Major challenges are presented when managing a large number of heterogeneous vehicles that have to communicate underwater in order to complete a global mission in a cooperative manner. In this kind ...of application domain, sending data through the environment presents issues that surpass the ones found in other overwater, distributed, cyber-physical systems (i.e., low bandwidth, unreliable transport medium, data representation and hardware high heterogeneity). This manuscript presents a Publish/Subscribe-based semantic middleware solution for unreliable scenarios and vehicle interoperability across cooperative and heterogeneous autonomous vehicles. The middleware relies on different iterations of the Data Distribution Service (DDS) software standard and their combined work between autonomous maritime vehicles and a control entity. It also uses several components with different functionalities deemed as mandatory for a semantic middleware architecture oriented to maritime operations (device and service registration, context awareness, access to the application layer) where other technologies are also interweaved with middleware (wireless communications, acoustic networks). Implementation details and test results, both in a laboratory and a deployment scenario, have been provided as a way to assess the quality of the system and its satisfactory performance.
Abstract Hypogammaglobulinemia has been proposed to be a risk factor for infection after heart transplantation (OHT). Infection is a leading cause of morbility and mortality among these patients. In ...a retrospective study we analyzed the impact of substitutive therapy with nonspecific intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) on the outcomes of heart transplant patients with infections. We analyzed the outcome of 123 consecutive heart transplant recipients in our center from June 1996 to November 2005. Their mean age was 53 years (range = 22 to 69 years), and the mean follow-up = 51 months, (range = 1 to 124 months). Twenty-nine patients with hypogammaglobulinemia (mean serum immunoglobulin G levels = 480 mg/dL) experienced severe infections due to cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease, n = 4; CMV disease + another infection, n = 6; CMV infection, n = 4; CMV infection + other infection, n = 3; pulmonary nocardiosis, n = 2; recurrent pneumonia, n = 2; clostridium-difficile-associated diarrhea, n = 2; pulmonary tuberculosis, n = 1; bacterial infections, n = 5. They were treated with IVIG (400 mg/kg every 21 days) with the goal to reach normal serum immunoglobulin G levels (>700 mg/dL). Overall ( n = 123), a logistic regression analysis showed IVIG therapy to be associated with a decreased risk of death odds ratio (OR) = 0.204, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.04 to 0.92, P = .03. Among patients who developed infections during follow-up ( n = 70), IVIG therapy was also associated with a lower risk of death (OR = 0.104, CI = 0.02 to 0.50, P = .0047). When we stratified patients with CMV disease ( n = 24) according to the presence ( n = 10) or absence ( n = 14) of IVIG therapy, the mortality rate of IVIG-treated patients was 20% versus 71% for non-IVIG treated patients OR = 0.06, CI = 0.0060 to 0.63, P = .01. The use of nonspecific IVIG in OHT with hypogammaglobulinemia and infections might reduce the risk of death. Randomized studies in a larger cohort of patients are necessary to confirm these results.
Today, communication is a key factor of destination competitiveness. The aim of the present study is to examine the effect of message consistency between different online communication tools on the ...formation of consumer-based destination brand equity (CBDBE), within two distinct brand positioning strategies (single-destination brand vs. multiple-destination brands). An experimental design is applied to manipulate message consistency (high vs. low) and the type of brand positioning strategy implemented by the destination (single vs. multiple brands). The results demonstrate that when the messages received by the tourist are highly consistent across different channels, branding strategy type exerts no differential effect on CBDBE. By contrast, when the messages present low consistency, a single destination branding strategy generates higher CBDBE than a multiple destination branding strategy. The study makes an original contribution to the literature, showing the interaction between destination branding strategy type and degree of consistency in the messages received by the tourist.
Parallel forms of neuropsychological tests are scarce. Practice effects associated to repeated testing with the same test confound the interpretation of observed changes in serial assessments. ...Practice effects are especially likely with memory testing.
To develop an alternate form to the test de aprendizaje verbal España-Complutense (TAVEC), one of the most common memory tests used for Spanish speaking population.
Participants in the normative study were 110 undergraduates. Participants in the study of the alternate vs original forms were 70 neurologically normal volunteers ranged in age from 18 to 89 years. Forms were administered in counterbalanced order, with a test-retest interval of 15-20 days.
