Asymmetric effects of false positive and false negative indications on the verification of alerts in different risk conditions

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.Indications from alerts or alarm systems can be the trigger for decisions, or they can elicit further information search. We report an experiment on the tendency to collect additional information after receiving system indications. We varied the proclivity of the alarm system towards false positive or false negative indications and the perceived risk of the situation. Results showed that false alarm-prone systems led to more frequent re-checking following both alarms and non-alarms in the high risk condition, whereas miss-prone systems led to high re-checking rates only for non-alarms, representing an asymmetry effect. Increasing the risk led to more re-checks with all alarm systems, but it had a stronger impact in the false alarm-prone condition. Results regarding the relation of risk and the asymmetry effect of false negative and false positive indications are discussed

Impact of surface ozone interactions on indoor air chemistry : a modelling study

An INdoor air Detailed Chemical Model was developed to investigate the impact of ozone reactions with indoor surfaces (including occupants), on indoor air chemistry in simulated apartments subject to ambient air pollution. The results are consistent with experimental studies showing that approximately 80% of ozone indoors is lost through deposition to surfaces. The human body removes ozone most effectively from indoor air per square meter of surface, but the most significant surfaces for C6-C10 aldehyde formation are soft furniture and painted walls owing to their large internal surfaces. Mixing ratios of between 8 and 11 ppb of C6-C10 aldehydes are predicted to form in apartments in various locations in summer, the highest values are when ozone concentrations are enhanced outdoors. The most important aldehyde formed indoors is predicted to be nonanal (5-7 ppb), driven by oxidation-derived emissions from painted walls. In addition, ozone-derived emissions from human skin were estimated for a small bedroom at nighttime with concentrations of nonanal, decanal, and 4-oxopentanal predicted to be 0.5, 0.7, and 0.7 ppb, respectively. A detailed chemical analysis shows that ozone-derived surface aldehyde emissions from materials and people change chemical processing indoors, through enhanced formation of nitrated organic compounds and decreased levels of oxidants

Incidence of Dementia in Elderly Latin Americans: Results of the Maracaibo Aging Study

Introduction—There are few longitudinal studies of dementia in developing countries. We used longitudinal data from the Maracaibo Aging Study (MAS) to accurately determine the age- and sex-specific incidence of dementia in elderly Latin Americans. Methods—The DSM IV-R was used to diagnose dementia, which was classified as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), vascular dementia (VaD), or other. Age- and sex-specific incidence was estimated as the number of new cases of dementia divided by person-years of follow-up (p-y). Results—The incidence of all dementia diagnoses was 9.10 per 1000 p-y (95% CI 7.13–11.44; 8026 total p-y), 5.18 for AD (95% CI 3.72–7.03; 7916 total p-y), and 3.35 for VaD (95% CI 2.19–4.91; 7757 total p-y). Discussion—Among MAS participants under 65 years of age, the incidence of dementia was higher than that of US whites. Among individuals over 65 years of age, the incidence was comparable to the mean of previous incidence estimates for other populations worldwide

Investigación científica suramericana sobre el uso de toxina botulínica en cirugía plástica: análisis bibliométrico sobre artículos indexados en Scopus

Objetivo: Analizar la evolución científica del uso de la toxina botulínica en cirugía plástica en América Latina. Materiales y métodos: Se realizó un estudio bibliométrico transversal utilizando Scopus como fuente de datos. Se ejecutó un análisis visual y bibliométrico, y se generaron cálculos métricos para evaluar la evolución, características generales e impacto de la evidencia latinoamericana sobre el uso de la toxina botulínica en cirugía plástica. Para este análisis se utilizó el paquete bibliometrix en R. Resultados: Se incluyeron 34 documentos publicados entre 2002 y 2023. El 70,5 % (n = 24) fueron artículos originales y el 23,5 %, revisiones (n = 8). Se identificó una colaboración internacional del 32,3 %. Los cuatro autores más prolíficos procedían de Colombia y Brasil, quienes publicaron únicamente dos documentos cada uno. Brasil (n = 20) es el país más prolífico, seguido de Chile (n = 5), Argentina (n = 4) y Colombia (n = 4). En cuanto a las tendencias de investigación, se encontró que la calidad de vida, los rellenos dérmicos, el ácido hialurónico y las arrugas son los subtemas más relacionados con el uso de la toxina botulínica en cirugía plástica en América Latina. Básicamente, hay cinco nichos de líneas de investigación asociadas, relacionados con síntomas y procedimientos estéticos, complicaciones cosméticas y calidad de vida. El grado de desarrollo de los temas depende esencialmente de las intervenciones estéticas. El análisis de correspondencia múltiple basado en las palabras clave de los autores reveló que el seguimiento de pacientes, el estudio de cohortes, la evaluación de riesgos, la evaluación de resultados, el rejuvenecimiento y los adultos son los elementos que complementan principalmente los subtemas de base. Conclusiones: Se ha identificado un crecimiento lento con una producción e impacto bajos en los últimos 20 años de investigación latinoamericana sobre el uso de la toxina botulínica en cirugía plástica. La investigación se ha centrado en estudios clínicos relacionados con la evaluación de resultados clínicos, calidad de vida y técnicas estéticas. Brasil lidera la investigación en la región y mantiene una fuerte red de colaboración intercontinental

Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

Background Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide.Methods A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study-a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital.Findings Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3.85 [95% CI 2.58-5.75]; p<0.0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63.0% vs 82.7%; OR 0.35 [0.23-0.53]; p<0.0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer.Interpretation Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised

The Fragmentation vs. Functionalization Paths of Molecules during Atmospheric Chemical Aging

<p>Throughout this thesis we explore the two major mechanisms that organic carbon compounds experience in the atmosphere when reacting with major oxidizers: fragmentation and functionalization. We start by exploring the photo-oxidation of n-aldehydes – including their chemistry and organic aerosol formation – because they are known to fragment strongly in their first-generation chemistry with the OH radical. It is found that this strong fragmentation path suppresses their ability to form OA when compared to similar n-alkanes. n-Aldehydes with fewer than thirteen carbons do not produce OA under atmospheric concentrations. We also study two sequences of molecules with different saturation concentrations that systematically increase in oxygenation. Higher oxygenation was found to suppress the ability of a molecule to form OA. The position of a functional group in a carbon backbone was also found to affect OA formation. Functional groups located in the center of a large carbon backbone suppress OA formation when compared to functional groups on the end (e.g., 7- and 2-tridecanol, respectively). In the sequences mentioned, pinonaldehyde is a key molecule studied since it is an important oxidation product of alpha-pinene which is one of the most emitted molecules from biogenic sources. Production of OA from pinonaldehyde confirms the importance of biogenic aging.</p> <p>As complement to the experimental work, two different computer simulations are used as prognostic tools of OA formation for the chemical species presented in this thesis. The first simulation is the two-dimensional volatility basis set (2D-VBS) developed by Donahue and coworkers at Carnegie Mellon University. This box model predicts OA evolution of bulk organic aerosol systems by knowing initial oxygenation and saturation concentrations. The second one is GECKO-A developed by Aumont and co-workers from the University of Paris. Its approach consists of following every reaction and species involved in the chemistry of OA formation. Both simulations give reasonable results when compared to the experimental OA formation potential of different molecules presented in the first half of this thesis. This is despite their very two different approaches in predicting OA formation. We conclude that by properly considering fragmentation and functionalization paths, atmospheric OA formation can be reasonably predicted.</p

Internal standard evaluation for bioimaging soybean leaves through laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry: a plant nanotechnology approach

FAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOCNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOCAPES - COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIORThis work evaluates the use of an internal standard for acquiring the elemental mapping of 107Ag, 55Mn and 63Cu using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry in the imaging mode from soybean leaves cultivated in the absence or in the p331017201728FAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOCNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOCAPES - COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIORFAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOCNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOCAPES - COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR2016/07384-7401170/2016-088881.062204/2014-01The authors thank the Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP grant number 2016/07384-7, São Paulo, Brazil), the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, Brasília, Brazil) grant number 401170/2016-0, and t

Fragmentation vs. functionalization: chemical aging and organic aerosol formation

Abstract. The transformation process that a carbon backbone undergoes in the atmosphere is complex and dynamic. Understanding all these changes for all the species in detail is impractical; however, choosing different molecules that resemble progressively higher stages of oxidation or aging and studying them can give us an insight into general characteristics and mechanisms. Here we determine secondary organic aerosol (SOA) mass yields of two sequences of molecules reacting with the OH radical at high NOx. Each sequence consists of species with similar vapor pressures, but a succession of oxidation states. The first sequence consists of n-pentadecane, n-tridecanal, 2-, 7-tridecanone, and pinonaldehyde. The second sequence consists of n-nonadecane, n-heptadecanal and cis-pinonic acid. Oxidized molecules tend to have lower relative SOA mass yields; however, oxidation state alone was not enough to predict how efficiently a molecule forms SOA. Certain functionalities are able to fragment more easily than others, and even the position of these functionalities on a molecule can have an effect. n-Alkanes tend to have the highest yields, and n-aldehydes the lowest. n-Ketones have slightly higher yields when the ketone moiety is located on the side of the molecule and not in the center. In general, oxidation products remain efficient SOA sources, though fragmentation makes them less effective than comparable alkanes.</jats:p