[The new Colombian criminal code and biotechnology].

PubMed

González de Cancino, Emilssen

2002-01-01

The author describes the process by which new offenses concerning biotechnology have been included in Colombia's Penal Code and discusses some of the more controversial aspects involved. She examines the various stages of the passage of the Bill through Parliament and the modifications undergone. She also provides well-argued criticism of the text, with appropriate reference to Constitutional provisions regarding the rights concerned.

A comparison of "life threatening injury" concept in the Turkish Penal Code and trauma scoring systems.

PubMed

Fedakar, Recep; Aydiner, Ahmet Hüsamettin; Ercan, Ilker

2007-07-01

To compare accuracy and to check the suitability of the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), the Revised Trauma Score (RTS), the Injury Severity Score (ISS), the New Injury Severity Score (NISS) and the Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS), the scoring systems widely used in international trauma studies, in the evaluation of the "life threatening injury" concept established by the Turkish Penal Code. The age, sex, type of trauma, type and localizations of wounds, GCS, RTS, ISS, NISS and TRISS values, the decision of life threatening injury of 627 trauma patients admitted to Emergency Department of the Uludag University Medical School Hospital in year 2003 were examined. A life-threatening injury was present in 35.2% of the cases examined. GCS, RTS, ISS, NISS and TRISS confirmed the decision of life threatening injury with percentages of 74.8%, 76.9%, 88.7%, 86.6% and 68.6%, respectively. The best cut-off point 14 was determined in the ISS system with 79.6% sensitivity and 93.6% specificity. All of the cases with sole linear skull fracture officially decided as life threatening injury had an ISS of 5, a NISS of 6 and the best scores of GCS (15), RTS (7.8408) and TRISS (100%). ISS and NISS appeared to be the best trauma scoring systems that can be used for the decision of life threatening injury, compared with GCS, RTS and TRISS. Thus, ISS and NISS can be acceptable for using the evaluation of the life threatening injury concept established by the Turkish Penal Code.

Robotic Gastric Bypass Surgery in the Swiss Health Care System: Analysis of Hospital Costs and Reimbursement.

PubMed

Hagen, Monika E; Rohner, Peter; Jung, Minoa K; Amirghasemi, Nicolas; Buchs, Nicolas C; Fakhro, Jassim; Buehler, Leo; Morel, Philippe

2017-08-01

Robotic technology shows some promising early outcomes indicating potentially improved outcomes particularly for challenging bariatric procedures. Still, health care providers face significant clinical and economic challenges when introducing innovations. Prospectively derived administrative cost data of patients who were coded with a primary diagnosis of obesity (ICD-10 code E.66.X), a procedure of gastric bypass surgery (CHOP code 44.3), and a robotic identifier (CHOP codes 00.90.50 or 00.39) during the years 2012 to 2015 was analyzed and compared to the triggered reimbursement for this patient cohort. A total of 348 patients were identified. The mean number of diagnoses was 2.7 and the mean length of stay was 5.9 days. The overall mean cost per patients was Swiss Francs (CHF) from 2012 to 2014 that was 21,527, with a mean reimbursement of CHF 24,917. Cost of the surgery in 2015 was comparable to the previous years with CHF 22,550.0 (p = 0.6618), but reimbursement decreased significantly to CHF 20,499.0 (0.0001). The average cost for robotic gastric bypass surgery fell well below the average reimbursement within the Swiss DRG system between 2012 and 2014, and this robotic procedure was a DRG winner for that period. However, the Swiss DRG system has matured over the years with a significant decrease resulting in a deficit for robotic gastric bypass surgery in 2015. This stipulates a discussion as to how health care providers should continue offering robotic gastric bypass surgery, particularly in the light of developing clinical evidence.

Penal Code (Ordinance No. 12 of 1983), 1 July 1984.

PubMed

1987-01-01

This document contains provisions of the 1984 Penal Code of Montserrat relating to sexual offenses, abortion, offenses relating to marriage, homicide and other offenses against the person, and neglect endangering life or health. Part 8 of the Code holds that a man found guilty of raping a woman is liable to life imprisonment. Rape is deemed to involve unlawful (extramarital) sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent (this is determined if the rape involved force, threats, administration of drugs, or false representation). The Code also defines offenses in cases of incest, child abuse, prostitution, abduction, controlling the actions and finances of a prostitute, and having unlawful sexual intercourse with a mentally defective woman. Part 9 of the Code outlaws abortion unless it is conducted in an approved establishment after two medical practitioners have determined that continuing the pregnancy would risk the life or physical/mental health of the pregnant woman or if a substantial risk exists that the child would have serious abnormalities. Part 10 outlaws bigamy, and part 12 holds that infanticide performed by a mother suffering postpartum imbalances can be prosecuted as manslaughter. This part also outlaws concealment of the body of a newborn, whether that child died before, at, or after birth, and aggravated assault on any child not more than 14 years old. Part 12 makes it an offense to subject any child to neglect endangering its life or health.

Codominant expression of genes coding for different sets of inducible salivary polypeptides associated with parotid hypertrophy in two inbred mouse strains.

PubMed

López-Solís, Remigio O; Kemmerling, Ulrike

2005-05-01

Experimental mouse parotid hypertrophy has been associated with the expression of a number of isoproterenol-induced salivary proline-rich polypeptides (IISPs). Mouse salivary proline-rich proteins (PRPs) have been mapped both to chromosomes 6 and 8. Recently, mice of two inbred strains (A/Snell and A. Swiss) have been found to differ drastically in the IISPs. In this study, mice of both strains were used for cross-breeding experiments addressed to define the pattern of inheritance of the IISP phenotype and to establish whether the IISPs are coded on a single or on several chromosomes. The IISP phenotype of individual mice was assessed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of whole saliva collected after three daily stimulations by isoproterenol. Parental A/Snell and A. Swiss mice were homogeneous for distinctive strain-associated IISP-patterns. First filial generation (F1) mice obtained from the cross of A/Snell with A. Swiss mice expressed with no exception both the A/Snell and A. Swiss IISPs (coexpression). In the second filial generation (F2) both parental IISP phenotypes reappeared together with a majority of mice expressing the F1-hybrid phenotype (1:2:1 ratio). Backcrosses of F1 x A/Snell and F1 x A. Swiss produced offsprings displaying the F1 and the corresponding parental phenotypes with a 1:1 ratio. No recombinants were observed among F2 mice or among mice resulting from backcrosses. Thus, genes coding for the IISPs that are expressed differentially in both mouse strains are located on the same chromosome, probably at the same locus (alleles) or at quite closely linked loci (nonalleles). 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Abortion checks at German-Dutch border.

PubMed

Von Baross, J

1991-05-01

The commentary on West German abortion law, particularly in illegal abortion in the Netherlands, finds the law restrictive and in violation of the dignity and rights of women. The Max-Planck Institute in 1990 published a study that found that a main point of prosecution between 1976 and 1986, as reported by Der Spiegal, was in border crossings from the Netherlands. It is estimated that 10,000 annually have abortions abroad, and 6,000 to 7,000 in the Netherlands. The procedure was for an official to stop a young person and query about drugs; later the woman would admit to an abortion, and be forced into a medical examination. The German Penal Code Section 218 stipulates abortion only for certain reasons testified to by a doctor other than the one performing the abortion. Counseling on available social assistance must be completed 3 days prior to the abortion. Many counseling offices are church related and opposed to abortions. Many doctors refuse legally to certify, and access to abortion is limited. The required hospital stay is 3-4 nights with no day care facilities. Penal Code Section 5 No. 9 allows prosecution for uncounseled illegal abortion. Abortion law reform is anticipated by the end of 1992 in the Bundestag due to the Treaty or the Unification of Germany. The Treaty states that the rights of the unborn child must be protected and that pregnant women relieve their distress in a way compatible with the Constitution, but improved over legal regulations from either West or East Germany, which permits abortion on request within 12 weeks of conception without counseling. It is hoped that the law will be liberalized and Penal Code Section 5 No. 9 will be abolished.

[Commitment prerequisites according to paragraph 64 of the German penal code].

PubMed

Rasch, W

1986-05-01

Article 64 of the Penal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany provides for the commitment of alcohol and drug addicts to special institutions if further severe offences are to be expected due to their addiction. The measure of correction cannot be applied if treatment endeavours are given no chance. As the lack of compliance very often only appears in the course of the treatment, an amendment was made which added a new article. According to the new legal regulations, the measure of correction can be annulled after one year of detainment if the addict shows no aptitude for the therapy. The new regulation implicates an intensification of the therapeuticts role conflict, which is based on the fact that coerced therapy was little chance to be successful. Before establishing the deficient therapeutical capability of a patient, it should be conscientiously verified how far a team conflict or an insufficient therapeutical offer determines the decision. It should be considered that possibly one only wants to get rid of a troublesome patient.

Act No. 62, Penal Code, 29 December 1987.

PubMed

1988-01-01

This document contains various provisions of the 1987 Cuban Penal Code. Chapter 6 of Title 8 (crimes against life and bodily integrity) outlaws abortion and sets prison terms for its performance under various circumstances. Chapter 7 sets a penalty of five to 12 years imprisonment for performing a sterilization procedure. Chapter 8 outlines the penalties for abandonment of minors and incompetent or helpless people. Under Title 9 (crimes against individual rights), Chapter 8 renders it illegal to discriminate on the grounds of sex, race, color, or national origin. Chapter 1 of Title 11 deals with crimes against the normal development of sexual relations, setting penalties for rape, pederasty with violence, and lascivious abuse. Chapter 2 covers crimes against the normal development of the family such as incest, sexual relations with a minor, bigamy, illegal marriage, and substitution of one child for another. Chapter 3 places penalties for crimes against the normal development of childhood and youth, such as the corruption of minors, the neglect of minors, and the failure to support minors.

Protein sequence annotation in the genome era: the annotation concept of SWISS-PROT+TREMBL.

PubMed

Apweiler, R; Gateau, A; Contrino, S; Martin, M J; Junker, V; O'Donovan, C; Lang, F; Mitaritonna, N; Kappus, S; Bairoch, A

1997-01-01

SWISS-PROT is a curated protein sequence database which strives to provide a high level of annotation, a minimal level of redundancy and high level of integration with other databases. Ongoing genome sequencing projects have dramatically increased the number of protein sequences to be incorporated into SWISS-PROT. Since we do not want to dilute the quality standards of SWISS-PROT by incorporating sequences without proper sequence analysis and annotation, we cannot speed up the incorporation of new incoming data indefinitely. However, as we also want to make the sequences available as fast as possible, we introduced TREMBL (TRanslation of EMBL nucleotide sequence database), a supplement to SWISS-PROT. TREMBL consists of computer-annotated entries in SWISS-PROT format derived from the translation of all coding sequences (CDS) in the EMBL nucleotide sequence database, except for CDS already included in SWISS-PROT. While TREMBL is already of immense value, its computer-generated annotation does not match the quality of SWISS-PROTs. The main difference is in the protein functional information attached to sequences. With this in mind, we are dedicating substantial effort to develop and apply computer methods to enhance the functional information attached to TREMBL entries.

Military Policy toward Homosexuals: Scientific, Historic, and Legal Perspectives

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-04-01

International Trends During the 1950s, the American Law Institute recommended that states adopt a Model Penal Code that decriminalized all non-violent...personalities. For much of our history, the military’s fear of racial tension kept black soldiers segregated from whites. Fear of sexual tensions, until

32 CFR 763.5 - Entry procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... GOVERNING PUBLIC ACCESS Entry Regulations for Kaho'olawe Island, Hawaii § 763.5 Entry procedures. (a) It is... Harbor, Hawaii 96860, at least 15 days prior to the access requested, providing therein confirmed access... proscribed by either Federal law or the State of Hawaii Penal Code, as incorporated under the Federal...

Admissibility of Evidence from Compelled Mental Examinations: MRE 302 and Beyond

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-04-01

antisocial and paranoid personality disorder. He was subsequently apprehended for possession of marihuana and another assault. He was again referred to the...acts. Mental disease or defect does not otherwise constitute a defense. Uniform Code of Military Justice art . 50a, 10 U.S.C.A. § 859a (1987 Supp...UCMJ art . 5a (bW. 4 RCM 716k (3)(A). 5 "No problem in the drafting of a penal code presents larger intrinsic difficulties than that of determining when

Bootstrap Enhanced Penalized Regression for Variable Selection with Neuroimaging Data.

PubMed

Abram, Samantha V; Helwig, Nathaniel E; Moodie, Craig A; DeYoung, Colin G; MacDonald, Angus W; Waller, Niels G

2016-01-01

Recent advances in fMRI research highlight the use of multivariate methods for examining whole-brain connectivity. Complementary data-driven methods are needed for determining the subset of predictors related to individual differences. Although commonly used for this purpose, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression may not be ideal due to multi-collinearity and over-fitting issues. Penalized regression is a promising and underutilized alternative to OLS regression. In this paper, we propose a nonparametric bootstrap quantile (QNT) approach for variable selection with neuroimaging data. We use real and simulated data, as well as annotated R code, to demonstrate the benefits of our proposed method. Our results illustrate the practical potential of our proposed bootstrap QNT approach. Our real data example demonstrates how our method can be used to relate individual differences in neural network connectivity with an externalizing personality measure. Also, our simulation results reveal that the QNT method is effective under a variety of data conditions. Penalized regression yields more stable estimates and sparser models than OLS regression in situations with large numbers of highly correlated neural predictors. Our results demonstrate that penalized regression is a promising method for examining associations between neural predictors and clinically relevant traits or behaviors. These findings have important implications for the growing field of functional connectivity research, where multivariate methods produce numerous, highly correlated brain networks.

Bootstrap Enhanced Penalized Regression for Variable Selection with Neuroimaging Data

PubMed Central

Abram, Samantha V.; Helwig, Nathaniel E.; Moodie, Craig A.; DeYoung, Colin G.; MacDonald, Angus W.; Waller, Niels G.

2016-01-01

Recent advances in fMRI research highlight the use of multivariate methods for examining whole-brain connectivity. Complementary data-driven methods are needed for determining the subset of predictors related to individual differences. Although commonly used for this purpose, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression may not be ideal due to multi-collinearity and over-fitting issues. Penalized regression is a promising and underutilized alternative to OLS regression. In this paper, we propose a nonparametric bootstrap quantile (QNT) approach for variable selection with neuroimaging data. We use real and simulated data, as well as annotated R code, to demonstrate the benefits of our proposed method. Our results illustrate the practical potential of our proposed bootstrap QNT approach. Our real data example demonstrates how our method can be used to relate individual differences in neural network connectivity with an externalizing personality measure. Also, our simulation results reveal that the QNT method is effective under a variety of data conditions. Penalized regression yields more stable estimates and sparser models than OLS regression in situations with large numbers of highly correlated neural predictors. Our results demonstrate that penalized regression is a promising method for examining associations between neural predictors and clinically relevant traits or behaviors. These findings have important implications for the growing field of functional connectivity research, where multivariate methods produce numerous, highly correlated brain networks. PMID:27516732

Addressing the Misuse Potential of Life Science Research-Perspectives From a Bottom-Up Initiative in Switzerland.

PubMed

Oeschger, Franziska M; Jenal, Ursula

2018-01-01

Codes of conduct have received wide attention as a bottom-up approach to foster responsibility for dual use aspects of life science research within the scientific community. In Switzerland, a series of discussion sessions led by the Swiss Academy of Sciences with over 40 representatives of most Swiss academic life science research institutions has revealed that while a formal code of conduct was considered too restrictive, a bottom-up approach toward awareness raising and education and demonstrating scientists' responsibility toward society was highly welcomed. Consequently, an informational brochure on "Misuse potential and biosecurity in life sciences research" was developed to provide material for further discussions and education.

Draft Genome Sequences of Clostridium tyrobutyricum Strains FAM22552 and FAM22553, Isolated from Swiss Semihard Red-Smear Cheese

PubMed Central

Wüthrich, Daniel; Bruggmann, Rémy; Berthoud, Hélène; Arias-Roth, Emmanuelle

2015-01-01

Clostridium tyrobutyricum is the main microorganism responsible for late blowing defect in cheeses. Here, we present the draft genome sequences of two C. tyrobutyricum strains isolated from a Swiss semihard red-smear cheese. The two draft genomes comprise 3.05 and 3.08 Mbp and contain 3,030 and 3,089 putative coding sequences, respectively. PMID:25767226

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

Dokhane, A.; Canepa, S.; Ferroukhi, H.

For stability analyses of the Swiss operating Boiling-Water-Reactors (BWRs), the methodology employed and validated so far at the Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI) was based on the RAMONA-3 code with a hybrid upstream static lattice/core analysis approach using CASMO-4 and PRESTO-2. More recently, steps were undertaken towards a new methodology based on the SIMULATE-3K (S3K) code for the dynamical analyses combined with the CMSYS system relying on the CASMO/SIMULATE-3 suite of codes and which was established at PSI to serve as framework for the development and validation of reference core models of all the Swiss reactors and operated cycles. This papermore » presents a first validation of the new methodology on the basis of a benchmark recently organised by a Swiss utility and including the participation of several international organisations with various codes/methods. Now in parallel, a transition from CASMO-4E (C4E) to CASMO-5M (C5M) as basis for the CMSYS core models was also recently initiated at PSI. Consequently, it was considered adequate to address the impact of this transition both for the steady-state core analyses as well as for the stability calculations and to achieve thereby, an integral approach for the validation of the new S3K methodology. Therefore, a comparative assessment of C4 versus C5M is also presented in this paper with particular emphasis on the void coefficients and their impact on the downstream stability analysis results. (authors)« less

Draft Genome Sequences of Clostridium tyrobutyricum Strains FAM22552 and FAM22553, Isolated from Swiss Semihard Red-Smear Cheese.

PubMed

Storari, Michelangelo; Wüthrich, Daniel; Bruggmann, Rémy; Berthoud, Hélène; Arias-Roth, Emmanuelle

2015-03-12

Clostridium tyrobutyricum is the main microorganism responsible for late blowing defect in cheeses. Here, we present the draft genome sequences of two C. tyrobutyricum strains isolated from a Swiss semihard red-smear cheese. The two draft genomes comprise 3.05 and 3.08 Mbp and contain 3,030 and 3,089 putative coding sequences, respectively. Copyright © 2015 Storari et al.

Route Flap Damping Made Usable

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pelsser, Cristel; Maennel, Olaf; Mohapatra, Pradosh; Bush, Randy; Patel, Keyur

The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), the de facto inter-domain routing protocol of the Internet, is known to be noisy. The protocol has two main mechanisms to ameliorate this, MinRouteAdvertisementInterval (MRAI), and Route Flap Damping (RFD). MRAI deals with very short bursts on the order of a few to 30 seconds. RFD deals with longer bursts, minutes to hours. Unfortunately, RFD was found to severely penalize sites for being well-connected because topological richness amplifies the number of update messages exchanged. So most operators have disabled it. Through measurement, this paper explores the avenue of absolutely minimal change to code, and shows that a few RFD algorithmic constants and limits can be trivially modified, with the result being damping a non-trivial amount of long term churn without penalizing well-behaved prefixes' normal convergence process.

[Psychological harassment].

PubMed

Puech, Paloma; Pitcho, Benjamin

2013-04-01

Two types of harassment are distinguished: sexual and psychological. In the private sector, according to French labour laws and the penal code, psychological harassment is actionable. It is up to the employer to prove the absence of harassment. The sanctions incurred can be up to 5 years imprisonment and a 150,000 euro fine and various measures of compensation for damages can be envisaged.

Medico-legal implications of mobbing. A false accusation of psychological harassment at the workplace.

PubMed

Jarreta, Begoña Martínez; García-Campayo, Javier; Gascón, Santiago; Bolea, Miguel

2004-12-02

Mobbing, or psychological harassment at the workplace, is usually defined as a situation in which a person or a group of people engage in extreme psychological violence against another person. In Spain, the number of reports for mobbing has increased extraordinarily in the last years. The reports are increasing dramatically not only before the Labour Courts, but also before the Civil Courts, with claims for damages, and before the Penal Court for offences causing physical or moral injury, etc., since at the present time this figure is not typified as an offence in the Spanish Penal Code. The high degree of complexity of this situation has given rise to frequent misuse of the term and to a number of false accusations of mobbing. A recent European Parliament Resolution on harassment at the workplace addressed the devastating consequences of false accusations. In this paper we present a case in which the "false" victim was mentally ill (paranoia) but succeed in generating an extreme dangerous environment of great harassment against the "false" assailants that were "falsely" accused of mobbing. Forensic diagnosis of the psychiatric disorder suffered by the "false" victim was essential to clarify the issue at the Penal Court.

[Scope of the cause of justification of the legitimate exercise of a right in the area of genetic criminality].

PubMed

Romeo Malanda, Sergio

2009-01-01

The Spanish penal Code of 1995 creates various crimes in relation to biotechnology, namely, the offence of genetic manipulation, the offence of cloning and the offence of fertilization of human eggs for purpose others than procreation. These new offences seek to protect new legal interests. But besides these interests, we must not forget that there also exist certain rights of the person that rely on reproductive and genetic technologies to be fully effective. That is why it is inevitable to bring to the discussion other interests of a different nature that may be in conflict with these new legal interests. This is the case in relation to the right to procreate and the right to scientific research. According to Article 20.7 of the Spanish penal Code, a person may justifiably engage in conduct that satisfies the elements of an offence if he has a right to do so. In this work the author analyses if certain conduct that could harm some legal interests, and therefore would be criminally punishable could be justified on the basis of the abovementioned rights to procreate and to undertake scientific research.

[Which legal consequences for those who provoke pain to infants?].

PubMed

Bellieni, C V; Gabbrielli, M; Tataranno, M L; Perrone, S; Buonocore, G

2012-02-01

The advances in perinatal care have led to a significant increase in neonatal survival rate but also to the rise of the number of invasive procedures. Several scientific studies show that newborns are able to feel pain more intensely than adults. Despite this evidence, neonatal pain and the right to an appropriate analgesia are systematically underestimated, ignoring ethical and moral principles of beneficence and non-maleficence. Infants are more susceptible to pain and the prolonged exposure to painful sensations can alter the neural development and the response to pain causing hyperalgesia. Anyone who caused pain without using any analgesic procedure due to negligence or incompetence, should be severely punished. The right to analgesia, fundamental principle, is fully incorporated in the Italian code of Medical deontology (article 3). The doctor who does not use analgesia for newborns' treatment can be indicted by the Italian penal code (art.582 and 583), aggravated by being the victim an infant, who is unable to defend himself. To avoid penal consequences, a careful education and attention are needed: "pediatric analgesia" should become a basic teaching in Universities and in specialization schools; analgesic treatments should be mandatory and annotated in the patient's file even for minor potentially painful procedures.

[Sponsoring of medical conferences, workshops and symposia by pharmaceutical companies. Physicians must be wary of this!].

PubMed

Warntjen, M

2009-12-01

The longstanding conventional forms of cooperation between medical organizations and physicians on the one hand and the pharmaceutical industry and manufacturers of medical products on the other hand nowadays hold the risk of coming into conflict with the public prosecutor. Typical circumstances which are taken up by the investigating authorities are financial supports of medical conferences, workshops and symposia. To understand the problem under criminal law it is important to become acquainted with the protective aim of the statutory offences of the acceptance of benefits according to section sign 331 of the Penal Code (Strafgesetzbuch, StGB) and of corruption according to section sign 332 of the Penal Code. The "trust of the general public in the objectivity of governmental decisions" must be protected and the "evil appearance of the corruptibility of official acts" must be counteracted. A basic differentiation is made between physicians with and without office-bearing functions. By paying attention to the recommendations and basic principles of cooperation between the medical profession and the healthcare industry presented in this article (transparency principle, equivalence principle, documentation principle and separation principle) the emergence of any suspicious factors can be effectively avoided.

[Patients' rights: what the new swiss civil code will change in the health care of children].

PubMed

Laufer, Daniel; Genaine, Patrick; Simon, Jeanne-Pascale P

2013-02-20

Recent progress in medicine allow to provide treatment, to cure or to extend the lifespan of people that would have not survived before. Doctors and healthcare providers have become indispensable actors in Western societies. This is particularly true for children's health issues. With the new information technologies, knowledge is now available to everyone, which enables patients to dialog on an equal footing with the physician. Nowadays, therapeutic choices are discussed and negotiated. The new tensions caused by this relationship between therapist and patient have created the need for new regulations. The Swiss Confederation has modified its Civil Code with the objective of a better protection of vulnerable individuals. This article summarizes the consequences of the new regulations with regard to the care and treatment provided to children.

Tackling the Phenomenon of Elder Abuse in Italy: A Review of Existing Legislation and Policies as a Learning Resource

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melchiorre, Maria Gabriella; Chiatti, Carlos; Lamura, Giovanni

2012-01-01

In Italy, data and information on prevalence and characteristics of elder abuse are very limited, and a specific legal and policy framework is lacking. Some articles of the Penal Code refer to the larger context of violence against disadvantaged groups, and some general support services not specifically dedicated to this issue are managed by local…

Lossless quantum data compression with exponential penalization: an operational interpretation of the quantum Rényi entropy.

PubMed

Bellomo, Guido; Bosyk, Gustavo M; Holik, Federico; Zozor, Steeve

2017-11-07

Based on the problem of quantum data compression in a lossless way, we present here an operational interpretation for the family of quantum Rényi entropies. In order to do this, we appeal to a very general quantum encoding scheme that satisfies a quantum version of the Kraft-McMillan inequality. Then, in the standard situation, where one is intended to minimize the usual average length of the quantum codewords, we recover the known results, namely that the von Neumann entropy of the source bounds the average length of the optimal codes. Otherwise, we show that by invoking an exponential average length, related to an exponential penalization over large codewords, the quantum Rényi entropies arise as the natural quantities relating the optimal encoding schemes with the source description, playing an analogous role to that of von Neumann entropy.

Even Lesbian Youths or Those Presumed to Be Lesbians Are Protected by the Constitution of Uganda--But to a Limited Extent: Rules the High Court

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mujuzi, Jamil Ddamulira

2009-01-01

The Ugandan Penal Code criminalizes same-sex relationships. The author analyzes the Ugandan High Court decision where the judge relied on the Constitution and international human rights instruments to hold that law enforcement officers must respect the rights to privacy and human dignity even of those people presumed to be in same-sex…

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

Flechsig, U.; Follath, R.; Reiche, S.

PHASE is a software tool for physical optics simulation based on the stationary phase approximation method. The code is under continuous development since about 20 years and has been used for instance for fundamental studies and ray tracing of various beamlines at the Swiss Light Source. Along with the planning for SwissFEL a new hard X-ray free electron laser under construction, new features have been added to permit practical performance predictions including diffraction effects which emerge with the fully coherent source. We present the application of the package on the example of the ARAMIS 1 beamline at SwissFEL. The X-raymore » pulse calculated with GENESIS and given as an electrical field distribution has been propagated through the beamline to the sample position. We demonstrate the new features of PHASE like the treatment of measured figure errors, apertures and coatings of the mirrors and the application of Fourier optics propagators for free space propagation.« less

Molecular Characterization of Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis of Two Groups of Lymph Nodes, Being Intradermal Tuberculin or Interferon-Gamma Test Positive and Negative, Isolated from Swiss Cattle at Slaughter.

PubMed

Scherrer, Simone; Landolt, Patricia; Carroli, Natasha; Stephan, Roger

2018-01-01

Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis (MAH) is an important zoonotic pathogen with raising global health concerns. In humans, MAH is one of the most widespread non-tuberculous mycobacterial species responsible for lung disease. In animals, MAH is frequently isolated from pigs; however, it is also an opportunistic pathogen for other mammals including cattle. To elucidate the genetic diversity of MAH in cattle, a molecular characterization of isolates ( n  = 26) derived from lymph nodes was performed. Fourteen isolates originated from slaughtered cattle with visible altered lymph nodes at meat inspection, whereas 12 isolates were from lymph nodes without any gross pathological changes of healthy slaughtered cattle. Variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) analysis was performed at 20 loci to examine genetic differences of isolates and to compare to previously reported VNTR data of human isolates from different countries. Genetic elements IS901, IS1245, IS1311, LSPA17, ITS1 sequevar, and hsp65 code were determined. Interestingly, two bovine MAH isolates harbored ISMav6 and hsp65 code 15, which so far has only been observed in human isolates. We supposed that VNTR data of Swiss samples would show clustering with European samples. Minimum spanning tree and unweighted pair group method using arithmetic averages analyses based on the VNTR data indicated a specific cluster of MAH isolates obtained from lymph nodes without any gross pathological changes of healthy slaughtered cattle. Comparing Swiss isolates with isolates from different other countries, no geographical clustering was observed; however, four Swiss isolates had an identical VNTR profile as human isolates from the Netherlands, the United States, and Japan. These findings indicate a possible public health issue.

Prioritized LT Codes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woo, Simon S.; Cheng, Michael K.

2011-01-01

The original Luby Transform (LT) coding scheme is extended to account for data transmissions where some information symbols in a message block are more important than others. Prioritized LT codes provide unequal error protection (UEP) of data on an erasure channel by modifying the original LT encoder. The prioritized algorithm improves high-priority data protection without penalizing low-priority data recovery. Moreover, low-latency decoding is also obtained for high-priority data due to fast encoding. Prioritized LT codes only require a slight change in the original encoding algorithm, and no changes at all at the decoder. Hence, with a small complexity increase in the LT encoder, an improved UEP and low-decoding latency performance for high-priority data can be achieved. LT encoding partitions a data stream into fixed-sized message blocks each with a constant number of information symbols. To generate a code symbol from the information symbols in a message, the Robust-Soliton probability distribution is first applied in order to determine the number of information symbols to be used to compute the code symbol. Then, the specific information symbols are chosen uniform randomly from the message block. Finally, the selected information symbols are XORed to form the code symbol. The Prioritized LT code construction includes an additional restriction that code symbols formed by a relatively small number of XORed information symbols select some of these information symbols from the pool of high-priority data. Once high-priority data are fully covered, encoding continues with the conventional LT approach where code symbols are generated by selecting information symbols from the entire message block including all different priorities. Therefore, if code symbols derived from high-priority data experience an unusual high number of erasures, Prioritized LT codes can still reliably recover both high- and low-priority data. This hybrid approach decides not only "how to encode" but also "what to encode" to achieve UEP. Another advantage of the priority encoding process is that the majority of high-priority data can be decoded sooner since only a small number of code symbols are required to reconstruct high-priority data. This approach increases the likelihood that high-priority data is decoded first over low-priority data. The Prioritized LT code scheme achieves an improvement in high-priority data decoding performance as well as overall information recovery without penalizing the decoding of low-priority data, assuming high-priority data is no more than half of a message block. The cost is in the additional complexity required in the encoder. If extra computation resource is available at the transmitter, image, voice, and video transmission quality in terrestrial and space communications can benefit from accurate use of redundancy in protecting data with varying priorities.

[The concept of mental health deterioration in light of decisions by higher judicial bodies].

PubMed

Kaya, Ahsen; Aktaş, Ekin Özgür

2014-01-01

Important arrangements were made to protect an individuals' sexual safety in the Turkish Penal Code. During judgments of sexual crimes, the witnesses of medical experts are usually used for evidence collection and for researching whether the crimes were aggravated. Due to this, reports are frequently requested from all physicians in all fields of medicine in their daily clinical practices by judicial authorities. Following implementation of the new Turkish Penal Code, the concept of mental health deterioration was frequently discussed and is still a discussed topic in the fields of both law and medicine in terms of crimes against sexual immunity. It is believed that subjects discussed in this article will provide important information for both adult, child and adolescent mental health professionals in terms of drawing attention to the importance of the medicolegal evaluations which are frequently requested from psychiatrists in their daily clinical practice and in terms of providing an evaluation of the concept of mental health deterioration in light of judicial decisions. Regarding the process from the beginning of application to the present, prejudications reduce questions about how the concept must be evaluated and what the meaning of the concept is. In this study, the decisions of Higher Judicial Bodies were researched and situations relating to how concepts must be evaluated and the meaning of the concept of mental health deterioration today in accordance with the prejudications were presented.

Consistent criticality and radiation studies of Swiss spent nuclear fuel: The CS2M approach.

PubMed

Rochman, D; Vasiliev, A; Ferroukhi, H; Pecchia, M

2018-06-15

In this paper, a new method is proposed to systematically calculate at the same time canister loading curves and radiation sources, based on the inventory information from an in-core fuel management system. As a demonstration, the isotopic contents of the assemblies come from a Swiss PWR, considering more than 6000 cases from 34 reactor cycles. The CS 2 M approach consists in combining four codes: CASMO and SIMULATE to extract the assembly characteristics (based on validated models), the SNF code for source emission and MCNP for criticality calculations for specific canister loadings. The considered cases cover enrichments from 1.9 to 5.0% for the UO 2 assemblies and 4.8% for the MOX, with assembly burnup values from 7 to 74 MWd/kgU. Because such a study is based on the individual fuel assembly history, it opens the possibility to optimize canister loadings from the point-of-view of criticality, decay heat and emission sources. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Violence In Honduras: An Analysis of the Failure in Public Security and the States Response to Criminality

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

cocaine trafficking from the Caribbean to Central America and decline of the major Colombian TCOs and the rise of Mexican TCOs, and the weak internal...34 Alison Siskin, “Immigration-Related Detention Current Legislative Issues” (CRS Report for Congress, January 12, 2012), 12. 11 2009... legislative action with the passage of the reform of article 332 of the penal code, known as Ley Antimaras. Under this anti-gang law, membership in

Current and anticipated uses of thermalhydraulic and neutronic codes at PSI

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

Aksan, S.N.; Zimmermann, M.A.; Yadigaroglu, G.

1997-07-01

The thermalhydraulic and/or neutronic codes in use at PSI mainly provide the capability to perform deterministic safety analysis for Swiss NPPs and also serve as analysis tools for experimental facilities for LWR and ALWR simulations. In relation to these applications, physical model development and improvements, and assessment of the codes are also essential components of the activities. In this paper, a brief overview is provided on the thermalhydraulic and/or neutronic codes used for safety analysis of LWRs, at PSI, and also of some experiences and applications with these codes. Based on these experiences, additional assessment needs are indicated, together withmore » some model improvement needs. The future needs that could be used to specify both the development of a new code and also improvement of available codes are summarized.« less

Judgment, 16 June 1989.

PubMed

1989-01-01

On June 16, 1989 the following legal provisions were declared unconstitutional: 1) Articles 134 (2) and 135 of the Ecuador Civil Code, which require a wife to be obedient to her husband and to follow him to wherever he chooses to have his residence; 2) Articles 250-256 of the Civil Code, which set forth rules relating to the filiation of children whose pregnancy is declared within 30 days after the separation of the wife from the husband, which among other things, give the husband the right to provide a companion for the wife until she gives birth or to force the wife to take up residence with a family of his choice; 3) Articles 12, and 14-16 of the Commercial Code, which provide that a wife can engage in business only with the authorization of her husband; and 4) Article 27 of the Penal Code, which excuses crimes involving murder, wounding, or battery committed by a man when he surprises his daughter, granddaughter, or sister engaged in an unlawful carnal act.

40 CFR 33.410 - Can a recipient be penalized for failing to meet its fair share objectives?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Can a recipient be penalized for failing to meet its fair share objectives? 33.410 Section 33.410 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... penalized for failing to meet its fair share objectives? A recipient cannot be penalized, or treated by EPA...

40 CFR 33.410 - Can a recipient be penalized for failing to meet its fair share objectives?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Can a recipient be penalized for failing to meet its fair share objectives? 33.410 Section 33.410 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... penalized for failing to meet its fair share objectives? A recipient cannot be penalized, or treated by EPA...

40 CFR 33.410 - Can a recipient be penalized for failing to meet its fair share objectives?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Can a recipient be penalized for failing to meet its fair share objectives? 33.410 Section 33.410 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... penalized for failing to meet its fair share objectives? A recipient cannot be penalized, or treated by EPA...

40 CFR 33.410 - Can a recipient be penalized for failing to meet its fair share objectives?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Can a recipient be penalized for failing to meet its fair share objectives? 33.410 Section 33.410 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... penalized for failing to meet its fair share objectives? A recipient cannot be penalized, or treated by EPA...

40 CFR 33.410 - Can a recipient be penalized for failing to meet its fair share objectives?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Can a recipient be penalized for failing to meet its fair share objectives? 33.410 Section 33.410 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... penalized for failing to meet its fair share objectives? A recipient cannot be penalized, or treated by EPA...

Physician-assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in Indian Context: Sooner or Later the Need to Ponder!

PubMed Central

Khan, Farooq; Tadros, George

2013-01-01

Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is a controversial subject which has recently captured the interest of media, public, politicians, and medical profession. Although active euthanasia and PAS are illegal in most parts of the world, with the exception of Switzerland and the Netherlands, there is pressure from some politicians and patient support groups to legalize this practice in and around Europe that could possibly affect many parts of the world. The legal status of PAS and euthanasia in India lies in the Indian Penal Code, which deals with the issues of euthanasia, both active and passive, and also PAS. According to Penal Code 1860, active euthanasia is an offence under Section 302 (punishment for murder) or at least under Section 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder). The difference between euthanasia and physician assisted death lies in who administers the lethal dose; in euthanasia, this is done by a doctor or by a third person, whereas in physician-assisted death, this is done by the patient himself. Various religions and their aspects on suicide, PAS, and euthanasia are discussed. People argue that hospitals do not pay attention to patients’ wishes, especially when they are suffering from terminally ill, crippling, and non-responding medical conditions. This is bound to change with the new laws, which might be implemented if PAS is legalized. This issue is becoming relevant to psychiatrists as they need to deal with mental capacity issues all the time. PMID:23833354

Advocating for safe abortion in Rwanda: how young people and the personal stories of young women in prison brought about change.

PubMed

Umuhoza, Chantal; Oosters, Barbara; van Reeuwijk, Miranda; Vanwesenbeeck, Ine

2013-05-01

In June 2012, a new abortion law came into effect in Rwanda as part of a larger review of Rwanda's penal code. This was a significant step in a country where it was previously taboo even to discuss abortion. This article describes some of the crucial elements in how this success was achieved in Rwanda, which began through a project launched by Rutgers WPF on "sensitive issues in young people's sexuality" in several countries. This paper describes how the Rwandan Youth Action Movement decided to work on unsafe abortion as part of this project. They gathered data on the extent of unsafe abortion and testimonies of young Rwandan women in prison for abortions; organized debates, values clarification exercises, interviews and a survey in four universities; launched a petition for law reform; produced awareness-raising materials; worked with the media; and met with representatives from government ministries, the national women's and youth councils, and parliamentarians - all of which played a significant role in the advocacy process for amendment of the law, which was revised when the penal code came up for review in June 2012. This history shows how important the role of young people can be in producing change and exposes, through personal stories, the need for a better abortion law, not only in Rwanda but also elsewhere. Copyright © 2013 Reproductive Health Matters. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Do brief alcohol motivational interventions work like we think they do?

PubMed

Bertholet, Nicolas; Palfai, Tibor; Gaume, Jacques; Daeppen, Jean-Bernard; Saitz, Richard

2014-03-01

Questions remain about how brief motivational interventions (BMIs) for unhealthy alcohol use work, and addressing these questions may be important for improving their efficacy. Therefore, we assessed the effects of various characteristics of BMIs on drinking outcomes across 3 randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Audio recordings of 314 BMIs were coded. We used the global rating scales of the Motivational Interviewing Skills Code (MISC) 2.1: counselor's acceptance, empathy, and motivational interviewing (MI) spirit, and patient's self-exploration were rated. MI proficiency was defined as counselor's rating scale scores ≥5. We also used the structure, confrontation, and advice subscale scores of the Therapy Process Rating Scale and the Working Alliance Inventory. We examined these process characteristics in interventions across 1 U.S. RCT of middle-aged medical inpatients with unhealthy alcohol use (n = 124) and 2 Swiss RCTs of young men with binge drinking in a nonclinical setting: Swiss-one (n = 62) and Swiss-two (n = 128). We assessed the associations between these characteristics and drinks/d reported by participants 3 to 6 months after study entry. In all 3 RCTs, mean MISC counselor's rating scales scores were consistent with MI proficiency. In overdispersed Poisson regression models, most BMI characteristics were not significantly associated with drinks/d in follow-up. In the U.S. RCT, confrontation and self-exploration were associated with more drinking. Giving advice was significantly associated with less drinking in the Swiss-one RCT. Contrary to expectations, MI spirit was not consistently associated with drinking across studies. Across different populations and settings, intervention characteristics viewed as central to efficacious BMIs were neither robust nor consistent predictors of drinking outcome. Although there may be alternative reasons why the level of MI processes was not predictive of outcomes in these studies (limited variability in scores), efforts to understand what makes BMIs efficacious may require attention to factors beyond intervention process characteristics typically examined. Copyright © 2013 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Do Brief Alcohol Motivational Interventions Work Like We Think They Do?

PubMed Central

Bertholet, Nicolas; Palfai, Tibor; Gaume, Jacques; Daeppen, Jean-Bernard; Saitz, Richard

2016-01-01

Background Questions remain about how brief motivational interventions (BMIs) for unhealthy alcohol use work and addressing these questions may be important for improving their efficacy. Therefore, we assessed the effects of various characteristics of BMIs on drinking outcomes across three randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods Audio recordings of 314 BMIs were coded. We used the global rating scales of the Motivational Interviewing Skills Code (MISC) 2.1: counselor’s acceptance, empathy, and motivational interviewing (MI) spirit, and patient’s self-exploration were rated. MI proficiency was defined as counselor’s rating scale scores ≥5. We also used the structure, confrontation and advice sub-scale scores of the Therapy Process Rating Scale; and the Working Alliance Inventory. We examined these process characteristics in interventions across: one US RCT of middle-aged medical inpatients with unhealthy alcohol use (n=124) and two Swiss RCTs of young men with binge drinking in a non-clinical setting: Swiss-one (n=62) and Swiss-two (n=128). We assessed the associations between these characteristics and drinks/day reported by participants 3–6 months after study entry. Results In all 3 RCTs, mean MISC counselor’s rating scales scores were consistent with MI proficiency. In overdispersed Poisson regression models, most BMI characteristics were not significantly associated with drinks/day in follow-up. In the US RCT, confrontation and self-exploration were associated with more drinking. Giving advice was significantly associated with less drinking in the Swiss-one RCT. Contrary to expectations, MI spirit was not consistently associated with drinking across studies. Conclusions Across different populations and settings, intervention characteristics viewed as central to efficacious BMIs were neither robust nor consistent predictors of drinking outcome. Although there may be alternative reasons why the level of MI processes were not predictive of outcomes in these studies (limited variability in scores), efforts to understand what makes BMIs efficacious may require attention to factors beyond intervention process characteristics typically examined. PMID:24125097

A characteristic based volume penalization method for general evolution problems applied to compressible viscous flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown-Dymkoski, Eric; Kasimov, Nurlybek; Vasilyev, Oleg V.

2014-04-01

In order to introduce solid obstacles into flows, several different methods are used, including volume penalization methods which prescribe appropriate boundary conditions by applying local forcing to the constitutive equations. One well known method is Brinkman penalization, which models solid obstacles as porous media. While it has been adapted for compressible, incompressible, viscous and inviscid flows, it is limited in the types of boundary conditions that it imposes, as are most volume penalization methods. Typically, approaches are limited to Dirichlet boundary conditions. In this paper, Brinkman penalization is extended for generalized Neumann and Robin boundary conditions by introducing hyperbolic penalization terms with characteristics pointing inward on solid obstacles. This Characteristic-Based Volume Penalization (CBVP) method is a comprehensive approach to conditions on immersed boundaries, providing for homogeneous and inhomogeneous Dirichlet, Neumann, and Robin boundary conditions on hyperbolic and parabolic equations. This CBVP method can be used to impose boundary conditions for both integrated and non-integrated variables in a systematic manner that parallels the prescription of exact boundary conditions. Furthermore, the method does not depend upon a physical model, as with porous media approach for Brinkman penalization, and is therefore flexible for various physical regimes and general evolutionary equations. Here, the method is applied to scalar diffusion and to direct numerical simulation of compressible, viscous flows. With the Navier-Stokes equations, both homogeneous and inhomogeneous Neumann boundary conditions are demonstrated through external flow around an adiabatic and heated cylinder. Theoretical and numerical examination shows that the error from penalized Neumann and Robin boundary conditions can be rigorously controlled through an a priori penalization parameter η. The error on a transient boundary is found to converge as O(η), which is more favorable than the error convergence of the already established Dirichlet boundary condition.

Error Covariance Penalized Regression: A novel multivariate model combining penalized regression with multivariate error structure.

PubMed

Allegrini, Franco; Braga, Jez W B; Moreira, Alessandro C O; Olivieri, Alejandro C

2018-06-29

A new multivariate regression model, named Error Covariance Penalized Regression (ECPR) is presented. Following a penalized regression strategy, the proposed model incorporates information about the measurement error structure of the system, using the error covariance matrix (ECM) as a penalization term. Results are reported from both simulations and experimental data based on replicate mid and near infrared (MIR and NIR) spectral measurements. The results for ECPR are better under non-iid conditions when compared with traditional first-order multivariate methods such as ridge regression (RR), principal component regression (PCR) and partial least-squares regression (PLS). Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Race Making in a Penal Institution.

PubMed

Walker, Michael L

2016-01-01

This article provides a ground-level investigation into the lives of penal inmates, linking the literature on race making and penal management to provide an understanding of racial formation processes in a modern penal institution. Drawing on 135 days of ethnographic data collected as an inmate in a Southern California county jail system, the author argues that inmates are subjected to two mutually constitutive racial projects--one institutional and the other microinteractional. Operating in symbiosis within a narrative of risk management, these racial projects increase (rather than decrease) incidents of intraracial violence and the potential for interracial violence. These findings have implications for understanding the process of racialization and evaluating the effectiveness of penal management strategies.

Use of atropine penalization to treat amblyopia in UK orthoptic practice.

PubMed

Piano, Marianne; O'Connor, Anna R; Newsham, David

2014-01-01

To compare clinical practice patterns regarding atropine penalization use by UK orthoptists to the current evidence base and identify any existing barriers against use of AP as first-line treatment. An online survey was designed to assess current practice patterns of UK orthoptists using atropine penalization. They were asked to identify issues limiting their use of atropine penalization and give opinions on its effectiveness compared to occlusion. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were applied to the results. Responses were obtained from 151 orthoptists throughout the United Kingdom. The main perceived barriers to use of atropine penalization were inability to prescribe atropine and supply difficulties. However, respondents also did not consider atropine penalization as effective as occlusion in treating amblyopia, contrary to recent research findings. Patient selection criteria and treatment administration largely follow current evidence. More orthoptists use atropine penalization as first-line treatment than previously reported. Practitioners tend to closely follow the current evidence base when using atropine penalization, but reluctance in offering it as first-line treatment or providing a choice for parents between occlusion and atropine still remains. This may result from concerns regarding atropine's general efficacy, side effects, and risk of reverse amblyopia. Alternatively, as demonstrated in other areas of medicine, it may reflect the inherent delay of research findings translating to clinical practice changes. Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.

[Selected legal aspects of the protection of the unborn child in the light of the draft amendment to the Polish Penal Code].

PubMed

Urbaniak, Moniak; Spaczyński, Robert Z

2015-10-01

Criminal Law Codification Commission, acting at the Ministry of Justice prepared proposals for amendments in the Polish Penal Code, related to offenses against life and health that were presented to the public in 2013. The draft provides for the protection of the child in the prenatal stage, introducing a new category of the entity to be protected, which is "unborn child" and "unborn child able to live outside the mother's body". These regulations provide for mothers criminal liability and responsibility of the medical staff (a doctor), as well as the child's father to the extent in which he is obliged to take steps aimed at rescuing the fetus. It is doctor's responsibility to show particular care for human health and life since a doctor has special medical knowledge and that is regulated by art. 30 of the act on professions of doctor and dentist. The proposed rule changes were not brought before the legislature in the current term of the Sejm (2011-2015), but due to the development of medicine, including obstetrical ultrasound, which enables visualization of a child that moves in the womb and is treated as a separate entity with distinct personal features the grounds are given for the opinion that the issue of the legal status of the unborn child, particularly in the context of causing death of a child in the last phase before birth as a result of medical malpractice or other external factors will be back in the public discussion.

Formulation of Policy for Cyber Crime in Criminal Law Revision Concept of Bill Book of Criminal Law (A New Penal Code)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soponyono, Eko; Deva Bernadhi, Brav

2017-04-01

Development of national legal systems is aimed to establish the public welfare and the protection of the public. Many attempts has been carried out to renew material criminal law and those efforts results in the formulation of the concept of the draft Law Book of the Law of Criminal Law in the form of concept criminal code draft. The basic ideas in drafting rules and regulation based on the values inside the idology of Pancasila are balance among various norm and rules in society. The design concept of the New Criminal Code Act is anticipatory and proactive to formulate provisions on Crime in Cyberspace and Crime on Information and Electronic Transactions. Several issues compiled in this paper are whether the policy in formulation of cyber crime is embodied in the provisions of the current legislation and what the policies formulation of cyber crime is in the concept of the bill book of law - criminal law recently?.

Error control techniques for satellite and space communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Costello, Daniel J., Jr.

1995-01-01

This report focuses on the results obtained during the PI's recent sabbatical leave at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland, from January 1, 1995 through June 30, 1995. Two projects investigated various properties of TURBO codes, a new form of concatenated coding that achieves near channel capacity performance at moderate bit error rates. The performance of TURBO codes is explained in terms of the code's distance spectrum. These results explain both the near capacity performance of the TURBO codes and the observed 'error floor' for moderate and high signal-to-noise ratios (SNR's). A semester project, entitled 'The Realization of the Turbo-Coding System,' involved a thorough simulation study of the performance of TURBO codes and verified the results claimed by previous authors. A copy of the final report for this project is included as Appendix A. A diploma project, entitled 'On the Free Distance of Turbo Codes and Related Product Codes,' includes an analysis of TURBO codes and an explanation for their remarkable performance. A copy of the final report for this project is included as Appendix B.

7 CFR 1484.73 - Are Cooperators penalized for failing to make required contributions?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 10 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Are Cooperators penalized for failing to make... Cooperators penalized for failing to make required contributions? A Cooperator's contribution requirement is specified in the Cooperator program allocation letter. If a Cooperator fails to contribute the amount...

7 CFR 1484.73 - Are Cooperators penalized for failing to make required contributions?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 10 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Are Cooperators penalized for failing to make... Cooperators penalized for failing to make required contributions? A Cooperator's contribution requirement is specified in the Cooperator program allocation letter. If a Cooperator fails to contribute the amount...

7 CFR 1484.73 - Are Cooperators penalized for failing to make required contributions?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 10 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Are Cooperators penalized for failing to make... Cooperators penalized for failing to make required contributions? A Cooperator's contribution requirement is specified in the Cooperator program allocation letter. If a Cooperator fails to contribute the amount...

7 CFR 1484.73 - Are Cooperators penalized for failing to make required contributions?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 10 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Are Cooperators penalized for failing to make... § 1484.73 Are Cooperators penalized for failing to make required contributions? A Cooperator's contribution requirement is specified in the Cooperator program allocation letter. If a Cooperator fails to...

7 CFR 1484.73 - Are Cooperators penalized for failing to make required contributions?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 10 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Are Cooperators penalized for failing to make... § 1484.73 Are Cooperators penalized for failing to make required contributions? A Cooperator's contribution requirement is specified in the Cooperator program allocation letter. If a Cooperator fails to...

'Other Spaces' for the Dangerous Dead of Provincial England, c.1752-1832.

PubMed

Hurren, Elizabeth T

2018-01-01

The Murder Act (1752) decreed that homicide perpetrators should be hanged and sent for post-execution punishment. This article explores the event management of criminal dissections by penal surgeons in situ . It reveals that the punishment parade of the condemned did not stop at the scaffold, contrary to the impression in many standard historical accounts. Instead, ordinary people accompanied criminal corpses to many different types of dissection venues. Penal surgeons hand-picked these performance spaces that were socially produced for legal and practical reasons. They had to be able to process large numbers of people who wanted to be part of the consumption of post-mortem 'harm' in English communities. Event management on location had to have emotional and visual appeal, moral coherence, be timed appropriately, and, if successful, would enhance the deterrence value of the capital code. Yet, managing the 'dangerous dead' involved a great deal of discretionary justice with unpredictable outcomes. It often happened in 'counter-sites' of punishment in the community and involved a great deal of immersive theatre. Some events worked well, others threatened the social order. In 'Other Spaces' the 'Dangerous Dead' was hence a fascinating feature of the Murder Act outside the Metropolis from 1752 to 1832.

[Incest--forensic genetic approach].

PubMed

Raczek, Ewa

2012-01-01

The paper presents intimate relationships between biologically and legally close relatives, complicated in the social, culture and religion perspective. (art. 201 of the Penal Code), but it chiefly addresses problems associated with giving opinion on the fatherhood towards the incestuous child. The report calls for a broader interest in this issue from expert witnesses in forensic genetics, as well as encourages them to publish examples taken from their own professional experience that may unquestionably be helpful to other practitioners in this field and above all will lead to extending educational methods related to widely understood DNA analysis in giving an opinion on arguable fatherhood.

[Abortion and fetal non-viability: the Brazilian debate].

PubMed

Diniz, Debora

2005-01-01

The Case Against Non-Compliance with the Fundamental Principle concerning Anencephaly, under review by the Brazilian Supreme Court, is a milestone in the debate on abortion in Latin America. Since the currently prevailing version of the Brazilian Penal Code was enacted in 1940, there has been fierce resistance to any change in the country's abortion policy. This article discusses the arguments and political strategies used in the anencephaly suit brought before the Supreme Court, particularly the ethical and legal position that interruption of pregnancy in cases of anencephaly does not constitute abortion, but should be considered a therapeutic anticipation of delivery.

27 CFR 19.957 - Instructions to compute bond penal sum.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Instructions to compute bond penal sum. 19.957 Section 19.957 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX... Fuel Use Bonds § 19.957 Instructions to compute bond penal sum. (a) Medium plants. To find the required...

49 CFR 26.47 - Can recipients be penalized for failing to meet overall goals?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Can recipients be penalized for failing to meet... Goals, Good Faith Efforts, and Counting § 26.47 Can recipients be penalized for failing to meet overall... rule, because your DBE participation falls short of your overall goal, unless you have failed to...

43 CFR 4170.2-1 - Penal provisions under the Taylor Grazing Act.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Penal provisions under the Taylor Grazing Act. 4170.2-1 Section 4170.2-1 Public Lands: Interior Regulations Relating to Public Lands (Continued...-EXCLUSIVE OF ALASKA Penalties § 4170.2-1 Penal provisions under the Taylor Grazing Act. Under section 2 of...

38 CFR 14.560 - Procedure where violation of penal statutes is involved including those offenses coming within...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Procedure where violation of penal statutes is involved including those offenses coming within the purview of the Assimilative... where violation of penal statutes is involved including those offenses coming within the purview of the...

38 CFR 14.560 - Procedure where violation of penal statutes is involved including those offenses coming within...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Procedure where violation of penal statutes is involved including those offenses coming within the purview of the Assimilative... where violation of penal statutes is involved including those offenses coming within the purview of the...

38 CFR 14.560 - Procedure where violation of penal statutes is involved including those offenses coming within...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Procedure where violation of penal statutes is involved including those offenses coming within the purview of the Assimilative... where violation of penal statutes is involved including those offenses coming within the purview of the...

38 CFR 14.560 - Procedure where violation of penal statutes is involved including those offenses coming within...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Procedure where violation of penal statutes is involved including those offenses coming within the purview of the Assimilative... where violation of penal statutes is involved including those offenses coming within the purview of the...

38 CFR 14.560 - Procedure where violation of penal statutes is involved including those offenses coming within...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Procedure where violation of penal statutes is involved including those offenses coming within the purview of the Assimilative... where violation of penal statutes is involved including those offenses coming within the purview of the...

Conventional occlusion versus pharmacologic penalization for amblyopia.

PubMed

Li, Tianjing; Shotton, Kate

2009-10-07

Amblyopia is defined as defective visual acuity in one or both eyes without demonstrable abnormality of the visual pathway, and is not immediately resolved by wearing glasses. To assess the effectiveness and safety of conventional occlusion versus atropine penalization for amblyopia. We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, preference lists, science citation index and ongoing trials up to June 2009. We included randomized/quasi-randomized controlled trials comparing conventional occlusion to atropine penalization for amblyopia. Two authors independently screened abstracts and full text articles, abstracted data, and assessed the risk of bias. Three trials with a total of 525 amblyopic eyes were included. One trial was assessed as having a low risk of bias among these three trials, and one was assessed as having a high risk of bias.Evidence from three trials suggests atropine penalization is as effective as conventional occlusion. One trial found similar improvement in vision at six and 24 months. At six months, visual acuity in the amblyopic eye improved from baseline 3.16 lines in the occlusion and 2.84 lines in the atropine group (mean difference 0.034 logMAR; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.005 to 0.064 logMAR). At 24 months, additional improvement was seen in both groups; but there continued to be no meaningful difference (mean difference 0.01 logMAR; 95% CI -0.02 to 0.04 logMAR). The second trial reported atropine to be more effective than occlusion. At six months, visual acuity improved 1.8 lines in the patching group and 3.4 lines in the atropine penalization group, and was in favor of atropine (mean difference -0.16 logMAR; 95% CI -0.23 to -0.09 logMAR). Different occlusion modalities were used in these two trials. The third trial had inherent methodological flaws and limited inference could be drawn.No difference in ocular alignment, stereo acuity and sound eye visual acuity between occlusion and atropine penalization was found. Although both treatments were well tolerated, compliance was better in atropine. Atropine penalization costs less than conventional occlusion. The results indicate that atropine penalization is as effective as conventional occlusion. Both conventional occlusion and atropine penalization produce visual acuity improvement in the amblyopic eye. Atropine penalization appears to be as effective as conventional occlusion, although the magnitude of improvement differed among the three trials. Atropine penalization can be used as first line treatment for amblyopia.

