•The design of three cost-sensitive ensemble classification architectures for the specific application of microwave-based breast cancer detection.•A principled Neyman–Pearson approach to select ...algorithmic parameters in order to control the false positive rate while minimizing the false negative rate.•The performance is assessed thoroughly using both clinical data and phantom data.
Microwave breast screening has been proposed as a complementary modality to the current standard of X-ray mammography. In this work, we design three ensemble classification structures that fuse information from multiple sensors to detect abnormalities in the breast. A principled Neyman–Pearson approach is developed to allow control of the trade-off between false positive rate and the false negative rate. We evaluate performance using data derived from measurements of heterogeneous breast phantoms. We also use data collected in a clinical trial that monitored 12 healthy patients monthly over an eight-month period. In order to assess the efficacy of the proposed algorithms we model scans of breasts with malignant lesions by artificially adding simulated tumour responses to existing scans of healthy volunteers. Tumour responses are constructed based on measured properties of breast tissues and real breast measurements, thus the simulation model takes into account the heterogeneity of the breast tissue. The algorithms we present take advantage of breast scans from other patients or tissue-mimicking breast phantoms to learn about breast content and what constitutes a “tumour-free” and “tumour-bearing” set of measurements. We demonstrate that the ensemble selection-based algorithm, which constructs an ensemble of the most informative classifiers, significantly outperforms other detection techniques for the clinical trial data set.
Contemporary business trends influence tourism destinations to use advantages that modern information technology provides. Geographic information systems (GIS) could be used for those purposes, ...especially in area of marketing management. In this regard, the subject of this paper is to determine if GIS application in destination marketing has positive impact for tourism offer and demand. The paper is based on secondary data, gathered from academic publications from different scientific fields: tourism and hospitality, marketing and ICT. Research results confirmed the primary hypothesis, which indicated that GIS application could be beneficial for both tourism offer and demand. The significance of the research results is reflected as a contribution to theoretical framework of GIS in the tourism, as well as in making a foundation for implementation of those systems in practical marketing activities on the level of the tourism destination.
Display omitted
•Papain was the most stabile from 45 to 60°C with ΔG°321 13.9kJ/mol and Tm value 84°C.•Cold storage of papain gave an increase of 40% of intermolecular β-sheet content.•Six ...freeze–thaw cycles induced 75% activity loss due to denaturation and aggregation.•Autoproteolysis of papain did not cause significant loss of the protein activity.
Papain is a cysteine protease with wide substrate specificity and many applications. Despite its widespread applications, cold stability of papain has never been studied. Here, we used differential spectroscopy to monitor thermal denaturation process. Papain was the most stabile from 45°C to 60°C with ΔG°321 of 13.9±0.3kJ/mol and Tm value of 84±1°C. After cold storage, papain lost parts of its native secondary structures elements which gave an increase of 40% of intermolecular β-sheet content (band maximum detected at frequency of 1621cm−1 in Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrum) indicating the presence of secondary structures necessary for aggregation. The presence of protein aggregates after cold storage was also proven by analytical size exclusion chromatography. After six freeze–thaw cycles around 75% of starting enzyme activity of papain was lost due to cold denaturation and aggregation of unfolded protein. Autoproteolysis of papain did not cause significant loss of the protein activity. Upon the cold storage, papain underwent structural rearrangements and aggregation that correspond to other cold denatured proteins, rather than autoproteolysis which could have the commercial importance for the growing polypeptide based industry.