Multivariate analyses showed that none of the effects for form, order of administration or session achieved significance. Interactions also failed to reach significance. Aforementioned results were observed in the total sample and the different age groups: young adults (18-29 years), middle-age (30-59 years) and older (60-89 years). Correlational analyses supported the validity and internal consistence of the alternate form.
Results indicate the equivalence between the original TAVEC and the form elaborated in this study. This alternate form may be used in serial assessment of learning and memory deterioration.
It has already been a decade and a half since the discovery of adiponectin and its role as an insulin sensitizer and only 7 years since its receptors, AdipoR1 and AdipoR2, were described. A ...single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is a DNA sequence variation that affects only one nucleotide; it may vary from one population to another with different predisposing factors to diseases and other ailments. Once some of the effects of adiponectin and its receptors were known, it was not long until an effort was made to find the associations between specific SNPs of the genes of this hormone and its receptors as genetic risk factors for insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome, although these genes were investigated as possible candidates related to the development of these metabolic disorders. All of these possible associations were studied in different populations from France, Finland, the United Kingdom, North America, and Japan, showing hardly concluding results, and because of that it is highly controversial to directly associate one of the genes mentioned above to insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome. All of these inconsistencies lead to a review that summarizes the SNPs of the genes of adiponectin, AdipoR1, and AdipoR2 that are mostly related to insulin resistance syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome, although presenting the possible factors that should be taken into account to homogenize the results obtained until now.
This paper seeks contribute to the literature on the formation of consumer-based destination brand equity (CBDBE), on the premise that positioning is a major source of competitive advantage for ...organizations, coupled with an effective strategy to communicate that positioning. The aims of the study are: (1) to examine which type of positioning (specialized vs. diversified) is best suited to generating greater CBDBE, and (2) to identify the extent to which message consistency (high vs. low) within the integrated marketing communications strategy for the destination moderates that relationship. The results of the study make a contribution to the specialist literature on brand destination and integrated marketing communications, and offer interesting implications for tourist destination managers seeking to ensure their destination is selected by tourists.
•A positioning strategy based on tourism type has a significant effect on CBDBE.•Communication that comprises highly consistent messages contributes to increasing CBDBE.•Message consistency moderates the relationship between positioning strategy and CBDBE.
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Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is a successful therapy for patients with end‐stage liver disease, and infection remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality for patients ...undergoing this procedure. To assess humoral and cellular immunity markers as potential risk factors for development of infection, 46 consecutive liver transplant recipients (hepatitis C virus cirrhosis n=17, alcoholic liver disease n=15, hepatocellular carcinoma n=9, autoimmune hepatitis n=2, and other n=3) performed at a single center were prospectively studied. Maintenance therapy included tacrolimus (n=37) or cyclosporine (n=9) and prednisone. During follow‐up, 27 patients had at least 1 episode of infection (58.7%). Pre‐OLT immunoglobulin G (IgG) hypergammaglobulinemia (relative risk RR 2.78; 95% confidence interval CI, 1.17–6.60, P=0.02), pre‐OLT IgA hypergammaglobulinemia (RR 2.77, CI=1.24–6.19, P=0.012), and pre‐OLT C3 hypocomplementemia (RR 3.02, CI=1.21–7.55, P=0.018) were associated with an increased risk for development of infection. Monitoring of Ig and complement levels might help to identify the risk of developing infection in OLT.
The post-genomic era has seen many advances in our understanding of cancer pathways, yet resistance and tumor heterogeneity necessitate multiple approaches to target even monogenic tumors. Here, we ...combine phenotypic screening with chemical genetics to identify pre-messenger RNA endonuclease cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor 3 (CPSF3) as the target of JTE-607, a small molecule with previously unknown target. We show that CPSF3 represents a synthetic lethal node in a subset of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and Ewing's sarcoma cancer cell lines. Inhibition of CPSF3 by JTE-607 alters expression of known downstream effectors in AML and Ewing's sarcoma lines, upregulates apoptosis and causes tumor-selective stasis in mouse xenografts. Mechanistically, it prevents the release of newly synthesized pre-mRNAs, resulting in read-through transcription and the formation of DNA-RNA hybrid R-loop structures. This study implicates pre-mRNA processing, and specifically CPSF3, as a druggable target providing an avenue to therapeutic intervention in cancer.
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