Psychiatrists, criminals, and the law: forensic psychiatry in Switzerland 1850-1950.

PubMed

Germann, Urs

2014-01-01

Between 1880 and 1950, Swiss psychiatrists established themselves as experts in criminal courts. In this period, the judicial authorities required psychiatric testimonies in a rising number of cases. As a result, more offenders than ever before were declared mentally deficient and, eventually, sent to psychiatric asylums. Psychiatrists also enhanced their authority as experts at the political level. From the very beginning, they got involved in the preparatory works for a nationwide criminal code. In this article, I argue that these trends toward medicalization of crime were due to incremental processes, rather than spectacular institutional changes. In fact, Swiss psychiatrists gained recognition as experts due to their daily interactions with judges, public prosecutors, and legal counsels. At the same time, the spread of medical expertise had serious repercussions on psychiatric institutions. From 1942 onwards, asylums had to deal with a growing number of "criminal psychopaths," which affected ward discipline and put psychiatry's therapeutic efficiency into question. The defensive way in which Swiss psychiatrists reacted to this predicament was crucial to the further development of forensic psychiatry. For the most part, it accounts for the subdiscipline's remarkable lack of specialization until the 1990s. © 2013.

On the advancement of therapeutic penality: therapeutic authority, personality science and the therapeutic community.

PubMed

McBride, Ruari-Santiago

2017-09-01

In this article I examine the advancement of therapeutic penality in the UK, a penal philosophy that reimagines prison policy, practices and environments utilising psychological knowledge. Adopting a historical approach, I show how modern therapeutic penality is linked to the emergence of personality science in the nineteenth century and the development of the democratic therapeutic community (DTC) model in the twentieth century. I outline how at the turn of the twenty-first century a catalytic event generated a moral panic that led the British government to mobilise psychological knowledge and technologies in an attempt to manage dangerous people with severe personality disorder. Tracing subsequent developments, I argue psychological ways of talking, thinking and acting have obtained unparalleled salience in domains of penality and, in turn, radically transformed the conditions of imprisonment. © 2017 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness.

Estimation of Covariance Matrix on Bi-Response Longitudinal Data Analysis with Penalized Spline Regression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Islamiyati, A.; Fatmawati; Chamidah, N.

2018-03-01

The correlation assumption of the longitudinal data with bi-response occurs on the measurement between the subjects of observation and the response. It causes the auto-correlation of error, and this can be overcome by using a covariance matrix. In this article, we estimate the covariance matrix based on the penalized spline regression model. Penalized spline involves knot points and smoothing parameters simultaneously in controlling the smoothness of the curve. Based on our simulation study, the estimated regression model of the weighted penalized spline with covariance matrix gives a smaller error value compared to the error of the model without covariance matrix.

Differentiating among penal states.

PubMed

Lacey, Nicola

2010-12-01

This review article assesses Loïc Wacquant's contribution to debates on penality, focusing on his most recent book, Punishing the Poor: The Neoliberal Government of Social Insecurity (Wacquant 2009), while setting its argument in the context of his earlier Prisons of Poverty (1999). In particular, it draws on both historical and comparative methods to question whether Wacquant's conception of 'the penal state' is adequately differentiated for the purposes of building the explanatory account he proposes; about whether 'neo-liberalism' has, materially, the global influence which he ascribes to it; and about whether, therefore, the process of penal Americanization which he asserts in his recent writings is credible.

Perinatal depression: a review of US legislation and law.

PubMed

Rhodes, Ann M; Segre, Lisa S

2013-08-01

Accumulating research documenting the prevalence and negative effects of perinatal depression, together with highly publicized tragic critical incidents of suicide and filicide by mothers with postpartum psychosis, have fueled a continuum of legislation. Specialists in perinatal mental health should recognize how their work influences legislative initiatives and penal codes, and take this into consideration when developing perinatal services and research. Yet, without legal expertise, the status of legislative initiatives can be confusing. To address this shortfall, we assembled an interdisciplinary team of academics specializing in law, as well as perinatal mental health, to summarize these issues. This review presents the relevant federal and state legislation and summarizes the criminal codes that governed the court decisions on cases in which a mother committed filicide because of postpartum psychosis. Moreover, the review aims to help researchers and providers who specialize in perinatal depression understand their role in this legal landscape.

Differential gene expression detection and sample classification using penalized linear regression models.

PubMed

Wu, Baolin

2006-02-15

Differential gene expression detection and sample classification using microarray data have received much research interest recently. Owing to the large number of genes p and small number of samples n (p > n), microarray data analysis poses big challenges for statistical analysis. An obvious problem owing to the 'large p small n' is over-fitting. Just by chance, we are likely to find some non-differentially expressed genes that can classify the samples very well. The idea of shrinkage is to regularize the model parameters to reduce the effects of noise and produce reliable inferences. Shrinkage has been successfully applied in the microarray data analysis. The SAM statistics proposed by Tusher et al. and the 'nearest shrunken centroid' proposed by Tibshirani et al. are ad hoc shrinkage methods. Both methods are simple, intuitive and prove to be useful in empirical studies. Recently Wu proposed the penalized t/F-statistics with shrinkage by formally using the (1) penalized linear regression models for two-class microarray data, showing good performance. In this paper we systematically discussed the use of penalized regression models for analyzing microarray data. We generalize the two-class penalized t/F-statistics proposed by Wu to multi-class microarray data. We formally derive the ad hoc shrunken centroid used by Tibshirani et al. using the (1) penalized regression models. And we show that the penalized linear regression models provide a rigorous and unified statistical framework for sample classification and differential gene expression detection.

Relationship between Training Programs being Offered in State and Federal Penal Institutions and the Unfilled Job Openings in the Major Occupations in the United States.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Torrence, John Thomas

Excluding military installations, training programs in state and federal penal institutions were surveyed, through a mailed checklist, to test the hypotheses that (1) training programs in penal institutions were not related to the unfilled job openings by major occupations in the United States, and (2) that training programs reported would have a…

‘Other Spaces’ for the Dangerous Dead of Provincial England, c.1752–1832

PubMed Central

HURREN, ELIZABETH T.

2018-01-01

Abstract The Murder Act (1752) decreed that homicide perpetrators should be hanged and sent for post‐execution punishment. This article explores the event management of criminal dissections by penal surgeons in situ. It reveals that the punishment parade of the condemned did not stop at the scaffold, contrary to the impression in many standard historical accounts. Instead, ordinary people accompanied criminal corpses to many different types of dissection venues. Penal surgeons hand‐picked these performance spaces that were socially produced for legal and practical reasons. They had to be able to process large numbers of people who wanted to be part of the consumption of post‐mortem ‘harm’ in English communities. Event management on location had to have emotional and visual appeal, moral coherence, be timed appropriately, and, if successful, would enhance the deterrence value of the capital code. Yet, managing the ‘dangerous dead’ involved a great deal of discretionary justice with unpredictable outcomes. It often happened in ‘counter‐sites’ of punishment in the community and involved a great deal of immersive theatre. Some events worked well, others threatened the social order. In ‘Other Spaces’ the ‘Dangerous Dead’ was hence a fascinating feature of the Murder Act outside the Metropolis from 1752 to 1832. PMID:29491511

Sparse generalized linear model with L0 approximation for feature selection and prediction with big omics data.

PubMed

Liu, Zhenqiu; Sun, Fengzhu; McGovern, Dermot P

2017-01-01

Feature selection and prediction are the most important tasks for big data mining. The common strategies for feature selection in big data mining are L 1 , SCAD and MC+. However, none of the existing algorithms optimizes L 0 , which penalizes the number of nonzero features directly. In this paper, we develop a novel sparse generalized linear model (GLM) with L 0 approximation for feature selection and prediction with big omics data. The proposed approach approximate the L 0 optimization directly. Even though the original L 0 problem is non-convex, the problem is approximated by sequential convex optimizations with the proposed algorithm. The proposed method is easy to implement with only several lines of code. Novel adaptive ridge algorithms ( L 0 ADRIDGE) for L 0 penalized GLM with ultra high dimensional big data are developed. The proposed approach outperforms the other cutting edge regularization methods including SCAD and MC+ in simulations. When it is applied to integrated analysis of mRNA, microRNA, and methylation data from TCGA ovarian cancer, multilevel gene signatures associated with suboptimal debulking are identified simultaneously. The biological significance and potential clinical importance of those genes are further explored. The developed Software L 0 ADRIDGE in MATLAB is available at https://github.com/liuzqx/L0adridge.

IPF-LASSO: Integrative L 1-Penalized Regression with Penalty Factors for Prediction Based on Multi-Omics Data

PubMed Central

Jiang, Xiaoyu; Fuchs, Mathias

2017-01-01

As modern biotechnologies advance, it has become increasingly frequent that different modalities of high-dimensional molecular data (termed “omics” data in this paper), such as gene expression, methylation, and copy number, are collected from the same patient cohort to predict the clinical outcome. While prediction based on omics data has been widely studied in the last fifteen years, little has been done in the statistical literature on the integration of multiple omics modalities to select a subset of variables for prediction, which is a critical task in personalized medicine. In this paper, we propose a simple penalized regression method to address this problem by assigning different penalty factors to different data modalities for feature selection and prediction. The penalty factors can be chosen in a fully data-driven fashion by cross-validation or by taking practical considerations into account. In simulation studies, we compare the prediction performance of our approach, called IPF-LASSO (Integrative LASSO with Penalty Factors) and implemented in the R package ipflasso, with the standard LASSO and sparse group LASSO. The use of IPF-LASSO is also illustrated through applications to two real-life cancer datasets. All data and codes are available on the companion website to ensure reproducibility. PMID:28546826

45 CFR 261.15 - Can a family be penalized if a parent refuses to work because he or she cannot find child care?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... Provisions Addressing Individual Responsibility? § 261.15 Can a family be penalized if a parent refuses to... parent caring for a child under age six who has a demonstrated inability to obtain needed child care, as... 45 Public Welfare 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Can a family be penalized if a parent refuses to...

45 CFR 261.15 - Can a family be penalized if a parent refuses to work because he or she cannot find child care?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... Provisions Addressing Individual Responsibility? § 261.15 Can a family be penalized if a parent refuses to... parent caring for a child under age six who has a demonstrated inability to obtain needed child care, as... 45 Public Welfare 2 2013-10-01 2012-10-01 true Can a family be penalized if a parent refuses to...

45 CFR 261.15 - Can a family be penalized if a parent refuses to work because he or she cannot find child care?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... Provisions Addressing Individual Responsibility? § 261.15 Can a family be penalized if a parent refuses to... parent caring for a child under age six who has a demonstrated inability to obtain needed child care, as... 45 Public Welfare 2 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Can a family be penalized if a parent refuses to...

45 CFR 261.15 - Can a family be penalized if a parent refuses to work because he or she cannot find child care?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Provisions Addressing Individual Responsibility? § 261.15 Can a family be penalized if a parent refuses to... parent caring for a child under age six who has a demonstrated inability to obtain needed child care, as... 45 Public Welfare 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Can a family be penalized if a parent refuses to...

45 CFR 261.15 - Can a family be penalized if a parent refuses to work because he or she cannot find child care?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... Provisions Addressing Individual Responsibility? § 261.15 Can a family be penalized if a parent refuses to... parent caring for a child under age six who has a demonstrated inability to obtain needed child care, as... 45 Public Welfare 2 2014-10-01 2012-10-01 true Can a family be penalized if a parent refuses to...

Integrative Analysis of “-Omics” Data Using Penalty Functions

PubMed Central

Zhao, Qing; Shi, Xingjie; Huang, Jian; Liu, Jin; Li, Yang; Ma, Shuangge

2014-01-01

In the analysis of omics data, integrative analysis provides an effective way of pooling information across multiple datasets or multiple correlated responses, and can be more effective than single-dataset (response) analysis. Multiple families of integrative analysis methods have been proposed in the literature. The current review focuses on the penalization methods. Special attention is paid to sparse meta-analysis methods that pool summary statistics across datasets, and integrative analysis methods that pool raw data across datasets. We discuss their formulation and rationale. Beyond “standard” penalized selection, we also review contrasted penalization and Laplacian penalization which accommodate finer data structures. The computational aspects, including computational algorithms and tuning parameter selection, are examined. This review concludes with possible limitations and extensions. PMID:25691921

Hospital Characteristics Associated With Penalties in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program.

PubMed

Rajaram, Ravi; Chung, Jeanette W; Kinnier, Christine V; Barnard, Cynthia; Mohanty, Sanjay; Pavey, Emily S; McHugh, Megan C; Bilimoria, Karl Y

2015-07-28

In fiscal year (FY) 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) instituted the Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program, which reduces payments to the lowest-performing hospitals. However, it is uncertain whether this program accurately measures quality and fairly penalizes hospitals. To examine the characteristics of hospitals penalized by the HAC Reduction Program and to evaluate the association of a summary score of hospital characteristics related to quality with penalization in the HAC program. Data for hospitals participating in the FY2015 HAC Reduction Program were obtained from CMS' Hospital Compare and merged with the 2014 American Hospital Association Annual Survey and FY2015 Medicare Impact File. Logistic regression models were developed to examine the association between hospital characteristics and HAC program penalization. An 8-point hospital quality summary score was created using hospital characteristics related to volume, accreditations, and offering of advanced care services. The relationship between the hospital quality summary score and HAC program penalization was examined. Publicly reported process-of-care and outcome measures were examined from 4 clinical areas (surgery, acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, pneumonia), and their association with the hospital quality summary score was evaluated. Penalization in the HAC Reduction Program. Hospital characteristics associated with penalization. Of the 3284 hospitals participating in the HAC program, 721 (22.0%) were penalized. Hospitals were more likely to be penalized if they were accredited by the Joint Commission (24.0% accredited, 14.4% not accredited; odds ratio [OR], 1.33; 95% CI, 1.04-1.70); they were major teaching hospitals (42.3%; OR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.09-2.29) or very major teaching hospitals (62.2%; OR, 2.61; 95% CI, 1.55-4.39; vs nonteaching hospitals, 17.0%); they cared for more complex patient populations based on case mix index (quartile 4 vs quartile 1: 32.8% vs 12.1%; OR, 1.98; 95% CI, 1.44-2.71); or they were safety-net hospitals vs non-safety-net hospitals (28.3% vs 19.9%; OR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.11-1.68). Hospitals with higher hospital quality summary scores had significantly better performance on 9 of 10 publicly reported process and outcomes measures compared with hospitals that had lower quality scores (all P ≤ .01 for trend). However, hospitals with the highest quality score of 8 were penalized significantly more frequently than hospitals with the lowest quality score of 0 (67.3% [37/55] vs 12.6% [53/422]; P < .001 for trend). Among hospitals participating in the HAC Reduction Program, hospitals that were penalized more frequently had more quality accreditations, offered advanced services, were major teaching institutions, and had better performance on other process and outcome measures. These paradoxical findings suggest that the approach for assessing hospital penalties in the HAC Reduction Program merits reconsideration to ensure it is achieving the intended goals.

Functional anthology of intrinsic disorder. 3. Ligands, post-translational modifications, and diseases associated with intrinsically disordered proteins.

PubMed

Xie, Hongbo; Vucetic, Slobodan; Iakoucheva, Lilia M; Oldfield, Christopher J; Dunker, A Keith; Obradovic, Zoran; Uversky, Vladimir N

2007-05-01

Currently, the understanding of the relationships between function, amino acid sequence, and protein structure continues to represent one of the major challenges of the modern protein science. As many as 50% of eukaryotic proteins are likely to contain functionally important long disordered regions. Many proteins are wholly disordered but still possess numerous biologically important functions. However, the number of experimentally confirmed disordered proteins with known biological functions is substantially smaller than their actual number in nature. Therefore, there is a crucial need for novel bionformatics approaches that allow projection of the current knowledge from a few experimentally verified examples to much larger groups of known and potential proteins. The elaboration of a bioinformatics tool for the analysis of functional diversity of intrinsically disordered proteins and application of this data mining tool to >200 000 proteins from the Swiss-Prot database, each annotated with at least one of the 875 functional keywords, was described in the first paper of this series (Xie, H.; Vucetic, S.; Iakoucheva, L. M.; Oldfield, C. J.; Dunker, A. K.; Obradovic, Z.; Uversky, V.N. Functional anthology of intrinsic disorder. 1. Biological processes and functions of proteins with long disordered regions. J. Proteome Res. 2007, 5, 1882-1898). Using this tool, we have found that out of the 710 Swiss-Prot functional keywords associated with at least 20 proteins, 262 were strongly positively correlated with long intrinsically disordered regions, and 302 were strongly negatively correlated. Illustrative examples of functional disorder or order were found for the vast majority of keywords showing strongest positive or negative correlation with intrinsic disorder, respectively. Some 80 Swiss-Prot keywords associated with disorder- and order-driven biological processes and protein functions were described in the first paper (see above). The second paper of the series was devoted to the presentation of 87 Swiss-Prot keywords attributed to the cellular components, domains, technical terms, developmental processes, and coding sequence diversities possessing strong positive and negative correlation with long disordered regions (Vucetic, S.; Xie, H.; Iakoucheva, L. M.; Oldfield, C. J.; Dunker, A. K.; Obradovic, Z.; Uversky, V. N. Functional anthology of intrinsic disorder. 2. Cellular components, domains, technical terms, developmental processes, and coding sequence diversities correlated with long disordered regions. J. Proteome Res. 2007, 5, 1899-1916). Protein structure and functionality can be modulated by various post-translational modifications or/and as a result of binding of specific ligands. Numerous human diseases are associated with protein misfolding/misassembly/misfunctioning. This work concludes the series of papers dedicated to the functional anthology of intrinsic disorder and describes approximately 80 Swiss-Prot functional keywords that are related to ligands, post-translational modifications, and diseases possessing strong positive or negative correlation with the predicted long disordered regions in proteins.

Enforcing the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes for Better Promotion of Exclusive Breastfeeding: Can Lessons Be Learned?

PubMed

Barennes, Hubert; Slesak, Guenther; Goyet, Sophie; Aaron, Percy; Srour, Leila M

2016-02-01

Exclusive breastfeeding, one of the best natural resources, needs protection and promotion. The International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (the Code), which aims to prevent the undermining of breastfeeding by formula advertising, faces implementation challenges. We reviewed frequently overlooked challenges and obstacles that the Code is facing worldwide, but particularly in Southeast Asia. Drawing lessons from various countries where we work, and following the example of successful public health interventions, we discussed legislation, enforcement, and experiences that are needed to successfully implement the Code. Successful holistic approaches that have strengthened the Code need to be scaled up. Community-based actions and peer-to-peer promotions have proved successful. Legislation without stringent enforcement and sufficient penalties is ineffective. The public needs education about the benefits and ways and means to support breastfeeding. It is crucial to combine strong political commitment and leadership with strict national regulations, definitions, and enforcement. National breastfeeding committees, with the authority to improve regulations, investigate violations, and enforce the laws, must be established. Systematic monitoring and reporting are needed to identify companies, individuals, intermediaries, and practices that infringe on the Code. Penalizing violators is crucial. Managers of multinational companies must be held accountable for international violations, and international legislative enforcement needs to be established. Further measures should include improved regulations to protect the breastfeeding mother: large-scale education campaigns; strong penalties for Code violators; exclusion of the formula industry from nutrition, education, and policy roles; supportive legal networks; and independent research of interventions supporting breastfeeding. © The Author(s) 2015.

Performance and robustness of penalized and unpenalized methods for genetic prediction of complex human disease.

PubMed

Abraham, Gad; Kowalczyk, Adam; Zobel, Justin; Inouye, Michael

2013-02-01

A central goal of medical genetics is to accurately predict complex disease from genotypes. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of simulated and real data using lasso and elastic-net penalized support-vector machine models, a mixed-effects linear model, a polygenic score, and unpenalized logistic regression. In simulation, the sparse penalized models achieved lower false-positive rates and higher precision than the other methods for detecting causal SNPs. The common practice of prefiltering SNP lists for subsequent penalized modeling was examined and shown to substantially reduce the ability to recover the causal SNPs. Using genome-wide SNP profiles across eight complex diseases within cross-validation, lasso and elastic-net models achieved substantially better predictive ability in celiac disease, type 1 diabetes, and Crohn's disease, and had equivalent predictive ability in the rest, with the results in celiac disease strongly replicating between independent datasets. We investigated the effect of linkage disequilibrium on the predictive models, showing that the penalized methods leverage this information to their advantage, compared with methods that assume SNP independence. Our findings show that sparse penalized approaches are robust across different disease architectures, producing as good as or better phenotype predictions and variance explained. This has fundamental ramifications for the selection and future development of methods to genetically predict human disease. © 2012 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC.

RRTMGP: A High-Performance Broadband Radiation Code for the Next Decade

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-30

NOAA ), Robin Hogan (ECMWF), a number of colleagues at the Max-Planck Institute, and Will Sawyer and Marcus Wetzstein (Swiss Supercomputer Center...somewhat out of date, so that the accuracy of our simplified algorithms can not be thoroughly evaluated. RRTMGP_LW_v0 has been provided to our NASA ...support, RRTMGP_LW_v0, has been completed and distributed to selected colleagues at modeling centers, including NOAA , NCAR, and CSCS. Our colleagues

Analyzing Association Mapping in Pedigree-Based GWAS Using a Penalized Multitrait Mixed Model

PubMed Central

Liu, Jin; Yang, Can; Shi, Xingjie; Li, Cong; Huang, Jian; Zhao, Hongyu; Ma, Shuangge

2017-01-01

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have led to the identification of many genetic variants associated with complex diseases in the past 10 years. Penalization methods, with significant numerical and statistical advantages, have been extensively adopted in analyzing GWAS. This study has been partly motivated by the analysis of Genetic Analysis Workshop (GAW) 18 data, which have two notable characteristics. First, the subjects are from a small number of pedigrees and hence related. Second, for each subject, multiple correlated traits have been measured. Most of the existing penalization methods assume independence between subjects and traits and can be suboptimal. There are a few methods in the literature based on mixed modeling that can accommodate correlations. However, they cannot fully accommodate the two types of correlations while conducting effective marker selection. In this study, we develop a penalized multitrait mixed modeling approach. It accommodates the two different types of correlations and includes several existing methods as special cases. Effective penalization is adopted for marker selection. Simulation demonstrates its satisfactory performance. The GAW 18 data are analyzed using the proposed method. PMID:27247027

Instruction No. 3/1988, 1 June 1988.

PubMed

1988-01-01

This Instruction contains provisions relating to the injury and maltreatment of children and women and the enforcement of support payments to women and children. With respect to the maltreatment of children, it provides that the Spanish Office of the Public Prosecutor shall a) curb child abuse; b) take decisive action to protect minors who have been abused or are helpless and to execute the new responsibilities imposed by Law 21/1987 of November 11, which modifies the Civil Code with respect to adoption; and c) collect the necessary data with regard to felonies or misdemeanors that involve child abuse so as to allow for the compilation of annual statistics which may identify the magnitude of this problem; With respect to the maltreatment of women, the prosecutor shall a) curb the abuse of women, investigating those cases where a lack of evidence exists because women are afraid; and b) collect the necessary data with regard to felonies or misdemeanors that involve the abuse of women so as to allow for the compilation of annual statistics which may identify the social reality of this problem. With respect to support payments, the Instruction urges all prosecutors to monitor the execution of support payments using all judicial means authorized, including penal actions when applicable, or enforcement mechanisms which have been mentioned in this memo, that is, conditioning visitation rights on timely payment of the support established for food and education of the children. In Circular No. 32 of 15 April 1988, the National Directorate of Police is called on to provide all necessary police assistance to women who have been the object of illegitimate acts of force so that they can report such acts and to inform women of laws designed to help them and the means of availing themselves of these laws. See Anuario de Derecho Penal y Ciencias Penales, Vol. 41, No. 3, September-December 1988, p. 978. full text

An adjoint-based framework for maximizing mixing in binary fluids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eggl, Maximilian; Schmid, Peter

2017-11-01

Mixing in the inertial, but laminar parameter regime is a common application in a wide range of industries. Enhancing the efficiency of mixing processes thus has a fundamental effect on product quality, material homogeneity and, last but not least, production costs. In this project, we address mixing efficiency in the above mentioned regime (Reynolds number Re = 1000 , Peclet number Pe = 1000) by developing and demonstrating an algorithm based on nonlinear adjoint looping that minimizes the variance of a passive scalar field which models our binary Newtonian fluids. The numerical method is based on the FLUSI code (Engels et al. 2016), a Fourier pseudo-spectral code, which we modified and augmented by scalar transport and adjoint equations. Mixing is accomplished by moving stirrers which are numerically modeled using a penalization approach. In our two-dimensional simulations we consider rotating circular and elliptic stirrers and extract optimal mixing strategies from the iterative scheme. The case of optimizing shape and rotational speed of the stirrers will be demonstrated.

[Mentally ill and dangerous: civil commitment or internment? The Belgian judicial framework].

PubMed

Smets, H; Verelst, R; Vandenberghe, J

2009-01-01

There are two important Belgian laws referring to psychiatric disturbances that may prove dangerous. The Civil Code includes the law relating to the protection of the mentally ill person, dated 26th June 1990, better known as the law of civil commitment of the mentally ill. Since April, 2007, the Penal Code has contained a new law on the internment of people with a psychiatric disorder; this new law replaces the old law of the 1st July, 1964, meant to protect the society. Although the two laws apply to different fields, in clinical practice there are sometimes 'grey areas' where it is not immediately evident which legal framework is applicable. Starting from a case study in which the civil judge ordered the civil commitment of a detainee, we explore these 'grey areas' and compare the two legal frameworks. We base our study on the new law on internment, clarify it and sketch the legal history of internment in Belgium.

Majorization Minimization by Coordinate Descent for Concave Penalized Generalized Linear Models

PubMed Central

Jiang, Dingfeng; Huang, Jian

2013-01-01

Recent studies have demonstrated theoretical attractiveness of a class of concave penalties in variable selection, including the smoothly clipped absolute deviation and minimax concave penalties. The computation of the concave penalized solutions in high-dimensional models, however, is a difficult task. We propose a majorization minimization by coordinate descent (MMCD) algorithm for computing the concave penalized solutions in generalized linear models. In contrast to the existing algorithms that use local quadratic or local linear approximation to the penalty function, the MMCD seeks to majorize the negative log-likelihood by a quadratic loss, but does not use any approximation to the penalty. This strategy makes it possible to avoid the computation of a scaling factor in each update of the solutions, which improves the efficiency of coordinate descent. Under certain regularity conditions, we establish theoretical convergence property of the MMCD. We implement this algorithm for a penalized logistic regression model using the SCAD and MCP penalties. Simulation studies and a data example demonstrate that the MMCD works sufficiently fast for the penalized logistic regression in high-dimensional settings where the number of covariates is much larger than the sample size. PMID:25309048

Comparison of the efficacies of patching and penalization therapies for the treatment of amblyopia patients

PubMed Central

Cabi, Cemalettin; Sayman Muslubas, Isil Bahar; Aydin Oral, Ayse Yesim; Dastan, Metin

2014-01-01

AIM To compare the efficacies of patching and penalization therapies for the treatment of amblyopia patients. METHODS The records of 64 eyes of 50 patients 7 to 16y of age who had presented to our clinics with a diagnosis of amblyopia, were evaluated retrospectively. Forty eyes of 26 patients who had received patching therapy and 24 eyes of 24 patients who had received penalization therapy included in this study. The latencies and amplitudes of visual evoked potential (VEP) records and best corrected visual acuities (BCVA) of these two groups were compared before and six months after the treatment. RESULTS In both patching and the penalization groups, the visual acuities increased significantly following the treatments (P<0.05). The latency measurements of the P100 wave obtained at 1.0°, 15 arc min. Patterns of both groups significantly decreased following the 6-months-treatment. However, the amplitude measurements increased (P<0.05). CONCLUSION The patching and the penalization methods, which are the main methods used in the treatment of amblyopia, were also effective over the age of 7y, which has been accepted as the critical age for the treatment of amblyopia. PMID:24967195

Regularized rare variant enrichment analysis for case-control exome sequencing data.

PubMed

Larson, Nicholas B; Schaid, Daniel J

2014-02-01

Rare variants have recently garnered an immense amount of attention in genetic association analysis. However, unlike methods traditionally used for single marker analysis in GWAS, rare variant analysis often requires some method of aggregation, since single marker approaches are poorly powered for typical sequencing study sample sizes. Advancements in sequencing technologies have rendered next-generation sequencing platforms a realistic alternative to traditional genotyping arrays. Exome sequencing in particular not only provides base-level resolution of genetic coding regions, but also a natural paradigm for aggregation via genes and exons. Here, we propose the use of penalized regression in combination with variant aggregation measures to identify rare variant enrichment in exome sequencing data. In contrast to marginal gene-level testing, we simultaneously evaluate the effects of rare variants in multiple genes, focusing on gene-based least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and exon-based sparse group LASSO models. By using gene membership as a grouping variable, the sparse group LASSO can be used as a gene-centric analysis of rare variants while also providing a penalized approach toward identifying specific regions of interest. We apply extensive simulations to evaluate the performance of these approaches with respect to specificity and sensitivity, comparing these results to multiple competing marginal testing methods. Finally, we discuss our findings and outline future research. © 2013 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC.

Competitive repetition suppression (CoRe) clustering: a biologically inspired learning model with application to robust clustering.

PubMed

Bacciu, Davide; Starita, Antonina

2008-11-01

Determining a compact neural coding for a set of input stimuli is an issue that encompasses several biological memory mechanisms as well as various artificial neural network models. In particular, establishing the optimal network structure is still an open problem when dealing with unsupervised learning models. In this paper, we introduce a novel learning algorithm, named competitive repetition-suppression (CoRe) learning, inspired by a cortical memory mechanism called repetition suppression (RS). We show how such a mechanism is used, at various levels of the cerebral cortex, to generate compact neural representations of the visual stimuli. From the general CoRe learning model, we derive a clustering algorithm, named CoRe clustering, that can automatically estimate the unknown cluster number from the data without using a priori information concerning the input distribution. We illustrate how CoRe clustering, besides its biological plausibility, posses strong theoretical properties in terms of robustness to noise and outliers, and we provide an error function describing CoRe learning dynamics. Such a description is used to analyze CoRe relationships with the state-of-the art clustering models and to highlight CoRe similitude with rival penalized competitive learning (RPCL), showing how CoRe extends such a model by strengthening the rival penalization estimation by means of loss functions from robust statistics.

Analysis of Genome-Wide Association Studies with Multiple Outcomes Using Penalization

PubMed Central

Liu, Jin; Huang, Jian; Ma, Shuangge

2012-01-01

Genome-wide association studies have been extensively conducted, searching for markers for biologically meaningful outcomes and phenotypes. Penalization methods have been adopted in the analysis of the joint effects of a large number of SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) and marker identification. This study is partly motivated by the analysis of heterogeneous stock mice dataset, in which multiple correlated phenotypes and a large number of SNPs are available. Existing penalization methods designed to analyze a single response variable cannot accommodate the correlation among multiple response variables. With multiple response variables sharing the same set of markers, joint modeling is first employed to accommodate the correlation. The group Lasso approach is adopted to select markers associated with all the outcome variables. An efficient computational algorithm is developed. Simulation study and analysis of the heterogeneous stock mice dataset show that the proposed method can outperform existing penalization methods. PMID:23272092

Penalized Ordinal Regression Methods for Predicting Stage of Cancer in High-Dimensional Covariate Spaces.

PubMed

Gentry, Amanda Elswick; Jackson-Cook, Colleen K; Lyon, Debra E; Archer, Kellie J

2015-01-01

The pathological description of the stage of a tumor is an important clinical designation and is considered, like many other forms of biomedical data, an ordinal outcome. Currently, statistical methods for predicting an ordinal outcome using clinical, demographic, and high-dimensional correlated features are lacking. In this paper, we propose a method that fits an ordinal response model to predict an ordinal outcome for high-dimensional covariate spaces. Our method penalizes some covariates (high-throughput genomic features) without penalizing others (such as demographic and/or clinical covariates). We demonstrate the application of our method to predict the stage of breast cancer. In our model, breast cancer subtype is a nonpenalized predictor, and CpG site methylation values from the Illumina Human Methylation 450K assay are penalized predictors. The method has been made available in the ordinalgmifs package in the R programming environment.

Key populations and human rights in the context of HIV services rendition in Ghana.

PubMed

Laar, Amos; DeBruin, Debra

2017-08-02

In line with its half century old penal code, Ghana currently criminalizes and penalizes behaviors of some key populations - populations deemed to be at higher risk of acquiring or transmitting Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Men who have sex with men (MSM), and sex workers (SWs) fit into this categorization. This paper provides an analysis of how enactment and implementation of rights-limiting laws not only limit rights, but also amplify risk and vulnerability to HIV in key and general populations. The paper derives from a project that assessed the ethics sensitivity of key documents guiding Ghana's response to its HIV epidemic. Assessment was guided by leading frameworks from public health ethics, and relevant articles from the international bill of rights. Ghana's response to her HIV epidemic does not adequately address the rights and needs of key populations. Even though the national response has achieved some public health successes, palpable efforts to address rights issues remain nascent. Ghana's guiding documents for HIV response include no advocacy for decriminalization, depenalization or harm reduction approaches for these key populations. The impact of rights-restricting codes on the nation's HIV epidemic is real: criminalization impedes key populations' access to HIV prevention and treatment services. Given that they are bridging populations, whatever affects the Ghanaian key populations directly, affects the general population indirectly. The right to the highest attainable standard of health, without qualification, is generally acknowledged as a fundamental human right. Unfortunately, this right currently eludes the Ghanaian SW and MSM. The paper endorses decriminalization as a means of promoting this right. In the face of opposition to decriminalization, the paper proposes specific harm reduction strategies as approaches to promote health and uplift the diminished rights of key populations. Thus the authors call on Ghana to remove impediments to public health services provision to these populations. Doing so will require political will and sufficient planning toward prioritizing HIV prevention, care and treatment programming for key populations.

Advanced colorectal neoplasia risk stratification by penalized logistic regression.

PubMed

Lin, Yunzhi; Yu, Menggang; Wang, Sijian; Chappell, Richard; Imperiale, Thomas F

2016-08-01

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of death from cancer in the United States. To facilitate the efficiency of colorectal cancer screening, there is a need to stratify risk for colorectal cancer among the 90% of US residents who are considered "average risk." In this article, we investigate such risk stratification rules for advanced colorectal neoplasia (colorectal cancer and advanced, precancerous polyps). We use a recently completed large cohort study of subjects who underwent a first screening colonoscopy. Logistic regression models have been used in the literature to estimate the risk of advanced colorectal neoplasia based on quantifiable risk factors. However, logistic regression may be prone to overfitting and instability in variable selection. Since most of the risk factors in our study have several categories, it was tempting to collapse these categories into fewer risk groups. We propose a penalized logistic regression method that automatically and simultaneously selects variables, groups categories, and estimates their coefficients by penalizing the [Formula: see text]-norm of both the coefficients and their differences. Hence, it encourages sparsity in the categories, i.e. grouping of the categories, and sparsity in the variables, i.e. variable selection. We apply the penalized logistic regression method to our data. The important variables are selected, with close categories simultaneously grouped, by penalized regression models with and without the interactions terms. The models are validated with 10-fold cross-validation. The receiver operating characteristic curves of the penalized regression models dominate the receiver operating characteristic curve of naive logistic regressions, indicating a superior discriminative performance. © The Author(s) 2013.

History of the Shaped Charge Effect: The First 100 Years

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-03-22

patent, wave shapers, follow-through, U.S. 1949 39 6.5-in. ATAR HEAT rocket, U.S. NOTS, 1950 (schematic) 40 Test of 15-in. long standoff shaped charge...Swiss chemist Frederick Schoenbein in 1845, and nitroglycerin, derived by Ascanio Sobrero, professor of Chemistry at the University of Turin, Italy, in...totally new warhead and fuze system and delivery of the first 1000 rounds to Korea in less than 20 days! The 6.5-Inch ATAR (Code Name "RAM") The 6.5

Functional Anthology of Intrinsic Disorder. III. Ligands, Postranslational Modifications and Diseases Associated with Intrinsically Disordered Proteins

PubMed Central

Xie, Hongbo; Vucetic, Slobodan; Iakoucheva, Lilia M.; Oldfield, Christopher J.; Dunker, A. Keith; Obradovic, Zoran; Uversky, Vladimir N.

2008-01-01

Currently, the understanding of the relationships between function, amino acid sequence and protein structure continues to represent one of the major challenges of the modern protein science. As much as 50% of eukaryotic proteins are likely to contain functionally important long disordered regions. Many proteins are wholly disordered but still possess numerous biologically important functions. However, the number of experimentally confirmed disordered proteins with known biological functions is substantially smaller than their actual number in nature. Therefore, there is a crucial need for novel bioinformatics approaches that allow projection of the current knowledge from a few experimentally verified examples to much larger groups of known and potential proteins. The elaboration of a bioinformatics tool for the analysis of functional diversity of intrinsically disordered proteins and application of this data mining tool to >200,000 proteins from Swiss-Prot database, each annotated with at least one of the 875 functional keywords was described in the first paper of this series (Xie H., Vucetic S., Iakoucheva L.M., Oldfield C.J., Dunker A.K., Obradovic Z., Uversky V.N. (2006) Functional anthology of intrinsic disorder. I. Biological processes and functions of proteins with long disordered regions. J. Proteome Res.). Using this tool, we have found that out of the 711 Swiss-Prot functional keywords associated with at least 20 proteins, 262 were strongly positively correlated with long intrinsically disordered regions, and 302 were strongly negatively correlated. Illustrative examples of functional disorder or order were found for the vast majority of keywords showing strongest positive or negative correlation with intrinsic disorder, respectively. Some 80 Swiss-Prot keywords associated with disorder- and order-driven biological processes and protein functions were described in the first paper (Xie H., Vucetic S., Iakoucheva L.M., Oldfield C.J., Dunker A.K., Obradovic Z., Uversky V.N. (2006) Functional anthology of intrinsic disorder. I. Biological processes and functions of proteins with long disordered regions. J. Proteome Res.). The second paper of the series was devoted to the presentation of 87 Swiss-Prot keywords attributed to the cellular components, domains, technical terms, developmental processes and coding sequence diversities possessing strong positive and negative correlation with long disordered regions (Vucetic S., Xie H., Iakoucheva L.M., Oldfield C.J., Dunker A.K., Obradovic Z., Uversky V.N. (2006) Functional anthology of intrinsic disorder. II. Cellular components, domains, technical terms, developmental processes and coding sequence diversities correlated with long disordered regions. J. Proteome Res.). Protein structure and functionality can be modulated by various posttranslational modifications or/and as a result of binding of specific ligands. Numerous human diseases are associated with protein misfolding/misassembly/ misfunctioning. This work concludes the series of papers dedicated to the functional anthology of intrinsic disorder and describes ~80 Swiss-Prot functional keywords that are related to ligands, posttranslational modifications and diseases possessing strong positive or negative correlation with the predicted long disordered regions in proteins. PMID:17391016

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

Burke, J.V.

The published work on exact penalization is indeed vast. Recently this work has indicated an intimate relationship between exact penalization, Lagrange multipliers, and problem stability or calmness. In the present work we chronicle this development within a simple idealized problem framework, wherein we unify, extend, and refine much of the known theory. In particular, most of the foundations for constrained optimization are developed with the aid of exact penalization techniques. Our approach is highly geometric and is based upon the elementary subdifferential theory for distance functions. It is assumed that the reader is familiar with the theory of convex setsmore » and functions. 54 refs.« less

Rights versus morality: online debate about decriminalization of gay sex in Singapore.

PubMed

Detenber, Benjamin H; Cenite, Mark; Zhou, Shuhua; Malik, Shelly; Neo, Rachel L

2014-01-01

This article presents a quantitative content analysis of 10,473 comments from two opposing online petitions related to the legal status of a section of the penal code in Singapore used to ban sex between men. Results indicate numerous significant differences in how the two sides discussed the law and its significance. In particular, they used different types of arguments to support their views and expressed different kinds of concerns over the potential impact of changing or maintaining the law. The patterns of language use seem to reflect distinctly different approaches to the debate and suggest the difficulty of finding common ground amid this contentious social issue, but they also reveal similarities to how Western cultures have framed the debate.

India's homosexual discrimination and health consequences.

PubMed

Agoramoorthy, Govindasamy; Minna, J Hsu

2007-08-01

A large number of countries worldwide have legalized homosexual rights. But for 147 years, since when India was a British colony, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code defines homosexuality as a crime, punishable by imprisonment. This outdated law violates the fundamental rights of homosexuals in India. Despite the fact that literature drawn from Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and modern fiction testify to the presence of same-sex love in various forms, homosexuality is still considered a taboo subject in India, by both the society and the government. In the present article, the continuation of the outdated colonial-era homosexuality law and its impact on the underprivileged homosexual society in India is discussed, as well as consequences to this group's health in relation to HIV infection.

A Penalized Likelihood Framework For High-Dimensional Phylogenetic Comparative Methods And An Application To New-World Monkeys Brain Evolution.

PubMed

Julien, Clavel; Leandro, Aristide; Hélène, Morlon

2018-06-19

Working with high-dimensional phylogenetic comparative datasets is challenging because likelihood-based multivariate methods suffer from low statistical performances as the number of traits p approaches the number of species n and because some computational complications occur when p exceeds n. Alternative phylogenetic comparative methods have recently been proposed to deal with the large p small n scenario but their use and performances are limited. Here we develop a penalized likelihood framework to deal with high-dimensional comparative datasets. We propose various penalizations and methods for selecting the intensity of the penalties. We apply this general framework to the estimation of parameters (the evolutionary trait covariance matrix and parameters of the evolutionary model) and model comparison for the high-dimensional multivariate Brownian (BM), Early-burst (EB), Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (OU) and Pagel's lambda models. We show using simulations that our penalized likelihood approach dramatically improves the estimation of evolutionary trait covariance matrices and model parameters when p approaches n, and allows for their accurate estimation when p equals or exceeds n. In addition, we show that penalized likelihood models can be efficiently compared using Generalized Information Criterion (GIC). We implement these methods, as well as the related estimation of ancestral states and the computation of phylogenetic PCA in the R package RPANDA and mvMORPH. Finally, we illustrate the utility of the new proposed framework by evaluating evolutionary models fit, analyzing integration patterns, and reconstructing evolutionary trajectories for a high-dimensional 3-D dataset of brain shape in the New World monkeys. We find a clear support for an Early-burst model suggesting an early diversification of brain morphology during the ecological radiation of the clade. Penalized likelihood offers an efficient way to deal with high-dimensional multivariate comparative data.

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

Epiney, A.; Canepa, S.; Zerkak, O.

The STARS project at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) has adopted the TRACE thermal-hydraulic (T-H) code for best-estimate system transient simulations of the Swiss Light Water Reactors (LWRs). For analyses involving interactions between system and core, a coupling of TRACE with the SIMULATE-3K (S3K) LWR core simulator has also been developed. In this configuration, the TRACE code and associated nuclear power reactor simulation models play a central role to achieve a comprehensive safety analysis capability. Thus, efforts have now been undertaken to consolidate the validation strategy by implementing a more rigorous and structured assessment approach for TRACE applications involving eithermore » only system T-H evaluations or requiring interfaces to e.g. detailed core or fuel behavior models. The first part of this paper presents the preliminary concepts of this validation strategy. The principle is to systematically track the evolution of a given set of predicted physical Quantities of Interest (QoIs) over a multidimensional parametric space where each of the dimensions represent the evolution of specific analysis aspects, including e.g. code version, transient specific simulation methodology and model "nodalisation". If properly set up, such environment should provide code developers and code users with persistent (less affected by user effect) and quantified information (sensitivity of QoIs) on the applicability of a simulation scheme (codes, input models, methodology) for steady state and transient analysis of full LWR systems. Through this, for each given transient/accident, critical paths of the validation process can be identified that could then translate into defining reference schemes to be applied for downstream predictive simulations. In order to illustrate this approach, the second part of this paper presents a first application of this validation strategy to an inadvertent blowdown event that occurred in a Swiss BWR/6. The transient was initiated by the spurious actuation of the Automatic Depressurization System (ADS). The validation approach progresses through a number of dimensions here: First, the same BWR system simulation model is assessed for different versions of the TRACE code, up to the most recent one. The second dimension is the "nodalisation" dimension, where changes to the input model are assessed. The third dimension is the "methodology" dimension. In this case imposed power and an updated TRACE core model are investigated. For each step in each validation dimension, a common set of QoIs are investigated. For the steady-state results, these include fuel temperatures distributions. For the transient part of the present study, the evaluated QoIs include the system pressure evolution and water carry-over into the steam line.« less

Variable selection in semiparametric cure models based on penalized likelihood, with application to breast cancer clinical trials.

PubMed

Liu, Xiang; Peng, Yingwei; Tu, Dongsheng; Liang, Hua

2012-10-30

Survival data with a sizable cure fraction are commonly encountered in cancer research. The semiparametric proportional hazards cure model has been recently used to analyze such data. As seen in the analysis of data from a breast cancer study, a variable selection approach is needed to identify important factors in predicting the cure status and risk of breast cancer recurrence. However, no specific variable selection method for the cure model is available. In this paper, we present a variable selection approach with penalized likelihood for the cure model. The estimation can be implemented easily by combining the computational methods for penalized logistic regression and the penalized Cox proportional hazards models with the expectation-maximization algorithm. We illustrate the proposed approach on data from a breast cancer study. We conducted Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. We used and compared different penalty functions in the simulation studies. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A Solution to Separation and Multicollinearity in Multiple Logistic Regression

PubMed Central

Shen, Jianzhao; Gao, Sujuan

2010-01-01

In dementia screening tests, item selection for shortening an existing screening test can be achieved using multiple logistic regression. However, maximum likelihood estimates for such logistic regression models often experience serious bias or even non-existence because of separation and multicollinearity problems resulting from a large number of highly correlated items. Firth (1993, Biometrika, 80(1), 27–38) proposed a penalized likelihood estimator for generalized linear models and it was shown to reduce bias and the non-existence problems. The ridge regression has been used in logistic regression to stabilize the estimates in cases of multicollinearity. However, neither solves the problems for each other. In this paper, we propose a double penalized maximum likelihood estimator combining Firth’s penalized likelihood equation with a ridge parameter. We present a simulation study evaluating the empirical performance of the double penalized likelihood estimator in small to moderate sample sizes. We demonstrate the proposed approach using a current screening data from a community-based dementia study. PMID:20376286

A Solution to Separation and Multicollinearity in Multiple Logistic Regression.

PubMed

Shen, Jianzhao; Gao, Sujuan

2008-10-01

In dementia screening tests, item selection for shortening an existing screening test can be achieved using multiple logistic regression. However, maximum likelihood estimates for such logistic regression models often experience serious bias or even non-existence because of separation and multicollinearity problems resulting from a large number of highly correlated items. Firth (1993, Biometrika, 80(1), 27-38) proposed a penalized likelihood estimator for generalized linear models and it was shown to reduce bias and the non-existence problems. The ridge regression has been used in logistic regression to stabilize the estimates in cases of multicollinearity. However, neither solves the problems for each other. In this paper, we propose a double penalized maximum likelihood estimator combining Firth's penalized likelihood equation with a ridge parameter. We present a simulation study evaluating the empirical performance of the double penalized likelihood estimator in small to moderate sample sizes. We demonstrate the proposed approach using a current screening data from a community-based dementia study.

Evaluation of Penalized and Nonpenalized Methods for Disease Prediction with Large-Scale Genetic Data.

PubMed

Won, Sungho; Choi, Hosik; Park, Suyeon; Lee, Juyoung; Park, Changyi; Kwon, Sunghoon

2015-01-01

Owing to recent improvement of genotyping technology, large-scale genetic data can be utilized to identify disease susceptibility loci and this successful finding has substantially improved our understanding of complex diseases. However, in spite of these successes, most of the genetic effects for many complex diseases were found to be very small, which have been a big hurdle to build disease prediction model. Recently, many statistical methods based on penalized regressions have been proposed to tackle the so-called "large P and small N" problem. Penalized regressions including least absolute selection and shrinkage operator (LASSO) and ridge regression limit the space of parameters, and this constraint enables the estimation of effects for very large number of SNPs. Various extensions have been suggested, and, in this report, we compare their accuracy by applying them to several complex diseases. Our results show that penalized regressions are usually robust and provide better accuracy than the existing methods for at least diseases under consideration.

A penalized framework for distributed lag non-linear models.

PubMed

Gasparrini, Antonio; Scheipl, Fabian; Armstrong, Ben; Kenward, Michael G

2017-09-01

Distributed lag non-linear models (DLNMs) are a modelling tool for describing potentially non-linear and delayed dependencies. Here, we illustrate an extension of the DLNM framework through the use of penalized splines within generalized additive models (GAM). This extension offers built-in model selection procedures and the possibility of accommodating assumptions on the shape of the lag structure through specific penalties. In addition, this framework includes, as special cases, simpler models previously proposed for linear relationships (DLMs). Alternative versions of penalized DLNMs are compared with each other and with the standard unpenalized version in a simulation study. Results show that this penalized extension to the DLNM class provides greater flexibility and improved inferential properties. The framework exploits recent theoretical developments of GAMs and is implemented using efficient routines within freely available software. Real-data applications are illustrated through two reproducible examples in time series and survival analysis. © 2017 The Authors Biometrics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Biometric Society.

Functional Anthology of Intrinsic Disorder. II. Cellular Components, Domains, Technical Terms, Developmental Processes and Coding Sequence Diversities Correlated with Long Disordered Regions

PubMed Central

Vucetic, Slobodan; Xie, Hongbo; Iakoucheva, Lilia M.; Oldfield, Christopher J.; Dunker, A. Keith; Obradovic, Zoran; Uversky, Vladimir N.

2008-01-01

Biologically active proteins without stable ordered structure (i.e., intrinsically disordered proteins) are attracting increased attention. Functional repertoires of ordered and disordered proteins are very different, and the ability to differentiate whether a given function is associated with intrinsic disorder or with a well-folded protein is crucial for modern protein science. However, there is a large gap between the number of proteins experimentally confirmed to be disordered and their actual number in nature. As a result, studies of functional properties of confirmed disordered proteins, while helpful in revealing the functional diversity of protein disorder, provide only a limited view. To overcome this problem, a bioinformatics approach for comprehensive study of functional roles of protein disorder was proposed in the first paper of this series (Xie H., Vucetic S., Iakoucheva L.M., Oldfield C.J., Dunker A.K., Obradovic Z., Uversky V.N. (2006) Functional anthology of intrinsic disorder. I. Biological processes and functions of proteins with long disordered regions. J. Proteome Res.). Applying this novel approach to Swiss-Prot sequences and functional keywords, we found over 238 and 302 keywords to be strongly positively or negatively correlated, respectively, with long intrinsically disordered regions. This paper describes ~90 Swiss-Prot keywords attributed to the cellular components, domains, technical terms, developmental processes and coding sequence diversities possessing strong positive and negative correlation with long disordered regions. PMID:17391015

Functional anthology of intrinsic disorder. 2. Cellular components, domains, technical terms, developmental processes, and coding sequence diversities correlated with long disordered regions.

PubMed

Vucetic, Slobodan; Xie, Hongbo; Iakoucheva, Lilia M; Oldfield, Christopher J; Dunker, A Keith; Obradovic, Zoran; Uversky, Vladimir N

2007-05-01

Biologically active proteins without stable ordered structure (i.e., intrinsically disordered proteins) are attracting increased attention. Functional repertoires of ordered and disordered proteins are very different, and the ability to differentiate whether a given function is associated with intrinsic disorder or with a well-folded protein is crucial for modern protein science. However, there is a large gap between the number of proteins experimentally confirmed to be disordered and their actual number in nature. As a result, studies of functional properties of confirmed disordered proteins, while helpful in revealing the functional diversity of protein disorder, provide only a limited view. To overcome this problem, a bioinformatics approach for comprehensive study of functional roles of protein disorder was proposed in the first paper of this series (Xie, H.; Vucetic, S.; Iakoucheva, L. M.; Oldfield, C. J.; Dunker, A. K.; Obradovic, Z.; Uversky, V. N. Functional anthology of intrinsic disorder. 1. Biological processes and functions of proteins with long disordered regions. J. Proteome Res. 2007, 5, 1882-1898). Applying this novel approach to Swiss-Prot sequences and functional keywords, we found over 238 and 302 keywords to be strongly positively or negatively correlated, respectively, with long intrinsically disordered regions. This paper describes approximately 90 Swiss-Prot keywords attributed to the cellular components, domains, technical terms, developmental processes, and coding sequence diversities possessing strong positive and negative correlation with long disordered regions.

Burnup calculations and chemical analysis of irradiated fuel samples studied in LWR-PROTEUS phase II

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

Grimm, P.; Guenther-Leopold, I.; Berger, H. D.

2006-07-01

The isotopic compositions of 5 UO{sub 2} samples irradiated in a Swiss PWR power plant, which were investigated in the LWR-PROTEUS Phase II programme, were calculated using the CASMO-4 and BOXER assembly codes. The burnups of the samples range from 50 to 90 MWd/kg. The results for a large number of actinide and fission product nuclides were compared to those of chemical analyses performed using a combination of chromatographic separation and mass spectrometry. A good agreement of calculated and measured concentrations is found for many of the nuclides investigated with both codes. The concentrations of the Pu isotopes are mostlymore » predicted within {+-}10%, the two codes giving quite different results, except for {sup 242}Pu. Relatively significant deviations are found for some isotopes of Cs and Sm, and large discrepancies are observed for Eu and Gd. The overall quality of the predictions by the two codes is comparable, and the deviations from the experimental data do not generally increase with burnup. (authors)« less

Compound Identification Using Penalized Linear Regression on Metabolomics

PubMed Central

Liu, Ruiqi; Wu, Dongfeng; Zhang, Xiang; Kim, Seongho

2014-01-01

Compound identification is often achieved by matching the experimental mass spectra to the mass spectra stored in a reference library based on mass spectral similarity. Because the number of compounds in the reference library is much larger than the range of mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) values so that the data become high dimensional data suffering from singularity. For this reason, penalized linear regressions such as ridge regression and the lasso are used instead of the ordinary least squares regression. Furthermore, two-step approaches using the dot product and Pearson’s correlation along with the penalized linear regression are proposed in this study. PMID:27212894

["A Little Bit of Switzerland, a Little Bit of Kosovo". Swiss Immigrants from Former Yugoslavia with Type 2 Diabetes. A Qualitative Study' in Analogy to Grounded Theory].

PubMed

Wenger, A; Mischke, C

2015-10-01

Type 2 diabetes is on the increase among the Swiss immigrants. The cultural background of patients presents new linguistic and sociocultural barriers and gains in importance for health care. In order to develop patient-centred care, it is necessary to focus on different sociocultural aspects in everyday life and experiences of immigrants from the former republics of Yugoslavia with diabetes who have rarely been studied in Switzerland. Based on these insights the needs for counselling can be identified and nursing interventions can be designed accordingly. Using the Grounded Theory approach, 5 interviews were analysed according to the Corbin and Strauss coding paradigm. The central phenomenon found is the experience to live in 2 different cultures. The complexity arises from the tension living in 2 cultural backgrounds at the same time. It turns out that in the country of origin the immigrants adjust their disease management. The changing daily rhythm and the more traditional role model affect aspects of their disease management such as diet and/or drug therapy. The different strategies impact the person's roles, emotions, their everyday lives and their families. It provides an insight into the perspective of Swiss immigrants from the former republics of Yugoslavia suffering from diabetes. Many questions are still unanswered and further research will be required. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Induced radioactivity studies of the shielding and beamline equipment of the high intensity proton accelerator facility at PSI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Otiougova, Polina; Bergmann, Ryan; Kiselev, Daniela; Talanov, Vadim; Wohlmuther, Michael

2017-09-01

The Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) is the largest national research center in Switzerland. Its multidisciplinary research is dedicated to a wide ↓eld in natural science and technology as well as particle physics. The High Intensity Proton Accelerator Facility (HIPA) has been in operation at PSI since 1974. It includes an 870 keV Cockroft-Walton pre-accelerator, a 72 MeV injector cyclotron as well as a 590 MeV ring cyclotron. The experimental facilities, the meson production graphite targets, Target E and Target M, and the spallation target stations (SINQ and UCN) are used for material research and particle physics. In order to ful↓ll the request of the regulatory authorities and to be reported to the regulators, the expected radioactive waste and nuclide inventory after an anticipated ↓nal shutdown in the far future has to be estimated. In this contribution, calculations for the 20 m long beamline between Target E and the 590 MeV beam dump of HIPA are presented. The ↓rst step in the calculations was determining spectra and spatial particle distributions around the beamlines using the Monte-Carlo particle transport code MCNPX2.7.0 [1]. To perform the analysis of the MCNPX output and to determine the radionuclide inventory as well as the speci↓c activity of the nuclides, an activation script [2] using the FISPACT10 code with the cross sections from the European Activation File (EAF2010) [3] was applied. The speci↓c activity values were compared to the currently existing Swiss exemption limits (LE) [4] as well as to the Swiss liberation limits (LL) [5], becoming e↑ective in the near future. The obtained results were used to estimate the total volume of the radioactive waste produced at HIPA and have to be reported to the Swiss regulatory authorities. The comparison of the performed calculations to measurements is discussed as well. Note to the reader: the pdf file has been changed on September 22, 2017.

