) copy relevant text from the PDF into the form. We describe the design of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) that compares the relative effectiveness of (A) DAA-facilitated single abstraction plus verification by a second person, (B) traditional (non-DAA-facilitated) single abstraction plus verification by a second person, and (C) traditional independent dual abstraction plus adjudication to ascertain the accuracy and efficiency of abstraction. This is an online, randomized, three-arm, crossover trial. We will enroll 24 pairs of abstractors (i.e., sample size is 48 participants), each pair comprising one less and one more experienced abstractor. Pairs will be randomized to abstract data from six articles, two under each of the three approaches. Abstractors will complete pre-tested data abstraction forms using the Systematic Review Data Repository (SRDR), an online data abstraction system. The primary outcomes are (1) proportion of data items abstracted that constitute an error (compared with an answer key) and (2) total time taken to complete abstraction (by two abstractors in the pair, including verification and/or adjudication). The DAA trial uses a practical design to test a novel software application as a tool to help improve the accuracy and efficiency of the data abstraction process during systematic reviews. Findings from the DAA trial will provide much-needed evidence to strengthen current recommendations for data abstraction approaches. The trial is registered

Modelling Metamorphism by Abstract Interpretation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dalla Preda, Mila; Giacobazzi, Roberto; Debray, Saumya; Coogan, Kevin; Townsend, Gregg M.

Metamorphic malware apply semantics-preserving transformations to their own code in order to foil detection systems based on signature matching. In this paper we consider the problem of automatically extract metamorphic signatures from these malware. We introduce a semantics for self-modifying code, later called phase semantics, and prove its correctness by showing that it is an abstract interpretation of the standard trace semantics. Phase semantics precisely models the metamorphic code behavior by providing a set of traces of programs which correspond to the possible evolutions of the metamorphic code during execution. We show that metamorphic signatures can be automatically extracted by abstract interpretation of the phase semantics, and that regular metamorphism can be modelled as finite state automata abstraction of the phase semantics.

Annual Conference Abstracts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Journal of Engineering Education, 1972

1972-01-01

Includes abstracts of papers presented at the 80th Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education. The broad areas include aerospace, affiliate and associate member council, agricultural engineering, biomedical engineering, continuing engineering studies, chemical engineering, civil engineering, computers, cooperative…

Annual Conference Abstracts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engineering Education, 1976

1976-01-01

Presents the abstracts of 158 papers presented at the American Society for Engineering Education's annual conference at Knoxville, Tennessee, June 14-17, 1976. Included are engineering topics covering education, aerospace, agriculture, biomedicine, chemistry, computers, electricity, acoustics, environment, mechanics, and women. (SL)

Multi-terminology indexing for the assignment of MeSH descriptors to medical abstracts in French

PubMed Central

Pereira, Suzanne; Sakji, Saoussen; Névéol, Aurélie; Kergourlay, Ivan; Kerdelhué, Gaétan; Serrot, Elisabeth; Joubert, Michel; Darmoni, Stéfan J.

2009-01-01

Background: To facilitate information retrieval in the biomedical domain, a system for the automatic assignment of Medical Subject Headings to documents curated by an online quality-controlled health gateway was implemented. The French Multi-Terminology Indexer (F-MTI) implements a multiterminology approach using nine main medical terminologies in French and the mappings between them. Objective: This paper presents recent efforts to assess the added value of (a) integrating four new terminologies (Orphanet, ATC, drug names, MeSH supplementary concepts) into F-MTI’s knowledge sources and (b) performing the automatic indexing on the titles and abstracts (vs. title only) of the online health resources. Methods: F-MTI was evaluated on a CISMeF corpus comprising 18,161 manually indexed resources. Results: The performance of F-MTI including nine health terminologies on CISMeF resources with Title only was 27.9% precision and 19.7% recall, while the performance on CISMeF resources with Title and Abstract is 14.9 % precision (−13.0%) and 25.9% recall (+6.2%). Conclusion: In a few weeks, CISMeF will launch the indexing of resources based on title and abstract, using nine terminologies. PMID:20351910

Reliability of abstracting performance measures: results of the cardiac rehabilitation referral and reliability (CR3) project.

PubMed

Thomas, Randal J; Chiu, Jensen S; Goff, David C; King, Marjorie; Lahr, Brian; Lichtman, Steven W; Lui, Karen; Pack, Quinn R; Shahriary, Melanie

2014-01-01

Assessment of the reliability of performance measure (PM) abstraction is an important step in PM validation. Reliability has not been previously assessed for abstracting PMs for the referral of patients to cardiac rehabilitation (CR) and secondary prevention (SP) programs. To help validate these PMs, we carried out a multicenter assessment of their reliability. Hospitals and clinical practices from around the United States were invited to participate in the Cardiac Rehabilitation Referral Reliability (CR3) Project. Twenty-nine hospitals and 23 outpatient centers expressed interest in participating. Seven hospitals and 6 outpatient centers met participation criteria and submitted completed data. Site coordinators identified 35 patients whose charts were reviewed by 2 site abstractors twice, 1 week apart. Percent agreement and the Cohen κ statistic were used to describe intra- and interabstractor reliability for patient eligibility for CR/SP, patient exceptions for CR/SP referral, and documented referral to CR/SP. Results were obtained from within-site data, as well as from pooled data of all inpatient and all outpatient sites. We found that intra-abstractor reliability reflected excellent repeatability (≥ 90% agreement; κ ≥ 0.75) for ratings of CR/SP eligibility, exceptions, and referral, both from pooled and site-specific analyses of inpatient and outpatient data. Similarly, the interabstractor agreement from pooled analysis ranged from good to excellent for the 3 items, although with slightly lower measures of reliability. Abstraction of PMs for CR/SP referral has high reliability, supporting the use of these PMs in quality improvement initiatives aimed at increasing CR/SP delivery to patients with cardiovascular disease.

Abstracting/Annotating. ERIC Processing Manual, Section VI.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brandhorst, Ted, Ed.

Rules and guidelines are provided for the preparation of abstracts and annotations for documents and journal articles entering the ERIC database. Various types of abstracts are defined, including the Informative, Indicative, and mixed Informative-Indicative. Advice is given on how to select the abstract type appropriate for the particular…

Choosing a Database for Social Work: A Comparison of Social Work Abstracts and Social Service Abstracts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flatley, Robert K.; Lilla, Rick; Widner, Jack

2007-01-01

This study compared Social Work Abstracts and Social Services Abstracts databases in terms of indexing, journal coverage, and searches. The authors interviewed editors, analyzed journal coverage, and compared searches. It was determined that the databases complement one another more than compete. The authors conclude with some considerations.

ABSTRACTS OF RESEARCH REPORTS.

DTIC Science & Technology

DENTISTRY, ABSTRACTS), TEETH, DISEASES, MOUTH, TRANSPLANTATION, HYGIENE, STERILIZATION, FLUORIDES, HISTOLOGY, SURGICAL IMPLANTATION, OXYTETRACYCLINE , GELATINS, CELLULOSE, CASTING, PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION, TRAINING DEVICES

Abstractions for Fault-Tolerant Distributed System Verification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pike, Lee S.; Maddalon, Jeffrey M.; Miner, Paul S.; Geser, Alfons

2004-01-01

Four kinds of abstraction for the design and analysis of fault tolerant distributed systems are discussed. These abstractions concern system messages, faults, fault masking voting, and communication. The abstractions are formalized in higher order logic, and are intended to facilitate specifying and verifying such systems in higher order theorem provers.

Use of abstracts, orientations, and codas in narration by language-disordered and nondisordered children.

PubMed

Sleight, C C; Prinz, P M

1985-11-01

In this study language-disordered and nondisordered children viewed a nonverbal film, wrote the story, and narrated it to language-disordered and nondisordered peers who were unfamiliar with the film. The narratives were analyzed for the use of abstracts, orientations (background information), and codas. Language-disordered children made fewer references to the orientation clauses of props and activities than nondisordered children. Neither group modified their language in the areas examined to take into account the communicative status of their listeners. Therapeutic implications for the language-disordered children are presented as are suggestions for future research.

Abstraction and model evaluation in category learning.

PubMed

Vanpaemel, Wolf; Storms, Gert

2010-05-01

Thirty previously published data sets, from seminal category learning tasks, are reanalyzed using the varying abstraction model (VAM). Unlike a prototype-versus-exemplar analysis, which focuses on extreme levels of abstraction only, a VAM analysis also considers the possibility of partial abstraction. Whereas most data sets support no abstraction when only the extreme possibilities are considered, we show that evidence for abstraction can be provided using the broader view on abstraction provided by the VAM. The present results generalize earlier demonstrations of partial abstraction (Vanpaemel & Storms, 2008), in which only a small number of data sets was analyzed. Following the dominant modus operandi in category learning research, Vanpaemel and Storms evaluated the models on their best fit, a practice known to ignore the complexity of the models under consideration. In the present study, in contrast, model evaluation not only relies on the maximal likelihood, but also on the marginal likelihood, which is sensitive to model complexity. Finally, using a large recovery study, it is demonstrated that, across the 30 data sets, complexity differences between the models in the VAM family are small. This indicates that a (computationally challenging) complexity-sensitive model evaluation method is uncalled for, and that the use of a (computationally straightforward) complexity-insensitive model evaluation method is justified.

How Justice Can Affect Jury Training Abstract Words Promotes Generalization to Concrete Words in Patients with Aphasia

PubMed Central

Sandberg, Chaleece; Kiran, Swathi

2014-01-01

Developing language treatments that not only improve trained items but also promote generalization to untrained items is a major focus in aphasia research. This study is a replication and extension of previous work that found that training abstract words in a particular context-category promotes generalization to concrete words but not vice versa (Kiran, Sandberg, & Abbott, 2009). Twelve persons with aphasia (5 female) with varying types and degrees of severity participated in a generative naming treatment based on the complexity account of treatment efficacy (CATE; Thompson, Shapiro, Kiran, & Sobecks, 2003). All participants were trained to generate abstract words in a particular context-category by analyzing the semantic features of the target words. Two other context-categories were used as controls. Ten of the twelve participants improved on the trained abstract words in the trained context-category. Eight of the ten participants who responded to treatment also generalized to concrete words in the same context-category. These results suggest that this treatment is both efficacious and efficient. We discuss possible mechanisms of training and generalization effects. PMID:24805853

[PATOGENETIC VALUE OF VIOLATIONS FROM GLUTATHIONE SYSTEM AT THE PATIENTS WITH NONALCOHOLIC STEATOHEPATITIS ON A BACKGROUND OF DIABETES MELLITUS TYPE II].

PubMed

Kostev, I V; Teryoshin, V A; Sotckaya, Ya A; Homutyanskay, N I; Dolgopolova, E V; Salamech, K A

2015-01-01

At the patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis on a background of diabetes mellitus type 11, after completion of the generally accepted medical treatment there was no normalization of indexes of the glutation system (the level of recovered glutation and activity of enzymes the glutation redox--system was saved decreased), that in a clinical plan was represented in a presence unstable clinical and biochemical remission of disease.

[PATOGENETIC VALUE OF VIOLATIONS FROM GLUTATHIONE SYSTEM AT THE PATIENTS WITH NONALCOHOLIC STEATOHEPATITIS ON A BACKGROUND OF DIABETES MELLITUS TYPE II].

PubMed

Sotskaya, Ya A; Homutyanskaya, N I; Dolgopolova, E V; Salamekh, K A

2015-01-01

At the patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis on a background of diabetes mellitus type II, after completion of the generally accepted medical treatment there was no normalization of indexes of the glutation system (the level of recovered glutation and activity of enzymes the glutation redox-system was saved decreased), that in a clinical plan was represented in.a presence unstable clinical and biochemical remission of disease.

Writing a Structured Abstract for the Thesis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartley, James

2010-01-01

This article presents the author's suggestions on how to improve thesis abstracts. The author describes two books on writing abstracts: (1) "Creating Effective Conference Abstracts and Posters in Biomedicine: 500 tips for Success" (Fraser, Fuller & Hutber, 2009), a compendium of clear advice--a must book to have in one's hand as one prepares a…

Primary nocturnal enuresis in children. Background and treatment.

PubMed

Wille, S

1994-01-01

plasma level of the anti diuretic hormone vasopressin than non-enuretic children. Enuretic children were treated for 12 weeks with DDAVP or the alarm. DDAVP treated patients had a more rapid effect compared with alarm treated patients. Alarm treated children had a lower relapse frequency. Enuretic children were treated in a randomised, double blind, double dummy, cross over, placebo-controlled study with DDAVP 20 micrograms intranasally by a single dose pipette or 200 micrograms orally as a tablet. Both methods were equally effective in controlling enuresis, but significantly superior to placebo. Enuretic children are normal, well adjusted children with a normal bladder capacity, a high level of arousal threshold, and a low morning level of plasma vasopressin. The alarm and DDAVP are equally effective in treating enuresis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Exenatide Once-Weekly Clinical Development: Safety and Efficacy Across a Range of Background Therapies

PubMed Central

Stonehouse, Anthony; Walsh, Brandon

2011-01-01

Abstract In patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), the physiologic glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) response, which is involved in glucose regulation through several mechanisms, is dysfunctional. GLP-1 receptor agonists can fill an unmet therapeutic need in the treatment of T2DM: improving glycemic control without increasing the risk of hypoglycemia (except with concomitant sulfonylureas) and reducing weight in a substantial proportion of patients. GLP-1 receptor agonists have impacted established disease treatment algorithms for T2DM. For example, in 2009 the American Diabetes Association and European Association for the Study of Diabetes revised their consensus treatment algorithm to incorporate GLP-1 receptor agonists. GLP-1 receptor agonists were originally represented by exenatide BID (ExBID), a short-acting agent requiring twice-daily injections at mealtime. The longer-acting agent liraglutide, requiring once-daily injections, recently received regulatory approval. Several other long-acting agents are in clinical development, one of which is the once-weekly formulation of exenatide (exenatide once weekly [ExQW]). This article reviews the clinical development of ExQW in the DURATION program. Patients in theses clinical trials were receiving various background treatments, ranging from lifestyle therapy to combination oral therapy, although the majority (68%) received metformin monotherapy. Specifically, safety, glycemic control, and weight were compared in patients treated with ExQW versus ExBID, sitagliptin, pioglitazone, or insulin glargine. Moreover, measures of β-cell function, cardiovascular risk, inflammation, and hepatic health were investigated. During ExQW clinical development, consistent clinical efficacy (glycosylated hemoglobin, −1.5% to −1.9%; weight, −2 kg to −4 kg) and safety data were observed in patients with T2DM treated with ExQW. PMID:21732798

Don’t forget the posters! Quality and content variables associated with accepted abstracts at a national trauma meeting

PubMed Central

Dossett, Lesly A.; Fox, Erin E.; del Junco, Deborah J.; Zaydfudim, Victor; Kauffmann, Rondi; Shelton, Julia; Wang, Weiwei; Cioffi, William G.; Holcomb, John B.; Cotton, Bryan A.

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND As a primary venue for presenting research results, abstracts selected for presentation at national meetings should be of the highest scientific merit and research quality. It is uncertain to what degree this is achieved as the methodological quality of abstracts submitted to national surgical meetings has not been previously described. The objective of this study was to evaluate abstracts presented at a leading trauma meeting for methodological quality. METHODS All abstracts accepted for the 2009 American Association for the Surgery of Trauma meeting were reviewed and scored for methodological quality based on 10 criteria (scores, 0–10; 10 being the highest). Criteria were based on nationally published methodology guidelines. Two independent reviewers who were blinded to institution, region, and author reviewed each abstract. RESULTS A total of 187 abstracts were accepted for presentation (67 oral and 120 posters). The most frequent clinical topics were shock/transfusion (23%), abdomen (12%), and nervous system (11%). Shock/transfusion abstracts were more common in the oral presentations (31% vs. 19%; p =0.06). Abstracts from the northeast and south regions were the most common in both oral (26% and 29%) and posters (25% and 24%). Basic science accounted for 12% of accepted studies, while 51% were clinical and 28% were health services/outcomes. Only 8% of abstracts presented randomized data and only 11% reported null findings. Overall abstract scores ranged from 3 to 10 (median, 7; mean, 7.4). Abstracts selected for poster presentation had an overall higher score than those selected for oral presentation (7.4 ±1.7 vs. 6.8 ±1.7; p =0.02). CONCLUSION Although oral presentations traditionally receive the most attention and interest, the methodological quality of abstracts accepted for poster presentation equals (and sometimes exceeds) that of oral abstracts. Attendees of these national meetings should reconsider their time spent in viewing and visiting

The semantic richness of abstract concepts

PubMed Central

Recchia, Gabriel; Jones, Michael N.

2012-01-01

We contrasted the predictive power of three measures of semantic richness—number of features (NFs), contextual dispersion (CD), and a novel measure of number of semantic neighbors (NSN)—for a large set of concrete and abstract concepts on lexical decision and naming tasks. NSN (but not NF) facilitated processing for abstract concepts, while NF (but not NSN) facilitated processing for the most concrete concepts, consistent with claims that linguistic information is more relevant for abstract concepts in early processing. Additionally, converging evidence from two datasets suggests that when NSN and CD are controlled for, the features that most facilitate processing are those associated with a concept's physical characteristics and real-world contexts. These results suggest that rich linguistic contexts (many semantic neighbors) facilitate early activation of abstract concepts, whereas concrete concepts benefit more from rich physical contexts (many associated objects and locations). PMID:23205008

Attracting Girls into Physics (abstract)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gadalla, Afaf

2009-04-01

A recent international study of women in physics showed that enrollment in physics and science is declining for both males and females and that women are severely underrepresented in careers requiring a strong physics background. The gender gap begins early in the pipeline, from the first grade. Girls are treated differently than boys at home and in society in ways that often hinder their chances for success. They have fewer freedoms, are discouraged from accessing resources or being adventurous, have far less exposure to problem solving, and are not encouraged to choose their lives. In order to motivate more girl students to study physics in the Assiut governorate of Egypt, the Assiut Alliance for the Women and Assiut Education District collaborated in renovating the education of physics in middle and secondary school classrooms. A program that helps in increasing the number of girls in science and physics has been designed in which informal groupings are organized at middle and secondary schools to involve girls in the training and experiences needed to attract and encourage girls to learn physics. During implementation of the program at some schools, girls, because they had not been trained in problem-solving as boys, appeared not to be as facile in abstracting the ideas of physics, and that was the primary reason for girls dropping out of science and physics. This could be overcome by holding a topical physics and technology summer school under the supervision of the Assiut Alliance for the Women.

Masticatory muscle sleep background electromyographic activity is elevated in myofascial temporomandibular disorder patients.

PubMed

Raphael, K G; Janal, M N; Sirois, D A; Dubrovsky, B; Wigren, P E; Klausner, J J; Krieger, A C; Lavigne, G J

2013-12-01

Despite theoretical speculation and strong clinical belief, recent research using laboratory polysomnographic (PSG) recording has provided new evidence that frequency of sleep bruxism (SB) masseter muscle events, including grinding or clenching of the teeth during sleep, is not increased for women with chronic myofascial temporomandibular disorder (TMD). The current case-control study compares a large sample of women suffering from chronic myofascial TMD (n = 124) with a demographically matched control group without TMD (n = 46) on sleep background electromyography (EMG) during a laboratory PSG study. Background EMG activity was measured as EMG root mean square (RMS) from the right masseter muscle after lights out. Sleep background EMG activity was defined as EMG RMS remaining after activity attributable to SB, other orofacial activity, other oromotor activity and movement artefacts were removed. Results indicated that median background EMG during these non-SB event periods was significantly higher (P < 0·01) for women with myofascial TMD (median = 3·31 μV and mean = 4·98 μV) than for control women (median = 2·83 μV and mean = 3·88 μV) with median activity in 72% of cases exceeding control activity. Moreover, for TMD cases, background EMG was positively associated and SB event-related EMG was negatively associated with pain intensity ratings (0-10 numerical scale) on post-sleep waking. These data provide the foundation for a new focus on small, but persistent, elevations in sleep EMG activity over the course of the night as a mechanism of pain induction or maintenance. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Olfactory language and abstraction across cultures

PubMed Central

Burenhult, Niclas; Stensmyr, Marcus; de Valk, Josje; Hansson, Bill S.

2018-01-01

Olfaction presents a particularly interesting arena to explore abstraction in language. Like other abstract domains, such as time, odours can be difficult to conceptualize. An odour cannot be seen or held, it can be difficult to locate in space, and for most people odours are difficult to verbalize. On the other hand, odours give rise to primary sensory experiences. Every time we inhale we are using olfaction to make sense of our environment. We present new experimental data from 30 Jahai hunter-gatherers from the Malay Peninsula and 30 matched Dutch participants from the Netherlands in an odour naming experiment. Participants smelled monomolecular odorants and named odours while reaction times, odour descriptors and facial expressions were measured. We show that while Dutch speakers relied on concrete descriptors, i.e. they referred to odour sources (e.g. smells like lemon), the Jahai used abstract vocabulary to name the same odours (e.g. musty). Despite this differential linguistic categorization, analysis of facial expressions showed that the two groups, nevertheless, had the same initial emotional reactions to odours. Critically, these cross-cultural data present a challenge for how to think about abstraction in language. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Varieties of abstract concepts: development, use and representation in the brain’. PMID:29915007

Leadership Abstracts, 1993.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doucette, Don, Ed.

1993-01-01

This document includes 10 issues of Leadership Abstracts (volume 6, 1993), a newsletter published by the League for Innovation in the Community College (California). The featured articles are: (1) "Reinventing Government" by David T. Osborne; (2) "Community College Workforce Training Programs: Expanding the Mission to Meet Critical Needs" by…

Leadership Abstracts, 2001.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Cynthia, Ed.

2001-01-01

This is volume 14 of Leadership Abstracts, a newsletter published by the League for Innovation (California). Issue 1 of February 2001, "Developmental Education: A Policy Primer," discusses developmental programs in the community college. According to the article, community college trustees and presidents would serve their constituents well by…

Journal article overlap among Index Medicus, Science Citation Index, Biological Abstracts, and Chemical Abstracts.

PubMed Central

Poyer, R K

1984-01-01

Journal article overlap is defined as the same journal article being indexed by two or more services. Using journal references from seventy dissertations written in the preclinical sciences, the extent of journal article overlap among Index Medicus, Science Citation Index, Biological Abstracts, and Chemical Abstracts was examined. Of the 7,969 journal references cited, 92% were indexed by at least two of these services; 591 articles were covered by only one of the services, and 55 articles were not indexed. A discussion of the advantages and costs of journal article overlap is presented. PMID:6388693

National Workplace Literacy Program. 1993 Abstracts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Office of Vocational and Adult Education (ED), Washington, DC. National Workplace Literacy Program.

This publication presents the abstracts of the 57 National Workplace Literacy Program 1993 projects. Each abstract provides the following information: project title; award number; project director; awardee; address; telephone and fax numbers; funds by fiscal year (federal and nonfederal); award period; federal project officer; objectives;…

Mathematical Abstraction: Constructing Concept of Parallel Coordinates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nurhasanah, F.; Kusumah, Y. S.; Sabandar, J.; Suryadi, D.

2017-09-01

Mathematical abstraction is an important process in teaching and learning mathematics so pre-service mathematics teachers need to understand and experience this process. One of the theoretical-methodological frameworks for studying this process is Abstraction in Context (AiC). Based on this framework, abstraction process comprises of observable epistemic actions, Recognition, Building-With, Construction, and Consolidation called as RBC + C model. This study investigates and analyzes how pre-service mathematics teachers constructed and consolidated concept of Parallel Coordinates in a group discussion. It uses AiC framework for analyzing mathematical abstraction of a group of pre-service teachers consisted of four students in learning Parallel Coordinates concepts. The data were collected through video recording, students’ worksheet, test, and field notes. The result shows that the students’ prior knowledge related to concept of the Cartesian coordinate has significant role in the process of constructing Parallel Coordinates concept as a new knowledge. The consolidation process is influenced by the social interaction between group members. The abstraction process taken place in this group were dominated by empirical abstraction that emphasizes on the aspect of identifying characteristic of manipulated or imagined object during the process of recognizing and building-with.

Oncology trial abstracts showed suboptimal improvement in reporting: a comparative before-and-after evaluation using CONSORT for Abstract guidelines.

PubMed

Ghimire, Saurav; Kyung, Eunjung; Lee, Heeyoung; Kim, Eunyoung

2014-06-01

The aims of this study were to evaluate the quality of randomized controlled trial (RCT) abstracts published in the field of oncology and identify characteristics associated with better reporting quality. All phase III trials published during 2005-2007 [before Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT)] and 2010-2012 (after CONSORT) were searched electronically in MEDLINE/PubMed and retrieved for review using an 18-point overall quality score (OQS) for reporting based on the CONSORT for Abstract guidelines. Descriptive statistics followed by multivariate linear regression were used to identify features associated with improved reporting quality. The mean OQS was 8.2 (range: 5-13; 95% confidence interval (CI): 8.0, 8.3) and 9.9 (range: 5-18; 95% CI: 9.7, 10.2) in the pre- and post-CONSORT periods, respectively. The method for random sequence generation, allocation concealment, blinding details, and funding sources were missing in pre-CONSORT abstracts and insufficiently reported (<20%) in post-CONSORT abstracts. A high impact factor (P < 0.001) and the journal of publication (P < 0.001) were independent factors that were significantly associated with higher reporting quality on multivariate analysis. The reporting quality of RCT abstracts in oncology showed suboptimal improvement over time. Thus, stricter adherence to the CONSORT for Abstract guidelines is needed to improve the reporting quality of RCT abstracts published in oncology. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Interactional Metadiscourse in Research Article Abstracts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gillaerts, Paul; Van de Velde, Freek

2010-01-01

This paper deals with interpersonality in research article abstracts analysed in terms of interactional metadiscourse. The evolution in the distribution of three prominent interactional markers comprised in Hyland's (2005a) model, viz. hedges, boosters and attitude markers, is investigated in three decades of abstract writing in the field of…

Abstraction in Mathematics and Mathematics Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitchelmore, Michael; White, Paul

2004-01-01

It is claimed that, since mathematics is essentially a self-contained system, mathematical objects may best be described as "abstract-apart." On the other hand, fundamental mathematical ideas are closely related to the real world and their learning involves empirical concepts. These concepts may be called "abstract-general" because they embody…

Dissertation Abstracts in Mathematics Education, 1983.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suydam, Marilyn N., Comp.

The dissertation abstracts in this compilation all appeared in "Dissertation Abstracts International" in 1983. The 300 dissertations cited in the annual listing of research in the July 1984 issue of the "Journal for Research in Mathematics Education" are included, as well as 55 dissertations which were located but could not be…

Automated Assume-Guarantee Reasoning by Abstraction Refinement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pasareanu, Corina S.; Giannakopoulous, Dimitra; Glannakopoulou, Dimitra

2008-01-01

Current automated approaches for compositional model checking in the assume-guarantee style are based on learning of assumptions as deterministic automata. We propose an alternative approach based on abstraction refinement. Our new method computes the assumptions for the assume-guarantee rules as conservative and not necessarily deterministic abstractions of some of the components, and refines those abstractions using counter-examples obtained from model checking them together with the other components. Our approach also exploits the alphabets of the interfaces between components and performs iterative refinement of those alphabets as well as of the abstractions. We show experimentally that our preliminary implementation of the proposed alternative achieves similar or better performance than a previous learning-based implementation.

Background characterization of an ultra-low background liquid scintillation counter

DOE PAGES

Erchinger, J. L.; Orrell, John L.; Aalseth, C. E.; ...

2017-01-26

The Ultra-Low Background Liquid Scintillation Counter developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will expand the application of liquid scintillation counting by enabling lower detection limits and smaller sample volumes. By reducing the overall count rate of the background environment approximately 2 orders of magnitude below that of commercially available systems, backgrounds on the order of tens of counts per day over an energy range of ~3–3600 keV can be realized. Finally, initial test results of the ULB LSC show promising results for ultra-low background detection with liquid scintillation counting.

The representation of abstract words: why emotion matters.

PubMed

Kousta, Stavroula-Thaleia; Vigliocco, Gabriella; Vinson, David P; Andrews, Mark; Del Campo, Elena

2011-02-01

Although much is known about the representation and processing of concrete concepts, knowledge of what abstract semantics might be is severely limited. In this article we first address the adequacy of the 2 dominant accounts (dual coding theory and the context availability model) put forward in order to explain representation and processing differences between concrete and abstract words. We find that neither proposal can account for experimental findings and that this is, at least partly, because abstract words are considered to be unrelated to experiential information in both of these accounts. We then address a particular type of experiential information, emotional content, and demonstrate that it plays a crucial role in the processing and representation of abstract concepts: Statistically, abstract words are more emotionally valenced than are concrete words, and this accounts for a residual latency advantage for abstract words, when variables such as imageability (a construct derived from dual coding theory) and rated context availability are held constant. We conclude with a discussion of our novel hypothesis for embodied abstract semantics. (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

Concrete Model Checking with Abstract Matching and Refinement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pasareanu Corina S.; Peianek Radek; Visser, Willem

2005-01-01

We propose an abstraction-based model checking method which relies on refinement of an under-approximation of the feasible behaviors of the system under analysis. The method preserves errors to safety properties, since all analyzed behaviors are feasible by definition. The method does not require an abstract transition relation to he generated, but instead executes the concrete transitions while storing abstract versions of the concrete states, as specified by a set of abstraction predicates. For each explored transition. the method checks, with the help of a theorem prover, whether there is any loss of precision introduced by abstraction. The results of these checks are used to decide termination or to refine the abstraction, by generating new abstraction predicates. If the (possibly infinite) concrete system under analysis has a finite bisimulation quotient, then the method is guaranteed to eventually explore an equivalent finite bisimilar structure. We illustrate the application of the approach for checking concurrent programs. We also show how a lightweight variant can be used for efficient software testing.