Family as a context of informal education Popović, Daliborka; Minić, Vesna; Popović, Milica
Zbornik radova Filozofskog fakulteta (1990),
2022, Letnik:
52, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Due to the changed social circumstances and the growing role of informal education in the process of personal development, the aim of the paper is to consider the importance of family activities, ...which hold the most dominant role in informal education. The key premise of modern society must therefore be based on establishing continuity in the process of lifelong learning, through the necessity of a holistic relationship between education and society. It is important to move away from the classical way of understanding the education as a process of knowledge transfer that takes place in the formal context and focus on the fact that learning is not limited by time, space, and institution. Starting from the fact that the family is the first and foremost system for a child, only with changed roles in different life cycles, an attempt was made to point out key effects on the family, but also on the child by the family, primarily for prosocial development. Prosocial development takes place by modelling behaviours through which the desired value system is expressed and instilled in a child. Regarding the family as educators in informal education, the paper emphasizes the need to monitor procedures that have a scientific and professional basis, with caution against "falling under the influence" of implicit theories of education that are promoted on social networks and in other, modern forms of social groups. In that sense, the necessity of supporting the family in educational activities, which represent the core of informal education in the family context, is emphasized. After considering the basic principles of formal, non-formal and informal education, the paper emphasizes the growing importance of informal education and the role of the family in this process, considering the key settings of parenting for holistic personality development, based on Kant's claim to educate. Namely, the attention was drawn to the educational activities of the family in the process of individual and social development through an informal approach, as well as to the questions of its competence to respond to the challenges posed by the social change.
This research aimed to clarify the role of the perceptual richness of words (PR) in the recall tasks. PR was operationalized as the number of sensory modalities through which an object can be ...perceived. Previously, we found that concepts experienced with many modalities (dog) were recalled more accurately in cued recall than those perceived with few modalities (rainbow) and abstract words. This finding fitted the Perceptual symbol system theory (PSST) and the Dual coding theory (DCT) predictions. We tested the PR effect in both cued (experiment 1- E1) and free recall tasks (experiment 2 – E2) in the present study. With careful stimuli manipulation of context availability and emotional valence and statistical control of arousal and relatedness, made to exclude their influence on recall, we tested alternative explanations of the concreteness effect offered by the relational-distinctiveness hypothesis. The additional perceptual codes improved recall accuracy in the cued recall task (E1), which was in line with the PSST and the DCT. This conclusion is straightforward: two critical groups of concrete words were matched for concreteness and visual perceptual strength. Thus, more accurate recall of concepts experienced with many modalities can be attributed to richer perceptual experience. However, the relational information was essential for recall accuracy in the free recall task (E2), as hypothesized by the relational-distinctiveness hypothesis.
This work presents an evaluation of the measurement challenges in clinical testing of our microwave breast cancer screening system. The time-domain radar system contains a multistatic 16antenna ...hemi-spherical array operating in the 2-4 GHz frequency range. We investigate, for the first time with such a system in clinical trials, the repeatability of measurements and its effect on image reconstruction. We record vertical and horizontal measurement uncertainties under different scenarios and verify using previously introduced compensation methods that they can be successfully reduced to an acceptable level from the standpoint of image reconstruction. We also examine how placement of an immersion medium can affect collected breast scan data. Finally, we probe the repeatability and consistency of measurements with patients. With the goal of confirming the feasibility of frequent breast health monitoring, with our system, we obtain a total of 342 breast scans collected over 57 patient visits to determine how much scan data varies when there are no changes in between scans, and how much it varies when the patient is repositioned in the system. We confirm that, by taking care in patient positioning in the system and with respect to the immersion medium, the measurement repeatability is high.
In this study, we follow a healthy patient volunteer with daily breast scans using our time-domain microwave radar monitoring system. Over the course of a 28-day period, which corresponds to the time ...frame of the menstrual cycle, we perform a total of 54 scans per breast. Our breast monitoring system uses a time-domain, multistatic radar approach with 16 wideband sensors. We first directly compare the recorded signals for each scan, then examine reconstructed images for each breast, and compare how they vary day by day. Images are compared using the structural similarity index, and based on their pixel intensities. We further estimate the daily average tissue permittivity for each breast. The results demonstrate that our system is able to detect variations in the breast tissues over the monthly period; however, we estimate that the quality of these changes differs from those that would appear due to a malignant growth. The tissue changes seen in this trial are not likely to affect the outcome of long-term monitoring for the purpose of abnormality detection; however, measurements on a larger population are required before wider conclusions can be made.