NCAA Penalizes Fewer Teams than Expected

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sander, Libby

2008-01-01

This article reports that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has penalized fewer teams than it expected this year over athletes' poor academic performance. For years, officials with the NCAA have predicted that strikingly high numbers of college sports teams could be at risk of losing scholarships this year because of their…

The Role of the Environmental Health Specialist in the Penal and Correctional System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walker, Bailus, Jr.; Gordon, Theodore J.

1976-01-01

Implementing a health and hygiene program in penal systems necessitates coordinating the entire staff. Health specialists could participate in facility planning and management, policy formation, and evaluation of medical care, housekeeping, and food services. They could also serve as liaisons between correctional staff and governmental or…

The Change Grid and the Active Client: Challenging the Assumptions of Change Agentry in the Penal Process.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klofas, John; Duffee, David E.

1981-01-01

Reexamines the assumptions of the change grid regarding the channeling of masses of clients into change strategies programs. Penal organizations specifically select and place clients so that programs remain stable, rather than sequence programs to meet the needs of clients. (Author)

27 CFR 19.246 - Strengthening bonds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Strengthening bonds. 19... Strengthening bonds. In all cases when the penal sum of any bond becomes insufficient, the principal shall either give a strengthening bond with the same surety to attain a sufficient penal sum, or give a new...

SkyFACT: high-dimensional modeling of gamma-ray emission with adaptive templates and penalized likelihoods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Storm, Emma; Weniger, Christoph; Calore, Francesca

2017-08-01

We present SkyFACT (Sky Factorization with Adaptive Constrained Templates), a new approach for studying, modeling and decomposing diffuse gamma-ray emission. Like most previous analyses, the approach relies on predictions from cosmic-ray propagation codes like GALPROP and DRAGON. However, in contrast to previous approaches, we account for the fact that models are not perfect and allow for a very large number (gtrsim 105) of nuisance parameters to parameterize these imperfections. We combine methods of image reconstruction and adaptive spatio-spectral template regression in one coherent hybrid approach. To this end, we use penalized Poisson likelihood regression, with regularization functions that are motivated by the maximum entropy method. We introduce methods to efficiently handle the high dimensionality of the convex optimization problem as well as the associated semi-sparse covariance matrix, using the L-BFGS-B algorithm and Cholesky factorization. We test the method both on synthetic data as well as on gamma-ray emission from the inner Galaxy, |l|<90o and |b|<20o, as observed by the Fermi Large Area Telescope. We finally define a simple reference model that removes most of the residual emission from the inner Galaxy, based on conventional diffuse emission components as well as components for the Fermi bubbles, the Fermi Galactic center excess, and extended sources along the Galactic disk. Variants of this reference model can serve as basis for future studies of diffuse emission in and outside the Galactic disk.

Elder abuse in Europe's "most elderly" city: an assessment of the phenomenon and an analysis of the data from the Penal Court of Genoa from 2010 to 2015.

PubMed

Molinelli, Andrea; Ventura, Francesco; Pinto, Sara Lo; Drommi, Martina; De Stefano, Francesco

2017-12-01

In Italy, 5% of the elderly are estimated to have suffered abuse. While the Penal Code refers to generic types of abuse, such as physical and psychological maltreatment, abandonment and financial fraud, it does not specifically protect the elderly as a category. To assess the frequency and modalities of elder abuse in Genoa and its Province, and to compare these data with those reported in the literature, in order to provide a picture of the current situation that can be used by the authorities to combat this phenomenon. We analysed the first-degree verdicts issued by the Court of Genoa regarding accusations of physical, psychological and moral abuse and maltreatment of elderly subjects (over 65 years) in the period 2010-2015. Only 85 of the 4028 court verdicts analysed involved elderly persons: 19 cases of domestic maltreatment, 3 of abuse of the means of correction or discipline, 18 of personal injury, 5 of abandonment and 40 of circumvention (deceiving someone, especially an elderly or mentally impaired person, to obtain a profit). A gap was observed between the number of crimes reported to the judicial authorities (tip of the iceberg) and the estimated prevalence of the phenomenon in the literature. There is a need both to create a network of protection for the elderly involving medical and judicial specialists and to train healthcare professionals to better recognise and report cases of maltreatment.

Legal issues for German-speaking cannabis growers. Results from an online survey.

PubMed

Werse, Bernd

2016-02-01

Cannabis prohibition can generally be regarded as the main driver for home growing of marijuana. In this paper, I discuss the impact of drug prohibition on cannabis cultivators from the three German-speaking countries: Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In particular, this refers to the questions; how illicitness influences motivations for growing; which precautionary measures are taken against the risk of discovery; how penal consequences differ in the three countries and how these aspects are linked to each other. The results come from a sample of 1578 respondents from the German-language online survey conducted following the International Cannabis Cultivation Questionnaire (ICCQ). The survey was carried out in late 2012 and early 2013. While most of the reasons for growing cannabis relate to avoiding negative consequences of prohibition, the illicitness of cannabis also plays a major role for concern about the cultivation activities as well as measures to avoid negative consequences. Swiss growers are less worried about their activity compared to respondents from Germany or Austria. The results confirm the notion that the illicitness of cannabis is the main drive for the private cultivation of the plant. At the same time, prohibition is the principal reason for concern regarding the growing activity. The severity of possible sentences seems to be linked to the degree of concern and precautionary measures. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Methodology for the nuclear design validation of an Alternate Emergency Management Centre (CAGE)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hueso, César; Fabbri, Marco; de la Fuente, Cristina; Janés, Albert; Massuet, Joan; Zamora, Imanol; Gasca, Cristina; Hernández, Héctor; Vega, J. Ángel

2017-09-01

The methodology is devised by coupling different codes. The study of weather conditions as part of the data of the site will determine the relative concentrations of radionuclides in the air using ARCON96. The activity in the air is characterized depending on the source and release sequence specified in NUREG-1465 by RADTRAD code, which provides results of the inner cloud source term contribution. Known activities, energy spectra are inferred using ORIGEN-S, which are used as input for the models of the outer cloud, filters and containment generated with MCNP5. The sum of the different contributions must meet the conditions of habitability specified by the CSN (Spanish Nuclear Regulatory Body) (TEDE <50 mSv and equivalent dose to the thyroid <500 mSv within 30 days following the accident doses) so that the dose is optimized by varying parameters such as CAGE location, flow filtering need for recirculation, thicknesses and compositions of the walls, etc. The results for the most penalizing area meet the established criteria, and therefore the CAGE building design based on the methodology presented is radiologically validated.

Historical HIV incidence modelling in regional subgroups: use of flexible discrete models with penalized splines based on prior curves.

PubMed

Greenland, S

1996-03-15

This paper presents an approach to back-projection (back-calculation) of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) person-year infection rates in regional subgroups based on combining a log-linear model for subgroup differences with a penalized spline model for trends. The penalized spline approach allows flexible trend estimation but requires far fewer parameters than fully non-parametric smoothers, thus saving parameters that can be used in estimating subgroup effects. Use of reasonable prior curve to construct the penalty function minimizes the degree of smoothing needed beyond model specification. The approach is illustrated in application to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) surveillance data from Los Angeles County.

In comparative perspective: The effects of incarceration abroad on penal subjectivity among prisoners in Lithuania

PubMed Central

Slade, Gavin; Vaičiūnienė, Rūta

2017-01-01

This article looks at how global flows of people and policies affect penal subjectivity among prisoners in Lithuania. Those who had previously been incarcerated abroad perceive their punishment in Lithuania’s reforming penal system in comparative terms. We find that international prison experience may either diminish or increase the sense of the severity of the current punishment. Respondents often felt more comfortable in a familiar culture of punishment in Lithuania that emphasizes autonomy and communality. Moreover, internationalized prisoners perceive prison reform emulating West European models as a threat to this culture and are able to articulate comparative critiques of this reform and contest its effects. PMID:29568238

Setting the Standard. International Forum on Education in Penal Systems Conference Proceedings (Adelaide, Australia, April 5-7, 1998).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Semmens, Bob, Ed.; Cook, Sandy, Ed.

This document contains 19 papers presented at an international forum on education in penal systems. The following papers are included: "Burning" (Craig W.J. Minogue); "The Acquisition of Cognitive Skills as a Means of Recidivism Reduction: A Former Prisoner's Perspective" (Trevor Darryl Doherty); "CEA (Correctional…

27 CFR 24.153 - Strengthening bonds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Strengthening bonds. 24... Strengthening bonds. In any instance where the penal sum of the bond on file becomes insufficient, the principal shall either give a strengthening bond with the same surety to attain a sufficient penal sum or give a...

27 CFR 24.153 - Strengthening bonds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Strengthening bonds. 24... Strengthening bonds. In any instance where the penal sum of the bond on file becomes insufficient, the principal shall either give a strengthening bond with the same surety to attain a sufficient penal sum or give a...

27 CFR 24.153 - Strengthening bonds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Strengthening bonds. 24... Strengthening bonds. In any instance where the penal sum of the bond on file becomes insufficient, the principal shall either give a strengthening bond with the same surety to attain a sufficient penal sum or give a...

27 CFR 24.153 - Strengthening bonds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Strengthening bonds. 24... Strengthening bonds. In any instance where the penal sum of the bond on file becomes insufficient, the principal shall either give a strengthening bond with the same surety to attain a sufficient penal sum or give a...

27 CFR 24.153 - Strengthening bonds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Strengthening bonds. 24... Strengthening bonds. In any instance where the penal sum of the bond on file becomes insufficient, the principal shall either give a strengthening bond with the same surety to attain a sufficient penal sum or give a...

Crime and Punishment: Are Copyright Violators Ever Penalized?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russell, Carrie

2004-01-01

Is there a Web site that keeps track of copyright Infringers and fines? Some colleagues don't believe that copyright violators are ever penalized. This question was asked by a reader in a question and answer column of "School Library Journal". Carrie Russell is the American Library Association's copyright specialist, and she will answer selected…

Estimation and Selection via Absolute Penalized Convex Minimization And Its Multistage Adaptive Applications

PubMed Central

Huang, Jian; Zhang, Cun-Hui

2013-01-01

The ℓ1-penalized method, or the Lasso, has emerged as an important tool for the analysis of large data sets. Many important results have been obtained for the Lasso in linear regression which have led to a deeper understanding of high-dimensional statistical problems. In this article, we consider a class of weighted ℓ1-penalized estimators for convex loss functions of a general form, including the generalized linear models. We study the estimation, prediction, selection and sparsity properties of the weighted ℓ1-penalized estimator in sparse, high-dimensional settings where the number of predictors p can be much larger than the sample size n. Adaptive Lasso is considered as a special case. A multistage method is developed to approximate concave regularized estimation by applying an adaptive Lasso recursively. We provide prediction and estimation oracle inequalities for single- and multi-stage estimators, a general selection consistency theorem, and an upper bound for the dimension of the Lasso estimator. Important models including the linear regression, logistic regression and log-linear models are used throughout to illustrate the applications of the general results. PMID:24348100

STRONG ORACLE OPTIMALITY OF FOLDED CONCAVE PENALIZED ESTIMATION.

PubMed

Fan, Jianqing; Xue, Lingzhou; Zou, Hui

2014-06-01

Folded concave penalization methods have been shown to enjoy the strong oracle property for high-dimensional sparse estimation. However, a folded concave penalization problem usually has multiple local solutions and the oracle property is established only for one of the unknown local solutions. A challenging fundamental issue still remains that it is not clear whether the local optimum computed by a given optimization algorithm possesses those nice theoretical properties. To close this important theoretical gap in over a decade, we provide a unified theory to show explicitly how to obtain the oracle solution via the local linear approximation algorithm. For a folded concave penalized estimation problem, we show that as long as the problem is localizable and the oracle estimator is well behaved, we can obtain the oracle estimator by using the one-step local linear approximation. In addition, once the oracle estimator is obtained, the local linear approximation algorithm converges, namely it produces the same estimator in the next iteration. The general theory is demonstrated by using four classical sparse estimation problems, i.e., sparse linear regression, sparse logistic regression, sparse precision matrix estimation and sparse quantile regression.

STRONG ORACLE OPTIMALITY OF FOLDED CONCAVE PENALIZED ESTIMATION

PubMed Central

Fan, Jianqing; Xue, Lingzhou; Zou, Hui

2014-01-01

Folded concave penalization methods have been shown to enjoy the strong oracle property for high-dimensional sparse estimation. However, a folded concave penalization problem usually has multiple local solutions and the oracle property is established only for one of the unknown local solutions. A challenging fundamental issue still remains that it is not clear whether the local optimum computed by a given optimization algorithm possesses those nice theoretical properties. To close this important theoretical gap in over a decade, we provide a unified theory to show explicitly how to obtain the oracle solution via the local linear approximation algorithm. For a folded concave penalized estimation problem, we show that as long as the problem is localizable and the oracle estimator is well behaved, we can obtain the oracle estimator by using the one-step local linear approximation. In addition, once the oracle estimator is obtained, the local linear approximation algorithm converges, namely it produces the same estimator in the next iteration. The general theory is demonstrated by using four classical sparse estimation problems, i.e., sparse linear regression, sparse logistic regression, sparse precision matrix estimation and sparse quantile regression. PMID:25598560

[Demands for death (suicide assistance and euthanasia) in palliative medicine].

PubMed

Moynier-Vantieghem, Karine; Weber, Catherine; Espolio, Desbaillet Yolanda; Pautex, Sophie; Zulian, Gilbert

2010-02-03

During a prospective open survey over 12 months of hospitalized patients, 44 death demands were registered for 39 patients (25 cancer, 6 cardiovascular disorder, 2 Parkinson's disease, 3 arthritis, 1 COPD, 1 dementia and 1 severe depression). 14 patients were also depressed. 28 requested euthanasia, 16 suicide assistance. At 1 month, 3 persisted, 16 had abandoned, 16 had died and 4 were not questioned. At 6 months, 7 were alive but had abandoned and 2 had committed suicide at their home. The majority of death demands correspond to euthanasia which is a murder according to the penal code. In front of such demand, realistic short-term objectives must be established. Many patients give up their project. This indicates great uncertainty in front of care and greatest ambivalence in front of life.

Experiencing abortion rights in India through issues of autonomy and legality: A few controversies.

PubMed

Patel, Tulsi

2018-06-01

Abortion laws in India, like other laws, are premised on the 1861 British Penal Code. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act was passed in 1971 to circumvent the criminality clause around abortion. Yet the law continues to render invisible women's right to choose. Legal procedures have often hindered in permitting abortion, resulting in the death of a mother or the foetus. Despite the latest techno-medical advances, the laws have remained stagnant or rather restrictive, complicated further by selective female foetus abortions. Legal resistance to abortion-seeking after 20 weeks gestation adversely affects women, depriving them of autonomy of choice. In this paper, raising important gender, health and ethical issues are illustrated through a recent legal case in India. Feminist campaigns against the legal mindset in India are emerging.

21 CFR 133.196 - Swiss cheese for manufacturing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Swiss cheese for manufacturing. 133.196 Section... Standardized Cheese and Related Products § 133.196 Swiss cheese for manufacturing. Swiss cheese for manufacturing conforms to the definition and standard of identity prescribed for swiss cheese by § 133.195...

21 CFR 133.196 - Swiss cheese for manufacturing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Swiss cheese for manufacturing. 133.196 Section... Standardized Cheese and Related Products § 133.196 Swiss cheese for manufacturing. Swiss cheese for manufacturing conforms to the definition and standard of identity prescribed for swiss cheese by § 133.195...

21 CFR 133.196 - Swiss cheese for manufacturing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Swiss cheese for manufacturing. 133.196 Section... Standardized Cheese and Related Products § 133.196 Swiss cheese for manufacturing. Swiss cheese for manufacturing conforms to the definition and standard of identity prescribed for swiss cheese by § 133.195...

36 CFR 1200.16 - Will I be penalized for misusing the official seals and logos?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... misusing the official seals and logos? 1200.16 Section 1200.16 Parks, Forests, and Public Property NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION GENERAL RULES OFFICIAL SEALS Penalties for Misuse of NARA Seals and Logos § 1200.16 Will I be penalized for misusing the official seals and logos? (a) Seals. (1) If you...

36 CFR 1200.16 - Will I be penalized for misusing the official seals and logos?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... misusing the official seals and logos? 1200.16 Section 1200.16 Parks, Forests, and Public Property NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION GENERAL RULES OFFICIAL SEALS Penalties for Misuse of NARA Seals and Logos § 1200.16 Will I be penalized for misusing the official seals and logos? (a) Seals. (1) If you...

27 CFR 24.148 - Penal sums of bonds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Penal sums of bonds. 24.148 Section 24.148 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU... Vinegar Plant Bond, TTB F 5510.2 Not less than the tax on all wine on hand, in transit, or unaccounted for...

Madness and crime: Zefinha, the longest confined woman in Brazil.

PubMed

Diniz, Debora; Brito, Luciana

2016-01-01

Living in a forensic hospital for the last 38 years, Josefa da Silva is the longest female inhabitant surviving the penal and psychiatric regime in Brazil. This paper analyses dossier, judicial proceedings, interviews and photographs about her. The psychiatric report is the key component of the medical and penal doubling of criminal insanity. Twelve psychiatric reports illustrate three time frames of the court files: abnormality, danger, and abandonment. The psychiatric authority over confinement has moved from discipline to security, and from disciplinary security to social assistance. In the arrangement between the penal and psychiatric powers, the judge recognizes the medical authority over the truth of insanity. It is the medicine of the reasons for Zefinha's internment that altered over the decades.

Towards a Consolidated Approach for the Assessment of Evaluation Models of Nuclear Power Reactors

DOE PAGES

Epiney, A.; Canepa, S.; Zerkak, O.; ...

2016-11-02

The STARS project at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) has adopted the TRACE thermal-hydraulic (T-H) code for best-estimate system transient simulations of the Swiss Light Water Reactors (LWRs). For analyses involving interactions between system and core, a coupling of TRACE with the SIMULATE-3K (S3K) LWR core simulator has also been developed. In this configuration, the TRACE code and associated nuclear power reactor simulation models play a central role to achieve a comprehensive safety analysis capability. Thus, efforts have now been undertaken to consolidate the validation strategy by implementing a more rigorous and structured assessment approach for TRACE applications involving eithermore » only system T-H evaluations or requiring interfaces to e.g. detailed core or fuel behavior models. The first part of this paper presents the preliminary concepts of this validation strategy. The principle is to systematically track the evolution of a given set of predicted physical Quantities of Interest (QoIs) over a multidimensional parametric space where each of the dimensions represent the evolution of specific analysis aspects, including e.g. code version, transient specific simulation methodology and model "nodalisation". If properly set up, such environment should provide code developers and code users with persistent (less affected by user effect) and quantified information (sensitivity of QoIs) on the applicability of a simulation scheme (codes, input models, methodology) for steady state and transient analysis of full LWR systems. Through this, for each given transient/accident, critical paths of the validation process can be identified that could then translate into defining reference schemes to be applied for downstream predictive simulations. In order to illustrate this approach, the second part of this paper presents a first application of this validation strategy to an inadvertent blowdown event that occurred in a Swiss BWR/6. The transient was initiated by the spurious actuation of the Automatic Depressurization System (ADS). The validation approach progresses through a number of dimensions here: First, the same BWR system simulation model is assessed for different versions of the TRACE code, up to the most recent one. The second dimension is the "nodalisation" dimension, where changes to the input model are assessed. The third dimension is the "methodology" dimension. In this case imposed power and an updated TRACE core model are investigated. For each step in each validation dimension, a common set of QoIs are investigated. For the steady-state results, these include fuel temperatures distributions. For the transient part of the present study, the evaluated QoIs include the system pressure evolution and water carry-over into the steam line.« less

SkyFACT: high-dimensional modeling of gamma-ray emission with adaptive templates and penalized likelihoods

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

Storm, Emma; Weniger, Christoph; Calore, Francesca, E-mail: e.m.storm@uva.nl, E-mail: c.weniger@uva.nl, E-mail: francesca.calore@lapth.cnrs.fr

We present SkyFACT (Sky Factorization with Adaptive Constrained Templates), a new approach for studying, modeling and decomposing diffuse gamma-ray emission. Like most previous analyses, the approach relies on predictions from cosmic-ray propagation codes like GALPROP and DRAGON. However, in contrast to previous approaches, we account for the fact that models are not perfect and allow for a very large number (∼> 10{sup 5}) of nuisance parameters to parameterize these imperfections. We combine methods of image reconstruction and adaptive spatio-spectral template regression in one coherent hybrid approach. To this end, we use penalized Poisson likelihood regression, with regularization functions that aremore » motivated by the maximum entropy method. We introduce methods to efficiently handle the high dimensionality of the convex optimization problem as well as the associated semi-sparse covariance matrix, using the L-BFGS-B algorithm and Cholesky factorization. We test the method both on synthetic data as well as on gamma-ray emission from the inner Galaxy, |ℓ|<90{sup o} and | b |<20{sup o}, as observed by the Fermi Large Area Telescope. We finally define a simple reference model that removes most of the residual emission from the inner Galaxy, based on conventional diffuse emission components as well as components for the Fermi bubbles, the Fermi Galactic center excess, and extended sources along the Galactic disk. Variants of this reference model can serve as basis for future studies of diffuse emission in and outside the Galactic disk.« less

Reduced rank regression via adaptive nuclear norm penalization

PubMed Central

Chen, Kun; Dong, Hongbo; Chan, Kung-Sik

2014-01-01

Summary We propose an adaptive nuclear norm penalization approach for low-rank matrix approximation, and use it to develop a new reduced rank estimation method for high-dimensional multivariate regression. The adaptive nuclear norm is defined as the weighted sum of the singular values of the matrix, and it is generally non-convex under the natural restriction that the weight decreases with the singular value. However, we show that the proposed non-convex penalized regression method has a global optimal solution obtained from an adaptively soft-thresholded singular value decomposition. The method is computationally efficient, and the resulting solution path is continuous. The rank consistency of and prediction/estimation performance bounds for the estimator are established for a high-dimensional asymptotic regime. Simulation studies and an application in genetics demonstrate its efficacy. PMID:25045172

A psychiatrist's role in “coming out” process: Context and controversies post-377

PubMed Central

Kalra, Gurvinder

2012-01-01

After the Delhi High Court judgment on reading down Section 377 Indian penal code, many individuals of alternate sexuality are wanting to come out to themselves and significant others in their lives. In this process, they often turn to psychiatrists seeking help. However the past of this specialty wherein homosexuality and other sexualities were considered a disease still haunts it with anecdotal reports of reorienting treatments continuing in certain parts of the country. While it is important to not continue with this unethical practice, at the same time, it is also important to be supportive to the issues that this and various other marginalized sexualities in our country face. This viewpoint is an attempt to reiterate certain steps that are to be followed by psychiatrists who find themselves in such clinical consultations. PMID:22556443

Advocacy for legal reform for safe abortion.

PubMed

Ashenafi, Meaza

2004-04-01

In Ethiopia, violation of women's reproductive rights is both a cause and a manifestation of women's disempowerment. Obstacles to full realisation of Ethiopian women's reproductive health and rights include the persistence of harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, early marriage and abduction, as well as the disturbing prevalence of rape and HIV/AIDS. Unsafe abortion represents a particularly serious threat to women's health and lives. Ethiopia's status as a signatory to the Convention to Eliminate all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and its constitutional guarantee of women's equality demand more aggressive action to eradicate such practices and inequities. After years of lobbying by women's organisations, parliamentarians are now reviewing a draft of the 1957 penal code, which includes numerous provisions addressing some of these practices and other conditions that underlie women's poor social and health status.

Abortion and politics in Mexico: 'context is all'.

PubMed

Lamas, M; Bissell, S

2000-11-01

A strong collective pro-choice mentality was recently manifested in Mexico when a legislative initiative to revoke the legal right of rape survivor to abortion in the state of Guanajuato awakened national indignation. Pro-choice values were expressed in public opinion with such force that it sparked off the passage of liberalising law reforms in Mexico City and the state of Morelos. In this paper we trace the development of these manifestations of pro-choice views, beginning with the Democratic Revolution Party's (PRD) refusal in 1999 to modify abortion legislation within the context of penal code reform, and moving through the events surrounding the Guanajuato reform, and the pro-choice response of Mexico City and Morelos legislators. This analysis allows us to recognise the emergence of a pro-choice consciousness and to understand that, when it comes to abortion, 'context is all'.

Fungible Correlation Matrices: A Method for Generating Nonsingular, Singular, and Improper Correlation Matrices for Monte Carlo Research.

PubMed

Waller, Niels G

2016-01-01

For a fixed set of standardized regression coefficients and a fixed coefficient of determination (R-squared), an infinite number of predictor correlation matrices will satisfy the implied quadratic form. I call such matrices fungible correlation matrices. In this article, I describe an algorithm for generating positive definite (PD), positive semidefinite (PSD), or indefinite (ID) fungible correlation matrices that have a random or fixed smallest eigenvalue. The underlying equations of this algorithm are reviewed from both algebraic and geometric perspectives. Two simulation studies illustrate that fungible correlation matrices can be profitably used in Monte Carlo research. The first study uses PD fungible correlation matrices to compare penalized regression algorithms. The second study uses ID fungible correlation matrices to compare matrix-smoothing algorithms. R code for generating fungible correlation matrices is presented in the supplemental materials.

Swiss identity smells like chocolate: Social identity shapes olfactory judgments

PubMed Central

Coppin, Géraldine; Pool, Eva; Delplanque, Sylvain; Oud, Bastiaan; Margot, Christian; Sander, David; Van Bavel, Jay J.

2016-01-01

There is extensive evidence that social identities can shape people’s attitudes and behavior, but what about sensory judgments? We examined the possibility that social identity concerns may also shape the judgment of non-social properties—namely, olfactory judgment. In two experiments, we presented Swiss and non-Swiss participants with the odor of chocolate, for which Switzerland is world-famous, and a control odor (popcorn). Swiss participants primed with Swiss identity reported the odor of chocolate (but not popcorn) as more intense than non-Swiss participants (Experiments 1 and 2) and than Swiss participants primed with individual identity or not primed (Experiment 2). The self-reported intensity of chocolate smell tended to increase as identity accessibility increased—but only among Swiss participants (Experiment 1). These results suggest that identity priming can counter-act classic sensory habituation effects, allowing identity-relevant smells to maintain their intensity after repeated presentations. This suggests that social identity dynamically influences sensory judgment. We discuss the potential implications for models of social identity and chemosensory perception. PMID:27725715

Swiss identity smells like chocolate: Social identity shapes olfactory judgments.

PubMed

Coppin, Géraldine; Pool, Eva; Delplanque, Sylvain; Oud, Bastiaan; Margot, Christian; Sander, David; Van Bavel, Jay J

2016-10-11

There is extensive evidence that social identities can shape people's attitudes and behavior, but what about sensory judgments? We examined the possibility that social identity concerns may also shape the judgment of non-social properties-namely, olfactory judgment. In two experiments, we presented Swiss and non-Swiss participants with the odor of chocolate, for which Switzerland is world-famous, and a control odor (popcorn). Swiss participants primed with Swiss identity reported the odor of chocolate (but not popcorn) as more intense than non-Swiss participants (Experiments 1 and 2) and than Swiss participants primed with individual identity or not primed (Experiment 2). The self-reported intensity of chocolate smell tended to increase as identity accessibility increased-but only among Swiss participants (Experiment 1). These results suggest that identity priming can counter-act classic sensory habituation effects, allowing identity-relevant smells to maintain their intensity after repeated presentations. This suggests that social identity dynamically influences sensory judgment. We discuss the potential implications for models of social identity and chemosensory perception.

21 CFR 133.196 - Swiss cheese for manufacturing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Swiss cheese for manufacturing. 133.196 Section... (CONTINUED) FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION CHEESES AND RELATED CHEESE PRODUCTS Requirements for Specific Standardized Cheese and Related Products § 133.196 Swiss cheese for manufacturing. Swiss cheese for...

21 CFR 133.196 - Swiss cheese for manufacturing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Swiss cheese for manufacturing. 133.196 Section... (CONTINUED) FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION CHEESES AND RELATED CHEESE PRODUCTS Requirements for Specific Standardized Cheese and Related Products § 133.196 Swiss cheese for manufacturing. Swiss cheese for...

Robust Variable Selection with Exponential Squared Loss.

PubMed

Wang, Xueqin; Jiang, Yunlu; Huang, Mian; Zhang, Heping

2013-04-01

Robust variable selection procedures through penalized regression have been gaining increased attention in the literature. They can be used to perform variable selection and are expected to yield robust estimates. However, to the best of our knowledge, the robustness of those penalized regression procedures has not been well characterized. In this paper, we propose a class of penalized robust regression estimators based on exponential squared loss. The motivation for this new procedure is that it enables us to characterize its robustness that has not been done for the existing procedures, while its performance is near optimal and superior to some recently developed methods. Specifically, under defined regularity conditions, our estimators are [Formula: see text] and possess the oracle property. Importantly, we show that our estimators can achieve the highest asymptotic breakdown point of 1/2 and that their influence functions are bounded with respect to the outliers in either the response or the covariate domain. We performed simulation studies to compare our proposed method with some recent methods, using the oracle method as the benchmark. We consider common sources of influential points. Our simulation studies reveal that our proposed method performs similarly to the oracle method in terms of the model error and the positive selection rate even in the presence of influential points. In contrast, other existing procedures have a much lower non-causal selection rate. Furthermore, we re-analyze the Boston Housing Price Dataset and the Plasma Beta-Carotene Level Dataset that are commonly used examples for regression diagnostics of influential points. Our analysis unravels the discrepancies of using our robust method versus the other penalized regression method, underscoring the importance of developing and applying robust penalized regression methods.

Robust Variable Selection with Exponential Squared Loss

PubMed Central

Wang, Xueqin; Jiang, Yunlu; Huang, Mian; Zhang, Heping

2013-01-01

Robust variable selection procedures through penalized regression have been gaining increased attention in the literature. They can be used to perform variable selection and are expected to yield robust estimates. However, to the best of our knowledge, the robustness of those penalized regression procedures has not been well characterized. In this paper, we propose a class of penalized robust regression estimators based on exponential squared loss. The motivation for this new procedure is that it enables us to characterize its robustness that has not been done for the existing procedures, while its performance is near optimal and superior to some recently developed methods. Specifically, under defined regularity conditions, our estimators are n-consistent and possess the oracle property. Importantly, we show that our estimators can achieve the highest asymptotic breakdown point of 1/2 and that their influence functions are bounded with respect to the outliers in either the response or the covariate domain. We performed simulation studies to compare our proposed method with some recent methods, using the oracle method as the benchmark. We consider common sources of influential points. Our simulation studies reveal that our proposed method performs similarly to the oracle method in terms of the model error and the positive selection rate even in the presence of influential points. In contrast, other existing procedures have a much lower non-causal selection rate. Furthermore, we re-analyze the Boston Housing Price Dataset and the Plasma Beta-Carotene Level Dataset that are commonly used examples for regression diagnostics of influential points. Our analysis unravels the discrepancies of using our robust method versus the other penalized regression method, underscoring the importance of developing and applying robust penalized regression methods. PMID:23913996

AucPR: an AUC-based approach using penalized regression for disease prediction with high-dimensional omics data.

PubMed

Yu, Wenbao; Park, Taesung

2014-01-01

It is common to get an optimal combination of markers for disease classification and prediction when multiple markers are available. Many approaches based on the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) have been proposed. Existing works based on AUC in a high-dimensional context depend mainly on a non-parametric, smooth approximation of AUC, with no work using a parametric AUC-based approach, for high-dimensional data. We propose an AUC-based approach using penalized regression (AucPR), which is a parametric method used for obtaining a linear combination for maximizing the AUC. To obtain the AUC maximizer in a high-dimensional context, we transform a classical parametric AUC maximizer, which is used in a low-dimensional context, into a regression framework and thus, apply the penalization regression approach directly. Two kinds of penalization, lasso and elastic net, are considered. The parametric approach can avoid some of the difficulties of a conventional non-parametric AUC-based approach, such as the lack of an appropriate concave objective function and a prudent choice of the smoothing parameter. We apply the proposed AucPR for gene selection and classification using four real microarray and synthetic data. Through numerical studies, AucPR is shown to perform better than the penalized logistic regression and the nonparametric AUC-based method, in the sense of AUC and sensitivity for a given specificity, particularly when there are many correlated genes. We propose a powerful parametric and easily-implementable linear classifier AucPR, for gene selection and disease prediction for high-dimensional data. AucPR is recommended for its good prediction performance. Beside gene expression microarray data, AucPR can be applied to other types of high-dimensional omics data, such as miRNA and protein data.

Swiss residents' arguments for and against a career in medicine.

PubMed

Buddeberg-Fischer, Barbara; Dietz, Claudia; Klaghofer, Richard; Buddeberg, Claus

2006-08-14

In some Western countries, the medical profession is continuously losing prestige, doctors are claiming of high demands, low rewards, and difficult structural working conditions. This study aimed to investigate the arguments given by Swiss residents for and against a career in medicine. As part of a prospective cohort study of Swiss medical school graduates on career development, 567 fourth-year residents were asked to answer the free-response item of what arguments there still were in favour of or against a career in medicine. They also indicated whether they would choose the medical profession all over again (yes/no). The statements were transcribed, content categories inductively formulated, and their descriptions written down in a code manual. Arguments were encoded according to the code manual and assigned to eight content categories (Mayring's content analysis). Frequency distributions were given for categories and tested with Chi2-tests for differences in gender, speciality fields, and whether or not the respondent would again choose a career in medicine. The 567 participants made 1,640 statements in favour of and 1,703 statements against a career in medicine. The content analysis of the residents' answers yielded eight categories with arguments both for and against a career in medicine. Of all "statements for" responses, 70% fell into the two top-ranking categories of Personal experiences in day-to-day working life (41.2%) and Interpersonal experiences in professional relationships (28.8%). The top-ranking category of the "statements against" arguments was General work-related structural conditions (32%), followed by Social prestige and health-policy aspects (21%). Main arguments in favour of a career in medicine were interdisciplinary challenge, combination of basic sciences and interpersonal concerns, helping suffering people, guarantee of a secure job; arguments against comprised high workload, time pressure, emotional stress, poorly structured continuing education, increasing bureaucracy, work-life imbalance, low income, and decreasing social prestige. The statements revealed few differences depending on gender, medical field, and attitude towards choosing the medical profession again; one out of five young doctors would not do so. Residents' chief complaint is deteriorating structural working conditions, including unfavourable work-life balance. Making medicine an attractive profession again will require sustainable changes in health-policy framework and social reward.

Swiss residents' arguments for and against a career in medicine

PubMed Central

Buddeberg-Fischer, Barbara; Dietz, Claudia; Klaghofer, Richard; Buddeberg, Claus

2006-01-01

Background In some Western countries, the medical profession is continuously losing prestige, doctors are claiming of high demands, low rewards, and difficult structural working conditions. This study aimed to investigate the arguments given by Swiss residents for and against a career in medicine. Methods As part of a prospective cohort study of Swiss medical school graduates on career development, 567 fourth-year residents were asked to answer the free-response item of what arguments there still were in favour of or against a career in medicine. They also indicated whether they would choose the medical profession all over again (yes/no). The statements were transcribed, content categories inductively formulated, and their descriptions written down in a code manual. Arguments were encoded according to the code manual and assigned to eight content categories (Mayring's content analysis). Frequency distributions were given for categories and tested with Chi2-tests for differences in gender, speciality fields, and whether or not the respondent would again choose a career in medicine. Results The 567 participants made 1,640 statements in favour of and 1,703 statements against a career in medicine. The content analysis of the residents' answers yielded eight categories with arguments both for and against a career in medicine. Of all "statements for" responses, 70% fell into the two top-ranking categories of Personal experiences in day-to-day working life (41.2%) and Interpersonal experiences in professional relationships (28.8%). The top-ranking category of the "statements against" arguments was General work-related structural conditions (32%), followed by Social prestige and health-policy aspects (21%). Main arguments in favour of a career in medicine were interdisciplinary challenge, combination of basic sciences and interpersonal concerns, helping suffering people, guarantee of a secure job; arguments against comprised high workload, time pressure, emotional stress, poorly structured continuing education, increasing bureaucracy, work-life imbalance, low income, and decreasing social prestige. The statements revealed few differences depending on gender, medical field, and attitude towards choosing the medical profession again; one out of five young doctors would not do so. Conclusion Residents' chief complaint is deteriorating structural working conditions, including unfavourable work-life balance. Making medicine an attractive profession again will require sustainable changes in health-policy framework and social reward. PMID:16907981

Analytical determination of propeller performance degradation due to ice accretion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, T. L.

1986-01-01

A computer code has been developed which is capable of computing propeller performance for clean, glaze, or rime iced propeller configurations, thereby providing a mechanism for determining the degree of performance degradation which results from a given icing encounter. The inviscid, incompressible flow field at each specified propeller radial location is first computed using the Theodorsen transformation method of conformal mapping. A droplet trajectory computation then calculates droplet impingement points and airfoil collection efficiency for each radial location, at which point several user-selectable empirical correlations are available for determining the aerodynamic penalities which arise due to the ice accretion. Propeller performance is finally computed using strip analysis for either the clean or iced propeller. In the iced mode, the differential thrust and torque coefficient equations are modified by the drag and lift coefficient increments due to ice to obtain the appropriate iced values. Comparison with available experimental propeller icing data shows good agreement in several cases. The code's capability to properly predict iced thrust coefficient, power coefficient, and propeller efficiency is shown to be dependent on the choice of empirical correlation employed as well as proper specification of radial icing extent.

Penalized regression procedures for variable selection in the potential outcomes framework

PubMed Central

Ghosh, Debashis; Zhu, Yeying; Coffman, Donna L.

2015-01-01

A recent topic of much interest in causal inference is model selection. In this article, we describe a framework in which to consider penalized regression approaches to variable selection for causal effects. The framework leads to a simple ‘impute, then select’ class of procedures that is agnostic to the type of imputation algorithm as well as penalized regression used. It also clarifies how model selection involves a multivariate regression model for causal inference problems, and that these methods can be applied for identifying subgroups in which treatment effects are homogeneous. Analogies and links with the literature on machine learning methods, missing data and imputation are drawn. A difference LASSO algorithm is defined, along with its multiple imputation analogues. The procedures are illustrated using a well-known right heart catheterization dataset. PMID:25628185

7 CFR 58.712 - Swiss.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

....712 Swiss. Swiss cheese used in the manufacture of pasteurized process cheese and related products should be equivalent to U.S. Grade B or better, except that the cheese may be blind or possess finish... 7 Agriculture 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Swiss. 58.712 Section 58.712 Agriculture Regulations...

7 CFR 58.712 - Swiss.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

....712 Swiss. Swiss cheese used in the manufacture of pasteurized process cheese and related products should be equivalent to U.S. Grade B or better, except that the cheese may be blind or possess finish... 7 Agriculture 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Swiss. 58.712 Section 58.712 Agriculture Regulations...

7 CFR 58.712 - Swiss.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

....712 Swiss. Swiss cheese used in the manufacture of pasteurized process cheese and related products should be equivalent to U.S. Grade B or better, except that the cheese may be blind or possess finish... 7 Agriculture 3 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Swiss. 58.712 Section 58.712 Agriculture Regulations...

7 CFR 58.712 - Swiss.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

....712 Swiss. Swiss cheese used in the manufacture of pasteurized process cheese and related products should be equivalent to U.S. Grade B or better, except that the cheese may be blind or possess finish... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Swiss. 58.712 Section 58.712 Agriculture Regulations...

7 CFR 58.712 - Swiss.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

....712 Swiss. Swiss cheese used in the manufacture of pasteurized process cheese and related products should be equivalent to U.S. Grade B or better, except that the cheese may be blind or possess finish... 7 Agriculture 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Swiss. 58.712 Section 58.712 Agriculture Regulations...

21 CFR 133.195 - Swiss and emmentaler cheese.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Swiss and emmentaler cheese. 133.195 Section 133...) FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION CHEESES AND RELATED CHEESE PRODUCTS Requirements for Specific Standardized Cheese and Related Products § 133.195 Swiss and emmentaler cheese. (a) Description. (1) Swiss cheese...

21 CFR 133.195 - Swiss and emmentaler cheese.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Swiss and emmentaler cheese. 133.195 Section 133...) FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION CHEESES AND RELATED CHEESE PRODUCTS Requirements for Specific Standardized Cheese and Related Products § 133.195 Swiss and emmentaler cheese. (a) Description. (1) Swiss cheese...

Insufficient recruitment and premature discontinuation of clinical trials in Switzerland: qualitative study with trialists and other stakeholders.

PubMed

Briel, Matthias; Elger, Bernice; von Elm, Erik; Satalkar, Priya

2017-11-29

Premature discontinuation occurs in about 25% of randomised clinical trials in Switzerland; it mainly affects investigator-initiated trials and is mostly due to problems with recruitment of patients. The aim of this study was to qualitatively investigate reasons for trial discontinuation due to poor patient recruitment and suggestions to address those reasons in the Swiss context. We conducted semi-structured interviews with trialists whose trials were discontinued because of recruitment problems, other experienced trialists, and stakeholders in clinical research in Switzerland. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and anonymised. We analysed the transcripts using deductive coding and built up themes that were continuously discussed within the research team. Of 65 invited Swiss trialists and stakeholders, 39 (60%) agreed to be interviewed and contributed to this analysis. We identified four main themes of reasons for poor recruitment: (1) Switzerland has a decentralised healthcare system with many small hospitals and few patients per hospital, many research regulations, no standardisation of medical records across hospitals, and a heterogeneous ethics assessment of study protocols. There is little collaboration of different stakeholders in clinical research and a lack of prioritisation of projects. (2) Limited human and financial resources, especially in the academic setting, compromise research questions and size of clinical trials. When funding is used up this typically triggers discontinuation of already delayed clinical trials. (3) Investigators face underdeveloped research networks and a limited collaborative attitude among clinical researchers. They typically embark on clinical studies with a great deal of optimism but insufficient preparation. (4) Swiss patients have universal health coverage and many treatment options. Negative media coverage of clinical research and a lack of accessible information for patients about ongoing clinical studies frequently make participation in clinical trials less attractive. More interactive structures and collaboration across stakeholders were mentioned as potential solutions to tackle the problems. Recruitment of participants into clinical trials in Switzerland is challenging because of various, often interlinked factors related to the Swiss health system, available funding, investigators, and patients. Common goals and concerted efforts by involved stakeholders appear necessary to achieve improvement.

A displacement-based finite element formulation for incompressible and nearly-incompressible cardiac mechanics

PubMed Central

Hadjicharalambous, Myrianthi; Lee, Jack; Smith, Nicolas P.; Nordsletten, David A.

2014-01-01

The Lagrange Multiplier (LM) and penalty methods are commonly used to enforce incompressibility and compressibility in models of cardiac mechanics. In this paper we show how both formulations may be equivalently thought of as a weakly penalized system derived from the statically condensed Perturbed Lagrangian formulation, which may be directly discretized maintaining the simplicity of penalty formulations with the convergence characteristics of LM techniques. A modified Shamanskii–Newton–Raphson scheme is introduced to enhance the nonlinear convergence of the weakly penalized system and, exploiting its equivalence, modifications are developed for the penalty form. Focusing on accuracy, we proceed to study the convergence behavior of these approaches using different interpolation schemes for both a simple test problem and more complex models of cardiac mechanics. Our results illustrate the well-known influence of locking phenomena on the penalty approach (particularly for lower order schemes) and its effect on accuracy for whole-cycle mechanics. Additionally, we verify that direct discretization of the weakly penalized form produces similar convergence behavior to mixed formulations while avoiding the use of an additional variable. Combining a simple structure which allows the solution of computationally challenging problems with good convergence characteristics, the weakly penalized form provides an accurate and efficient alternative to incompressibility and compressibility in cardiac mechanics. PMID:25187672

A displacement-based finite element formulation for incompressible and nearly-incompressible cardiac mechanics.

PubMed

Hadjicharalambous, Myrianthi; Lee, Jack; Smith, Nicolas P; Nordsletten, David A

2014-06-01

The Lagrange Multiplier (LM) and penalty methods are commonly used to enforce incompressibility and compressibility in models of cardiac mechanics. In this paper we show how both formulations may be equivalently thought of as a weakly penalized system derived from the statically condensed Perturbed Lagrangian formulation, which may be directly discretized maintaining the simplicity of penalty formulations with the convergence characteristics of LM techniques. A modified Shamanskii-Newton-Raphson scheme is introduced to enhance the nonlinear convergence of the weakly penalized system and, exploiting its equivalence, modifications are developed for the penalty form. Focusing on accuracy, we proceed to study the convergence behavior of these approaches using different interpolation schemes for both a simple test problem and more complex models of cardiac mechanics. Our results illustrate the well-known influence of locking phenomena on the penalty approach (particularly for lower order schemes) and its effect on accuracy for whole-cycle mechanics. Additionally, we verify that direct discretization of the weakly penalized form produces similar convergence behavior to mixed formulations while avoiding the use of an additional variable. Combining a simple structure which allows the solution of computationally challenging problems with good convergence characteristics, the weakly penalized form provides an accurate and efficient alternative to incompressibility and compressibility in cardiac mechanics.

Trapezius Muscle Load, Heart Rate and Time Pressure during Day and Night Shift in Swiss and Japanese Nurses

PubMed Central

NICOLETTI, Corinne; MÜLLER, Christian; TOBITA, Itoko; NAKASEKO, Masaru; LÄUBLI, Thomas

2014-01-01

The aim of the present study was to analyze the activity of the trapezius muscle, the heart rate and the time pressure of Swiss and Japanese nurses during day and night shifts. The parameters were measured during a day and a night shift of 17 Swiss and 22 Japanese nurses. The observed rest time of the trapezius muscle was longer for Swiss than for Japanese nurses during both shifts. The 10th and the 50th percentile of the trapezius muscle activity showed a different effect for Swiss than for Japanese nurses. It was higher during the day shift of Swiss nurses and higher during the night shift of Japanese nurses. Heart rate was higher for both Swiss and Japanese nurses during the day. The time pressure was significantly higher for Japanese than for Swiss nurses. Over the duration of the shifts, time pressure increased for Japanese nurses and slightly decreased for those from Switzerland. Considering trapezius muscle activity and time pressure, the nursing profession was more burdening for the examined Japanese nurses than for Swiss nurses. In particular, the night shift for Japanese nurses was characterized by a high trapezius muscle activity and only few rest times for the trapezius muscle. PMID:24633074

Trapezius muscle load, heart rate and time pressure during day and night shift in Swiss and Japanese nurses.

PubMed

Nicoletti, Corinne; Müller, Christian; Tobita, Itoko; Nakaseko, Masaru; Läubli, Thomas

2014-01-01

The aim of the present study was to analyze the activity of the trapezius muscle, the heart rate and the time pressure of Swiss and Japanese nurses during day and night shifts. The parameters were measured during a day and a night shift of 17 Swiss and 22 Japanese nurses. The observed rest time of the trapezius muscle was longer for Swiss than for Japanese nurses during both shifts. The 10th and the 50th percentile of the trapezius muscle activity showed a different effect for Swiss than for Japanese nurses. It was higher during the day shift of Swiss nurses and higher during the night shift of Japanese nurses. Heart rate was higher for both Swiss and Japanese nurses during the day. The time pressure was significantly higher for Japanese than for Swiss nurses. Over the duration of the shifts, time pressure increased for Japanese nurses and slightly decreased for those from Switzerland. Considering trapezius muscle activity and time pressure, the nursing profession was more burdening for the examined Japanese nurses than for Swiss nurses. In particular, the night shift for Japanese nurses was characterized by a high trapezius muscle activity and only few rest times for the trapezius muscle.

Time-trends in assisted and unassisted suicides completed with different methods: Swiss National Cohort.

PubMed

Steck, Nicole; Zwahlen, Marcel; Egger, Matthias

2015-01-01

The number of suicides assisted by right-to-die associations has increased in recent years in Switzerland. The aim of our study was to compare time trends in rates of assisted and unassisted suicide from 1991-2008. The Swiss National Cohort is a longitudinal study of mortality in the Swiss population; based on linkage of census data with mortality records up to 2008. The Federal Statistical Office coded suspected assisted suicides from 1998 onwards; and from 2003 onwards right-to-die associations reported the suicides they assisted. We used Poisson regression to analyse trends in rates of suicide per 100'000 person-years, by gender and age groups (15-34, 35-64, 65-94 years). A total of 7'940'297 individuals and 24'842 suicides were included. In women, rates changed little in the younger age groups but increased in 65-94-year-olds, due to an increase in suicide by poisoning (from 5.1 to 17.2 per 100'000; p <0.001). An increase in suicides by poisoning was also observed in older men (from 8.6 to 18.2; p<0.001). Most suicides by poisoning were assisted. In men, suicide rates declined in all age groups, driven by declines in suicide with firearms. Research is needed to gain a better understanding of the reasons for the tripling of assisted suicide rates in older women, and the doubling of rates in older men, of attitudes and vulnerabilities of those choosing assisted suicide, and of access to palliative care. Rates of assisted suicide should be monitored; including data on patient characteristics and underlying comorbidities.

Accuracy of genotype imputation in Swiss cattle breeds

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of imputation from Illumina Bovine3k Bead Chip (3k) and Illumina BovineLD (6k) to 54k chip information in Swiss dairy cattle breeds. Genotype data comprised of 54k SNP chip data of Original Braunvieh (OB), Brown Swiss (BS), Swiss Fleckvieh (SF...

Ligia Grischa: A Successful Swiss Colony on the Dakota Territory Frontier

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quinn, Todd; Benedict, Karl; Dickey, Jeff

2012-01-01

In 1877 a small group of Swiss immigrants from the Graubunden canton formed a cooperative with another Swiss group in Stillwater, Minnesota, to begin a colony in eastern South Dakota. These settlers founded the Badus Swiss colony on the open prairie in Lake County, Dakota Territory (later South Dakota), based on cooperative rules written in…

45 CFR 286.150 - Can a family, with a child under age 6, be penalized because a parent refuses to work because (s...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... penalized because a parent refuses to work because (s)he cannot find child care? 286.150 Section 286.150... a parent refuses to work because (s)he cannot find child care? (a) If the individual is a single custodial parent caring for a child under age six, the Tribe may not reduce or terminate assistance based on...

45 CFR 286.150 - Can a family, with a child under age 6, be penalized because a parent refuses to work because (s...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... penalized because a parent refuses to work because (s)he cannot find child care? 286.150 Section 286.150... a parent refuses to work because (s)he cannot find child care? (a) If the individual is a single custodial parent caring for a child under age six, the Tribe may not reduce or terminate assistance based on...

45 CFR 286.150 - Can a family, with a child under age 6, be penalized because a parent refuses to work because (s...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... penalized because a parent refuses to work because (s)he cannot find child care? 286.150 Section 286.150... a parent refuses to work because (s)he cannot find child care? (a) If the individual is a single custodial parent caring for a child under age six, the Tribe may not reduce or terminate assistance based on...

45 CFR 286.150 - Can a family, with a child under age 6, be penalized because a parent refuses to work because (s...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... penalized because a parent refuses to work because (s)he cannot find child care? 286.150 Section 286.150... a parent refuses to work because (s)he cannot find child care? (a) If the individual is a single custodial parent caring for a child under age six, the Tribe may not reduce or terminate assistance based on...

45 CFR 286.150 - Can a family, with a child under age 6, be penalized because a parent refuses to work because (s...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... penalized because a parent refuses to work because (s)he cannot find child care? 286.150 Section 286.150... a parent refuses to work because (s)he cannot find child care? (a) If the individual is a single custodial parent caring for a child under age six, the Tribe may not reduce or terminate assistance based on...

Postcolonial penality: Liberty and repression in the shadow of independence, India c. 1947

PubMed Central

Brown, Mark

2016-01-01

This article reports primary archival data on the colonial penal history of British India and its reconfiguration into the postcolonial Indian state. It introduces criminologists to frameworks through which postcolonial scholars have sought to make sense of the continuities and discontinuities of rule across the colonial/postcolonial divide. The article examines the postcolonial life of one example of colonial penal power, known as the criminal tribes policy, under which more than three million Indian subjects of British rule were restricted in their movements, subject to a host of administrative rules and sometimes severe punishments, sequestered in settlements and limited in access to legal redress. It illustrates how at the birth of the postcolonial Indian state, encompassing visions of a liberal, unfettered and free life guaranteed in a new Constitution and charter of Fundamental Rights, freedom for some was to prove as elusive as citizens as it had been as subjects. PMID:28503082

Postcolonial penality: Liberty and repression in the shadow of independence, India c. 1947.

PubMed

Brown, Mark

2017-05-01

This article reports primary archival data on the colonial penal history of British India and its reconfiguration into the postcolonial Indian state. It introduces criminologists to frameworks through which postcolonial scholars have sought to make sense of the continuities and discontinuities of rule across the colonial/postcolonial divide. The article examines the postcolonial life of one example of colonial penal power, known as the criminal tribes policy, under which more than three million Indian subjects of British rule were restricted in their movements, subject to a host of administrative rules and sometimes severe punishments, sequestered in settlements and limited in access to legal redress. It illustrates how at the birth of the postcolonial Indian state, encompassing visions of a liberal, unfettered and free life guaranteed in a new Constitution and charter of Fundamental Rights, freedom for some was to prove as elusive as citizens as it had been as subjects.

Perspective: Opportunities for ultrafast science at SwissFEL

PubMed Central

Abela, Rafael; Beaud, Paul; van Bokhoven, Jeroen A.; Chergui, Majed; Feurer, Thomas; Haase, Johannes; Ingold, Gerhard; Johnson, Steven L.; Knopp, Gregor; Lemke, Henrik; Milne, Chris J.; Pedrini, Bill; Radi, Peter; Schertler, Gebhard; Standfuss, Jörg; Staub, Urs; Patthey, Luc

2018-01-01

We present the main specifications of the newly constructed Swiss Free Electron Laser, SwissFEL, and explore its potential impact on ultrafast science. In light of recent achievements at current X-ray free electron lasers, we discuss the potential territory for new scientific breakthroughs offered by SwissFEL in Chemistry, Biology, and Materials Science, as well as nonlinear X-ray science. PMID:29376109

[Forensic medicine and the overlap with pathology].

PubMed

Riepert, T

2010-07-01

Forensic medicine incorporates research, teaching and professional service. In the routine practice this encompasses interdisciplinary cooperation with physicians, natural scientists and the legal profession. Lectures in forensic medicine include the correct performance of an external examination of corpses, which every physician must be capable of, just as medical questions and the evidential documentation of injuries. Clinical forensic medicine encompasses the examination and documentation of living victims of physical and/or sexual violence. For further training to become a specialist for forensic medicine it is mandatory to undertake a 6-month training period in pathology. Fatalities with an unclear or unnatural manner of death must be registered with the police. On suspicion of third party involvement the public prosecutor will request a legal autopsy, which is carried out and documented by two physicians in accordance with the penal code. Imaging procedures are standard for an autopsy. Extensive samples are taken for additional testing, such as toxicological and molecular biological investigations.

Access to safe legal abortion in Malaysia: women's insights and health sector response.

PubMed

Low, Wah-Yun; Tong, Wen-Ting; Wong, Yut-Lin; Jegasothy, Ravindran; Choong, Sim-Poey

2015-01-01

Malaysia has an abortion law, which permits termination of pregnancy to save a woman's life and to preserve her physical and mental health (Penal Code Section 312, amended in 1989). However, lack of clear interpretation and understanding of the law results in women facing difficulties in accessing abortion information and services. Some health care providers were unaware of the legalities of abortion in Malaysia and influenced by their personal beliefs with regard to provision of abortion services. Accessibility to safer abortion techniques is also an issue. The development of the 2012 Guidelines on Termination of Pregnancy and Guidelines for Management of Sexual and Reproductive Health among Adolescents in Health Clinics by the Ministry of Health, Malaysia, is a step forward toward increasing women's accessibility to safe abortion services in Malaysia. This article provides an account of women's accessibility to abortion in Malaysia and the health sector response in addressing the barriers. © 2014 APJPH.

Sexual Abuse in Cameroon: A Four-Year-Old Girl Victim of Rape in Buea Case Study.

PubMed

Chishugi, John; Franke, Trixy

2016-01-01

A young girl was brought to the emergency unit after suffering sexual abuse by an older male. Additional abuses against women and girls include physical beating, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, breast ironing, widow's rites, psychological abuse, and discrimination in education, finance, employment, and legal access. Cameroon has adopted strategies aimed at eliminating violence against women, including ratification of international policies, penal codes, and support of local and international efforts that promote women; however, many of the laws remain in name only and are rarely enforced, given women's lack of financial access to quality lawyers and an unsympathetic male-dominated police force. Underreporting and culturally accepted abuses remain a challenge, too, as the country seeks to understand the extent of abuses and how to effectively fight against them. A complete paradigm shift in cultural attitude toward the female gender is required for abuses to cease.

In Mexico, abortion rights strictly for the books.