High-Level Data-Abstraction System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fishwick, P. A.

1986-01-01

Communication with data-base processor flexible and efficient. High Level Data Abstraction (HILDA) system is three-layer system supporting data-abstraction features of Intel data-base processor (DBP). Purpose of HILDA establishment of flexible method of efficiently communicating with DBP. Power of HILDA lies in its extensibility with regard to syntax and semantic changes. HILDA's high-level query language readily modified. Offers powerful potential to computer sites where DBP attached to DEC VAX-series computer. HILDA system written in Pascal and FORTRAN 77 for interactive execution.

The structural and content aspects of abstracts versus bodies of full text journal articles are different

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background An increase in work on the full text of journal articles and the growth of PubMedCentral have the opportunity to create a major paradigm shift in how biomedical text mining is done. However, until now there has been no comprehensive characterization of how the bodies of full text journal articles differ from the abstracts that until now have been the subject of most biomedical text mining research. Results We examined the structural and linguistic aspects of abstracts and bodies of full text articles, the performance of text mining tools on both, and the distribution of a variety of semantic classes of named entities between them. We found marked structural differences, with longer sentences in the article bodies and much heavier use of parenthesized material in the bodies than in the abstracts. We found content differences with respect to linguistic features. Three out of four of the linguistic features that we examined were statistically significantly differently distributed between the two genres. We also found content differences with respect to the distribution of semantic features. There were significantly different densities per thousand words for three out of four semantic classes, and clear differences in the extent to which they appeared in the two genres. With respect to the performance of text mining tools, we found that a mutation finder performed equally well in both genres, but that a wide variety of gene mention systems performed much worse on article bodies than they did on abstracts. POS tagging was also more accurate in abstracts than in article bodies. Conclusions Aspects of structure and content differ markedly between article abstracts and article bodies. A number of these differences may pose problems as the text mining field moves more into the area of processing full-text articles. However, these differences also present a number of opportunities for the extraction of data types, particularly that found in parenthesized text

What Do Patients With Glaucoma See? Visual Symptoms Reported by Patients With Glaucoma

PubMed Central

Hu, Cindy X.; Zangalli, Camila; Hsieh, Michael; Gupta, Lalita; Williams, Alice L.; Richman, Jesse

2014-01-01

Abstract: Background: Vision loss from glaucoma has traditionally been described as loss of “peripheral vision.” In this prospective study, we aimed to improve our clinical understanding of the visual symptoms caused by glaucoma by asking patients specific detailed questions about how they see. Methods: Patients who were clinically diagnosed with various types and stages of glaucoma were included. All had a comprehensive ocular examination, including Octopus visual field testing. Patients were excluded if they had other ocular conditions that affected their vision, including cornea, lens or retina pathologies. Patients responded to an oral questionnaire about their visual symptoms. We investigated the visual symptoms described by patients with glaucoma and correlated the severity of visual field loss with visual symptoms reported. Results: Ninety-nine patients completed the questionnaire. Most patients (76%) were diagnosed with primary open-angle glaucoma. The most common symptoms reported by all patients, including patients with early or moderate glaucoma, were needing more light and blurry vision. Patients with a greater amount of field loss (Octopus mean defect >+9.4 dB) were more likely to report difficulty seeing objects to one or both sides, as if looking through dirty glasses and trouble differentiating boundaries and colors. Conclusions: Vision loss in patients with glaucoma is not as simple as the traditional view of loss of peripheral vision. Needing more light and blurry vision were the most common symptoms reported by patients with glaucoma. PMID:24992392

Is gastroenterology research in decline? A comparison of abstract publication rates from The British Society of Gastroenterology meetings between 1995 and 2005.

PubMed

Prendergast, Sarah; Mattishent, Katharina; Broughton, Tom; Beales, Ian

2013-01-01

Background: Reports have suggested that academic medicine may be in decline within the UK. Further evidence suggests that rates of subsequent full publication of abstracts presented at major scientific meetings are low and may be declining. We have compared the publication rates of abstracts presented at meetings of the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) between 1995 and 2005 and examined factors associated with full paper publication.  Methods: Abstracts presented at BSG meetings in 1995 and 2005 were assessed by cross-referencing with multiple databases. Abstract characteristics associated with publication were analysed. Results: There were no differences in overall publication rates, impact factors or time to publication between 1995 and 2005. Overall, basic-science abstracts were twice as likely to achieve full publication than non-basic science. There was a significant fall in the publication rates for case series and audits, and significantly increased rates for fundamental/basic-science abstracts over the study period. There were non-significant increases in publication rates for controlled trials and systematic reviews. In general, publication rates for all predominantly clinically orientated abstracts reduced between the two periods with the most notable fall occurring in nutrition.  Conclusions: There was no evidence of a decline in overall abstract publication rates between 1995 and 2005. There seemed to be trend for increased publication rates of abstracts using perceived high-quality study methodologies with a corresponding decrease in those with lower quality methods. The proportion of basic-science abstracts is likely to be a determinant of overall full publication rates following scientific meetings.

Conference Abstracts: AEDS '82.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, 1982

1982-01-01

Abstracts from nine selected papers presented at the 1982 Association for Educational Data Systems (AEDS) conference are provided. Copies of conference proceedings may be obtained for fifteen dollars from the Association. (MP)

Third LDEF Post-Retrieval Symposium Abstracts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levine, Arlene S. (Compiler)

1993-01-01

This volume is a compilation of abstracts submitted to the Third Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) Post-Retrieval Symposium. The abstracts represent the data analysis of the 57 experiments flown on the LDEF. The experiments include materials, coatings, thermal systems, power and propulsion, science (cosmic ray, interstellar gas, heavy ions, micrometeoroid, etc.), electronics, optics, and life science.

User-Extensible Graphics Using Abstract Structure,

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-08-01

Flex 6 The Algol68 model of the graphical abstract structure 5 The creation of a PictureDefinition 6 The making of a picture from a PictureDefinition 7...data together with the operations that can be performed on that data. i 7! ś I _ § 4, The Alqol68 model of the graphical abstract structure Every

Investigating the functional neuroanatomy of concrete and abstract word processing through direct electric stimulation (DES) during awake surgery.

PubMed

Orena, E F; Caldiroli, D; Acerbi, F; Barazzetta, I; Papagno, C

2018-06-05

Neuropsychological, neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies demonstrate that abstract and concrete word processing relies not only on the activity of a common bilateral network but also on dedicated networks. The neuropsychological literature has shown that a selective sparing of abstract relative to concrete words can be documented in lesions of the left anterior temporal regions. We investigated concrete and abstract word processing in 10 patients undergoing direct electrical stimulation (DES) for brain mapping during awake surgery in the left hemisphere. A lexical decision and a concreteness judgment task were added to the neuropsychological assessment during intra-operative monitoring. On the concreteness judgment, DES delivered over the inferior frontal gyrus significantly decreased abstract word accuracy while accuracy for concrete words decreased when the anterior temporal cortex was stimulated. These results are consistent with a lexical-semantic model that distinguishes between concrete and abstract words related to different neural substrates in the left hemisphere.

Static Analysis Using Abstract Interpretation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arthaud, Maxime

2017-01-01

Short presentation about static analysis and most particularly abstract interpretation. It starts with a brief explanation on why static analysis is used at NASA. Then, it describes the IKOS (Inference Kernel for Open Static Analyzers) tool chain. Results on NASA projects are shown. Several well known algorithms from the static analysis literature are then explained (such as pointer analyses, memory analyses, weak relational abstract domains, function summarization, etc.). It ends with interesting problems we encountered (such as C++ analysis with exception handling, or the detection of integer overflow).

Abstraction networks for terminologies: Supporting management of "big knowledge".

PubMed

Halper, Michael; Gu, Huanying; Perl, Yehoshua; Ochs, Christopher

2015-05-01

Terminologies and terminological systems have assumed important roles in many medical information processing environments, giving rise to the "big knowledge" challenge when terminological content comprises tens of thousands to millions of concepts arranged in a tangled web of relationships. Use and maintenance of knowledge structures on that scale can be daunting. The notion of abstraction network is presented as a means of facilitating the usability, comprehensibility, visualization, and quality assurance of terminologies. An abstraction network overlays a terminology's underlying network structure at a higher level of abstraction. In particular, it provides a more compact view of the terminology's content, avoiding the display of minutiae. General abstraction network characteristics are discussed. Moreover, the notion of meta-abstraction network, existing at an even higher level of abstraction than a typical abstraction network, is described for cases where even the abstraction network itself represents a case of "big knowledge." Various features in the design of abstraction networks are demonstrated in a methodological survey of some existing abstraction networks previously developed and deployed for a variety of terminologies. The applicability of the general abstraction-network framework is shown through use-cases of various terminologies, including the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine - Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT), the Medical Entities Dictionary (MED), and the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS). Important characteristics of the surveyed abstraction networks are provided, e.g., the magnitude of the respective size reduction referred to as the abstraction ratio. Specific benefits of these alternative terminology-network views, particularly their use in terminology quality assurance, are discussed. Examples of meta-abstraction networks are presented. The "big knowledge" challenge constitutes the use and maintenance of terminological structures that

Interpretation for scales of measurement linking with abstract algebra.

PubMed

Sawamura, Jitsuki; Morishita, Shigeru; Ishigooka, Jun

2014-01-01

THE STEVENS CLASSIFICATION OF LEVELS OF MEASUREMENT INVOLVES FOUR TYPES OF SCALE: "Nominal", "Ordinal", "Interval" and "Ratio". This classification has been used widely in medical fields and has accomplished an important role in composition and interpretation of scale. With this classification, levels of measurements appear organized and validated. However, a group theory-like systematization beckons as an alternative because of its logical consistency and unexceptional applicability in the natural sciences but which may offer great advantages in clinical medicine. According to this viewpoint, the Stevens classification is reformulated within an abstract algebra-like scheme; 'Abelian modulo additive group' for "Ordinal scale" accompanied with 'zero', 'Abelian additive group' for "Interval scale", and 'field' for "Ratio scale". Furthermore, a vector-like display arranges a mixture of schemes describing the assessment of patient states. With this vector-like notation, data-mining and data-set combination is possible on a higher abstract structure level based upon a hierarchical-cluster form. Using simple examples, we show that operations acting on the corresponding mixed schemes of this display allow for a sophisticated means of classifying, updating, monitoring, and prognosis, where better data mining/data usage and efficacy is expected.

Distinct Roles for the Anterior Cingulate and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortices During Conflict Between Abstract Rules.

PubMed

Boschin, Erica A; Brkic, Merima M; Simons, Jon S; Buckley, Mark J

2017-01-01

Distinct patterns of activity within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) reported in neuroimaging studies during tasks involving conflict between competing responses have often been cited as evidence for their key contributions to conflict-monitoring and behavioral adaptation, respectively. However, supporting evidence from neuropsychological patients has been scarce and contradictory. We administered a well-studied analog of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, designed to elicit conflict between 2 abstract rules, to a cohort of 6 patients with damage to ACC or dlPFC. Patients who had sustained more significant damage to the ACC were not impaired either on a measure of "conflict cost" nor on measures of "conflict-induced behavioral adaptation." In contrast, damage to dlPFC did not affect the conflict cost measure but abolished the patients' ability to adapt their behavior following exposure to conflict, compared with controls. This pattern of results complements the findings from nonhuman primates with more circumscribed lesions to ACC or dlPFC on the same task and provides converging evidence that ACC is not necessary for performance when conflict is elicited between 2 abstract rules, whereas dlPFC plays a fundamental role in behavioral adaptation. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Information Leakage Analysis by Abstract Interpretation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zanioli, Matteo; Cortesi, Agostino

Protecting the confidentiality of information stored in a computer system or transmitted over a public network is a relevant problem in computer security. The approach of information flow analysis involves performing a static analysis of the program with the aim of proving that there will not be leaks of sensitive information. In this paper we propose a new domain that combines variable dependency analysis, based on propositional formulas, and variables' value analysis, based on polyhedra. The resulting analysis is strictly more accurate than the state of the art abstract interpretation based analyses for information leakage detection. Its modular construction allows to deal with the tradeoff between efficiency and accuracy by tuning the granularity of the abstraction and the complexity of the abstract operators.

Abstracts of SIG Sessions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Proceedings of the ASIS Annual Meeting, 1997

1997-01-01

Presents abstracts of SIG Sessions. Highlights include digital collections; information retrieval methods; public interest/fair use; classification and indexing; electronic publication; funding; globalization; information technology projects; interface design; networking in developing countries; metadata; multilingual databases; networked…

Designing User-Centric Patient Portals: Clinician and Patients' Uses and Gratifications

PubMed Central

Krist, Alex H.; Aycock, Rebecca A.; Kreps, Gary L.

2017-01-01

Abstract Background: Legislation mandates that clinicians make patients' medical information available digitally. This has resulted in hurriedly installing patient portals that do not fully meet the needs of patients or clinicians. This study examined a specific portal, MyPreventiveCare (MPC), a patient-centered portal designed to promote preventive care to consumers, to elicit recommendations from patients and clinicians about how it could be more beneficial by uncovering their uses and gratifications (U&G). Materials and Methods: In-depth interviews with 31 patients and two clinician focus groups were conducted. Multiple methods were utilized, such as grounded theory coding to develop themes and content analysis to classify responses according to the U&G framework. Results: Four main categories emerged that users desire to be included in health portals: integration with technology (27%), coordination of care (27%), incorporation of lifestyle (26%), and increased control (20%). Additional analysis revealed that health portals are mainly utilized to fulfill cognitive and affective needs, with over 80% of recommendations related to the U&G categories of cognitive and affective needs. Cognitive (60%), affective (21%), social integrative (10%), personal integrative (9%), and tension release (0%). Conclusions: Portals will continue to evolve and become important health communication tools if they address the user's perspective and are inclusive of new technological advances. Specifically, portals must become more user centric and incorporate aspects of the patients' lifestyle and integrate health information technology. PMID:27333468

What Gaze Fixation and Pupil Dilation Can Tell Us About Perceived Differences Between Abstract Art by Artists Versus by Children and Animals.

PubMed

Alvarez, Sergio A; Winner, Ellen; Hawley-Dolan, Angelina; Snapper, Leslie

2015-01-01

People with no arts background often misunderstand abstract art as requiring no skill. However, adults with no art background discriminate paintings by abstract expressionists from superficially similar works by children and animals. We tested whether participants show different visual exploration when looking at paintings by artists' versus children or animals. Participants sat at an eye tracker and viewed paintings by artists paired with "similar" paintings by children or animals, and were asked which they preferred and which was better. Mean duration of eye gaze fixations, total fixation time, and spatial extent of visual exploration was greater to the artist than child or animal images in response to quality but not preference. Pupil dilation was greater to the artist images in response to both questions and greater in response to the quality than preference question. Explicit selections of images paralleled total fixation times: Participants selected at chance for preference, but selected the artist images above chance in response to quality. Results show that lay adults respond differently on both an implicit as well as explicit measure when thinking about preference versus quality in art and discriminate abstract paintings by artists from superficially similar works by children and animals, despite the popular misconception by the average viewer that "my kid could have done that." © The Author(s) 2015.

Backgrounds and characteristics of arsonists.

PubMed

Labree, Wim; Nijman, Henk; van Marle, Hjalmar; Rassin, Eric

2010-01-01

The aim of this study was to gain more insight in the backgrounds and characteristics of arsonists. For this, the psychiatric, psychological, personal, and criminal backgrounds of all arsonists (n=25), sentenced to forced treatment in the maximum security forensic hospital "De Kijvelanden", were compared to the characteristics of a control group of patients (n=50), incarcerated at the same institution for other severe crimes. Apart from DSM-IV Axis I and Axis II disorders, family backgrounds, level of education, treatment history, intelligence (WAIS scores), and PCL-R scores were included in the comparisons. Furthermore, the apparent motives for the arson offences were explored. It was found that arsonists had more often received psychiatric treatment, prior to committing their index offence, and had a history of severe alcohol abuse more often in comparison to the controls. The arsonists turned out to be less likely to suffer from a major psychotic disorder. Both groups did not differ significantly on the other variables, among which the PCL-R total scores and factor scores. Exploratory analyses however, did suggest that arsonists may differentiate from non-arsonists on three items of the PCL-R, namely impulsivity (higher scores), superficial charm (lower scores), and juvenile delinquency (lower scores). Although the number of arsonists with a major psychotic disorder was relatively low (28%), delusional thinking of some form was judged to play a role in causing arson crimes in about half of the cases (52%).

Selected abstracts on aviation weather hazard research

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-01-01

This paper consists of bibliographic information and abstracts for literature on the topics of weather-related aviation hazards. These abstracts were selected from reports written for the ASR-9, ITWS, TDWR programs, sponsored by the Federal Aviation ...

Initial Characterization of Unequal-Length, Low-Background Proportional Counters for Absolute Gas-Counting Applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mace, Emily K.; Aalseth, Craig E.; Bonicalzi, Ricco

Abstract. Characterization of two sets of custom unequal length proportional counters is underway at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). These detectors will be used in measurements to determine the absolute activity concentration of gaseous radionuclides (e.g., 37Ar). A set of three detectors has been fabricated based on previous PNNL ultra-low-background proportional counters (ULBPC) designs and now operate in PNNL’s shallow underground counting laboratory. A second set of four counters has also been fabricated using clean assembly of OFHC copper components for use in an above-ground counting laboratory. Characterization of both sets of detectors is underway with measurements of background rates,more » gas gain, energy resolution, and shielding considerations. These results will be presented along with uncertainty estimates of future absolute gas counting measurements.« less

'Death is difficult in any language': A qualitative study of palliative care professionals' experiences when providing end-of-life care to patients from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

PubMed

Green, Anna; Jerzmanowska, Natalia; Green, Marguerite; Lobb, Elizabeth A

2018-05-01

Ethnic minority patients have unique challenges in accessing health services. These include language difficulties, unfamiliarity with the health system, lower rates of cancer screening and survival, higher rates of reported side effects from cancer treatment and poorer quality of life. Little is known about this patient group when transitioning to palliative care. To elicit the experiences of palliative care health professionals when providing care for patients from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds which differ from mainstream Australian language and culture. An emergent qualitative design, informed by theoretical and procedural direction from grounded theory research. Four focus groups held with palliative care staff ( n = 28) in a single specialist palliative care service in Australia. The following themes emerged: (1) determining the rules of engagement around discussion of diagnosis and prognosis, (2) navigating the challenge of language to patient understanding, (3) understanding migration experiences to establish trust, (4) maintaining the balance between patient safety and comfort care, (5) providing a good death experience through accommodation of beliefs, and (6) navigating the important role of family members while privileging patient preferences. Underlying provider perceptions of caring for patients was that death is difficult in any language. Care was conceptualised as considering cultural and linguistic backgrounds within individualistic care. Understanding the migration experience and building trust were key elements of this individualised approach. Acknowledgement of the key role played by families in patient care and safety are strategies to minimise barriers and understand the concerns of this patient group.

On the Power of Abstract Interpretation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reddy, Uday S.; Kamin, Samuel N.

1991-01-01

Increasingly sophisticated applications of static analysis place increased burden on the reliability of the analysis techniques. Often, the failure of the analysis technique to detect some information my mean that the time or space complexity of the generated code would be altered. Thus, it is important to precisely characterize the power of static analysis techniques. We follow the approach of Selur et. al. who studied the power of strictness analysis techniques. Their result can be summarized by saying 'strictness analysis is perfect up to variations in constants.' In other words, strictness analysis is as good as it could be, short of actually distinguishing between concrete values. We use this approach to characterize a broad class of analysis techniques based on abstract interpretation including, but not limited to, strictness analysis. For the first-order case, we consider abstract interpretations where the abstract domain for data values is totally ordered. This condition is satisfied by Mycroft's strictness analysis that of Sekar et. al. and Wadler's analysis of list-strictness. For such abstract interpretations, we show that the analysis is complete in the sense that, short of actually distinguishing between concrete values with the same abstraction, it gives the best possible information. We further generalize these results to typed lambda calculus with pairs and higher-order functions. Note that products and function spaces over totally ordered domains are not totally ordered. In fact, the notion of completeness used in the first-order case fails if product domains or function spaces are added. We formulate a weaker notion of completeness based on observability of values. Two values (including pairs and functions) are considered indistinguishable if their observable components are indistinguishable. We show that abstract interpretation of typed lambda calculus programs is complete up to this notion of indistinguishability. We use denotationally

Reporting of Numerical and Statistical Differences in Abstracts

PubMed Central

Dryver, Eric; Hux, Janet E

2002-01-01

OBJECTIVE The reporting of relative risk reductions (RRRs) or absolute risk reductions (ARRs) to quantify binary outcomes in trials engenders differing perceptions of therapeutic efficacy, and the merits of P values versus confidence intervals (CIs) are also controversial. We describe the manner in which numerical and statistical difference in treatment outcomes is presented in published abstracts. DESIGN A descriptive study of abstracts published in 1986 and 1996 in 8 general medical and specialty journals. Inclusion criteria: controlled, intervention trials with a binary primary or secondary outcome. Seven items were recorded: raw data (outcomes for each treatment arm), measure of relative difference (e.g., RRR), ARR, number needed to treat, P value, CI, and verbal statement of statistical significance. The prevalence of these items was compared between journals and across time. RESULTS Of 5,293 abstracts, 300 met the inclusion criteria. In 1986, 60% of abstracts did not provide both the raw data and a corresponding P value or CI, while 28% failed to do so in 1Dr. Hux is a Career Scientist of the Ontario Ministry of Health and receives salary support from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Ontario.996 (P < .001; RRR of 53%; ARR of 32%; CI for ARR 21% to 43%). The variability between journals was highly significant (P < .001). In 1986, 100% of abstracts lacked a measure of absolute difference while 88% of 1996 abstracts did so (P < .001). In 1986, 98% of abstracts lacked a CI while 65% of 1996 abstracts did so (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS The provision of quantitative outcome and statistical quantitative information has significantly increased between 1986 and 1996. However, further progress can be made to make abstracts more informative. PMID:11929506

Journal Literature Covered by Physics Abstracts in 1965.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keenan, Stella; Brickwedde, F.G.

A study of the publications of the Physics Journal literature has been made, utilizing the 1965 issues of Physics Abstracts. It is intended to provide a profile of the physics literature and statistical information on physics abstract coverage. It deals with abstracts from serial (journal) publications and includes some 32,000 articles from 495…

The effects of educational background on Montreal Cognitive Assessment screening for vascular cognitive impairment, no dementia, caused by ischemic stroke.

PubMed

Wu, Yuanbo; Wang, Muqiu; Ren, Mingshan; Xu, Wenhua

2013-10-01

It is possible that a patient's educational background has an effect on their Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score, which is used to evaluate patients for vascular cognitive impairment, no dementia (VCIND) after ischemic stroke. Cognitive impairment was evaluated in patients with no cognitive impairment (NCI) or VCIND using the MoCA. The receiver operating characteristic curve and maximal Youden index were used to determine the optimal cut-off values to distinguish between NCI and VCIND. The sensitivity and specificity of MoCA were calculated for patients with primary, secondary and tertiary educational levels. Patients with NCI (n=111) and VCIND (n=95) were tested. In patients with a primary education, a significant difference was found between the two groups in each of the MoCA factors, except for naming. Likewise, a significant difference was found in all factors, except for naming, attention and calculation, for patients with a secondary education. For the patients with a tertiary education, a significant difference was found only in visuospatial/executive abilities, abstraction and memory (p<0.05). The optimal cut-off value for MoCA in order to identify VCIND was 22-23. MoCA showed an overall sensitivity of 65.26% and specificity of 78.73%. The sensitivity in the primary, secondary and tertiary educated groups was 97.06%, 56.10% and 40%, respectively, with the specificity being 47.22%, 87.80% and 100%, respectively. We suggest that the MoCA score needs to be amended according to the patient's educational levels in order to improve the effectiveness of the screening. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Series of Case Studies of Tinnitus Suppression With Mixed Background Stimuli in a Cochlear Implant

PubMed Central

Keiner, A. J.; Walker, Kurt; Deshpande, Aniruddha K.; Witt, Shelley; Killian, Matthijs; Ji, Helena; Patrick, Jim; Dillier, Norbert; van Dijk, Pim; Lai, Wai Kong; Hansen, Marlan R.; Gantz, Bruce

2015-01-01

Purpose Background sounds provided by a wearable sound playback device were mixed with the acoustical input picked up by a cochlear implant speech processor in an attempt to suppress tinnitus. Method First, patients were allowed to listen to several sounds and to select up to 4 sounds that they thought might be effective. These stimuli were programmed to loop continuously in the wearable playback device. Second, subjects were instructed to use 1 background sound each day on the wearable device, and they sequenced the selected background sounds during a 28-day trial. Patients were instructed to go to a website at the end of each day and rate the loudness and annoyance of the tinnitus as well as the acceptability of the background sound. Patients completed the Tinnitus Primary Function Questionnaire (Tyler, Stocking, Secor, & Slattery, 2014) at the beginning of the trial. Results Results indicated that background sounds were very effective at suppressing tinnitus. There was considerable variability in sounds preferred by the subjects. Conclusion The study shows that a background sound mixed with the microphone input can be effective for suppressing tinnitus during daily use of the sound processor in selected cochlear implant users. PMID:26001407

Abstracts of SIG Sessions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Proceedings of the ASIS Annual Meeting, 1996

1996-01-01

Includes abstracts of special interest group (SIG) sessions. Highlights include digital imagery; text summarization; browsing; digital libraries; icons and the Web; information management; curricula planning; interfaces; information systems; theories; scholarly and scientific communication; global development; archives; document delivery;…

Patient-perceived barriers to a screening program for depression: a patient opinion survey of hemodialysis patients

PubMed Central

Beanlands, Heather; Logan, Alexander; Kurdyak, Paul; Jassal, Sarbjit Vanita

2017-01-01

Abstract Background Depression is a prevalent, yet underdiagnosed, psychiatric disorder among patients with end-stage renal disease. Active case identification through routine screening is suggested; however, patient-related barriers may reduce the effectiveness of screening for, and treating, depression. This study aimed to explore the perceived barriers that limit patients from participating in screening and treatment programs for depression. Methods In a cross-sectional study of chronic maintenance hemodialysis patients, the Perceived Barriers to Psychological Treatment questionnaire, adapted to include screening, was used to measure perceived barriers. The two-item Patient Health Questionnaire was used to identify patients with depressive symptoms. Results Of 160 participants, 73.1% reported at least one barrier preventing them from participation [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 66.2–80.0%]. Patients with depressive symptoms were more likely to perceive at least one barrier to a screening program for depression compared with those without depressive symptoms (96% versus 68.9%, respectively; odds ratio = 10.8; 95% CI 1.4–82.8; P = 0.005). The association of the barrier scores with depressive symptoms remained significant after adjustment for patient’s characteristics. The most common barriers that patients expressed were concerns about the side effects of any antidepressant medications that may be prescribed (40%), concerns about having more medications (32%), feeling that the problem is not severe enough (23%) and perceiving no risk of depression (23%). Conclusions Negative perceptions about depression and its treatment among hemodialysis patients constitute an important barrier to identifying this condition and first need to be addressed before implementing a screening program in this population. PMID:29225813

Abstracts of SIG Sessions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Proceedings of the ASIS Annual Meeting, 1994

1994-01-01

Includes abstracts of 18 special interest group (SIG) sessions. Highlights include natural language processing, information science and terminology science, classification, knowledge-intensive information systems, information value and ownership issues, economics and theories of information science, information retrieval interfaces, fuzzy thinking…

Conference Abstracts: AEDS '84.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baird, William E.

1985-01-01

The Association of Educational Data Systems (AEDS) conference included 102 presentations. Abstracts of seven of these presentations are provided. Topic areas considered include LOGO, teaching probability through a computer game, writing effective computer assisted instructional materials, computer literacy, research on instructional…

Abstracts of SIG Sessions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Proceedings of the ASIS Annual Meeting, 1993

1993-01-01

Presents abstracts of 34 special interest group (SIG) sessions. Highlights include humanities scholars and electronic texts; information retrieval and indexing systems design; automated indexing; domain analysis; query expansion in document retrieval systems; thesauri; business intelligence; Americans with Disabilities Act; management;…

Deterioration in Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions in Auditory Neuropathy Patients With Distinct Clinical and Genetic Backgrounds.

