Search results for: remote decentralized clinical trials
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 880

Search results for: remote decentralized clinical trials

640 Extrapolation of Clinical Data from an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test Using a Support Vector Machine

Authors: Jianyin Lu, Masayoshi Seike, Wei Liu, Peihong Wu, Lihua Wang, Yihua Wu, Yasuhiro Naito, Hiromu Nakajima, Yasuhiro Kouchi

Abstract:

To extract the important physiological factors related to diabetes from an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) by mathematical modeling, highly informative but convenient protocols are required. Current models require a large number of samples and extended period of testing, which is not practical for daily use. The purpose of this study is to make model assessments possible even from a reduced number of samples taken over a relatively short period. For this purpose, test values were extrapolated using a support vector machine. A good correlation was found between reference and extrapolated values in evaluated 741 OGTTs. This result indicates that a reduction in the number of clinical test is possible through a computational approach.

Keywords: SVM regression, OGTT, diabetes, mathematical model

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639 Suicide Wrongful Death: Standard of Care Problems Involving the Inaccurate Discernment of Lethal Risk When Focusing on the Elicitation of Suicide Ideation

Authors: Bill D. Geis, Frederick Newman

Abstract:

Suicide and wrongful death forensic cases are the fastest rising tort in mental health law. Most suicide-related personal injury claims fall into the legal category of “wrongful death.” Though mental health experts may be called on to address a range of forensic questions in wrongful death cases, the central consultation that most experts provide is about the negligence element—specifically, the issue of whether the clinician met the clinical standard of care in assessing, treating, and managing the deceased person’s mental health care. Standards of care, varying from US state to state, are broad and address what a reasonable clinician might do in a similar circumstance. This fact leaves the issue of the suicide standard of care, in each case, up to forensic experts to put forth a reasoned estimate of what the standard of care should have been in the specific case under litigation. Because the general state guidelines for standard of care are broad, forensic experts are readily retained to provide scientific and clinical opinions about whether or not a clinician met the standard of care in their suicide assessment, treatment, and management of the case. In the past and in much of current practice, the assessment of suicide has centered on the elicitation of verbalized suicide ideation. But suicide ideation, in the matter of suicide risk determination, may be a necessary but insufficient target of lethal suicide risk assessment. Assessment of near-term suicide risk—assessment that goes beyond verbalized suicide ideation and relates to acute crisis variables—is likely needed. Specifically, such other or additional suicide risk variable assessment may be required in the context of lethal suicide risk situations, as opposed to the discernment of general, nonlethal suicide behavior as a standard of practice (whether a patient is having suicidal thoughts or exhibiting an ambivalent suicide attempt potential). In the current study, verbalized suicide ideation information was unhelpful in the assessment of lethal risk. The Lethal Suicide Risk Assessment, Acute Model, and other dynamic, near-term risk models (such as the Acute Suicide Affective Disorder Model and the Suicide Crisis Syndrome Model)—going beyond elicited suicide ideation—need to be incorporated into current clinical suicide assessment training and become the legal standard of care for expected clinical behavior. Without this expanded clinical assessment perspective, the standard of care for suicide assessment is out of sync with current knowledge—an emerging dilemma for the forensic evaluation of suicide wrongful death cases.

Keywords: Forensic evaluation, standard of care, suicide, suicide assessment, wrongful death.

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638 Patient-Specific Modeling Algorithm for Medical Data Based on AUC

Authors: Guilherme Ribeiro, Alexandre Oliveira, Antonio Ferreira, Shyam Visweswaran, Gregory Cooper

Abstract:

Patient-specific models are instance-based learning algorithms that take advantage of the particular features of the patient case at hand to predict an outcome. We introduce two patient-specific algorithms based on decision tree paradigm that use AUC as a metric to select an attribute. We apply the patient specific algorithms to predict outcomes in several datasets, including medical datasets. Compared to the patient-specific decision path (PSDP) entropy-based and CART methods, the AUC-based patient-specific decision path models performed equivalently on area under the ROC curve (AUC). Our results provide support for patient-specific methods being a promising approach for making clinical predictions.

Keywords: Approach instance-based, area Under the ROC Curve, Patient-specific Decision Path, clinical predictions.