PubMed

Farmer, A

2000-06-01

This paper characterizes the Mexican abortion laws using the case of a girl aged 14 years, Paulina Ramirez Jacinta, who was raped, became pregnant, and chose to terminate the unwanted pregnancy, yet was denied an abortion. This case clearly showed that Mexican abortion law, despite its legality, is highly restrictive in nature and, in a way, violated the human rights of Paulina. Even though it permits first-trimester abortion procedures for rape victims or women whose lives are endangered by the pregnancy, many pregnant women still resort to illegal abortion. To further aggravate the restrictive nature of the law, Baja California state Rep. Martin Dominguez Rocha made a proposal to eliminate the rape exception in the state's penal code. The case of Paulina will be handled by the lawyers at the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy in order to arrive at a settlement favorable to Paulina.

[Freedom of conscience. Biojuridical conflicts at multicultural societies].

PubMed

Albert Márquez, Marta

2010-01-01

The paper analyzes the right of healthcare professionals to conscientious objection at multicultural societies. the ethical relativism, characteristic of these societies, lives together with an apparently paradoxical reduction of the exercise of freedom of conscience. It is wrote "Apparently" because, at the end, the ethical relativism tends to the adoption of dogmatic attitudes. Special attention is paid to the situation of Spanish healthcare in relation with euthanasia and abortion. With regard to euthanasia, the "dignified dead" draft bill of Andalucía is considered. With regard to abortion, we will pay attention to the reform of the Penal Code in the context of a new regulation about "reproductive health" of women, which means the adoption of a system of time limits, and the characterization of abortion as a women's right. It is concluded that the freedom of conscience of healthcare professionals would be probably at risk if proposed legal policies doesn't change.

[Right of the adolescent to health protection according to Italian legislation].

PubMed

Schwarzenberg, T L

1983-04-30

A comprehensive study on the rights of the adolescent to the protection of his health according to existing Italian legislation is carried out. After a full examination of international law, the author carefully evaluates all specific articles of the Italian Constitution and all the civil and penal code articles regarding rights and duties of minors. The juridical figure of the adolescent in labor legislation is also examined together with regulations for the healthcare of drug-addicted adolescents and regulations allowing abortion or use of contraception in minor adolescents. After the general overview of the existing legislation, the author discusses the possibility of a proper management in Italy of the Centers for Clinical Adolescentology, as has already been done in other countries. This, however, implies a pressing demand for appropriate modifications of existing legislation to fill all the existing gaps and remove the more obvious contradictions. (author's modified)

Changes in attitudes towards war and violence after September 11, 2001.

PubMed

Carnagey, Nicholas L; Anderson, Craig A

2007-01-01

Two inter-related studies examined the effect of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on attitudes towards war and violence. A three-wave between-subjects analysis revealed that attitudes towards war became more positive after September 11, 2001 and remained high over a year afterwards. Self-reported trait physical aggression also rose after September 11. Attitudes towards penal code violence (PCV) became more positive immediately after September 11, but were somewhat reduced a year afterward. A two-wave within subjects study revealed that war attitudes became even more positive at 2 months post-September 11. Attitudes towards PCV became less positive during this time period, but only for women. Other aggression-related attitudes were not affected in either study. These studies demonstrate that a large-scale event can change attitudes, but those attitudes must be directly relevant to the event. Copyright 2006 Wiley-Liss; Inc.

Special investigative actions in the criminal procedural law of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and their purposefulness in law

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodic, V.

2017-05-01

Special investigative actions are a novelty in the criminal procedure legislation BiH. In our legislation this has been introduced only in 2003. These are actions that need to assist prosecutors to effectively reveal the perpetrators and the evidence of serious and complex crimes, especially organized crime. There are criminal offenses in whose execution included a larger number of people in different locations and which are carried out with the help of new communication technologies, so that it is not possible to prove the classic means of evidence (documents, physical evidence, witnesses). Unfortunately, criminals are often better organized than the state and in their criminal activities are introduced various technological developments. Therefore, the legislator extended the powers of the prosecutor and gave them into the hands of more effective mechanisms for discovering the perpetrators of these crimes. Special investigative measures are listed in the Penal Code.

(De-) criminalization of attempted suicide in India: A review

PubMed Central

Ranjan, Rajeev; Kumar, Saurabh; Pattanayak, Raman Deep; Dhawan, Anju; Sagar, Rajesh

2014-01-01

Attempted suicide is a serious problem requiring mental health interventions, but it continues to be treated as a criminal offence under the section 309 of Indian Penal Code. The article reviews the international legal perspective across various regions of the world, discusses the unintended consequences of section 309 IPC and highlights the need for decriminalization of attempted suicide in India. The Mental Health Care Bill, 2013, still under consideration in the Rajya Sabha (upper house), has proposed that attempted suicide should not be criminally prosecuted. Decriminalization of suicidal attempt will serve to cut down the undue stigma and avoid punishment in the aftermath of incident, and lead to a more accurate collection of suicide-related statistics. From a policy perspective, it will further emphasize the urgent need to develop a framework to deliver mental health services to all those who attempt suicide. PMID:25535437

A constitution for AIDS.

PubMed

Koshy, L M

1996-01-15

The Indian Health Organization projected the number of deaths per day due to AIDS by the year 2000 at 10,000. An interdisciplinary international conference was held in New Delhi to draft an international law governing the issues related to AIDS. Human freedom and public health policies are the most affected by this disease. In the absence of an international AIDS law, judicial verdicts set precedents and could have serious ramifications. A participant from the John Marshall Law School, Chicago, suggested that instead of making new laws, the existing ones from the colonial past should be repealed. This includes Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which provides criminal sanctions against those who indulge in unnatural relations with man, woman, or animal. Penalizing homosexuality will only perpetuate clandestine relations and spread the virus into their families. Another participant seconded this motion stating that even a sex worker must be protected from abuse and indignity. The National AIDS Control Organization responded to the criticism that the government had not utilized all the World Bank funds allocated for anti-AIDS projects. The trends of the epidemic were the most important indicators not just the numbers. In Manipur and Mizoram, infection was almost entirely due to injecting drug use. The Saheli project undertaken in the red-light areas of Bombay encompassed brothel owners and prostitutes, which could be replicated in other areas. Because existing government policies were focusing on prevention, there was no protection of an HIV-infected individual's privacy, one participant from Madras stated. The confidentiality issue was also echoed by a US participant. The New Delhi Declaration and Action Plan on HIV/AIDS was also discussed. It forbids discrimination in employment, education, housing, health care, social security, travel, and marital and reproductive rights. Providing sterile needles and ensuring the safety of the blood supply were other concerns mentioned.

Integrated analysis of DNA-methylation and gene expression using high-dimensional penalized regression: a cohort study on bone mineral density in postmenopausal women.

PubMed

Lien, Tonje G; Borgan, Ørnulf; Reppe, Sjur; Gautvik, Kaare; Glad, Ingrid Kristine

2018-03-07

Using high-dimensional penalized regression we studied genome-wide DNA-methylation in bone biopsies of 80 postmenopausal women in relation to their bone mineral density (BMD). The women showed BMD varying from severely osteoporotic to normal. Global gene expression data from the same individuals was available, and since DNA-methylation often affects gene expression, the overall aim of this paper was to include both of these omics data sets into an integrated analysis. The classical penalized regression uses one penalty, but we incorporated individual penalties for each of the DNA-methylation sites. These individual penalties were guided by the strength of association between DNA-methylations and gene transcript levels. DNA-methylations that were highly associated to one or more transcripts got lower penalties and were therefore favored compared to DNA-methylations showing less association to expression. Because of the complex pathways and interactions among genes, we investigated both the association between DNA-methylations and their corresponding cis gene, as well as the association between DNA-methylations and trans-located genes. Two integrating penalized methods were used: first, an adaptive group-regularized ridge regression, and secondly, variable selection was performed through a modified version of the weighted lasso. When information from gene expressions was integrated, predictive performance was considerably improved, in terms of predictive mean square error, compared to classical penalized regression without data integration. We found a 14.7% improvement in the ridge regression case and a 17% improvement for the lasso case. Our version of the weighted lasso with data integration found a list of 22 interesting methylation sites. Several corresponded to genes that are known to be important in bone formation. Using BMD as response and these 22 methylation sites as covariates, least square regression analyses resulted in R 2 =0.726, comparable to an average R 2 =0.438 for 10000 randomly selected groups of DNA-methylations with group size 22. Two recent types of penalized regression methods were adapted to integrate DNA-methylation and their association to gene expression in the analysis of bone mineral density. In both cases predictions clearly benefit from including the additional information on gene expressions.

Tracking Multiple Video Targets with an Improved GM-PHD Tracker

PubMed Central

Zhou, Xiaolong; Yu, Hui; Liu, Honghai; Li, Youfu

2015-01-01

Tracking multiple moving targets from a video plays an important role in many vision-based robotic applications. In this paper, we propose an improved Gaussian mixture probability hypothesis density (GM-PHD) tracker with weight penalization to effectively and accurately track multiple moving targets from a video. First, an entropy-based birth intensity estimation method is incorporated to eliminate the false positives caused by noisy video data. Then, a weight-penalized method with multi-feature fusion is proposed to accurately track the targets in close movement. For targets without occlusion, a weight matrix that contains all updated weights between the predicted target states and the measurements is constructed, and a simple, but effective method based on total weight and predicted target state is proposed to search the ambiguous weights in the weight matrix. The ambiguous weights are then penalized according to the fused target features that include spatial-colour appearance, histogram of oriented gradient and target area and further re-normalized to form a new weight matrix. With this new weight matrix, the tracker can correctly track the targets in close movement without occlusion. For targets with occlusion, a robust game-theoretical method is used. Finally, the experiments conducted on various video scenarios validate the effectiveness of the proposed penalization method and show the superior performance of our tracker over the state of the art. PMID:26633422

A Human Systems Integration Perspective to Evaluating Naval Aviation Mishaps and Developing Intervention Strategies

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-12-01

SWISS CHEESE ” MODEL........................................... 16 1. Errors and Violations...16 Figure 5. Reason’s Swiss Cheese Model (After: Reason, 1990, p. 208) ........... 20 Figure 6. The HFACS Swiss Cheese Model of...become more complex. E. REASON’S “ SWISS CHEESE ” MODEL Reason’s (1990) book, Human Error, is generally regarded as the seminal work on the subject

Experts' perspectives on SwissDRG: Second class care for vulnerable patient groups?

PubMed

Leu, A; Wepf, H; Elger, B; Wangmo, T

2018-03-14

On the 1st of January 2012, Switzerland introduced the diagnosis-related group hospital tariff structure (SwissDRG). It was recognised that healthcare provided to the most vulnerable patient groups would be a challenge for the new SwissDRG. Coincident with the implementation of SwissDRG, we explored hospital experts' perceptions of which patient groups are vulnerable under the SwissDRG system, what has changed for this group, as well as solutions to ensure adequate access to health care for them. We interviewed 43 experts from 40 Swiss hospitals. Participating experts named several vulnerable patient groups who share some common characteristics. These hospital experts were concerned about the patient groups that are not financially profitable and questioned the practicability of the current regulation. At the same time, they highlighted the complexity associated with caring for this group under the new SwissDRG and reported measures at the macro, meso, and micro levels to protect vulnerable patient groups from negative effects. To curb negative outcomes for vulnerable patient groups after the introduction of the SwissDRG, the Swiss legislation has introduced various instruments including the acute and transitional care (ATC) measures. We conclude that ATC measures do not produce the expected effect the legislators had hoped for. More health data is needed to identify situations where vulnerable patient groups are more susceptible to inadequate health care access in Switzerland. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Penalized likelihood and multi-objective spatial scans for the detection and inference of irregular clusters

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Irregularly shaped spatial clusters are difficult to delineate. A cluster found by an algorithm often spreads through large portions of the map, impacting its geographical meaning. Penalized likelihood methods for Kulldorff's spatial scan statistics have been used to control the excessive freedom of the shape of clusters. Penalty functions based on cluster geometry and non-connectivity have been proposed recently. Another approach involves the use of a multi-objective algorithm to maximize two objectives: the spatial scan statistics and the geometric penalty function. Results & Discussion We present a novel scan statistic algorithm employing a function based on the graph topology to penalize the presence of under-populated disconnection nodes in candidate clusters, the disconnection nodes cohesion function. A disconnection node is defined as a region within a cluster, such that its removal disconnects the cluster. By applying this function, the most geographically meaningful clusters are sifted through the immense set of possible irregularly shaped candidate cluster solutions. To evaluate the statistical significance of solutions for multi-objective scans, a statistical approach based on the concept of attainment function is used. In this paper we compared different penalized likelihoods employing the geometric and non-connectivity regularity functions and the novel disconnection nodes cohesion function. We also build multi-objective scans using those three functions and compare them with the previous penalized likelihood scans. An application is presented using comprehensive state-wide data for Chagas' disease in puerperal women in Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Conclusions We show that, compared to the other single-objective algorithms, multi-objective scans present better performance, regarding power, sensitivity and positive predicted value. The multi-objective non-connectivity scan is faster and better suited for the detection of moderately irregularly shaped clusters. The multi-objective cohesion scan is most effective for the detection of highly irregularly shaped clusters. PMID:21034451

dPIRPLE: a joint estimation framework for deformable registration and penalized-likelihood CT image reconstruction using prior images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dang, H.; Wang, A. S.; Sussman, Marc S.; Siewerdsen, J. H.; Stayman, J. W.

2014-09-01

Sequential imaging studies are conducted in many clinical scenarios. Prior images from previous studies contain a great deal of patient-specific anatomical information and can be used in conjunction with subsequent imaging acquisitions to maintain image quality while enabling radiation dose reduction (e.g., through sparse angular sampling, reduction in fluence, etc). However, patient motion between images in such sequences results in misregistration between the prior image and current anatomy. Existing prior-image-based approaches often include only a simple rigid registration step that can be insufficient for capturing complex anatomical motion, introducing detrimental effects in subsequent image reconstruction. In this work, we propose a joint framework that estimates the 3D deformation between an unregistered prior image and the current anatomy (based on a subsequent data acquisition) and reconstructs the current anatomical image using a model-based reconstruction approach that includes regularization based on the deformed prior image. This framework is referred to as deformable prior image registration, penalized-likelihood estimation (dPIRPLE). Central to this framework is the inclusion of a 3D B-spline-based free-form-deformation model into the joint registration-reconstruction objective function. The proposed framework is solved using a maximization strategy whereby alternating updates to the registration parameters and image estimates are applied allowing for improvements in both the registration and reconstruction throughout the optimization process. Cadaver experiments were conducted on a cone-beam CT testbench emulating a lung nodule surveillance scenario. Superior reconstruction accuracy and image quality were demonstrated using the dPIRPLE algorithm as compared to more traditional reconstruction methods including filtered backprojection, penalized-likelihood estimation (PLE), prior image penalized-likelihood estimation (PIPLE) without registration, and prior image penalized-likelihood estimation with rigid registration of a prior image (PIRPLE) over a wide range of sampling sparsity and exposure levels.

Structure-related statistical singularities along protein sequences: a correlation study.

PubMed

Colafranceschi, Mauro; Colosimo, Alfredo; Zbilut, Joseph P; Uversky, Vladimir N; Giuliani, Alessandro

2005-01-01

A data set composed of 1141 proteins representative of all eukaryotic protein sequences in the Swiss-Prot Protein Knowledge base was coded by seven physicochemical properties of amino acid residues. The resulting numerical profiles were submitted to correlation analysis after the application of a linear (simple mean) and a nonlinear (Recurrence Quantification Analysis, RQA) filter. The main RQA variables, Recurrence and Determinism, were subsequently analyzed by Principal Component Analysis. The RQA descriptors showed that (i) within protein sequences is embedded specific information neither present in the codes nor in the amino acid composition and (ii) the most sensitive code for detecting ordered recurrent (deterministic) patterns of residues in protein sequences is the Miyazawa-Jernigan hydrophobicity scale. The most deterministic proteins in terms of autocorrelation properties of primary structures were found (i) to be involved in protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions and (ii) to display a significantly higher proportion of structural disorder with respect to the average data set. A study of the scaling behavior of the average determinism with the setting parameters of RQA (embedding dimension and radius) allows for the identification of patterns of minimal length (six residues) as possible markers of zones specifically prone to inter- and intramolecular interactions.

Awareness of female students attending higher educational institutions toward legalization of safe abortion and associated factors, Harari Region, Eastern Ethiopia: a cross sectional study.

PubMed

Geleto, Ayele; Markos, Jote

2015-03-17

Unsafe abortion has been recognized as an important public health problem in the world. It accounts for 14% of all maternal deaths in sub-Saharan African countries. In Ethiopia, 32% of all maternal deaths are accounted to unsafe abortion. Taking the problem of unsafe abortion into consideration, the penal code of Ethiopia was amended in 2005, to permit safe abortion under a set of circumstances. However, lack of awareness on the revised penal code is a major barrier that hinders women to seek safe abortion. The aim of this study is to assess awareness of female students attending higher educational institutions toward legalization of safe abortion and associated factors in Harari region, eastern Ethiopia. Institution-based descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among 762 female students who are attending five higher educational institutions in Harari Region. Systematic sampling method was used to identify study participants from randomly selected colleges. Self administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were entered in to Epi Info version 6.04 and analyzed by SPSS version 17.0 statistical packages. Frequency, percentage and ratio were used to describe variables. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was done to control confounders and odds ratio with 95% confidence interval was used to identify factors associated with awareness of female students to legalization of abortion. 762 study participants completed the survey questionnaire making the response rate 90.2%. Only 272 (35.7%) of the respondents reported that they have good awareness about legalization of safe abortion. Studying other fields than health and medicine [AOR 0.48; 95%CI (0.23, 0.85)], being the only child for their family [AOR 0.28; 95%CI (0.13, 0.86)], having no boy friend [AOR 0.34; 95%CI (0.12, 0.74)], using family planning [AOR 0.50; 95%CI (0.13 and 0.86)], being 25 years or older [AOR 1.64; 95%CI (1.33, 2.80)] were significantly associated with awareness of female students to legalization of safe abortion. Only slightly more than a third of the study participants, 35.7% have good awareness of legalization of safe abortion. Strengthening information dissemination regarding legalization of safe abortion is required for female reproductive age group in general and higher institution female students in particular.

Sparse High Dimensional Models in Economics

PubMed Central

Fan, Jianqing; Lv, Jinchi; Qi, Lei

2010-01-01

This paper reviews the literature on sparse high dimensional models and discusses some applications in economics and finance. Recent developments of theory, methods, and implementations in penalized least squares and penalized likelihood methods are highlighted. These variable selection methods are proved to be effective in high dimensional sparse modeling. The limits of dimensionality that regularization methods can handle, the role of penalty functions, and their statistical properties are detailed. Some recent advances in ultra-high dimensional sparse modeling are also briefly discussed. PMID:22022635

["Integrity" in the healthcare system : Recognize and avoid risks: on dealing with the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians and the public prosecutors office].

PubMed

Wohlgemuth, Martin; Heinrich, Julia

2018-05-24

This article describes the introduction of the law to combat corruption in the healthcare system. The effects of the introduced penal regulations on the delivery of medical services is critically scrutinized and the associated procedures as well as indications for the course of action are presented. Knowledge of the relevant regulations and types of procedure is decisive for the penal, social legislative and professional conduct risk minimization.

To Amend Certain Federal Statutes to Enhance the Effectiveness of Job Training Programs in Penal Institutions. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Labor Standards of the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives, Ninety-Fourth Congress, Second Session.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. House Committee on Education and Labor.

A hearing before the subcommittee on labor standards was held to receive testimony on a bill, H.R. 2715, to amend Federal statutes to improve the effectiveness of job training programs in penal institutions. H.R. 2715, sponsored by Congressman Albert H. Quie of Minnesota, would permit the distribution in interstate commerce of goods produced by…

Religious counseling in the penal context: strategies of trust and establishment of trusting relationships in a context of distrust.

PubMed

Brandner, Tobias

2013-06-01

The paper describes how distrust shapes the network of relationships between the different agents in the penal context, among inmates, between inmates and their family, between inmates and staff, between counselors and staff, and between inmates and counselors, and discusses how counseling strategies need to be adjusted to counter the effects of the institutional and biographical context of distrust. The paper is based on many years of participation and observation in the context of Hong Kong.

A software tool for analyzing multichannel cochlear implant signals.

PubMed

Lai, Wai Kong; Bögli, Hans; Dillier, Norbert

2003-10-01

A useful and convenient means to analyze the radio frequency (RF) signals being sent by a speech processor to a cochlear implant would be to actually capture and display them with appropriate software. This is particularly useful for development or diagnostic purposes. sCILab (Swiss Cochlear Implant Laboratory) is such a PC-based software tool intended for the Nucleus family of Multichannel Cochlear Implants. Its graphical user interface provides a convenient and intuitive means for visualizing and analyzing the signals encoding speech information. Both numerical and graphic displays are available for detailed examination of the captured CI signals, as well as an acoustic simulation of these CI signals. sCILab has been used in the design and verification of new speech coding strategies, and has also been applied as an analytical tool in studies of how different parameter settings of existing speech coding strategies affect speech perception. As a diagnostic tool, it is also useful for troubleshooting problems with the external equipment of the cochlear implant systems.

A portable platform for accelerated PIC codes and its application to GPUs using OpenACC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hariri, F.; Tran, T. M.; Jocksch, A.; Lanti, E.; Progsch, J.; Messmer, P.; Brunner, S.; Gheller, C.; Villard, L.

2016-10-01

We present a portable platform, called PIC_ENGINE, for accelerating Particle-In-Cell (PIC) codes on heterogeneous many-core architectures such as Graphic Processing Units (GPUs). The aim of this development is efficient simulations on future exascale systems by allowing different parallelization strategies depending on the application problem and the specific architecture. To this end, this platform contains the basic steps of the PIC algorithm and has been designed as a test bed for different algorithmic options and data structures. Among the architectures that this engine can explore, particular attention is given here to systems equipped with GPUs. The study demonstrates that our portable PIC implementation based on the OpenACC programming model can achieve performance closely matching theoretical predictions. Using the Cray XC30 system, Piz Daint, at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS), we show that PIC_ENGINE running on an NVIDIA Kepler K20X GPU can outperform the one on an Intel Sandy bridge 8-core CPU by a factor of 3.4.

Uncertainties for Swiss LWR spent nuclear fuels due to nuclear data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rochman, Dimitri A.; Vasiliev, Alexander; Dokhane, Abdelhamid; Ferroukhi, Hakim

2018-05-01

This paper presents a study of the impact of the nuclear data (cross sections, neutron emission and spectra) on different quantities for spent nuclear fuels (SNF) from Swiss power plants: activities, decay heat, neutron and gamma sources and isotopic vectors. Realistic irradiation histories are considered using validated core follow-up models based on CASMO and SIMULATE. Two Pressurized and one Boiling Water Reactors (PWR and BWR) are considered over a large number of operated cycles. All the assemblies at the end of the cycles are studied, being reloaded or finally discharged, allowing spanning over a large range of exposure (from 4 to 60 MWd/kgU for ≃9200 assembly-cycles). Both UO2 and MOX fuels were used during the reactor cycles, with enrichments from 1.9 to 4.7% for the UO2 and 2.2 to 5.8% Pu for the MOX. The SNF characteristics presented in this paper are calculated with the SNF code. The calculated uncertainties, based on the ENDF/B-VII.1 library are obtained using a simple Monte Carlo sampling method. It is demonstrated that the impact of nuclear data is relatively important (e.g. up to 17% for the decay heat), showing the necessity to consider them for safety analysis of the SNF handling and disposal.

Perspective view of the Swiss Chalet to duplicate that seen ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

Perspective view of the Swiss Chalet to duplicate that seen in MD-1109-O-22; view looking from approximately the same vantage point - National Park Seminary, Swiss Chalet, 2802 Woodstock Avenue, Silver Spring, Montgomery County, MD

Fast function-on-scalar regression with penalized basis expansions.

PubMed

Reiss, Philip T; Huang, Lei; Mennes, Maarten

2010-01-01

Regression models for functional responses and scalar predictors are often fitted by means of basis functions, with quadratic roughness penalties applied to avoid overfitting. The fitting approach described by Ramsay and Silverman in the 1990 s amounts to a penalized ordinary least squares (P-OLS) estimator of the coefficient functions. We recast this estimator as a generalized ridge regression estimator, and present a penalized generalized least squares (P-GLS) alternative. We describe algorithms by which both estimators can be implemented, with automatic selection of optimal smoothing parameters, in a more computationally efficient manner than has heretofore been available. We discuss pointwise confidence intervals for the coefficient functions, simultaneous inference by permutation tests, and model selection, including a novel notion of pointwise model selection. P-OLS and P-GLS are compared in a simulation study. Our methods are illustrated with an analysis of age effects in a functional magnetic resonance imaging data set, as well as a reanalysis of a now-classic Canadian weather data set. An R package implementing the methods is publicly available.

Hospitals with higher nurse staffing had lower odds of readmissions penalties than hospitals with lower staffing.

PubMed

McHugh, Matthew D; Berez, Julie; Small, Dylan S

2013-10-01

The Affordable Care Act's Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) penalizes hospitals based on excess readmission rates among Medicare beneficiaries. The aim of the program is to reduce readmissions while aligning hospitals' financial incentives with payers' and patients' quality goals. Many evidence-based interventions that reduce readmissions, such as discharge preparation, care coordination, and patient education, are grounded in the fundamentals of basic nursing care. Yet inadequate staffing can hinder nurses' efforts to carry out these processes of care. We estimated the effect that nurse staffing had on the likelihood that a hospital was penalized under the HRRP. Hospitals with higher nurse staffing had 25 percent lower odds of being penalized compared to otherwise similar hospitals with lower staffing. Investment in nursing is a potential system-level intervention to reduce readmissions that policy makers and hospital administrators should consider in the new regulatory environment as they examine the quality of care delivered to US hospital patients.

Penalized Nonlinear Least Squares Estimation of Time-Varying Parameters in Ordinary Differential Equations

PubMed Central

Cao, Jiguo; Huang, Jianhua Z.; Wu, Hulin

2012-01-01

Ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are widely used in biomedical research and other scientific areas to model complex dynamic systems. It is an important statistical problem to estimate parameters in ODEs from noisy observations. In this article we propose a method for estimating the time-varying coefficients in an ODE. Our method is a variation of the nonlinear least squares where penalized splines are used to model the functional parameters and the ODE solutions are approximated also using splines. We resort to the implicit function theorem to deal with the nonlinear least squares objective function that is only defined implicitly. The proposed penalized nonlinear least squares method is applied to estimate a HIV dynamic model from a real dataset. Monte Carlo simulations show that the new method can provide much more accurate estimates of functional parameters than the existing two-step local polynomial method which relies on estimation of the derivatives of the state function. Supplemental materials for the article are available online. PMID:23155351

Integrative Analysis of Cancer Diagnosis Studies with Composite Penalization

PubMed Central

Liu, Jin; Huang, Jian; Ma, Shuangge

2013-01-01

Summary In cancer diagnosis studies, high-throughput gene profiling has been extensively conducted, searching for genes whose expressions may serve as markers. Data generated from such studies have the “large d, small n” feature, with the number of genes profiled much larger than the sample size. Penalization has been extensively adopted for simultaneous estimation and marker selection. Because of small sample sizes, markers identified from the analysis of single datasets can be unsatisfactory. A cost-effective remedy is to conduct integrative analysis of multiple heterogeneous datasets. In this article, we investigate composite penalization methods for estimation and marker selection in integrative analysis. The proposed methods use the minimax concave penalty (MCP) as the outer penalty. Under the homogeneity model, the ridge penalty is adopted as the inner penalty. Under the heterogeneity model, the Lasso penalty and MCP are adopted as the inner penalty. Effective computational algorithms based on coordinate descent are developed. Numerical studies, including simulation and analysis of practical cancer datasets, show satisfactory performance of the proposed methods. PMID:24578589

This is SPIRAL-TAP: Sparse Poisson Intensity Reconstruction ALgorithms--theory and practice.

PubMed

Harmany, Zachary T; Marcia, Roummel F; Willett, Rebecca M

2012-03-01

Observations in many applications consist of counts of discrete events, such as photons hitting a detector, which cannot be effectively modeled using an additive bounded or Gaussian noise model, and instead require a Poisson noise model. As a result, accurate reconstruction of a spatially or temporally distributed phenomenon (f*) from Poisson data (y) cannot be effectively accomplished by minimizing a conventional penalized least-squares objective function. The problem addressed in this paper is the estimation of f* from y in an inverse problem setting, where the number of unknowns may potentially be larger than the number of observations and f* admits sparse approximation. The optimization formulation considered in this paper uses a penalized negative Poisson log-likelihood objective function with nonnegativity constraints (since Poisson intensities are naturally nonnegative). In particular, the proposed approach incorporates key ideas of using separable quadratic approximations to the objective function at each iteration and penalization terms related to l1 norms of coefficient vectors, total variation seminorms, and partition-based multiscale estimation methods.

Orthogonalizing EM: A design-based least squares algorithm.

PubMed

Xiong, Shifeng; Dai, Bin; Huling, Jared; Qian, Peter Z G

We introduce an efficient iterative algorithm, intended for various least squares problems, based on a design of experiments perspective. The algorithm, called orthogonalizing EM (OEM), works for ordinary least squares and can be easily extended to penalized least squares. The main idea of the procedure is to orthogonalize a design matrix by adding new rows and then solve the original problem by embedding the augmented design in a missing data framework. We establish several attractive theoretical properties concerning OEM. For the ordinary least squares with a singular regression matrix, an OEM sequence converges to the Moore-Penrose generalized inverse-based least squares estimator. For ordinary and penalized least squares with various penalties, it converges to a point having grouping coherence for fully aliased regression matrices. Convergence and the convergence rate of the algorithm are examined. Finally, we demonstrate that OEM is highly efficient for large-scale least squares and penalized least squares problems, and is considerably faster than competing methods when n is much larger than p . Supplementary materials for this article are available online.

Hospitals With Higher Nurse Staffing Had Lower Odds Of Readmissions Penalties Than Hospitals With Lower Staffing

PubMed Central

McHugh, Matthew D.; Berez, Julie; Small, Dylan S.

2015-01-01

The Affordable Care Act’s Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) penalizes hospitals based on excess readmission rates among Medicare beneficiaries. The aim of the program is to reduce readmissions while aligning hospitals’ financial incentives with payers’ and patients’ quality goals. Many evidence-based interventions that reduce readmissions, such as discharge preparation, care coordination, and patient education, are grounded in the fundamentals of basic nursing care. Yet inadequate staffing can hinder nurses’ efforts to carry out these processes of care. We estimated the effect that nurse staffing had on the likelihood that a hospital was penalized under the HRRP. Hospitals with higher nurse staffing had 25 percent lower odds of being penalized compared to otherwise similar hospitals with lower staffing. Investment in nursing is a potential system-level intervention to reduce readmissions that policy makers and hospital administrators should consider in the new regulatory environment as they examine the quality of care delivered to US hospital patients. PMID:24101063

Labor union members play an OLG repeated game

PubMed Central

Kandori, Michihiro; Obayashi, Shinya

2014-01-01

Humans are capable of cooperating with one another even when it is costly and a deviation provides an immediate gain. An important reason is that cooperation is reciprocated or rewarded and deviations are penalized in later stages. For cooperation to be sustainable, not only must rewards and penalties be strong enough but individuals should also have the right incentives to provide rewards and punishments. Codes of conduct with such properties have been studied extensively in game theory (as repeated game equilibria), and the literature on the evolution of cooperation shows how equilibrium behavior might emerge and proliferate in society. We found that community unions, a subclass of labor unions that admits individual affiliations, are ideal to corroborate these theories with reality, because (i) their activities are simple and (ii) they have a structure that closely resembles a theoretical model, the overlapping generations repeated game. A detailed case study of a community union revealed a possible equilibrium that can function under the very limited observability in the union. The equilibrium code of conduct appears to be a natural focal point based on simple heuristic reasoning. The union we studied was created out of necessity for cooperation, without knowing or anticipating how cooperation might be sustained. The union has successfully resolved about 3,000 labor disputes and created a number of offspring. PMID:25024211

Report: Hospital waste management--awareness and practices: a study of three states in India.

PubMed

Rao, P Hanumantha

2008-06-01

The study was conducted in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh in India. Hospitals/nursing homes and private medical practitioners in urban as well as rural areas and those from the private as well as the government sector were covered. Information on (a) awareness of bio-medical waste management rules, (b) training undertaken and (c) practices with respect to segregation, use of colour coding, sharps management, access to common waste management facilities and disposal was collected. Awareness of Bio-medical Waste Management Rules was better among hospital staff in comparison with private medical practitioners and awareness was marginally higher among those in urban areas in comparison with those in rural areas. Training gained momentum only after the dead-line for compliance was over. Segregation and use of colour codes revealed gaps, which need correction. About 70% of the healthcare facilities used a needle cutter/destroyer for sharps management. Access to Common Waste Management facilities was low at about 35%. Dumping biomedical waste on the roads outside the hospital is still prevalent and access to Common Waste facilities is still limited. Surveillance, monitoring and penal machinery was found to be deficient and these require strengthening to improve compliance with the Bio-medical Waste Management Rules and to safeguard the health of employees, patients and communities.

[Ethical and legal duty of anesthesiologists regarding Jehovah's Witness patient: care protocol].

PubMed

Takaschima, Augusto Key Karazawa; Sakae, Thiago Mamôru; Takaschima, Alexandre Karazawa; Takaschima, Renata Dos Santos Teodoro; de Lima, Breno José Santiago Bezerra; Benedetti, Roberto Henrique

Jehovah's Witnesses patients refuse blood transfusions for religious reasons. Anesthesiologists must master specific legal knowledge to provide care to these patients. Understanding how the Law and the Federal Council of Medicine treat this issue is critical to know how to act in this context. The aim of this paper was to establish a treatment protocol for the Jehovah's Witness patient with emphasis on ethical and legal duty of the anesthesiologist. The article analyzes the Constitution, Criminal Code, resolutions of the Federal Council of Medicine (FCM), opinions, and jurisprudence to understand the limits of the conflict between the autonomy of will of Jehovah's Witnesses to refuse transfusion and the physician's duty to provide the transfusion. Based on this evidence, a care protocol is suggested. The FCM resolution 1021/1980, the penal code Article 135, which classifies denial of care as a crime and the Supreme Court decision on the HC 268,459/SP process imposes on the physician the obligation of blood transfusion when life is threatened. The patient's or guardian's consent is not necessary, as the autonomy of will manifestation of the Jehovah's Witness patient refusing blood transfusion for himself and relatives, even in emergencies, is no not forbidden. Copyright © 2016 Sociedade Brasileira de Anestesiologia. Publicado por Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Ethical and legal duty of anesthesiologists regarding Jehovah's Witness patient: care protocol.

PubMed

Takaschima, Augusto Key Karazawa; Sakae, Thiago Mamôru; Takaschima, Alexandre Karazawa; Takaschima, Renata Dos Santos Teodoro; Lima, Breno José Santiago Bezerra de; Benedetti, Roberto Henrique

Jehovah's Witnesses patients refuse blood transfusions for religious reasons. Anesthesiologists must master specific legal knowledge to provide care to these patients. Understanding how the Law and the Federal Council of Medicine treat this issue is critical to know how to act in this context. The aim of this paper was to establish a treatment protocol for the Jehovah's Witness patient with emphasis on ethical and legal duty of the anesthesiologist. The article analyzes the Constitution, Criminal Code, resolutions of the Federal Council of Medicine, opinions, and jurisprudence to understand the limits of the conflict between the autonomy of will of Jehovah's Witnesses to refuse transfusion and the physician's duty to provide the transfusion. Based on this evidence, a care protocol is suggested. The Federal Council of Medicine resolution 1021/1980, the penal code Article 135, which classifies denial of care as a crime and the Supreme Court decision on the HC 268,459/SP process imposes on the physician the obligation of blood transfusion when life is threatened. The patient's or guardian's consent is not necessary, as the autonomy of will manifestation of the Jehovah's Witness patient refusing blood transfusion for himself and relatives, even in emergencies, is no not forbidden. Copyright © 2016 Sociedade Brasileira de Anestesiologia. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Accuracy and Calibration of Computational Approaches for Inpatient Mortality Predictive Modeling.

PubMed

Nakas, Christos T; Schütz, Narayan; Werners, Marcus; Leichtle, Alexander B

2016-01-01

Electronic Health Record (EHR) data can be a key resource for decision-making support in clinical practice in the "big data" era. The complete database from early 2012 to late 2015 involving hospital admissions to Inselspital Bern, the largest Swiss University Hospital, was used in this study, involving over 100,000 admissions. Age, sex, and initial laboratory test results were the features/variables of interest for each admission, the outcome being inpatient mortality. Computational decision support systems were utilized for the calculation of the risk of inpatient mortality. We assessed the recently proposed Acute Laboratory Risk of Mortality Score (ALaRMS) model, and further built generalized linear models, generalized estimating equations, artificial neural networks, and decision tree systems for the predictive modeling of the risk of inpatient mortality. The Area Under the ROC Curve (AUC) for ALaRMS marginally corresponded to the anticipated accuracy (AUC = 0.858). Penalized logistic regression methodology provided a better result (AUC = 0.872). Decision tree and neural network-based methodology provided even higher predictive performance (up to AUC = 0.912 and 0.906, respectively). Additionally, decision tree-based methods can efficiently handle Electronic Health Record (EHR) data that have a significant amount of missing records (in up to >50% of the studied features) eliminating the need for imputation in order to have complete data. In conclusion, we show that statistical learning methodology can provide superior predictive performance in comparison to existing methods and can also be production ready. Statistical modeling procedures provided unbiased, well-calibrated models that can be efficient decision support tools for predicting inpatient mortality and assigning preventive measures.

Toward a Lake Ice Phenology Derived from VIIRS Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sütterlin, Melanie; Duguay-Tetzlaff, Anke; Wunderle, Stefan

2017-04-01

Ice cover on lakes plays an essential role in the physical, chemical, and biological processes of freshwater systems (e.g., ice duration controls the seasonal heat budget of lakes), and it also has many economic implications (e.g., for hydroelectricity, transportation, winter tourism). The variability and trends in the seasonal cycle of lake ice (e.g., timing of freeze-up and break-up) represent robust and direct indicators of climate change; they therefore emphasize the importance of monitoring lake ice phenology. Satellite remote sensing has proven its great potential for detecting and measuring the ice cover on lakes. Different remote sensing systems have been successfully used to collect recordings of freeze-up, break-up, and ice thickness and increase the spatial and temporal coverage of ground-based observations. Therefore, within the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Swiss project, "Integrated Monitoring of Ice in Selected Swiss Lakes," initiated by MeteoSwiss, satellite images from various sensors and different approaches are used and compared to perform investigations aimed at integrated monitoring of lake ice in Switzerland and contributing to the collection of lake ice phenology recordings. Within the framework of this project, the Remote Sensing Research Group of the University of Bern (RSGB) utilizes data acquired in the fine-resolution imagery (I) bands (1-5) of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensor that is mounted onboard the SUOMI-NPP. Visible and near-infrared reflectances, as well as thermal infrared-derived lake surface water temperatures (LSWT), are used to retrieve lake ice phenology dates. The VIIRS instrument, which combines a high temporal resolution ( 2 times per day) with a reasonable spatial resolution (375 m), is equipped with a single broad-band thermal I-channel (I05). Thus, a single-channel LSWT retrieval algorithm is employed to correct for the atmospheric influence. The single channel algorithm applied in this study is a physical mono-window (PMW) model based on the Radiative Transfer for the Television Infrared Observation Satellite Operational Vertical Sounder code (RTTOV). RTTOV, which is a fast radiative transfer model, can be used to estimate upward and downward atmospheric path radiance and atmospheric transmittance in the thermal infrared for a specific atmospheric profile. In this study, atmospheric profiles from ECMWF ERA-interim are utilized to run RTTOV and simulate top-of-atmosphere (TOA) brightness temperatures. We present the first retrievals of LSWT and ice features from corrected clear-sky channel I05 data of the VIIRS sensor. Together with VIS and NIR reflectance values, these first LSWT retrievals are used to derive ice-on/off dates for selected Swiss lakes by applying a threshold method. After successful validation based on in-situ measurements of Swiss lakes, the method can be utilized for global application.

Penalized discriminant analysis for the detection of wild-grown and cultivated Ganoderma lucidum using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Ying; Tan, Tuck Lee

2016-04-01

An effective and simple analytical method using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to distinguish wild-grown high-quality Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum) from cultivated one is of essential importance for its quality assurance and medicinal value estimation. Commonly used chemical and analytical methods using full spectrum are not so effective for the detection and interpretation due to the complex system of the herbal medicine. In this study, two penalized discriminant analysis models, penalized linear discriminant analysis (PLDA) and elastic net (Elnet),using FTIR spectroscopy have been explored for the purpose of discrimination and interpretation. The classification performances of the two penalized models have been compared with two widely used multivariate methods, principal component discriminant analysis (PCDA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA). The Elnet model involving a combination of L1 and L2 norm penalties enabled an automatic selection of a small number of informative spectral absorption bands and gave an excellent classification accuracy of 99% for discrimination between spectra of wild-grown and cultivated G. lucidum. Its classification performance was superior to that of the PLDA model in a pure L1 setting and outperformed the PCDA and PLSDA models using full wavelength. The well-performed selection of informative spectral features leads to substantial reduction in model complexity and improvement of classification accuracy, and it is particularly helpful for the quantitative interpretations of the major chemical constituents of G. lucidum regarding its anti-cancer effects.

The "other" side of labor reform: accounts of incarceration and resistance in the Straits Settlements penal system, 1825-1873.

PubMed

Pieris, Anoma

2011-01-01

The rhetoric surrounding the transportation of prisoners to the Straits Settlements and the reformative capacity of the penal labor regime assumed a uniform subject, an impoverished criminal, who could be disciplined and accordingly civilized through labor. Stamford Raffles, as lieutenant governor of Benkulen, believed that upon realizing the advantages of the new colony, criminals would willingly become settlers. These two colonial prerogatives of labor and population categorized transportees into laboring classes where their exploitation supposedly brought mutual benefit. The colonized was collectively homogenized as a class of laborers and evidence to the contrary, of politically challenging and resistant individuals was suppressed. This paper focuses on two prisoners who were incriminated during the anti-colonial rebellions of the mid-nineteenth century and were transported to the Straits Settlements. Nihal Singh, a political prisoner from Lahore, was incarcerated in isolation to prevent his martyrdom and denied the supposed benefits of labor reform. Conversely, Tikiri Banda Dunuwille, a lawyer from Ceylon was sent to labor in Melaka as a form of humiliation. Tikiri’s many schemes to evade labor damned him in the eyes of the authorities. The personal histories of these two individuals expose how colonial penal policy recognized and manipulated individual differences during a time of rising anti-colonial sentiment. The experiences of these prisoners, the response of their communities and the voices of their descendents offer us a very different entry point into colonial penal history.

[Medical legal aspects of the requirement to report noise-induced hearing loss notified to INAIL to the judicial authorities].

PubMed

Salatin, Giuseppina; Mattia, C F; Morganti, M; Motta, Laura

2006-01-01

Law 689/81 redefined how personal lesions could be prosecuted by means of explicit mention of occupational diseases among the type of offences subject to mandatory reporting. The high prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) among occupational diseases has monopolized attention towards identification of a method that can define the penal limits of this occupational disease; however, up to now no single univocal approach exists. For this reason operators in this field are perplexed as to the requirement of reporting judicial authorities (J.A.). On the other hand, the great changes that have occurred in compensation of occupational diseases by INAIL (sentence 179/88 of the Constitutional Court) and the evaluation of the same in terms of biological impairment (Law D.Lgs. 38/00 and Law D.M. 12.7.00) have led to an ample and accurately assessed protection against, work-related hearing loss. From this perspective the authors analysed 52 cases of NIHL reported to INAIL. They compared the assessments made according to Law D.M. 12.7.00 and the guidelines for reporting to the J.A. according to four different methods generally used in the criminal field: Benciolini, Merluzzi, SIMLII guide lines and SIO guidelines. By stressing the need for a preliminary qualitative evaluation of NIHL in the penal report, the authors. restricted the analysis to the quantitative aspect with technically compatible graphs. Processing the data resulting from application of the different methods, led to the assumption that audiometric graphs that showed a percentage of biological impairment according to Law D.M. 12.7.00 higher than 2.40% must always be reported to the JA. For audiometric graphs that show impairment of less than 0.5% recommendations to report tare rather sporadic. For the graphs with intermediate values recommendations to report to the J.A, which are always present in at least one of the methods, are not constant, and in particular there is no linear correlation between the percent grading of biological impairment and the recommendation to report; this is probably due to a difference in concept of the various methods which reflects on the respective scale of values. On the basis of these results the authors suggest that reporting to the judicial authority can be recommended for all those cases whose quantification, according Marello's schedule, is higher than 0.5%, as these cases can, according to the penal code, supplement assessment of impairment.

Gastrin-releasing peptide receptor-induced internalization, down-regulation, desensitization, and growth: possible role for cyclic AMP.

PubMed

Benya, R V; Fathi, Z; Kusui, T; Pradhan, T; Battey, J F; Jensen, R T

1994-08-01

Stimulation of the gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRP-R) in Swiss 3T3 cells resembles that of a number of other recently described G protein-coupled receptors, insofar as both the phospholipase C and adenylyl cyclase signal transduction pathways are activated. GRP-R activation induces numerous alterations in both the cell and the receptor, but because two signal transduction pathways are activated it is difficult to determine the specific contributions of either pathway. We have found that BALB/3T3 fibroblasts transfected with the coding sequence for the GRP-R are pharmacologically indistinguishable from native receptor-expressing cells and activate phospholipase C in a manner similar to that of the native receptor but fail to increase cAMP in response to bombesin; thus, they may be useful cells to explore the role of activation of each pathway in altering cell and receptor function. Swiss 3T3 cells and GRP-R-transfected BALB/3T3 cells expressed identically glycosylated receptors that bound various agonists and antagonists similarly. G protein activation, as determined by evaluation of agonist-induced activation of phospholipase C and by analysis of the effect of guanosine-5'-(beta,gamma-imido)triphosphate on GRP-R binding affinity, was indistinguishable. Agonist stimulation of GRP-R caused similar receptor changes (internalization and down-regulation) and homologous desensitization in both cell types. Bombesin stimulation of Swiss 3T3 cells that had been preincubated with forskolin increased cAMP levels 9-fold, but no bombesin-specific increase in cAMP levels was detected in transfected cells, even though forskolin and cholera toxin increased cAMP levels in these cells. Quiescent Swiss 3T3 cells treated with bombesin rapidly increased c-fos mRNA levels and [3H]thymidine incorporation, whereas both effects were potentiated by forskolin. The specific protein kinase A inhibitor H-89 blocked increases in c-fos levels and [3H]thymidine incorporation induced by low concentrations of bombesin. GRP-R-transfected BALB/3T3 cells increased c-fos mRNA levels and [3H]thymidine incorporation with the addition of serum but not bombesin. These data suggest that bombesin-stimulated increases in cellular levels of cAMP appear not to be an important mediator of GRP-R internalization, down-regulation, or desensitization but do play an important role in bombesin-induced mitogenesis.

7 CFR 58.446 - Quality requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... Monterey (Monterey Jack) Cheese. (d) Swiss cheese, Emmentaler cheese. The quality requirements for Swiss cheese, Emmentaler cheese shall be in accordance with the U.S. Standards for Grades for Swiss Cheese... Products Bearing Usda Official Identification § 58.446 Quality requirements. (a) Cheddar cheese. The...

7 CFR 58.446 - Quality requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... Monterey (Monterey Jack) Cheese. (d) Swiss cheese, Emmentaler cheese. The quality requirements for Swiss cheese, Emmentaler cheese shall be in accordance with the U.S. Standards for Grades for Swiss Cheese... Products Bearing Usda Official Identification § 58.446 Quality requirements. (a) Cheddar cheese. The...

7 CFR 58.446 - Quality requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... Monterey (Monterey Jack) Cheese. (d) Swiss cheese, Emmentaler cheese. The quality requirements for Swiss cheese, Emmentaler cheese shall be in accordance with the U.S. Standards for Grades for Swiss Cheese... Products Bearing Usda Official Identification § 58.446 Quality requirements. (a) Cheddar cheese. The...

7 CFR 58.446 - Quality requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... Monterey (Monterey Jack) Cheese. (d) Swiss cheese, Emmentaler cheese. The quality requirements for Swiss cheese, Emmentaler cheese shall be in accordance with the U.S. Standards for Grades for Swiss Cheese... Products Bearing Usda Official Identification § 58.446 Quality requirements. (a) Cheddar cheese. The...

[Compulsory hospitalizations, which cantonal law does apply? The situation in west Switzerland].

PubMed

Dupont-Willemin, Alexandre

2014-09-17

The Swiss cantons authorize doctors to order compulsory hospitalization for a maximal duration of four to six week. The examination of cantonal proceedings highlights new exceptions to medical confidentiality in respect of the protection authority. The Civil Code (Art. 442) specifies which cantonal laws do apply when the patient lives in another canton. In urgent cases, doctors may order a hospitalization according to their cantonal law or according to the cantonal law of the patient's residence. However, only Berne and Fribourg allow all doctors in Switzerland to hospitalize their residents. If possible the decision should be made according to the law of the canton, where the patient will be hospitalized.

[Penal and non-penal legislative policy in relation to human biotechnology].

PubMed

Romeo Casabona, Carlos María

2007-01-01

The Spanish legislator has introduced a set of legislative novelties in the field of human biotechnology or is about to do so. This will be done either through the reform of some laws or through the approval of new laws, that is, without previous regulatory references available. The greater part of these novelties turn on research with cells or cell lines of human origin, specifically those from human embryos and through the use of diverse techniques, such as reproductive cloning and non-reproductive ('therapeutic') cloning.

7 CFR 58.735 - Quality specifications for raw materials.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... specifications of the finished product. (b) Swiss. Swiss cheese used in the manufacture of pasteurized process... Swiss cheese. (d) Cream cheese, Neufchatel cheese. Mixed with other foods, or used for spreads and dips... Service 1 Requirements for Processed Cheese Products Bearing Usda Official Identification § 58.735 Quality...

Modeling of Helicopter Pilot Misperception During Overland Navigation

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-01

into obstacles in the terrain. The Navy Safety Center has adopted James Reason’s Swiss cheese model for understanding the underlying process that...results in mishaps (Reason, 2000). The Swiss cheese model relates a system to a stack of slices of Swiss cheese . Each slice of cheese is a layer of

7 CFR 58.735 - Quality specifications for raw materials.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... specifications of the finished product. (b) Swiss. Swiss cheese used in the manufacture of pasteurized process... Swiss cheese. (d) Cream cheese, Neufchatel cheese. Mixed with other foods, or used for spreads and dips... Service 1 Requirements for Processed Cheese Products Bearing Usda Official Identification § 58.735 Quality...

7 CFR 58.735 - Quality specifications for raw materials.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... specifications of the finished product. (b) Swiss. Swiss cheese used in the manufacture of pasteurized process... Swiss cheese. (d) Cream cheese, Neufchatel cheese. Mixed with other foods, or used for spreads and dips... Service 1 Requirements for Processed Cheese Products Bearing Usda Official Identification § 58.735 Quality...

Swiss Life Sciences - a science communication project for both schools and the wider public led by the foundation Science et Cité.

PubMed

Röthlisberger, Michael

2012-01-01

The foundation Science et Cité was founded 1998 with the aim to inform the wider Swiss public about current scientific topics and to generate a dialogue between science and society. Initiated as an independent foundation by the former State Secretary for Science and Research, Dr. Charles Kleiber, Science et Cité is now attached to the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences as a competence center for dialogue with the public. Due to its branches in all language regions of the country, the foundation is ideally suited to initiate and implement communication projects on a nationwide scale. These projects are subdivided into three categories: i) science communication for children/adolescents, ii) establishing a dialogue between science and the wider public, and iii) conducting the role of a national center of competence and networking in science communication. Swiss Life Sciences is a project that fits into all of these categories: a year-round program for schools is complemented with an annual event for the wider public. With the involvement of most of the major Swiss universities, the Swiss National Science Foundation, the foundation Gen Suisse and many other partners, Swiss Life Sciences also sets an example of national networking within the science communication community.

[Medicolegal aspects of doping in sports].

PubMed

Pruvost, J; Depiesse, F

2004-08-01

To investigate the medico-legal aspects of national and international procedures for monitoring prescription drug use by competing athletes. We studied the French law No. 99-223 of March 23, 1999, relating to the protection of the health of athletes? We also studied annual statistics from the Ministry of Sports concerning anti-doping controls, substances detected by the National Doping Control Laboratory and penalties applied since 2000, as well as the World Anti-Doping Code, which came into effect on January 1, 2004, and should be universally applied by 2006. Athletes registered with a federation or unregistered athletes taking part in competitions approved by sporting federations can use prescription drugs but must follow strict rules. Athletes under investigation for drug use must declare all drugs or products recently taken. The use of prescription drugs not on the list of the prohibited substances is allowed, but evidence of the use of such drugs is the responsibility of the prescriber. A medical practitioner in France who considers it essential to prescribe prohibited drugs or drugs under certain restrictions must systematically inform the athlete about the regulations by providing various certificates and forms. For international athletes, a form authorizing therapeutic use must be submitted to the validation committee of the applicable international federation. Disciplinary, ordinal and penal sanctions are also described. Prescription drug use by an athlete is never a light matter and always engages the responsibility of the doctor. Anti-doping controls and sanctions encourage physicians to comply scrupulously with the medico-legal rules set forth by the public health code and the world anti-doping code.

Elastic SCAD as a novel penalization method for SVM classification tasks in high-dimensional data.

PubMed

Becker, Natalia; Toedt, Grischa; Lichter, Peter; Benner, Axel

2011-05-09

Classification and variable selection play an important role in knowledge discovery in high-dimensional data. Although Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithms are among the most powerful classification and prediction methods with a wide range of scientific applications, the SVM does not include automatic feature selection and therefore a number of feature selection procedures have been developed. Regularisation approaches extend SVM to a feature selection method in a flexible way using penalty functions like LASSO, SCAD and Elastic Net.We propose a novel penalty function for SVM classification tasks, Elastic SCAD, a combination of SCAD and ridge penalties which overcomes the limitations of each penalty alone.Since SVM models are extremely sensitive to the choice of tuning parameters, we adopted an interval search algorithm, which in comparison to a fixed grid search finds rapidly and more precisely a global optimal solution. Feature selection methods with combined penalties (Elastic Net and Elastic SCAD SVMs) are more robust to a change of the model complexity than methods using single penalties. Our simulation study showed that Elastic SCAD SVM outperformed LASSO (L1) and SCAD SVMs. Moreover, Elastic SCAD SVM provided sparser classifiers in terms of median number of features selected than Elastic Net SVM and often better predicted than Elastic Net in terms of misclassification error.Finally, we applied the penalization methods described above on four publicly available breast cancer data sets. Elastic SCAD SVM was the only method providing robust classifiers in sparse and non-sparse situations. The proposed Elastic SCAD SVM algorithm provides the advantages of the SCAD penalty and at the same time avoids sparsity limitations for non-sparse data. We were first to demonstrate that the integration of the interval search algorithm and penalized SVM classification techniques provides fast solutions on the optimization of tuning parameters.The penalized SVM classification algorithms as well as fixed grid and interval search for finding appropriate tuning parameters were implemented in our freely available R package 'penalizedSVM'.We conclude that the Elastic SCAD SVM is a flexible and robust tool for classification and feature selection tasks for high-dimensional data such as microarray data sets.

Elastic SCAD as a novel penalization method for SVM classification tasks in high-dimensional data

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Classification and variable selection play an important role in knowledge discovery in high-dimensional data. Although Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithms are among the most powerful classification and prediction methods with a wide range of scientific applications, the SVM does not include automatic feature selection and therefore a number of feature selection procedures have been developed. Regularisation approaches extend SVM to a feature selection method in a flexible way using penalty functions like LASSO, SCAD and Elastic Net. We propose a novel penalty function for SVM classification tasks, Elastic SCAD, a combination of SCAD and ridge penalties which overcomes the limitations of each penalty alone. Since SVM models are extremely sensitive to the choice of tuning parameters, we adopted an interval search algorithm, which in comparison to a fixed grid search finds rapidly and more precisely a global optimal solution. Results Feature selection methods with combined penalties (Elastic Net and Elastic SCAD SVMs) are more robust to a change of the model complexity than methods using single penalties. Our simulation study showed that Elastic SCAD SVM outperformed LASSO (L1) and SCAD SVMs. Moreover, Elastic SCAD SVM provided sparser classifiers in terms of median number of features selected than Elastic Net SVM and often better predicted than Elastic Net in terms of misclassification error. Finally, we applied the penalization methods described above on four publicly available breast cancer data sets. Elastic SCAD SVM was the only method providing robust classifiers in sparse and non-sparse situations. Conclusions The proposed Elastic SCAD SVM algorithm provides the advantages of the SCAD penalty and at the same time avoids sparsity limitations for non-sparse data. We were first to demonstrate that the integration of the interval search algorithm and penalized SVM classification techniques provides fast solutions on the optimization of tuning parameters. The penalized SVM classification algorithms as well as fixed grid and interval search for finding appropriate tuning parameters were implemented in our freely available R package 'penalizedSVM'. We conclude that the Elastic SCAD SVM is a flexible and robust tool for classification and feature selection tasks for high-dimensional data such as microarray data sets. PMID:21554689

Cannabis use in a Swiss male prison: qualitative study exploring detainees' and staffs' perspectives.

