Sensory Measurements: Coordination and Standardization

Do sensory measurements deserve the label of “measurement”? We argue that they do. They fit with an epistemological view of measurement held in current philosophy of science, and they face the same kinds of epistemological challenges as physical measurements do: the problem of coordination and the problem of standardization. These problems are addressed through the process of “epistemic iteration,” for all measurements. We also argue for distinguishing the problem of standardization from the problem of coordination. To exemplify our claims, we draw on olfactory performance tests, especially studies linking olfactory decline to neurodegenerative disorders

Social and content hybrid image recommender system for mobile social networks

One of the advantages of social networks is the possibility to socialize and personalize the content created or shared by the users. In mobile social networks, where the devices have limited capabilities in terms of screen size and computing power, Multimedia Recommender Systems help to present the most relevant content to the users, depending on their tastes, relationships and profile. Previous recommender systems are not able to cope with the uncertainty of automated tagging and are knowledge domain dependant. In addition, the instantiation of a recommender in this domain should cope with problems arising from the collaborative filtering inherent nature (cold start, banana problem, large number of users to run, etc.). The solution presented in this paper addresses the abovementioned problems by proposing a hybrid image recommender system, which combines collaborative filtering (social techniques) with content-based techniques, leaving the user the liberty to give these processes a personal weight. It takes into account aesthetics and the formal characteristics of the images to overcome the problems of current techniques, improving the performance of existing systems to create a mobile social networks recommender with a high degree of adaptation to any kind of user

High fat diet modifies the association of lipoprotein lipase gene polymorphism with high density lipoprotein cholesterol in an Asian Indian population

Background Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in lipoprotein lipase gene (LPL) have been shown to influence metabolism related to lipid phenotypes. Dietary factors have been shown to modify the association between LPL SNPs and lipids; however, to date, there are no studies in South Asians. Hence, we tested for the association of four common LPL SNPs with plasma lipids and examined the interactions between the SNPs and dietary factors on lipids in 1,845 Asian Indians. Methods The analysis was performed in 788 Type 2 diabetes cases and 1,057 controls randomly chosen from the cross-sectional Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiological Study. Serum triacylglycerol (TAG), serum total cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were measured using a Hitachi-912 autoanalyzer (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany). Dietary intake was assessed using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. The SNPs (rs1121923, rs328, rs4922115 and rs285) were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction enzyme digestion and 20% of samples were sequenced to validate the genotypes obtained. Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows version 22.0 (SPSS, Chicago, IL) was used for statistical analysis. Results After correction for multiple testing and adjusting for potential confounders, SNPs rs328 and rs285 showed association with HDL-C (P = 0.0004) and serum TAG (P = 1×10−5), respectively. The interaction between SNP rs1121923 and fat intake (energy %) on HDL-C (P = 0.003) was also significant, where, among those who consumed a high fat diet (28.4 ± 2.5%), the T allele carriers (TT + XT) had significantly higher HDL-C concentrations (P = 0.0002) and 30% reduced risk of low HDL-C levels compared to the CC homozygotes. None of the interactions on other lipid traits were statistically significant. Conclusion Our findings suggest that individuals carrying T allele of the SNP rs1121923 have increased HDL-C levels when consuming a high fat diet compared to CC homozygotes. Our finding warrants confirmation in prospective studies and randomized controlled trials

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Comprehensive and Integrated Genomic Characterization of Adult Soft Tissue Sarcomas

Summary Sarcomas are a broad family of mesenchymal malignancies exhibiting remarkable histologic diversity. We describe the multi-platform molecular landscape of 206 adult soft tissue sarcomas representing 6 major types. Along with novel insights into the biology of individual sarcoma types, we report three overarching findings: (1) unlike most epithelial malignancies, these sarcomas (excepting synovial sarcoma) are characterized predominantly by copy-number changes, with low mutational loads and only a few genes (TP53, ATRX, RB1) highly recurrently mutated across sarcoma types; (2) within sarcoma types, genomic and regulomic diversity of driver pathways defines molecular subtypes associated with patient outcome; and (3) the immune microenvironment, inferred from DNA methylation and mRNA profiles, associates with outcome and may inform clinical trials of immune checkpoint inhibitors. Overall, this large-scale analysis reveals previously unappreciated sarcoma-type-specific changes in copy number, methylation, RNA, and protein, providing insights into refining sarcoma therapy and relationships to other cancer types