PubMed

Kitao, Kyoko; Mutai, Hideki; Namba, Kazunori; Morimoto, Noriko; Nakano, Atsuko; Arimoto, Yukiko; Sugiuchi, Tomoko; Masuda, Sawako; Okamoto, Yasuhide; Morita, Noriko; Sakamoto, Hirokazu; Shintani, Tomoko; Fukuda, Satoshi; Kaga, Kimitaka; Matsunaga, Tatsuo

2018-04-23

Auditory neuropathy (AN) is a clinical disorder characterized by the absence of auditory brainstem response and presence of otoacoustic emissions. A gradual loss of otoacoustic emissions has been reported for some cases of AN. Such cases could be diagnosed as cochlear hearing loss and lead to misunderstanding of the pathology when patients first visit clinics after the loss of otoacoustic emissions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the time course of changes in distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) in association with patients' genetic and clinical backgrounds, including the use of hearing aids. DPOAE measurements from 31 patients with AN were assessed. Genetic analyses for GJB2, OTOF, and mitochondrial m.1555A> G and m.3243A> G mutations were conducted for all cases, and the analyses for CDH23 and OPA1 were conducted for the selected cases. Patients who were younger than 10 years of age at the time of AN diagnosis were designated as the pediatric AN group (22 cases), and those who were 18 years of age or older were designated as the adult AN group (9 cases). DPOAE was measured at least twice in all patients. The response rate for DPOAEs was defined and analyzed. The pediatric AN group comprised 10 patients with OTOF mutations, 1 with GJB2 mutations, 1 with OPA1 mutation, and 10 with indefinite causes. Twelve ears (27%) showed no change in DPOAE, 20 ears (46%) showed a decrease in DPOAE, and 12 ears (27%) lost DPOAE. Loss of DPOAE occurred in one ear (2%) at 0 years of age and four ears (9%) at 1 year of age. The time courses of DPOAEs in patients with OTOF mutations were divided into those with early loss and those with no change, indicating that the mechanism for deterioration of DPOAEs includes not only the OTOF mutations but also other common modifier factors. Most, but not all, AN patients who used hearing aids showed deterioration of DPOAEs after the start of using hearing aids. A few AN patients also showed deterioration of DPOAEs

Content Abstract Classification Using Naive Bayes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Latif, Syukriyanto; Suwardoyo, Untung; Aldrin Wihelmus Sanadi, Edwin

2018-03-01

This study aims to classify abstract content based on the use of the highest number of words in an abstract content of the English language journals. This research uses a system of text mining technology that extracts text data to search information from a set of documents. Abstract content of 120 data downloaded at www.computer.org. Data grouping consists of three categories: DM (Data Mining), ITS (Intelligent Transport System) and MM (Multimedia). Systems built using naive bayes algorithms to classify abstract journals and feature selection processes using term weighting to give weight to each word. Dimensional reduction techniques to reduce the dimensions of word counts rarely appear in each document based on dimensional reduction test parameters of 10% -90% of 5.344 words. The performance of the classification system is tested by using the Confusion Matrix based on comparative test data and test data. The results showed that the best classification results were obtained during the 75% training data test and 25% test data from the total data. Accuracy rates for categories of DM, ITS and MM were 100%, 100%, 86%. respectively with dimension reduction parameters of 30% and the value of learning rate between 0.1-0.5.

Homicide in the western family and background factors of a perpetrator.

PubMed

Aho, Anna Liisa; Remahl, Anni; Paavilainen, Eija

2017-07-01

Familicide is a multiple-victim homicide incident in which the killer's spouse and one or more children are slain. A systematic review was conducted to reveal the background factors of western homicide perpetrators. The systematic search was performed in the Arto, Medic, Cinahl, Medline, EBSCOhost Academic Search Premier and Social Services abstracts databases. The keywords were familicide, family homicide, familicide-suicide, filicide-suicide, extended suicide, child, murder, family, filicide and infanticide. The searches revealed 4139 references from the databases. The references were filtered and 32 peer-reviewed research articles revealed in years 2004-2014 were selected as data. The articles were analysed using inductive content analysis, by finding all possible background factors related to homicide. The factors were described as percentages of the range. The background factors of familicide perpetrators were categorised as follows: perpetrators who had committed homicide of a child and intimate partner and possibly committed suicide; a father had who killed a child; a mother who had killed a child; a father who had committed a filicide-suicide; and a mother who had committed a filicide-suicide. Psychological instability, violence and crime were found in all these categories of familicides. Perpetrators who had committed a suicide in addition to the familicide had more often been diagnosed with depression, but they sought treatment for mental health problems less often and had violence and self-destructiveness less often in their background than in other familicide categories. Social and healthcare professionals should be more sensitive to emerging family problems and be prepared for intervention.

Feedback Form for the ADS Abstract Service

Science.gov Websites

ADS Feedback Form for the ADS Abstract Service Please use this form to report bugs or send comments to the ADS Abstract Project. Thank you for your feedback. ❉ Required field Your Name: ❉ Your E

Argument structure and the representation of abstract semantics.

PubMed

Rodríguez-Ferreiro, Javier; Andreu, Llorenç; Sanz-Torrent, Mònica

2014-01-01

According to the dual coding theory, differences in the ease of retrieval between concrete and abstract words are related to the exclusive dependence of abstract semantics on linguistic information. Argument structure can be considered a measure of the complexity of the linguistic contexts that accompany a verb. If the retrieval of abstract verbs relies more on the linguistic codes they are associated to, we could expect a larger effect of argument structure for the processing of abstract verbs. In this study, sets of length- and frequency-matched verbs including 40 intransitive verbs, 40 transitive verbs taking simple complements, and 40 transitive verbs taking sentential complements were presented in separate lexical and grammatical decision tasks. Half of the verbs were concrete and half were abstract. Similar results were obtained in the two tasks, with significant effects of imageability and transitivity. However, the interaction between these two variables was not significant. These results conflict with hypotheses assuming a stronger reliance of abstract semantics on linguistic codes. In contrast, our data are in line with theories that link the ease of retrieval with availability and robustness of semantic information.

Abstract shapes of RNA.

PubMed

Giegerich, Robert; Voss, Björn; Rehmsmeier, Marc

2004-01-01

The function of a non-protein-coding RNA is often determined by its structure. Since experimental determination of RNA structure is time-consuming and expensive, its computational prediction is of great interest, and efficient solutions based on thermodynamic parameters are known. Frequently, however, the predicted minimum free energy structures are not the native ones, leading to the necessity of generating suboptimal solutions. While this can be accomplished by a number of programs, the user is often confronted with large outputs of similar structures, although he or she is interested in structures with more fundamental differences, or, in other words, with different abstract shapes. Here, we formalize the concept of abstract shapes and introduce their efficient computation. Each shape of an RNA molecule comprises a class of similar structures and has a representative structure of minimal free energy within the class. Shape analysis is implemented in the program RNAshapes. We applied RNAshapes to the prediction of optimal and suboptimal abstract shapes of several RNAs. For a given energy range, the number of shapes is considerably smaller than the number of structures, and in all cases, the native structures were among the top shape representatives. This demonstrates that the researcher can quickly focus on the structures of interest, without processing up to thousands of near-optimal solutions. We complement this study with a large-scale analysis of the growth behaviour of structure and shape spaces. RNAshapes is available for download and as an online version on the Bielefeld Bioinformatics Server.

[Palliative care for patients with Turkish or Arabic migration background in Lower Saxony : A survey from palliative care professionals' perspective].

PubMed

Jansky, Maximiliane; Owusu-Boakye, Sonja; Nauck, Friedemann

2017-01-01

People with a migration background (MB) are an important part of German society. If and how they use specialised palliative care (SPC) has not been studied. We aimed to assess the current SPC for patients with Turkish or Arabic MB (the largest group of immigrants in Germany with a shared ascribed culture) from the point of view of healthcare professionals (HCP) in Lower Saxony. All HCPs in institutions providing SPC (n = 90) were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey which contained closed and open questions about care for this patient group, characteristics of the last patient with Turkish or Arabic MB they cared for, and resources and strategies to care for these patients. The survey was analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. Fifty-five HCPs in SPC participated, mostly nurses aged between 40 and 60 years. One fifth had not cared for a patient with Turkish or Arabic MB during the last 12 months. Given their local population, 84.6% estimated that they cared for a lower number of patients than would be representative. In care, problems with communication as well as difficulties to interact with and manage families, and in organising and planning care were most prevalent. Only 21% of participants had access to interpreters. Patients with Turkish or Arabic MB seem to be underrepresented in SPC. The high rate of communication problems highlights the necessity of reliable and accessible interpreter services. Most difficulties were of psychosocial nature, showing how important the holistic approach of SPC is in caring for terminally ill patients with Turkish or Arabic MB.

AAVSO and the International Year of Light (Poster abstract)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larsen, K.

2015-06-01

(Abstract only) The United Nations General Assembly has officially designated 2015 to be the International Year of Light (IYL). Modeled in part on the earlier International Year of Astronomy (IYA), this cross-disciplinary, international educational and outreach project will celebrate the importance of light in science, technology, cultural heritage, and the arts. It ties in with several important anniversaries, such as the 1000th anniversary of the publication of Ibn Al Haythem's “Book of Optics,” the 150th anniversary of Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism, the centenary of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, and the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation. Because variable stars are defined as such due to the variability of the light we observe from them, all of the AAVSO programs, regardless of type of variable or instrumentation (eye, DSLR, PEP, or CCD) have natural tie-ins to the study of light. This poster will highlight a number of specific ways that AAVSO members and the organization as a whole can become intimately involved with this unique outreach opportunity.

Family nurse practitioner student perception of journal abstract usefulness in clinical decision making: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Johnson, Heather L; Fontelo, Paul; Olsen, Cara H; Jones, Kenneth D; Gimbel, Ronald W

2013-11-01

To assess family nurse practitioner (FNP) student perception of research abstract usefulness in clinical decision making. A randomized controlled trial conducted in a simulated environment with graduate FNP students of the Graduate School of Nursing, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Given a clinical case study and modified MEDLINE search tool accessible via an iPad device, participants were asked to develop a treatment plan and complete a data collection form. The primary measure was perceived usefulness of the research abstracts in clinical decision making regarding a simulated obese patient seeking to prevent type 2 diabetes. Secondary measures related to participant demographics and accessibility and usefulness of full-text manuscripts. The majority of NP students identified readily available research abstracts as useful in shaping their clinical decision making. The presence or absence of full-text manuscripts associated with the abstracts did not appear to influence the perceived abstract usefulness. The majority of students with full-text manuscript access in the timed simulated clinical encounter read at least one paper, but cited insufficient time to read full-text as a constraint. Research abstracts at point of care may be valuable to FNPs if easily accessible and integrated into clinical workflow. ©2013 The Author(s) ©2013 American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

An analysis of abstracts presented to the College on Problems of Drug Dependence meeting and subsequent publication in peer review journals

PubMed Central

Valderrama-Zurián, Juan Carlos; Bolaños-Pizarro, Máxima; Bueno-Cañigral, Francisco Jesús; Álvarez, F Javier; Ontalba-Ruipérez, José Antonio; Aleixandre-Benavent, Rafael

2009-01-01

Background Subsequent publication rate of abstracts presented at meetings is seen as an indicator of the interest and quality of the meeting. We have analyzed characteristics and rate publication in peer-reviewed journals derived from oral communications and posters presented at the 1999 College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) meeting. Methods All 689 abstracts presented at the 1999 CPDD meeting were reviewed. In order to find the existence of publications derived from abstracts presented at that meeting, a set of bibliographical searches in the database Medline was developed in July 2006. Information was gathered concerning the abstracts, articles and journals in which they were published. Results 254 out of 689 abstracts (36.9%) gave rise to at least one publication. The oral communications had a greater likelihood of being published than did the posters (OR = 2.53, 95% CI 1.80-3.55). The average time lapse to publication of an article was 672.97 days. The number of authors per work in the subsequent publications was 4.55. The articles were published in a total of 84 journals, of which eight were indexed with the subject term Substance-Related Disorders. Psychopharmacology (37 articles, 14.5%) was the journal that published the greatest number of articles subsequent to the abstracts presented at the 1999 CPDD meeting. Conclusion One out of every three abstracts presented to the 1999 CPDD meeting were later published in peer-reviewed journals indexed in Medline. The subsequent publication of the abstracts presented in the CPDD meetings should be actively encouraged, as this maximizes the dissemination of the scientific research and therefore the investment. PMID:19889211

Comprehension of concrete and abstract words in semantic variant primary progressive aphasia and Alzheimer's disease: A behavioral and neuroimaging study.

PubMed

Joubert, Sven; Vallet, Guillaume T; Montembeault, Maxime; Boukadi, Mariem; Wilson, Maximiliano A; Laforce, Robert Jr; Rouleau, Isabelle; Brambati, Simona M

2017-07-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the comprehension of concrete, abstract and abstract emotional words in semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and healthy elderly adults (HE) Three groups of participants (9 svPPA, 12 AD, 11 HE) underwent a general neuropsychological assessment, a similarity judgment task, and structural brain MRI. The three types of words were processed similarly in the group of AD participants. In contrast, patients in the svPPA group were significantly more impaired at processing concrete words than abstract words, while comprehension of abstract emotional words was in between. VBM analyses showed that comprehension of concrete words relative to abstract words was significantly correlated with atrophy in the left anterior temporal lobe. These results support the view that concrete words are disproportionately impaired in svPPA, and that concrete and abstract words may rely upon partly dissociable brain regions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Compendium of abstracts on statistical applications in geotechnical engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hynes-Griffin, M. E.; Deer, G. W.

1983-09-01

The results of a literature search of geotechnical and statistical abstracts are presented in tables listing specific topics, title of the abstract, main author and the file number under which the abstract can be found.

Composing Interfering Abstract Protocols

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-01

Tecnologia , Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal. This document is a companion technical report of the paper, “Composing Interfering Abstract...a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) through the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program under grant SFRH / BD / 33765

Interpretation for scales of measurement linking with abstract algebra

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

The Stevens classification of levels of measurement involves four types of scale: “Nominal”, “Ordinal”, “Interval” and “Ratio”. This classification has been used widely in medical fields and has accomplished an important role in composition and interpretation of scale. With this classification, levels of measurements appear organized and validated. However, a group theory-like systematization beckons as an alternative because of its logical consistency and unexceptional applicability in the natural sciences but which may offer great advantages in clinical medicine. According to this viewpoint, the Stevens classification is reformulated within an abstract algebra-like scheme; ‘Abelian modulo additive group’ for “Ordinal scale” accompanied with ‘zero’, ‘Abelian additive group’ for “Interval scale”, and ‘field’ for “Ratio scale”. Furthermore, a vector-like display arranges a mixture of schemes describing the assessment of patient states. With this vector-like notation, data-mining and data-set combination is possible on a higher abstract structure level based upon a hierarchical-cluster form. Using simple examples, we show that operations acting on the corresponding mixed schemes of this display allow for a sophisticated means of classifying, updating, monitoring, and prognosis, where better data mining/data usage and efficacy is expected. PMID:24987515

Genetic background of osteoporosis.

PubMed

Obermayer-Pietsch, B; Chararas, C; Kotschan, S; Walter, D; Leb, G

2000-01-01

Osteoporosis is a systemic disorder of decreased skeletal mass as measured by bone mineral density (BMD), and disturbed skeletal architecture and function which results in an increased risk for bone fractures with consecutively increased morbidity and mortality. Twin and family studies have shown an important genetic component of BMD of about 40-60%. This exceeds other well known factors influencing BMD such as environmental factors like dietary calcium, physical activity or several drugs and diseases. Therefore, interest increased in the genetic background of bone mineral density. Polymorphisms of the Vitamin D receptor gene were the first to be published in this area. Studies on other loci or candidate genes such as the estrogen receptor gene or the collagen type I alpha1 gene also showed associations with bone mineral density that could explain at least a part of the genetic background of osteoporosis. Recently published data suggest that these genetic markers of bone metabolism are important in interaction with each other or in certain bone-affecting diseases. In the future, genetic studies on osteoporosis will have to screen further relevant genes and markers for bone metabolism as well as to evaluate the complex interactions of genetic influences, so that it would be possible to calculate a patient's individual risk for osteoporosis in the context of environmental influences.

NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 06)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

Patents and applications for patent introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system are cited. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and a key illustration selected from the patent or application for patent. The patent and application for patent citations are indexed according to subject, inventor, source, number, and accession number.

Bilingual Vocational Education. Project Abstracts 1987-1988.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Office of Vocational and Adult Education (ED), Washington, DC.

Abstracts are provided for 16 bilingual vocational education projects offered in 1987-88. Each abstract provides information on: grantee; state; project title; project director, address, and telephone number; project officer and U.S. Department of Education address; language group(s) served; occupational skills area(s); length of training cycle…

Preparing and presenting effective abstracts and posters in psychiatry

PubMed Central

Singh, Manpreet K.

2014-01-01

Presenting an abstract and a poster gives scientists from all fields, including psychiatry, an important opportunity to introduce their research to others. Researchers and mental health professionals at all levels of career development can use several media resources to assist them with the technical aspects of preparing an abstract or a poster. This article will focus on major principles associated with preparing and presenting an abstract and a poster at a scientific meeting. A literature search using NIH PubMed was conducted to identify peer and non-peer-reviewed articles that provide methods for effective abstract and poster presentation for the period of 1966 to June 2014. First, we review the purpose and relative importance of abstracts and posters in academic settings. Next, we describe the qualities of an effective abstract and poster and common pitfalls that may occur. Finally, we present a systematic approach to preparing and presenting an abstract and a poster in a scientific setting. Several sources consistently suggest that readability, organization, and succinctness are qualities that make an effective and successful abstract and poster. Mental health professionals in all stages of their career development may benefit from following these guidelines in presenting their scientific work. PMID:25085499

Subsequent publication of oral and maxillofacial surgery meeting abstracts.

PubMed

Rodriguez, Joseph L; Laskin, Daniel M

2012-05-01

Previous studies in various medical specialties have shown that fewer than 50% of abstracts presented at meetings are subsequently published. The purpose of the present study was to determine the publication rate of abstracts presented at the annual meetings of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. The titles and authors of the abstracts from all oral abstract session presentations and posters by American contributors were collected from the Final Programs of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons annual meetings for 2006 to 2009. A PubMed search for published articles through December 2010 was then performed using the authors' names, abstract titles, and key words. A total of 311 abstract presentations were done at the 4 annual meetings. Of these, only 85 (24%) were subsequently published. No difference was found between abstracts from oral or poster presentations. Most of the articles were published in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Because of deficiencies that can occur in abstracts and the need to disseminate the information they contain, it is important to take the appropriate measures to ensure that full articles are subsequently published. Copyright © 2012 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Preparing and presenting effective abstracts and posters in psychiatry.

PubMed

Singh, Manpreet K

2014-12-01

Presenting an abstract and a poster gives scientists from all fields, including psychiatry, an important opportunity to introduce their research to others. Researchers and mental health professionals at all levels of career development can use several media resources to assist them with the technical aspects of preparing an abstract or a poster. This article will focus on major principles associated with preparing and presenting an abstract and a poster at a scientific meeting. A literature search using NIH PubMed was conducted to identify peer and nonpeer-reviewed articles that provide methods for effective abstract and poster presentation for the period of 1966 to June 2014. First, the author reviews the purpose and relative importance of abstracts and posters in academic settings. Next, the author describes the qualities of an effective abstract and poster and common pitfalls that may occur. Finally, the author presents a systematic approach to preparing and presenting an abstract and a poster in a scientific setting. Several sources consistently suggest that readability, organization, and succinctness are qualities that make an effective and successful abstract and poster. Mental health professionals in all stages of their career development may benefit from following these guidelines in presenting their scientific work.

ERGONOMICS ABSTRACTS 48347-48982.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ministry of Technology, London (England). Warren Spring Lab.

IN THIS COLLECTION OF ERGONOMICS ABSTRACTS AND ANNOTATIONS THE FOLLOWING AREAS OF CONCERN ARE REPRESENTED--GENERAL REFERENCES, METHODS, FACILITIES, AND EQUIPMENT RELATING TO ERGONOMICS, SYSTEMS OF MAN AND MACHINES, VISUAL, AUDITORY, AND OTHER SENSORY INPUTS AND PROCESSES (INCLUDING SPEECH AND INTELLIGIBILITY), INPUT CHANNELS, BODY MEASUREMENTS,…

Assume-Guarantee Abstraction Refinement Meets Hybrid Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bogomolov, Sergiy; Frehse, Goran; Greitschus, Marius; Grosu, Radu; Pasareanu, Corina S.; Podelski, Andreas; Strump, Thomas

2014-01-01

Compositional verification techniques in the assume- guarantee style have been successfully applied to transition systems to efficiently reduce the search space by leveraging the compositional nature of the systems under consideration. We adapt these techniques to the domain of hybrid systems with affine dynamics. To build assumptions we introduce an abstraction based on location merging. We integrate the assume-guarantee style analysis with automatic abstraction refinement. We have implemented our approach in the symbolic hybrid model checker SpaceEx. The evaluation shows its practical potential. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work combining assume-guarantee reasoning with automatic abstraction-refinement in the context of hybrid automata.

Innovation Abstracts: Volume XI, Numbers 1-30.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roueche, Suanne D., Ed.

1989-01-01

This series of one- to two-page abstracts highlights a variety of innovative approaches to teaching and learning in the community college. Topics covered in the abstracts include: (1) cooperative planning for institutional excellence; (2) rewarding scholarship among community college faculty; (3) in-class debates as a learning strategy; (4)…

The Associations Between the Religious Background, Social Supports, and Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders in Taiwan: An Observational Study.

PubMed

Lin, Kuan-Han; Chen, Yih-Sharng; Chou, Nai-Kuan; Huang, Sheng-Jean; Wu, Chau-Chung; Chen, Yen-Yuan

2016-01-01

Prior studies have demonstrated important implications related to religiosity and a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) decision. However, the association between patients' religious background and DNR decisions is vague. In particular, the association between the religious background of Buddhism/Daoism and DNR decisions has never been examined. The objective of this study was to examine the association between patients' religious background and their DNR decisions, with a particular focus on Buddhism/Daoism.The medical records of the patients who were admitted to the 3 surgical intensive care units (SICU) in a university-affiliated medical center located at Northern Taiwan from June 1, 2011 to December 31, 2013 were retrospectively collected. We compared the clinical/demographic variables of DNR patients with those of non-DNR patients using the Student t test or χ test depending on the scale of the variables. We used multivariate logistic regression analysis to examine the association between the religious backgrounds and DNR decisions.A sample of 1909 patients was collected: 122 patients had a DNR order; and 1787 patients did not have a DNR order. Old age (P = 0.02), unemployment (P = 0.02), admission diagnosis of "nonoperative, cardiac failure/insufficiency" (P = 0.03), and severe acute illness at SICU admission (P < 0.01) were significantly associated with signing of DNR orders. Patients' religious background of Buddhism/Daoism (P = 0.04), married marital status (P = 0.02), and admission diagnosis of "postoperative, major surgery" (P = 0.02) were less likely to have a DNR order written during their SICU stay. Furthermore, patients with poor social support, as indicated by marital and working status, were more likely to consent to a DNR order during SICU stay.This study showed that the religious background of Buddhism/Daoism was significantly associated with a lower likelihood of consenting to a DNR, and poor social support was significantly

Abstract processing and observer vantage perspective in dysphoria.

PubMed

Hart-Smith, Ly; Moulds, Michelle L

2018-05-07

processing and observer vantage perspective have been associated with negative consequences in depression. We investigated the relationship between mode of processing and vantage perspective bidirectionally in high and low dysphoric individuals, using abstract and concrete descriptions of experimenter-provided everyday actions. When vantage perspective was manipulated and processing mode was measured (Study 1a), participants who adopted a field perspective did not differ from those who adopted an observer perspective in their preference for abstract descriptions, irrespective of dysphoria status. When processing mode was manipulated and vantage perspective was measured (Study 1b), participants provided with abstract descriptions had a greater tendency to adopt an observer perspective than those provided with concrete descriptions, irrespective of dysphoria status. These results were replicated in larger online samples (Studies 2a and 2b). Together, they indicate a unidirectional causal relationship, whereby processing mode causally influences vantage perspective, in contrast to the bidirectional relationship previously reported in an unselected sample (Libby, Shaeffer, & Eibach, 2009). Further, these findings demonstrate that abstract processing increases the likelihood of adopting an observer perspective, and support targeting abstract processing in the treatment of depression to address the negative consequences associated with both abstract processing and recalling/imagining events from an observer perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The lexical processing of abstract and concrete nouns.

PubMed

Papagno, Costanza; Fogliata, Arianna; Catricalà, Eleonora; Miniussi, Carlo

2009-03-31

Recent activation studies have suggested different neural correlates for processing concrete and abstract words. However, the precise localization is far from being defined. One reason for the heterogeneity of these results could lie in the extreme variability of experimental paradigms, ranging from explicit semantic judgments to lexical decision tasks (auditory and/or visual). The present study explored the processing of abstract/concrete nouns by using repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) and a lexical decision paradigm in neurologically-unimpaired subjects. Four sites were investigated: left inferior frontal, bilaterally posterior-superior temporal and left posterior-inferior parietal. An interference on accuracy was found for abstract words when rTMS was applied over the left temporal site, while for concrete words accuracy decreased when rTMS was applied over the right temporal site. Accuracy for abstract words, but not for concrete words, decreased after frontal stimulation as compared to the sham condition. These results suggest that abstract lexical entries are stored in the posterior part of the left temporal superior gyrus and possibly in the left frontal inferior gyrus, while the regions involved in storing concrete items include the right temporal cortex. It cannot be excluded, however, that additional areas, not tested in this experiment, are involved in processing both, concrete and abstract nouns.

Reducing Abstraction in High School Computer Science Education: The Case of Definition, Implementation, and Use of Abstract Data Types

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sakhnini, Victoria; Hazzan, Orit

2008-01-01

The research presented in this article deals with the difficulties and mental processes involved in the definition, implementation, and use of abstract data types encountered by 12th grade advanced-level computer science students. Research findings are interpreted within the theoretical framework of "reducing abstraction" [Hazzan 1999]. The…

Poster Session- Extended Abstracts

Treesearch

Jack D. Alexander III; Jean Findley; Brenda K. Kury; Jan L. Beyers; Douglas S. Cram; Terrell T. Baker; Jon C. Boren; Carl Edminster; Sue A. Ferguson; Steven McKay; David Nagel; Trent Piepho; Miriam Rorig; Casey Anderson; Jeanne Hoadley; Paulette L. Ford; Mark C. Andersen; Ed L. Fredrickson; Joe Truett; Gary W. Roemer; Brenda K. Kury; Jennifer Vollmer; Christine L. May; Danny C. Lee; James P. Menakis; Robert E. Keane; Zhi-Liang Zhu; Carol Miller; Brett Davis; Katharine Gray; Ken Mix; William P. Kuvlesky Jr.; D. Lynn Drawe; Marcia G. Narog; Roger D. Ottmar; Robert E. Vihnanek; Clinton S. Wright; Timothy E. Paysen; Burton K. Pendleton; Rosemary L. Pendleton; Carleton S. White; John Rogan; Doug Stow; Janet Franklin; Jennifer Miller; Lisa Levien; Chris Fischer; Emma Underwood; Robert Klinger; Peggy Moore; Clinton S. Wright

2008-01-01

Titles found within Poster Session-Extended Abstracts include:Assessment of emergency fire rehabilitation of four fires from the 2000 fire season on the Vale, Oregon, BLM district: review of the density sampling materials and methods: p. 329 Growth of regreen, seeded for erosion control, in the...

Constructing Abstraction Hierarchies Using a Skill-Symbol Loop

PubMed Central

Konidaris, George

2017-01-01

We describe a framework for building abstraction hierarchies whereby an agent alternates skill- and representation-construction phases to construct a sequence of increasingly abstract Markov decision processes. Our formulation builds on recent results showing that the appropriate abstract representation of a problem is specified by the agent’s skills. We describe how such a hierarchy can be used for fast planning, and illustrate the construction of an appropriate hierarchy for the Taxi domain. PMID:28579718

Title I, Higher Education Act Program Abstracts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Lorna M., Ed.