PubMed

Ritter, Catherine; Broers, Barbara; Elger, Bernice S

2013-11-01

Several studies suggest a high prevalence of cannabis use before and during imprisonment, but subjective perspectives of detainees and staff towards its use in prison are lacking. This issue was explored in the framework of an observational study addressing tobacco use in three Swiss prisons in 2009 and 2010 that involved multiple strands (quantitative and qualitative components). This article presents qualitative data on cannabis use collected in one of the settings. We used in-depth semi-structured interviews with both detainees and staff to explore their attitudes towards cannabis in one post-trial male Swiss prison. We performed specific coding and thematic analysis for cannabis with the support of ATLAS.ti, compared detainees' and staff's opinions, and considered the results with regard to drug policy in prison in general. 58 participants (31 male offenders, mean age 35 years, and 27 prison staff, mean age 46 years, 33% female) were interviewed. Detainees estimated the current use of cannabis use to be as high as 80%, and staff 50%. Participants showed similar opinions on effects of cannabis use that were described both at individual and institutional levels: analgesic, calming, self-help to go through the prison experience, relieve stress, facilitate sleep, prevent violence, and social pacifier. They also mentioned negative consequences of cannabis use (sleepiness, decreased perception of danger and social isolation), and dissatisfaction regarding the ongoing ambiguous situation where cannabis is forbidden but detection in the urine was not sanctioned. However, the introduction of a more restrictive regulation induced fear of violence, increased trafficking and a shift to other drug use. Although illegal, cannabis use is clearly involved in daily life in prison. A clearer and comprehensive policy addressing cannabis is needed, including appropriate measures tailored to individual users. To sustain a calm and safe environment in prison, means other than substance or medication use are required. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Should Lifestyles Be a Criterion for Healthcare Rationing? Evidence from a Portuguese Survey.

PubMed

Borges, Ana Pinto; Pinho, Micaela

2017-11-18

We evaluated whether different personal responsibilities should influence the allocation healthcare resources and whether attitudes toward the penalization of risk behaviours vary among individual's sociodemographic characteristics and health related habits. A cross-sectional study. We developed an online survey and made it available on various social networks for six months, during 2015. The sample covered the population aged 18 yr and older living in Portugal and we got 296 valid answers. Respondents faced four lifestyle choices: smoking, consumption of alcoholic beverages, unhealthy diet and illegal drug use, and should decide whether each one is relevant when establishing healthcare priorities. Logistic regressions were used to explore the relation of respondents' sociodemographic characteristics and health related behaviours in the likelihood of agreeing with the patients engaged in risky behaviour deserve a lower priority. Using illegal drugs was the behaviour most penalized (65.5%) followed by heavy drinkers (61.5%) and smoking (51.0%). The slight penalization was the unhealthy dieting (29.7%). The sociodemographic characteristics had different impact in penalization of the risks' behaviours. Moreover, the respondents who support the idea that unhealthy lifestyles should have a lower priority, all strongly agreed that the smoking habit (OR=36.05; 95% CI: 8.72, 149.12), the unhealthy diets (OR=12.87; 95% CI: 3.21, 51.53), drink alcohol in excess (OR=20.51; 95% CI: 12.09, 85.46) and illegal drug use (OR=73.21; 95% CI: 9.78, 97.83) must have a lower priority in the access to healthcare. The respondents accept the notion of rationing healthcare based on lifestyles.

Penalized discriminant analysis for the detection of wild-grown and cultivated Ganoderma lucidum using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.

PubMed

Zhu, Ying; Tan, Tuck Lee

2016-04-15

An effective and simple analytical method using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to distinguish wild-grown high-quality Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum) from cultivated one is of essential importance for its quality assurance and medicinal value estimation. Commonly used chemical and analytical methods using full spectrum are not so effective for the detection and interpretation due to the complex system of the herbal medicine. In this study, two penalized discriminant analysis models, penalized linear discriminant analysis (PLDA) and elastic net (Elnet),using FTIR spectroscopy have been explored for the purpose of discrimination and interpretation. The classification performances of the two penalized models have been compared with two widely used multivariate methods, principal component discriminant analysis (PCDA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA). The Elnet model involving a combination of L1 and L2 norm penalties enabled an automatic selection of a small number of informative spectral absorption bands and gave an excellent classification accuracy of 99% for discrimination between spectra of wild-grown and cultivated G. lucidum. Its classification performance was superior to that of the PLDA model in a pure L1 setting and outperformed the PCDA and PLSDA models using full wavelength. The well-performed selection of informative spectral features leads to substantial reduction in model complexity and improvement of classification accuracy, and it is particularly helpful for the quantitative interpretations of the major chemical constituents of G. lucidum regarding its anti-cancer effects. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Folded concave penalized learning in identifying multimodal MRI marker for Parkinson’s disease

PubMed Central

Liu, Hongcheng; Du, Guangwei; Zhang, Lijun; Lewis, Mechelle M.; Wang, Xue; Yao, Tao; Li, Runze; Huang, Xuemei

2016-01-01

Background Brain MRI holds promise to gauge different aspects of Parkinson’s disease (PD)-related pathological changes. Its analysis, however, is hindered by the high-dimensional nature of the data. New method This study introduces folded concave penalized (FCP) sparse logistic regression to identify biomarkers for PD from a large number of potential factors. The proposed statistical procedures target the challenges of high-dimensionality with limited data samples acquired. The maximization problem associated with the sparse logistic regression model is solved by local linear approximation. The proposed procedures then are applied to the empirical analysis of multimodal MRI data. Results From 45 features, the proposed approach identified 15 MRI markers and the UPSIT, which are known to be clinically relevant to PD. By combining the MRI and clinical markers, we can enhance substantially the specificity and sensitivity of the model, as indicated by the ROC curves. Comparison to existing methods We compare the folded concave penalized learning scheme with both the Lasso penalized scheme and the principle component analysis-based feature selection (PCA) in the Parkinson’s biomarker identification problem that takes into account both the clinical features and MRI markers. The folded concave penalty method demonstrates a substantially better clinical potential than both the Lasso and PCA in terms of specificity and sensitivity. Conclusions For the first time, we applied the FCP learning method to MRI biomarker discovery in PD. The proposed approach successfully identified MRI markers that are clinically relevant. Combining these biomarkers with clinical features can substantially enhance performance. PMID:27102045

MitoNuc: a database of nuclear genes coding for mitochondrial proteins. Update 2002.

PubMed

Attimonelli, Marcella; Catalano, Domenico; Gissi, Carmela; Grillo, Giorgio; Licciulli, Flavio; Liuni, Sabino; Santamaria, Monica; Pesole, Graziano; Saccone, Cecilia

2002-01-01

Mitochondria, besides their central role in energy metabolism, have recently been found to be involved in a number of basic processes of cell life and to contribute to the pathogenesis of many degenerative diseases. All functions of mitochondria depend on the interaction of nuclear and organelle genomes. Mitochondrial genomes have been extensively sequenced and analysed and data have been collected in several specialised databases. In order to collect information on nuclear coded mitochondrial proteins we developed MitoNuc, a database containing detailed information on sequenced nuclear genes coding for mitochondrial proteins in Metazoa. The MitoNuc database can be retrieved through SRS and is available via the web site http://bighost.area.ba.cnr.it/mitochondriome where other mitochondrial databases developed by our group, the complete list of the sequenced mitochondrial genomes, links to other mitochondrial sites and related information, are available. The MitoAln database, related to MitoNuc in the previous release, reporting the multiple alignments of the relevant homologous protein coding regions, is no longer supported in the present release. In order to keep the links among entries in MitoNuc from homologous proteins, a new field in the database has been defined: the cluster identifier, an alpha numeric code used to identify each cluster of homologous proteins. A comment field derived from the corresponding SWISS-PROT entry has been introduced; this reports clinical data related to dysfunction of the protein. The logic scheme of MitoNuc database has been implemented in the ORACLE DBMS. This will allow the end-users to retrieve data through a friendly interface that will be soon implemented.

The Concept of English Philologists' Training at Swiss Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zasluzhena, Alla

2016-01-01

The issue of plurilingual approach usage to the study of foreign languages has been made actual on case study of Swiss universities. Basic concepts of English philologists' formation at Swiss universities have been determined. These components have been analyzed with relation to their relevance to the prospective philologist in English Linguistics…

Silviculture and Swiss needle cast: research and recommendations.

Treesearch

Gregory M. Filip; A. Kanaskie; K. Kavanagh; G. Johnson; R. Johnson; D. Maguire

2000-01-01

For the past ten years, Douglas-fir on the Oregon and Washington coast has shown a progressive decrease in height and diameter increment as a result of Swiss needle cast, which is caused by Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii. In this contribution, we discuss the effects of silvicultural operations on Swiss needle cast and recommend specific actions to...

77 FR 15417 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; International Securities Exchange, LLC; Notice of Filing of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-15

... Corporate Transaction in Which Its Indirect Parent, SIX Swiss Exchange AG, Will Transfer Its Indirect Ownership Interest in ISE Holdings, Inc. to a Newly Formed Swiss Corporation, Eurex Global Derivatives AG...) make changes to its corporate structure in connection with the transfer of SIX Swiss Exchange AG's...

77 FR 15413 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; EDGA Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-15

... Corporate Transaction in Which Its Indirect Parent, SIX Swiss Exchange AG, Will Transfer Its Indirect Ownership Interest in ISE Holdings, Inc. to a Newly Formed Swiss Corporation, Eurex Global Derivatives AG... its corporate structure in connection with the transfer of SIX Swiss Exchange AG's (``SIX'') 50...

77 FR 15422 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-15

... Corporate Transaction in Which Its Indirect Parent, SIX Swiss Exchange AG, Will Transfer Its Indirect Ownership Interest in ISE Holdings, Inc. to a Newly Formed Swiss Corporation, Eurex Global Derivatives AG... its corporate structure in connection with the transfer of SIX Swiss Exchange AG's (``SIX'') 50...

Evaluating penalized logistic regression models to predict Heat-Related Electric grid stress days

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

Bramer, L. M.; Rounds, J.; Burleyson, C. D.

Understanding the conditions associated with stress on the electricity grid is important in the development of contingency plans for maintaining reliability during periods when the grid is stressed. In this paper, heat-related grid stress and the relationship with weather conditions is examined using data from the eastern United States. Penalized logistic regression models were developed and applied to predict stress on the electric grid using weather data. The inclusion of other weather variables, such as precipitation, in addition to temperature improved model performance. Several candidate models and datasets were examined. A penalized logistic regression model fit at the operation-zone levelmore » was found to provide predictive value and interpretability. Additionally, the importance of different weather variables observed at different time scales were examined. Maximum temperature and precipitation were identified as important across all zones while the importance of other weather variables was zone specific. The methods presented in this work are extensible to other regions and can be used to aid in planning and development of the electrical grid.« less

Evaluating penalized logistic regression models to predict Heat-Related Electric grid stress days

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

Bramer, Lisa M.; Rounds, J.; Burleyson, C. D.

Understanding the conditions associated with stress on the electricity grid is important in the development of contingency plans for maintaining reliability during periods when the grid is stressed. In this paper, heat-related grid stress and the relationship with weather conditions were examined using data from the eastern United States. Penalized logistic regression models were developed and applied to predict stress on the electric grid using weather data. The inclusion of other weather variables, such as precipitation, in addition to temperature improved model performance. Several candidate models and combinations of predictive variables were examined. A penalized logistic regression model which wasmore » fit at the operation-zone level was found to provide predictive value and interpretability. Additionally, the importance of different weather variables observed at various time scales were examined. Maximum temperature and precipitation were identified as important across all zones while the importance of other weather variables was zone specific. In conclusion, the methods presented in this work are extensible to other regions and can be used to aid in planning and development of the electrical grid.« less

A Selective Overview of Variable Selection in High Dimensional Feature Space

PubMed Central

Fan, Jianqing

2010-01-01

High dimensional statistical problems arise from diverse fields of scientific research and technological development. Variable selection plays a pivotal role in contemporary statistical learning and scientific discoveries. The traditional idea of best subset selection methods, which can be regarded as a specific form of penalized likelihood, is computationally too expensive for many modern statistical applications. Other forms of penalized likelihood methods have been successfully developed over the last decade to cope with high dimensionality. They have been widely applied for simultaneously selecting important variables and estimating their effects in high dimensional statistical inference. In this article, we present a brief account of the recent developments of theory, methods, and implementations for high dimensional variable selection. What limits of the dimensionality such methods can handle, what the role of penalty functions is, and what the statistical properties are rapidly drive the advances of the field. The properties of non-concave penalized likelihood and its roles in high dimensional statistical modeling are emphasized. We also review some recent advances in ultra-high dimensional variable selection, with emphasis on independence screening and two-scale methods. PMID:21572976

Orthogonalizing EM: A design-based least squares algorithm

PubMed Central

Xiong, Shifeng; Dai, Bin; Huling, Jared; Qian, Peter Z. G.

2016-01-01

We introduce an efficient iterative algorithm, intended for various least squares problems, based on a design of experiments perspective. The algorithm, called orthogonalizing EM (OEM), works for ordinary least squares and can be easily extended to penalized least squares. The main idea of the procedure is to orthogonalize a design matrix by adding new rows and then solve the original problem by embedding the augmented design in a missing data framework. We establish several attractive theoretical properties concerning OEM. For the ordinary least squares with a singular regression matrix, an OEM sequence converges to the Moore-Penrose generalized inverse-based least squares estimator. For ordinary and penalized least squares with various penalties, it converges to a point having grouping coherence for fully aliased regression matrices. Convergence and the convergence rate of the algorithm are examined. Finally, we demonstrate that OEM is highly efficient for large-scale least squares and penalized least squares problems, and is considerably faster than competing methods when n is much larger than p. Supplementary materials for this article are available online. PMID:27499558

Evaluating penalized logistic regression models to predict Heat-Related Electric grid stress days

DOE PAGES

Bramer, Lisa M.; Rounds, J.; Burleyson, C. D.; ...

2017-09-22

Understanding the conditions associated with stress on the electricity grid is important in the development of contingency plans for maintaining reliability during periods when the grid is stressed. In this paper, heat-related grid stress and the relationship with weather conditions were examined using data from the eastern United States. Penalized logistic regression models were developed and applied to predict stress on the electric grid using weather data. The inclusion of other weather variables, such as precipitation, in addition to temperature improved model performance. Several candidate models and combinations of predictive variables were examined. A penalized logistic regression model which wasmore » fit at the operation-zone level was found to provide predictive value and interpretability. Additionally, the importance of different weather variables observed at various time scales were examined. Maximum temperature and precipitation were identified as important across all zones while the importance of other weather variables was zone specific. In conclusion, the methods presented in this work are extensible to other regions and can be used to aid in planning and development of the electrical grid.« less

Transcatheter renal denervation for the treatment of resistant arterial hypertension: the Swiss expert consensus.

PubMed

Wuerzner, Gregoire; Muller, Olivier; Erne, Paul; Cook, Stéphane; Sudano, Isabella; Lüscher, Thomas F; Noll, Georg; Kaufmann, Urs; Rickli, Hans; Waeber, Bernard; Kaiser, Christophe; Sticherling, Christian; Pechère-Bertschi, Antoinette; Baumgartner, Iris; Jacob, Augustinus L; Burnier, Michel; Qanadli, Salah D

2014-03-20

Transcatheter (or percutaneous) renal denervation is a novel technique developed for the treatment of resistant hypertension. So far, only one randomised controlled trial has been published, which has shown a reduction of office blood pressure. The Swiss Society of Hypertension, the Swiss Society of Cardiology, The Swiss Society of Angiology and the Swiss Society of Interventional Radiology decided to establish recommendations to practicing physicians and specialists for good clinical practice. The eligibility of patients for transcatheter renal denervation needs (1.) confirmation of truly resistant hypertension, (2.) exclusion of secondary forms of hypertension, (3.) a multidisciplinary decision confirming the eligibility, (4.) facilities that guarantee procedural safety and (5.) a long-term follow-up of the patients, if possible in cooperation with a hypertension specialist. These steps are essential until long-term data on safety and efficacy are available.

The Swiss regulatory framework for paediatric health research.

PubMed

Junod, Valerie

2008-07-01

Medical research on minors entails both risks and benefits. Under Swiss law, clinical trials on children, including nontherapeutic drug trials, are permissible. However, ethics committees must systematically verify that all clinical studies have a favorable risk-benefit profile. Additional safeguards are designed to ensure that children are not unnecessarily involved in research and that proper consent is always obtained. Federal Swiss law is undergoing revision to extend these protections beyond clinical trials to a broad array of health research. The Swiss drug agency also seeks to improve the incentives for pharmaceutical firms to develop new paediatric drugs and relevant paediatric drug labels.

State-of-the-art in biosafety and biosecurity in European countries.

PubMed

Bielecka, Anna; Mohammadi, Ali Akbar

2014-06-01

The terms biosafety and biosecurity are widely used in different concepts and refer not only to protection of human beings and their surrounding environment against hazardous biological agent, but also to global disarmament of weapons of mass destruction. As a result, the biosafety and biosecurity issues should be considered interdisciplinary based on multilateral agreements against proliferation of biological weapons, public health and environmental protection. This publication presents information on both, international and national biosafety and biosecurity legislation. Status of national implementation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, penalization issues and measures to account for and secure production, use, storage of particularly dangerous pathogens or activities involving humans, plants and animals where infection may pose a risk have been analyzed. Safety and security measures in laboratories have been studied. Moreover, dual-use technology and measures of secure transport of biohazard materials have been also taken into account. In addition, genetic engineering regulations, biosecurity activities in laboratories and code of conducts have been investigated, as well.

[Possibilities of medical opinionating in cases associated with "exposure to direct danger of death or serious health damage"].

PubMed

Konopka, Tomasz; Skupień, Elzbieta

2008-01-01

In the opinion of some forensic medicine experts, assessment of potential consequences in keeping with Article 160 of the Polish Penal code, which refers to the crime of "exposure to direct danger of death or severe health damage", lies within the competence of medicolegal specialists. This view is accepted by courts and prosecution offices. However, the knowledge of physicians in the field of predicting consequences which did not occur is only somewhat better than that of lawyers. In simple cases, e.g. in trauma involving a sensitive area of the body, passing an opinion confirming a serious danger is not associated with any major problems. Similarly, no problems arise when passing an opinion on the lack of such a danger e.g. in the case of traumawithout any injuries. In complex cases, however, which include the majority of medical error cases, passing an opinion on exposure to direct danger of death or severe health damage may be not feasible.

[The discussion on induced abortion in the Brazilian Congress: the role of the women's movement

PubMed

Hardy; Rebello

1996-04-01

Induced abortion has been discussed in Brazil for many years without producing changes in the Penal Code in force since 1940 and according to which it is illegal and a crime against life. There are only two circumstances in which induced abortion is allowed: when there is no other recourse for saving the pregnant woman' life, and when the pregnancy resulted from rape and the abortion is preceded by the woman's informed consent. The purpose of this article is to show how the abortion problem has been dealt with under executive and legislative policies, focusing especially on discussion in Congress considering the role of organized women's groups. The study focuses on the legislative debate on induced abortion and how it was preceded, accompanied, and followed by actions by the women's groups. Other political and social actors involved in the debate, such as the Catholic Church, sectors of the medical community, and protestant religions are mentioned.

Brief notes on the portuguese criminal regime of homicide upon request of the victim and physician assisted suicide.

PubMed

Moreira, Sara Leitão

2013-12-01

Society is changing at an unprecedented rate. Several areas of knowledge are evolving on a daily basis, namely medicine and connected sciences. Hence it is needed that the legislator walks at least right behind this evolution, in order not to be considered retrograde. One of the areas that need the constant attention of the legislator is medicine, as far as prolonging life is considered. We have witnessed several cases along the decades of people who are not living a long and healthy life, but rather just a long life, with little quality in it. Therefore, it is also known that issues such as euthanasia have been discussed at several levels. Criminal law, in most countries, namely in Portugal, does not admit any type of euthanasia. We will briefly analyse the two Articles in the Portuguese Penal Code concerning this matter, in order to come to the conclusion of its pertinence and adequacy to today's society.

Old age as an "alternative" to illness: gerontological and medico-legal aspects.

PubMed

Molinelli, Andrea; Viale, Laura; Landolfa, Maria Celeste; De Stefano, Francesco

2011-04-01

The current trend toward an ever increasing aging population forces society to face the problem of how to care for elderly people who are exposed to the risk of so-called "elder abuse," a phenomenon becoming increasingly widespread in Italy, as legislation does not provide a precise juridical definition of "elderly" nor does it provide for their specific protection. From a geriatric and medico-legal point of view, it is difficult to assess the cognitive performance of elderly individuals due to a number of factors, including the lack of evaluation tools with well-defined reference parameters for assessing decision-making capacities. Nonetheless, according to Italian penal code, abandoning a person incapable of self-support due to old age is considered a violation of the obligation of family assistance. Just as in the USA, which has instituted the Adult Protective Services, the Authors propose that the local health authorities provide help desks for the victims of elder abuse in Italy.

Intervention of the hospital midwife in the case of a pregnant women who had undergone female genital mutilation. A case study.

PubMed

Díaz-Jiménez, Désirée; Rodríguez-Villalón, Marta; Moreno-Dueñas, María Begoña

Female genital mutilation, condemned by all UN member countries has spread throughout the world as a result of migratory flows and is practiced under the guise of a custom, tradition or culture. In Spain, it is punishable as a personal injury offence under the current penal code. A clinical case study reviewedthe main actions of the midwife in this kind of injury in a pregnant woman during labour. The data collected from the physical examination and the midwife's assessment according to the Virginia Henderson model are presented and a complete care plan developed. From the case it can be concluded that in the hospital area, midwives can and should reinforce and complete the work with these women and their families, of informing, educating and reinforcing the decision not to mutilate. This work should have been started in, the health centre. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

[Bioethics in Peru].

PubMed

Zuloaga, R L

1990-01-01

Bioethics has still not acquired an identity of its own in Peru. The Ethics Committee of the Peruvian Medical School and the National AIDS Commission are review committees that deal with ethical problems arising in practice. Doubts regarding quality control of the drugs being tested have been raised in research on human subjects. Questions related to reproduction are very important. There is a high incidence of adolescent pregnancies, and illegal abortions result in many deaths and hospitalizations of women in serious condition. Birth control methods, such as vasectomy, conflict with attitudes about manhood in Peruvian society. Euthanasia is prohibited by the Ethical Code of the Peruvian Medical School, and legislation penalizes assisted suicide. Organ transplantation is hindered by concerns over early declaration of death. Handicapped children are often rejected by society owing to an absurd belief in the possibility that disorders such as Down's syndrome are contagious. The Ministry of Health requires state hospitals to accept AIDS patients, but instances of rejection are still reported.

Regulation of sexuality in Indonesian discourse: normative gender, criminal law and shifting strategies of control.

PubMed

Blackwood, Evelyn

2007-01-01

This paper examines changes in the regulation of sexuality in Indonesia in the period since 1980 as seen through state, religious and lesbian and gay activist discourses on sexuality. Three different eras during that period of Indonesian history are compared. Under the New Order regime of Suharto, the Indonesian state sought to control sexuality through a deployment of gender. During the 1990s, state Islamic discourses of sexuality shifted in response to international pressures to support same-sex marriage and sexual rights. During the third period following the end of the Suharto regime in 1998, a conservative Islamic minority pushed for more restrictive laws in the State Penal Code, initiating intense public debate on the role of the state in questions of sexuality and morality. Over this time period, the dominant discourse on sexuality moved from strategically linking normative gender with heterosexuality and marriage to direct attempts to legislate heterosexual marriage by criminalizing a wide range of sexual practices.

Limited utility of residue masking for positive-selection inference.

PubMed

Spielman, Stephanie J; Dawson, Eric T; Wilke, Claus O

2014-09-01

Errors in multiple sequence alignments (MSAs) can reduce accuracy in positive-selection inference. Therefore, it has been suggested to filter MSAs before conducting further analyses. One widely used filter, Guidance, allows users to remove MSA positions aligned with low confidence. However, Guidance's utility in positive-selection inference has been disputed in the literature. We have conducted an extensive simulation-based study to characterize fully how Guidance impacts positive-selection inference, specifically for protein-coding sequences of realistic divergence levels. We also investigated whether novel scoring algorithms, which phylogenetically corrected confidence scores, and a new gap-penalization score-normalization scheme improved Guidance's performance. We found that no filter, including original Guidance, consistently benefitted positive-selection inferences. Moreover, all improvements detected were exceedingly minimal, and in certain circumstances, Guidance-based filters worsened inferences. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

THE DiskMass SURVEY. III. STELLAR KINEMATICS VIA CROSS-CORRELATION

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

Westfall, Kyle B.; Bershady, Matthew A.; Verheijen, Marc A. W., E-mail: westfall@astro.rug.nl, E-mail: mab@astro.wisc.edu, E-mail: verheyen@astro.rug.nl

2011-03-15

We describe a new cross-correlation (CC) approach used by our survey to derive stellar kinematics from galaxy-continuum spectroscopy. This approach adopts the formal error analysis derived by Statler, but properly handles spectral masks. Thus, we address the primary concerns regarding application of the CC method to censored data, while maintaining its primary advantage by consolidating kinematic and template-mismatch information toward different regions of the CC function. We identify a systematic error in the nominal CC method of approximately 10% in velocity dispersion incurred by a mistreatment of detector-censored data, which is eliminated by our new method. We derive our approachmore » from first principles, and we use Monte Carlo simulations to demonstrate its efficacy. An identical set of Monte Carlo simulations performed using the well-established penalized-pixel-fitting code of Cappellari and Emsellem compares favorably with the results from our newly implemented software. Finally, we provide a practical demonstration of this software by extracting stellar kinematics from SparsePak spectra of UGC 6918.« less

A 2-step penalized regression method for family-based next-generation sequencing association studies.

PubMed

Ding, Xiuhua; Su, Shaoyong; Nandakumar, Kannabiran; Wang, Xiaoling; Fardo, David W

2014-01-01

Large-scale genetic studies are often composed of related participants, and utilizing familial relationships can be cumbersome and computationally challenging. We present an approach to efficiently handle sequencing data from complex pedigrees that incorporates information from rare variants as well as common variants. Our method employs a 2-step procedure that sequentially regresses out correlation from familial relatedness and then uses the resulting phenotypic residuals in a penalized regression framework to test for associations with variants within genetic units. The operating characteristics of this approach are detailed using simulation data based on a large, multigenerational cohort.

Tools for the Classroom. Gruezi Miteinand! A Focus on Swiss-German Culture and Language Online.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moehle-Vieregge, Linda

1999-01-01

Swiss-German language and culture rarely form the core focus in basic German language instruction. This article examines Swiss-German culture, focusing on geography and history, language, sports, world organizations, legendary figures, literature, music, art, holidays, and food. It points out online resources that touch upon aspects of Swiss…

77 FR 24752 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; EDGA Exchange, Inc.; EDGX Exchange, Inc.; International Securities...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-25

... Transaction in Which SIX Swiss Exchange AG Will Transfer Its Interest in ISE Holdings, Inc. to a Newly Formed Swiss Corporation, Eurex Global Derivatives AG April 19, 2012. I. Introduction On March 8, 2012, each of... which SIX Swiss Exchange AG (``SIX'') will transfer its 50% indirect ownership interest of International...

Electromyographic analysis of upper body, lower body, and abdominal muscles during advanced Swiss ball exercises.

PubMed

Marshall, Paul W M; Desai, Imtiaz

2010-06-01

Although there is now some evidence examining the use of a Swiss ball during core stability and resistance exercises, this has commonly been performed using basic or isometric exercises. There is currently no evidence examining more advanced Swiss ball exercises. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not muscle activity measured during advanced Swiss ball exercises was at an approximate intensity recommended for strength or endurance training in advanced, or novice individuals. After a familiarization session, 14 recreationally active subjects performed 6 different "advanced" Swiss ball exercises in a randomized order. The primary dependent variables in this study were the activity levels collected from anterior deltoid, pectoralis major, rectus abdominis (RA), external obliques, lumbar erector spinae, vastus lateralis (VL), and biceps femoris using surface electromyography. All signals were normalized to maximal voluntary isometric contractions performed before testing for each muscle. The results of this study showed that the Swiss ball roll elicited muscle activity in triceps brachii (72.5+/-32.4%) and VL (83.6+/-44.2%) commensurate with the intensity recommended for strength exercises in advanced trainers. Rectus abdominis activity was greatest during the bridge exercise (61.3+/-28.5%, p

1H, 13C, and 15N resonance assignments for the protein coded by gene locus BB0938 of Bordetella bronchiseptica

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

Rossi, Paolo; Ramelot, Theresa A.; Xiao, Rong

2005-11-01

The product of gene locus BB0938 from Bordetella bronchiseptica (Swiss-Prot ID: Q7WNU7-BORBR; NESG target ID: BoR11; Wunderlich et al., 2004; Pfam ID: PF03476) is a 128-residue protein of unknown function. This broadly conserved protein family is found in eubacteria and eukaryotes. Using triple resonance NMR techniques, we have determined 98% of backbone and 94% of side chain 1H, 13C, and 15N resonance assignments. The chemical shift and 3J(HN?Ha) scalar coupling data reveal a b topology with a seven-residue helical insert, ??????????. BMRB deposit with accession number 6693. Reference: Wunderlich et al. (2004) Proteins, 56, 181?187.

Towards a Certified Lightweight Array Bound Checker for Java Bytecode

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pichardie, David

2009-01-01

Dynamic array bound checks are crucial elements for the security of a Java Virtual Machines. These dynamic checks are however expensive and several static analysis techniques have been proposed to eliminate explicit bounds checks. Such analyses require advanced numerical and symbolic manipulations that 1) penalize bytecode loading or dynamic compilation, 2) complexify the trusted computing base. Following the Foundational Proof Carrying Code methodology, our goal is to provide a lightweight bytecode verifier for eliminating array bound checks that is both efficient and trustable. In this work, we define a generic relational program analysis for an imperative, stackoriented byte code language with procedures, arrays and global variables and instantiate it with a relational abstract domain as polyhedra. The analysis has automatic inference of loop invariants and method pre-/post-conditions, and efficient checking of analysis results by a simple checker. Invariants, which can be large, can be specialized for proving a safety policy using an automatic pruning technique which reduces their size. The result of the analysis can be checked efficiently by annotating the program with parts of the invariant together with certificates of polyhedral inclusions. The resulting checker is sufficiently simple to be entirely certified within the Coq proof assistant for a simple fragment of the Java bytecode language. During the talk, we will also report on our ongoing effort to scale this approach for the full sequential JVM.

Comparison of Turkish Injury Scale (TIS) with the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS).

PubMed

Günay, Yasemin; Yavuz, M Fatih; Eşiyok, Burcu

2003-03-12

According to the Turkish Penal Code, Section 456, an assailant is punished in a correlation to the severity of the victim's injury. In this study, the injury scale used in Turkey in the basis code 456 is compared with Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS). For this aim, a total of 984 cases out of the total amount reported at the Traumatology Section of the Turkish Council for Forensic Medicine were randomly selected and evaluated retrospectively. In all, 40.7% of injuries were caused by blunt trauma, whereas 59.3% were caused by a penetrating trauma. According to the Turkish Injury Scale (TIS), 40.3% of the cases were scored to be of a first degree of injury, 15.6% as second degree and 44.1% as third degree. When compared, the score points 3, 4 and 5 in the AIS were seen to be nearly equivalent to the TIS of third degree. From this point of view, in the modified AIS 91.1% of first degree of injury, 51.2% of second degree and 97.2% of third degree of injury are harmonious with TIS. Generally, 83.2% of the cases are harmonious with the AIS system. The purpose of this study is to determine what was the source of differences and to focus on particular traumatic lesions in order to determine a possible rearrangement of the Turkish Injury Scale.

Trunk muscle activity during bridging exercises on and off a Swissball

PubMed Central

Lehman, Gregory J; Hoda, Wajid; Oliver, Steven

2005-01-01

Background A Swiss ball is often incorporated into trunk strengthening programs for injury rehabilitation and performance conditioning. It is often assumed that the use of a Swiss ball increases trunk muscle activity. The aim of this study was to determine whether the addition of a Swiss ball to trunk bridging exercises influences trunk muscle activity. Methods Surface electrodes recorded the myoelectric activity of trunk muscles during bridging exercises. Bridging exercises were performed on the floor as well as on a labile surface (Swiss ball). Results and Discussion During the prone bridge the addition of an exercise ball resulted in increased myoelectric activity in the rectus abdominis and external oblique. The internal oblique and erector spinae were not influenced. The addition of a swiss ball during supine bridging did not influence trunk muscle activity for any muscles studied. Conclusion The addition of a Swiss ball is capable of influencing trunk muscle activity in the rectus abdominis and external oblique musculature during prone bridge exercises. Modifying common bridging exercises can influence the amount of trunk muscle activity, suggesting that exercise routines can be designed to maximize or minimize trunk muscle exertion depending on the needs of the exercise population. PMID:16053529

Population structure and genomic inbreeding in nine Swiss dairy cattle populations.

PubMed

Signer-Hasler, Heidi; Burren, Alexander; Neuditschko, Markus; Frischknecht, Mirjam; Garrick, Dorian; Stricker, Christian; Gredler, Birgit; Bapst, Beat; Flury, Christine

2017-11-07

Domestication, breed formation and intensive selection have resulted in divergent cattle breeds that likely exhibit their own genomic signatures. In this study, we used genotypes from 27,612 autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms to characterize population structure based on 9214 sires representing nine Swiss dairy cattle populations: Brown Swiss (BS), Braunvieh (BV), Original Braunvieh (OB), Holstein (HO), Red Holstein (RH), Swiss Fleckvieh (SF), Simmental (SI), Eringer (ER) and Evolèner (EV). Genomic inbreeding (F ROH ) and signatures of selection were determined by calculating runs of homozygosity (ROH). The results build the basis for a better understanding of the genetic development of Swiss dairy cattle populations and highlight differences between the original populations (i.e. OB, SI, ER and EV) and those that have become more popular in Switzerland as currently reflected by their larger populations (i.e. BS, BV, HO, RH and SF). The levels of genetic diversity were highest and lowest in the SF and BS breeds, respectively. Based on F ST values, we conclude that, among all pairwise comparisons, BS and HO (0.156) differ more than the other pairs of populations. The original Swiss cattle populations OB, SI, ER, and EV are clearly genetically separated from the Swiss cattle populations that are now more common and represented by larger numbers of cows. Mean levels of F ROH ranged from 0.027 (ER) to 0.091 (BS). Three of the original Swiss cattle populations, ER (F ROH : 0.027), OB (F ROH : 0.029), and SI (F ROH : 0.039), showed low levels of genomic inbreeding, whereas it was much higher in EV (F ROH : 0.074). Private signatures of selection for the original Swiss cattle populations are reported for BTA4, 5, 11 and 26. The low levels of genomic inbreeding observed in the original Swiss cattle populations ER, OB and SI compared to the other breeds are explained by a lesser use of artificial insemination and greater use of natural service. Natural service results in more sires having progeny at each generation and thus this breeding practice is likely the major reason for the remarkable levels of genetic diversity retained within these populations. The fact that the EV population is regionally restricted and its small census size of herd-book cows explain its high level of genomic inbreeding.

The geology of the Penal/Barrackpore field, onshore Trinidad

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

Dyer, B.L.

1991-03-01

The Penal/Barrackpore field was discovered in 1938 and is located in the southern subbasin of onshore Trinidad. It is one of a series of northeast-southwest trending en echelon middle Miocene anticlinal structures that was later accentuated by late Pliocene transpressional folding. The middle Miocene Herrera and Karamat turbiditic sandstones are the primary reservoir rock in the subsurface anticline of the Penal/Barrackpore field. These turbidites were sourced from the north and deposited within the marls and clays of the Cipero Formation. The Karamat sandstones are followed in vertical stratigraphic succession by the shales and boulder beds of the Lengua formation, themore » turbidites and deltaics of the lower and middle Cruse, and the deltaics of the upper Cruse, the Forest, and the Morne L'Enfer formations. Relative movement of the South American and Caribbean plates climaxed in the middle Miocene compressive tectonic event and produced an imbricate pattern of southward-facing basement-involved thrusts. The Pliocene deltaics were sourced by erosion of Miocene highs to the north and the South American landmass to the south. These deltaics exhibit onlap onto the preexisting Miocene highs. The late Pliocene transpression also coincides with the onset of oil migration along faults, diapirs, and unconformities from the Cretaceous Naparima Hill source. The Lengua Formation and the upper Forest clays are considered effect seals. Hydrocarbon trapping is structurally and stratigraphically controlled, with structure being the dominant trapping mechanism. Ultimate recoverable reserves for the Penal/Barrackpore field are estimated at 127.9 MMBO and 628.8 bcf. The field is presently owned and operated by the Trinidad and Tobago Oil Company Limited (TRINTOC).« less

The SwissLipids knowledgebase for lipid biology

PubMed Central

Liechti, Robin; Hyka-Nouspikel, Nevila; Niknejad, Anne; Gleizes, Anne; Götz, Lou; Kuznetsov, Dmitry; David, Fabrice P.A.; van der Goot, F. Gisou; Riezman, Howard; Bougueleret, Lydie; Xenarios, Ioannis; Bridge, Alan

2015-01-01

Motivation: Lipids are a large and diverse group of biological molecules with roles in membrane formation, energy storage and signaling. Cellular lipidomes may contain tens of thousands of structures, a staggering degree of complexity whose significance is not yet fully understood. High-throughput mass spectrometry-based platforms provide a means to study this complexity, but the interpretation of lipidomic data and its integration with prior knowledge of lipid biology suffers from a lack of appropriate tools to manage the data and extract knowledge from it. Results: To facilitate the description and exploration of lipidomic data and its integration with prior biological knowledge, we have developed a knowledge resource for lipids and their biology—SwissLipids. SwissLipids provides curated knowledge of lipid structures and metabolism which is used to generate an in silico library of feasible lipid structures. These are arranged in a hierarchical classification that links mass spectrometry analytical outputs to all possible lipid structures, metabolic reactions and enzymes. SwissLipids provides a reference namespace for lipidomic data publication, data exploration and hypothesis generation. The current version of SwissLipids includes over 244 000 known and theoretically possible lipid structures, over 800 proteins, and curated links to published knowledge from over 620 peer-reviewed publications. We are continually updating the SwissLipids hierarchy with new lipid categories and new expert curated knowledge. Availability: SwissLipids is freely available at http://www.swisslipids.org/. Contact: alan.bridge@isb-sib.ch Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:25943471

Swiss Strategic Communication in the Defense Sector and Its Implications for Swiss Security Policy

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-12-01

rejected because of its projected higher costs compared to buying the fighter jets.392 Through a public -private partnership, the needed Gripens would...necessary military strategies, overall efficiency and coherence can be augmented to the benefit of national security, the public finances, and the...NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited. SWISS STRATEGIC

High-Fidelity Real-Time Simulation on Deployed Platforms

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-08-26

three–dimensional transient heat conduction “ Swiss Cheese ” problem; and a three–dimensional unsteady incompressible Navier- Stokes low–Reynolds–number...our approach with three examples: a two?dimensional Helmholtz acoustics ?horn? problem; a three?dimensional transient heat conduction ? Swiss Cheese ...solutions; a transient lin- ear heat conduction problem in a three–dimensional “ Swiss Cheese ” configuration Ω — to illustrate treat- ment of many

78 FR 69640 - Notice of Decision To Authorize the Importation of Swiss Chard From Colombia Into the Continental...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-20

... States of Swiss chard from Colombia. Based on the findings of a pest risk analysis, which we made..., based on the findings of a pest risk analysis (PRA), can be safely imported subject to one or more of... introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds via the importation of Swiss chard from Colombia...

78 FR 40688 - Notice of Availability of a Pest Risk Analysis for the Importation of Swiss Chard From Colombia...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-08

...] Notice of Availability of a Pest Risk Analysis for the Importation of Swiss Chard From Colombia Into the... availability. SUMMARY: We are advising the public that we have prepared a pest risk analysis that evaluates the... weeds via the importation of Swiss chard from Colombia. We are making the pest risk analysis available...

Swiss roll nanomembranes with controlled proton diffusion as redox micro-supercapacitors.

PubMed

Ji, Hengxing; Mei, Yongfeng; Schmidt, Oliver G

2010-06-14

We demonstrate a redox Swiss roll micro-supercapacitor by rolling up a multilayered nanomembrane with an electrochemical active layer at either the outer or inner surface for different proton diffusion behaviors. The Swiss roll micro-supercapacitor could achieve high performance (e.g. capacity and life time) in a microscale power source and is helpful for studying charge transfer at the electrolyte/electrode interface.

Impact of flavor attributes on consumer liking of Swiss cheese.

PubMed

Liggett, R E; Drake, M A; Delwiche, J F

2008-02-01

Although Swiss cheese is growing in popularity, no research has examined what flavor characteristics consumers desire in Swiss cheese, which was the main objective of this study. To this end, a large group of commercially available Swiss-type cheeses (10 domestic Swiss cheeses, 4 domestic Baby Swiss cheeses, and one imported Swiss Emmenthal) were assessed both by 12 trained panelists for flavor and feeling factors and by 101 consumers for overall liking. In addition, a separate panel of 24 consumers rated the same cheeses for dissimilarity. On the basis of liking ratings, the 101 consumers were segmented by cluster analysis into 2 groups: nondistinguishers (n = 40) and varying responders (n = 61). Partial least squares regression, a statistical modeling technique that relates 2 data sets (in this case, a set of descriptive analysis data and a set of consumer liking data), was used to determine which flavor attributes assessed by the trained panel were important variables in overall liking of the cheeses for the varying responders. The model explained 93% of the liking variance on 3 normally distributed components and had 49% predictability. Diacetyl, whey, milk fat, and umami were found to be drivers of liking, whereas cabbage, cooked, and vinegar were drivers of disliking. Nutty flavor was not particularly important to liking and it was present in only 2 of the cheeses. The dissimilarity ratings were combined with the liking ratings of both segments and analyzed by probabilistic multidimensional scaling. The ideals of each segment completely overlapped, with the variance of the varying responders being smaller than the variance of the non-distinguishers. This model indicated that the Baby Swiss cheeses were closer to the consumers' ideals than were the other cheeses. Taken together, the 2 models suggest that the partial least squares regression failed to capture one or more attributes that contribute to consumer acceptance, although the descriptive analysis of flavor and feeling factors was able to account for 93% of the variance in the liking ratings. These findings indicate the flavor characteristics Swiss cheese producers should optimize, and minimize, to create cheeses that best match consumer desires.

[The clinical predictors of heteroaggressive behaviour of the women serving sentence in penitentiary].

PubMed

Shaklein, K N; Bardenshtein, L M; Demcheva, N K

To identify clinical predictors of heteroaggressive behavior. Three hundreds and three women serving sentence in a penal colony were examined using clinical, neurologic and statistical methods. The main group consisted of 225 women with heteroaggressive behavior, the control group included 78 women without aggressive behavior. Differences between the main and control groups in the structure of mental disorders and key syndromes were revealed. The authors conclude that the states with elements of dysphoria, dysthymia, decompensation of personality disorders, which are defined in the various forms of mental pathology, are the most significant predictors of heteroaggressive behavior in women in the penal colony.

HIV counselling in prisons.

PubMed

Curran, L; McHugh, M; Nooney, K

1989-01-01

HIV presents particular problem in penal establishments: the nature of the population; conditions in prison; media attention and misinformation; the possibility of transmission within and beyond the prison population; the extra issues that apply to female prisoners. These are discussed in the context of prison policy regarding HIV and the broad strategic approach which is being adopted to manage the problem of HIV within penal institutions. Counselling has a key role in the overall strategy. Pre- and post-test counselling with prisoners is described and the particular problems presented by inmates are discussed and illustrated by reference to case histories. Developments in counselling provision for inmates are outlined.

Gender Norms in Portuguese College Students' Judgments in Familial Homicides: Bad Men and Mad Women.

PubMed

Saavedra, Luísa; Cameira, Miguel; Rebelo, Ana Sofia; Sebastião, Cátia

2015-05-08

The gender of the offender has been proved to be an important factor in judicial sentencing. In this study, we analyze the judgments of College students regarding perpetrators of familial homicides to evaluate the presence of these gender norms and biases in the larger society. The sample included 303 college students (54.8% female) enrolled in several social sciences and engineering courses. Participants were asked to read 12 vignettes based on real crimes taken from Portuguese newspapers. Half were related to infanticide, and half were related to intimate partner homicide. The sex of the offender was orthogonally manipulated to the type of crime. The results show that gender had an important impact on sentences, with males being more harshly penalized by reasons of perversity and women less penalized by reason of mental disorders. In addition, filicide was more heavily penalized than was intimate partner homicide. The results also revealed a tendency toward a retributive conception of punishment. We discuss how gender norms in justice seem to be embedded in society as well as the need for intervention against the punitive tendency of this population. © The Author(s) 2015.

Estimating the variance for heterogeneity in arm-based network meta-analysis.

PubMed

Piepho, Hans-Peter; Madden, Laurence V; Roger, James; Payne, Roger; Williams, Emlyn R

2018-04-19

Network meta-analysis can be implemented by using arm-based or contrast-based models. Here we focus on arm-based models and fit them using generalized linear mixed model procedures. Full maximum likelihood (ML) estimation leads to biased trial-by-treatment interaction variance estimates for heterogeneity. Thus, our objective is to investigate alternative approaches to variance estimation that reduce bias compared with full ML. Specifically, we use penalized quasi-likelihood/pseudo-likelihood and hierarchical (h) likelihood approaches. In addition, we consider a novel model modification that yields estimators akin to the residual maximum likelihood estimator for linear mixed models. The proposed methods are compared by simulation, and 2 real datasets are used for illustration. Simulations show that penalized quasi-likelihood/pseudo-likelihood and h-likelihood reduce bias and yield satisfactory coverage rates. Sum-to-zero restriction and baseline contrasts for random trial-by-treatment interaction effects, as well as a residual ML-like adjustment, also reduce bias compared with an unconstrained model when ML is used, but coverage rates are not quite as good. Penalized quasi-likelihood/pseudo-likelihood and h-likelihood are therefore recommended. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Simulation of confined magnetohydrodynamic flows with Dirichlet boundary conditions using a pseudo-spectral method with volume penalization

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

Morales, Jorge A.; Leroy, Matthieu; Bos, Wouter J.T.

A volume penalization approach to simulate magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flows in confined domains is presented. Here the incompressible visco-resistive MHD equations are solved using parallel pseudo-spectral solvers in Cartesian geometries. The volume penalization technique is an immersed boundary method which is characterized by a high flexibility for the geometry of the considered flow. In the present case, it allows to use other than periodic boundary conditions in a Fourier pseudo-spectral approach. The numerical method is validated and its convergence is assessed for two- and three-dimensional hydrodynamic (HD) and MHD flows, by comparing the numerical results with results from literature and analyticalmore » solutions. The test cases considered are two-dimensional Taylor–Couette flow, the z-pinch configuration, three dimensional Orszag–Tang flow, Ohmic-decay in a periodic cylinder, three-dimensional Taylor–Couette flow with and without axial magnetic field and three-dimensional Hartmann-instabilities in a cylinder with an imposed helical magnetic field. Finally, we present a magnetohydrodynamic flow simulation in toroidal geometry with non-symmetric cross section and imposing a helical magnetic field to illustrate the potential of the method.« less

Mental health/illness and prisons as place: frontline clinicians׳ perspectives of mental health work in a penal setting.

PubMed

Wright, Nicola; Jordan, Melanie; Kane, Eddie

2014-09-01

This article takes mental health and prisons as its two foci. It explores the links between social and structural aspects of the penal setting, the provision of mental healthcare in prisons, and mental health work in this environment. This analysis utilises qualitative interview data from prison-based fieldwork undertaken in Her Majesty׳s Prison Service, England. Two themes are discussed: (1) the desire and practicalities of doing mental health work and (2) prison staff as mental health work allies. Concepts covered include equivalence, training, ownership, informal communication, mental health knowledge, service gatekeepers, case identification, and unmet need. Implications for practice are (1) the mental health knowledge and understanding of prison wing staff could be appraised and developed to improve mental healthcare and address unmet need. Their role as observers and gatekeepers could be considered. (2) The realities of frontline mental health work for clinicians in the penal environment should be embraced and used to produce and implement improved policy and practice guidance, which is in better accord with the actuality of the context - both socially and structurally. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

Zhong, Bei-Jing; Wang, Jian-Hua

Excess enthalpy combustion is a promising approach to stabilize flame in micro-combustors. Using a Swiss-roll combustor configuration, excess enthalpy combustion can be conveniently achieved. In this work, three types of Swiss-roll combustors with double spiral-shaped channels were designed and fabricated. The combustors were tested using methane/air mixtures of various equivalence ratios. Both temperature distributions and extinction limits were determined for each combustor configuration at different methane mass flow rates. Results indicate that the Swiss-roll combustors developed in the current study greatly enhance combustion stability in center regions of the combustors. At the same time, excess enthalpy combustors of the Swiss-rollmore » configuration significantly extend the extinction limits of methane/air mixtures. In addition, the effects of combustor configurations and thermal insulation arrangements on temperature distributions and extinction limits were evaluated. With heat losses to the environment being significant, the use of thermal insulations further enhances the flame stability in center regions of the Swiss-roll combustors and extends flammable ranges. (author)« less

Effects of stabilization exercises with a Swiss ball on neck-shoulder pain and mobility of adults with prolonged exposure to VDTs.

PubMed

Ahn, Jeoung-Ah; Kim, Joong-Hwi; Bendik, Anthony L; Shin, Ju-Yong

2015-04-01

[Purpose] This study compared the effects on neck-shoulder pain and mobility of strengthening exercises for the neck flexors and scapular retractors performed on a Swiss ball and a mat. [Subjects] Twenty student volunteers were the subjects. [Methods] The students were randomly assigned to two groups: Mat group (n=10), and Swiss ball group (n=10). At pre-test, post-test, and 1-week follow-up pain was assessed using the visual analogue scale (VAS), the pain pressure threshold (PPT) of the shoulder was measured with an algometer, and neck mobility was measured with a Zebris. [Results] The data analysis revealed that there was a significant decrease in pain and significant increase in neck flexion in both groups, and the Swiss ball group showed better results. [Conclusion] Strengthening the neck flexors and scapular retractors for stabilization of the neck using exercises on a Swiss ball was more effective at reducing the pain and stabilizing the neck than mat exercises.

COIN 2.0 Formulation

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-01

example of how these patron-client relationships could be leveraged.46 Briefly, he argues that Afghanistan should be thought of as Swiss cheese , not...American cheese . In the Swiss cheese model, only some areas (the “cheesy bits”) are directly governed. The “holes” are left alone so long as they...2010 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved. a. “ Swiss Cheese ,” where a central authority does not control all territory within its

Sub-Saharan Africa Report

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-04-06

24 Feb 87) 5 Briefs Abu Bridge Commissioned 6 IVORY COAST Rescheduling of Swiss Debt Shows ’Confidence’ in Economy (Diaby Aboubakar; FRATERNITE...CSO: 3400/242 IVORY COAST RESCHEDULING OF SWISS DEBT SHOWS ’CONFIDENCE’ IN ECONOMY Abidjan FRATERNITE MATIN in French 30 Jan 87 p 6 [Article by...Diaby Aboubakar] [Text] Minister Seri Gnoleba and Claudio Caratsch, Swiss ambassador to the Ivory Coast, met in the minister’s office yesterday to

Assessing the "Good Life" in a Military Context: How Does Life and Work-Satisfaction Relate to Orientations to Happiness and Career-Success among Swiss Professional Officers?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Proyer, Rene T.; Annen, Hubert; Eggimann, Nadine; Schneider, Andrea; Ruch, Willibald

2012-01-01

The study examines work- and life satisfaction along with orientation to happiness, and their relation to subjective but also objective career success, among Swiss military professional officers. They frequently report worsening of their working conditions due to two reforms that have recently been conducted. A total of N = 221 Swiss career…

[Development of a set of nursing-sensitive indicators for Swiss practice].

PubMed

Kleinknecht-Dolf, Michael; Baumberger, Dieter; Jucker, Thomas; Kliem, Uwe; Zimmermann, Natalie; Spirig, Rebecca

2016-02-01

The SwissDRG prospective payment system is known to inadequately account for nursing intensity due to the DRG group criteria insufficiently describing the variability of nursing intensity within individual diagnosis-related groups. In order to allow for appropriate reimbursement and resource allocation, nursing intensity must be able to be explicitly quantified and accounted for. The aim of this project was to develop a set of nursing-sensitive indicators intended to reduce the variation within individual diagnosis-related groups, supplementary to existing SwissDRG group criteria. The approach comprised a variety of methods. A systematic literature review, input from an advisory board and an expert panel, as well as three focus group interviews with nurses and nurse managers formed the basis for the synthesis of data and information gathered from these sources. A set of 14 nursing-sensitive indicators was developed. The indicators are intended to improve the homogeneity of nursing intensity within SwissDRG diagnosis-related groups. Before these nursing indicators can be adopted as group criteria, they must be formulated to conform with SwissDRG and tested empirically. This set of indicators can be seen at as a first step towards nursing intensity being adequately represented in SwissDRG diagnosis-related groups. The next challenge to be met is operationalising the indicators in codable form.

UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot, the Manually Annotated Section of the UniProt KnowledgeBase: How to Use the Entry View.

PubMed

Boutet, Emmanuel; Lieberherr, Damien; Tognolli, Michael; Schneider, Michel; Bansal, Parit; Bridge, Alan J; Poux, Sylvain; Bougueleret, Lydie; Xenarios, Ioannis

2016-01-01

The Universal Protein Resource (UniProt, http://www.uniprot.org ) consortium is an initiative of the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) and the Protein Information Resource (PIR) to provide the scientific community with a central resource for protein sequences and functional information. The UniProt consortium maintains the UniProt KnowledgeBase (UniProtKB), updated every 4 weeks, and several supplementary databases including the UniProt Reference Clusters (UniRef) and the UniProt Archive (UniParc).The Swiss-Prot section of the UniProt KnowledgeBase (UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot) contains publicly available expertly manually annotated protein sequences obtained from a broad spectrum of organisms. Plant protein entries are produced in the frame of the Plant Proteome Annotation Program (PPAP), with an emphasis on characterized proteins of Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa. High level annotations provided by UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot are widely used to predict annotation of newly available proteins through automatic pipelines.The purpose of this chapter is to present a guided tour of a UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot entry. We will also present some of the tools and databases that are linked to each entry.

A multi-method study on the quality of the nurse work environment in acute-care hospitals: positioning Switzerland in the Magnet hospital research.

PubMed

Desmedt, M; De Geest, S; Schubert, M; Schwendimann, R; Ausserhofer, D

2012-12-21

Magnet hospitals share nurse work environment characteristics associated with superior patient, nurse and financial outcomes. In Switzerland, however, it is uncertain how nurses appraise their work environments. To describe the quality of the nurse work environment in 35 Swiss acute care hospitals and to benchmark findings based on international Magnet hospital research. This study used two data sources: (1) the Swiss arm of the RN4CAST study; and (2) a structured literature review. Hospitals were categorised based on Magnet and non-Magnet data. Our outcome variable of interest was the quality of nurse work environment measured with the Practice Environment Scale of the Nurse Work Index (PES-NWI). We reviewed 13 American, Canadian, and Australian studies of acute-care hospitals. Three provided Magnet hospitals' nurse work environment data, and all included non-Magnet hospitals' data. Swiss hospitals' evaluations on nurse work environment quality varied widely, but 25% achieved scores indicating "Magnet nurse work environments". Swiss hospitals' average "Nursing manager ability" subscale scores fulfilled Magnet hospital criteria, although "Nurse participation in hospital affairs" and "Nursing staffing and resource adequacy" scores neared non-Magnet levels. On average, our results indicated high quality nurse work environments in Swiss hospitals. Implementing Magnet model organisational principles might be a valuable approach for Swiss acute-care hospitals to both improve mixed and unfavourable nurse work environments and to improve nurse and patient outcomes. National benchmarking of nurse work environments and other nurse-sensitive indicators may facilitate evaluating the impact of current developments in Swiss healthcare.

Important patient characteristics differ prior to total knee arthroplasty and total hip arthroplasty between Switzerland and the United States.

PubMed

Franklin, Patricia D; Miozzari, Hermes; Christofilopoulos, Panayiotis; Hoffmeyer, Pierre; Ayers, David C; Lübbeke, Anne

2017-01-11

Outcomes after total knee (TKA) and hip (THA) arthroplasty are often generalized internationally. Patient-dependent factors and preoperative symptom levels may differ across countries. We compared preoperative patient and clinical characteristics from two large cohorts, one in Switzerland, the other in the US. Patient characteristics were collected prospectively on all elective primary TKAs and THAs performed at a large Swiss hospital and in a US national sample. Data included age, sex, education level, BMI, diagnosis, medical co-morbidities, PROMs (WOMAC pain/function), global health (SF-12). Six thousand six hundred eighty primary TKAs (US) and 823 TKAs (Swiss) were evaluated. US vs. Switzerland TKA patients were younger (mean age 67 vs. 72 years.), more obese (BMI ≥30 55% vs. 43%), had higher levels of education, more cardiac disease. Swiss patients had lower preoperative WOMAC pain scores (41 vs. 52) but pre-operative physical disability were comparable. 4,647 primary THAs (US) and 1,023 THAs (Swiss) were evaluated. US vs. Switzerland patients were younger (65 vs. 68 years.), more obese (BMI ≥30: 38% vs. 24%), had higher levels of education, more diabetes. Swiss patients had lower preoperative WOMAC pain scores (40 vs. 48 points). Physical disability was reported comparable, but Swiss patients indicated lower mental health scores. We found substantial differences between US and Swiss cohorts in pre-operative patient characteristics and pain levels, which has potentially important implications for cross-cultural comparison of TKA/THA outcomes. Reports from national registries lack detailed patient information while these data suggest the need for adequate risk adjustment of patient factors.