The aim of the study was to assess the effect of baricitinib on 28-day all-cause mortality and the progression of respiratory failure in patients needing transfer to the intensive care unit (ICU) ...with COVID-19 pneumonia treated with high-flow oxygen therapy.
This retrospective study included hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia treated with high-flow oxygen non-invasive ventilation receiving standard of care (SOC) or SOC in addition to baricitinib. Data on patients' characteristics, pro-inflammatory markers, D dimer, and National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2) values were collected and compared between groups. The primary endpoint was 28-day all-cause in-hospital mortality and the secondary outcome was transfer to the ICU.
The study included 125 patients. The primary outcome was observed in 44.8% of them: 27% in the baricitinib group vs. 62% in the SOC group,
< 0.001. Transfer to the ICU ward was significantly lower in the baricitinib group: 29% vs. 81%,
< 0.001. A significant improvement was observed when the baricitinib group was compared to SOC in procalcitonin, CRP, D-dimer, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio values, and NEWS2.
Treatment with baricitinib in addition to SOC was associated with reduced mortality and a lower prevalence of transfer to the ICU in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia treated with high-flow oxygen non-invasive therapy.
Background/Aim. As an optimal treatment of choice for patients with the latest stage of chronic kidney failure (CKD), renal transplantation (Tx) is performed. The resistance index (RI) of the renal ...artery is measured by Doppler ultrasonography routinely at certain time intervals to show the condition of the renal graft. The value of RI > 0.75 is considered abnormal. The aim of the study was to determine the correlation between the values of the RI index and the function of the transplanted kidney. Methods. We analyzed retrospectively 63 patients in whom kidney transplant was done at the Clinic for Nephrology and Clinical Immunology, the University Clinical Center of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia, in the period from 2013 to 2017. Doppler of renal blood vessels was made to all examined patients in the first month after the renal trans-plantation. In addition to standard demographic data, all patients had the RI index and its relationship to the function of the transplanted kidney analyzed immediately after transplantation, as well as in the 6th, 12th, and 18th month, and in a certain number of patients in the 24th and 48th month after transplantation. Results. Out of 63 patients, 63.5% were men, and 26.5% were women, with an average age of 47.67 ? 13.62 years. The primary diseases in patients which led to the terminal CKD stage were hypertension in 33.3% and different forms of glomerulonephritis; while other diseases (diabetes mellitus, chronic pyelonephritis, eclampsia, polycystic kidneys, kidney agenesia, and unknown cause) were present in a lower percentage. RI < 0.75 was present in 73%, and RI > 0.75 in 27% of patients. There was no statistically significant association between RI and serum creatinine or creatinine clearance at a given time, and there was no connection between RI and gender, as well as length of previous treatment by HD. There was a statistically significant association between RI and age of kidney recipient, as well as Tx type. Conclusion. In the observed group of patients, RI of renal arteries did not prove to be a good predictor of the function of the transplanted kidney either in the early or later post-transplant periods. RI might have greater predictive significance if it were determined on or immediately after the transplantation procedure.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
In this work we examine, for the first time, the use of classification algorithms for early-stage tumor detection with an experimental time-domain microwave breast screening system. The experimental ...system contains a 16-element antenna array, and testing is done on breast phantoms that mimic breast tissue dielectric properties. We obtain experimental data from multiple breast phantoms with two possible tumor locations. In this work, we investigate a method for detecting the tumors within the breast but without the usual complexity inherent to image-generation methods, and confirm its feasibility on experimental data. The proposed method uses machine learning techniques, namely Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), to determine whether the current breast being scanned is tumor-free. Our results show that both SVM and LDA methods have promise as algorithms supporting early breast cancer microwave screening.
PDF