The 1979 edition of the Title I, Higher Education Act Program Abstracts is presented. Directed toward state Title I, HEA administrators, the program abstracts are made available in order to encourage nationwide program replication of those tested and evaluated programs that have been conducted with Title I support by institutions of higher…

Adolescent gynecomastia is associated with a high incidence of obesity, dysglycemia, and family background of diabetes mellitus

PubMed Central

Kulshreshtha, Bindu; Arpita, Arora; Rajesh, Patnaik T.; Sameek, Bhattacharya; Dutta, Deep; Neera, Sharma; Mohd, Mohsin

2017-01-01

Background: Gynecomastia during adolescence is common though etiology is not clear. We studied the clinical and hormonal profile of adolescent patients with gynecomastia. Methodology: Patients who had onset of breast development between age 10 and 20 years were included in this study. Their clinical profile, biochemical, and hormonal parameters were studied. Results: Of 94 patients with gynecomastia, 4 had hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, 4 had hypergonadotropic hypogonadism, and 1 had fibroadenosis, but in majority (90.4%), no apparent cause for breast enlargement was evident. In the idiopathic group, majority were obese (63%). Fourteen (16%) patients had impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance. Another twenty patients had subtle abnormalities (high 1 h glucose or glucose peak at 2 h). Twenty-nine percent of lean and 38% of obese patients had mild abnormalities in glucose profile. Sixty percent of patients had family background of diabetes. Obese patients had lower testosterone as compared to lean patients; however, estradiol, luteinizing hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormone levels were similar in the two groups. Conclusion: Gynecomastia during adolescence is associated with obesity, dysglycemia, and family background of diabetes mellitus. PMID:28217517

Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Subjects with Type 1 Diabetes: Improvement in Accuracy by Correcting for Background Current

PubMed Central

Youssef, Joseph El; Engle, Julia M.; Massoud, Ryan G.; Ward, W. Kenneth

2010-01-01

Abstract Background A cause of suboptimal accuracy in amperometric glucose sensors is the presence of a background current (current produced in the absence of glucose) that is not accounted for. We hypothesized that a mathematical correction for the estimated background current of a commercially available sensor would lead to greater accuracy compared to a situation in which we assumed the background current to be zero. We also tested whether increasing the frequency of sensor calibration would improve sensor accuracy. Methods This report includes analysis of 20 sensor datasets from seven human subjects with type 1 diabetes. Data were divided into a training set for algorithm development and a validation set on which the algorithm was tested. A range of potential background currents was tested. Results Use of the background current correction of 4 nA led to a substantial improvement in accuracy (improvement of absolute relative difference or absolute difference of 3.5–5.5 units). An increase in calibration frequency led to a modest accuracy improvement, with an optimum at every 4 h. Conclusions Compared to no correction, a correction for the estimated background current of a commercially available glucose sensor led to greater accuracy and better detection of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia. The accuracy-optimizing scheme presented here can be implemented in real time. PMID:20879968

Possibilities of identifying cyber attack in noisy space of n-dimensional abstract system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jašek, Roman; Dvořák, Jiří; Janková, Martina; Sedláček, Michal

2016-06-01

This article briefly mentions some selected options of current concept for identifying cyber attacks from the perspective of the new cyberspace of real system. In the cyberspace, there is defined n-dimensional abstract system containing elements of the spatial arrangement of partial system elements such as micro-environment of cyber systems surrounded by other suitably arranged corresponding noise space. This space is also gradually supplemented by a new image of dynamic processes in a discreet environment, and corresponding again to n-dimensional expression of time space defining existence and also the prediction for expected cyber attacksin the noise space. Noises are seen here as useful and necessary for modern information and communication technologies (e.g. in processes of applied cryptography in ICT) and then the so-called useless noises designed for initial (necessary) filtering of this highly aggressive environment and in future expectedly offensive background in cyber war (e.g. the destruction of unmanned means of an electromagnetic pulse, or for destruction of new safety barriers created on principles of electrostatic field or on other principles of modern physics, etc.). The key to these new options is the expression of abstract systems based on the models of microelements of cyber systems and their hierarchical concept in structure of n-dimensional system in given cyberspace. The aim of this article is to highlight the possible systemic expression of cyberspace of abstract system and possible identification in time-spatial expression of real environment (on microelements of cyber systems and their surroundings with noise characteristics and time dimension in dynamic of microelements' own time and externaltime defined by real environment). The article was based on a partial task of faculty specific research.

Abstracts of BESRL Research Publications, FY 1969.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Emma E.

Publications abstracted include Technical Research Reports 1156 and 1157, Technical Research Notes 199 through 210, Research Studies 68-4 through 68-6 and 69-1 through 6910, and Research Memorandums 68-8 through 68-13. Included are descriptions of 19 Work Units covering activities reported in the 33 abstracted publications, a list of regular…

Validation of International Classification of Diseases coding for bone metastases in electronic health records using technology-enabled abstraction.

PubMed

Liede, Alexander; Hernandez, Rohini K; Roth, Maayan; Calkins, Geoffrey; Larrabee, Katherine; Nicacio, Leo

2015-01-01

The accuracy of bone metastases diagnostic coding based on International Classification of Diseases, ninth revision (ICD-9) is unknown for most large databases used for epidemiologic research in the US. Electronic health records (EHR) are the preferred source of data, but often clinically relevant data occur only as unstructured free text. We examined the validity of bone metastases ICD-9 coding in structured EHR and administrative claims relative to the complete (structured and unstructured) patient chart obtained through technology-enabled chart abstraction. Female patients with breast cancer with ≥1 visit after November 2010 were identified from three community oncology practices in the US. We calculated sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of bone metastases ICD-9 code 198.5. The technology-enabled abstraction displays portions of the chart to clinically trained abstractors for targeted review, thereby maximizing efficiency. We evaluated effects of misclassification of patients developing skeletal complications or treated with bone-targeting agents (BTAs), and timing of BTA. Among 8,796 patients with breast cancer, 524 had confirmed bone metastases using chart abstraction. Sensitivity was 0.67 (95% confidence interval [CI] =0.63-0.71) based on structured EHR, and specificity was high at 0.98 (95% CI =0.98-0.99) with corresponding PPV of 0.71 (95% CI =0.67-0.75) and NPV of 0.98 (95% CI =0.98-0.98). From claims, sensitivity was 0.78 (95% CI =0.74-0.81), and specificity was 0.98 (95% CI =0.98-0.98) with PPV of 0.72 (95% CI =0.68-0.76) and NPV of 0.99 (95% CI =0.98-0.99). Structured data and claims missed 17% of bone metastases (89 of 524). False negatives were associated with measurable overestimation of the proportion treated with BTA or with a skeletal complication. Median date of diagnosis was delayed in structured data (32 days) and claims (43 days) compared with technology-assisted EHR. Technology

Parent Education: Abstract Bibliography.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kremer, Barbara, Comp.

This bibliography has been compiled to alert educators to parent education documents found in the ERIC microfiche collection and in journal literature. Abstracts of selected documents have been taken from "Research in Education (RIE)", and journal article citations from the "Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE)". Included are published…

Send Me No Abstract.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levy, Steven

1985-01-01

Discusses Magazine Index's practice of assigning letter grades (sometimes inaccurate) to book, restaurant, and movie reviews, thus allowing patrons to get the point of the review from the index rather than the article itself, and argues that this situation is indicative of the larger problem of reliability of abstracts. (MBR)

Analysis of the clinical backgrounds of patients who developed respiratory acidosis under high-flow oxygen therapy during emergency transport.

PubMed

Ogino, Hirokazu; Nishimura, Naoki; Yamano, Yasuhiko; Ishikawa, Genta; Tomishima, Yutaka; Jinta, Torahiko; Takahashi, Osamu; Chohnabayashi, Naohiko

2016-01-01

High-flow oxygen is often administered to patients during emergency transport and can sometimes cause respiratory acidosis with disturbed consciousness, thereby necessitating mechanical ventilation. Although oxygen titration in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients during emergency transport reduces mortality rates, the clinical risk factors for respiratory acidosis in emergency settings are not fully understood. Therefore, we analyzed the clinical backgrounds of patients who developed respiratory acidosis during pre-hospital transport. This was a retrospective study of patients who arrived at our hospital by emergency transport in 2010 who received high-flow oxygen while in transit. Respiratory acidosis was defined by the following arterial blood gas readings: pH, ≤7.35; PaCO 2 , ≥45 mmHg; and HCO 3 - , ≥24 mmol/L. The risk factors were identified using multivariable logistic regression analysis. In 765 study patients, 66 patients showed respiratory acidosis. The following risk factors for respiratory acidosis were identified: age, ≥65 years (odds ratio [OR] 1.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.7-2.8); transportation time, ≥10 min (OR 2.0; 95% CI, 1.1-3.7); three digits on the Japan Coma Scale (OR 3.1; 95% CI, 1.7-5.8); percutaneous oxygen saturation, ≤90% (OR 1.6; 95% CI, 0.8-3.0); tuberculosis (OR 4.5; 95% CI, 1.4-15.1); asthma (OR 1.8; 95% CI, 0.6-5.3); pneumonia (OR 1.5; 95% CI, 0.7-3.1); and lung cancer (OR 3.9; 95% CI, 1.5-10.1). These underlying diseases as risk factors included both comorbid diseases and past medical conditions. The factors identified may contribute to the development of respiratory acidosis. Further studies on preventing respiratory acidosis will improve the quality of emergency medical care.

Developing Creativity and Abstraction in Representing Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

South, Andy

2012-01-01

Creating charts and graphs is all about visual abstraction: the process of representing aspects of data with imagery that can be interpreted by the reader. Children may need help making the link between the "real" and the image. This abstraction can be achieved using symbols, size, colour and position. Where the representation is close to what…

Reporting quality of randomised controlled trial abstracts on age-related macular degeneration health care: a cross-sectional quantification of the adherence to CONSORT abstract reporting recommendations.

PubMed

Baulig, Christine; Krummenauer, Frank; Geis, Berit; Tulka, Sabrina; Knippschild, Stephanie

2018-05-22

To assess the reporting quality of randomised controlled trial (RCT) abstracts on age-related macular degeneration (AMD) healthcare, to evaluate the adherence to the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement's recommendations on minimum abstract information and to identify journal characteristics associated with abstract reporting quality. Cross-sectional evaluation of RCT abstracts on AMD healthcare. A PubMed search was implemented to identify RCT abstracts on AMD healthcare published in the English language between January 2004 and December 2013. Data extraction was performed by two parallel readers independently by means of a documentation format in accordance with the 16 items of the CONSORT checklist for abstracts. The total number of criteria fulfilled by an abstract was derived as primary endpoint of the investigation; incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with unadjusted 95% CI were estimated by means of multiple Poisson regression to identify journal and article characteristics (publication year, multicentre design, structured abstract recommendations, effective sample size, effective abstract word counts and journal impact factor) possibly associated with the total number of fulfilled items. 136 of 673 identified abstracts (published in 36 different journals) fulfilled all eligibility criteria. The median number of fulfilled items was 7 (95% CI 7 to 8). No abstract reported all 16 recommended items; the maximum total number was 14, the minimum 3 of 16 items. Multivariate analysis only demonstrated the abstracts' word counts as being significantly associated with a better reporting of abstracts (Poisson regression-based IRR 1.002, 95% CI 1.001 to 1.003). Reporting quality of RCT abstracts on AMD investigations showed a considerable potential for improvement to meet the CONSORT abstract reporting recommendations. Furthermore, word counts of abstracts were identified as significantly associated with the overall abstract reporting quality. �

Atypical associations to abstract words in Broca's aphasia.

PubMed

Roll, Mikael; Mårtensson, Frida; Sikström, Sverker; Apt, Pia; Arnling-Bååth, Rasmus; Horne, Merle

2012-09-01

Left frontal brain lesions are known to give rise to aphasia and impaired word associations. These associations have previously been difficult to analyze. We used a semantic space method to investigate associations to cue words. The degree of abstractness of the generated words and semantic similarity to the cue words were measured. Three subjects diagnosed with Broca's aphasia and twelve control subjects associated freely to cue words. Results were evaluated with latent semantic analysis (LSA) applied to the Swedish Parole corpus. The aphasic subjects could be clearly distinguished from controls by a lower degree of abstractness in the words they generated. The aphasic group's associations showed a negative correlation between semantic similarity to cue word and abstractness of cue word. By developing novel semantic measures, we showed that Broca's aphasic subjects' word production was characterized by a low degree of abstractness and low degree of coherence in associations to abstract cue words. The results support models where meanings of concrete words are represented in neural networks involving perceptual and motor areas, whereas the meaning of abstract words is more dependent on connections to other word forms in the left frontal region. Semantic spaces can be used in future developments of evaluative tools for both diagnosis and research purposes. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Srl. All rights reserved.

Selected Translated Abstracts of Chinese-Language Climate Change Publications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cushman, R.M.; Burtis, M.D.

1999-05-01

This report contains English-translated abstracts of important Chinese-language literature concerning global climate change for the years 1995-1998. This body of literature includes the topics of adaptation, ancient climate change, climate variation, the East Asia monsoon, historical climate change, impacts, modeling, and radiation and trace-gas emissions. In addition to the biological citations and abstracts translated into English, this report presents the original citations and abstracts in Chinese. Author and title indexes are included to assist the reader in locating abstracts of particular interest.

An Abstract Plan Preparation Language

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Butler, Ricky W.; Munoz, Cesar A.

2006-01-01

This paper presents a new planning language that is more abstract than most existing planning languages such as the Planning Domain Definition Language (PDDL) or the New Domain Description Language (NDDL). The goal of this language is to simplify the formal analysis and specification of planning problems that are intended for safety-critical applications such as power management or automated rendezvous in future manned spacecraft. The new language has been named the Abstract Plan Preparation Language (APPL). A translator from APPL to NDDL has been developed in support of the Spacecraft Autonomy for Vehicles and Habitats Project (SAVH) sponsored by the Explorations Technology Development Program, which is seeking to mature autonomy technology for application to the new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) that will replace the Space Shuttle.

Children and Computers Abstracts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rothenberg, Dianne, Ed.

1992-01-01

Abstracts of reports of eight research studies on computer uses in children's education are presented. Topics covered include (1) LOGO computer language; (2) computer graphics for art instruction; (3) animation; (4) problem solving; (5) children's use of symbols; (6) an evaluation of a Chapter 1 program involving children's computer use; (7) peer…

Abstract Film and Beyond.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Le Grice, Malcolm

A theoretical and historical account of the main preoccupations of makers of abstract films is presented in this book. The book's scope includes discussion of nonrepresentational forms as well as examination of experiments in the manipulation of time in films. The ten chapters discuss the following topics: art and cinematography, the first…

The behavioural patterns and neural correlates of concrete and abstract verb processing in aphasia: A novel verb semantic battery.

PubMed

Alyahya, Reem S W; Halai, Ajay D; Conroy, Paul; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A

2018-01-01

Typically, processing is more accurate and efficient for concrete than abstract concepts in both healthy adults and individuals with aphasia. While, concreteness effects have been thoroughly documented with respect to noun processing, other words classes have received little attention despite tending to be less concrete than nouns. The aim of the current study was to explore concrete-abstract differences in verbs and identify their neural correlates in post-stroke aphasia. Given the dearth of comprehension tests for verbs, a battery of neuropsychological tests was developed in this study to assess the comprehension of concrete and abstract verbs. Specifically, a sensitive verb synonym judgment test was generated that varied both the items' imageability and frequency, and a picture-to-word matching test with numerous concrete verbs. Normative data were then collected and the tests were administered to a cohort of 48 individuals with chronic post-stroke aphasia to explore the behavioural patterns and neural correlates of verb processing. The results revealed significantly better comprehension of concrete than abstract verbs, aligning with the existing aphasiological literature on noun processing. In addition, the patients performed better during verb comprehension than verb production. Lesion-symptom correlational analyses revealed common areas that support processing of concrete and abstract verbs, including the left anterior temporal lobe, posterior supramarginal gyrus and superior lateral occipital cortex. A direct contrast between them revealed additional regions with graded differences. Specifically, the left frontal regions were associated with processing abstract verbs; whereas, the left posterior temporal and occipital regions were associated with processing concrete verbs. Moreover, overlapping and distinct neural correlates were identified in association with the comprehension and production of concrete verbs. These patient findings align with data from

How to prepare and submit abstracts for scientific meetings

PubMed Central

Japiassú, Andre Miguel

2013-01-01

The presentation of study results is a key step in scientific research, and submitting an abstract to a meeting is often the first form of public communication. Meeting abstracts have a defined structure that is similar to abstracts for scientific articles, with an introduction, the objective, methods, results and conclusions. However, abstracts for meetings are not presented as part of a full article and, therefore, must contain the necessary and most relevant data. In this article, we detail their structure and include tips to make them technically correct. PMID:23917970

How to prepare and submit abstracts for scientific meetings.

PubMed

Japiassú, Andre Miguel

2013-01-01

The presentation of study results is a key step in scientific research, and submitting an abstract to a meeting is often the first form of public communication. Meeting abstracts have a defined structure that is similar to abstracts for scientific articles, with an introduction, the objective, methods, results and conclusions. However, abstracts for meetings are not presented as part of a full article and, therefore, must contain the necessary and most relevant data. In this article, we detail their structure and include tips to make them technically correct.

Optimal background matching camouflage.

PubMed

Michalis, Constantine; Scott-Samuel, Nicholas E; Gibson, David P; Cuthill, Innes C

2017-07-12

Background matching is the most familiar and widespread camouflage strategy: avoiding detection by having a similar colour and pattern to the background. Optimizing background matching is straightforward in a homogeneous environment, or when the habitat has very distinct sub-types and there is divergent selection leading to polymorphism. However, most backgrounds have continuous variation in colour and texture, so what is the best solution? Not all samples of the background are likely to be equally inconspicuous, and laboratory experiments on birds and humans support this view. Theory suggests that the most probable background sample (in the statistical sense), at the size of the prey, would, on average, be the most cryptic. We present an analysis, based on realistic assumptions about low-level vision, that estimates the distribution of background colours and visual textures, and predicts the best camouflage. We present data from a field experiment that tests and supports our predictions, using artificial moth-like targets under bird predation. Additionally, we present analogous data for humans, under tightly controlled viewing conditions, searching for targets on a computer screen. These data show that, in the absence of predator learning, the best single camouflage pattern for heterogeneous backgrounds is the most probable sample. © 2017 The Authors.

Automated Data Abstraction of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Process Measures for Complete Episodes of Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation.

PubMed

Lin, Steve; Turgulov, Anuar; Taher, Ahmed; Buick, Jason E; Byers, Adam; Drennan, Ian R; Hu, Samantha; J Morrison, Laurie

2016-10-01

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) process measures research and quality assurance has traditionally been limited to the first 5 minutes of resuscitation due to significant costs in time, resources, and personnel from manual data abstraction. CPR performance may change over time during prolonged resuscitations, which represents a significant knowledge gap. Moreover, currently available commercial software output of CPR process measures are difficult to analyze. The objective was to develop and validate a software program to help automate the abstraction and transfer of CPR process measures data from electronic defibrillators for complete episodes of cardiac arrest resuscitation. We developed a software program to facilitate and help automate CPR data abstraction and transfer from electronic defibrillators for entire resuscitation episodes. Using an intermediary Extensible Markup Language export file, the automated software transfers CPR process measures data (electrocardiogram [ECG] number, CPR start time, number of ventilations, number of chest compressions, compression rate per minute, compression depth per minute, compression fraction, and end-tidal CO 2 per minute). We performed an internal validation of the software program on 50 randomly selected cardiac arrest cases with resuscitation durations between 15 and 60 minutes. CPR process measures were manually abstracted and transferred independently by two trained data abstractors and by the automated software program, followed by manual interpretation of raw ECG tracings, treatment interventions, and patient events. Error rates and the time needed for data abstraction, transfer, and interpretation were measured for both manual and automated methods, compared to an additional independent reviewer. A total of 9,826 data points were each abstracted by the two abstractors and by the software program. Manual data abstraction resulted in a total of six errors (0.06%) compared to zero errors by the software program

Tofacitinib, an oral Janus kinase inhibitor, as monotherapy or with background methotrexate, in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis: an open-label, long-term extension study.

PubMed

Yamanaka, Hisashi; Tanaka, Yoshiya; Takeuchi, Tsutomu; Sugiyama, Naonobu; Yuasa, Hirotoshi; Toyoizumi, Shigeyuki; Morishima, Yosuke; Hirose, Tomohiro; Zwillich, Samuel

2016-01-28

Tofacitinib is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Here, tofacitinib safety and efficacy data from a long-term extension study in Japanese patients are presented. Study A3921041 was a multi-centre, open-label, long-term extension study that included Japanese patients who had participated in a prior Phase 2 or Phase 3 study of tofacitinib as monotherapy or with background methotrexate. Patients received tofacitinib 5 mg twice daily (BID) or tofacitinib 10 mg BID. Dose adjustment of tofacitinib during treatment period, and concomitant usage of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs including methotrexate after week 12 were permitted. Primary endpoints were adverse events, laboratory parameters and vital signs. Secondary efficacy endpoints included American College of Rheumatology (ACR)20/50/70 response rates, Disease Activity Score (DAS)28-4(erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR))<2.6 response rate (DAS-defined remission) and Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI) score. Safety and efficacy data were assessed throughout the study. A total of 486 patients were recruited and treated (1439.9 patient-years of exposure). 308 patients completed the study. Median (range) duration of treatment in this extension study was 1185 (5-2016) days. 476 patients (97.9 %) experienced adverse events; the majority of which (97.8 %) were of mild or moderate severity. The two most common treatment-emergent adverse events were nasopharyngitis (n = 293, 60.3 %) and herpes zoster (n = 94, 19.3 %). For all tofacitinib-treated patients, the incidence rate (patients with events per 100 patient-years) was 10.7 for serious adverse events, 3.3 for serious infections, 7.4 for herpes zoster (serious and non-serious) and 1.2 for malignancies (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer). Mean changes from baseline (start of the index study) in laboratory parameters were consistent with those seen in previously reported studies of tofacitinib

Association between addressing antiseizure drug side effects and patient-reported medication adherence in epilepsy

PubMed Central

Moura, Lidia M V R; Carneiro, Thiago S; Cole, Andrew J; Hsu, John; Vickrey, Barbara G; Hoch, Daniel B

2016-01-01

Background and aim Adherence to treatment is a critical component of epilepsy management. This study examines whether addressing antiepileptic drug (AED) side effects at every visit is associated with increased patient-reported medication adherence. Patients and methods This study identified 243 adults with epilepsy who were seen at two academic outpatient neurology settings and had at least two visits over a 3-year period. Demographic and clinical characteristics were abstracted. Evidence that AED side effects were addressed was measured through 1) phone interview (patient-reported) and 2) medical records abstraction (physician-documented). Medication adherence was assessed using the validated Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-4. Complete adherence was determined as answering “no” to all questions. Results Sixty-two (25%) patients completed the interviews. Participants and nonparticipants were comparable with respect to demographic and clinical characteristics; however, a smaller proportion of participants had a history of drug-resistant epilepsy than nonparticipants (17.7% vs 30.9%, P=0.04). Among the participants, evidence that AED side effects were addressed was present in 48 (77%) medical records and reported by 51 (82%) patients. Twenty-eight (45%) patients reported complete medication adherence. The most common reason for incomplete adherence was missed medication due to forgetfulness (n=31, 91%). There was no association between addressing AED side effects (neither physician-documented nor patient-reported) and complete medication adherence (P=0.22 and 0.20). Discussion and conclusion Among patients with epilepsy, addressing medication side effects at every visit does not appear to increase patient-reported medication adherence. PMID:27826186

Background noise analysis in urban airport surroundings of Brazilian cities, Congonhas Airport, São Paulo

PubMed Central

Scatolini, Fabio; Alves, Cláudio Jorge Pinto

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To perform a quantitative analysis of the background noise at Congonhas Airport surroundings based on large sampling and measurements with no interruption. METHODS Measuring sites were chosen from 62 and 72 DNL (day-night-level) noise contours, in urban sites compatible with residential use. Fifteen sites were monitored for at least 168 hours without interruption or seven consecutive days. Data compilation was based on cross-reference between noise measurements and air traffic control records, and results were validated by airport meteorological reports. Preliminary diagnoses were established using the standard NBR-13368. Background noise values were calculated based on the Sound Exposure Level (SEL). Statistic parameters were calculated in one-hour intervals. RESULTS Only four of the fifteen sites assessed presented aircraft operations as a clear cause for the noise annoyance. Even so, it is possible to detect background noise levels above regulation limits during periods of low airport activity or when it closes at night. CONCLUSIONS All the sites monitored showed background noise levels above regulation limits between 7:00 and 21:00. In the intervals between 6:00-6:59 and 21:00-22:59 the noise data, when analyzed with the current airport operational characteristics, still allow the development of additional mitigating measures. PMID:28099658

Waterloo Eye Study: data abstraction and population representation.

PubMed

Machan, Carolyn M; Hrynchak, Patricia K; Irving, Elizabeth L

2011-05-01

To determine data quality in the Waterloo Eye Study (WatES) and compare the WatES age/sex distribution to the general population. Six thousand three hundred ninety-seven clinic files were reviewed at the University of Waterloo, School of Optometry. Abstracted information included patient age, sex, presenting chief complaint, entering spectacle prescription, refraction, binocular vision, and disease data. Mean age and age distributions were determined for the entire study group and both sexes. These results were compared with Statistics Canada (2006) estimates and information on Canadian optometric practices. Inter- and intraabstractor reliability was determined through double entry of 425 and 50 files, respectively; the Cohen kappa statistic (K) was calculated for qualitative data and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for quantitative data. Availability of data within the files was determined through missing data rates. The age of the patients in the WatES ranged from 0.2 to 93.9 years (mean age, 42.5 years), with all age groups younger than 85 years well represented. Females comprised 54.1% and males 45.9% of the study group. There were more older patients (>65 years) and younger patients (<10 years) than in the population at large. K values were highest for demographic information (e.g., sex, 0.96) and averaged slightly less for most clinical data requiring some abstractor interpretation (0.71 to 1.00). The two lowest interabstractor values, migraine (0.41) and smoking (0.26), had low reporting frequencies and definition ambiguity between abstractors. Intraclass correlation coefficient values were >0.90 for all but one continuous data type. Missing data rates were <2% for all but near phoria, which was 7.4%. The WatES database includes patients from all age groups and both sexes. It provides a fair representation of optometric patients in Canada. Its large sample size, good interabstractor repeatability, and low missing data rates demonstrates

Abstraction through Game Play

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Avraamidou, Antri; Monaghan, John; Walker, Aisha

2012-01-01

This paper examines the computer game play of an 11-year-old boy. In the course of building a virtual house he developed and used, without assistance, an artefact and an accompanying strategy to ensure that his house was symmetric. We argue that the creation and use of this artefact-strategy is a mathematical abstraction. The discussion…

Reasoning abstractly about resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clement, B.; Barrett, A.

2001-01-01

r describes a way to schedule high level activities before distributing them across multiple rovers in order to coordinate the resultant use of shared resources regardless of how each rover decides how to perform its activities. We present an algorithm for summarizing the metric resource requirements of an abstract activity based n the resource usages of its potential refinements.

Land Application of Sewage Effluents and Sludges: Selected Abstracts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC. Office of Research and Development.

This report contains 568 selected abstracts concerned with the land application of sewage effluents and sludges. The abstracts are arranged in chronological groupings of ten-year periods from the l940's to the mid-l970's. The report also includes an author index and a subject matter index to facilitate reference to specific abstracts or narrower…

Orthopaedic Section Poster Presentations (Abstracts OPO1-OPO300).

PubMed

2018-01-01

These abstracts are presented here as prepared by the authors. The accuracy and content of each abstract remain the responsibility of the authors. In the identification number above each abstract, OPO designates an Orthopaedic Section poster presentation. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2018;48(1):A67-A202. doi:10.2519/jospt.2018.48.1.A67.

[The genetic background for the eye malformations anophthalmia and microphthalmia].

PubMed

Roos, Laura Sønderberg; Grønskov, Karen; Jensen, Hanne; Tümer, Zeynep

2012-03-12

Anophthalmia and microphthalmia (AO/MO) are rare congenital eye malformations, in which the eyeball is apparently absent or smaller than normal, which causes various degrees of visual impairment. Over 200 different AO/MO-related syndromes have been described, but the genetic background is unknown in many cases. The aim of this article is to give an overview of AO/MO, focusing on the genetic background. It is illustrated that the future identification of new AO/MO related genes will benefit in the genetic counseling of AO/MO patients, and in the understanding of eye development and congenital eye malformations.

Controlling Low-Rate Signal Path Microdischarge for an Ultra-Low-Background Proportional Counter

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mace, Emily K.; Aalseth, Craig E.; Bonicalzi, Ricco

2013-05-01

ABSTRACT Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has developed an ultra-low-background proportional counter (ULBPC) made of high purity copper. These detectors are part of an ultra-low-background counting system (ULBCS) in the newly constructed shallow underground laboratory at PNNL (at a depth of ~30 meters water-equivalent). To control backgrounds, the current preamplifier electronics are located outside the ULBCS shielding. Thus the signal from the detector travels through ~1 meter of cable and is potentially susceptible to high voltage microdischarge and other sources of electronic noise. Based on initial successful tests, commercial cables and connectors were used for this critical signal path. Subsequentmore » testing across different batches of commercial cables and connectors, however, showed unwanted (but still low) rates of microdischarge noise. To control this noise source, two approaches were pursued: first, to carefully validate cables, connectors, and other commercial components in this critical signal path, making modifications where necessary; second, to develop a custom low-noise, low-background preamplifier that can be integrated with the ULBPC and thus remove most commercial components from the critical signal path. This integrated preamplifier approach is based on the Amptek A250 low-noise charge-integrating preamplifier module. The initial microdischarge signals observed are presented and characterized according to the suspected source. Each of the approaches for mitigation is described, and the results from both are compared with each other and with the original performance seen with commercial cables and connectors.« less

DSH abstract: coverage of the world communicative disorders literature.