Dried distillers grains with solubles do not always cause late blowing in baby Swiss cheese.

PubMed

Sankarlal, V Manimanna; Testroet, E D; Beitz, D C; Clark, S

2015-12-01

Late blowing in Swiss cheese, a result of unwanted gas production, is unacceptable to consumers and causes economic loss to manufacturers. Cheese processors have raised concerns that feeding dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) to cows leads to this defect, in part because of clostridial spores. We hypothesized that spores in DDGS would affect the quality of milk and baby Swiss cheese by promoting late-blowing defects. Thirty healthy multiparous and mid-lactation Holstein cows were fed total mixed ration containing DDGS (0, 10, and 20%; 10 cows per treatment group) by dietary dry matter in a 3×3 Latin square design. One complete milking from all cows within a treatment was collected and pooled for baby Swiss cheese, twice within each month of the 3-mo study. Additionally, individual milk samples from the 3 milkings of one day were collected weekly for proximate analysis. Incubation in reinforced clostridial medium-lactate medium tubes inoculated with milk, cheese, total mixed ration, or manure showed gas formation. Conversely, the DDGS used in our study did not contain gas-producing, spore-forming bacteria. Feeding 20% DDGS decreased milk fat percent and increased the solids nonfat, protein, and lactose percent of milk. After 60 d of ripening, baby Swiss cheese had typical propionic acid Swiss cheese aroma. Regardless of dietary treatment, pinholes, slits, splits, cracks, or a combination of these, were seen throughout most cheeses. Feeding of DDGS increased the amount of long-chain unsaturated fatty acids and decreased short-chain and most medium-chain fatty acids in the baby Swiss cheese. Although feeding cows diets with DDGS modified milk composition, and subsequently cheese composition, DDGS was not a source for gas-producing, spore-forming bacteria or for quality defects in Swiss cheese. Rather, the gas-producing, spore-forming bacteria likely originated from the environment or the cows themselves. Copyright © 2015 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Light refraction in the Swiss-cheese model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Csapó, Adelinda; Bene, Gyula

2012-08-01

We investigate light propagation in the Swiss-cheese model. On both sides of Swiss-cheese sphere surfaces, observers resting in the flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) space and the Schwarzschild space respectively, see the same light ray enclosing different angles with the normal. We examine light refraction at each crossing of the boundary surfaces, showing that the angle of refraction is larger than the angle of incidence for both directions of the light.

Exzellenz in der Bildung für eine innovative Schweiz: Die Position des Wirtschaftsdachverbandes Chemie Pharma Biotech.

PubMed

Sennhauser, Marcel

2018-02-01

In Switzerland, the chemical, pharma and biotech industries make a substantial and sustained contribution to the Swiss economy. The company members of scienceindustries employ around 70,000 people in Switzerland. Since 1980 value creation and productivity have increased markedly. As a result the share of the Swiss gross value added has grown continually to reach 5.6% in 2015. Exports have also increased. Today the chemical, pharma and biotech industry contributes around 45% of all Swiss exports and is therefore the largest Swiss export industry. This article describes the key requirements from the viewpoint of the chemical-pharma industry in order that Switzerland can continue to compete as an innovative location in global competition.

Contrast summation across eyes and space is revealed along the entire dipper function by a "Swiss cheese" stimulus.

PubMed

Meese, Tim S; Baker, Daniel H

2011-01-27

Previous contrast discrimination experiments have shown that luminance contrast is summed across ocular (T. S. Meese, M. A. Georgeson, & D. H. Baker, 2006) and spatial (T. S. Meese & R. J. Summers, 2007) dimensions at threshold and above. However, is this process sufficiently general to operate across the conjunction of eyes and space? Here we used a "Swiss cheese" stimulus where the blurred "holes" in sine-wave carriers were of equal area to the blurred target ("cheese") regions. The locations of the target regions in the monocular image pairs were interdigitated across eyes such that their binocular sum was a uniform grating. When pedestal contrasts were above threshold, the monocular neural images contained strong evidence that the high-contrast regions in the two eyes did not overlap. Nevertheless, sensitivity to dual contrast increments (i.e., to contrast increments in different locations in the two eyes) was a factor of ∼1.7 greater than to single increments (i.e., increments in a single eye), comparable with conventional binocular summation. This provides evidence for a contiguous area summation process that operates at all contrasts and is influenced little, if at all, by eye of origin. A three-stage model of contrast gain control fitted the results and possessed the properties of ocularity invariance and area invariance owing to its cascade of normalization stages. The implications for a population code for pattern size are discussed.

Discrimination of Swiss cheese from 5 different factories by high impact volatile organic compound profiles determined by odor activity value using selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry and odor threshold.

PubMed

Taylor, Kaitlyn; Wick, Cheryl; Castada, Hardy; Kent, Kyle; Harper, W James

2013-10-01

Swiss cheese contains more than 200 volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry has been utilized for the analysis of volatile compounds in food products; however, it is not sensitive enough to measure VOCs directly in the headspace of a food at low concentrations. Selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) provides a basis for determining the concentrations of VOCs in the head space of the sample in real time at low concentration levels of parts per billion/trillion by volume. Of the Swiss cheese VOCs, relatively few have a major impact on flavor quality. VOCs with odor activity values (OAVs) (concentration/odor threshold) greater than one are considered high-impact flavor compounds. The objective of this study was to utilize SIFT-MS concentrations in conjunction with odor threshold values to determine OAVs thereby identifying high-impact VOCs to use for differentiating Swiss cheese from five factories and identify the factory variability. Seventeen high-impact VOCs were identified for Swiss cheese based on an OAV greater than one in at least 1 of the 5 Swiss cheese factories. Of these, 2,3-butanedione was the only compound with significantly different OAVs in all factories; however, cheese from any pair of factories had multiple statistically different compounds based on OAV. Principal component analysis using soft independent modeling of class analogy statistical differentiation plots, with all of the OAVs, showed differentiation between the 5 factories. Overall, Swiss cheese from different factories was determined to have different OAV profiles utilizing SIFT-MS to determine OAVs of high impact compounds. © 2013 Institute of Food Technologists®

Influence of starter culture ratios and warm room treatment on free fatty acid and amino acid in Swiss cheese.

PubMed

Ji, T; Alvarez, V B; Harper, W J

2004-07-01

Quantification of water-soluble volatile free fatty acids (FFA) and free amino acids (FAA) was performed as a ripening index and an indirect measure of flavor development in Swiss-type cheeses. The objective of this research was to assess the effect of warm room treatment (WRT) and usage ratio of starter cultures, Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus helveticus vs. propionibacteria, on the concentration of FFA and FAA in pilot plant-scale Swiss cheese. A capillary gas chromatograph equipped with a flame ionization detector was used for the analysis of FFA in Swiss cheese. Free amino acids were analyzed by the Cd-ninhydrin method. Starter culture ratios did not affect development of FAA during the cheese ripening. However, duration of WRT had an effect on the concentration of FAA in the Swiss cheese. Free amino acids increased considerably during WRT. A continuous increase in FAA was shown during 70-d ripening time after WRT. The concentrations of C2:0 and C3:0 fatty acids were affected by starter culture ratios after 2-wk WRT, but these differences had mostly disappeared after 3-wk WRT. Similar concentrations of FFA and FAA reported in previous studies were developed in Swiss cheese with a 3-wk WRT and a 0.33:1 ratio of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus helveticus to propionibacteria.

Examination of influential observations in penalized spline regression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Türkan, Semra

2013-10-01

In parametric or nonparametric regression models, the results of regression analysis are affected by some anomalous observations in the data set. Thus, detection of these observations is one of the major steps in regression analysis. These observations are precisely detected by well-known influence measures. Pena's statistic is one of them. In this study, Pena's approach is formulated for penalized spline regression in terms of ordinary residuals and leverages. The real data and artificial data are used to see illustrate the effectiveness of Pena's statistic as to Cook's distance on detecting influential observations. The results of the study clearly reveal that the proposed measure is superior to Cook's Distance to detect these observations in large data set.

Muscle activation when performing the chest press and shoulder press on a stable bench vs. a Swiss ball.

PubMed

Uribe, Brandon P; Coburn, Jared W; Brown, Lee E; Judelson, Daniel A; Khamoui, Andy V; Nguyen, Diamond

2010-04-01

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a stable surface (bench) vs. an unstable surface (Swiss ball) on muscle activation when performing the dumbbell chest press and shoulder press. Sixteen healthy men (24.19 +/- 2.17 years) performed 1 repetition maximum (1RM) tests for the chest press and shoulder press on a stable surface. A minimum of 48 hours post 1RM, subjects returned to perform 3 consecutive repetitions each of the chest press and shoulder press at 80% 1RM under 4 different randomized conditions (chest press on bench, chest press on Swiss ball, shoulder press on bench, shoulder press on Swiss ball). Electromyography was used to assess muscle activation of the anterior deltoid, pectoralis major, and rectus abdominus. The results revealed no significant difference in muscle activation between surface types for either exercise. This suggests that using an unstable surface neither improves nor impairs muscle activation under the current conditions. Coaches and other practitioners can expect similar muscle activation when using a Swiss ball vs. a bench.

Local D3/D7 μ-SPLIT SUSY, 125 GeV Higgs and Large Volume Ricci-Flat Swiss-Cheese Metrics:. a Brief Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Misra, Aalok

In this paper, we review briefly recent progress made in realizing local(ized around a mobile spacetime filling D3-brane in) D3/D7 μ-split Supersymmetry in (the large volume limit of Type IIB) String Theory (compactified on Swiss-Cheese Calabi-Yau orientifolds) as well as obtaining a 125 GeV (light) Higgs in the same setup. We also discuss obtaining the geometric Kähler potential (and hence the Ricci-flat metric) for the Swiss-Cheese Calabi-Yau in the large volume limit using the Donaldson's algorithm and intuition from GLSM-based calculations — we present new results for Swiss-Cheese Calabi-Yau (used in the setup) metrics at points finitely away from the "big" divisor.

CISN ShakeAlert: Faster Warning Information Through Multiple Threshold Event Detection in the Virtual Seismologist (VS) Early Warning Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cua, G. B.; Fischer, M.; Caprio, M.; Heaton, T. H.; Cisn Earthquake Early Warning Project Team

2010-12-01

The Virtual Seismologist (VS) earthquake early warning (EEW) algorithm is one of 3 EEW approaches being incorporated into the California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN) ShakeAlert system, a prototype EEW system that could potentially be implemented in California. The VS algorithm, implemented by the Swiss Seismological Service at ETH Zurich, is a Bayesian approach to EEW, wherein the most probable source estimate at any given time is a combination of contributions from a likehihood function that evolves in response to incoming data from the on-going earthquake, and selected prior information, which can include factors such as network topology, the Gutenberg-Richter relationship or previously observed seismicity. The VS codes have been running in real-time at the Southern California Seismic Network since July 2008, and at the Northern California Seismic Network since February 2009. We discuss recent enhancements to the VS EEW algorithm that are being integrated into CISN ShakeAlert. We developed and continue to test a multiple-threshold event detection scheme, which uses different association / location approaches depending on the peak amplitudes associated with an incoming P pick. With this scheme, an event with sufficiently high initial amplitudes can be declared on the basis of a single station, maximizing warning times for damaging events for which EEW is most relevant. Smaller, non-damaging events, which will have lower initial amplitudes, will require more picks to initiate an event declaration, with the goal of reducing false alarms. This transforms the VS codes from a regional EEW approach reliant on traditional location estimation (and the requirement of at least 4 picks as implemented by the Binder Earthworm phase associator) into an on-site/regional approach capable of providing a continuously evolving stream of EEW information starting from the first P-detection. Real-time and offline analysis on Swiss and California waveform datasets indicate that the multiple-threshold approach is faster and more reliable for larger events than the earlier version of the VS codes. In addition, we provide evolutionary estimates of the probability of false alarms (PFA), which is an envisioned output stream of the CISN ShakeAlert system. The real-time decision-making approach envisioned for CISN ShakeAlert users, where users specify a threshhold PFA in addition to thresholds on peak ground motion estimates, has the potential to increase the available warning time for users with high tolerance to false alarms without compromising the needs of users with lower tolerances to false alarms.

Integrative Analysis of High-throughput Cancer Studies with Contrasted Penalization

PubMed Central

Shi, Xingjie; Liu, Jin; Huang, Jian; Zhou, Yong; Shia, BenChang; Ma, Shuangge

2015-01-01

In cancer studies with high-throughput genetic and genomic measurements, integrative analysis provides a way to effectively pool and analyze heterogeneous raw data from multiple independent studies and outperforms “classic” meta-analysis and single-dataset analysis. When marker selection is of interest, the genetic basis of multiple datasets can be described using the homogeneity model or the heterogeneity model. In this study, we consider marker selection under the heterogeneity model, which includes the homogeneity model as a special case and can be more flexible. Penalization methods have been developed in the literature for marker selection. This study advances from the published ones by introducing the contrast penalties, which can accommodate the within- and across-dataset structures of covariates/regression coefficients and, by doing so, further improve marker selection performance. Specifically, we develop a penalization method that accommodates the across-dataset structures by smoothing over regression coefficients. An effective iterative algorithm, which calls an inner coordinate descent iteration, is developed. Simulation shows that the proposed method outperforms the benchmark with more accurate marker identification. The analysis of breast cancer and lung cancer prognosis studies with gene expression measurements shows that the proposed method identifies genes different from those using the benchmark and has better prediction performance. PMID:24395534

Neutron Tomography of a Fuel Cell: Statistical Learning Implementation of a Penalized Likelihood Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coakley, Kevin J.; Vecchia, Dominic F.; Hussey, Daniel S.; Jacobson, David L.

2013-10-01

At the NIST Neutron Imaging Facility, we collect neutron projection data for both the dry and wet states of a Proton-Exchange-Membrane (PEM) fuel cell. Transmitted thermal neutrons captured in a scintillator doped with lithium-6 produce scintillation light that is detected by an amorphous silicon detector. Based on joint analysis of the dry and wet state projection data, we reconstruct a residual neutron attenuation image with a Penalized Likelihood method with an edge-preserving Huber penalty function that has two parameters that control how well jumps in the reconstruction are preserved and how well noisy fluctuations are smoothed out. The choice of these parameters greatly influences the resulting reconstruction. We present a data-driven method that objectively selects these parameters, and study its performance for both simulated and experimental data. Before reconstruction, we transform the projection data so that the variance-to-mean ratio is approximately one. For both simulated and measured projection data, the Penalized Likelihood method reconstruction is visually sharper than a reconstruction yielded by a standard Filtered Back Projection method. In an idealized simulation experiment, we demonstrate that the cross validation procedure selects regularization parameters that yield a reconstruction that is nearly optimal according to a root-mean-square prediction error criterion.

A powerful and flexible approach to the analysis of RNA sequence count data.

PubMed

Zhou, Yi-Hui; Xia, Kai; Wright, Fred A

2011-10-01

A number of penalization and shrinkage approaches have been proposed for the analysis of microarray gene expression data. Similar techniques are now routinely applied to RNA sequence transcriptional count data, although the value of such shrinkage has not been conclusively established. If penalization is desired, the explicit modeling of mean-variance relationships provides a flexible testing regimen that 'borrows' information across genes, while easily incorporating design effects and additional covariates. We describe BBSeq, which incorporates two approaches: (i) a simple beta-binomial generalized linear model, which has not been extensively tested for RNA-Seq data and (ii) an extension of an expression mean-variance modeling approach to RNA-Seq data, involving modeling of the overdispersion as a function of the mean. Our approaches are flexible, allowing for general handling of discrete experimental factors and continuous covariates. We report comparisons with other alternate methods to handle RNA-Seq data. Although penalized methods have advantages for very small sample sizes, the beta-binomial generalized linear model, combined with simple outlier detection and testing approaches, appears to have favorable characteristics in power and flexibility. An R package containing examples and sample datasets is available at http://www.bios.unc.edu/research/genomic_software/BBSeq yzhou@bios.unc.edu; fwright@bios.unc.edu Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Across-Platform Imputation of DNA Methylation Levels Incorporating Nonlocal Information Using Penalized Functional Regression.

PubMed

Zhang, Guosheng; Huang, Kuan-Chieh; Xu, Zheng; Tzeng, Jung-Ying; Conneely, Karen N; Guan, Weihua; Kang, Jian; Li, Yun

2016-05-01

DNA methylation is a key epigenetic mark involved in both normal development and disease progression. Recent advances in high-throughput technologies have enabled genome-wide profiling of DNA methylation. However, DNA methylation profiling often employs different designs and platforms with varying resolution, which hinders joint analysis of methylation data from multiple platforms. In this study, we propose a penalized functional regression model to impute missing methylation data. By incorporating functional predictors, our model utilizes information from nonlocal probes to improve imputation quality. Here, we compared the performance of our functional model to linear regression and the best single probe surrogate in real data and via simulations. Specifically, we applied different imputation approaches to an acute myeloid leukemia dataset consisting of 194 samples and our method showed higher imputation accuracy, manifested, for example, by a 94% relative increase in information content and up to 86% more CpG sites passing post-imputation filtering. Our simulated association study further demonstrated that our method substantially improves the statistical power to identify trait-associated methylation loci. These findings indicate that the penalized functional regression model is a convenient and valuable imputation tool for methylation data, and it can boost statistical power in downstream epigenome-wide association study (EWAS). © 2016 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC.

Penalized spline estimation for functional coefficient regression models.

PubMed

Cao, Yanrong; Lin, Haiqun; Wu, Tracy Z; Yu, Yan

2010-04-01

The functional coefficient regression models assume that the regression coefficients vary with some "threshold" variable, providing appreciable flexibility in capturing the underlying dynamics in data and avoiding the so-called "curse of dimensionality" in multivariate nonparametric estimation. We first investigate the estimation, inference, and forecasting for the functional coefficient regression models with dependent observations via penalized splines. The P-spline approach, as a direct ridge regression shrinkage type global smoothing method, is computationally efficient and stable. With established fixed-knot asymptotics, inference is readily available. Exact inference can be obtained for fixed smoothing parameter λ, which is most appealing for finite samples. Our penalized spline approach gives an explicit model expression, which also enables multi-step-ahead forecasting via simulations. Furthermore, we examine different methods of choosing the important smoothing parameter λ: modified multi-fold cross-validation (MCV), generalized cross-validation (GCV), and an extension of empirical bias bandwidth selection (EBBS) to P-splines. In addition, we implement smoothing parameter selection using mixed model framework through restricted maximum likelihood (REML) for P-spline functional coefficient regression models with independent observations. The P-spline approach also easily allows different smoothness for different functional coefficients, which is enabled by assigning different penalty λ accordingly. We demonstrate the proposed approach by both simulation examples and a real data application.

Psychic trauma as cause of death.

PubMed

Terranova, C; Snenghi, R; Thiene, G; Ferrara, S D

2011-01-01

of study Psychic trauma is described as the action of 'an emotionally overwhelming factor' capable of causing neurovegetative alterations leading to transitory or persisting bodily changes. The medico-legal concept of psychic trauma and its definition as a cause in penal cases is debated. The authors present three cases of death after psychic trauma, and discuss the definition of cause within the penal ambit of identified 'emotionally overwhelming factors'. The methodological approach to ascertainment and criterion-based assessment in each case involved the following phases: (1) examination of circumstantial evidence, clinical records and documentation; (2) autopsy; (3) ascertainment of cause of death; and (4) ascertainment of psychic trauma, and its coexisting relationship with the cause of death. The results and assessment of each of the three cases are discussed from the viewpoint of the causal connotation of psychic trauma. In the cases presented, psychic trauma caused death, as deduced from assessment of the type of externally caused emotional insult, the subjects' personal characteristics and the circumstances of the event causing death. In cases of death due to psychic trauma, careful methodological ascertainment is essential, with the double aim of defining 'emotionally overwhelming factors' as a significant cause of death from the penal point of view, and of identifying the responsibility of third parties involved in the death event and associated dynamics of homicide.

Penalized weighted least-squares approach for multienergy computed tomography image reconstruction via structure tensor total variation regularization.

PubMed

Zeng, Dong; Gao, Yuanyuan; Huang, Jing; Bian, Zhaoying; Zhang, Hua; Lu, Lijun; Ma, Jianhua

2016-10-01

Multienergy computed tomography (MECT) allows identifying and differentiating different materials through simultaneous capture of multiple sets of energy-selective data belonging to specific energy windows. However, because sufficient photon counts are not available in each energy window compared with that in the whole energy window, the MECT images reconstructed by the analytical approach often suffer from poor signal-to-noise and strong streak artifacts. To address the particular challenge, this work presents a penalized weighted least-squares (PWLS) scheme by incorporating the new concept of structure tensor total variation (STV) regularization, which is henceforth referred to as 'PWLS-STV' for simplicity. Specifically, the STV regularization is derived by penalizing higher-order derivatives of the desired MECT images. Thus it could provide more robust measures of image variation, which can eliminate the patchy artifacts often observed in total variation (TV) regularization. Subsequently, an alternating optimization algorithm was adopted to minimize the objective function. Extensive experiments with a digital XCAT phantom and meat specimen clearly demonstrate that the present PWLS-STV algorithm can achieve more gains than the existing TV-based algorithms and the conventional filtered backpeojection (FBP) algorithm in terms of both quantitative and visual quality evaluations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Detection of Protein Complexes Based on Penalized Matrix Decomposition in a Sparse Protein⁻Protein Interaction Network.

PubMed

Cao, Buwen; Deng, Shuguang; Qin, Hua; Ding, Pingjian; Chen, Shaopeng; Li, Guanghui

2018-06-15

High-throughput technology has generated large-scale protein interaction data, which is crucial in our understanding of biological organisms. Many complex identification algorithms have been developed to determine protein complexes. However, these methods are only suitable for dense protein interaction networks, because their capabilities decrease rapidly when applied to sparse protein⁻protein interaction (PPI) networks. In this study, based on penalized matrix decomposition ( PMD ), a novel method of penalized matrix decomposition for the identification of protein complexes (i.e., PMD pc ) was developed to detect protein complexes in the human protein interaction network. This method mainly consists of three steps. First, the adjacent matrix of the protein interaction network is normalized. Second, the normalized matrix is decomposed into three factor matrices. The PMD pc method can detect protein complexes in sparse PPI networks by imposing appropriate constraints on factor matrices. Finally, the results of our method are compared with those of other methods in human PPI network. Experimental results show that our method can not only outperform classical algorithms, such as CFinder, ClusterONE, RRW, HC-PIN, and PCE-FR, but can also achieve an ideal overall performance in terms of a composite score consisting of F-measure, accuracy (ACC), and the maximum matching ratio (MMR).

CrossTalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering. Volume 23, Number 1, Jan/Feb 2010

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-02-01

during implementation have been minimal, but Warren and Abler’s method may change that. by Ron Abler and Ted Warren CMMI, Swiss Cheese , and Pareto...Corbin’s case study of a CMMI appraisal preparation—including Alan Lakein’s “ Swiss Cheese Method” and the Pareto Principle—shows a way other...Stealth CPI: Managing Work Products to Achieve Continuous Process Improvement. Darrell Corbin’s CMMI, Swiss Cheese , and Pareto comes to us from an

An Analysis of U.S. Army Fratricide Incidents during the Global War on Terror (11 September 2001 to 31 March 2008)

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-03-15

Swiss cheese model of human error causation. ................................................................... 3  2. Results for the classification of...based on Reason’s “ Swiss cheese ” model of human error (1990). Figure 1 describes how an accident is likely to occur when all of the errors, or “holes...align. A detailed description of HFACS can be found in Wiegmann and Shappell (2003). Figure 1. The Swiss cheese model of human error

Republic Act No. 6725, 12 May 1989.

PubMed

1989-01-01

This Philippines Act is designed to strengthen the prohibition on discrimination against women with respect to the terms and conditions of employment. It amends Article 135 of the Labor Code to read as follows: "Art. 135. Discrimination prohibited. It shall be unlawful for any employer to discriminate against any woman employee with respect to terms and conditions of employment solely on the grounds of sex. The following are acts of discrimination: (a) Payment of a lesser compensation, including wage, salary or other form of remuneration and fringe benefits, to a female employee as against a male employee, for work of equal value; and (b) Favoring a male employee over a female employee with respect to promotion, training opportunities, study and scholarship grants solely on account of their sexes. Criminal liability for the willful commission of any unlawful act as provided in this article or any violation of the rules and regulations issued pursuant to Section 2 hereof shall be penalized as provided in Articles 288 and 289 of this Code: provided, that the institution of any criminal action under this provision shall not bar the aggrieved employee from filing an entirely separate and distinct action for money claims, which may include claims for damages and other affirmative reliefs. The actions hereby authorized shall proceed independently of each other. SEC. 2. The Secretary of Labor and Employment is hereby authorized to promulgate the necessary guidelines to implement this Article in accordance with the generally accepted practices and standards here and abroad."

Police in an intensive care unit: what can happen?

PubMed Central

Lynøe, Niels; Leijonhufvud, Madeleine

2013-01-01

During spring 2009 a Swedish senior paediatric intensivist and associate professor was detained and later prosecuted for mercy-killing a child with severe brain damage. The intensivist was accused of having used high doses of thiopental after having withdrawn life-sustaining treatment when the child was imminently dying. After more than 2.5 years of investigation the physician was acquitted by the Stockholm City Court. The court additionally stated that the physician had provided good end-of-life care. Since the trial it has become evident that the accusation was based on a problematic medicolegal report. Nevertheless, the event has had severe negative consequences for the physician personally and professionally, and probably also, in general, for patients in the final stage of life. This case illustrates, together with other cases, that there is a lack of correspondence between ethical soft law/healthcare law and the Penal Code. To optimise medical practice we suggest that the criminal law be carefully examined and if possible changed. Furthermore, we suggest a peer-review system for assessing medicolegal reports in cases of suspected homicide. PMID:23900291

Piano Transcription with Convolutional Sparse Lateral Inhibition

DOE PAGES

Cogliati, Andrea; Duan, Zhiyao; Wohlberg, Brendt Egon

2017-02-08

This paper extends our prior work on contextdependent piano transcription to estimate the length of the notes in addition to their pitch and onset. This approach employs convolutional sparse coding along with lateral inhibition constraints to approximate a musical signal as the sum of piano note waveforms (dictionary elements) convolved with their temporal activations. The waveforms are pre-recorded for the specific piano to be transcribed in the specific environment. A dictionary containing multiple waveforms per pitch is generated by truncating a long waveform for each pitch to different lengths. During transcription, the dictionary elements are fixed and their temporal activationsmore » are estimated and post-processed to obtain the pitch, onset and note length estimation. A sparsity penalty promotes globally sparse activations of the dictionary elements, and a lateral inhibition term penalizes concurrent activations of different waveforms corresponding to the same pitch within a temporal neighborhood, to achieve note length estimation. Experiments on the MAPS dataset show that the proposed approach significantly outperforms a state-of-the-art music transcription method trained in the same context-dependent setting in transcription accuracy.« less

Piano Transcription with Convolutional Sparse Lateral Inhibition

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

Cogliati, Andrea; Duan, Zhiyao; Wohlberg, Brendt Egon

This paper extends our prior work on contextdependent piano transcription to estimate the length of the notes in addition to their pitch and onset. This approach employs convolutional sparse coding along with lateral inhibition constraints to approximate a musical signal as the sum of piano note waveforms (dictionary elements) convolved with their temporal activations. The waveforms are pre-recorded for the specific piano to be transcribed in the specific environment. A dictionary containing multiple waveforms per pitch is generated by truncating a long waveform for each pitch to different lengths. During transcription, the dictionary elements are fixed and their temporal activationsmore » are estimated and post-processed to obtain the pitch, onset and note length estimation. A sparsity penalty promotes globally sparse activations of the dictionary elements, and a lateral inhibition term penalizes concurrent activations of different waveforms corresponding to the same pitch within a temporal neighborhood, to achieve note length estimation. Experiments on the MAPS dataset show that the proposed approach significantly outperforms a state-of-the-art music transcription method trained in the same context-dependent setting in transcription accuracy.« less

Political intersections between HIV/AIDS, sexuality and human rights: a history of resistance to the anti-sodomy law in India.

PubMed

Ramasubban, R

2008-01-01

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in India has posed unprecedented challenges to both state and society, to question prevailing constructions of patriarchal gender relations and heteronormativity. Response to the challenge has come not from the political and social mainstream but from the criminalised "margins": people of alternative sexualities, who have launched a struggle for reform of the anti-sodomy law, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. This article documents the history of this movement, and identifies the multiple national and global-level cultural, political, and economic strands, shaping it. The legal reform movement has been invaluable as a tool to mobilise disparate alternative sexualities groups around a common strategy, thereby forging them into a tenuous national-level "community". Going beyond legal reform in the direction of sexual rights, however, requires a broader coalition of groups, and a broad-based political agenda of sexual rights for all. This agenda must critique patriarchy, dominant masculinity, and sexual violence; forces that together govern both the subordination of women and repression of alternative sexualities.

Law on consent and confidentiality in India: a need for clarity.

PubMed

Mathiharan, Karunakaran

2014-01-01

The concept of informed consent specific to medical research and treatment is still alien to many medical researchers and practitioners and to millions of Indians. The doctor-patient relationship in India is governed more by trust where the doctor is the authoritative person. Therefore, the benefit of informed consent does not reach all patients in day-to-day medical practice. To complicate the issue, the Indian law is not specific about the age at which a person can give valid consent. The Indian Penal Code is silent about the legal validity of consent given by persons between 12 and 18 years of age. Similarly, the age at which the 'Right to Confidentiality' begins is yet to be defined either by the statute or by the courts. Hence, there is a need for a clear statutory provision to remove the anomalies and ambiguities regarding the age of consent to undergo invasive therapeutic or investigative procedures, participate in clinical trials, as well as define the age at which a person's right to medical confidentiality begins.

Knowledge of healthcare professionals about rights of patient’s images

PubMed Central

Caires, Bianca Rodrigues; Lopes, Maria Carolina Barbosa Teixeira; Okuno, Meiry Fernanda Pinto; Vancini-Campanharo, Cássia Regina; Batista, Ruth Ester Assayag

2015-01-01

Objective To assess knowledge of healthcare professionals about capture and reproduction of images of patients in a hospital setting. Methods A cross-sectional and observational study among 360 healthcare professionals (nursing staff, physical therapists, and physicians), working at a teaching hospital in the city of São Paulo (SP). A questionnaire with sociodemographic information was distributed and data were correlated to capture and reproduction of images at hospitals. Results Of the 360 respondents, 142 had captured images of patients in the last year, and 312 reported seeing other professionals taking photographs of patients. Of the participants who captured images, 61 said they used them for studies and presentation of clinical cases, and 168 professionals reported not knowing of any legislation in the Brazilian Penal Code regarding collection and use of images. Conclusion There is a gap in the training of healthcare professionals regarding the use of patient´s images. It is necessary to include subjects that address this theme in the syllabus of undergraduate courses, and the healthcare organizations should regulate this issue. PMID:26267838

Bayesian dynamic mediation analysis.

PubMed

Huang, Jing; Yuan, Ying

2017-12-01

Most existing methods for mediation analysis assume that mediation is a stationary, time-invariant process, which overlooks the inherently dynamic nature of many human psychological processes and behavioral activities. In this article, we consider mediation as a dynamic process that continuously changes over time. We propose Bayesian multilevel time-varying coefficient models to describe and estimate such dynamic mediation effects. By taking the nonparametric penalized spline approach, the proposed method is flexible and able to accommodate any shape of the relationship between time and mediation effects. Simulation studies show that the proposed method works well and faithfully reflects the true nature of the mediation process. By modeling mediation effect nonparametrically as a continuous function of time, our method provides a valuable tool to help researchers obtain a more complete understanding of the dynamic nature of the mediation process underlying psychological and behavioral phenomena. We also briefly discuss an alternative approach of using dynamic autoregressive mediation model to estimate the dynamic mediation effect. The computer code is provided to implement the proposed Bayesian dynamic mediation analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

[Current legal questions in relation to autologous blood transfusion and legally controlled blood donation in Germany].

PubMed

Biermann, E

1994-11-01

If a patient suffers any damage from treatment, the persons involved in transfusion medicine might be made liable according to civil and penal law for violations against the standards prescribed by the codes of performance and ethics of the individual professions. In order to avoid organisational liability, criteria for adequate patient care must be created which regulate facilities and equipment as well as staff. The typical hazards encountered in interdisciplinary cooperation between specialists of various branches of medicine must be counteracted by a constructive division of tasks and responsibilities. The participating physicians are moreover liable within the scope of the German law forbidding so-called 'unlawful interference with the possession of another' in the case of failure to obtain legally binding consent--usually resulting from inadequacies in informing the patient. The landmark decision by the German Federal Court of Justice on instructing patients about the risks of and alternatives to blood transfusions forces all those involved to take the consequences with regard to instructing patients about the risk of transfusions and concerning the implementation of techniques for sparing and replacing allogenic blood.

Comparing implementations of penalized weighted least-squares sinogram restoration.

PubMed

Forthmann, Peter; Koehler, Thomas; Defrise, Michel; La Riviere, Patrick

2010-11-01

A CT scanner measures the energy that is deposited in each channel of a detector array by x rays that have been partially absorbed on their way through the object. The measurement process is complex and quantitative measurements are always and inevitably associated with errors, so CT data must be preprocessed prior to reconstruction. In recent years, the authors have formulated CT sinogram preprocessing as a statistical restoration problem in which the goal is to obtain the best estimate of the line integrals needed for reconstruction from the set of noisy, degraded measurements. The authors have explored both penalized Poisson likelihood (PL) and penalized weighted least-squares (PWLS) objective functions. At low doses, the authors found that the PL approach outperforms PWLS in terms of resolution-noise tradeoffs, but at standard doses they perform similarly. The PWLS objective function, being quadratic, is more amenable to computational acceleration than the PL objective. In this work, the authors develop and compare two different methods for implementing PWLS sinogram restoration with the hope of improving computational performance relative to PL in the standard-dose regime. Sinogram restoration is still significant in the standard-dose regime since it can still outperform standard approaches and it allows for correction of effects that are not usually modeled in standard CT preprocessing. The authors have explored and compared two implementation strategies for PWLS sinogram restoration: (1) A direct matrix-inversion strategy based on the closed-form solution to the PWLS optimization problem and (2) an iterative approach based on the conjugate-gradient algorithm. Obtaining optimal performance from each strategy required modifying the naive off-the-shelf implementations of the algorithms to exploit the particular symmetry and sparseness of the sinogram-restoration problem. For the closed-form approach, the authors subdivided the large matrix inversion into smaller coupled problems and exploited sparseness to minimize matrix operations. For the conjugate-gradient approach, the authors exploited sparseness and preconditioned the problem to speed up convergence. All methods produced qualitatively and quantitatively similar images as measured by resolution-variance tradeoffs and difference images. Despite the acceleration strategies, the direct matrix-inversion approach was found to be uncompetitive with iterative approaches, with a computational burden higher by an order of magnitude or more. The iterative conjugate-gradient approach, however, does appear promising, with computation times half that of the authors' previous penalized-likelihood implementation. Iterative conjugate-gradient based PWLS sinogram restoration with careful matrix optimizations has computational advantages over direct matrix PWLS inversion and over penalized-likelihood sinogram restoration and can be considered a good alternative in standard-dose regimes.

More South Polar "Swiss Cheese"

NASA Image and Video Library

2000-04-24

This image is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left. Some of the surface of the residual south polar cap has a pattern that resembles that of sliced, swiss cheese. Shown here at the very start of southern spring is a frost-covered surface in which there are two layers evident--a brighter upper layer into which are set swiss cheese-like holes, and a darker, lower layer that lies beneath the "swiss cheese" pattern. Nothing like this exists anywhere on Mars except within the south polar cap. This is a Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image acquired on August 2, 1999. It is located near 84.8°S, 71.8°W, and covers an area 3 km across and about 6.1 km long (1.9 by 3.8 miles). http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02368

Szekeres Swiss-cheese model and supernova observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolejko, Krzysztof; Célérier, Marie-Noëlle

2010-11-01

We use different particular classes of axially symmetric Szekeres Swiss-cheese models for the study of the apparent dimming of the supernovae of type Ia. We compare the results with those obtained in the corresponding Lemaître-Tolman Swiss-cheese models. Although the quantitative picture is different the qualitative results are comparable, i.e., one cannot fully explain the dimming of the supernovae using small-scale (˜50Mpc) inhomogeneities. To fit successfully the data we need structures of order of 500 Mpc size or larger. However, this result might be an artifact due to the use of axial light rays in axially symmetric models. Anyhow, this work is a first step in trying to use Szekeres Swiss-cheese models in cosmology and it will be followed by the study of more physical models with still less symmetry.

Recommendations for the use of ultrasound in rheumatoid arthritis: literature review and SONAR score experience.

PubMed

Zufferey, Pascal; Tamborrini, Giorgio; Gabay, Cem; Krebs, Andreas; Kyburz, Diego; Michel, Beat; Moser, Urs; Villiger, Peter M; So, Alexander; Ziswiler, Hans Rudolf

2013-12-20

Ultrasound (US) has become a useful tool in the detection of early disease, differential diagnosis, guidance of treatment decisions and treatment monitoring of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In 2008, the Swiss Sonography in Arthritis and Rheumatism (SONAR) group was established to promote the use of US in inflammatory arthritis in clinical practice. A scoring system was developed and taught to a large number of Swiss rheumatologists who already contributed to the Swiss Clinical Quality Management (SCQM) database, a national patient register. This paper intends to give a Swiss consensus about best clinical practice recommendations for the use of US in RA on the basis of the current literature knowledge and experience with the Swiss SONAR score. Literature research was performed to collect data on current evidence. The results were discussed among specialists of the Swiss university centres and private practice, following a structured procedure. Musculoskelatal US was found to be very helpful in establishing the diagnosis and monitoring the evolution of RA, and to be a reliable tool if used by experienced examiners. It influences treatment decisions such as continuing, intensifying or stepping down therapy. The definite modalities of integrating US into the diagnosis and monitoring of RA treatments will be defined within a few years. There are, however, strong arguments to use US findings as of today in daily clinical care. Some practical recommendations about the use of US in RA, focusing on the diagnosis and the use of the SONAR score, are proposed.

Reduced-fat Cheddar and Swiss-type cheeses harboring exopolysaccharide-producing probiotic Lactobacillus mucosae DPC 6426.

PubMed

Ryan, P M; Burdíková, Z; Beresford, T; Auty, M A E; Fitzgerald, G F; Ross, R P; Sheehan, J J; Stanton, C

2015-12-01

Exopolysaccharide-producing Lactobacillus mucosae DPC 6426 was previously shown to have promising hypocholesterolemic activity in the atherosclerosis-prone apolipoprotein-E-deficient (apoE(-/-)) murine model. The aim of this study was to investigate the suitability of reduced-fat Cheddar and Swiss-type cheeses as functional (carrier) foods for delivery of this probiotic strain. All cheeses were manufactured at pilot-scale (500-L vats) in triplicate, with standard commercially available starters: for Cheddar, Lactococcus lactis; and for Swiss-type cheese, Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus helveticus, and Propionibacterium freudenreichii. Lactobacillus mucosae DPC 6426 was used as an adjunct culture during cheese manufacture, at a level of ~10(6) cfu·mL(-1) cheese milk (subsequently present in the cheese curd at>10(7) cfu·g(-1)). The adjunct strain remained viable at >5×10(7) cfu·g(-1) in both Swiss-type and Cheddar cheeses following ripening for 6 mo. Sensory analysis revealed that the presence of the adjunct culture imparted a more appealing appearance in Swiss-type cheese, but had no significant effect on the sensory characteristics of Cheddar cheeses. Moreover, the adjunct culture had no significant effect on cheese composition, proteolysis, pH, or instrumentally quantified textural characteristics of Cheddar cheeses. These data indicate that low-fat Swiss-type and Cheddar cheeses represent suitable food matrices for the delivery of the hypocholesterolemic Lactobacillus mucosae DPC 6426 in an industrial setting. Copyright © 2015 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Swiss surgery: quo vadis? Reader and market analysis for strategic positioning of a specialty journal].

PubMed

Freiermuth, O; Todorov, A; Bolli, M; Heberer, M

2003-01-01

Scientific journals currently face challenges including cost pressures caused by economic constraints, increasing rivalry among competitors, limited market potential of non-english speaking journals, increasing medical specialization with resulting market fragmentation, and internet-based competition. We therefore analyzed strategic opportunities of the journal Swiss Surgery on the basis of customer surveys and of a market analysis. Swiss surgeons expressed their interest in the continuation of the journal but also indicated their support for changes in its concept and for an increased use of electronic media. An international market analysis points-out the difficulties of national, non-english speaking journals in gaining impact points and in attracting authors and readers of scientific medical articles. Therefore, a journal such as Swiss Surgery should identify and use publication niches. The demand for a concept addressing surgical training including continuous postgraduate education was confirmed by the customers of Swiss Surgery. A corresponding offer does not presently exist in the area and could become the new focus of the journal. This change of concept may have a number of consequences: A journal focusing on surgical training and education should use the results of readers' surveys rather than impact point assignment to evaluate quality. The journal should increasingly use electronic services including data bases, pictures, videos and closed user groups to supplement the print version. At short term, however, the printed version should be continued and not be substituted by the electronic version in order to maintain the established brand "Swiss Surgery".

Is the swiss health care system a model for the United States?

PubMed

Chaufan, Claudia

2014-01-01

Both supporters and critics of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) have argued that it is similar to Switzerland's Federal Law on Health Insurance (LAMal), which currently governs Swiss health care, and have either praised or condemned the ACA on the basis of this alleged similarity. I challenge these observers on the grounds that they overlook critical problems with the Swiss model, such as its inequities in access, and critical differences between it and the ACA, such as the roots in, and continuing commitment to, social insurance of the Swiss model. Indeed, the daunting challenge of attempting to impose the tightly regulated model of operation of the Swiss model on mega-corporations like UnitedHealth, WellPoint, or Aetna is likely to trigger no less ferocious resistance than a fully public, single-payer system would. I also conclude that the ACA might unravel in ways unintended or even opposed by its designers and supporters, as employers, confronted with ever-rising costs, retreat from sponsoring insurance, and workers react in outrage as they confront the unaffordable underinsurance mandated by the ACA. A new political and ideological landscape may then ensue that finally ushers in a truly national health program.

[Criminal implication of sponsoring in medicine: legal ramifactions and recommendations].

PubMed

Mahnken, A H; Theilmann, M; Bolenz, M; Günther, R W

2005-08-01

As a consequence of the so-called "Heart-Valve-Affair" in 1994, the German public became aware of the potential criminal significance of industrial sponsoring and third-party financial support in medicine. Since 1997, when the German Anti-Corruption Law came into effect, the penal regulations regarding bribery and benefits for public officers were tightened. Due to the lack of explicit and generally accepted guidelines in combination with regional differences of jurisdiction, there is a lingering uncertainty regarding the criminal aspects of third-party funding and industrial sponsoring. The aim of this review is to summarize the penal and professional implications of third-party funding and sponsoring in medicine including recent aspects of jurisdiction. The currently available recommendations on this issue are introduced.

Penalized Multi-Way Partial Least Squares for Smooth Trajectory Decoding from Electrocorticographic (ECoG) Recording

PubMed Central

Eliseyev, Andrey; Aksenova, Tetiana

2016-01-01

In the current paper the decoding algorithms for motor-related BCI systems for continuous upper limb trajectory prediction are considered. Two methods for the smooth prediction, namely Sobolev and Polynomial Penalized Multi-Way Partial Least Squares (PLS) regressions, are proposed. The methods are compared to the Multi-Way Partial Least Squares and Kalman Filter approaches. The comparison demonstrated that the proposed methods combined the prediction accuracy of the algorithms of the PLS family and trajectory smoothness of the Kalman Filter. In addition, the prediction delay is significantly lower for the proposed algorithms than for the Kalman Filter approach. The proposed methods could be applied in a wide range of applications beyond neuroscience. PMID:27196417

Cox Regression Models with Functional Covariates for Survival Data.

PubMed

Gellar, Jonathan E; Colantuoni, Elizabeth; Needham, Dale M; Crainiceanu, Ciprian M

2015-06-01

We extend the Cox proportional hazards model to cases when the exposure is a densely sampled functional process, measured at baseline. The fundamental idea is to combine penalized signal regression with methods developed for mixed effects proportional hazards models. The model is fit by maximizing the penalized partial likelihood, with smoothing parameters estimated by a likelihood-based criterion such as AIC or EPIC. The model may be extended to allow for multiple functional predictors, time varying coefficients, and missing or unequally-spaced data. Methods were inspired by and applied to a study of the association between time to death after hospital discharge and daily measures of disease severity collected in the intensive care unit, among survivors of acute respiratory distress syndrome.

A Permutation Approach for Selecting the Penalty Parameter in Penalized Model Selection

PubMed Central

Sabourin, Jeremy A; Valdar, William; Nobel, Andrew B

2015-01-01

Summary We describe a simple, computationally effcient, permutation-based procedure for selecting the penalty parameter in LASSO penalized regression. The procedure, permutation selection, is intended for applications where variable selection is the primary focus, and can be applied in a variety of structural settings, including that of generalized linear models. We briefly discuss connections between permutation selection and existing theory for the LASSO. In addition, we present a simulation study and an analysis of real biomedical data sets in which permutation selection is compared with selection based on the following: cross-validation (CV), the Bayesian information criterion (BIC), Scaled Sparse Linear Regression, and a selection method based on recently developed testing procedures for the LASSO. PMID:26243050

Functional Generalized Structured Component Analysis.

PubMed

Suk, Hye Won; Hwang, Heungsun

2016-12-01

An extension of Generalized Structured Component Analysis (GSCA), called Functional GSCA, is proposed to analyze functional data that are considered to arise from an underlying smooth curve varying over time or other continua. GSCA has been geared for the analysis of multivariate data. Accordingly, it cannot deal with functional data that often involve different measurement occasions across participants and a large number of measurement occasions that exceed the number of participants. Functional GSCA addresses these issues by integrating GSCA with spline basis function expansions that represent infinite-dimensional curves onto a finite-dimensional space. For parameter estimation, functional GSCA minimizes a penalized least squares criterion by using an alternating penalized least squares estimation algorithm. The usefulness of functional GSCA is illustrated with gait data.

A High-Performance Parallel Implementation of the Certified Reduced Basis Method

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-15

point of view of model reduction due to the “curse of dimensionality”. We consider transient thermal conduction in a three– dimensional “ Swiss cheese ... Swiss cheese ” problem (see Figure 7a) there are 54 unique ordered pairs in I. A histogram of 〈δµ〉 values computed for the ntrain = 106 case is given in...our primal-dual RB method yields a very fast and accurate output approxima- tion for the “ Swiss Cheese ” problem. Our goal in this final subsection is

Reactor physics teaching and research in the Swiss nuclear engineering master

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

Chawla, R.; Paul Scherrer Inst., CH-5232 Villigen PSI

Since 2008, a Master of Science program in Nuclear Engineering (NE) has been running in Switzerland, thanks to the combined efforts of the country's key players in nuclear teaching and research, viz. the Swiss Federal Inst.s of Technology at Lausanne (EPFL) and at Zurich (ETHZ), the Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI) at Villigen and the Swiss Nuclear Utilities (Swissnuclear). The present paper, while outlining the academic program as a whole, lays emphasis on the reactor physics teaching and research training accorded to the students in the framework of the developed curriculum. (authors)

Multiple-Threshold Event Detection and Other Enhancements to the Virtual Seismologist (VS) Earthquake Early Warning Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fischer, M.; Caprio, M.; Cua, G. B.; Heaton, T. H.; Clinton, J. F.; Wiemer, S.

2009-12-01

The Virtual Seismologist (VS) algorithm is a Bayesian approach to earthquake early warning (EEW) being implemented by the Swiss Seismological Service at ETH Zurich. The application of Bayes’ theorem in earthquake early warning states that the most probable source estimate at any given time is a combination of contributions from a likelihood function that evolves in response to incoming data from the on-going earthquake, and selected prior information, which can include factors such as network topology, the Gutenberg-Richter relationship or previously observed seismicity. The VS algorithm was one of three EEW algorithms involved in the California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN) real-time EEW testing and performance evaluation effort. Its compelling real-time performance in California over the last three years has led to its inclusion in the new USGS-funded effort to develop key components of CISN ShakeAlert, a prototype EEW system that could potentially be implemented in California. A significant portion of VS code development was supported by the SAFER EEW project in Europe. We discuss recent enhancements to the VS EEW algorithm. We developed and continue to test a multiple-threshold event detection scheme, which uses different association / location approaches depending on the peak amplitudes associated with an incoming P pick. With this scheme, an event with sufficiently high initial amplitudes can be declared on the basis of a single station, maximizing warning times for damaging events for which EEW is most relevant. Smaller, non-damaging events, which will have lower initial amplitudes, will require more picks to be declared an event to reduce false alarms. This transforms the VS codes from a regional EEW approach reliant on traditional location estimation (and it requirement of at least 4 picks as implemented by the Binder Earthworm phase associator) to a hybrid on-site/regional approach capable of providing a continuously evolving stream of EEW information starting from the first P-detection. Offline analysis on Swiss and California waveform datasets indicate that the multiple-threshold approach is faster and more reliable for larger events than the earlier version of the VS codes. This multiple-threshold approach is well-suited for implementation on a wide range of devices, from embedded processor systems installed at a seismic stations, to small autonomous networks for local warnings, to large-scale regional networks such as the CISN. In addition, we quantify the influence of systematic use of prior information and Vs30-based corrections for site amplification on VS magnitude estimation performance, and describe how components of the VS algorithm will be integrated into non-EEW standard network processing procedures at CHNet, the national broadband / strong motion network in Switzerland. These enhancements to the VS codes will be transitioned from off-line to real-time testing at CHNet in Europe in the coming months, and will be incorporated into the development of key components of CISN ShakeAlert prototype system in California.

Use of simulation-based medical training in Swiss pediatric hospitals: a national survey.

PubMed

Stocker, Martin; Laine, Kathryn; Ulmer, Francis

2017-06-17

Simulation-based medical training (SBMT) is a powerful tool for continuing medical education. In contrast to the Anglo-Saxon medical education community, up until recently, SBMT was scarce in continental Europe's pediatric health care education: In 2009, only 3 Swiss pediatric health care institutions used SBMT. The Swiss catalogue of objectives in Pediatrics does not acknowledge SBMT. The aim of this survey is to describe and analyze the current state of SBMT in Swiss pediatric hospitals and health care departments. A survey was carried out with medical education representatives of every institution. SBMT was defined as any kind of training with a mannequin excluding national and/or international standardized courses. The survey reference day was May 31st 2015. Thirty Swiss pediatric hospitals and health care departments answered our survey (response rate 96.8%) with 66.6% (20 out of 30) offering SBMT. Four of the 20 hospitals offering SMBT had two independently operating training simulation units, resulting in 24 educational units as the basis for our SBMT analysis. More than 90% of the educational units offering SBMT (22 out of 24 units) were conducting in-situ training and 62.5% (15 out of 24) were using high-technology mannequins. Technical skills, communication and leadership ranked among the top training priorities. All institutions catered to inter-professional participants. The vast majority conducted training that was neither embedded within a larger educational curriculum (19 out of 24: 79.2%) nor evaluated (16 out of 24: 66.6%) by its participants. Only 5 institutions (20.8%) extended their training to at least two thirds of their hospital staff. Two thirds of the Swiss pediatric hospitals and health care departments are offering SBMT. Swiss pediatric SBMT is inter-professional, mainly in-situ based, covering technical as well as non-technical skills, and often employing high-technology mannequins. The absence of a systematic approach and reaching only a small number of healthcare employees were identified as shortcomings that need to be addressed.

Electromyographic activity and 6RM strength in bench press on stable and unstable surfaces.

PubMed

Saeterbakken, Atle H; Fimland, Marius S

2013-04-01

The purpose of the study was to compare 6-repetition maximum (6RM) loads and muscle activity in bench press on 3 surfaces, namely, stable bench, balance cushion, and Swiss ball. Sixteen healthy, resistance-trained men (age 22.5 ± 2.0 years, stature 1.82 ± 6.6 m, and body mass 82.0 ± 7.8 kg) volunteered for 3 habituation/strength testing sessions and 1 experimental session. In randomized order on the 3 surfaces, 6RM strength and electromyographic activity of pectoralis major, deltoid anterior, biceps brachii, triceps brachii, rectus abdominis, oblique external and erector spinae were assessed. Relative to stable bench, the 6RM strength was approximately 93% for balance cushion (p ≤ 0.001) and approximately 92% for Swiss ball (p = 0.008); the pectoralis major electromyographic (EMG) activity was approximately 90% using the balance cushion (p = 0.080) and approximately 81% using Swiss ball (p = 0.006); the triceps EMG was approximately 79% using the balance cushion (p = 0.028) and approximately 69% using the Swiss ball (p = 0.002). Relative to balance cushion, the EMG activity in pectoralis, triceps, and erector spinae using Swiss ball was approximately 89% (p = 0.016), approximately 88% (p = 0.014) and approximately 80% (p = 0.020), respectively. In rectus abdominis, the EMG activity relative to Swiss ball was approximately 69% using stable bench (p = 0.042) and approximately 65% using the balance cushion (p = 0.046). Similar EMG activities between stable and unstable surfaces were observed for deltoid anterior, biceps brachii, and oblique external. In conclusion, stable bench press had greater 6RM strength and triceps and pectoralis EMG activity compared with the unstable surfaces. These findings have implications for athletic training and rehabilitation, because they demonstrate an inferior effect of unstable surfaces on muscle activation of prime movers and strength in bench press. If an unstable surface in bench press is desirable, a balance cushion should be chosen instead of a Swiss ball.

A scenario planning approach for disasters on Swiss road network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mendes, G. A.; Axhausen, K. W.; Andrade, J. S.; Herrmann, H. J.

2014-05-01

We study a vehicular traffic scenario on Swiss roads in an emergency situation, calculating how sequentially roads block due to excessive traffic load until global collapse (gridlock) occurs and in this way displays the fragilities of the system. We used a database from Bundesamt für Raumentwicklung which contains length and maximum allowed speed of all roads in Switzerland. The present work could be interesting for government agencies in planning and managing for emergency logistics for a country or a big city. The model used to generate the flux on the Swiss road network was proposed by Mendes et al. [Physica A 391, 362 (2012)]. It is based on the conservation of the number of vehicles and allows for an easy and fast way to follow the formation of traffic jams in large systems. We also analyze the difference between a nonlinear and a linear model and the distribution of fluxes on the Swiss road.

Chemopreventive efficacy of betel leaf extract and its constituents on 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene induced carcinogenesis and their effect on drug detoxification system in mouse skin.

PubMed

Azuine, M A; Amonkar, A J; Bhide, S V

1991-04-01

Effects of topically applied betel leaf extract (BLE) and its constituents. beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol, eugenol and hydroxychavicol on 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) induced skin tumors were evaluated in two strains of mice. BLE, beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol, significantly inhibited the tumor formation by 83, 86, 86% in Swiss mice and 92, 94 and 89% in male Swiss bare mice respectively. Hydroxychavicol showed 90% inhibition in Swiss bare mice at 24 weeks of treatment. Eugenol showed minimal protection in both strains of mice. The mean latency period and survivors in BLE, beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol and hydroxychavicol treated groups were remarkably high as compared to DMBA alone treated group. Intraperitoneal injection of betal leaf constituents showed a significant effect on both glutathione and glutathione S-transferase levels in the Swiss mouse skin.

Convergence studies of deterministic methods for LWR explicit reflector methodology

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

Canepa, S.; Hursin, M.; Ferroukhi, H.

2013-07-01

The standard approach in modem 3-D core simulators, employed either for steady-state or transient simulations, is to use Albedo coefficients or explicit reflectors at the core axial and radial boundaries. In the latter approach, few-group homogenized nuclear data are a priori produced with lattice transport codes using 2-D reflector models. Recently, the explicit reflector methodology of the deterministic CASMO-4/SIMULATE-3 code system was identified to potentially constitute one of the main sources of errors for core analyses of the Swiss operating LWRs, which are all belonging to GII design. Considering that some of the new GIII designs will rely on verymore » different reflector concepts, a review and assessment of the reflector methodology for various LWR designs appeared as relevant. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to first recall the concepts of the explicit reflector modelling approach as employed by CASMO/SIMULATE. Then, for selected reflector configurations representative of both GII and GUI designs, a benchmarking of the few-group nuclear data produced with the deterministic lattice code CASMO-4 and its successor CASMO-5, is conducted. On this basis, a convergence study with regards to geometrical requirements when using deterministic methods with 2-D homogenous models is conducted and the effect on the downstream 3-D core analysis accuracy is evaluated for a typical GII deflector design in order to assess the results against available plant measurements. (authors)« less

Rapid determination of Swiss cheese composition by Fourier transform infrared/attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy.