Approaches in biotechnological applications of natural polymers

Natural polymers, such as gums and mucilage, are biocompatible, cheap, easily available and non-toxic materials of native origin. These polymers are increasingly preferred over synthetic materials for industrial applications due to their intrinsic properties, as well as they are considered alternative sources of raw materials since they present characteristics of sustainability, biodegradability and biosafety. As definition, gums and mucilages are polysaccharides or complex carbohydrates consisting of one or more monosaccharides or their derivatives linked in bewildering variety of linkages and structures. Natural gums are considered polysaccharides naturally occurring in varieties of plant seeds and exudates, tree or shrub exudates, seaweed extracts, fungi, bacteria, and animal sources. Water-soluble gums, also known as hydrocolloids, are considered exudates and are pathological products; therefore, they do not form a part of cell wall. On the other hand, mucilages are part of cell and physiological products. It is important to highlight that gums represent the largest amounts of polymer materials derived from plants. Gums have enormously large and broad applications in both food and non-food industries, being commonly used as thickening, binding, emulsifying, suspending, stabilizing agents and matrices for drug release in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. In the food industry, their gelling properties and the ability to mold edible films and coatings are extensively studied. The use of gums depends on the intrinsic properties that they provide, often at costs below those of synthetic polymers. For upgrading the value of gums, they are being processed into various forms, including the most recent nanomaterials, for various biotechnological applications. Thus, the main natural polymers including galactomannans, cellulose, chitin, agar, carrageenan, alginate, cashew gum, pectin and starch, in addition to the current researches about them are reviewed in this article.. }To the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientfíico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for fellowships (LCBBC and MGCC) and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nvíel Superior (CAPES) (PBSA). This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, the Project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462) and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) (JAT)

ERBB2 in Cat Mammary Neoplasias Disclosed a Positive Correlation between RNA and Protein Low Expression Levels: A Model for erbB-2 Negative Human Breast Cancer

Human ERBB2 is a proto-oncogene that codes for the erbB-2 epithelial growth factor receptor. In human breast cancer (HBC), erbB-2 protein overexpression has been repeatedly correlated with poor prognosis. In more recent works, underexpression of this gene has been described in HBC. Moreover, it is also recognised that oncogenes that are commonly amplified or deleted encompass point mutations, and some of these are associated with HBC. In cat mammary lesions (CMLs), the overexpression of ERBB2 (27%–59.6%) has also been described, mostly at the protein level and although cat mammary neoplasias are considered to be a natural model of HBC, molecular information is still scarce. In the present work, a cat ERBB2 fragment, comprising exons 10 to 15 (ERBB2_10–15) was achieved for the first time. Allelic variants and genomic haplotype analyses were also performed, and differences between normal and CML populations were observed. Three amino acid changes, corresponding to 3 non-synonymous genomic sequence variants that were only detected in CMLs, were proposed to damage the 3D structure of the protein. We analysed the cat ERBB2 gene at the DNA (copy number determination), mRNA (expression levels assessment) and protein levels (in extra- and intra protein domains) in CML samples and correlated the last two evaluations with clinicopathological features. We found a positive correlation between the expression levels of the ERBB2 RNA and erbB-2 protein, corresponding to the intracellular region. Additionally, we detected a positive correlation between higher mRNA expression and better clinical outcome. Our results suggest that the ERBB2 gene is post-transcriptionally regulated and that proteins with truncations and single point mutations are present in cat mammary neoplastic lesions. We would like to emphasise that the recurrent occurrence of low erbB-2 expression levels in cat mammary tumours, suggests the cat mammary neoplasias as a valuable model for erbB-2 negative HBC.POCI/CVT/62940/2004 and by the PhD grants (SFRH/BD/23406/2005 and SFRH/BD/31754/2006, of the Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) from Portugal