PubMed

Seaton, W H; Williams, D M

1982-06-01

The percentage of journal articles covered by dsh Abstracts and the time it took these articles to appear as abstracts in this secondary publication were analyzed. Articles were obtained from nineteen communicative disorders journals every other year for the years from 1968 to 1976. Then the author index of dsh Abstracts was searched each year for up to five years following journal publication to determine whether each article was included in this abstracting service's coverage of the world literature. Of the 5548 articles included in the study, 3270 (59%) were covered by this abstracting service within a mean time of 9 months; however, time lag and coverage varied considerably for individual journals on a year by year basis. It was concluded that for historical searches and current awareness needs this secondary publication may not be meeting the information needs of communicative disorders specialists.

Background sources at PEP

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lynch, H.; Schwitters, R.F.; Toner, W.T.

Important sources of background for PEP experiments are studied. Background particles originate from high-energy electrons and positrons which have been lost from stable orbits, ..gamma..-rays emitted by the primary beams through bremsstrahlung in the residual gas, and synchrotron radiation x-rays. The effect of these processes on the beam lifetime are calculated and estimates of background rates at the interaction region are given. Recommendations for the PEP design, aimed at minimizing background are presented. 7 figs., 4 tabs.

Medical Utilization of Kiosks in the Delivery of Patient Education: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Yvonne Chan, Yu-Feng; Nagurka, Roxanne; Bentley, Suzanne; Ordonez, Edgardo; Sproule, William

2014-01-01

Background: The utilization of kiosks has previously been shown to be effective for collecting information, delivering educational modules, and providing access to health information. We discuss a review of current literature for the utilization of kiosks for the delivery of patient education. Methods: The criteria for inclusion in this literature review were: (1) study discusses the utilization of kiosks for patient health education; (2) study discusses the use of touch screens for patient health information; (3) published in English. Our review includes searches via MEDLINE databases and Google Scholar for the years 1996-2014. Results: Overall, 167 articles were screened for final eligibility, and after discarding duplicates and non-eligible studies with abstract. Full-text review of 28 articles was included in the final analysis. Conclusion: The review of available literature demonstrates the effectiveness of touch screen kiosks to educate patients and to improve healthcare, both at a performance and cost advantage over other modes of patient education. PMID:25097831

Tantalus, Restraint Theory, and the Low-Sacrifice Diet: The Art of Reverse Abstraction

PubMed Central

Blair-West, George W.

2007-01-01

This paper argues that clinicians face the unique artistic challenge of taking concrete pieces of data – scientific findings – and abstracting them into effective therapeutic interventions. Moreover, this abstraction has to be modified for different personality types. The process of therapeutic change and how it can be impeded by the traditional medical model are briefly explored. The doctor-patient dyadic treatment relationship, while appropriate and necessary for many medical interventions, can disavow the source of change when it comes to lifestyle conditions such as obesity. Restraint theory and its origins in Greek mythology are briefly reviewed and integrated with Bowlby's attachment theory as precepts in developing a psychologically based dietary approach. By retaining in people's diets foods they have a deep emotional attachment to, the low-sacrifice diet attempts to encourage caloric restriction in a way that does not trigger rebound overeating. PMID:18311368

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE OF PATIENTS ELIGIBLE FOR BARIATRIC SURGERY

PubMed Central

RIBEIRO, Graziela Aparecida Nogueira de Almeida; GIAMPIETRO, Helenice Brizolla; BELARMINO, Lídia Barbieri; SALGADO-JÚNIOR, Wilson

2016-01-01

Abstract Background: The psychologist who works in bariatric surgery has a role to receive, evaluate, prepare and educate the patient who will undergo the surgical procedure. Psychological evaluation becomes important in so far as allows us to obtain data on personal and familiar history and allow tracing of possible psychopathology. Aim: To collect data on psychological evaluations of patients in a bariatric surgery service of a public hospital in order to describe the psychological profile of patients in this service. Method: Data were collected from 827 patients between 2001 and 2015, using data from an interview, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Binge Eating Scale (BES). Results: The mean age of patients before surgery was 39 years+/- 10, the mean BMI was 51 kg/m²+7, and most patients (81%) were female. The average score on the BDI was 14.8+8 and women had significantly higher scores than men. On the BAI the average score was 11+8 and on the ECAP was 14+8, both with no difference between groups. Conclusions: Psychosocial characteristics of the patients points to the significant presence of indicators of depression, with low levels of anxiety and binge eating. PMID:27683771

Pacifier Overuse and Conceptual Relations of Abstract and Emotional Concepts.

PubMed

Barca, Laura; Mazzuca, Claudia; Borghi, Anna M

2017-01-01

This study explores the impact of the extensive use of an oral device since infancy (pacifier) on the acquisition of concrete, abstract, and emotional concepts. While recent evidence showed a negative relation between pacifier use and children's emotional competence (Niedenthal et al., 2012), the possible interaction between use of pacifier and processing of emotional and abstract language has not been investigated. According to recent theories, while all concepts are grounded in sensorimotor experience, abstract concepts activate linguistic and social information more than concrete ones. Specifically, the Words As Social Tools (WAT) proposal predicts that the simulation of their meaning leads to an activation of the mouth (Borghi and Binkofski, 2014; Borghi and Zarcone, 2016). Since the pacifier affects facial mimicry forcing mouth muscles into a static position, we hypothesize its possible interference on acquisition/consolidation of abstract emotional and abstract not-emotional concepts, which are mainly conveyed during social and linguistic interactions, than of concrete concepts. Fifty-nine first grade children, with a history of different frequency of pacifier use, provided oral definitions of the meaning of abstract not-emotional, abstract emotional, and concrete words. Main effect of concept type emerged, with higher accuracy in defining concrete and abstract emotional concepts with respect to abstract not-emotional concepts, independently from pacifier use. Accuracy in definitions was not influenced by the use of pacifier, but correspondence and hierarchical clustering analyses suggest that the use of pacifier differently modulates the conceptual relations elicited by abstract emotional and abstract not-emotional. While the majority of the children produced a similar pattern of conceptual relations, analyses on the few (6) children who overused the pacifier (for more than 3 years) showed that they tend to distinguish less clearly between concrete and

Pacifier Overuse and Conceptual Relations of Abstract and Emotional Concepts

PubMed Central

Barca, Laura; Mazzuca, Claudia; Borghi, Anna M.

2017-01-01

This study explores the impact of the extensive use of an oral device since infancy (pacifier) on the acquisition of concrete, abstract, and emotional concepts. While recent evidence showed a negative relation between pacifier use and children's emotional competence (Niedenthal et al., 2012), the possible interaction between use of pacifier and processing of emotional and abstract language has not been investigated. According to recent theories, while all concepts are grounded in sensorimotor experience, abstract concepts activate linguistic and social information more than concrete ones. Specifically, the Words As Social Tools (WAT) proposal predicts that the simulation of their meaning leads to an activation of the mouth (Borghi and Binkofski, 2014; Borghi and Zarcone, 2016). Since the pacifier affects facial mimicry forcing mouth muscles into a static position, we hypothesize its possible interference on acquisition/consolidation of abstract emotional and abstract not-emotional concepts, which are mainly conveyed during social and linguistic interactions, than of concrete concepts. Fifty-nine first grade children, with a history of different frequency of pacifier use, provided oral definitions of the meaning of abstract not-emotional, abstract emotional, and concrete words. Main effect of concept type emerged, with higher accuracy in defining concrete and abstract emotional concepts with respect to abstract not-emotional concepts, independently from pacifier use. Accuracy in definitions was not influenced by the use of pacifier, but correspondence and hierarchical clustering analyses suggest that the use of pacifier differently modulates the conceptual relations elicited by abstract emotional and abstract not-emotional. While the majority of the children produced a similar pattern of conceptual relations, analyses on the few (6) children who overused the pacifier (for more than 3 years) showed that they tend to distinguish less clearly between concrete and

Possibilities of identifying cyber attack in noisy space of n-dimensional abstract system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jašek, Roman; Dvořák, Jiří; Janková, Martina

This article briefly mentions some selected options of current concept for identifying cyber attacks from the perspective of the new cyberspace of real system. In the cyberspace, there is defined n-dimensional abstract system containing elements of the spatial arrangement of partial system elements such as micro-environment of cyber systems surrounded by other suitably arranged corresponding noise space. This space is also gradually supplemented by a new image of dynamic processes in a discreet environment, and corresponding again to n-dimensional expression of time space defining existence and also the prediction for expected cyber attacksin the noise space. Noises are seen heremore » as useful and necessary for modern information and communication technologies (e.g. in processes of applied cryptography in ICT) and then the so-called useless noises designed for initial (necessary) filtering of this highly aggressive environment and in future expectedly offensive background in cyber war (e.g. the destruction of unmanned means of an electromagnetic pulse, or for destruction of new safety barriers created on principles of electrostatic field or on other principles of modern physics, etc.). The key to these new options is the expression of abstract systems based on the models of microelements of cyber systems and their hierarchical concept in structure of n-dimensional system in given cyberspace. The aim of this article is to highlight the possible systemic expression of cyberspace of abstract system and possible identification in time-spatial expression of real environment (on microelements of cyber systems and their surroundings with noise characteristics and time dimension in dynamic of microelements’ own time and externaltime defined by real environment). The article was based on a partial task of faculty specific research.« less

Patient-Centered Research Abstracts

PubMed Central

Thorndike, AN; Biener, L; Rigotti, NA

2000-01-01

PURPOSE Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) sales switched from prescription to over-the-counter (OTC) status in April 1996. The change was expected to benefit public health by increasing smokers' access to NRT, and industry data show a doubling of NRT sales since the switch. We used a population-based sample to assess whether OTC availability increased smokers' rates of 1) NRT use, 2) quit attempts, and 3) cessation. METHODS We analyzed data from the Massachusetts Tobacco Surveys, telephone surveys of a probability sample of Massachusetts (MA) residents (response rates 68%–78%). We compared responses from past-year smokers in 1993 (pre-OTC; N = 1784) to those from 1997–99 (post-OTC; N = 1240), using multiple logistic regression. We also compared the demographic characteristics of NRT users before and after the OTC switch among smokers who had made a quit attempt in the past year. RESULTS There was no significant change over time in the proportion of respondents using NRT at a quit attempt in the past year (20.1% pre-OTC vs. 19.9% post-OTC) and no significant change in the proportion of smokers who made a quit attempt or who quit smoking. Half of smokers who used NRT post-OTC used it to "delay or cut down" their smoking but not to make a quit attempt. Fewer non-whites used NRT post-OTC (3.3%) compared to pre-OTC (20.7%) (adjusted p = .002), but the proportion of whites using NRT did not change (20.6% pre-OTC to 21.9% post-OTC). A higher proportion of 18–30 year-olds and a lower proportion openface>45 year-olds used NRT post-OTC compared to pre-OTC (adjusted p = .0004). CONCLUSION We find no evidence that the OTC switch was associated with increased NRT use, quit attempts, or cessation rates among MA smokers, and one explanation may be that smokers purchase OTC NRT for reasons other than cessation. Since the switch, access to NRT appears to have increased for young adults but decreased for older and minority smokers. Even though NRT is now sold OTC, it remains important for physicians to encourage and monitor its use.

Patient-Centered Research Abstracts

PubMed Central

Swenson, SL; Shapiro, S; Cunningham, C; Gourevitch, M

2000-01-01

PURPOSE AIDS continues to devastate urban communities, particularly among marginally-housed, ethnic minority, and drug-using populations. This study (1) describes access to comprehensive medical care, quality of HIV-related care, and attitudes regarding health among HIV-infected residents of single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels and (2) explores predictors of the use of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) prophylaxis and highly-active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional, community-based study of 69 Bronx SRO hotel residents during May 1998. Utilizing door-to-door recruitment, we administered a 41-item, anonymous questionnaire to assess participants' demographic characteristics, level of illness and health care utilization, use of HIV-related therapies, and perceptions of their own health and medical care. RESULTS Of respondents, 65% identified as African-American or Black, 22% as Puerto Rican, and 13% as White or Other. The median age was 42; 68% were male, and 38% were high school graduates. Most individuals were marginally-housed (median stay = 9 months). Almost all participants (96%) paid for medical services via Medicaid. Of the 93% with HIV infection, 44% had been hospitalized at least once in the past year, 72% reported a history of AIDS-defining opportunistic infections, and the median CD4 count was 214. Over two-thirds were actively using drugs and/or alcohol. Among HIV-infected residents, 81% had seen a doctor in the last three months. However, only 67% felt they had a "regular" physician, and 48% felt their access to medical care was average to very poor. Among eligible HIV-infected persons, only 39% had taken HAART and 73% had taken PCP prophylaxis in the last week. Predictors for the use of HAART included absence of active cocaine and/or crack use (RR = 3.91; 95% CI 1.03–14.8; p < .03), use of PCP prophylaxis (RR = 5.69; 95% CI .85–38.1; p < .03) and the belief that HAART "can help people with AIDS" (RR = 1.75; 95% CI 1.28–2.44; p < .03). HAART use did not correlate with site or frequency of medical care or active alcohol or heroin use. Individuals with regular doctors were less likely to have visited an emergency room in the past 3 months (RR = .41; 95% CI .22–.76; p < .02) and more likely to be taking PCP prophylaxis (RR = 2.68; 95% CI 1.19–6.02; p < .008). CONCLUSION Despite relatively advanced disease in this population of marginally-housed HIV-infected persons, significant proportions do not have a regular primary care provider, are not taking HAART, and report sub-optimal quality of and access to medical care. Active cocaine and/or crack use correlate with a lesser use of HAART.

3D Visualizations of Abstract DataSets

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-08-01

contrasts no shadows, drop shadows and drop lines. 15. SUBJECT TERMS 3D displays, 2.5D displays, abstract network visualizations, depth perception , human...altitude perception in airspace management and airspace route planning—simulated reality visualizations that employ altitude and heading as well as...cues employed by display designers for depicting real-world scenes on a flat surface can be applied to create a perception of depth for abstract

Making the Abstract Concrete

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Potter, Lee Ann

2005-01-01

President Ronald Reagan nominated a woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court. He did so through a single-page form letter, completed in part by hand and in part by typewriter, announcing Sandra Day O'Connor as his nominee. While the document serves as evidence of a historic event, it is also a tangible illustration of abstract concepts…

Brain network response underlying decisions about abstract reinforcers.

PubMed

Mills-Finnerty, Colleen; Hanson, Catherine; Hanson, Stephen Jose

2014-12-01

Decision making studies typically use tasks that involve concrete action-outcome contingencies, in which subjects do something and get something. No studies have addressed decision making involving abstract reinforcers, where there are no action-outcome contingencies and choices are entirely hypothetical. The present study examines these kinds of choices, as well as whether the same biases that exist for concrete reinforcer decisions, specifically framing effects, also apply during abstract reinforcer decisions. We use both General Linear Model as well as Bayes network connectivity analysis using the Independent Multi-sample Greedy Equivalence Search (IMaGES) algorithm to examine network response underlying choices for abstract reinforcers under positive and negative framing. We find for the first time that abstract reinforcer decisions activate the same network of brain regions as concrete reinforcer decisions, including the striatum, insula, anterior cingulate, and VMPFC, results that are further supported via comparison to a meta-analysis of decision making studies. Positive and negative framing activated different parts of this network, with stronger activation in VMPFC during negative framing and in DLPFC during positive, suggesting different decision making pathways depending on frame. These results were further clarified using connectivity analysis, which revealed stronger connections between anterior cingulate, insula, and accumbens during negative framing compared to positive. Taken together, these results suggest that not only do abstract reinforcer decisions rely on the same brain substrates as concrete reinforcers, but that the response underlying framing effects on abstract reinforcers also resemble those for concrete reinforcers, specifically increased limbic system connectivity during negative frames. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

International symposium on erosion and landscape evolution abstracts

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This book contains all of the extended abstracts from the ASABE specialty conference, the International Symposium on Erosion and Landscape Evolution (ISELE), held September 18-21, 2011 at the Hilton Anchorage Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska. Three extended abstracts from the meeting keynote speakers as ...

Abstracts of Research, July 1973 through June 1974.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ohio State Univ., Columbus. Computer and Information Science Research Center.

Abstracts of research papers in the fields of computer and information science are given; 72 papers are abstracted in the areas of information storage and retrieval, information processing, linguistic analysis, artificial intelligence, mathematical techniques, systems programing, and computer networks. In addition, the Ohio State University…

Odors and Air Pollution: A Bibliography with Abstracts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC. Office of Air Programs.

The annotated bibliography presents a compilation of abstracts which deal with odors as they relate to air pollution. The abstracts are arranged within the following categories: Emission sources; Control methods; Measurement methods; Air quality measurements; Atmospheric interaction; Basic science and technology; Effects-human health;…

Differential emotional processing in concrete and abstract words.

PubMed

Yao, Bo; Keitel, Anne; Bruce, Gillian; Scott, Graham G; O'Donnell, Patrick J; Sereno, Sara C

2018-02-12

Emotion (positive and negative) words are typically recognized faster than neutral words. Recent research suggests that emotional valence, while often treated as a unitary semantic property, may be differentially represented in concrete and abstract words. Studies that have explicitly examined the interaction of emotion and concreteness, however, have demonstrated inconsistent patterns of results. Moreover, these findings may be limited as certain key lexical variables (e.g., familiarity, age of acquisition) were not taken into account. We investigated the emotion-concreteness interaction in a large-scale, highly controlled lexical decision experiment. A 3 (Emotion: negative, neutral, positive) × 2 (Concreteness: abstract, concrete) design was used, with 45 items per condition and 127 participants. We found a significant interaction between emotion and concreteness. Although positive and negative valenced words were recognized faster than neutral words, this emotion advantage was significantly larger in concrete than in abstract words. We explored potential contributions of participant alexithymia level and item imageability to this interactive pattern. We found that only word imageability significantly modulated the emotion-concreteness interaction. While both concrete and abstract emotion words are advantageously processed relative to comparable neutral words, the mechanisms of this facilitation are paradoxically more dependent on imageability in abstract words. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Editors' Introduction: Abstract Concepts: Structure, Processing, and Modeling.

PubMed

Bolognesi, Marianna; Steen, Gerard

2018-06-22

Our ability to deal with abstract concepts is one of the most intriguing faculties of human cognition. Still, we know little about how such concepts are formed, processed, and represented in mind. For example, because abstract concepts do not designate referents that can be experienced through our body, the role of perceptual experiences in shaping their content remains controversial. Current theories suggest a variety of alternative explanations to the question of "how abstract concepts are represented in the human mind." These views pinpoint specific streams of semantic information that would play a prominent role in shaping the content of abstract concepts, such as situation-based information (e.g., Barsalou & Wiemer-Hastings, ), affective information (Kousta, Vigliocco, Vinson, Andrews, & Del Campo, ), and linguistic information (Louwerse, ). Rarely, these theoretical views are directly compared. In this special issue, current views are presented in their most recent and advanced form, and directly compared and discussed in a debate, which is reported at the end of each article. As a result, new exciting questions and challenges arise. These questions and challenges, reported in this introductory article, can arguably pave the way to new empirical studies and theoretical developments on the nature of abstract concepts. © 2018 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

The Paradox of Abstraction: Precision Versus Concreteness.

PubMed

Iliev, Rumen; Axelrod, Robert

2017-06-01

We introduce a novel measure of abstractness based on the amount of information of a concept computed from its position in a semantic taxonomy. We refer to this measure as precision. We propose two alternative ways to measure precision, one based on the path length from a concept to the root of the taxonomic tree, and another one based on the number of direct and indirect descendants. Since more information implies greater processing load, we hypothesize that nouns higher in precision will have a processing disadvantage in a lexical decision task. We contrast precision to concreteness, a common measure of abstractness based on the proportion of sensory-based information associated with a concept. Since concreteness facilitates cognitive processing, we predict that while both concreteness and precision are measures of abstractness, they will have opposite effects on performance. In two studies we found empirical support for our hypothesis. Precision and concreteness had opposite effects on latency and accuracy in a lexical decision task, and these opposite effects were observable while controlling for word length, word frequency, affective content and semantic diversity. Our results support the view that concepts organization includes amodal semantic structures which are independent of sensory information. They also suggest that we should distinguish between sensory-based and amount-of-information-based abstractness.

Abstract Algebra for Teachers: An Evaluative Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoffman, Andrew Joseph

2017-01-01

This manuscript describes the study of an abstract algebra course for preservice secondary mathematics teachers (PSMTs). Often, courses in abstract algebra have not been viewed as productive, beneficial learning experiences for future teachers, both by researchers and PSMTs themselves. This despite calls for increased content knowledge for…

Intuitive reasoning about abstract and familiar physics problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaiser, Mary Kister; Jonides, John; Alexander, Joanne

1986-01-01

Previous research has demonstrated that many people have misconceptions about basic properties of motion. Two experiments examined whether people are more likely to produce dynamically correct predictions about basic motion problems involving situations with which they are familiar, and whether solving such problems enhances performance on a subsequent abstract problem. In experiment 1, college students were asked to predict the trajectories of objects exiting a curved tube. Subjects were more accurate on the familiar version of the problem, and there was no evidence of transfer to the abstract problem. In experiment 2, two familiar problems were provided in an attempt to enhance subjects' tendency to extract the general structure of the problems. Once again, they gave more correct responses to the familiar problems but failed to generalize to the abstract problem. Formal physics training was associated with correct predictions for the abstract problem but was unrelated to performance on the familiar problems.

Grasping the invisible: semantic processing of abstract words.

PubMed

Zdrazilova, Lenka; Pexman, Penny M

2013-12-01

The problem of how abstract word meanings are represented has been a challenging one. In the present study, we extended the semantic richness approach (e.g., Yap, Tan, Pexman, & Hargreaves in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 18:742-750, 2011) to abstract words, examining the effects of six semantic richness variables on lexical-semantic processing for 207 abstract nouns. The candidate richness dimensions were context availability (CA), sensory experience rating (SER), valence, arousal, semantic neighborhood (SN), and number of associates (NoA). The behavioral tasks were lexical decision (LDT) and semantic categorization (SCT). Our results showed that the semantic richness variables were significantly related to both LDT and SCT latencies, even after lexical and orthographic factors were controlled. The patterns of richness effects varied across tasks, with CA effects in the LDT, and SER and valence effects in the SCT. These results provide new insight into how abstract meanings may be grounded, and are consistent with a dynamic, multidimensional framework for semantic processing.

Abstracts of ARI Research Publications, FY 1979

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-11-01

Technical Report 483 ABSTRACTS OF ARI RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS FY 1979 -- C:) U. S . ArmyL.) LAa Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social...U. S . ARMY RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR THE BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES A Field Operating Agency under the Jurisdiction of the Deputy Chief of Staff...PIEIT’S ATALOG NUMBER Technical Report 483 l L~,2 y. (-P- NUZE 4. TITLE (nd Subtfti.) S . TYPE OF REPORT & PERIOD COVERED ABSTRACTS OF ARI RESEARCH

A cross-sectional descriptive study of the family functioning, health and social support of hospital patients with family violence backgrounds.

PubMed

Kivelä, Salla; Leppäkoski, Tuija; Helminen, Mika; Paavilainen, Eija

2017-12-19

Family violence (FV) has serious effects on the health and well-being of the family. The health sector plays a vital role in FV prevention by helping to identify abuse early, providing victims with the necessary treatment and referring patients to appropriate care. The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to describe the prevalence of FV among hospital patients, as well as to assess the association between family functioning, health and social support, considering patients as the perpetrators or victims of violence. The data were collected using a Family Functioning, Health and Social Support (FAFHES) questionnaire that was given to patients who visited a Finnish central hospital between October 2012 and April 2013. As a result, the data (N = 188) were contributed by the patients who returned the questionnaire and gave permission for a follow-up survey. The participation rate was 47%, of which 73% were women and 27% were men. Their ages ranged from 18 to 89 years. The data were analysed with quantitative methods using the unadjusted analyses and linear regression model. In total, 24% of both the male and female participants had experienced or used violence at home or in the family. Of these, 22 had been the perpetrators, and 23 had been the victims. Participants in relationships and who were living together had less violence than singles and those who were not living together. The family functioning and health of the participants who had experienced or used FV were worse than those of the participants who had not. Various patients can have an FV background, and nursing professionals are on the front line to identify and intervene in FV situations. The results of this study can be utilised in the treatment of FV victims and perpetrators by training healthcare workers to identify and intervene in violence. © 2017 Nordic College of Caring Science.

Characteristics of gray matter morphological change in Parkinson's disease patients with semantic abstract reasoning deficits.

PubMed

Wang, Li; Nie, Kun; Zhao, Xin; Feng, Shujun; Xie, Sifen; He, Xuetao; Ma, Guixian; Wang, Limin; Huang, Zhiheng; Huang, Biao; Zhang, Yuhu; Wang, Lijuan

2018-04-23

Semantic abstract reasoning(SAR) is an important executive domain that is involved in semantic information processing and enables one to make sense of the attributes of objects, facts and concepts in the world. We sought to investigate whether Parkinson's disease subjects(PDs) have difficulty in SAR and to examine the associated pattern of gray matter morphological changes. Eighty-six PDs and 30 healthy controls were enrolled. PDs were grouped into PD subjects with Similarities preservation(PDSP, n = 62) and PD subjects with Similarities impairment(PDSI, n = 24)according to their performance on the Similarities subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Brain structural images were captured with a 3T MRI scanner. Surface-based investigation of cortical thickness and automated segmentation of deep gray matter were conducted using FreeSurfer software. PDs performed notably worse on the Similarities test than controls(F = 13.56, P < 0.001).In the PDSI group, cortical thinning associated with Similarities scores was found in the left superior frontal, left superior parietal and left rostral middle frontal regions. Notable atrophy of the bilateral hippocampi was observed, but only the right hippocampus volume was positively correlated with the Similarities scores of the PDSI group. PDs have difficulty in SAR, and this limitation may be associated with impaired conceptual abstraction and generalization along with semantic memory deficits. Cortical thinning in the left frontal and parietal regions and atrophy in the right hippocampus may explain these impairments among Chinese PDs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Abstracts from Dietetic Research Event: June 09-11, 2016.

PubMed

2016-09-01

Winnipeg, Manitoba was the host city of the 2016 Dietitians of Canada Annual Conference. Through the support of Dietitians of Canada and CFDR, the 2016 event was both an exciting and informative exchange of research and experience-sharing efforts that inspired attendees. The submissions for this year's Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research (CFDR) event represented the diversity of dietetic research conducted within Canada. The topics highlighted from this year's abstracts include Community Based Nutritional Care, Wellness & Public Health, Determinants of Food Choice, Dietary Intake, Nutrition Health & Education, Dietetic Practice & Education, Clinical Research & Patient Service, and Nutrition Social Media & the Web. Each presenter provided an 11-minute oral presentation (8 minutes for presenting and 3 minutes for questions). This allowed for meaningful interaction between the presenters and those attending the sessions. This year there were professional and student oral research presentations on each day of the conference. These presentations offered the newest insights into important research findings that apply to dietetic practice. This research event would not be possible without the commitment and dedication of many people. On behalf of Dietitians of Canada and CFDR, I would like to extend a special thank you to the 2016 Abstract Review Committee who represented research, clinical nutrition, community nutrition, and education: Masha Jessri (Ph.D Candidate, University of Toronto), Joyce Slater (Associate Professor, University of Manitoba) and Miyoung Suh (Associate Professor, University of Manitoba). We would also like to thank all of our moderators who assisted during the conference to keep our research presentation sessions on time: Marcia Cooper, Miyoung Suh, Andrea Buchholz, Dawna Royall, Paul Fieldhouse, Joyce Slater, Isabelle Giroux, and Bethany Hopkins. Finally, a special thank you to Michelle Naraine and Greg Sarney at CFDR for their assistance and

Analysis of the clinical backgrounds of patients who developed respiratory acidosis under high‐flow oxygen therapy during emergency transport

PubMed Central

Ogino, Hirokazu; Yamano, Yasuhiko; Ishikawa, Genta; Tomishima, Yutaka; Jinta, Torahiko; Takahashi, Osamu; Chohnabayashi, Naohiko

2015-01-01

Aim High‐flow oxygen is often administered to patients during emergency transport and can sometimes cause respiratory acidosis with disturbed consciousness, thereby necessitating mechanical ventilation. Although oxygen titration in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients during emergency transport reduces mortality rates, the clinical risk factors for respiratory acidosis in emergency settings are not fully understood. Therefore, we analyzed the clinical backgrounds of patients who developed respiratory acidosis during pre‐hospital transport. Methods This was a retrospective study of patients who arrived at our hospital by emergency transport in 2010 who received high‐flow oxygen while in transit. Respiratory acidosis was defined by the following arterial blood gas readings: pH, ≤7.35; PaCO 2, ≥45 mmHg; and HCO 3 −, ≥24 mmol/L. The risk factors were identified using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results In 765 study patients, 66 patients showed respiratory acidosis. The following risk factors for respiratory acidosis were identified: age, ≥65 years (odds ratio [OR] 1.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.7–2.8); transportation time, ≥10 min (OR 2.0; 95% CI, 1.1–3.7); three digits on the Japan Coma Scale (OR 3.1; 95% CI, 1.7–5.8); percutaneous oxygen saturation, ≤90% (OR 1.6; 95% CI, 0.8–3.0); tuberculosis (OR 4.5; 95% CI, 1.4–15.1); asthma (OR 1.8; 95% CI, 0.6–5.3); pneumonia (OR 1.5; 95% CI, 0.7–3.1); and lung cancer (OR 3.9; 95% CI, 1.5–10.1). These underlying diseases as risk factors included both comorbid diseases and past medical conditions. Conclusions The factors identified may contribute to the development of respiratory acidosis. Further studies on preventing respiratory acidosis will improve the quality of emergency medical care. PMID:29123744

Honors Dissertation Abstracts: A Bounded Qualitative Meta-Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holman, Debra K.; Banning, James H.