PubMed

Rodriguez-Saona, L E; Koca, N; Harper, W J; Alvarez, V B

2006-05-01

There is a need for rapid and simple techniques that can be used to predict the quality of cheese. The aim of this research was to develop a simple and rapid screening tool for monitoring Swiss cheese composition by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Twenty Swiss cheese samples from different manufacturers and degree of maturity were evaluated. Direct measurements of Swiss cheese slices (approximately 0.5 g) were made using a MIRacle 3-reflection diamond attenuated total reflectance (ATR) accessory. Reference methods for moisture (vacuum oven), protein content (Kjeldahl), and fat (Babcock) were used. Calibration models were developed based on a cross-validated (leave-one-out approach) partial least squares regression. The information-rich infrared spectral range for Swiss cheese samples was from 3,000 to 2,800 cm(-1) and 1,800 to 900 cm(-1). The performance statistics for cross-validated models gave estimates for standard error of cross-validation of 0.45, 0.25, and 0.21% for moisture, protein, and fat respectively, and correlation coefficients r > 0.96. Furthermore, the ATR infrared protocol allowed for the classification of cheeses according to manufacturer and aging based on unique spectral information, especially of carbonyl groups, probably due to their distinctive lipid composition. Attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy allowed for the rapid (approximately 3-min analysis time) and accurate analysis of the composition of Swiss cheese. This technique could contribute to the development of simple and rapid protocols for monitoring complex biochemical changes, and predicting the final quality of the cheese.

[Variability in nursing workload within Swiss Diagnosis Related Groups].

PubMed

Baumberger, Dieter; Bürgin, Reto; Bartholomeyczik, Sabine

2014-04-01

Nursing care inputs represent one of the major cost components in the Swiss Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) structure. High and low nursing workloads in individual cases are supposed to balance out via the DRG group. Research results indicating possible problems in this area cannot be reliably extrapolated to SwissDRG. An analysis of nursing workload figures with DRG indicators was carried out in order to decide whether there is a need to develop SwissDRG classification criteria that are specific to nursing care. The case groups were determined with SwissDRG 0.1, and nursing workload with LEP Nursing 2. Robust statistical methods were used. The evaluation of classification accuracy was carried out with R2 as the measurement of variance reduction and the coefficient of homogeneity (CH). To ensure reliable conclusions, statistical tests with bootstrapping methods were performed. The sample included 213 groups with a total of 73930 cases from ten hospitals. The DRG classification was seen to have limited explanatory power for variability in nursing workload inputs, both for all cases (R2 = 0.16) and for inliers (R2 = 0.32). Nursing workload homogeneity was statistically significant unsatisfactory (CH < 0.67) in 123 groups, including 24 groups in which it was significant defective (CH < 0.60). Therefore, there is a high risk of high and low nursing workloads not balancing out in these groups, and, as a result, of financial resources being wrongly allocated. The development of nursing-care-specific SwissDRG classification criteria for improved homogeneity and variance reduction is therefore indicated.

Compliance with guidelines for disease management in diabetes: results from the SwissDiab Registry.

PubMed

Schimke, Katrin E; Renström, Frida; Meier, Sandro; Stettler, Christoph; Brändle, Michael

2018-01-01

Tight glycemic control and aggressive treatment of additional cardiovascular risk factors can substantially reduce risk of diabetes-related complications. In 2013, the Swiss Society of Endocrinology and Diabetology (SSED) established national criteria on good disease management in diabetes, but little is known about compliance in clinical care. Here we assessed to what extent patients from two tertiary care centers in the German-speaking part of Switzerland enrolled in the Swiss Diabetes (SwissDiab) Registry adhere to the SSED criteria. SwissDiab is a prospective observational cohort study of patients regularly treated at Swiss tertiary diabetes centers. Data were collected through standardized annual health examinations. Baseline participant descriptive statistics, stratified by diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM1) and type 2 (DM2), were compared with SSED targets for glycemic control, blood pressure, blood lipids, weight maintenance, and ophthalmic examination. By the end of 2016, 604 participants with DM1 (40%) and DM2 (60%) had data available for analyses, 36% and 29% women, respectively. At baseline, all the SSED targets were met with two exceptions: a glycated hemoglobin A1c value <7% was measured in 32% of participants with DM1 (SSED target: ≥40%) and 47% and 56% of overweight or obese participants with DM1 and DM2, respectively, received nutritional counseling in the previous year (SSED target: ≥80%). The SSED targets for good disease management in diabetes were achieved in the majority of participants at the time of enrollment, but results also highlight areas where disease management can be improved, particularly the role of nutrition counseling.

Development of a monitoring instrument to assess the performance of the Swiss primary care system.

PubMed

Ebert, Sonja T; Pittet, Valérie; Cornuz, Jacques; Senn, Nicolas

2017-11-29

The Swiss health system is customer-driven with fee-for-service paiement scheme and universal coverage. It is highly performing but expensive and health information systems are scarcely implemented. The Swiss Primary Care Active Monitoring (SPAM) program aims to develop an instrument able to describe the performance and effectiveness of the Swiss PC system. Based on a Literature review we developed a conceptual framework and selected indicators according to their ability to reflect the Swiss PC system. A two round modified RAND method with 24 inter-/national experts took place to select primary/secondary indicators (validity, clarity, agreement). A limited set of priority indicators was selected (importance, priority) in a third round. A conceptual framework covering three domains (structure, process, outcome) subdivided into twelve sections (funding, access, organisation/ workflow of resources, (Para-)Medical training, management of knowledge, clinical-/interpersonal care, health status, satisfaction of PC providers/ consumers, equity) was generated. 365 indicators were pre-selected and 335 were finally retained. 56 were kept as priority indicators.- Among the remaining, 199 were identified as primary and 80 as secondary indicators. All domains and sections are represented. The development of the SPAM program allowed the construction of a consensual instrument in a traditionally unregulated health system through a modified RAND method. The selected 56 priority indicators render the SPAM instrument a comprehensive tool supporting a better understanding of the Swiss PC system's performance and effectiveness as well as in identifying potential ways to improve quality of care. Further challenges will be to update indicators regularly and to assess validity and sensitivity-to-change over time.

Heavy precipitation events in northern Switzerland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giannakaki, Paraskevi; Martius, Olivia

2013-04-01

Heavy precipitation events in the Alpine region often cause floods, rock-falls and mud slides with severe consequences for population and economy. Breaking synoptic Rossby waves located over western Europe, play a central role in triggering such heavy rain events in southern Switzerland (e.g. Massacand et al. 1998). In contrast, synoptic scale structures triggering heavy precipitation on the north side of the Swiss Alps and orographic effects have so far not been studied comprehensively. An observation based high resolution precipitation data set for Switzerland and the Alps (MeteoSwiss) is used to identify heavy precipitation events affecting the north side of the Swiss Alps for the time period 1961-2010. For these events a detailed statistical and dynamical analysis of the upper level flow is conducted using ECMWFs ERA-40 and ERA-Interim reanalysis data sets. For the analysis north side of the Swiss Alps is divided in two investigation areas north-eastern and western Switzerland following the Swiss climate change scenarios (Bey et al. 2011). A subjective classification of upper level structures triggering heavy precipitation events in the areas of interest is presented. Four classes are defined based on the orientation and formation of the dynamical tropopause during extreme events in the northern part of Switzerland and its sub-regions. The analysis is extended by a climatology of breaking waves and cut-offs following the method of Wernli and Sprenger (2007) to examine their presence and location during extreme events. References Bey I., Croci-Maspoli M., Fuhrer J., Kull C, Appenzeller C., Knutti R. and Schär C. Swiss Climate Change Scenarios CH2011, C2SM, MeteoSwiss, ETH, NCCR Climate, OcCC (2011), http://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-a-006720559 Massacand A., H. Wernli, and H.C. Davies, 1998. Heavy precipitation on the Alpine South side: An upper-level precursor. Geophys. Res. Lett., 25, 1435-1438. MeteoSwiss 2011. Documentation of Meteoswiss grid-data products, daily precipitation (final analysis): Rhiresd. Available at: http://www.meteosuisse.admin.ch/web/en/services/data_portal/gridded_datasets/precip.html Wernli. H., and M. Sprenger, 2007. Identification and ERA-15 climatology of potential vorticity streamers and cutoffs near the extratropical tropopause. J. Atmos. Sci., 64, 1569-1586.

Estradiol enhances object recognition memory in Swiss female mice by activating hippocampal estrogen receptor α.

PubMed

Pereira, Luciana M; Bastos, Cristiane P; de Souza, Jéssica M; Ribeiro, Fabíola M; Pereira, Grace S

2014-10-01

In rodents, 17β-estradiol (E2) enhances hippocampal function and improves performance in several memory tasks. Regarding the object recognition paradigm, E2 commonly act as a cognitive enhancer. However, the types of estrogen receptor (ER) involved, as well as the underlying molecular mechanisms are still under investigation. In the present study, we asked whether E2 enhances object recognition memory by activating ERα and/or ERβ in the hippocampus of Swiss female mice. First, we showed that immediately post-training intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of E2 (0.2 mg/kg) allowed object recognition memory to persist 48 h in ovariectomized (OVX) Swiss female mice. This result indicates that Swiss female mice are sensitive to the promnesic effects of E2 and is in accordance with other studies, which used C57/BL6 female mice. To verify if the activation of hippocampal ERα or ERβ would be sufficient to improve object memory, we used PPT and DPN, which are selective ERα and ERβ agonists, respectively. We found that PPT, but not DPN, improved object memory in Swiss female mice. However, DPN was able to improve memory in C57/BL6 female mice, which is in accordance with other studies. Next, we tested if the E2 effect on improving object memory depends on ER activation in the hippocampus. Thus, we tested if the infusion of intra-hippocampal TPBM and PHTPP, selective antagonists of ERα and ERβ, respectively, would block the memory enhancement effect of E2. Our results showed that TPBM, but not PHTPP, blunted the promnesic effect of E2, strongly suggesting that in Swiss female mice, the ERα and not the ERβ is the receptor involved in the promnesic effect of E2. It was already demonstrated that E2, as well as PPT and DPN, increase the phospho-ERK2 level in the dorsal hippocampus of C57/BL6 mice. Here we observed that PPT increased phospho-ERK1, while DPN decreased phospho-ERK2 in the dorsal hippocampus of Swiss female mice subjected to the object recognition sample phase. Taken together, our results suggest that the type of receptor as well as the molecular mechanism used by E2 to improve object memory may differ in Swiss female mice. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Radiocaesium transfer from volcanic soils to Swiss chard, cabbage and sweet corn.

PubMed

Schuller, Paulina; Castillo, Alejandra; Voigt, Gabriele; Semioshkina, Natalia

2018-06-18

The root uptake of radiocaesium by different plant parts of Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris L. var. cicla), cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata) and sweet corn (Zea mays L. var. saccharata) and the potential influence of K-fertilising on the transfer behaviour was studied in allophanic volcanic soils (umbric andosol and dystric fluvisol) in Chile under temperate climate and heavy rainfall conditions (∼2660 mm y -1 ) over several vegetation periods. The soils were spiked homogeneously to 0.20 m depth with 100 kBq 134 Cs m -2 and activity concentrations measured. The transfer factor (TF, on a dry mass basis) to Swiss chard had a clear exponential decrease within each crop year for both soil types, either K-fertilised or unfertilised. The highest values of the TFs to Swiss chard were at the beginning of the harvests, and the half-times of TF decrease ranged between 52 and 137 d for umbric andosol and between 40 and 164 d for dystric fluvisol. Over the five seasons there was no consistent ageing effect based on TF in either soil types for the three studied crops. The effect of 134 Cs foliar uptake by Swiss chard from resuspended soil was estimated to account for about 70% (external leaves) and 30% (internal leaves) increase in the TF for the K-unfertilised umbric andosol, and showed an ambiguous behaviour for the K-fertilised umbric andosol. Consequently foliar uptake does not explain the 370 and 500% increase of the TF to Swiss chard leaves determined during the third growing period in the umbric andosol without and with K-fertilisation, respectively. Therefore an uncertainty factor of 3-5 is recommended to be taken into account when using this parameter for dose calculations. The TF to Swiss chard was found to be higher than previously reported values. The TF to cabbage and sweet corn plant parts was found to be within the range of previously reported values. Normal K-fertilisation resulted in about 2.4-fold reduction in 134 Cs TF to Swiss chard, 2.3-fold to sweet corn and 3.0-fold to cabbage. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A powerful and flexible approach to the analysis of RNA sequence count data

PubMed Central

Zhou, Yi-Hui; Xia, Kai; Wright, Fred A.

2011-01-01

Motivation: A number of penalization and shrinkage approaches have been proposed for the analysis of microarray gene expression data. Similar techniques are now routinely applied to RNA sequence transcriptional count data, although the value of such shrinkage has not been conclusively established. If penalization is desired, the explicit modeling of mean–variance relationships provides a flexible testing regimen that ‘borrows’ information across genes, while easily incorporating design effects and additional covariates. Results: We describe BBSeq, which incorporates two approaches: (i) a simple beta-binomial generalized linear model, which has not been extensively tested for RNA-Seq data and (ii) an extension of an expression mean–variance modeling approach to RNA-Seq data, involving modeling of the overdispersion as a function of the mean. Our approaches are flexible, allowing for general handling of discrete experimental factors and continuous covariates. We report comparisons with other alternate methods to handle RNA-Seq data. Although penalized methods have advantages for very small sample sizes, the beta-binomial generalized linear model, combined with simple outlier detection and testing approaches, appears to have favorable characteristics in power and flexibility. Availability: An R package containing examples and sample datasets is available at http://www.bios.unc.edu/research/genomic_software/BBSeq Contact: yzhou@bios.unc.edu; fwright@bios.unc.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:21810900

Flexible and structured survival model for a simultaneous estimation of non-linear and non-proportional effects and complex interactions between continuous variables: Performance of this multidimensional penalized spline approach in net survival trend analysis.

PubMed

Remontet, Laurent; Uhry, Zoé; Bossard, Nadine; Iwaz, Jean; Belot, Aurélien; Danieli, Coraline; Charvat, Hadrien; Roche, Laurent

2018-01-01

Cancer survival trend analyses are essential to describe accurately the way medical practices impact patients' survival according to the year of diagnosis. To this end, survival models should be able to account simultaneously for non-linear and non-proportional effects and for complex interactions between continuous variables. However, in the statistical literature, there is no consensus yet on how to build such models that should be flexible but still provide smooth estimates of survival. In this article, we tackle this challenge by smoothing the complex hypersurface (time since diagnosis, age at diagnosis, year of diagnosis, and mortality hazard) using a multidimensional penalized spline built from the tensor product of the marginal bases of time, age, and year. Considering this penalized survival model as a Poisson model, we assess the performance of this approach in estimating the net survival with a comprehensive simulation study that reflects simple and complex realistic survival trends. The bias was generally small and the root mean squared error was good and often similar to that of the true model that generated the data. This parametric approach offers many advantages and interesting prospects (such as forecasting) that make it an attractive and efficient tool for survival trend analyses.

Robust Gaussian Graphical Modeling via l1 Penalization

PubMed Central

Sun, Hokeun; Li, Hongzhe

2012-01-01

Summary Gaussian graphical models have been widely used as an effective method for studying the conditional independency structure among genes and for constructing genetic networks. However, gene expression data typically have heavier tails or more outlying observations than the standard Gaussian distribution. Such outliers in gene expression data can lead to wrong inference on the dependency structure among the genes. We propose a l1 penalized estimation procedure for the sparse Gaussian graphical models that is robustified against possible outliers. The likelihood function is weighted according to how the observation is deviated, where the deviation of the observation is measured based on its own likelihood. An efficient computational algorithm based on the coordinate gradient descent method is developed to obtain the minimizer of the negative penalized robustified-likelihood, where nonzero elements of the concentration matrix represents the graphical links among the genes. After the graphical structure is obtained, we re-estimate the positive definite concentration matrix using an iterative proportional fitting algorithm. Through simulations, we demonstrate that the proposed robust method performs much better than the graphical Lasso for the Gaussian graphical models in terms of both graph structure selection and estimation when outliers are present. We apply the robust estimation procedure to an analysis of yeast gene expression data and show that the resulting graph has better biological interpretation than that obtained from the graphical Lasso. PMID:23020775

Development of MPS Method for Analyzing Melt Spreading Behavior and MCCI in Severe Accidents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamaji, Akifumi; Li, Xin

2016-08-01

Spreading of molten core (corium) on reactor containment vessel floor and molten corium-concrete interaction (MCCI) are important phenomena in the late phase of a severe accident for assessment of the containment integrity and managing the severe accident. The severe accident research at Waseda University has been advancing to show that simulations with moving particle semi-implicit (MPS) method (one of the particle methods) can greatly improve the analytical capability and mechanical understanding of the melt behavior in severe accidents. MPS models have been developed and verified regarding calculations of radiation and thermal field, solid-liquid phase transition, buoyancy, and temperature dependency of viscosity to simulate phenomena, such as spreading of corium, ablation of concrete by the corium, crust formation and cooling of the corium by top flooding. Validations have been conducted against experiments such as FARO L26S, ECOKATS-V1, Theofanous, and SPREAD for spreading, SURC-2, SURC-4, SWISS-1, and SWISS-2 for MCCI. These validations cover melt spreading behaviors and MCCI by mixture of molten oxides (including prototypic UO2-ZrO2), metals, and water. Generally, the analytical results show good agreement with the experiment with respect to the leading edge of spreading melt and ablation front history of concrete. The MPS results indicate that crust formation may play important roles in melt spreading and MCCI. There is a need to develop a code for two dimensional MCCI experiment simulation with MPS method as future study, which will be able to simulate anisotropic ablation of concrete.

Can a fake fir tell the truth about Swiss needle cast? (paper)

EPA Science Inventory

A key question in dendrochronology to reconstruct forest disturbance history is how to distinguish between the effects of Swiss needle cast (SNC) and other forest disturbance agents (e.g., Arceuthobium spp., Armillaria, Phaseolus schweinitzii, Dendroctonus ponderosae, Dendroctonu...

Effect of ammonia on Swiss albino mice

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hilado, C. J.; Casey, C. J.; Furst, A.

1977-01-01

Times to incapacitation and death and LC /50/ values were determined for Swiss albino male mice exposed to different concentrations of ammonia in a 4.2 liter hemispherical chamber. The LC/50/ for a 30 minute exposure was 21,430 ppm.

[Quality assurance in intensive care: the situation in Switzerland].

PubMed

Frutiger, A

1999-10-30

The movement for quality in medicine is starting to take on the dimensions of a crusade. Quite logically it has also reached the intensive care community. Due to their complex multidisciplinary functioning and because of the high costs involved, ICUs are model services reflecting the overall situation in our hospitals. The situation of Swiss intensive care is particularly interesting, because for over 25 years standards for design and staffing of Swiss ICUs have been in effect and were enforced via onsite visits by the Swiss Society of Intensive Care without government involvement. Swiss intensive care thus defined its structures long before the word "accreditation" had even been used in this context. While intensive care in Switzerland is practised in clearly defined, well equipped and adequately staffed units, much less is known about process quality and outcomes of these services. Statistics on admissions, length of stay and length of mechanical ventilation, as well as severity data based on a simple classification system, are collected nationwide and allow some limited insight into the overall process of care. Results of intensive care are not systematically assessed. In response to the constant threat of cost containment, Swiss ICUs should increasingly focus on process quality and results, while maintaining their existing good structures.

29 CFR 1975.5 - States and political subdivisions thereof.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... penal institutions; State, county, and municipal judicial bodies; State University Boards of Trustees; State, county, and municipal public school boards and commissions; and public libraries. (2) Depending...

Analyzing Test-Taking Behavior: Decision Theory Meets Psychometric Theory.

PubMed

Budescu, David V; Bo, Yuanchao

2015-12-01

We investigate the implications of penalizing incorrect answers to multiple-choice tests, from the perspective of both test-takers and test-makers. To do so, we use a model that combines a well-known item response theory model with prospect theory (Kahneman and Tversky, Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk, Econometrica 47:263-91, 1979). Our results reveal that when test-takers are fully informed of the scoring rule, the use of any penalty has detrimental effects for both test-takers (they are always penalized in excess, particularly those who are risk averse and loss averse) and test-makers (the bias of the estimated scores, as well as the variance and skewness of their distribution, increase as a function of the severity of the penalty).

Fisher's method of scoring in statistical image reconstruction: comparison of Jacobi and Gauss-Seidel iterative schemes.

PubMed

Hudson, H M; Ma, J; Green, P

1994-01-01

Many algorithms for medical image reconstruction adopt versions of the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. In this approach, parameter estimates are obtained which maximize a complete data likelihood or penalized likelihood, in each iteration. Implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) penalized algorithms require smoothing of the current reconstruction in the image domain as part of their iteration scheme. In this paper, we discuss alternatives to EM which adapt Fisher's method of scoring (FS) and other methods for direct maximization of the incomplete data likelihood. Jacobi and Gauss-Seidel methods for non-linear optimization provide efficient algorithms applying FS in tomography. One approach uses smoothed projection data in its iterations. We investigate the convergence of Jacobi and Gauss-Seidel algorithms with clinical tomographic projection data.

Stationary wavelet transform for under-sampled MRI reconstruction.

PubMed

Kayvanrad, Mohammad H; McLeod, A Jonathan; Baxter, John S H; McKenzie, Charles A; Peters, Terry M

2014-12-01

In addition to coil sensitivity data (parallel imaging), sparsity constraints are often used as an additional lp-penalty for under-sampled MRI reconstruction (compressed sensing). Penalizing the traditional decimated wavelet transform (DWT) coefficients, however, results in visual pseudo-Gibbs artifacts, some of which are attributed to the lack of translation invariance of the wavelet basis. We show that these artifacts can be greatly reduced by penalizing the translation-invariant stationary wavelet transform (SWT) coefficients. This holds with various additional reconstruction constraints, including coil sensitivity profiles and total variation. Additionally, SWT reconstructions result in lower error values and faster convergence compared to DWT. These concepts are illustrated with extensive experiments on in vivo MRI data with particular emphasis on multiple-channel acquisitions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

21 CFR 101.100 - Food; exemptions from labeling.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... fresh vegetable, the quantity of contents of which is not more than 1 dry quart, shall be exempt from... ‘swiss cheese,’ but if eyes do not form, to be labeled as ‘swiss cheese for manufacturing’ ”. (2) In the...

Comparing implementations of penalized weighted least-squares sinogram restoration

PubMed Central

Forthmann, Peter; Koehler, Thomas; Defrise, Michel; La Riviere, Patrick

2010-01-01

Purpose: A CT scanner measures the energy that is deposited in each channel of a detector array by x rays that have been partially absorbed on their way through the object. The measurement process is complex and quantitative measurements are always and inevitably associated with errors, so CT data must be preprocessed prior to reconstruction. In recent years, the authors have formulated CT sinogram preprocessing as a statistical restoration problem in which the goal is to obtain the best estimate of the line integrals needed for reconstruction from the set of noisy, degraded measurements. The authors have explored both penalized Poisson likelihood (PL) and penalized weighted least-squares (PWLS) objective functions. At low doses, the authors found that the PL approach outperforms PWLS in terms of resolution-noise tradeoffs, but at standard doses they perform similarly. The PWLS objective function, being quadratic, is more amenable to computational acceleration than the PL objective. In this work, the authors develop and compare two different methods for implementing PWLS sinogram restoration with the hope of improving computational performance relative to PL in the standard-dose regime. Sinogram restoration is still significant in the standard-dose regime since it can still outperform standard approaches and it allows for correction of effects that are not usually modeled in standard CT preprocessing. Methods: The authors have explored and compared two implementation strategies for PWLS sinogram restoration: (1) A direct matrix-inversion strategy based on the closed-form solution to the PWLS optimization problem and (2) an iterative approach based on the conjugate-gradient algorithm. Obtaining optimal performance from each strategy required modifying the naive off-the-shelf implementations of the algorithms to exploit the particular symmetry and sparseness of the sinogram-restoration problem. For the closed-form approach, the authors subdivided the large matrix inversion into smaller coupled problems and exploited sparseness to minimize matrix operations. For the conjugate-gradient approach, the authors exploited sparseness and preconditioned the problem to speed up convergence. Results: All methods produced qualitatively and quantitatively similar images as measured by resolution-variance tradeoffs and difference images. Despite the acceleration strategies, the direct matrix-inversion approach was found to be uncompetitive with iterative approaches, with a computational burden higher by an order of magnitude or more. The iterative conjugate-gradient approach, however, does appear promising, with computation times half that of the authors’ previous penalized-likelihood implementation. Conclusions: Iterative conjugate-gradient based PWLS sinogram restoration with careful matrix optimizations has computational advantages over direct matrix PWLS inversion and over penalized-likelihood sinogram restoration and can be considered a good alternative in standard-dose regimes. PMID:21158306

Low prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection in asymptomatic young Swiss men.

PubMed

Baud, David; Jaton, Katia; Bertelli, Claire; Kulling, Jean-Pierre; Greub, Gilbert

2008-04-12

Prevalence and risk factors for Chlamydia trachomatis infection among young men in Switzerland is still unknown. The objective of the present study was to assess prevalence and risk factors for C. trachomatis infection in young Swiss men. 517 young Swiss men were enrolled in this cross-sectional study during their compulsory military recruitment. Participants completed a questionnaire and gave urine samples which were screened for C. trachomatis DNA by PCR. Genotyping of positive samples was done by amplification and sequencing the ompA gene. The prevalence of chlamydial infection among young Swiss male was 1.2% (95% confidence interval [95%CI], 0.4-2.5%). C. trachomatis infection was only identified among the 306 men having multiple sexual partner. Although frequent, neither unprotected sex (absence of condom use), nor alcohol and drug abuse were associated with chlamydial infection. Men living in cities were more frequently infected (2.9%, 95%CI 0.8-7.4%) than men living in rural areas (0.5%, 95%CI 0.1-1.9%, p = 0.046). Moreover, naturalised Swiss citizens were more often positive (4.9%, 95%CI 1.3-12.5%) than native-born Swiss men (0.5%, 95%CI 0.1-1.7%, p = 0.003). In comparison with other countries, the prevalence of chlamydial infection in men is extremely low in Switzerland, despite a significant prevalence of risky sexual behaviour. C. trachomatis infection was especially prevalent in men with multiple sexual partners. Further research is required (i) to define which subgroup of the general population should be routinely screened, and (ii) to test whether such a targeted screening strategy will be effective to reduce the prevalence of chlamydial infection among this population.

Variation in treatment strategies of Swiss general practitioners for subclinical hypothyroidism in older adults.

PubMed

Baumgartner, Christine; den Elzen, Wendy P J; Blum, Manuel R; Coslovsky, Michael; Streit, Sven; Frey, Peter; Herzig, Lilli; Haller, Dagmar M; Mooijaart, Simon P; Bischoff, Thomas; Rosemann, Thomas; Gussekloo, Jacobijn; Rodondi, Nicolas

2015-01-01

As the best management of subclinical hypothyroidism is controversial, we aimed to assess variations in treatment strategies depending on different Swiss regions, physician and patient characteristics. We performed a case-based survey among general practitioners (GPs) in different Swiss regions, which consisted of eight hypothetical cases presenting a female patient with subclinical hypothyroidism and nonspecific complaints differing by age, vitality status and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) concentration. A total of 262 GPs participated in the survey. There was considerable variation in the levothyroxine starting dose chosen by GPs, ranging from 25 µg to 100 µg. Across the Swiss regions, GPs in the Bern region were significantly more inclined to treat, with a higher probability of initiating treatment (60%, p = 0.01) and higher mean starting doses (45 µg, p <0.01) compared with the French-speaking region (44%, 36 µg); the Zurich region had intermediate values (52%, 39 µg). We found no association between treatment rate and other physician characteristics. GPs were more reluctant to initiate treatment in 85-year-old than in 70-year-old women (odds ratio [OR] 0.77, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.63-0.94), and more likely to treat women with a TSH of 15 mU/l than those with a TSH of 6mU/l (OR 8.71, 95% CI 6.21-12.20). There are strong variations in treatment strategies for elderly patients with subclinical hypothyroidism across different Swiss regions, including use of higher starting doses than the recommended 25 µg in the Swiss guidelines, which recommend a starting dose of 25 µg. These variations likely reflect the current uncertainty about the benefits of treatment, which arise from the current lack of evidence from adequately powered clinical trials.

Compliance with guidelines for disease management in diabetes: results from the SwissDiab Registry

PubMed Central

Schimke, Katrin E; Meier, Sandro; Stettler, Christoph; Brändle, Michael

2018-01-01

Objective Tight glycemic control and aggressive treatment of additional cardiovascular risk factors can substantially reduce risk of diabetes-related complications. In 2013, the Swiss Society of Endocrinology and Diabetology (SSED) established national criteria on good disease management in diabetes, but little is known about compliance in clinical care. Here we assessed to what extent patients from two tertiary care centers in the German-speaking part of Switzerland enrolled in the Swiss Diabetes (SwissDiab) Registry adhere to the SSED criteria. Research design and methods SwissDiab is a prospective observational cohort study of patients regularly treated at Swiss tertiary diabetes centers. Data were collected through standardized annual health examinations. Baseline participant descriptive statistics, stratified by diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM1) and type 2 (DM2), were compared with SSED targets for glycemic control, blood pressure, blood lipids, weight maintenance, and ophthalmic examination. Results By the end of 2016, 604 participants with DM1 (40%) and DM2 (60%) had data available for analyses, 36% and 29% women, respectively. At baseline, all the SSED targets were met with two exceptions: a glycated hemoglobin A1c value <7% was measured in 32% of participants with DM1 (SSED target: ≥40%) and 47% and 56% of overweight or obese participants with DM1 and DM2, respectively, received nutritional counseling in the previous year (SSED target: ≥80%). Conclusions The SSED targets for good disease management in diabetes were achieved in the majority of participants at the time of enrollment, but results also highlight areas where disease management can be improved, particularly the role of nutrition counseling. PMID:29527307

Internalization of Escherichia coli O157:H7 gfp+ in rocket and Swiss chard baby leaves as affected by abiotic and biotic damage.

PubMed

Hartmann, R; Fricke, A; Stützel, H; Mansourian, S; Dekker, T; Wohanka, W; Alsanius, B

2017-07-01

Internalization of human pathogens in edible parts of vegetables eaten raw is a major concern, since once internalized they are protected from sanitizing treatments. In this study, we examined the invasion of gfp-labelled Escherichia coli O157:H7 into intact and biotically (infection with Xanthomonas campestris/Pseudomonas syringae) and abiotically (grating with silicon carbide) damaged leaves of wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) and Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris subsp. cicla) using laser scanning confocal microscopy. Bacterial cells were found in internal locations of the tissue, irrespective of tissue health status. Contaminated leaf sections of biotically and abiotically damaged wild rocket leaves showed higher susceptibility to microbial invasion, while the pathogen was internalized in greater numbers into intact Swiss chard leaf sections when abiotically, but not biotically, damaged. The greatest differences were observed between the plant species; after surface sanitization, E. coli O157:H7 was still detected in wild rocket leaves, but not in Swiss chard leaves. Contamination of leafy vegetables with Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a growing problem, as reported outbreaks are increasing. However, establishment of this human pathogen in the phyllosphere is not completely understood. Using laser scanning confocal microscopy, we demonstrated that E. coli O157:H7gfp+ can invade plant tissue of Swiss chard and wild rocket leaves and that the bacterium is more sensitive to surface sanitization of Swiss chard leaves. Damage to leaf tissue promoted leaf invasion, but the nature of the damage (abiotic or biotic) and plant species had an impact. © 2017 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Reimbursement of care for severe trauma under SwissDRG.

PubMed

Moos, Rudolf M; Sprengel, Kai; Jensen, Kai Oliver; Jentzsch, Thorsten; Simmen, Hans-Peter; Seifert, Burkhardt; Ciritsis, Bernhard; Neuhaus, Valentin; Volbracht, Jörk; Mehra, Tarun

2016-01-01

Treatment of patients with severe injuries is costly, with best results achieved in specialised care centres. However, diagnosis-related group (DRG)-based prospective payment systems have difficulties in depicting treatment costs for specialised care. We analysed reimbursement of care for severe trauma in the first 3 years after the introduction of the Swiss DRG reimbursement system (2012-2014). The study included all patients with solely basic insurance, hospital admission after 01.01.2011 and discharge in 2011 or 2012, who were admitted to the resuscitation room of the University Hospital of Zurich, aged ≥16 years and with an injury severity score (ISS) ≥16 (n = 364). Clinical, financial and administrative data were extracted from the electronic medical records. All cases were grouped into DRGs according to different SwissDRG versions. We considered results to be significant if p ≤0.002. The mean deficit decreased from 12 065 CHF under SwissDRG 1.0 (2012) to 2 902 CHF under SwissDRG 3.0 (2014). The main reason for the reduction of average deficits was a refinement of the DRG algorithm with a regrouping of 23 cases with an ISS ≥16 from MDC 01 to DRGs within MDC21A. Predictors of an increased total loss per case could be identified: for example, high total number of surgical interventions, surgeries on multiple anatomical regions or operations on the pelvis (p ≤0.002). Psychiatric diagnoses in general were also significant predictors of deficit per case (p<0.001). The reimbursement for care of severely injured patients needs further improvement. Cost neutral treatment was not possible under the first three versions of SwissDRG.

Can a fake fir tell the truth about Swiss needle cast?

EPA Science Inventory

A key question in dendrochronology to reconstruct forest disturbance history is how to distinguish between the effects of Swiss needle cast (SNC) and other forest disturbance agents (e.g., Douglas-fir beetle, tussock moth, western spruce budworm, laminated root rot, Armillaria ro...

Origins of astronautics in Switzerland

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wadlis, A.

1977-01-01

Swiss contributions to astronautics are recounted. Scientists mentioned include: Bernoulli and Euler for their early theoretical contributions; the balloonist, Auguste Piccard; J. Ackeret, for his contributions to the study of aerodynamics; the rocket propulsion pioneer, Josef Stemmer; and the Swiss space scientists, Eugster, Stettbacker, Zwicky, and Schurch.

Early genetic testing of coastal Douglas-fir for Swiss needle cast tolerance.

Treesearch

Fatih Temel; G.R. Johnson; W.T. Adams

2005-01-01

The possibility of early testing coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) for Swiss needle cast (SNC; caused by Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii (Rohde) Petrak) tolerance was investigated using 55 Douglas-fir families from western Oregon. Seedlings were inoculated with P...

Mental Preparation and Evaluation: A Sportpsychological Project with the Swiss Orienteering National Team.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Venzl, Reto

1994-01-01

Lists the training themes and levels of intervention of a psychological orienteering project for Swiss athletes. Presents an outline for preparation and evaluation of team or individual performance over time on technical, physical, mental, and environmental aspects of orienteering. (SV)

Rhone River Valley & Lower Lake Geneva, Switzerland as seen from STS-60

NASA Image and Video Library

1994-02-09

STS060-90-007 (3-11 Feb 1994) --- Parts of the Swiss Cantons of Vaud and Valois and the French province of Chablais are shown. These mountains were created in the last great mountain-building episode in Europe around 50 million years ago. They have been reshaped by glaciers during the Pleistocene. The glaciers created the wide valley of the Rhone River by scouring a pre-existing stream. The fertile Swiss Plateau runs northwest from the shore of Lake Geneva and is visible in the upper right. The Franco-Swiss border is located in the center of the lake and follows a mountain divide east of the Rhone Valley. According to NASA geologists eutrofication is a problem in Lake Geneva. In 1971 a Swiss Commission was formed to try to slow the problem. Strong discharge laws were enacted, but they are hard to enforce due to the multi-national and multi-organizational parties contributing to the problem.

[[History of Community Health in Africa. The Swiss Medical Missionaries' Endeavour in South Africa].

PubMed

Mabika, Hines

2015-01-01

It was not Dutch settlers nor British colonizers who introduced public and community health practice in north-eastern South Africa but medical doctors of the Swiss mission in southern Africa. While the history of medical knowledge transfer into 19th-20th century Africa emphasises colonial powers, this paper shows how countries without colonies contributed to expand western medical cultures, including public health. The Swiss took advantage of the local authorities' negligence, and implemented their own model of medicalization of African societies, understood as the way of improving health standards. They moved from a tolerated hospital-centred medicine to the practice of community health, which was uncommon at the time. Elim hospital's physicians moved back boundaries of segregationist policies, and sometime gave the impression of being involved in the political struggle against Apartheid. Thus, Swiss public health activities could later be seen as sorts of seeds that were planted and would partly reappear in 1994 with the ANC-projected national health policy.

MO-DE-207A-10: One-Step CT Reconstruction for Metal Artifact Reduction by a Modification of Penalized Weighted Least-Squares (PWLS)

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

Kim, H; Chen, J

Purpose: Metal objects create severe artifacts in kilo-voltage (kV) CT image reconstructions due to the high attenuation coefficients of high atomic number objects. Most of the techniques devised to reduce this artifact utilize a two-step approach, which do not reliably yield the qualified reconstructed images. Thus, for accuracy and simplicity, this work presents a one-step reconstruction method based on a modified penalized weighted least-squares (PWLS) technique. Methods: Existing techniques for metal artifact reduction mostly adopt a two-step approach, which conduct additional reconstruction with the modified projection data from the initial reconstruction. This procedure does not consistently perform well due tomore » the uncertainties in manipulating the metal-contaminated projection data by thresholding and linear interpolation. This study proposes a one-step reconstruction process using a new PWLS operation with total-variation (TV) minimization, while not manipulating the projection. The PWLS for CT reconstruction has been investigated using a pre-defined weight, based on the variance of the projection datum at each detector bin. It works well when reconstructing CT images from metal-free projection data, which does not appropriately penalize metal-contaminated projection data. The proposed work defines the weight at each projection element under the assumption of a Poisson random variable. This small modification using element-wise penalization has a large impact in reducing metal artifacts. For evaluation, the proposed technique was assessed with two noisy, metal-contaminated digital phantoms, against the existing PWLS with TV minimization and the two-step approach. Result: The proposed PWLS with TV minimization greatly improved the metal artifact reduction, relative to the other techniques, by watching the results. Numerically, the new approach lowered the normalized root-mean-square error about 30 and 60% for the two cases, respectively, compared to the two-step method. Conclusion: A new PWLS operation shows promise for improving metal artifact reduction in CT imaging, as well as simplifying the reconstructing procedure.« less

Women in Portugal.

PubMed

Barbosa, M

1981-01-01

Prior to 1974, women in Portugal were restricted by the Penal Code and had little organizational power. Women's groups were formed within the Catholic Church to teach women about cooking, child care, and home economics. There was no contact with international women's groups. The press only reported events such as bra burning. 80% of all illiterates in Portugal are women. The conditions of Portuguese women are described after the revolution of April 25, 1974. Present roles are discussed for work, health, education, religion, trade unions and political parties, and women's organizations. The Women's Liberation Movement (WLM) appeared in May 1974 among a heterogenous group of women in Lisbon who were concerned about the oppression of women. WLM made feminist issues public amid ridicule and promoted the declaration of equal rights for women in the 1976 Republic Constitution and in the Family Code. Wage discrimination became illegal in 1979. Women represent 32.8% of the labor force. Unemployment is particularly high among women and is increasing. Women's wages and levels of skill are the lowest. The Christian Democratic government is actively engaged in a campaign to keep women at home and has formed the special Ministry of Family Affairs, which encourages large families and women's home activity in order to save jobs for men. There is a crisis in education: large class sizes and limited number of schools. Child care for the working mother is expensive when available and rarely available. An obstacle to women's rights has been the role of the Catholic Church, which fought equal rights legislation, condemned the Family Code and divorce laws, forbade the practice of contraception, and supported the movement against abortion. Only 1 member of government is a women, and she is considered a token. Trade unions have a women's section, but little attention is given to the problems of women. Women's groups within larger organizations have little autonomy. Those with autonomy are restricted and organized around specific causes, such as abortion. The liberation of women is evolving slowly.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide: comparison of legal aspects in Switzerland and other countries.

PubMed

Burkhardt, S; La Harpe, R; Harding, T W; Sobel, J

2006-10-01

The purpose of this paper is to present the legal aspects associated with assisted suicide in Switzerland and compare them with those in other countries. Like euthanasia, assisted suicide is a subject that induces much discussion in many countries. While the law is very liberal in some countries, such as Belgium and the Netherlands (where both euthanasia and assisted suicide take place), these practices are very controversial in other countries, such as France, where they remain taboo subjects. In the United States of America, the laws concerning assisted suicide can differ greatly from one state to another. For example, in Oregon, assisted suicide is allowed if applied by a medical doctor; in others, this act is illegal. In Canada, it is punishable according to the Criminal Code. In Switzerland euthanasia is punishable by law. However, the penal code does not condemn assisted suicide, whether carried out by a medical doctor or another person, provided it is not carried out through selfish motives. The application of these practices has become simplified in recent years and societies for the right to die with dignity based on this principle have come into being (Exit and Dignitas). In the French- and German-speaking parts of Switzerland the association Exit assists individuals living in Switzerland with serious progressive and incurable disease in their engagement to end their life. The association Dignitas, in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, also undertakes--in the same circumstances--to assist individuals coming from foreign countries. Dignitas welcomes several such individuals every year, especially from Germany, where a similar approach does not currently exist.

Medical-legal issues in headache: penal and civil Italian legislation, working claims, social security, off-label prescription.

PubMed

Aguggia, M; Cavallini, M; Varetto, L

2006-05-01

Primary headaches can be considered simultaneously as symptom and disease itself, while secondary headaches are expressions of a pathological process that can be systemic or locoregional. Because of its subjective features, headache is often difficult to assess and quantify by severity, frequency and invalidity rate, and for these reasons it has often been implicated in legal controversies. Headache has seldom been considered in the criminal law, except when it represents a typical symptom of a disease whose existence can be objectively assessed (i. e. raised intracranial pressure). Therefore, in civil legislation it is not yet coded to start claiming for invalidity compensation. In particular, one of the most debated medical-legal questions is represented by headaches occurring after head injury. Headache is often the principal symptom at the beginning of several toxic chronic syndromes, with many implications, especially in working claims, and, more recently, it may be referred to as one of the most frequent symptoms by victims of mobbing (i. e. psychological harassment in the workplace). The National Institute for Industrial Accident Insurance (INAIL) scales (instituted by the law 38/2000) mention the "Subjective cranial trauma syndrome" and give an invalidity rate evaluation. With reference to other headache forms, no legislation really exists at the present time, and headache is only considered as a symptom of a certain coded disease. Requests for invalidity social pension and the question of off-label prescriptions (drug prescription for a disease, without formal indication for it) are other controversial matters.

Swiss ball abdominal crunch with added elastic resistance is an effective alternative to training machines.

PubMed

Sundstrup, Emil; Jakobsen, Markus D; Andersen, Christoffer H; Jay, Kenneth; Andersen, Lars L

2012-08-01

Swiss ball training is recommended as a low intensity modality to improve joint position, posture, balance, and neural feedback. However, proper training intensity is difficult to obtain during Swiss ball exercises whereas strengthening exercises on machines usually are performed to induce high level of muscle activation. To compare muscle activation as measured by electromyography (EMG) of global core and thigh muscles during abdominal crunches performed on Swiss ball with elastic resistance or on an isotonic training machine when normalized for training intensity. 42 untrained individuals (18 men and 24 women) aged 28-67 years participated in the study. EMG activity was measured in 13 muscles during 3 repetitions with a 10 RM load during both abdominal crunches on training ball with elastic resistance and in the same movement utilizing a training machine (seated crunch, Technogym, Cesena, Italy). The order of performance of the exercises was randomized, and EMG amplitude was normalized to maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) EMG. When comparing between muscles, normalized EMG was highest in the rectus abdominis (P<0.01) and the external obliques (P<0.01). However, crunches on Swiss ball with elastic resistance showed higher activity of the rectus abdominis than crunches performed on the machine (104±3.8 vs 84±3.8% nEMG respectively, P<0.0001). By contrast, crunches performed on Swiss ball induced lower activity of the rectus femoris than crunches in training machine (27±3.7 vs 65±3.8% nEMG respectively, P<0.0001) Further, gender, age and musculoskeletal pain did not significantly influence the findings. Crunches on a Swiss ball with added elastic resistance induces high rectus abdominis activity accompanied by low hip flexor activity which could be beneficial for individuals with low back pain. In opposition, the lower rectus abdominis activity and higher rectus femoris activity observed in machine warrant caution for individuals with lumbar pain. Importantly, both men and women, younger and elderly, and individuals with and without pain benefitted equally from the exercises.

[Effectiveness of an inpatient multimodal psychiatric-psychotherapeutic program for the treatment of job burnout].

PubMed

Schwarzkopf, Kathleen; Conrad, Nathalie; Straus, Doris; Porschke, Hildburg; von Känel, Roland

2016-03-16

We studied the clinical course and long-term effects of inpatient treatment in 723 patients with job burnout referred with an ICD-10 F diagnosis and Z73.0 code («overwhelming exhaustion») to a Swiss hospital specialized in the treatment of job stress-related disorders. Patients were characterized in terms of age, gender, socioeconomic status. Self-rated psychological measures related to general and burnout-specific symptoms (i. e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminished personal accomplishments) were applied before and after a six-week treatment program, as well as at 15 months after hospital discharge in 232 patients. The results show that the multimodal inpatient psychiatric-psychotherapeutic treatment was successful with a sustainable effect on psychological well-being (>90 %), including improvements regarding emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishments as well as professional reintegration in 71 % of cases.

A convolutional neural network approach to calibrating the rotation axis for X-ray computed tomography.

PubMed

Yang, Xiaogang; De Carlo, Francesco; Phatak, Charudatta; Gürsoy, Dogˇa

2017-03-01

This paper presents an algorithm to calibrate the center-of-rotation for X-ray tomography by using a machine learning approach, the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). The algorithm shows excellent accuracy from the evaluation of synthetic data with various noise ratios. It is further validated with experimental data of four different shale samples measured at the Advanced Photon Source and at the Swiss Light Source. The results are as good as those determined by visual inspection and show better robustness than conventional methods. CNN has also great potential for reducing or removing other artifacts caused by instrument instability, detector non-linearity, etc. An open-source toolbox, which integrates the CNN methods described in this paper, is freely available through GitHub at tomography/xlearn and can be easily integrated into existing computational pipelines available at various synchrotron facilities. Source code, documentation and information on how to contribute are also provided.

Antidiarrhoeal efficacy of Mangifera indica seed kernel on Swiss albino mice.

PubMed

Rajan, S; Suganya, H; Thirunalasundari, T; Jeeva, S

2012-08-01

To examine the antidiarrhoeal activity of alcoholic and aqueous seed kernel extract of Mangifera indica (M. indica) on castor oil-induced diarrhoeal activity in Swiss albino mice. Mango seed kernels were processed and extracted using alcohol and water. Antidiarrhoeal activity of the extracts were assessed using intestinal motility and faecal score methods. Aqueous and alcoholic extracts of M. indica significantly reduced intestinal motility and faecal score in Swiss albino mice. The present study shows the traditional claim on the use of M. indica seed kernel for treating diarrhoea in Southern parts of India. Copyright © 2012 Hainan Medical College. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Population Dynamics of Lactobacillus helveticus in Swiss Gruyère-Type Cheese Manufactured With Natural Whey Cultures.

PubMed

Moser, Aline; Schafroth, Karl; Meile, Leo; Egger, Lotti; Badertscher, René; Irmler, Stefan

2018-01-01

Lactobacillus helveticus , a ubiquitous bacterial species in natural whey cultures (NWCs) used for Swiss Gruyère cheese production, is considered to have crucial functions for cheese ripening such as enhancing proteolysis. We tracked the diversity and abundance of L. helveticus strains during 6 months of ripening in eight Swiss Gruyère-type cheeses using a culture-independent typing method. The study showed that the L. helveticus population present in NWCs persisted in cheese and demonstrated a stable multi-strain coexistence during cheese ripening. With regard to proteolysis, one of the eight L. helveticus populations exhibited less protein degradation during ripening.

Evaluating the Real-time and Offline Performance of the Virtual Seismologist Earthquake Early Warning Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cua, G.; Fischer, M.; Heaton, T.; Wiemer, S.

2009-04-01

The Virtual Seismologist (VS) algorithm is a Bayesian approach to regional, network-based earthquake early warning (EEW). Bayes' theorem as applied in the VS algorithm states that the most probable source estimates at any given time is a combination of contributions from relatively static prior information that does not change over the timescale of earthquake rupture and a likelihood function that evolves with time to take into account incoming pick and amplitude observations from the on-going earthquake. Potentially useful types of prior information include network topology or station health status, regional hazard maps, earthquake forecasts, and the Gutenberg-Richter magnitude-frequency relationship. The VS codes provide magnitude and location estimates once picks are available at 4 stations; these source estimates are subsequently updated each second. The algorithm predicts the geographical distribution of peak ground acceleration and velocity using the estimated magnitude and location and appropriate ground motion prediction equations; the peak ground motion estimates are also updated each second. Implementation of the VS algorithm in California and Switzerland is funded by the Seismic Early Warning for Europe (SAFER) project. The VS method is one of three EEW algorithms whose real-time performance is being evaluated and tested by the California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN) EEW project. A crucial component of operational EEW algorithms is the ability to distinguish between noise and earthquake-related signals in real-time. We discuss various empirical approaches that allow the VS algorithm to operate in the presence of noise. Real-time operation of the VS codes at the Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN) began in July 2008. On average, the VS algorithm provides initial magnitude, location, origin time, and ground motion distribution estimates within 17 seconds of the earthquake origin time. These initial estimate times are dominated by the time for 4 acceptable picks to be available, and thus are heavily influenced by the station density in a given region; these initial estimate times also include the effects of telemetry delay, which ranges between 6 and 15 seconds at the SCSN, and processing time (~1 second). Other relevant performance statistics include: 95% of initial real-time location estimates are within 20 km of the actual epicenter, 97% of initial real-time magnitude estimates are within one magnitude unit of the network magnitude. Extension of real-time VS operations to networks in Northern California is an on-going effort. In Switzerland, the VS codes have been run on offline waveform data from over 125 earthquakes recorded by the Swiss Digital Seismic Network (SDSN) and the Swiss Strong Motion Network (SSMS). We discuss the performance of the VS algorithm on these datasets in terms of magnitude, location, and ground motion estimation.

Surface elevation and mass changes of all Swiss glaciers 1980-2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fischer, M.; Huss, M.; Hoelzle, M.

2015-03-01

Since the mid-1980s, glaciers in the European Alps have shown widespread and accelerating mass losses. This article presents glacier-specific changes in surface elevation, volume and mass balance for all glaciers in the Swiss Alps from 1980 to 2010. Together with glacier outlines from the 1973 inventory, the DHM25 Level 1 digital elevation models (DEMs) for which the source data over glacierized areas were acquired from 1961 to 1991 are compared to the swissALTI3D DEMs from 2008 to 2011 combined with the new Swiss Glacier Inventory SGI2010. Due to the significant differences in acquisition dates of the source data used, mass changes are temporally homogenized to directly compare individual glaciers or glacierized catchments. Along with an in-depth accuracy assessment, results are validated against volume changes from independent photogrammetrically derived DEMs of single glaciers. Observed volume changes are largest between 2700 and 2800 m a.s.l. and remarkable even above 3500 m a.s.l. The mean geodetic mass balance is -0.62 ± 0.07 m w.e. yr-1 for the entire Swiss Alps over the reference period 1980-2010. For the main hydrological catchments, it ranges from -0.52 to -1.07 m w.e. yr-1. The overall volume loss calculated from the DEM differencing is -22.51 ± 1.76 km3.

Surface elevation and mass changes of all Swiss glaciers 1980-2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fischer, M.; Huss, M.; Hoelzle, M.

2014-08-01

Since the mid-1980s, glaciers in the European Alps have shown widespread and accelerating mass losses. This article presents glacier-specific changes in surface elevation, volume and mass balance for all glaciers in the Swiss Alps from 1980 to 2010. Together with glacier outlines from the 1973 inventory, the DHM25 Level 1 Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) for which the source data over glacierized areas was acquired from 1961 to 1991 are compared to the swissALTI3D DEMs from 2008-2011 combined with the new Swiss Glacier Inventory SGI2010. Due to the significant differences in acquisition date of the source data used, resulting mass changes are temporally homogenized to directly compare individual glaciers or glacierized catchments. Along with an in-depth accuracy assessment, results are validated against volume changes from independent photogrammetrically derived DEMs of single glaciers. Observed volume changes are largest between 2700-2800 m a.s.l. and remarkable even above 3500 m a.s.l. The mean geodetic mass balance is -0.62 ± 0.03 m w.e. yr-1 for the entire Swiss Alps over the reference period 1980-2010. For the main hydrological catchments, it ranges from -0.52 to -1.07 m w.e. yr-1. The overall volume loss calculated from the DEM differencing is -22.51 ± 0.97 km3.

Consent Agreement and Consent Order

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Contains legal consent agreement and consent order for the assessment of a civil penality pursuant to Section 14(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), BioLab Inc., Conyers, GA, September 14, 1998.

A penalized linear and nonlinear combined conjugate gradient method for the reconstruction of fluorescence molecular tomography.

PubMed

Shang, Shang; Bai, Jing; Song, Xiaolei; Wang, Hongkai; Lau, Jaclyn

2007-01-01

Conjugate gradient method is verified to be efficient for nonlinear optimization problems of large-dimension data. In this paper, a penalized linear and nonlinear combined conjugate gradient method for the reconstruction of fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) is presented. The algorithm combines the linear conjugate gradient method and the nonlinear conjugate gradient method together based on a restart strategy, in order to take advantage of the two kinds of conjugate gradient methods and compensate for the disadvantages. A quadratic penalty method is adopted to gain a nonnegative constraint and reduce the illposedness of the problem. Simulation studies show that the presented algorithm is accurate, stable, and fast. It has a better performance than the conventional conjugate gradient-based reconstruction algorithms. It offers an effective approach to reconstruct fluorochrome information for FMT.

Penalized nonparametric scalar-on-function regression via principal coordinates

PubMed Central

Reiss, Philip T.; Miller, David L.; Wu, Pei-Shien; Hua, Wen-Yu

2016-01-01

A number of classical approaches to nonparametric regression have recently been extended to the case of functional predictors. This paper introduces a new method of this type, which extends intermediate-rank penalized smoothing to scalar-on-function regression. In the proposed method, which we call principal coordinate ridge regression, one regresses the response on leading principal coordinates defined by a relevant distance among the functional predictors, while applying a ridge penalty. Our publicly available implementation, based on generalized additive modeling software, allows for fast optimal tuning parameter selection and for extensions to multiple functional predictors, exponential family-valued responses, and mixed-effects models. In an application to signature verification data, principal coordinate ridge regression, with dynamic time warping distance used to define the principal coordinates, is shown to outperform a functional generalized linear model. PMID:29217963

Estimation of Noise Properties for TV-regularized Image Reconstruction in Computed Tomography

PubMed Central

Sánchez, Adrian A.

2016-01-01

A method for predicting the image covariance resulting from total-variation-penalized iterative image reconstruction (TV-penalized IIR) is presented and demonstrated in a variety of contexts. The method is validated against the sample covariance from statistical noise realizations for a small image using a variety of comparison metrics. Potential applications for the covariance approximation include investigation of image properties such as object- and signal-dependence of noise, and noise stationarity. These applications are demonstrated, along with the construction of image pixel variance maps for two-dimensional 128 × 128 pixel images. Methods for extending the proposed covariance approximation to larger images and improving computational efficiency are discussed. Future work will apply the developed methodology to the construction of task-based image quality metrics such as the Hotelling observer detectability for TV-based IIR. PMID:26308968

Estimation of noise properties for TV-regularized image reconstruction in computed tomography.

PubMed

Sánchez, Adrian A

2015-09-21

A method for predicting the image covariance resulting from total-variation-penalized iterative image reconstruction (TV-penalized IIR) is presented and demonstrated in a variety of contexts. The method is validated against the sample covariance from statistical noise realizations for a small image using a variety of comparison metrics. Potential applications for the covariance approximation include investigation of image properties such as object- and signal-dependence of noise, and noise stationarity. These applications are demonstrated, along with the construction of image pixel variance maps for two-dimensional 128 × 128 pixel images. Methods for extending the proposed covariance approximation to larger images and improving computational efficiency are discussed. Future work will apply the developed methodology to the construction of task-based image quality metrics such as the Hotelling observer detectability for TV-based IIR.

Estimation of noise properties for TV-regularized image reconstruction in computed tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sánchez, Adrian A.

2015-09-01

A method for predicting the image covariance resulting from total-variation-penalized iterative image reconstruction (TV-penalized IIR) is presented and demonstrated in a variety of contexts. The method is validated against the sample covariance from statistical noise realizations for a small image using a variety of comparison metrics. Potential applications for the covariance approximation include investigation of image properties such as object- and signal-dependence of noise, and noise stationarity. These applications are demonstrated, along with the construction of image pixel variance maps for two-dimensional 128× 128 pixel images. Methods for extending the proposed covariance approximation to larger images and improving computational efficiency are discussed. Future work will apply the developed methodology to the construction of task-based image quality metrics such as the Hotelling observer detectability for TV-based IIR.

Middle Micoene sandstone reservoirs of the Penal/Barrackpore field

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

Dyer, B.L.