Pharmacokinetic Interactions Between the Fixed-Dose Combination of Ezetimibe/Rosuvastatin 10/20 Mg and the Fixed-Dose Combination of Telmisartan/Amlodipine 80/5 Mg in Healthy Subjects

Hyunwook Ryu,1 Hyun Chul Kim,1 Inseung Jeon,1 In-Jin Jang,1 Joo-Youn Cho,1,2 Kyung Tae Kim,3 Jaeseong Oh1,4,5 1Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Seoul National University College of Medicine and Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea; 2Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; 3Addpharma, Inc., Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea; 4Department of Pharmacology, Jeju National University College of Medicine, Jeju, Republic of Korea; 5Clinical Research Institute, Jeju National University Hospital, Jeju, Republic of KoreaCorrespondence: Jaeseong Oh, Department of Pharmacology, Jeju National University College of Medicine, Jeju, Republic of Korea, Email [email protected]: Management of hypertension and hyperlipidemia, which are common comorbid risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, require multiple medications. The development of a fixed-dose combination (FDC) containing ezetimibe, rosuvastatin, telmisartan, and amlodipine aims to enhance patient adherence and persistence, but the potential interactions among the four medications have not been studied. This study aimed to evaluate the pharmacokinetic (PK) interactions between the FDC of ezetimibe/rosuvastatin 10/20 mg (ER) and the FDC of telmisartan/amlodipine 80/5 mg (TA).Methods: An open-label, single-sequence, three-period, three-treatment crossover study was conducted in healthy male subjects. All subjects received ER for 7 days, TA for 9 days and ER combined with TA for 7 days during each treatment period. For PK analysis of total/free ezetimibe, rosuvastatin, telmisartan, and amlodipine, serial blood samples were collected for 24 hours at steady state. Safety profiles were assessed throughout the study.Results: Thirty-eight subjects were enrolled, and 34 subjects completed the study. The systemic exposure to each active ingredient after coadministration of the two FDCs was similar to that after each FDC alone. The geometric mean ratios and 90% confidence intervals for the maximum plasma concentration (μg/L) and the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (h·μg/L) of the combination therapy to monotherapy, assessed at steady state, were as follows: total ezetimibe, 1.0264 (0.8765– 1.2017) and 0.9359 (0.7847– 1.1163); free ezetimibe, 1.5713 (1.2821– 1.9257) and 0.9941 (0.8384– 1.1788); rosuvastatin, 2.1673 (1.7807– 2.6379) and 1.1714 (0.9992– 1.3733); telmisartan, 1.0745 (0.8139– 1.4186) and 1.1057 (0.8379– 1.4591); and amlodipine, 0.9421 (0.8764– 1.0126) and 0.9603 (0.8862– 1.0405). Both combination therapy and monotherapy were well tolerated by the subjects.Conclusion: The coadministration of ezetimibe/rosuvastatin 10/20 mg and ezetimibe/rosuvastatin 10/20 mg was well tolerated in healthy subjects, and the PK interaction between those two FDCs was not clinically significant.Keywords: drug‒drug interactions, pharmacokinetics, fixed-dose combination, ezetimibe, rosuvastatin, telmisartan, amlodipin

Development and Evaluation of the Web-based Wound Care Course for Undergraduate Nursing Students

Purpose: This study developed a web-based wound care course for undergraduate nursing students and evaluated the course’’s content, system, and student-satisfaction. Methods: This study was done in three stages, the development of the web-based wound care course, the implementation and evaluation of the course. The course was developed based on the ARCS model. 80 under-graduate nursing students to Y University in Korea used the web-based wound care program during four weeks. After that, they completed questionnaires, evaluating the contents, system, and their satisfaction. Results: Eighteen learning objectives were used to create the web-based wound care course and the course was developed with 7 chapters and 20 subsections. The analysis of the questionnaires showed a mean score for content and system-related items of 3.04 each, out of a possible 4 points. Student satisfaction items had a mean score of 2.89. Conclusions: The web-based course allowed students access to the course anytime and anywhere, and according to their own learning abilities. However this advantage would only be possible when nurse educators develop qualitative web-based course to meet the demand of a complex health care system as well as the needs of the students and the effectively incorporate it into traditional lectures