2012-01-01

A potential source of useful information about undergraduate honors education can be found in doctoral dissertation abstracts that focus on honors. Debra Holman and James Banning of Colorado State University sought to explore this resource by undertaking a bounded qualitative meta-study of such abstracts using document analysis. Three…

Generating effective project scheduling heuristics by abstraction and reconstitution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Janakiraman, Bhaskar; Prieditis, Armand

1992-01-01

A project scheduling problem consists of a finite set of jobs, each with fixed integer duration, requiring one or more resources such as personnel or equipment, and each subject to a set of precedence relations, which specify allowable job orderings, and a set of mutual exclusion relations, which specify jobs that cannot overlap. No job can be interrupted once started. The objective is to minimize project duration. This objective arises in nearly every large construction project--from software to hardware to buildings. Because such project scheduling problems are NP-hard, they are typically solved by branch-and-bound algorithms. In these algorithms, lower-bound duration estimates (admissible heuristics) are used to improve efficiency. One way to obtain an admissible heuristic is to remove (abstract) all resources and mutual exclusion constraints and then obtain the minimal project duration for the abstracted problem; this minimal duration is the admissible heuristic. Although such abstracted problems can be solved efficiently, they yield inaccurate admissible heuristics precisely because those constraints that are central to solving the original problem are abstracted. This paper describes a method to reconstitute the abstracted constraints back into the solution to the abstracted problem while maintaining efficiency, thereby generating better admissible heuristics. Our results suggest that reconstitution can make good admissible heuristics even better.

Enhancements to the NASA Astrophysics Science Information and Abstract Service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurtz, M. J.; Eichhorn, G.; Accomazzi, A.; Grant, C. S.; Murray, S. S.

1995-05-01

The NASA Astrophysics Data System Astrophysics Science Information and Abstract Service, the extension of the ADS Abstract Service continues rapidly to expand in both use and capabilities. Each month the service is used by about 4,000 different people, and returns about 1,000,000 pieces of bibliographic information. Among the recent additions to the system are: 1. Whole Text Access. In addition to the ApJ Letters we now have whole text for the ApJ on-line, soon we will have AJ and Rev. Mexicana. Discussions with other publishers are in progress. 2. Space Instrumentation Database. We now provide a second abstract service, covering papers related to space instruments. This is larger than the astronomy and astrophysics database in terms of total abstracts. 3. Reference Books and Historical Journals. We have begun putting the SAO Annals and the HCO Annals on-line. We have put the Handbook of Space Astronomy and Astrophysics by M.V. Zombeck (Cambridge U.P.) on-line. 4. Author Abstracts. We can now include original abstracts in addition to those we get from the NASA STI Abstracts Database. We have included abstracts for A&A in collaboration with the CDS in Strasbourg, and are collaborating with the AAS and the ASP on others. We invite publishers and editors of journals and conference proceedings to include their original abstracts in our service; send inquiries via e-mail to ads@cfa.harvard.edu. 5. Author Notes. We now accept notes and comments from authors of articles in our database. These are arbitrary html files and may contain pointers to other WWW documents, they are listed along with the abstracts, whole text, and data available in the index listing for every reference. The ASIAS is available at: http://adswww.harvard.edu/

Use of abstraction regime and knowledge of hydrogeological conditions to control high-fluoride concentration in abstracted groundwater: San Luis Potosí basin, Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carrillo-Rivera, J. J.; Cardona, A.; Edmunds, W. M.

2002-04-01

Significant amounts of fluoride are found in the abstracted groundwater of San Luis Potosí. This groundwater withdrawal induces a cold, low-fluoride flow as well as deeper thermal fluoride-rich flow in various proportions. Flow mixing takes place depending on the abstraction regime, local hydrogeology, and borehole construction design and operation. Fluoride concentrations (≈3.7 mg l -1) could become higher still, in time and space, if the input of regional fluoride-rich water to the abstraction boreholes is enhanced. It is suggested that by controlling the abstraction well-head water temperature at 28-30 °C, a pumped water mixture with a fluoride content close to the maximum drinking water standard of 1.5 mg l -1 will be produced. Further, new boreholes and those already operating could take advantage of fluoride solubility controls to reduce the F concentration in the abstracted water by considering lithology and borehole construction design in order to regulate groundwater flow conditions.

Mercury and Air Pollution: A Bibliography With Abstracts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC. Office of Air Programs.

The Air Pollution Technical Information Center (APTIC) of the Office of Air Programs has selected and compiled this bibliography of abstracts on mercury and air pollution. The abstracted documents are considered representative of available literature, although not all-inclusive. They are grouped into eleven categories: (1) Emission Sources, (2)…

Innovation Abstracts: Volume XII, Numbers 1-30, 1990.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roueche, Susanne D., Ed.

1990-01-01

This series of one- to two-page abstracts highlights a variety of innovative approaches to teaching and learning in the community college. Topics covered in the abstracts include: (1) academic partnerships pairing "high-risk" students with a concerned faculty member, counselor, or administrator; (2) teacher-to-teacher learning partnerships; (3)…

Analysis of subsequent publication of scientific orally presented abstracts of the French National Congress of Radiology. Part II: Focus on the French abstracts.

PubMed

Dangouloff-Ros, V; Ronot, M; Lagadec, M; Vilgrain, V

2015-05-01

To evaluate the publication rate of scientific abstracts that were presented orally at the 2008, 2009, and 2010 annual meetings of the French Society of Radiology by French radiologists, and to perform a French regional analysis. Orally presented abstracts were identified by examining online abstract books of the 2008, 2009, and 2010 annual meetings of the French Society of Radiology, and cross-checked by reviewing the paper version of abstracts for the same period. Only abstracts from French teams were selected. The administrative region of submission was noted for each abstract and for each region the total population, the number of active radiologists, the number of active members of the French Society of Radiology and the number of academic radiologists were noted. Imaging subspecialties were also noted. 625 abstracts were identified resulting in 268 publications (publication rate: 43%). The median number of presentations and publications per region was 18 (range: 1-255) and 7 (range: 0-101), respectively. The ratio per million inhabitants was 7.5 and 3 respectively. The median number of presentations and publications per 100 active radiologists (respectively members of the FSR) was 7 and 3 (respectively 10 and 4). The median number of presentations and publications per academic radiologist were 2.6, and 1.2, respectively. The regional variations for each indicator were high (40-180%). Three subspecialties had a publication rate of more than 50%: thoracic imaging (58%), abdominal imaging (52%), and genitourinary imaging (51%). The publication rate of orally presented French scientific abstracts was high, with important variations according to the regions of origin and imaging subspecialties. Copyright © 2015 Éditions françaises de radiologie. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

2011 statistical abstract of the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Krisanda, Joseph M.

2011-01-01

The Statistical Abstract of the United States, published since 1878, is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States.Use the Abstract as a convenient volume for statistical reference, and as a guide to sources of more information both in print and on the Web.Sources of data include the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and many other Federal agencies and private organizations.

Backgrounds in Language.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maxwell, John C.; Long, Barbara K.

"Backgrounds in Language," a field-tested inservice course designed for use by groups of 15 or 25 language arts teachers, provides the subject matter background teachers need to make informed decisions about what curriculum materials to use in what way, at what time, and with which students. The course is comprised of eight 2-hour sessions,…

Localization Versus Abstraction: A Comparison of Two Search Reduction Techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lansky, Amy L.

1992-01-01

There has been much recent work on the use of abstraction to improve planning behavior and cost. Another technique for dealing with the inherently explosive cost of planning is localization. This paper compares the relative strengths of localization and abstraction in reducing planning search cost. In particular, localization is shown to subsume abstraction. Localization techniques can model the various methods of abstraction that have been used, but also provide a much more flexible framework, with a broader range of benefits.

Algerian Abstract

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

Algerian Abstract - April 8th, 1985 Description: What look like pale yellow paint streaks slashing through a mosaic of mottled colors are ridges of wind-blown sand that make up Erg Iguidi, an area of ever-shifting sand dunes extending from Algeria into Mauritania in northwestern Africa. Erg Iguidi is one of several Saharan ergs, or sand seas, where individual dunes often surpass 500 meters-nearly a third of a mile-in both width and height. Credit: USGS/NASA/Landsat 5 To learn more about the Landsat satellite go to: landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Join us on Facebook

Going Over to the Dark Side (Abstract)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cowall, D.

2015-06-01

(Abstract only) This is the tale of my continuing journey transforming from a visual to a CCD photometrist. It is my hope that sharing my experiences will help and encourage others to consider taking the same path. It has been hard, but fun; a wonderful opportunity as a newly retired physician to expand my horizons. However, my brain did have to make the switch from Biology to Physics. The major barrier that concerned me was cost, but change itself was also a challenge. Other issues included dealing with the complexity of technical systems and a myriad of details. My solution was to be patient and think small to insure success and then build upon all those little victories. The pedagogical component of this project was critical as well. It began with a good mentor and continued via networking with other members at meetings, taking CHOICE courses, and most importantly: practice, practice, practice. Each plateau suggested many new possibilities. I think “The Force” is now with me! The adventure continues.

Refining a taxonomy for guideline implementation: results of an exercise in abstract classification.

PubMed

Mazza, Danielle; Bairstow, Phillip; Buchan, Heather; Chakraborty, Samantha Paubrey; Van Hecke, Oliver; Grech, Cathy; Kunnamo, Ilkka

2013-03-15

To better understand the efficacy of various implementation strategies, improved methods for describing and classifying the nature of these strategies are urgently required. The aim of this study was to develop and pilot the feasibility of a taxonomy to classify the nature and content of implementation strategies. A draft implementation taxonomy was developed based on the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) data collection checklist. The draft taxonomy had four domains (professional, financial, organisational and regulatory) covering 49 distinct strategies. We piloted the draft taxonomy by using it to classify the implementation strategies described in the conference abstracts of the implementation stream of the 2010 Guideline International Network Conference. Five authors classified the strategies in each abstract individually. Final categorisation was then carried out in a face-to-face consensus meeting involving three authors. The implementation strategies described in 71 conference abstracts were classified. Approximately 15.5% of abstracts utilised strategies that could not be categorised using the draft taxonomy. Of those strategies that could be categorised, the majority were professionally focused (57%). A total of 41% of projects used only one implementation strategy, with 29% using two and 31% three or more. The three most commonly used strategies were changes in quality assurance, quality improvement and/or performance measurement systems, changes in information and communication technology, and distribution of guideline materials (via hard-copy, audio-visual and/or electronic means). Further refinement of the draft taxonomy is required to provide hierarchical dimensions and granularity, particularly in the areas of patient-focused interventions, those concerned with audit and feedback and quality improvement, and electronic forms of implementation, including electronic decision support.

Typographic Settings for Structured Abstracts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartley, James

2000-01-01

Lists some of the major typographic variables involved in structured abstracts (containing sub-headings). Illustrates how typography can affect clarity by presenting seven examples that illustrate the effects of these typographic variables in practice. Concludes with a final example of an effective approach. (SR)

Research Abstracts of 1981.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-12-01

Development in Initally Caries-Free Naval Recruits" (Abstract #898) , 13. M. R. WIRTHLIN* and E. B. HANCOCK - " Regeneration After Biologic Treat- ment of...These variables can be grouped into four categories: oral condition (N-7), clinical attendance (N=4), personal characteristics (N=4), and record...Histologic examination of the pulp tissue in these teeth were related to the clinical criteria prior to extraction. Clinical criteria associated

The Acquisition of Abstract Words by Young Infants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bergelson, Elika; Swingley, Daniel

2013-01-01

Young infants' learning of words for abstract concepts like "all gone" and "eat," in contrast to their learning of more concrete words like "apple" and "shoe," may follow a relatively protracted developmental course. We examined whether infants know such abstract words. Parents named one of two events shown in side-by-side videos while their…

Contextualizing Action for the Abstraction of Scientific Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saglam, Yilmaz

2015-01-01

In this paper, abstraction is associated with an activity in the sense of activity theory by Vygotsky. To him, participation in social activities is a fundamental act for the child in order to achieve higher mental functions. The present paper aimed to experimentally investigate the abstraction process and illustrate how meaning emerges on social…

Quality of reporting of trial abstracts needs to be improved: using the CONSORT for abstracts to assess the four leading Chinese medical journals of traditional Chinese medicine.

PubMed

Wang, Ling; Li, Yulin; Li, Jing; Zhang, Mingming; Xu, Lin; Yuan, Wenming; Wang, Gang; Hopewell, Sally

2010-07-08

Due to language limitations, the abstract of journal article may be the only way for people of non-Chinese speaking countries to know about trials in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, little is known about the reporting quality of these trial abstracts. Our study is to assess the reporting quality of abstracts of randomized controlled trials (RCT) published in four leading Chinese medical journals of TCM, and to identify any differences in reporting between the Chinese and English version of the same abstract publication. Two reviewers hand-searched the Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, the Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine, the China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica and the Chinese Acupuncture & Moxibustion for all abstracts of RCTs published between 2006 and 2007. Two reviewers independently assessed the reporting quality of the Chinese and English version of all eligible abstracts based on a modified version of the CONSORT for reporting randomised trials in journal and conference abstracts (CONSORT for abstracts). We identified a total of 345 RCTs of TCM with both a Chinese and English abstract. More than half of Chinese abstracts reported details of the trial participants (68%; 234/345), control group intervention (52%; 179/345), the number of participants randomized (73%; 253/345) and benefits when interpreting the trial results (55%; 190/345). Reporting of methodological quality or key features of trial design and trial results were poor; only 2% (7/345) included details of the trial design, 3% (11/345) defined the primary outcome, 5% (17/345) described the methods of random sequence generation, and only 4% (13/345) reported the number of participants analyzed. No abstracts provided details on allocation concealment and trial registration. The percentage agreement in reporting (between the Chinese and English version of the same abstract) ranged from 84% to 100% across individual checklist item. The reporting

Differences in ADHD medication usage patterns in children and adolescents from different cultural backgrounds in the Netherlands.

PubMed

van den Ban, Els F; Souverein, Patrick C; van Engeland, Herman; Swaab, Hanna; Egberts, Toine C G; Heerdink, Eibert R

2015-07-01

Differences in incidence and prevalence of ADHD medication use between ethnic groups have been reported. Goal of this study was to determine whether there are also differences in usage patterns of ADHD medication among native Dutch children and adolescents and those with a Moroccan, Turkish and Surinam cultural background in the Netherlands between 1999 and 2010. In a cohort of ADHD patients <19 years (N = 817) incident use and discontinuation of ADHD medication were measured for ethnicity and adjusted for age, gender and socio-economic status. A significant higher proportion of ADHD-diagnosed patients from Moroccan (32 %) and Turkish (42 %) cultural background never used ADHD medication compared to Dutch natives (21 %). One-fifth of native Dutch and Turkish patients already used ADHD medication before the ADHD diagnosis date. Discontinuation of ADHD medication within 5 years was significantly higher in Moroccan [HR 2.4 (95 % CI 1.8-3.1)] and Turkish [HR 1.7 (95 % CI 1.1-2.6)] patients. A sensitivity analysis with a zip code-matched comparison between Dutch natives and non-natives showed similar results, suggesting this effect is probably not explained by socio-economic status (SES). Differences are found in prescribing and use of ADHD medication between patients with a different cultural background. Native Dutch and Turkish patients start more frequently with ADHD medication before the ADHD diagnose date, which can be an indication of differences in either referral patterns and/or access to care. A higher percentage of patients with a Moroccan and Turkish cultural background never start using ADHD medication at all and discontinuation rate is higher compared to Dutch natives and Surinamese.

International Early Childhood Resources from Educational Research Abstracts Online (ERA)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

International Journal of Early Years Education, 2004

2004-01-01

This annotated bibliography provides abstracts for 14 resources relating to early childhood around the world. Each annotation contains: title; author name(s); Educational Research Abstract; Abstract number; Source (name of journal in which the resource was published); ISSN of the journal in which the resource was published; and Issue (journal…

NASA Patent Abstracts: A Continuing Bibliography. Supplement 54

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

The NASA Patent Abstracts Bibliography is a semiannual NASA publication containing comprehensive abstracts of NASA owned inventions covered by U.S. patents and applications for patent. The citations included in the bibliography arrangement of citations were originally published in NASA's Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports (STAR) and cover STAR announcements made since May 1969. The citations published in this issue cover the period June 1998 through December 1998. This issue includes 10 major subject divisions separated into 76 specific categories and one general category/division. Each entry consists of a STAR citation accompanied by an abstract and, when appropriate, a key illustration taken from the patent or application for patent. Entries are arranged by subject category in ascending order.

[Variant of abnormal mental development with early evidence of abstract thinking].

PubMed

Bulakhova, L A

1982-01-01

The author presents the data of 4- to 25-year-long observation of a group of boys distinguished since the early age by a pronounced disproportionaity of the psychic development: an accelerated development of abstract-logical thinking with gross defects of sensuous perception, emotions, psychomotor functions, and adaptive behaviour as a whole. Despite the evolutional course of the state most of the patients appeared to be unable to independent social adaptation. The degree and structure of this disharmonic underdevelopment allow one to regard this pathology as a variant of nervous system dysontogenesis differing from, but bordering on such forms as Kanner's autism, Asperger's psychopathy, or mental retardation with partial giftedness.

Measurement properties of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) used in adult patients with chronic kidney disease: A systematic review

PubMed Central

Kyte, Derek; Cockwell, Paul; Marshall, Tom; Gheorghe, Adrian; Keeley, Thomas; Slade, Anita; Calvert, Melanie

2017-01-01

Background Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) can provide valuable information which may assist with the care of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, given the large number of measures available, it is unclear which PROMs are suitable for use in research or clinical practice. To address this we comprehensively evaluated studies that assessed the measurement properties of PROMs in adults with CKD. Methods Four databases were searched; reference list and citation searching of included studies was also conducted. The COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist was used to appraise the methodological quality of the included studies and to inform a best evidence synthesis for each PROM. Results The search strategy retrieved 3,702 titles/abstracts. After 288 duplicates were removed, 3,414 abstracts were screened and 71 full-text articles were retrieved for further review. Of these, 24 full-text articles were excluded as they did not meet the eligibility criteria. Following reference list and citation searching, 19 articles were retrieved bringing the total number of papers included in the final analysis to 66. There was strong evidence supporting internal consistency and moderate evidence supporting construct validity for the Kidney Disease Quality of Life-36 (KDQOL-36) in pre-dialysis patients. In the dialysis population, the KDQOL-Short Form (KDQOL-SF) had strong evidence for internal consistency and structural validity and moderate evidence for test-retest reliability and construct validity while the KDQOL-36 had moderate evidence of internal consistency, test-retest reliability and construct validity. The End Stage Renal Disease-Symptom Checklist Transplantation Module (ESRD-SCLTM) demonstrated strong evidence for internal consistency and moderate evidence for test-retest reliability, structural and construct validity in renal transplant recipients. Conclusions We suggest considering the

Calibration of an Ultra-Low-Background Proportional Counter for Measuring 37Ar

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Seifert, Allen; Aalseth, Craig E.; Bonicalzi, Ricco

Abstract. An ultra-low-background proportional counter (ULBPC) design has been developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) using clean materials, primarily electrochemically-purified copper. This detector, along with an ultra-low-background counting system (ULBCS), was developed to complement a new shallow underground laboratory (30 meters water-equivalent) constructed at PNNL. The ULBCS design includes passive neutron and gamma shielding, along with an active cosmic-veto system. This system provides a capability for making ultra-sensitive measurements to support applications like age-dating soil hydrocarbons with 14C/3H, age-dating of groundwater with 39Ar, and soil-gas assay for 37Ar to support On-Site Inspection (OSI). On-Site Inspection is a key componentmore » of the verification regime for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Measurements of radionuclides created by an underground nuclear explosion are valuable signatures of a Treaty violation. For OSI, the 35-day half-life of 37Ar, produced from neutron interactions with calcium in soil, provides both high specific activity and sufficient time for inspection before decay limits sensitivity. This work describes the calibration techniques and analysis methods developed to enable quantitative measurements of 37Ar samples over a broad range of pressures. These efforts, along with parallel work in progress on gas chemistry separation, are expected to provide a significant new capability for 37Ar soil gas background studies.« less

On Teaching Abstraction in Computer Science to Novices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Armoni, Michal

2013-01-01

Abstraction is a key concept in CS, one of the most fundamental ideas underlying CS and its practice. However, teaching this soft concept to novices is a very difficult task, as discussed by many CSE experts. This paper discusses this issue, and suggests a general framework for teaching abstraction in CS to novices, a framework that would fit into…

Finding the Missing Patients With Tuberculosis: Lessons Learned From Patient-Pathway Analyses in 5 Countries

PubMed Central

Hanson, Christy; Osberg, Mike; Brown, Jessie; Durham, George; Chin, Daniel P

2017-01-01

Abstract Background Despite significant progress in diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis over the past 2 decades, millions of patients with tuberculosis go unreported every year. The patient-pathway analysis (PPA) is designed to assess the alignment between tuberculosis care-seeking patterns and the availability of tuberculosis services. The PPA can help programs understand where they might find the missing patients with tuberculosis. Methods This analysis aggregates and compares the PPAs from case studies in Kenya, Ethiopia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Pakistan. Results Across the 5 countries, 24% of patients with tuberculosis initiated care seeking in a facility with tuberculosis diagnostic capacity. Forty-two percent of patients sought care at level 0 facilities, where there was generally no tuberculosis diagnostic capacity; another 42% of patients sought care at level 1 facilities, of which 39% had diagnostic capacity. Sixty-six percent of patients initially sought care in private facilities, which had considerably less tuberculosis diagnostic capacity than public facilities; only 7% of notified cases were from the private sector. The GeneXpert system was available in 14%–41% of level 2 facilities in the 3 countries for which there were data. Tuberculosis treatment capacity tracked closely with the availability of diagnostic capacity. There were substantial subnational differences in care-seeking patterns and service availability. Discussion The PPA can be a valuable planning and programming tool to ensure that diagnostic and treatment services are available to patients where they seek care. Patient-centered care will require closing the diagnostic gap and engaging the private sector. Extensive subnational differences in patient pathways to care call for differentiated approaches to patient-centered care. PMID:29117351

Experiencing Art: The Influence of Expertise and Painting Abstraction Level

PubMed Central

Pihko, Elina; Virtanen, Anne; Saarinen, Veli-Matti; Pannasch, Sebastian; Hirvenkari, Lotta; Tossavainen, Timo; Haapala, Arto; Hari, Riitta

2011-01-01

How does expertise influence the perception of representational and abstract paintings? We asked 20 experts on art history and 20 laypersons to explore and evaluate a series of paintings ranging in style from representational to abstract in five categories. We compared subjective esthetic judgments and emotional evaluations, gaze patterns, and electrodermal reactivity between the two groups of participants. The level of abstraction affected esthetic judgments and emotional valence ratings of the laypersons but had no effect on the opinions of the experts: the laypersons’ esthetic and emotional ratings were highest for representational paintings and lowest for abstract paintings, whereas the opinions of the experts were independent of the abstraction level. The gaze patterns of both groups changed as the level of abstraction increased: the number of fixations and the length of the scanpaths increased while the duration of the fixations decreased. The viewing strategies – reflected in the target, location, and path of the fixations – however indicated that experts and laypersons paid attention to different aspects of the paintings. The electrodermal reactivity did not vary according to the level of abstraction in either group but expertise was reflected in weaker responses, compared with laypersons, to information received about the paintings. PMID:21941475

Fate of abstracts presented at a National Turkish Orthopedics and Traumatology Congress: publication rates and consistency of abstracts compared with their subsequent full-text publications.

PubMed

Yalçınkaya, Merter; Bagatur, Erdem

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the publication rates of full-text articles after presentation of abstracts at a Turkish National Orthopaedics and Traumatology Congress, determine the time lag from the congress date to publication of full-text articles and assess the consistency between abstracts and the subsequent publications. All abstracts from the scientific program of the 20th Turkish National Orthopaedics and Traumatology Congress (2007) were identified and computerized PubMed searches were conducted to determine whether an abstract had been followed by publication of a full-text article and key features were compared to evaluate their consistency. The time lag to publication and the impact factors of the journals where the articles were published were noted. Of the 770 abstracts (264 oral, 506 poster presentations), 227 (29.5%) were followed by a full-text and 116 (44%) of the 264 oral and 111 (22%) of the 506 poster presentations were published. The mean time to publication was 14.9±16.075 (range: 33 to 55) months. Thirty-three (14.5%) were published prior to the presentation at the congress. The likelihood of publication decreased after the third year (26 of 227, 11.5%). A total of 182 (80.2%) articles showed inconsistencies with the abstract; 74 (32.6%) minor, 14 (6.2%) major, and 94 (41.4%) minor and major inconsistencies. The mean impact factor of the journals was 1.152±0.858. The vast majority of abstracts presented at this congress were not followed by publication of a full-text article. Additionally, frequent inconsistencies between the final published article and the original abstract indicated the inadequacy of quality of reporting in abstracts.

The neural representation of abstract words: the role of emotion.

PubMed

Vigliocco, Gabriella; Kousta, Stavroula-Thaleia; Della Rosa, Pasquale Anthony; Vinson, David P; Tettamanti, Marco; Devlin, Joseph T; Cappa, Stefano F

2014-07-01

It is generally assumed that abstract concepts are linguistically coded, in line with imaging evidence of greater engagement of the left perisylvian language network for abstract than concrete words (Binder JR, Desai RH, Graves WW, Conant LL. 2009. Where is the semantic system? A critical review and meta-analysis of 120 functional neuroimaging studies. Cerebral Cortex. 19:2767-2796; Wang J, Conder JA, Blitzer DN, Shinkareva SV. 2010. Neural representation of abstract and concrete concepts: A meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies. Hum Brain Map. 31:1459-1468). Recent behavioral work, which used tighter matching of items than previous studies, however, suggests that abstract concepts also entail affective processing to a greater extent than concrete concepts (Kousta S-T, Vigliocco G, Vinson DP, Andrews M, Del Campo E. The representation of abstract words: Why emotion matters. J Exp Psychol Gen. 140:14-34). Here we report a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment that shows greater engagement of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex, an area associated with emotion processing (e.g., Etkin A, Egner T, Peraza DM, Kandel ER, Hirsch J. 2006. Resolving emotional conflict: A role for the rostral anterior cingulate cortex in modulating activity in the amygdala. Neuron. 52:871), in abstract processing. For abstract words, activation in this area was modulated by the hedonic valence (degree of positive or negative affective association) of our items. A correlation analysis of more than 1,400 English words further showed that abstract words, in general, receive higher ratings for affective associations (both valence and arousal) than concrete words, supporting the view that engagement of emotional processing is generally required for processing abstract words. We argue that these results support embodiment views of semantic representation, according to which, whereas concrete concepts are grounded in our sensory-motor experience, affective experience is crucial in the

Research dissemination: The art of writing an abstract for conferences.

PubMed

Coad, Jane; Devitt, Patric

2006-03-01

This article aims to assist readers with developing an abstract for a conference in order to have a paper accepted for presentation at a conference, whether it is in poster or an oral format. This is important as the authors argue that use of conferences as a method of disseminating research findings and good practice is expanding each year. Drawing on author experiences, both as members of scientific review panels and as submitters of abstracts, the article includes a practical review about the meaning of an abstract, how to get started and then breaks down in clear sections what reviewers look for in a good abstract. There are also some key points on the actual process of review, which are helpful in understanding of what happens to an abstract following submission.

Some design constraints required for the assembly of software components: The incorporation of atomic abstract types into generically structured abstract types

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Charles S.

1986-01-01

It is nearly axiomatic, that to take the greatest advantage of the useful features available in a development system, and to avoid the negative interactions of those features, requires the exercise of a design methodology which constrains their use. A major design support feature of the Ada language is abstraction: for data, functions processes, resources, and system elements in general. Atomic abstract types can be created in packages defining those private types and all of the overloaded operators, functions, and hidden data required for their use in an application. Generically structured abstract types can be created in generic packages defining those structured private types, as buildups from the user-defined data types which are input as parameters. A study is made of the design constraints required for software incorporating either atomic or generically structured abstract types, if the integration of software components based on them is to be subsequently performed. The impact of these techniques on the reusability of software and the creation of project-specific software support environments is also discussed.