1991-03-01

The Penal/Barrackpore field was discovered in 1938 and is located in the southern subbasin of onshore Trinidad. The accumulation is one of a series of northeast-southwest trending en echelon middle Miocene anticlinal structures that was later accentuated by late Pliocene transpressional folding. Relative movement of the South American and Caribbean plates climaxed in the middle Miocene compressive tectonic event and produced an imbricate pattern of southward-facing basement-involved thrusts. Further compressive interaction between the plates in the late Pliocene produced a transpressive tectonic episode forming northwest-southeast oriented transcurrent faults, tear faults, basement thrust faults, lystric normal faults, and detached simple foldsmore » with infrequent diapiric cores. The middle Miocene Herrera and Karamat turbiditic sandstones are the primary reservoir rock in the subsurface anticline of the Penal/Barrackpore field. These turbidites were sourced from the north and deposited within the marls and clays of the Cipero Formation. Miocene and Pliocene deltaics and turbidites succeed the Cipero Formation vertically, lapping into preexisting Miocene highs. The late Pliocene transpression also coincides with the onset of oil migration along faults, diapirs, and unconformities from the Cretaceous Naparima Hill source. The Lengua Formation and the upper Forest clays are considered effective seals. Hydrocarbon trapping is structurally and stratigraphically controlled, with structure being the dominant trapping mechanism. Ultimate recoverable reserves for the field are estimated at 127.9 MMBo and 628.8 bcf. The field is presently owned and operated by the Trinidad and Tobago Oil Company Limited (TRINTOC).« less

Improving multisensor estimation of heavy-to-extreme precipitation via conditional bias-penalized optimal estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Beomgeun; Seo, Dong-Jun; Noh, Seong Jin; Prat, Olivier P.; Nelson, Brian R.

2018-01-01

A new technique for merging radar precipitation estimates and rain gauge data is developed and evaluated to improve multisensor quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE), in particular, of heavy-to-extreme precipitation. Unlike the conventional cokriging methods which are susceptible to conditional bias (CB), the proposed technique, referred to herein as conditional bias-penalized cokriging (CBPCK), explicitly minimizes Type-II CB for improved quantitative estimation of heavy-to-extreme precipitation. CBPCK is a bivariate version of extended conditional bias-penalized kriging (ECBPK) developed for gauge-only analysis. To evaluate CBPCK, cross validation and visual examination are carried out using multi-year hourly radar and gauge data in the North Central Texas region in which CBPCK is compared with the variant of the ordinary cokriging (OCK) algorithm used operationally in the National Weather Service Multisensor Precipitation Estimator. The results show that CBPCK significantly reduces Type-II CB for estimation of heavy-to-extreme precipitation, and that the margin of improvement over OCK is larger in areas of higher fractional coverage (FC) of precipitation. When FC > 0.9 and hourly gauge precipitation is > 60 mm, the reduction in root mean squared error (RMSE) by CBPCK over radar-only (RO) is about 12 mm while the reduction in RMSE by OCK over RO is about 7 mm. CBPCK may be used in real-time analysis or in reanalysis of multisensor precipitation for which accurate estimation of heavy-to-extreme precipitation is of particular importance.

Treating substance abuse is not enough: comorbidities in consecutively admitted female prisoners.

PubMed

Mir, Jan; Kastner, Sinja; Priebe, Stefan; Konrad, Norbert; Ströhle, Andreas; Mundt, Adrian P

2015-07-01

Several studies have pointed to high rates of substance use disorders among female prisoners. The present study aimed to assess comorbidities of substance use disorders with other mental disorders in female prisoners at admission to a penal justice system. A sample of 150 female prisoners, consecutively admitted to the penal justice system of Berlin, Germany, was interviewed using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). The presence of borderline personality disorder was assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview II for DSM-IV. Prevalence rates and comorbidities were calculated as percentage values and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Ninety-three prisoners (62%; 95% CI: 54-70) had substance use disorders; n=49 (33%; 95% CI: 24-42) had alcohol abuse/dependence; n=76 (51%; 95% CI: 43-59) had illicit drug abuse/dependence; and n=53 (35%; 95% CI: 28-44) had opiate use disorders. In the group of inmates with substance use disorders, 84 (90%) had at least one other mental disorder; n=63 (68%) had comorbid affective disorders; n=45 (49%) had borderline or antisocial personality disorders; and n=41 (44%) had comorbid anxiety disorders. Female prisoners with addiction have high rates of comorbid mental disorders at admission to the penal justice system, ranging from affective to personality and anxiety disorders. Generic and robust interventions that can address different comorbid mental health problems in a flexible manner may be required to tackle widespread addiction and improve mental health of female prisoners. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Working through mass incarceration: gender and the politics of prison labor from east to west.

PubMed

Haney, Lynne A

2010-01-01

This article explores the politics and practices of labor in two penal institutions for women: a maximum security facility for women in Hungary and a community‐based facility for women in California. Diverging from other accounts of imprisonment that tend to operate at either the individual or macroeconomic level, this article analyzes the concrete institutional relations of prison and complicates the assumption that they simply reflect the logic of the prison‐industrial complex. Based on years of ethnographic work in two very different penal systems, I describe variation in how prisons institute labor within and across institutions and cultures: the Hungarian facility positioned wage labor as a right and an obligation that formed the basis of women’s social relationships and ties to others, while the U.S. prison excluded wage labor from women’s lives so they could get on with the work of self‐improvement and personal healing. From the comparison, I reveal how prisons can both draw on and subvert broader social meanings assigned to women’s work, making it difficult to view prison labor as wholly exploitative or abusive. I also argue that refusing to allow female inmates to engage in wage labor can be a more profound form of punishment than requiring it of them. By juxtaposing the discourses and practices of work in two very different penal contexts, this article offers a critical reflection on the political economy of prison labor from the ground up.

Adaptive low-rank subspace learning with online optimization for robust visual tracking.

PubMed

Liu, Risheng; Wang, Di; Han, Yuzhuo; Fan, Xin; Luo, Zhongxuan

2017-04-01

In recent years, sparse and low-rank models have been widely used to formulate appearance subspace for visual tracking. However, most existing methods only consider the sparsity or low-rankness of the coefficients, which is not sufficient enough for appearance subspace learning on complex video sequences. Moreover, as both the low-rank and the column sparse measures are tightly related to all the samples in the sequences, it is challenging to incrementally solve optimization problems with both nuclear norm and column sparse norm on sequentially obtained video data. To address above limitations, this paper develops a novel low-rank subspace learning with adaptive penalization (LSAP) framework for subspace based robust visual tracking. Different from previous work, which often simply decomposes observations as low-rank features and sparse errors, LSAP simultaneously learns the subspace basis, low-rank coefficients and column sparse errors to formulate appearance subspace. Within LSAP framework, we introduce a Hadamard production based regularization to incorporate rich generative/discriminative structure constraints to adaptively penalize the coefficients for subspace learning. It is shown that such adaptive penalization can significantly improve the robustness of LSAP on severely corrupted dataset. To utilize LSAP for online visual tracking, we also develop an efficient incremental optimization scheme for nuclear norm and column sparse norm minimizations. Experiments on 50 challenging video sequences demonstrate that our tracker outperforms other state-of-the-art methods. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Occlusion properties of prosthetic contact lenses for the treatment of amblyopia.

PubMed

Collins, Randall S; McChesney, Megan E; McCluer, Craig A; Schatz, Martha P

2008-12-01

The efficacy of opaque contact lenses as occlusion therapy for amblyopia has been established in the literature. Prosthetic contact lenses use similar tints to improve cosmesis in scarred or deformed eyes and may be an alternative in occlusion therapy. To test this idea, we determined the degree of vision penalization elicited by prosthetic contact lenses and their effect on peripheral fusion. We tested 19 CIBA Vision DuraSoft 3 Prosthetic soft contact lenses with varying iris prints, underprints, and opaque pupil sizes in 10 volunteers with best-corrected Snellen distance visual acuity of 20/20 or better in each eye. Snellen visual acuity and peripheral fusion using the Worth 4-Dot test at near were measured on each subject wearing each of the 19 lenses. Results were analyzed with 3-factor analysis of variance. Mean visual acuity through the various lenses ranged from 20/79 to 20/620. Eight lenses allowed preservation of peripheral fusion in 50% or more of the subjects tested. Iris print pattern and opaque pupil size were significant factors in determining visual acuity (p < 0.05). Sufficient vision penalization can be achieved to make occlusion with prosthetic contact lenses a viable therapy for amblyopia. The degree of penalization can be varied and different iris print patterns and pupil sizes, using peripheral fusion, can be preserved with some lenses. Prosthetic contact lenses can be more cosmetically appealing and more tolerable than other amblyopia treatment modalities. These factors may improve compliance in occlusion therapy.

mPLR-Loc: an adaptive decision multi-label classifier based on penalized logistic regression for protein subcellular localization prediction.

PubMed

Wan, Shibiao; Mak, Man-Wai; Kung, Sun-Yuan

2015-03-15

Proteins located in appropriate cellular compartments are of paramount importance to exert their biological functions. Prediction of protein subcellular localization by computational methods is required in the post-genomic era. Recent studies have been focusing on predicting not only single-location proteins but also multi-location proteins. However, most of the existing predictors are far from effective for tackling the challenges of multi-label proteins. This article proposes an efficient multi-label predictor, namely mPLR-Loc, based on penalized logistic regression and adaptive decisions for predicting both single- and multi-location proteins. Specifically, for each query protein, mPLR-Loc exploits the information from the Gene Ontology (GO) database by using its accession number (AC) or the ACs of its homologs obtained via BLAST. The frequencies of GO occurrences are used to construct feature vectors, which are then classified by an adaptive decision-based multi-label penalized logistic regression classifier. Experimental results based on two recent stringent benchmark datasets (virus and plant) show that mPLR-Loc remarkably outperforms existing state-of-the-art multi-label predictors. In addition to being able to rapidly and accurately predict subcellular localization of single- and multi-label proteins, mPLR-Loc can also provide probabilistic confidence scores for the prediction decisions. For readers' convenience, the mPLR-Loc server is available online (http://bioinfo.eie.polyu.edu.hk/mPLRLocServer). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improving Lethal Action: Learning and Adapting in U.S. Counterterrorism Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

rather than being proactive and establishing the facts quickly to avoid misunderstandings. Lessons from the Uruzgan Incident The “ Swiss cheese model...of accident causation describes how problems (holes in the Swiss cheese ) can arise relatively frequently with no impact; however, when the holes all

Kinematics Mapping and Monitoring of ''Swiss Cheese'' Features in the Polar Icy Regions Over Two Martian Years Base on HIRISE-MOC (NASA) Images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aftabi, P.

2016-06-01

The mapping and monitoring of ''swiss cheese'' feature example of this paper achieved by pixel markers measurements pro-posed by author. This monoring suggest high amount of displacements in pits of Martian polar areas.

Adopting a Pluricentric Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Kerckvoorde, Colette

2012-01-01

This article argues for a "D-A-CH" approach, which stands for Germany (D), Austria (A), and Switzerland (CH), in language classes from the introductory level on. I begin by tracing the emergence and development of distinct Standard Swiss and Austrian German varieties. I then discuss marketing efforts for Swiss and Austrian German, and…

Swiss-German Music Books in the Mason-McConathy Collection: Accounts from Europe to the United States.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howe, Sondra Wieland

2000-01-01

Provides an examination of the Swiss-German music books in the Luther Whiting Mason-Osbourne McConathy Collection. Based on research undertaken to learn about music education in nineteenth century Switzerland and its influence on U.S. music education. (CMK)

Perceptions of Learning among Swiss Watch Managers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tajeddini, Kayhan

2009-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to explore managers' perceptions of learning within a sample of Swiss watch firms. Design/methodology/approach: A purposeful (judgmental) stratified sampling method was employed, where in-depth interviews with 13 marketing managers and owners were carried out over a three-month period. Meaning units (MUs) were abstracted,…

The Swiss Society of Microbiology: Small Bugs, Big Questions and Cool Answers.

PubMed

Greub, Gilbert; Holliger, Christof; Sanglard, Dominique; Schrenzel, Jacques; Thiel, Volker; Viollier, Patrick

2016-12-21

The Swiss Society for Microbiology (SSM) represents around 700 scientists working in the fields of medical (human and veterinary), microbial biotechnology as well as fundamental, environmental, and food microbiology. Five sections: Clinical Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology, Mycology, Prokaryotic Biology, and Virology reflects the main interests of the membership.

Constructivist Foundations of Intercultural Education: Implications for Research and Teacher Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leutwyler, Bruno; Petrovic, Danijela S.; Mantel, Carola

2012-01-01

Research uncovering different images of Intercultural Education seems to be relevant in various contexts. This paper describes and compares two, the Swiss and the Serbian contexts; two countries with very different histories and with very different political and social constellations. For the Swiss context, migration flows have changed…

"Cooking Lunch, That's Swiss": Constructing Hybrid Identities Based on Socio-Cultural Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonçalves, Kellie

2013-01-01

This study looks at the discursive construction and negotiation of hybrid identities within binational couples. I analyze conversations produced by Anglophones married to German-speaking Swiss residing in central Switzerland. I employ Bucholtz & Hall's sociocultural linguistic model (2004, 2005, 2010), which views identity as emergent in…

Patterns of Strategies in Swiss Higher Education Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fumasoli, Tatiana; Lepori, Benedetto

2011-01-01

This paper contributes to the debate on strategic capability of academic organizations by presenting three case studies of Swiss Higher Education Institutions. Strategies are conceived as instruments by which universities manage their organizational processes and deal with their environments in order to select a portfolio of activities and find an…

Receptive Multilingualism in the Swiss Army

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berthele, Raphael; Wittlin, Gabriele

2013-01-01

In this paper a particular context where receptive multilingualism at work can be observed is discussed. The Swiss armed forces underwent a series of quite dramatic downsizing measures, which lead to a situation with increased amount of mixed groups and linguistically mixed situations regarding the first/native language of officers and the…

Interdisciplinarity in Swiss Schools: A Difficult Step into the Future

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghisla, Gianni; Bausch, Luca; Bonoli, Lorenzo

2010-01-01

Multi- and interdisciplinary education is a major postulate in the Swiss school system and has considerable weight in educational programs and learning objectives, both in compulsory school and at the upper secondary school level. However, materializing this postulate still poses problems at the political and institutional level, where the…

Tree-ring analysis of the fungal disease Swiss needle cast in Western Oregon coastal forests

EPA Science Inventory

Swiss needle cast (SNC) is a foliage disease caused by the fungus Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii, which is specific to Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). The goal of this study was to reconstruct the history of the disease and determine the climatic conditions that influence the di...

Douglas-fir displays a range of growth responses to temperature, water, and Swiss needle cast in western Oregon, USA

EPA Science Inventory

Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) growth in the Pacific Northwest is affected by climatic, edaphic factors and Swiss needle cast (SNC) disease. We examine Douglas-fir growth responses to temperature, dewpoint deficit (DPD), soil moisture, and SNC ...

Private Funding and Its Dangers to Academia: An Experience in Switzerland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hugentobler, Manuela; Müller, Markus; Morrissey, Franz Andres

2017-01-01

Academic freedom, a deep-rooted right in the Swiss Constitution, is endangered. Private sponsorship agreements, secretly negotiated between university leaders and big companies, become increasingly vital for universities in Switzerland. Swiss authorities are pushing this development: not only are they taking austerity measures, but also rewarding…

Concentration of Swiss Elite Orienteers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seiler, Roland; Wetzel, Jorg

1997-01-01

A visual discrimination task was used to measure concentration among 43 members of Swiss national orienteering teams. Subjects were above average in the number of target objects dealt with and in duration of continuous concentration. For females only, ranking in orienteering performance was related to quality of concentration (ratio of correct to…

"Vehicular homicide", a new Italian offence: law provisions and comparison with some other European countries.

PubMed

Marinelli, E; Pichini, S; Zaami, S; Giorgetti, R; Busardò, F P; Pacifici, R

2016-07-01

According to the most recent World Health Organization report, road accidents represent a very serious public health issue, claiming each year more than 1.2 million lives worldwide and being the leading cause of death among young people aged between 15 and 29 years. Up to now, the policies to reduce this issue are different, unbalanced and often inadequate not only in Italy, but also in the other European Countries. Specifically, the Italian Parliament has recently introduced a new law (n. 41 of March 23rd, 2016), making vehicular homicide together with road traffic injuries a criminal offense, both to be punished as a result of negligence. The measure came into force on March 25th, 2016. In this paper, the provisions of the above-reported law have been assessed, taking into account the modifications introduced in the Penal Code by this law and the impact it is having and will have on drivers on a day-to-day basis. Similarities and differences with legislative framework of some other European countries were also examined. Finally, some open questions to be solved are named as an open eye for future considerations.

Human rights protections and HIV prevalence among MSM who sell sex: Cross-country comparisons from a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Oldenburg, Catherine E; Perez-Brumer, Amaya G; Reisner, Sari L; Mayer, Kenneth H; Mimiaga, Matthew J; Hatzenbuehler, Mark L; Bärnighausen, Till

2018-04-01

Laws and policies can affect the HIV risk of key populations through a number of direct and indirect pathways. We investigated the association between HIV prevalence among men who engage in transactional sex and language in the penal code protecting sexual minorities, including men who have sex with men (MSM), and sex workers. HIV prevalence among men who engage in transactional sex was assessed through meta-analysis of published literature and country surveillance reports. Meta-regression was used to determine the association between HIV prevalence and protective laws for sexual minorities and sex workers. Sixty-six reports representing 28 countries and 31,924 individuals were included in the meta-analysis. Controlling for multiple study- and country-level variables, legal protection for sexual minorities was associated with a 10.9% (95% CI: 3.8-18.0%) and sex workers associated with a 7.0% (95% CI: 1.3-12.8%) decrease in country-level HIV prevalence among men who engage in transactional sex. Laws that seek to actively protect sex workers and MSM may be necessary to decrease HIV risk for this key population.

Decriminalising homosexuality in India.

PubMed

Misra, Geetanjali

2009-11-01

This paper examines the successful fight against the provision in Section 377 of the Penal Code of India that criminalised private consensual sex between adults of the same sex. This law had led to serious discrimination against people engaging in homosexual acts, who were subjected to frequent beatings and blackmail attempts by police, who used the threat of prosecution against them. NGOs working with sexual minorities have also been harassed and sometimes charged under Section 377. By stigmatising homosexuality and threatening gay men with prison, the law is also likely to have impeded the battle against HIV. The provision was read down in July 2009 after an innovative, sustained, mass media campaign by activists. The Voices Against 377 coalition brought together sexuality and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organisations, who were previously marginalised, with groups working in areas such as children's rights and feminist groups, showing that support for non-discrimination towards sexual minorities was broad-based. Further legal and social changes are needed for LGBT individuals to gain full acceptance and equality within Indian society. However, the judgement transcended the LGBT issue with the implication of protection for all minorities and introduced for the first time in South Asia the idea of sexual citizenship.

Ethical and legal aspects in medically assisted human reproduction in Romania.

PubMed

Ioan, Beatrice; Astarastoae, Vasile

2008-01-01

Up to the present, there have not been any specific norms regarding medically assisted human reproduction in Romanian legislation. Due to this situation the general legislation regarding medical assistance (law no. 95/2006, regarding the Reform in Health Care System), the Penal and Civil law and the provisions of the Code of Deontology of the Romanian College of Physicians are applied to the field of medically assisted human reproduction. By analysing the ethical and legal conflicts regarding medically assisted human reproduction in Romania, some characteristics cannot be set apart because they derive from religious, cultural and socio-economic aspects. In this article the authors identify the development stages of medically assisted human reproduction in Romania, beginning from these characteristics and insisting upon the failure of the legal system in this specific field. The authors consider that the law regarding medically assisted human reproduction cannot be effective because it did not take into account the ethical and cultural aspects that might appear. Furthermore, in this framework of the legal process, no public debate involving the representatives of civil society was undertaken although the Council of Europe Oviedo Convention approved by our country according to law no. 17/2001 stipulated exactly this working method.

A Machine Learning Framework for Plan Payment Risk Adjustment.

PubMed

Rose, Sherri

2016-12-01

To introduce cross-validation and a nonparametric machine learning framework for plan payment risk adjustment and then assess whether they have the potential to improve risk adjustment. 2011-2012 Truven MarketScan database. We compare the performance of multiple statistical approaches within a broad machine learning framework for estimation of risk adjustment formulas. Total annual expenditure was predicted using age, sex, geography, inpatient diagnoses, and hierarchical condition category variables. The methods included regression, penalized regression, decision trees, neural networks, and an ensemble super learner, all in concert with screening algorithms that reduce the set of variables considered. The performance of these methods was compared based on cross-validated R 2 . Our results indicate that a simplified risk adjustment formula selected via this nonparametric framework maintains much of the efficiency of a traditional larger formula. The ensemble approach also outperformed classical regression and all other algorithms studied. The implementation of cross-validated machine learning techniques provides novel insight into risk adjustment estimation, possibly allowing for a simplified formula, thereby reducing incentives for increased coding intensity as well as the ability of insurers to "game" the system with aggressive diagnostic upcoding. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

Deciphering the associations between gene expression and copy number alteration using a sparse double Laplacian shrinkage approach

PubMed Central

Shi, Xingjie; Zhao, Qing; Huang, Jian; Xie, Yang; Ma, Shuangge

2015-01-01

Motivation: Both gene expression levels (GEs) and copy number alterations (CNAs) have important biological implications. GEs are partly regulated by CNAs, and much effort has been devoted to understanding their relations. The regulation analysis is challenging with one gene expression possibly regulated by multiple CNAs and one CNA potentially regulating the expressions of multiple genes. The correlations among GEs and among CNAs make the analysis even more complicated. The existing methods have limitations and cannot comprehensively describe the regulation. Results: A sparse double Laplacian shrinkage method is developed. It jointly models the effects of multiple CNAs on multiple GEs. Penalization is adopted to achieve sparsity and identify the regulation relationships. Network adjacency is computed to describe the interconnections among GEs and among CNAs. Two Laplacian shrinkage penalties are imposed to accommodate the network adjacency measures. Simulation shows that the proposed method outperforms the competing alternatives with more accurate marker identification. The Cancer Genome Atlas data are analysed to further demonstrate advantages of the proposed method. Availability and implementation: R code is available at http://works.bepress.com/shuangge/49/ Contact: shuangge.ma@yale.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:26342102

Awareness of Forensic Odontology among Legal Professionals, Chennai, India

PubMed Central

Selvajothi, Packiaraj; Lavanya, Chandra; Joshua, Elizabeth; Rao, Umadevi K.; Ranganathan, Kannan

2014-01-01

Background: The forensic discipline of law is a multidisciplinary team comprising of specialists in forensic medicine, forensic odontology, security and law. Aim: The study was to find the awareness level of scope and utility of forensic odontology among lawyers in Chennai, South India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study using a self administered structured questionnaire was conducted in 200 lawyers between August and September of 2013. The data was analyzed depending on age, gender, type and years of practice. Results: Lawyers above 40 years of experience were more aware of palatal rugae analysis (P = 0.02), and those with more than 20 years were aware of lip print (P = 0.001) and bite mark analysis (P = 0.001). Males were more aware of forensic odontology with respect to criminal identification (P = 0.001). The knowledge of bite mark analysis was higher among male lawyers (P = 0.001), civil and criminal practicing lawyers (P = 0.004). All participants were aware that loss or fracture of tooth constitutes a grievous injury under Indian Penal Code (IPC) 320 clause 7(5). Conclusion: This study highlighted the knowledge of forensic odontology among legal professionals and also identified the areas in which they need further appraisal. PMID:25535602

[Treatment motivation of patients admitted for substance abuse treatment according to the section 64 StGB regulation].

PubMed

Schalast, N

2000-09-01

Describe treatment motivation in offenders with addiction problems, who enter treatment in forensic hospital departments according to section 64 of the German penal code. Consider relevance of treatment motivation with regard to course and outcome of treatment. 83 patients were interviewed within the first days of psychiatric detention and after six month of treatment. They also filled in questionnaires on treatment motivation. Hospital staff reported another six month later about course of treatment. Most patients express awareness of drug/alcohol related problems and an intention to participate in treatment. But only a minority of patients shows a very strong motivation to stay abstinent from alcohol/drugs. More than half of the patients relapse during the first year of treatment. In more than one third of the cases, psychiatric detentions are cancelled due to a negative assessment of prognosis of further treatment. Most of these patients are returned to prison. Initial treatment motivation shows some relevance with regard to course of treatment. But negative outcomes of treatment shouldn't be explained simply as effects of insufficient motivation. A conception of treatment fostering hope and social competence seems to be most effective in strengthening treatment motivation.

Encoding Dissimilarity Data for Statistical Model Building.

PubMed

Wahba, Grace

2010-12-01

We summarize, review and comment upon three papers which discuss the use of discrete, noisy, incomplete, scattered pairwise dissimilarity data in statistical model building. Convex cone optimization codes are used to embed the objects into a Euclidean space which respects the dissimilarity information while controlling the dimension of the space. A "newbie" algorithm is provided for embedding new objects into this space. This allows the dissimilarity information to be incorporated into a Smoothing Spline ANOVA penalized likelihood model, a Support Vector Machine, or any model that will admit Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space components, for nonparametric regression, supervised learning, or semi-supervised learning. Future work and open questions are discussed. The papers are: F. Lu, S. Keles, S. Wright and G. Wahba 2005. A framework for kernel regularization with application to protein clustering. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102, 12332-1233.G. Corrada Bravo, G. Wahba, K. Lee, B. Klein, R. Klein and S. Iyengar 2009. Examining the relative influence of familial, genetic and environmental covariate information in flexible risk models. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106, 8128-8133F. Lu, Y. Lin and G. Wahba. Robust manifold unfolding with kernel regularization. TR 1008, Department of Statistics, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Sequential Dictionary Learning From Correlated Data: Application to fMRI Data Analysis.

PubMed

Seghouane, Abd-Krim; Iqbal, Asif

2017-03-22

Sequential dictionary learning via the K-SVD algorithm has been revealed as a successful alternative to conventional data driven methods such as independent component analysis (ICA) for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data analysis. fMRI datasets are however structured data matrices with notions of spatio-temporal correlation and temporal smoothness. This prior information has not been included in the K-SVD algorithm when applied to fMRI data analysis. In this paper we propose three variants of the K-SVD algorithm dedicated to fMRI data analysis by accounting for this prior information. The proposed algorithms differ from the K-SVD in their sparse coding and dictionary update stages. The first two algorithms account for the known correlation structure in the fMRI data by using the squared Q, R-norm instead of the Frobenius norm for matrix approximation. The third and last algorithm account for both the known correlation structure in the fMRI data and the temporal smoothness. The temporal smoothness is incorporated in the dictionary update stage via regularization of the dictionary atoms obtained with penalization. The performance of the proposed dictionary learning algorithms are illustrated through simulations and applications on real fMRI data.

Hot cheese: a processed Swiss cheese model.

PubMed

Li, Y; Thimbleby, H

2014-01-01

James Reason's classic Swiss cheese model is a vivid and memorable way to visualise how patient harm happens only when all system defences fail. Although Reason's model has been criticised for its simplicity and static portrait of complex systems, its use has been growing, largely because of the direct clarity of its simple and memorable metaphor. A more general, more flexible and equally memorable model of accident causation in complex systems is needed. We present the hot cheese model, which is more realistic, particularly in portraying defence layers as dynamic and active - more defences may cause more hazards. The hot cheese model, being more flexible, encourages deeper discussion of incidents than the simpler Swiss cheese model permits.

Population Dynamics of Lactobacillus helveticus in Swiss Gruyère-Type Cheese Manufactured With Natural Whey Cultures

PubMed Central

Moser, Aline; Schafroth, Karl; Meile, Leo; Egger, Lotti; Badertscher, René; Irmler, Stefan

2018-01-01

Lactobacillus helveticus, a ubiquitous bacterial species in natural whey cultures (NWCs) used for Swiss Gruyère cheese production, is considered to have crucial functions for cheese ripening such as enhancing proteolysis. We tracked the diversity and abundance of L. helveticus strains during 6 months of ripening in eight Swiss Gruyère-type cheeses using a culture-independent typing method. The study showed that the L. helveticus population present in NWCs persisted in cheese and demonstrated a stable multi-strain coexistence during cheese ripening. With regard to proteolysis, one of the eight L. helveticus populations exhibited less protein degradation during ripening. PMID:29670601

Lake Geneva, France/Italy/Switzerland

NASA Image and Video Library

1994-09-30

STS068-243-076 (30 September-11 October 1994) --- Parts of the Swiss Cantons of Vaud and Valois, the French province of Chablis and parts of northwestern Italy are seen in this widely stretching image photographed from the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Pennine Alps, said to have been created 50 million years ago, have been reshaped by glaciers during Pleistocene. The glaciers created the wide valley of the Rhone River by scourting a pre-existing seam. The fertile Swiss Plateau runs northwest from the shore of Lake Geneva and is visible in lower left. The Franco-Swiss border is located in the center of the lake and follows a mountain divide east of Rhone Valley. Italy lies south of the Rhone.

27 CFR 26.69 - Strengthening bonds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... OF THE TREASURY LIQUORS LIQUORS AND ARTICLES FROM PUERTO RICO AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS Taxpayment of Liquors and Articles in Puerto Rico Bonds § 26.69 Strengthening bonds. In all cases where the penal sum of...

Senegal: Background and U.S. Relations

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-08-16

boys, often separated from their families, receive religious instruction.33 The 1999 Penal Law outlawed domestic violence and female genital ... mutilation ; however, implementation has reportedly been uneven, and both are widespread.34 Human rights organizations have criticized

Vaccine mandates, public trust, and vaccine confidence: understanding perceptions is important.

PubMed

Widdus, Roy; Larson, Heidi

2018-05-01

The experience in Australia with penalizing parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated demonstrates the need to study and understand resistance to vaccination as a global phenomenon with particular local manifestations.

49 CFR 26.47 - Can recipients be penalized for failing to meet overall goals?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... BY DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES IN DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS... attention of FTA, FHWA, or FAA, demonstrates that current trends make it unlikely that you will achieve DBE...

Evaluation of Real-Time and Off-Line Performance of the Virtual Seismologist Earthquake Early Warning Algorithm in Switzerland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Behr, Yannik; Clinton, John; Cua, Georgia; Cauzzi, Carlo; Heimers, Stefan; Kästli, Philipp; Becker, Jan; Heaton, Thomas

2013-04-01

The Virtual Seismologist (VS) method is a Bayesian approach to regional network-based earthquake early warning (EEW) originally formulated by Cua and Heaton (2007). Implementation of VS into real-time EEW codes has been an on-going effort of the Swiss Seismological Service at ETH Zürich since 2006, with support from ETH Zürich, various European projects, and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). VS is one of three EEW algorithms that form the basis of the California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN) ShakeAlert system, a USGS-funded prototype end-to-end EEW system that could potentially be implemented in California. In Europe, VS is currently operating as a real-time test system in Switzerland. As part of the on-going EU project REAKT (Strategies and Tools for Real-Time Earthquake Risk Reduction), VS installations in southern Italy, western Greece, Istanbul, Romania, and Iceland are planned or underway. In Switzerland, VS has been running in real-time on stations monitored by the Swiss Seismological Service (including stations from Austria, France, Germany, and Italy) since 2010. While originally based on the Earthworm system it has recently been ported to the SeisComp3 system. Besides taking advantage of SeisComp3's picking and phase association capabilities it greatly simplifies the potential installation of VS at networks in particular those already running SeisComp3. We present the architecture of the new SeisComp3 based version and compare its results from off-line tests with the real-time performance of VS in Switzerland over the past two years. We further show that the empirical relationships used by VS to estimate magnitudes and ground motion, originally derived from southern California data, perform well in Switzerland.

Patterns of Increasing Swiss Needle Cast Impacts on Growth of 20- and 40-year-old Douglas-fir from Tillamook

EPA Science Inventory

Currently, Swiss Needle Cast (SNC) is causing an epidemic west of the Oregon Coast Range from Coos Bay to Astoria. The most severely infected Douglas-fir trees are located on BLM land and Stimson Lumber plantations in Tillamook where environmental conditions are highly favorable ...

Dropouts in Swiss Vocational Education and the Effect of Training Companies' Trainee Selection Methods

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forsblom, Lara; Negrini, Lucio; Gurtner, Jean-Luc; Schumann, Stephan

2016-01-01

In the Swiss vocational education system, which is often called a "Dual System", trainees enter into an apprenticeship contract with a training company. On average, 25% of those contracts are terminated prematurely (PCT). This article examines the relationship between training companies' selection methods and PCTs. The investigation is…

Swatch Watch in School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osterer, Irv

2010-01-01

For centuries, Swiss firms manufactured and sold precision watches and were the undisputed leaders in timekeeping. All this came to an abrupt end when, in the mid-1970s, the Japanese began to make reliable digital watches at a fraction of the cost of the expensive, labor-intensive Swiss product. In 1983, Switzerland answered with the introduction…

Challenges for Human Rights Education in Swiss Secondary Schools from a Teacher Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rinaldi, Stefanie

2017-01-01

In Swiss high schools, teachers have significant leeway in determining the learning objectives and contents of curricula, including the recommended transversal theme of human rights. Teachers' views on human rights and human rights education (HRE) are, therefore, a determining factor for HRE's successful implementation. This article presents the…

Development of the Nontechnical Skills for Officers of the Deck (NTSOD) Rating Form

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-01

organizational model of human error commonly described as the ‘ Swiss Cheese ’ model. This model allows for the identification of active failures and latent...complete list). The authors did identify organizational and management issues as underlying causes to mishaps, similar to Reason’s Swiss Cheese model. 24

Learning Documentations in VET Systems: An Analysis of Current Swiss Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caruso, Valentina; Cattaneo, Alberto; Gurtner, Jean-Luc

2016-01-01

Swiss vocational education and training (VET) is defined as a dual-track system where apprentices weekly alternate between vocational school and a (real) workplace. At the workplace, they have to keep a learning documentation throughout their training, in which they are expected to regularly document their professional development. The actual use…

Genetics studies involving Swiss needle cast.

Treesearch

R. Johnson; F. Temel; K. Jayawickrama

2002-01-01

Three studies were analyzed this year that examined genetic aspects of Swiss needle cast (SNC) tolerance . Families sampled across the Siuslaw National forest showed differences in foliage health traits, but very little of the variation could be explained by environmental or climatic conditions at the parent tree location. Five test sites of the Nehalem series of...

Bulletin suisse de linguistique appliquee, 2003 (Swiss Bulletin for Applied Linguistics, 2003).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, Heather, Ed.

2003-01-01

This issue, written in English and French, focuses on the increasing role of English in Switzerland, as it affects both the general public and the education system. The articles include the following: "The Function of English in Swiss Advertisement" [written in French] (Marc Bonhomme); "Unpacking before Take-Off: English for Swiss…

Social Judgments and Emotion Attributions about Exclusion in Switzerland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malti, Tina; Killen, Melanie; Gasser, Luciano

2012-01-01

Adolescents' social judgments and emotion attributions about exclusion in three contexts, nationality, gender, and personality, were measured in a sample of 12- and 15-year-old Swiss and non-Swiss adolescents (N = 247). Overall, adolescents judged exclusion based on nationality as less acceptable than exclusion based on gender or personality.…

Relationship between canopy structure, microclimate, and Swiss needle cast severity among different ages of Douglas-fir forests

EPA Science Inventory

Swiss needle cast (SNC) is an endemic disease of Douglas-fir caused by Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii. The fungus infects newly emerged needles between May and August. As the fungus develops, its fruiting bodies (pseudothecia) block the stomata and inhibit gas exchange, reducing the p...

HOW to Identify and Control Rhabdocline and Swiss Needlecasts of Douglas-Fir

Treesearch

Darrell D. Skilling; Harrison L. Morton

1983-01-01

Two needlecast fungus diseases- Rhabdocline (Rhabdocline pseudotsugae) and Swiss needlecast (Phaeocryptus gaumanni)- have become serious problems in Douglas-fir plantations across the United States, particularly in the Northeast and more recently in the Pacific Northwest. These two diseases cause premature needle loss resulting in trees with thin foliage. This...

Genetic selection in coastal Douglas-fir for tolerance to Swiss needle cast disease

Treesearch

Keith J.S. Jayawickrama; David Shaw; Terrance Z. Ye

2012-01-01

Swiss needle cast (SNC) of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco), caused by the ascomycete fungus Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii, is associated with significant volume growth losses (20 to 50 percent) along the Oregon Coast. Although the pathogen is endemic, disease symptoms have intensified in coastal forests of Oregon...

26 CFR 509.106 - Control of a United States enterprise by a Swiss enterprise.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 19 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Control of a United States enterprise by a Swiss enterprise. 509.106 Section 509.106 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) REGULATIONS UNDER TAX CONVENTIONS SWITZERLAND General Income Tax § 509.106 Control of...

Tree-ring analysis of the fungal disease Swiss needle cast in the Western Oregon coast

EPA Science Inventory

Swiss needle cast (SNC) disease is specific to Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and is native to the Pacific Northwest. The SNC disease is caused by the fungus Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii and has been found to occur primarily in sites where mild winters and wet summers favor th...

The Impact of Foreign Accent on Credibility: An Analysis of Cognitive Statement Ratings in a Swiss Context.

PubMed

Stocker, Ladina

2017-06-01

The present paper reports on a study investigating whether the presence of a foreign accent negatively affects credibility judgments. Previous research suggests that trivia statements recorded by speakers with a foreign accent are judged as less credible than when recorded by native speakers due to increased cognitive demands (Lev-Ari and Keysar in J Exp Soc Psychol 46(6):1093-1096, 2010. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2010.05.025 ). In the present study, 194 French- and 183 Swiss-German-speaking participants were asked to judge the truthfulness of 48 trivia statements recorded by speakers with French, Swiss-German, Italian and English accents by means of an online survey. Before submitting the survey, raters were asked to attribute given labels-including adjectives referring to credibility-to a language group aiming to elicit raters' stereotypes in a direct manner. Although the results of this task indicate that the raters do hold different stereotypes concerning credibility of speech communities, foreign accent does not seem to have an impact on credibility ratings in the Swiss context.

Rapid profiling of Swiss cheese by attenuated total reflectance (ATR) infrared spectroscopy and descriptive sensory analysis.

PubMed

Kocaoglu-Vurma, N A; Eliardi, A; Drake, M A; Rodriguez-Saona, L E; Harper, W J

2009-08-01

The acceptability of cheese depends largely on the flavor formed during ripening. The flavor profiles of cheeses are complex and region- or manufacturer-specific which have made it challenging to understand the chemistry of flavor development and its correlation with sensory properties. Infrared spectroscopy is an attractive technology for the rapid, sensitive, and high-throughput analysis of foods, providing information related to its composition and conformation of food components from the spectra. Our objectives were to establish infrared spectral profiles to discriminate Swiss cheeses produced by different manufacturers in the United States and to develop predictive models for determination of sensory attributes based on infrared spectra. Fifteen samples from 3 Swiss cheese manufacturers were received and analyzed using attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR). The spectra were analyzed using soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) to build a classification model. The cheeses were profiled by a trained sensory panel using descriptive sensory analysis. The relationship between the descriptive sensory scores and ATR-IR spectra was assessed using partial least square regression (PLSR) analysis. SIMCA discriminated the Swiss cheeses based on manufacturer and production region. PLSR analysis generated prediction models with correlation coefficients of validation (rVal) between 0.69 and 0.96 with standard error of cross-validation (SECV) ranging from 0.04 to 0.29. Implementation of rapid infrared analysis by the Swiss cheese industry would help to streamline quality assurance.

New anthropometry-based age- and sex-specific reference values for urinary 24-hour creatinine excretion based on the adult Swiss population.

PubMed

Forni Ogna, Valentina; Ogna, Adam; Vuistiner, Philippe; Pruijm, Menno; Ponte, Belen; Ackermann, Daniel; Gabutti, Luca; Vakilzadeh, Nima; Mohaupt, Markus; Martin, Pierre-Yves; Guessous, Idris; Péchère-Bertschi, Antoinette; Paccaud, Fred; Bochud, Murielle; Burnier, Michel

2015-02-27

Urinary creatinine excretion is used as a marker of completeness of timed urine collections, which are a keystone of several metabolic evaluations in clinical investigations and epidemiological surveys. We used data from two independent Swiss cross-sectional population-based studies with standardised 24-hour urinary collection and measured anthropometric variables. Only data from adults of European descent, with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥60 ml/min/1.73 m2 and reported completeness of the urinary collection were retained. A linear regression model was developed to predict centiles of the 24-hour urinary creatinine excretion in 1,137 participants from the Swiss Survey on Salt and validated in 994 participants from the Swiss Kidney Project on Genes in Hypertension. The mean urinary creatinine excretion was 193 ± 41 μmol/kg/24 hours in men and 151 ± 38 μmol/kg/24 hours in women in the Swiss Survey on Salt. The values were inversely correlated with age and body mass index (BMI). We propose a validated prediction equation for 24-hour urinary creatinine excretion in the general European population, based on readily available variables such as age, sex and BMI, and a few derived normograms to ease its clinical application. This should help healthcare providers to interpret the completeness of a 24-hour urine collection in daily clinical practice and in epidemiological population studies.

Sex-related differences and age of peak performance in breaststroke versus freestyle swimming

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Sex-related differences in performance and in age of peak performance have been reported for freestyle swimming. However, little is known about the sex-related differences in other swimming styles. The aim of the present study was to compare performance and age of peak performance for elite men and women swimmers in breaststroke versus freestyle. Methods Race results were analyzed for swimmers at national ranked in the Swiss high score list (during 2006 through 2010) and for international swimmers who qualified for the finals of the FINA World Swimming Championships (during 2003 through 2011). Results The sex-related difference in swimming speed was significantly greater for freestyle than for breaststroke over 50 m, 100 m, and 200 m race distances for Swiss swimmers, but not for FINA finalists. The sex-related difference for both freestyle and breaststroke swimming speeds decreased significantly with increasing swimming distance for both groups. Race distance did not affect the age of peak performance by women in breaststroke, but age of peak performance was four years older for FINA women than for Swiss women. Men achieved peak swimming performance in breaststroke at younger ages for longer race distances, and the age of peak swimming performance was six years older for FINA men than for Swiss men. In freestyle swimming, race distance did not affect the age of peak swimming performance for Swiss women, but the age of peak swimming performance decreased with increasing race distance for Swiss men and for both sexes at the FINA World Championships. Conclusions Results of the present study indicate that (i) sex-related differences in swimming speed were greater for freestyle than for breaststroke for swimmers at national level, but not for swimmers at international level, and (ii) both female and male swimmers achieved peak swimming speeds at younger ages in breaststroke than in freestyle. Further studies are required to better understand differences between trends at national and international levels. PMID:24351335

Primary care physician supply and other key determinants of health care utilisation: the case of Switzerland

PubMed Central

Busato, André; Künzi, Beat

2008-01-01

Background The Swiss government decided to freeze new accreditations for physicians in private practice in Switzerland based on the assumption that demand-induced health care spending may be cut by limiting care offers. This legislation initiated an ongoing controversial public debate in Switzerland. The aim of this study is therefore the determination of socio-demographic and health system-related factors of per capita consultation rates with primary care physicians in the multicultural population of Switzerland. Methods The data were derived from the complete claims data of Swiss health insurers for 2004 and included 21.4 million consultations provided by 6564 Swiss primary care physicians on a fee-for-service basis. Socio-demographic data were obtained from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office. Utilisation-based health service areas were created and were used as observational units for statistical procedures. Multivariate and hierarchical models were applied to analyze the data. Results Models within the study allowed the definition of 1018 primary care service areas with a median population of 3754 and an average per capita consultation rate of 2.95 per year. Statistical models yielded significant effects for various geographical, socio-demographic and cultural factors. The regional density of physicians in independent practice was also significantly associated with annual consultation rates and indicated an associated increase 0.10 for each additional primary care physician in a population of 10,000 inhabitants. Considerable differences across Swiss language regions were observed with reference to the supply of ambulatory health resources provided either by primary care physicians, specialists, or hospital-based ambulatory care. Conclusion The study documents a large small-area variation in utilisation and provision of health care resources in Switzerland. Effects of physician density appeared to be strongly related to Swiss language regions and may be rooted in the different cultural backgrounds of the served populations. PMID:18190705

Primary care physician supply and other key determinants of health care utilisation: the case of Switzerland.

PubMed

Busato, André; Künzi, Beat

2008-01-11

The Swiss government decided to freeze new accreditations for physicians in private practice in Switzerland based on the assumption that demand-induced health care spending may be cut by limiting care offers. This legislation initiated an ongoing controversial public debate in Switzerland. The aim of this study is therefore the determination of socio-demographic and health system-related factors of per capita consultation rates with primary care physicians in the multicultural population of Switzerland. The data were derived from the complete claims data of Swiss health insurers for 2004 and included 21.4 million consultations provided by 6564 Swiss primary care physicians on a fee-for-service basis. Socio-demographic data were obtained from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office. Utilisation-based health service areas were created and were used as observational units for statistical procedures. Multivariate and hierarchical models were applied to analyze the data. Models within the study allowed the definition of 1018 primary care service areas with a median population of 3754 and an average per capita consultation rate of 2.95 per year. Statistical models yielded significant effects for various geographical, socio-demographic and cultural factors. The regional density of physicians in independent practice was also significantly associated with annual consultation rates and indicated an associated increase 0.10 for each additional primary care physician in a population of 10,000 inhabitants. Considerable differences across Swiss language regions were observed with reference to the supply of ambulatory health resources provided either by primary care physicians, specialists, or hospital-based ambulatory care. The study documents a large small-area variation in utilisation and provision of health care resources in Switzerland. Effects of physician density appeared to be strongly related to Swiss language regions and may be rooted in the different cultural backgrounds of the served populations.

New lakes in deglaciating high-mountain areas: Regional intercomparison of current and future risks from impact waves due to rock/ice avalanches in the Swiss Alps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaub, Y.; Huggel, C.; Serraino, M.; Haeberli, W.

2012-04-01

The changes in high-mountain environments are increasingly fast and complex. GIS-based models of the Swiss Alps show that numerous topographic overdeepenings are likely to appear on progressively exposed glacier beds, which are considered as potential sites of future lake formation. In many cases these newly forming lakes will be situated in an over-steepened and destabilized high-mountain environment and are, therefore, prone to impact waves from landslides. The risk of glacier lake outburst floods, endangering infrastructure, residential areas and persons further downvalley, is increasing with further lake formation and glacier recession. This risk may persist for many decades if not centuries. Future-oriented hazard assessments have to be integrative and must deal with all possible process chains. Reference studies and methodologies are still scarce, however. We present an approach to compare risks resulting from high-mountain lakes in the Swiss Alps amongst each other. Already existing lakes are thereby as much included in the analysis as future ones. The presented risk assessment approach integrates the envisaged high-mountain hazard process chain with present and future socio-economic conditions. Applying the concept of integral risk management, the hazard and damage potentials have to be analyzed. The areas that feature the topographic potential for rock/iceavalanches to reach a lake were analyzed regarding their susceptibility to slope failure including the factors slope inclination, permafrost occurrence, glacier recession and bedrock lithology. Together with the analysis of the lakes (volume and runout path of potential outburst floods), the hazard analysis of the process chain was completed. As an example, high long-term hazard potentials in the Swiss Alps have, for instance, to be expected in the area of the Great Aletsch glacier. A methodology for the assessment of the damage potential was elaborated and will be presented. In order to estimate the location of the largest damage potentials, driving forces of different spatial development scenarios for the Swiss Alps will be implemented in a land allocation model for the Swiss Alps. By bringing together hazard, exposure and vulnerability analyses, a risk assessment for the entire Swiss Alps regarding lake-outburst floods triggered by impacts of rock/ice avalanches can be conducted for today, the middle of the century and even beyond.

$L^1$ penalization of volumetric dose objectives in optimal control of PDEs

DOE PAGES

Barnard, Richard C.; Clason, Christian

2017-02-11

This work is concerned with a class of PDE-constrained optimization problems that are motivated by an application in radiotherapy treatment planning. Here the primary design objective is to minimize the volume where a functional of the state violates a prescribed level, but prescribing these levels in the form of pointwise state constraints leads to infeasible problems. We therefore propose an alternative approach based on L 1 penalization of the violation that is also applicable when state constraints are infeasible. We establish well-posedness of the corresponding optimal control problem, derive first-order optimality conditions, discuss convergence of minimizers as the penalty parametermore » tends to infinity, and present a semismooth Newton method for their efficient numerical solution. Finally, the performance of this method for a model problem is illustrated and contrasted with an alternative approach based on (regularized) state constraints.« less

Flight evaluation of an advanced technology light twin-engine airplane (ATLIT)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holmes, B. J.

1977-01-01

Project organization and execution, airplane description and performance predictions, and the results of the flight evaluation of an advanced technology light twin engine airplane (ATLIT) are presented. The ATLIT is a Piper PA-34-200 Seneca I modified by the installation of new wings incorporating the GA(W)-1 (Whitcomb) airfoil, reduced wing area, roll control spoilers, and full span Fowler flaps. The conclusions for the ATLIT evaluation are based on complete stall and roll flight test results and partial performance test results. The Stalling and rolling characteristics met design expectations. Climb performance was penalized by extensive flow separation in the region of the wing body juncture. Cruise performance was found to be penalized by a large value of zero lift drag. Calculations showed that, with proper attention to construction details, the improvements in span efficiency and zero lift drag would permit the realization of the predicted increases in cruising and maximum rate of climb performance.

GLOBAL SOLUTIONS TO FOLDED CONCAVE PENALIZED NONCONVEX LEARNING

PubMed Central

Liu, Hongcheng; Yao, Tao; Li, Runze

2015-01-01

This paper is concerned with solving nonconvex learning problems with folded concave penalty. Despite that their global solutions entail desirable statistical properties, there lack optimization techniques that guarantee global optimality in a general setting. In this paper, we show that a class of nonconvex learning problems are equivalent to general quadratic programs. This equivalence facilitates us in developing mixed integer linear programming reformulations, which admit finite algorithms that find a provably global optimal solution. We refer to this reformulation-based technique as the mixed integer programming-based global optimization (MIPGO). To our knowledge, this is the first global optimization scheme with a theoretical guarantee for folded concave penalized nonconvex learning with the SCAD penalty (Fan and Li, 2001) and the MCP penalty (Zhang, 2010). Numerical results indicate a significant outperformance of MIPGO over the state-of-the-art solution scheme, local linear approximation, and other alternative solution techniques in literature in terms of solution quality. PMID:27141126

Adaptive rival penalized competitive learning and combined linear predictor model for financial forecast and investment.

PubMed

Cheung, Y M; Leung, W M; Xu, L

1997-01-01

We propose a prediction model called Rival Penalized Competitive Learning (RPCL) and Combined Linear Predictor method (CLP), which involves a set of local linear predictors such that a prediction is made by the combination of some activated predictors through a gating network (Xu et al., 1994). Furthermore, we present its improved variant named Adaptive RPCL-CLP that includes an adaptive learning mechanism as well as a data pre-and-post processing scheme. We compare them with some existing models by demonstrating their performance on two real-world financial time series--a China stock price and an exchange-rate series of US Dollar (USD) versus Deutschmark (DEM). Experiments have shown that Adaptive RPCL-CLP not only outperforms the other approaches with the smallest prediction error and training costs, but also brings in considerable high profits in the trading simulation of foreign exchange market.

Interquantile Shrinkage in Regression Models

PubMed Central

Jiang, Liewen; Wang, Huixia Judy; Bondell, Howard D.

2012-01-01

Conventional analysis using quantile regression typically focuses on fitting the regression model at different quantiles separately. However, in situations where the quantile coefficients share some common feature, joint modeling of multiple quantiles to accommodate the commonality often leads to more efficient estimation. One example of common features is that a predictor may have a constant effect over one region of quantile levels but varying effects in other regions. To automatically perform estimation and detection of the interquantile commonality, we develop two penalization methods. When the quantile slope coefficients indeed do not change across quantile levels, the proposed methods will shrink the slopes towards constant and thus improve the estimation efficiency. We establish the oracle properties of the two proposed penalization methods. Through numerical investigations, we demonstrate that the proposed methods lead to estimations with competitive or higher efficiency than the standard quantile regression estimation in finite samples. Supplemental materials for the article are available online. PMID:24363546

["As we're not willing to hang and behead and not able to deport...". On Emil Kraepelin's influence on Franz von Liszt].

PubMed

Schmidt-Recla, A; Steinberg, H

2008-03-01

Emil Kraepelin started his scientific career with a pamphlet demanding complete restructure of German penal law. It is well known that Kraepelin was a recipient of Cesare Lombroso's theses on degeneration and atavism. Therefore his demand for a correctional law completely replacing penal law is easily understood. Still undiscussed however is the question of whether Kraepelin's brochure had a decisive effect on German criminal law, especially on the so-called Marburg Program of Franz von Liszt, still viewed as the first emergence of modern criminal law and policies in Germany. Examination of this shows that despite major theoretical faults, Kraepelin came to conclusions that correspond remarkably with von Liszt's. Special focus should be directed on the psychologist Wilhelm Wundt, who criticised Kraepelin's juridical attempt in a very kind yet fundamental way, and on the relationship that existed between Kraepelin and von Liszt.

Penalizing hospitals for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease readmissions.

PubMed

Feemster, Laura C; Au, David H

2014-03-15

In October 2014, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will expand its Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP) to include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Under the new policy, hospitals with high risk-adjusted, 30-day all-cause unplanned readmission rates after an index hospitalization for a COPD exacerbation will be penalized with reduced reimbursement for the treatment of Medicare beneficiaries. In this perspective, we review the history of the HRRP, including the recent addition of COPD to the policy. We critically assess the use of 30-day all-cause COPD readmissions as an accountability measure, discussing potential benefits and then highlighting the substantial drawbacks and potential unintended consequences of the measure that could adversely affect providers, hospitals, and patients with COPD. We conclude by emphasizing the need to place the 30-day COPD readmission measure in the context of a reconceived model for postdischarge quality and review several frameworks that could help guide this process.

A model for nocturnal frost formation on a wing section: Aircraft takeoff performance penalties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dietenberger, M. A.

1983-01-01

The nocturnal frost formation on a wing section, to explain the hazard associated with frost during takeoff was investigated. A model of nocturnal frost formation on a wing section which predicts when the nocturnal frost will form and also its thickness and density as a function of time was developed. The aerodynamic penalities as related to the nocturnal frost formation properties were analyzed to determine how much the takeoff performance would be degraded by a specific frost layer. With an aircraft takeoff assuming equations representing a steady climbing flight, it is determined that a reduction in the maximum gross weight or a partial frost clearance and a reduction in the takeoff angle of attack is needed to neutralize drag and life penalities which are due to frost. Atmospheric conditions which produce the most hazardous frost buildup are determined.

Assessment of Blood Glucose Control in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: Extension of the Glycemic Penalty Index toward Children and Infants

PubMed Central

Van Herpe, Tom; Gielen, Marijke; Vanhonsebrouck, Koen; Wouters, Pieter J; Van den Berghe, Greet; De Moor, Bart; Mesotten, Dieter

2011-01-01

Background: The glycemic penalty index (GPI) is a measure to assess blood glucose (BG) control in critically ill adult patients but needs to be adapted for children and infants. Method: The squared differences between a clinical expertise penalty function and the corresponding polynomial function are minimized for optimization purposes. The average of all penalties (individually assigned to all BG readings) represents the patient-specific GPI. Results: Penalization in the hypoglycemic range is more severe than in the hyperglycemic range as the developing brains of infants and children may be more vulnerable to hypoglycemia. Similarly, hypoglycemia is also more heavily penalized in infants than in children. Conclusions: Extending the adult GPI toward the age-specific GPI is an important methodological step. Long-term clinical studies are needed to determine the clinically acceptable GPI cut-off level. PMID:21527105

76 FR 8337 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Survey of Participating Companies in the U.S...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-14

... Request; Survey of Participating Companies in the U.S.-European Union and U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor... Trade Administration (ITA) administers the U.S.-European Union (EU) and U.S.- Swiss Safe Harbor Frameworks. These Frameworks allow U.S. companies to meet the requirements of the European Union's Data...

The Swiss "Willensnation" at Risk: Teachers in the Cultural Gap during the First World War

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brühwiler, Ingrid

2015-01-01

As a neutral and multilingual country, Switzerland struggled with major domestic political conflicts during the First World War due to the two cultures of the French-speaking and German-speaking parts of the country. The divided cultural loyalties ("fossé moral", "Röstigraben"), consisting of Swiss-Germans supporting Germany…

75 FR 1093 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; The Options Clearing Corporation; Notice of Filing of Proposed...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-08

... any option or any futures contracts on ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares and ETFS Physical Silver Shares... jurisdictional status of options or security futures on ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares or ETFS Physical Silver... approving a proposed rule change clarifying that options and securities futures on SPDR Gold Shares are...

Bulletin suisse de linguistique appliquee, 2002 (Swiss Bulletin for Applied Linguistics, 2002).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adamzik, Kirsten, Ed; Roos, Eva, Ed.

2002-01-01

This special issue, written in German and French, is a collection of articles that were presented to the Swiss Association for Applied Linguistics during 2001 and which can be categorized as "linguistic biographies" organized under the auspices and support of the Forum du bilingualisme (Forum of Bilingualism) in Bienne (Biel) and the…

Aeronautical education and research at the Swiss Institute of Technology in Zurich

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Karner, L; Ackeret, J

1931-01-01

Progress in the scientific and practical fields of aviation has caused the Swiss Institute of Technology to organize lectures and practical training courses in all three branches of aeronautics and to found centers of scientific research, laboratories, etc., in order to supply the government and industries with scientifically and technically trained engineers.

75 FR 4274 - Novaluron; Pesticide Tolerances

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-27

... at 0.50 parts per million (ppm); Swiss chard at 12 ppm; bean, snap, succulent at 0.60 ppm; bean, dry...; bean, dry, seed at 0.30 ppm; and Swiss chard at 12 ppm. EPA's assessment of exposures and risks.... Novaluron has low acute toxicity via the oral, dermal and inhalation routes of exposure. It is not an eye or...