[Patients of immigrant origin in outpatient psychiatric facilities: a comparison between Turkish, eastern European and German patients].

PubMed

Schouler-Ocak, Meryam; Bretz, H Joachim; Hauth, Iris; Montesinos, Amanda Heredia; Koch, Eckhardt; Driessen, Martin; Heinz, Andreas

2010-11-01

Nationwide representative survey of the use of psychiatric outpatient services in Germany. Every fifth patient of several psychiatric outpatient services was surveyed on one index day (27 (th) of May 2008) with respect to sociodemographic characteristics, ICD-10 diagnoses, difficulties in communication, treatment duration, and number of sickness certificates. Patients with immigrant background comprised 32.5 % of all patients. Compared to German patients, patients with immigrant background received significantly more neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders (F4). Turkish patients received significantly more mood (affective) disorders diagnoses (F3), compared to German and Eastern Europe patients. Immigrants had shorter treatment duration and a higher number of sickness certificates. Eastern European patients had a significantly higher education, compared to patients with Turkish background. Patients with immigrant background were younger compared to German patients and had significantly more children. The utilization of outpatient psychiatric services by patients with a migratory background is high. This suggests that immigrants benefit from the multiprofessional team and the low-treshold service offered by outpatient units. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Abstract concepts, language and sociality: from acquisition to inner speech.

PubMed

Borghi, Anna M; Barca, Laura; Binkofski, Ferdinand; Tummolini, Luca

2018-08-05

The problem of representation of abstract concepts, such as 'freedom' and 'justice', has become particularly crucial in recent years, owing to the increased success of embodied and grounded views of cognition. We will present a novel view on abstract concepts and abstract words. Since abstract concepts do not have single objects as referents, children and adults might rely more on input from others to learn them; we, therefore, suggest that linguistic and social experience play an important role for abstract concepts. We will discuss evidence obtained in our and other laboratories showing that processing of abstract concepts evokes linguistic interaction and social experiences, leading to the activation of the mouth motor system. We will discuss the possible mechanisms that underlie this activation. Mouth motor system activation can be due to re-enactment of the experience of conceptual acquisition, which occurred through the mediation of language. Alternatively, it could be due to the re-explanation of the word meaning, possibly through inner speech. Finally, it can be due to a metacognitive process revealing low confidence in the meaning of our concepts. This process induces in us the need to rely on others to ask/negotiate conceptual meaning. We conclude that with abstract concepts language works as a social tool: it extends our thinking abilities and pushes us to rely on others to integrate our knowledge.This article is part of the theme issue 'Varieties of abstract concepts: development, use, and representation in the brain'. © 2018 The Author(s).

Energy Abstracts for Policy Analysis: a monthly abstract journal. Abstracts 1-225

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thompson, L.M..

1983-01-01

Energy Abstracts for Policy Analysis (EAPA), while embracing all phases of energy analysis and development, is limited primarily to nontechnological or quasitechnological articles or reports having significant reference value. This selectivity in scope and coverage of EAPA is effected to emphasize the following: programmatic efforts; policy, legislative, and regulatory aspects; social, economic, and environmental impacts; regional and sectoral analyses, institutional factors, etc. Selection for EAPA is based strictly on content (substantive articles) and is made from Congressional committee prints; federal agency and department reports; regional commission and state and local government reports; periodicals, including trade journals and newsweeklies; conference proceedingsmore » and/or conference papers; books, including manuals, directories, encyclopedias, etc.; and documents from industrial firms, private institutes and foundations, educational institutions, societies, associations, etc. EAPA is available to DOE offices and contractors on request, and on an exchange basis to universities, research institutions, industrial firms, and publishers of energy information. Inquiries should be directed to the Technical Information Center, P.O. Box 62, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830. EAPA is available to the public on a subscription basis from the Superintendent of Documents, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. The subscription rate for the 12 monthly issues plus the annual index is $70.00 for domestic subscribers and $87.50 for subscribers outside the North American continent.« less

Ecological Research Division Theoretical Ecology Program. [Contains abstracts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1990-10-01

This report presents the goals of the Theoretical Ecology Program and abstracts of research in progress. Abstracts cover both theoretical research that began as part of the terrestrial ecology core program and new projects funded by the theoretical program begun in 1988. Projects have been clustered into four major categories: Ecosystem dynamics; landscape/scaling dynamics; population dynamics; and experiment/sample design.

[Quality of the structured abstracts presented at a congress].

PubMed

dos Santos, Edilson F; Pereira, Maurício G

2007-01-01

To assess and compare quality of abstracts presented at a medical congress (XIV Congresso da Sociedade Brasileira de Infectologia, November, 2005). The hypothesis is that material of better quality is chosen for oral presentation. All the 63 abstracts selected for oral presentation were compared with a random sample (n=63) of the 664 abstracts registered as poster presentations. Quality was measured by a structured questionnaire comprised of 33 criteria, distributed in eight categories: purpose, research design, setting, subjects, intervention, measurement, results and conclusions. The questionnaire was applied by one of the authors who were not blind to the objective of the study. The final score could range from 0 (bad) to 1 (excellent). Abstracts quality was considered moderately good. The overall mean quality scores were 0.60 and 0.62 respectively, for poster and oral presentation (p = 0.086). The criteria rated poorly were: subjects, variable measurements, location and conclusion. The tested hypothesis of better quality in abstracts selected for oral presentation has not been confirmed. It is recommended that organizers of the congresses the use of objective quality criteria to select the form of presentation while improving on quality.

Metaphoric Images from Abstract Concepts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vizmuller-Zocco, Jana

1992-01-01

Discusses children's use of metaphors to create meaning, using as an example the pragmatic and "scientific" ways in which preschool children explain thunder and lightning to themselves. Argues that children are being shortchanged by modern scientific notions of abstractness and that they should be encouraged to create their own explanations of…

Journalism Abstracts. Volume 25, 1987.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilhoit, Frances Goins, Ed.

Collected from 55 universities in the United States and Canada, and published by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, this volume contains 339 abstracts of research dissertations and theses accepted for graduate degrees in journalism and mass communications from July 1, 1986 through June 30, 1987. Only research…

2011 statistical abstract of the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Krisanda, Joseph M.

2011-01-01

The Statistical Abstract of the United States, published since 1878, is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States.

Use the Abstract as a convenient volume for statistical reference, and as a guide to sources of more information both in print and on the Web.

Sources of data include the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and many other Federal agencies and private organizations.

Abstraction and Assume-Guarantee Reasoning for Automated Software Verification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chaki, S.; Clarke, E.; Giannakopoulou, D.; Pasareanu, C. S.

2004-01-01

Compositional verification and abstraction are the key techniques to address the state explosion problem associated with model checking of concurrent software. A promising compositional approach is to prove properties of a system by checking properties of its components in an assume-guarantee style. This article proposes a framework for performing abstraction and assume-guarantee reasoning of concurrent C code in an incremental and fully automated fashion. The framework uses predicate abstraction to extract and refine finite state models of software and it uses an automata learning algorithm to incrementally construct assumptions for the compositional verification of the abstract models. The framework can be instantiated with different assume-guarantee rules. We have implemented our approach in the COMFORT reasoning framework and we show how COMFORT out-performs several previous software model checking approaches when checking safety properties of non-trivial concurrent programs.

[CLINICAL BACKGROUND ANALYSIS ABOUT TRANSURETHRAL ELECTROCOAGULATION].

PubMed

Katsui, Masahiro; Kikuchi, Eiji; Yazawa, Satoshi; Hagiwara, Masayuki; Morita, Shinya; Shinoda, Kazunobu; Kosaka, Takeo; Mizuno, Ryuichi; Shinojima, Toshiaki; Asanuma, Hiroshi; Miyajima, Akira; Oya, Mototsugu

2015-10-01

Transurethral electrocoagulation (TUC) is a rare event but occurs in a constant manner with various causes or disorders and reduces patient quality of life. So far there have been no reports focusing on the details of TUC. We focused on the clinical background and related causes in cases of TUC in our institution. We identified 76 cases (65 patients) who underwent TUC at Keio University Hospital between April 2001 and March 2011. We focused on patient background, especially with respect to the primary disease, treatment modality, use of antiplatelet or anticoagulant agent, timing of TUC, type of electrosurgical device, and the incidence of transfusion. The primary disease for TUC included bladder tumor (BT) in 31 cases, benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) in 13, prostate cancer (PCa) in 13, idiopathic bladder bleeding in 4, periarteritis nodosa in 3, uterine cervical cancer in 3, and others in 9. TUC after transurethral resection (TUR) was found in 38 cases, including transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) in 26 of 31 BT cases and transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) in 12 of 13 BPH cases. After TURBT, TUC was performed before removal of a urethral catheter in 7 cases, and after removal of a urethral catheter in 19 cases. With regard to TUC associated with TURP, the average estimated prostate volume in TUC cases before removal of the urethral catheter was 66.2 ml, which was significantly larger than that in TUC cases after removal of the urethral catheter (46.1 ml, p = 0.045). TUC after the radiation therapy was observed in 21 cases, and the average time from the radiation therapy to TUC was 3.4 years (7 months-10 years). TUC was caused by multiple causes or disorders, and 75% of our TUC was associated with BT, BPH or PCa. TUC associated with TURBT frequently occurred within 1 week after TURBT but was still observed after 1 month following the operation. All TUC associated with TURP occurred within 3 weeks after operation. The average period from

Coupling Radar Rainfall to Hydrological Models for Water Abstraction Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asfaw, Alemayehu; Shucksmith, James; Smith, Andrea; MacDonald, Ken

2015-04-01

The impacts of climate change and growing water use are likely to put considerable pressure on water resources and the environment. In the UK, a reform to surface water abstraction policy has recently been proposed which aims to increase the efficiency of using available water resources whilst minimising impacts on the aquatic environment. Key aspects to this reform include the consideration of dynamic rather than static abstraction licensing as well as introducing water trading concepts. Dynamic licensing will permit varying levels of abstraction dependent on environmental conditions (i.e. river flow and quality). The practical implementation of an effective dynamic abstraction strategy requires suitable flow forecasting techniques to inform abstraction asset management. Potentially the predicted availability of water resources within a catchment can be coupled to predicted demand and current storage to inform a cost effective water resource management strategy which minimises environmental impacts. The aim of this work is to use a historical analysis of UK case study catchment to compare potential water resource availability using modelled dynamic abstraction scenario informed by a flow forecasting model, against observed abstraction under a conventional abstraction regime. The work also demonstrates the impacts of modelling uncertainties on the accuracy of predicted water availability over range of forecast lead times. The study utilised a conceptual rainfall-runoff model PDM - Probability-Distributed Model developed by Centre for Ecology & Hydrology - set up in the Dove River catchment (UK) using 1km2 resolution radar rainfall as inputs and 15 min resolution gauged flow data for calibration and validation. Data assimilation procedures are implemented to improve flow predictions using observed flow data. Uncertainties in the radar rainfall data used in the model are quantified using artificial statistical error model described by Gaussian distribution and

Generalized Abstract Symbolic Summaries

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Person, Suzette; Dwyer, Matthew B.

2009-01-01

Current techniques for validating and verifying program changes often consider the entire program, even for small changes, leading to enormous V&V costs over a program s lifetime. This is due, in large part, to the use of syntactic program techniques which are necessarily imprecise. Building on recent advances in symbolic execution of heap manipulating programs, in this paper, we develop techniques for performing abstract semantic differencing of program behaviors that offer the potential for improved precision.

An Integrative Model of Patient-Centeredness – A Systematic Review and Concept Analysis

PubMed Central

Scholl, Isabelle; Zill, Jördis M.; Härter, Martin; Dirmaier, Jörg

2014-01-01

Background Existing models of patient-centeredness reveal a lack of conceptual clarity. This results in a heterogeneous use of the term, unclear measurement dimensions, inconsistent results regarding the effectiveness of patient-centered interventions, and finally in difficulties in implementing patient-centered care. The aim of this systematic review was to identify the different dimensions of patient-centeredness described in the literature and to propose an integrative model of patient-centeredness based on these results. Methods Protocol driven search in five databases, combined with a comprehensive secondary search strategy. All articles that include a definition of patient-centeredness were eligible for inclusion in the review and subject to subsequent content analysis. Two researchers independently first screened titles and abstracts, then assessed full texts for eligibility. In each article the given definition of patient-centeredness was coded independently by two researchers. We discussed codes within the research team and condensed them into an integrative model of patient-centeredness. Results 4707 records were identified through primary and secondary search, of which 706 were retained after screening of titles and abstracts. 417 articles (59%) contained a definition of patient-centeredness and were coded. 15 dimensions of patient-centeredness were identified: essential characteristics of clinician, clinician-patient relationship, clinician-patient communication, patient as unique person, biopsychosocial perspective, patient information, patient involvement in care, involvement of family and friends, patient empowerment, physical support, emotional support, integration of medical and non-medical care, teamwork and teambuilding, access to care, coordination and continuity of care. In the resulting integrative model the dimensions were mapped onto different levels of care. Conclusions The proposed integrative model of patient-centeredness allows different

Handedness Shapes Children's Abstract Concepts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Casasanto, Daniel; Henetz, Tania

2012-01-01

Can children's handedness influence how they represent abstract concepts like "kindness" and "intelligence"? Here we show that from an early age, right-handers associate rightward space more strongly with positive ideas and leftward space with negative ideas, but the opposite is true for left-handers. In one experiment, children indicated where on…

GOClonto: an ontological clustering approach for conceptualizing PubMed abstracts.

PubMed

Zheng, Hai-Tao; Borchert, Charles; Kim, Hong-Gee

2010-02-01

Concurrent with progress in biomedical sciences, an overwhelming of textual knowledge is accumulating in the biomedical literature. PubMed is the most comprehensive database collecting and managing biomedical literature. To help researchers easily understand collections of PubMed abstracts, numerous clustering methods have been proposed to group similar abstracts based on their shared features. However, most of these methods do not explore the semantic relationships among groupings of documents, which could help better illuminate the groupings of PubMed abstracts. To address this issue, we proposed an ontological clustering method called GOClonto for conceptualizing PubMed abstracts. GOClonto uses latent semantic analysis (LSA) and gene ontology (GO) to identify key gene-related concepts and their relationships as well as allocate PubMed abstracts based on these key gene-related concepts. Based on two PubMed abstract collections, the experimental results show that GOClonto is able to identify key gene-related concepts and outperforms the STC (suffix tree clustering) algorithm, the Lingo algorithm, the Fuzzy Ants algorithm, and the clustering based TRS (tolerance rough set) algorithm. Moreover, the two ontologies generated by GOClonto show significant informative conceptual structures.

An integrative literature review on nursing interventions aimed at increasing self-care among heart failure patients 1

PubMed Central

Boisvert, Sophie; Proulx-Belhumeur, Alexandra; Gonçalves, Natalia; Doré, Michel; Francoeur, Julie; Gallani, Maria Cecilia

2015-01-01

Abstract Objective: to analyze and summarize knowledge concerning critical components of interventions that have been proposed and implemented by nurses with the aim of optimizing self-care by heart failure patients. Methods: PubMed and CINAHL were the electronic databases used to search full peer-reviewed papers, presenting descriptions of nursing interventions directed to patients or to patients and their families and designed to optimize self-care. Forty-two studies were included in the final sample (n=4,799 patients). Results: this review pointed to a variety and complexity of nursing interventions. As self-care encompasses several behaviors, interventions targeted an average of 3.6 behaviors. Educational/counselling activities were combined or not with cognitive behavioral strategies, but only about half of the studies used a theoretical background to guide interventions. Clinical assessment and management were frequently associated with self-care interventions, which varied in number of sessions (1 to 30); length of follow-up (2 weeks to 12 months) and endpoints. Conclusions: these findings may be useful to inform nurses about further research in self-care interventions in order to propose the comparison of different modalities of intervention, the use of theoretical background and the establishment of endpoints to evaluate their effectiveness. PMID:26444179

Reading and Abstracting Journal Articles in Sedimentology and Stratigraphy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conrad, Susan Howes

1991-01-01

An assignment centered on reading journal articles and writing abstracts is an effective way to improve student reading and writing skills in sedimentology and stratigraphy laboratories. Each student reads two articles and writes informative abstracts from the author's point of view. (PR)

Abstract analogical reasoning in high-functioning children with autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Green, Adam E; Kenworthy, Lauren; Mosner, Maya G; Gallagher, Natalie M; Fearon, Edward W; Balhana, Carlos D; Yerys, Benjamin E

2014-12-01

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) exhibit a deficit in spontaneously recognizing abstract similarities that are crucial for generalizing learning to new situations. This may contribute to deficits in the development of appropriate schemas for navigating novel situations, including social interactions. Analogical reasoning is the central cognitive mechanism that enables typically developing children to understand abstract similarities between different situations. Intriguingly, studies of high-functioning children with ASD point to a relative cognitive strength in basic, nonabstract forms of analogical reasoning. If this analogical reasoning ability extends to abstract analogical reasoning (i.e., between superficially dissimilar situations), it may provide a bridge between a cognitive capability and core ASD deficits in areas such as generalization and categorization. This study tested whether preserved analogical reasoning abilities in ASD can be extended to abstract analogical reasoning, using photographs of real-world items and situations. Abstractness of the analogies was determined via a quantitative measure of semantic distance derived from latent semantic analysis. Children with ASD performed as well as typically developing children at identifying abstract analogical similarities when explicitly instructed to apply analogical reasoning. Individual differences in abstract analogical reasoning ability predicted individual differences in a measure of social function in the ASD group. Preliminary analyses indicated that children with ASD, but not typically developing children, showed an effect of age on abstract analogical reasoning. These results provide new evidence that children with ASD are capable of identifying abstract similarities through analogical reasoning, pointing to abstract analogical reasoning as a potential lever for improving generalization skills and social function in ASD. © 2014 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley

Illuminating the Background: Topics in Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, Nathan J.

The cosmic microwave background provides a wealth of information about the origin and history of the universe. The statistics of the anisotropy and the polarization of the cosmic microwave background, among other things, can tell us about the distribution of matter, the redshift of reionization, and the nature of the primordial uctuations. From the lensing of cosmic microwave background due to intervening matter, we can extract information about neutrinos and the equation of state of dark energy. A measurement of the large angular scale B-mode polarization has been called the "smoking gun" of in ation, a theory that describes a possible early rapid expansion of the universe. The focus of current experiments is to measure this B-mode polarization, while several experiments, such as POLARBEAR, are also looking to measure the lensing of the cosmic microwave background. This dissertation will discuss several different topics in cosmic microwave background polarization research. I will make predictions for future experiments and I will also show analysis for two current experiments, POLARBEAR and BICEP. I will show how beam systematics affect the measurement of cosmological parameters and how well we must limit these systematics in order to get unbiased constraints on cosmological parameters for future experiments. I will discuss a novel way of using the temperature-polarization cross correlation to constrain the amount of inflationary gravitational waves. Through Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods, I will determine how well future experiments will be able to constrain the neutrino masses and their degeneracy parameters. I will show results from current data analysis and calibration being done on the Cedar Flat deployment for the POLARBEAR experiment which is currently being constructed in the Atacama desert in Chile. Finally, I will analyze the claim of detection of cosmological birefringence in the BICEP data and show that there is reason to believe it is due to

Fate of abstracts presented at the 2002 IFCC meeting.

PubMed

Uysal, Sezer; Tuglu, Birsen; Ozalp, Ylmaz; Onvural, Banu

2008-01-01

Poster presentations at major meetings serve to rapidly present and share study results with the scientific community. On the other hand, full-text publication of abstracts in peer-reviewed journals provides dissemination of knowledge. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the publication rate of abstracts presented at the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) Meeting, to assess the factors influencing publication and determine the impact factor of these journals. All poster abstracts presented at the 2002 IFCC Meeting were included in the study. A Medline search was performed to identify a matching journal article. Topics, country of origin, study type, study center and publication year were tabulated. Journals and impact factors of publication were noted. Out of 900 presented abstracts, 125 (13.9%) were published as full-text articles. Publication rates according to topics of the meeting, country of origin and university affiliation demonstrated significant differences. Abstracts from multi-centered studies had higher publication rates, and the journals they were published in had higher impact factors than single center studies. The median impact factor of the journals was 2.093. According to regression analysis, the major predictors for publication were interventional research and university affiliation (odds ratios 2.916 and 1.782, respectively; p < 0.05). The publication rate for abstracts of this clinical chemistry meeting was lower than rates from other fields of medicine. Factors leading to failure require elucidation. Encouraging authors to submit their presentations for full-text publication might improve the rate of publication.

Space Electrochemical Research and Technology. Abstracts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

This document contains abstracts of the proceedings of NASA's fifth Space Electrochemical Research and Technology (SERT) Conference, held at the NASA Lewis Research Center on May 1-3, 1995. The objective of the conference was to assess the present status and general thrust of research and development in those areas of electrochemical technology required to enable NASA missions into the next century. The conference provided a forum for the exchange of ideas and opinions of those actively involved in the field, in order to define new opportunities for the application of electrochemical processes in future NASA missions. Papers were presented in three technical areas: (1) the electrochemical interface, (2) the next generation in aerospace batteries and fuel cells, and (3) electrochemistry for non-energy storage applications. This document contains the abstracts of the papers presented.

Background Underground at WIPP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esch, Ernst-Ingo; Hime, A.; Bowles, T. J.

2001-04-01

Recent interest to establish a dedicated underground laboratory in the United States prompted an experimental program at to quantify the enviromental backgrounds underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico. An outline of this program is provided along with recent experimental data on the cosmic ray muon flux at the 650 meter level of WIPP. The implications of the cosmic ray muon and fast neutron background at WIPP will be discussed in the context of new generation, low background experiments envisioned in the future.

Research Abstracts of 1980.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-12-01

ABSTRACTS OF 1980. 9 - DTIC ELECTEf ii S AN3O 1981j _NAVAL DISTRIBUTION SMT:MIT DENTAL RESEARCH Approved for PUbDiC T INSTITE iii~2 YA3 It81 Naval...Medical Research apd Development Command 30 £ Bethesda, Maryland ( *- i - NTIS - GRA&I DTIC TAB - Urrannouneed NAVAL DENTAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE...r1 w American Assoctat/ion for Dental Research, 58th Annual Session, Los Angeles, California, March 20-23, 1980. 1. AV6ERSON*, D. N., LANGELAND, K

The Emotions of Abstract Words: A Distributional Semantic Analysis.

PubMed

Lenci, Alessandro; Lebani, Gianluca E; Passaro, Lucia C

2018-04-06

Recent psycholinguistic and neuroscientific research has emphasized the crucial role of emotions for abstract words, which would be grounded by affective experience, instead of a sensorimotor one. The hypothesis of affective embodiment has been proposed as an alternative to the idea that abstract words are linguistically coded and that linguistic processing plays a key role in their acquisition and processing. In this paper, we use distributional semantic models to explore the complex interplay between linguistic and affective information in the representation of abstract words. Distributional analyses on Italian norming data show that abstract words have more affective content and tend to co-occur with contexts with higher emotive values, according to affective statistical indices estimated in terms of distributional similarity with a restricted number of seed words strongly associated with a set of basic emotions. Therefore, the strong affective content of abstract words might just be an indirect byproduct of co-occurrence statistics. This is consistent with a version of representational pluralism in which concepts that are fully embodied either at the sensorimotor or at the affective level live side-by-side with concepts only indirectly embodied via their linguistic associations with other embodied words. Copyright © 2018 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

An automatic method to generate domain-specific investigator networks using PubMed abstracts

PubMed Central

Yu, Wei; Yesupriya, Ajay; Wulf, Anja; Qu, Junfeng; Gwinn, Marta; Khoury, Muin J

2007-01-01

Background Collaboration among investigators has become critical to scientific research. This includes ad hoc collaboration established through personal contacts as well as formal consortia established by funding agencies. Continued growth in online resources for scientific research and communication has promoted the development of highly networked research communities. Extending these networks globally requires identifying additional investigators in a given domain, profiling their research interests, and collecting current contact information. We present a novel strategy for building investigator networks dynamically and producing detailed investigator profiles using data available in PubMed abstracts. Results We developed a novel strategy to obtain detailed investigator information by automatically parsing the affiliation string in PubMed records. We illustrated the results by using a published literature database in human genome epidemiology (HuGE Pub Lit) as a test case. Our parsing strategy extracted country information from 92.1% of the affiliation strings in a random sample of PubMed records and in 97.0% of HuGE records, with accuracies of 94.0% and 91.0%, respectively. Institution information was parsed from 91.3% of the general PubMed records (accuracy 86.8%) and from 94.2% of HuGE PubMed records (accuracy 87.0). We demonstrated the application of our approach to dynamic creation of investigator networks by creating a prototype information system containing a large database of PubMed abstracts relevant to human genome epidemiology (HuGE Pub Lit), indexed using PubMed medical subject headings converted to Unified Medical Language System concepts. Our method was able to identify 70–90% of the investigators/collaborators in three different human genetics fields; it also successfully identified 9 of 10 genetics investigators within the PREBIC network, an existing preterm birth research network. Conclusion We successfully created a web-based prototype

Meeting Abstracts - AMCP Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy Annual Meeting 2018.

PubMed

2018-04-01

The AMCP Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy Annual Meeting 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts, is expected to attract more than 3,800 managed care pharmacists and other health care professionals who manage and evaluate drug therapies, develop and manage networks, and work with medical managers and information specialists to improve the care of all individuals enrolled in managed care programs. The AMCP Abstracts program provides a forum through which authors can share their insights and outcomes of advanced managed care practice. Abstracts are presented as posters on Wednesday, April 25, from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm. Posters will also be displayed on Tuesday, April 24, from 5:45 pm to 7:30 pm, and on Thursday, April 26, from 9:30 am to 11:00 am. Podium presentations for the Platinum award-winning abstracts are Thursday, April 26, from 8:00 am to 9:15 am. Professional abstracts that have been reviewed are published in the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy's Meeting Abstracts supplement.

What Is It? Elementary Abstraction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Von Sossan, Joanne

2010-01-01

Abstraction can be hard for older students to understand, and it usually involves simplifying or rearranging natural objects to meet the needs of the artist, whether it be for organization or expression. But, in reality, that is what young artists do when they draw from life. They do not have enough experience--and sometimes the patience--to see…

The Transfer of Abstract Principles Governing Complex Adaptive Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldstone, Robert L.; Sakamoto, Yasuaki

2003-01-01

Four experiments explored participants' understanding of the abstract principles governing computer simulations of complex adaptive systems. Experiments 1, 2, and 3 showed better transfer of abstract principles across simulations that were relatively dissimilar, and that this effect was due to participants who performed relatively poorly on the…

Concept Abstractness and the Representation of Noun-Noun Combinations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xu, Xu; Paulson, Lisa

2013-01-01

Research on noun-noun combinations has been largely focusing on concrete concepts. Three experiments examined the role of concept abstractness in the representation of noun-noun combinations. In Experiment 1, participants provided written interpretations for phrases constituted by nouns of varying degrees of abstractness. Interpretive focus (the…

Outcome of severe infections in afebrile neutropenic cancer patients

PubMed Central

Mahkovic-Hergouth, Ksenija; Novakovic, Barbara Jezersek; Seruga, Bostjan

2016-01-01

Abstract Background In some neutropenic cancer patients fever may be absent despite microbiologically and/or clinically confirmed infection. We hypothesized that afebrile neutropenic cancer patients with severe infections have worse outcome as compared to cancer patients with febrile neutropenia. Patients and methods We retrospectively analyzed all adult cancer patients with chemotherapy-induced neutropenia and severe infection, who were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at our cancer center between 2000 and 2011. The outcome of interest was 30-day in-hospital mortality rate. Association between the febrile status and in-hospital mortality rate was evaluated by the Fisher’s exact test. Results We identified 69 episodes of severe neutropenic infections in 65 cancer patients. Among these, 9 (13%) episodes were afebrile. Patients with afebrile neutropenic infection presented with hypotension, severe fatigue with inappetence, shaking chills, altered mental state or cough and all of them eventually deteriorated to severe sepsis or septic shock. Overall 30-day in-hospital mortality rate was 55.1%. Patients with afebrile neutropenic infection had a trend for a higher 30-day in-hospital mortality rate as compared to patients with febrile neutropenic infection (78% vs. 52%, p = 0.17). Conclusions Afebrile cancer patients with chemotherapy-induced neutropenia and severe infections might have worse outcome as compared to cancer patients with febrile neutropenia. Patients should be informed that severe neutropenic infection without fever can occasionally occur during cancer treatment with chemotherapy. PMID:27904453

An Integrated Planning Representation Using Macros, Abstractions, and Cases

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baltes, Jacky; MacDonald, Bruce

1992-01-01

Planning will be an essential part of future autonomous robots and integrated intelligent systems. This paper focuses on learning problem solving knowledge in planning systems. The system is based on a common representation for macros, abstractions, and cases. Therefore, it is able to exploit both classical and case based techniques. The general operators in a successful plan derivation would be assessed for their potential usefulness, and some stored. The feasibility of this approach was studied through the implementation of a learning system for abstraction. New macros are motivated by trying to improve the operatorset. One heuristic used to improve the operator set is generating operators with more general preconditions than existing ones. This heuristic leads naturally to abstraction hierarchies. This investigation showed promising results on the towers of Hanoi problem. The paper concludes by describing methods for learning other problem solving knowledge. This knowledge can be represented by allowing operators at different levels of abstraction in a refinement.

Business and Organizational Communication: Abstracts of Doctoral Dissertations Published in "Dissertation Abstracts International," January through June 1984 (Vol. 44, Nos. 7 through 12).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills, Urbana, IL.

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 15 dissertations abstracted deal with the following topics: (1) female managers' approaches to organizational conflict; (2) relationships between organizational climate and pupil control ideology; (3) information communication…

From Abstract to Concrete Norms in Agent Institutions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grossi, Davide; Dignum, Frank

2004-01-01

Norms specifying constraints over institutions are stated in such a form that allows them to regulate a wide range of situations over time without need for modification. To guarantee this stability, the formulation of norms need to abstract from a variety of concrete aspects, which are instead relevant for the actual operationalization of institutions. If agent institutions are to be built, which comply with a set of abstract requirements, how can those requirements be translated in more concrete constraints the impact of which can be described directly in the institution? In this work we make use of logical methods in order to provide a formal characterization of the translation rules that operate the connection between abstract and concrete norms. On the basis of this characterization, a comprehensive formalization of the notion of institution is also provided.

Racial background is a determinant factor in the maintenance dosage of warfarin.

PubMed

Gan, Gin Gin; Teh, Alan; Goh, Kim Yen; Chong, Heng Thay; Pang, Kang Wah

2003-07-01

Warfarin is a drug commonly used in the prevention of thromboembolic events. There have been reports suggesting that racial background may influence warfarin dose requirements. Malaysia is a multiracial country in which there are 3 major races, Malay, Chinese, and Indian. We examined 100 patients from our hospital on stable maintenance doses of warfarin, with international normalized ratio (INR) of 2.0 to 3.5. We found that the mean warfarin dose for Indian patients (n = 19) was 6.9 mg, for Chinese patients (n = 55) was 3.6 mg, and for Malay patients (n = 26) was 3.2 mg. The results showed that the Indian patients required a statistically significantly higher warfarin dose than did patients of the other 2 races (P < .0005). Age was also found to affect the daily warfarin maintenance dose.

Economic Education Projects: Abstracts from the 1980-81 Competition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, George E., Ed.

Abstracts of innovative and imaginative economics units are provided in this annotated listing of economic education projects submitted to the 1980-81 National Awards Program for Teaching Economics. Over 200 abstracts are contained in separate sections covering materials for primary grades, intermediate grades, junior high schools, senior high…

Dilatonic parallelizable NS-NS backgrounds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawano, Teruhiko; Yamaguchi, Satoshi

2003-08-01

We complete the classification of parallelizable NS-NS backgrounds in type II supergravity by adding the dilatonic case to the result of Figueroa-O'Farrill on the non-dilatonic case. We also study the supersymmetry of these parallelizable backgrounds. It is shown that all the dilatonic parallelizable backgrounds have sixteen supersymmetries.

Research Abstracts of 1979.

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-12-01

7 AD-AO82 309 NAVAL DENTAL RESEARCH INST GREAT LAKES IL F/6 6/9 RESCH ABTAT79 991 UNCLASSIFIED NORI-PR-79-11 NL ’NDRI-PR 79-11 December 1979...RESEARCH ABSTRACTS OF 1979 OTICSELZCreD MAR 2?718 S A NAVAL DENTAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE Naval Medical Research and Development Command Bethesda, Maryland...8G 3 23 O4ൌ p.,. ... ....-- - I -- - ’.... .I l l ---,, .. . = ., , ." .;’.- I 1 IV NAVAL DENTAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE NAVAL BASE, BLDG. I-H GREAT LAKES

Patient safety initiatives in Central and Eastern Europe: A mixed methods approach by the LINNEAUS collaboration on patient safety in primary care

PubMed Central

Godycki-Cwirko, Maciek; Esmail, Aneez; Dovey, Susan; Wensing, Michel; Parker, Dianne; Kowalczyk, Anna; Błaszczyk, Honorata; Kosiek, Katarzyna

2015-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: Despite patient safety being recognized as an important healthcare issue in the European Union, there has been variable implementation of patient safety initiatives in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Objective: To assess the status of patient safety initiatives in countries in CEE; to describe a process of engagement in Poland, which can serve as a template for the implementation of patient safety initiatives in primary care. Methods: A mixed methods design was used. We conducted a review of literature focusing on publications from CEE, an inventory of patient safety initiatives in CEE countries, interviews with key informants, international survey, review of national reporting systems, and pilot demonstrator project in Poland with implementation of patient safety toolkits assessment. Results: There was no published patient safety research from Albania, Belarus, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, or Russia. Nine papers were found from Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia, and Slovenia. In most of the CEE countries, patient safety had been addressed at the policy level although the focus was mainly in hospital care. There was a dearth of activity in primary care. The use of patient improvement strategies was low. Conclusion: International cooperation as exemplified in the demonstrator project can help in the development and implementation of patient safety initiatives in primary care in changing the emphasis away from a blame culture to one where greater emphasis is placed on improvement and learning. PMID:26339839

Abstracting event-based control models for high autonomy systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luh, Cheng-Jye; Zeigler, Bernard P.

1993-01-01

A high autonomy system needs many models on which to base control, management, design, and other interventions. These models differ in level of abstraction and in formalism. Concepts and tools are needed to organize the models into a coherent whole. The paper deals with the abstraction processes for systematic derivation of related models for use in event-based control. The multifaceted modeling methodology is briefly reviewed. The morphism concepts needed for application to model abstraction are described. A theory for supporting the construction of DEVS models needed for event-based control is then presented. An implemented morphism on the basis of this theory is also described.

A Quantitative Empirical Analysis of the Abstract/Concrete Distinction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Felix; Korhonen, Anna; Bentz, Christian

2014-01-01

This study presents original evidence that abstract and concrete concepts are organized and represented differently in the mind, based on analyses of thousands of concepts in publicly available data sets and computational resources. First, we show that abstract and concrete concepts have differing patterns of association with other concepts.…

De-identifying a public use microdata file from the Canadian national discharge abstract database

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Abstract Background The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) collects hospital discharge abstract data (DAD) from Canadian provinces and territories. There are many demands for the disclosure of this data for research and analysis to inform policy making. To expedite the disclosure of data for some of these purposes, the construction of a DAD public use microdata file (PUMF) was considered. Such purposes include: confirming some published results, providing broader feedback to CIHI to improve data quality, training students and fellows, providing an easily accessible data set for researchers to prepare for analyses on the full DAD data set, and serve as a large health data set for computer scientists and statisticians to evaluate analysis and data mining techniques. The objective of this study was to measure the probability of re-identification for records in a PUMF, and to de-identify a national DAD PUMF consisting of 10% of records. Methods Plausible attacks on a PUMF were evaluated. Based on these attacks, the 2008-2009 national DAD was de-identified. A new algorithm was developed to minimize the amount of suppression while maximizing the precision of the data. The acceptable threshold for the probability of correct re-identification of a record was set at between 0.04 and 0.05. Information loss was measured in terms of the extent of suppression and entropy. Results Two different PUMF files were produced, one with geographic information, and one with no geographic information but more clinical information. At a threshold of 0.05, the maximum proportion of records with the diagnosis code suppressed was 20%, but these suppressions represented only 8-9% of all values in the DAD. Our suppression algorithm has less information loss than a more traditional approach to suppression. Smaller regions, patients with longer stays, and age groups that are infrequently admitted to hospitals tend to be the ones with the highest rates of suppression. Conclusions The

Abstract-Reasoning Software for Coordinating Multiple Agents

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clement, Bradley; Barrett, Anthony; Rabideau, Gregg; Knight, Russell

2003-01-01

A computer program for scheduling the activities of multiple agents that share limited resources has been incorporated into the Automated Scheduling and Planning Environment (ASPEN) software system, aspects of which have been reported in several previous NASA Tech Briefs articles. In the original intended application, the agents would be multiple spacecraft and/or robotic vehicles engaged in scientific exploration of distant planets. The program could also be used on Earth in such diverse settings as production lines and military maneuvers. This program includes a planning/scheduling subprogram of the iterative repair type that reasons about the activities of multiple agents at abstract levels in order to greatly improve the scheduling of their use of shared resources. The program summarizes the information about the constraints on, and resource requirements of, abstract activities on the basis of the constraints and requirements that pertain to their potential refinements (decomposition into less-abstract and ultimately to primitive activities). The advantage of reasoning about summary information is that time needed to find consistent schedules is exponentially smaller than the time that would be needed for reasoning about the same tasks at the primitive level.

How do hospitalised patients with Turkish migration background estimate their language skills and their comprehension of medical information – a prospective cross-sectional study and comparison to native patients in Germany to assess the language barrier and the need for translation

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Today more than two million people with Turkish migration background live in Germany making them the largest ethnic minority in the country. Data concerning language skills and the perception of medical information in hospitalised patients with Turkish migration background (T) are scarce. Our study is the first to gather quantitative information on this important subject. Methods T and hospitalised German patients without migration background (G) of our university hospital were prospectively included into a cross-sectional study and completed a questionnaire - each group in the appropriate language (T: Turkish, G: German). Results 121 T and 121 G were included. Groups significantly differed in age (T: 44.9 ± 17.8, G: 56.9 ± 16.7y) and proportion of males (T: 37.2, G: 54.5%) but not regarding the proportion of college graduates (T: 19.3, G: 15.7%). The majority of T was born in Turkey (71%) and is of Turkish nationality (66%). 74% of T speak mainly Turkish at home; however, 73% speak German at work. 74.4% of T self-rated their German linguistic proficiency as “average” or better while 25.6% reported it as “very bad” or “bad”. 10.7% of T need translation in order to pursue everyday activities. T were significantly less satisfied with the physician’s information on disease and estimated to understand significantly less of what the physician told them: 46.3% of T estimated their reception of the physician’s information to be “average” or worse. 43.3% of T had the impression that it would have helped them “much” or “very much” to be aided by an interpreter at the hospital. The information transmitted while giving informed consent to invasive medical procedure was judged to be “mostly” or “completely” sufficient by the majority of T (76%) and G (89.8%). In this setting 37 of 96 T (38.5%) reported being helped by an interpreter – in most cases (64.9%) a family member. Conclusion Although the majority of

Methods for solving reasoning problems in abstract argumentation – A survey

PubMed Central

Charwat, Günther; Dvořák, Wolfgang; Gaggl, Sarah A.; Wallner, Johannes P.; Woltran, Stefan

2015-01-01

Within the last decade, abstract argumentation has emerged as a central field in Artificial Intelligence. Besides providing a core formalism for many advanced argumentation systems, abstract argumentation has also served to capture several non-monotonic logics and other AI related principles. Although the idea of abstract argumentation is appealingly simple, several reasoning problems in this formalism exhibit high computational complexity. This calls for advanced techniques when it comes to implementation issues, a challenge which has been recently faced from different angles. In this survey, we give an overview on different methods for solving reasoning problems in abstract argumentation and compare their particular features. Moreover, we highlight available state-of-the-art systems for abstract argumentation, which put these methods to practice. PMID:25737590

The Pipeline From Abstract Presentation to Publication in Pediatric Hospital Medicine.

PubMed

Herrmann, Lisa E; Hall, Matthew; Kyler, Kathryn; Cochran, Joseph; Andrews, Annie L; Williams, Derek J; Wilson, Karen M; Shah, Samir S

2018-02-01

The annual Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) conference serves as a venue for the dissemination of research in this rapidly growing discipline. A measure of research validity is subsequent publication in peer-reviewed journals. To identify the publication rate of abstracts submitted to the 2014 PHM conference and determine whether presentation format was associated with subsequent journal publication or time to publication. We identified abstracts submitted to the 2014 PHM conference. Presentation formats included rejected abstracts and poster and oral presentations. Abstracts subsequently published in journals were identified by searching the author and abstract title in PubMed, MedEdPORTAL, and Google Scholar. We used logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models to determine if presentation format was associated with publication, time to publication, and publishing journal impact factor. Of 226 submitted abstracts, 19.0% were rejected, 68.0% were selected for posters, and 12.8% were selected for oral presentations; 36.3% were subsequently published within 30 months after the conference. Abstracts accepted for oral presentation had more than 7-fold greater odds of publication (adjusted odds ratio 7.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.6-23.5) and a 4-fold greater likelihood of publication at each month (adjusted hazard ratio 4.5; 95% CI, 2.1-9.7) compared with rejected abstracts. Median journal impact factor was significantly higher for oral presentations than other presentation formats (P < 0.01). Abstract reviewers may be able to identify methodologically sound studies for presentation; however, the low overall publication rate may indicate that presented results are preliminary or signify a need for increased mentorship and resources for research development in PHM.

Small Business Innovation Research. Abstracts of Phase I awards, 1999

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

1999-12-01

This booklet presents technical abstracts of Phase I awards made in Fiscal Year (FY) 1999 under the DOE Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. SBIR research explores innovative concepts in important technological and scientific areas that can lead to valuable new technology and products. The work described in the abstracts is novel, high-risk research, but the benefits will also be potentially high if the objectives are met. Brief comments on the potential applications, as described by the awardee, are given after each abstract. Individuals and organizations, including venture capital and larger industrial firms, with an interest in the research describedmore » in any of the abstracts are encouraged to contact the appropriate small business directly.« less

Fluorine atom abstraction by Si(100). I. Experimental

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tate, M. R.; Gosalvez-Blanco, D.; Pullman, D. P.; Tsekouras, A. A.; Li, Y. L.; Yang, J. J.; Laughlin, K. B.; Eckman, S. C.; Bertino, M. F.; Ceyer, S. T.

1999-08-01

In the interaction of low energy F2 with Si(100) at 250 K, a dissociative chemisorption mechanism called atom abstraction is identified in which only one of the F atoms is adsorbed while the other F atom is scattered into the gas phase. The dynamics of atom abstraction are characterized via time-of-flight measurements of the scattered F atoms. The F atoms are translationally hyperthermal but only carry a small fraction (˜3%) of the tremendous exothermicity of the reaction. The angular distribution of F atoms is unusually broad for the product of an exothermic reaction. These results suggest an "attractive" interaction potential between F2 and the Si dangling bond with a transition state that is not constrained geometrically. These results are in disagreement with the results of theoretical investigations implying that the available potential energy surfaces are inadequate to describe the dynamics of this gas-surface interaction. In addition to single atom abstraction, two atom adsorption, a mechanism analogous to classic dissociative chemisorption in which both F atoms are adsorbed onto the surface, is also observed. The absolute probability of the three scattering channels (single atom abstraction, two atom adsorption, and unreactive scattering) for an incident F2 are determined as a function of F2 exposure. The fluorine coverage is determined by integrating the reaction probabilities over F2 exposure, and the reaction probabilities are recast as a function of fluorine coverage. Two atom adsorption is the dominant channel [P2=0.83±0.03(95%, N=9)] in the limit of zero coverage and decays monotonically to zero. Single atom abstraction is the minor channel (P1=0.13±0.03) at low coverage but increases to a maximum (P1=0.35±0.08) at about 0.5 monolayer (ML) coverage before decaying to zero. The reaction ceases at 0.94±0.11(95%, N=9) ML. Thermal desorption and helium diffraction confirm that the dangling bonds are the abstraction and adsorption sites. No Si lattice

Program and Abstracts, Boron Americas IX Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Feakes, Debra A.

The Scientific and Technical Information (STI) submitted includes the final report and a collection of abstracts for the Ninth Boron in the Americas Conference which was held May 19-22, 2004, in San Marcos, Texas. The topics covered in the abstracts include: Application in Medicine, Application in Organic Synthesis and Catalysis, Boranes and Carboranes, Materials and Polymers, Metallaboranes and Metallacarboranes, Organoboron Compounds, Synthesis and Catalysis, and Theoretical Studies. Attendees represented researchers from government, industry, and academia.

Integrating model abstraction into monitoring strategies

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This study was designed and performed to investigate the opportunities and benefits of integrating model abstraction techniques into monitoring strategies. The study focused on future applications of modeling to contingency planning and management of potential and actual contaminant release sites wi...

Second LDEF Post-Retrieval Symposium Abstracts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levine, Arlene S. (Compiler)

1992-01-01

These abstracts from the symposium represent the data analysis of the 57 experiments flown on the LDEF. The experiments include materials, coatings, thermal systems, power and propulsion, science, (cosmic ray, interstellar gas, heavy ions, micrometeoroids, etc.), electronics, optics, and life science.

Reconstruing intolerance: abstract thinking reduces conservatives' prejudice against nonnormative groups.

PubMed

Luguri, Jamie B; Napier, Jaime L; Dovidio, John F

2012-07-01

Myrdal (1944) described the "American dilemma" as the conflict between abstract national values ("liberty and justice for all") and more concrete, everyday prejudices. We leveraged construal-level theory to empirically test Myrdal's proposition that construal level (abstract vs. concrete) can influence prejudice. We measured individual differences in construal level (Study 1) and manipulated construal level (Studies 2 and 3); across these three studies, we found that adopting an abstract mind-set heightened conservatives' tolerance for groups that are perceived as deviating from Judeo-Christian values (gay men, lesbians, Muslims, and atheists). Among participants who adopted a concrete mind-set, conservatives were less tolerant of these nonnormative groups than liberals were, but political orientation did not have a reliable effect on tolerance among participants who adopted an abstract mind-set. Attitudes toward racial out-groups and dominant groups (e.g., Whites, Christians) were unaffected by construal level. In Study 3, we found that the effect of abstract thinking on prejudice was mediated by an increase in concerns about fairness.

Perspectives of oncology nurses and oncologists regarding barriers to working with patients from a minority background: Systemic issues and working with interpreters.

PubMed

Watts, K J; Meiser, B; Zilliacus, E; Kaur, R; Taouk, M; Girgis, A; Butow, P; Kissane, D W; Hale, S; Perry, A; Aranda, S K; Goldstein, D

2018-03-01

This study aimed to ascertain the systemic barriers encountered by oncology health professionals (HPs) working with patients from ethnic minorities to guide the development of a communication skills training programme. Twelve medical and five radiation oncologists and 21 oncology nurses were invited to participate in this qualitative study. Participants were interviewed individually or in a focus group about their experiences working with people from minority backgrounds. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. HPs encountered language and communication barriers in their interactions with patients and their families, which were perceived to impact negatively on the quality and amount of information and support provided. There was a shortage of, and poor processes for engaging, interpreters and some HPs were concerned about the accuracy of interpretation. HPs expressed a need for training in cultural awareness and communication skills with a preference for face-to-face delivery. A lack of funding, a culture of "learning on the job", and time constraints were systemic barriers to training. Oncologists and oncology nurses encounter complex challenges in clinical interactions with minority patients and their families, including difficulties working with interpreters. Formal training programmes targeted to the development of culturally competent communication skills are required. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Using Natural Language Processing to Improve Efficiency of Manual Chart Abstraction in Research: The Case of Breast Cancer Recurrence

PubMed Central

Carrell, David S.; Halgrim, Scott; Tran, Diem-Thy; Buist, Diana S. M.; Chubak, Jessica; Chapman, Wendy W.; Savova, Guergana

2014-01-01

The increasing availability of electronic health records (EHRs) creates opportunities for automated extraction of information from clinical text. We hypothesized that natural language processing (NLP) could substantially reduce the burden of manual abstraction in studies examining outcomes, like cancer recurrence, that are documented in unstructured clinical text, such as progress notes, radiology reports, and pathology reports. We developed an NLP-based system using open-source software to process electronic clinical notes from 1995 to 2012 for women with early-stage incident breast cancers to identify whether and when recurrences were diagnosed. We developed and evaluated the system using clinical notes from 1,472 patients receiving EHR-documented care in an integrated health care system in the Pacific Northwest. A separate study provided the patient-level reference standard for recurrence status and date. The NLP-based system correctly identified 92% of recurrences and estimated diagnosis dates within 30 days for 88% of these. Specificity was 96%. The NLP-based system overlooked 5 of 65 recurrences, 4 because electronic documents were unavailable. The NLP-based system identified 5 other recurrences incorrectly classified as nonrecurrent in the reference standard. If used in similar cohorts, NLP could reduce by 90% the number of EHR charts abstracted to identify confirmed breast cancer recurrence cases at a rate comparable to traditional abstraction. PMID:24488511

Effects of semantic neighborhood density in abstract and concrete words.

PubMed

Reilly, Megan; Desai, Rutvik H

2017-12-01

Concrete and abstract words are thought to differ along several psycholinguistic variables, such as frequency and emotional content. Here, we consider another variable, semantic neighborhood density, which has received much less attention, likely because semantic neighborhoods of abstract words are difficult to measure. Using a corpus-based method that creates representations of words that emphasize featural information, the current investigation explores the relationship between neighborhood density and concreteness in a large set of English nouns. Two important observations emerge. First, semantic neighborhood density is higher for concrete than for abstract words, even when other variables are accounted for, especially for smaller neighborhood sizes. Second, the effects of semantic neighborhood density on behavior are different for concrete and abstract words. Lexical decision reaction times are fastest for words with sparse neighborhoods; however, this effect is stronger for concrete words than for abstract words. These results suggest that semantic neighborhood density plays a role in the cognitive and psycholinguistic differences between concrete and abstract words, and should be taken into account in studies involving lexical semantics. Furthermore, the pattern of results with the current feature-based neighborhood measure is very different from that with associatively defined neighborhoods, suggesting that these two methods should be treated as separate measures rather than two interchangeable measures of semantic neighborhoods. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Financial Incentive Increases CPAP Acceptance in Patients from Low Socioeconomic Background

PubMed Central

Tarasiuk, Ariel; Reznor, Gally; Greenberg-Dotan, Sari; Reuveni, Haim

2012-01-01

Objective We explored whether financial incentives have a role in patients′ decisions to accept (purchase) a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device in a healthcare system that requires cost sharing. Design Longitudinal interventional study. Patients The group receiving financial incentive (n = 137, 50.8±10.6 years, apnea/hypopnea index (AHI) 38.7±19.9 events/hr) and the control group (n = 121, 50.9±10.3 years, AHI 39.9±22) underwent attendant titration and a two-week adaptation to CPAP. Patients in the control group had a co-payment of $330–660; the financial incentive group paid a subsidized price of $55. Results CPAP acceptance was 43% greater (p = 0.02) in the financial incentive group. CPAP acceptance among the low socioeconomic strata (n = 113) (adjusting for age, gender, BMI, tobacco smoking) was enhanced by financial incentive (OR, 95% CI) (3.43, 1.09–10.85), age (1.1, 1.03–1.17), AHI (>30 vs. <30) (4.87, 1.56–15.2), and by family/friends who had positive experience with CPAP (4.29, 1.05–17.51). Among average/high-income patients (n = 145) CPAP acceptance was affected by AHI (>30 vs. <30) (3.16, 1.14–8.75), living with a partner (8.82, 1.03–75.8) but not by the financial incentive. At one-year follow-up CPAP adherence was similar in the financial incentive and control groups, 35% and 39%, respectively (p = 0.82). Adherence rate was sensitive to education (+yr) (1.28, 1.06–1.55) and AHI (>30 vs. <30) (5.25, 1.34–18.5). Conclusions Minimizing cost sharing reduces a barrier for CPAP acceptance among low socioeconomic status patients. Thus, financial incentive should be applied as a policy to encourage CPAP treatment, especially among low socioeconomic strata patients. PMID:22479368

Tense Use and Move Analysis in Journal Article Abstracts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Shih-ping; Tu, Pin-ning

2014-01-01

There has long been a growing interest in journal article (JA) abstract writing, and this pervading interest has boosted the exigency for further research. This current study therefore aims to investigate both the various applications of verb tense and the rhetorical structure within JA abstracts. A corpus of 1,000 JAs was collected from four…

Descriptions and Abstracts of Regular Education Inservice Projects (REGI).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erwin, Barbara, Comp.; And Others

This description of the Regular Education Inservice (REGI) effort in fiscal year 1981 includes a summary analysis of data from the REGI projects and a state by state compilation of project abstracts. Following the summary analysis of the REGI effort, project abstracts are organized by state or territory. Within each state or territory section,…

How should realism and hope be combined in physician-patient communication at the end of life? An online focus-group study among participants with and without a Muslim background.

PubMed

Oosterveld-Vlug, Mariska G; Francke, Anneke L; Pasman, H Roeline W; Onwuteaka-Philipsen, Bregje D

2017-06-01

Maintaining false hope may result in prolonged curative aggressive treatments until the very last stage of life. In this study, we sought to explore how people think that realistic and hopeful information should best be combined in physician-patient communications at the end of life. During a period of 15 days, participants of five online focus groups (OFGs) could log in onto a closed discussion site and offer responses to several topics. A variety of people participated: patients, older people, relatives, and healthcare professionals with and without a Muslim background. Participants with a Muslim background constituted a separate group, because previous research indicated that they might have distinct views on good end-of-life care and communication. Transcripts were analyzed following the principles of thematic analysis. Participants from all focus groups preferred that physicians provide realistic information in an empathic way, stating that the patient would never be left on his own and that withholding curative treatment was not equal to withholding care, explicitly asking how the patient could be helped during the time remaining, and involving other professionals in the care process and communications. As such, physicians could support patients' transition from "hope for a cure" to "hope for a good death." Muslims specified the way they wished to receive realistic information: first from a relative, and not by using the term "incurable illness," but rather by informing the patient that they had no remaining curative treatments available. Realism and hope are not necessarily mutually exclusive and can be combined when providing realistic information in a delicate and culturally sensitive way. This study provides suggestions on how physicians can do so. Communication skills training as well as anchoring knowledge of the diversity of cultural and religious views into physicians' education could improve end-of-life communication.

Assessing the Eventual Publication of Clinical Trial Abstracts Submitted to a Large Annual Oncology Meeting.

PubMed

Massey, Paul R; Wang, Ruibin; Prasad, Vinay; Bates, Susan E; Fojo, Tito

2016-03-01

Despite the ethical imperative to publish clinical trials when human subjects are involved, such data frequently remain unpublished. The objectives were to tabulate the rate and ascertain factors associated with eventual publication of clinical trial results reported as abstracts in the Proceedings of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (American Society of Clinical Oncology). Abstracts describing clinical trials for patients with breast, lung, colorectal, ovarian, and prostate cancer from 2009 to 2011 were identified by using a comprehensive online database (http://meetinglibrary.asco.org/abstracts). Abstracts included reported results of a treatment or intervention assessed in a discrete, prospective clinical trial. Publication status at 4-6 years was determined by using a standardized search of PubMed. Primary outcomes were the rate of publication for abstracts of randomized and nonrandomized clinical trials. Secondary outcomes included factors influencing the publication of results. A total of 1,075 abstracts describing 378 randomized and 697 nonrandomized clinical trials were evaluated. Across all years, 75% of randomized and 54% of nonrandomized trials were published, with an overall publication rate of 61%. Sample size was a statistically significant predictor of publication for both randomized and nonrandomized trials (odds ratio [OR] per increase of 100 participants = 1.23 [1.11-1.36], p < .001; and 1.64 [1.15-2.34], p = .006, respectively). Among randomized studies, an industry coauthor or involvement of a cooperative group increased the likelihood of publication (OR 2.37, p = .013; and 2.21, p = .01, respectively). Among nonrandomized studies, phase II trials were more likely to be published than phase I (p < .001). Use of an experimental agent was not a predictor of publication in randomized (OR 0.76 [0.38-1.52]; p = .441) or nonrandomized trials (OR 0.89 [0.61-1.29]; p = .532). This is the largest reported study examining why oncology trials are

Full-text publication of abstracts presented at European Orthodontic Society congresses.

PubMed

Livas, Christos; Pandis, Nikolaos; Ren, Yijin

2014-10-01

Empirical evidence has indicated that only a subsample of studies conducted reach full-text publication and this phenomenon has become known as publication bias. A form of publication bias is the selectively delayed full publication of conference abstracts. The objective of this article was to examine the publication status of oral abstracts and poster-presentation abstracts, included in the scientific program of the 82nd and 83rd European Orthodontic Society (EOS) congresses, held in 2006 and 2007, and to identify factors associated with full-length publication. A systematic search of PubMed and Google Scholar databases was performed in April 2013 using author names and keywords from the abstract title to locate abstract and full-article publications. Information regarding mode of presentation, type of affiliation, geographical origin, statistical results, and publication details were collected and analyzed using univariable and multivariable logistic regression. Approximately 51 per cent of the EOS 2006 and 55 per cent of the EOS 2007 abstracts appeared in print more than 5 years post congress. A mean period of 1.32 years elapsed between conference and publication date. Mode of presentation (oral or poster), use of statistical analysis, and research subject area were significant predictors for publication success. Inherent discrepancies of abstract reporting, mainly related to presentation of preliminary results and incomplete description of methods, may be considered in analogous studies. On average 52.2 per cent of the abstracts presented at the two EOS conferences reached full publication. Abstracts presented orally, including statistical analysis, were more likely to get published. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Orthodontic Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.