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637 Advancing the Hi-Tech Ecosystem in the Periphery: The Case of the Sea of Galilee Region

Authors: Yael Dubinsky, Orit Hazzan

Abstract:

There is a constant need for hi-tech innovation to be decentralized to peripheral regions. This work describes how we applied Design Science Research (DSR) principles to define what we refer to as the Sea of Galilee (SoG) method. The goal of the SoG method is to harness existing and new technological initiatives in peripheral regions to create a socio-technological network that can initiate and maintain hi-tech activities. The SoG method consists of a set of principles, a stakeholder network, and actual hi-tech business initiatives, including their infrastructure and practices. The three cycles of DSR, the Relevance, Design, and Rigor cycles, lay out a research framework to sharpen the requirements, collect data from case studies, and iteratively refine the SoG method based on the existing knowledge base. We propose that the SoG method can be deployed by regional authorities that wish to be considered as smart regions (an extension of the notion of smart cities).

Keywords: Design Science Research, socio-technological initiatives, Sea of Galilee method, periphery stakeholder network, hi-tech initiatives.

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636 Estimating Spatial Disaggregation of Urban Thermal Responsiveness on Summer Diurnal Range with a Numerical Modeling Approach in Bangkok, Thailand

Authors: Manat Srivanit, Hokao Kazunori

Abstract:

Facing the concern of the population to its environment and to climatic change, city planners are now considering the urban climate in their choices of planning. The urban climate, representing different urban morphologies across central Bangkok metropolitan area (BMA), are used to investigates the effects of both the composition and configuration of variables of urban morphology indicators on the summer diurnal range of urban climate, using correlation analyses and multiple linear regressions. Results show first indicate that approximately 92.6% of the variation in the average maximum daytime near-surface air temperature (Ta) was explained jointly by the two composition variables of urban morphology indicators including open space ratio (OSR) and floor area ratio (FAR). It has been possible to determine the membership of sample areas to the local climate zones (LCZs) using these urban morphology descriptors automatically computed with GIS and remote sensed data. Finally result found the temperature differences among zones of large separation, such as the city center could be respectively from 35.48±1.04ºC (Mean±S.D.) warmer than the outskirt of Bangkok on average for maximum daytime near surface temperature to 28.27±0.21ºC for extreme event and, can exceed as 8ºC. A spatially disaggregation of urban thermal responsiveness map would be helpful for several reasons. First, it would localize urban areas concerned by different climate behavior over summer daytime and be a good indicator of urban climate variability. Second, when overlaid with a land cover map, this map may contribute to identify possible urban management strategies to reduce heat wave effects in BMA.

Keywords: Urban climate, Urban morphology, Local climate zone, Urban planning, GIS and remote sensing

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635 Urban Sprawl and the Loss of Peri-Urban Land in Kumasi, Ghana

Authors: Patrick B. Cobbinah, Clifford Amoako

Abstract:

Kumasi is Ghana’s second largest and fastest growing city with an annual population growth rate of 5.4 percent. A major result of this phenomenon is a growing sprawl at the fringes of the city. This paper assesses the nature, extent and impact of sprawl on Kumasi and examines urban planning efforts at addressing this phenomenon. Both secondary and empirical data were collected from decentralized government departments of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and residents of some sprawling communities. The study reveals that sprawl in the metropolis is rapidly consuming fringe rural communities. This situation has weakened effective management of the metropolis causing problems such as congestion and conversion of peri-urban land into residential use without ancillary infrastructure and social services. The paper recommends effective and timely planning and provision of services as well as an overall economic development and spatial integration through regional planning as a way of achieving a long term solution to sprawl.

Keywords: Kumasi, peri-urban, urban planning, urban sprawl.

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634 Application of Remote Sensing for Monitoring the Impact of Lapindo Mud Sedimentation for Mangrove Ecosystem: Case Study in Sidoarjo, East Java

Authors: Akbar Cahyadhi Pratama Putra, Tantri Utami Widhaningtyas, M. Randy Aswin

Abstract:

Indonesia, as an archipelagic nation, has a very long coastline with significant potential for marine resources, including mangrove ecosystems. The Lapindo mudflow disaster in Sidoarjo, East Java, resulted in mudflow being discharged into the sea through the Brantas and Porong rivers. The mud material transported by the river flow is feared to be dangerous because it contains harmful substances such as heavy metals. This study aims to map the mangrove ecosystem in terms of its density and assess the impact of the Lapindo mud disaster on the mangrove ecosystem, along with efforts to sustain its continuity. The mapping of the coastal mangrove conditions in Sidoarjo was carried out using remote sensing products, specifically Landsat 7 ETM+ images, taken during dry months in 2002, 2006, 2009, and 2014. The density of mangroves was determined using NDVI, which utilizes band 3 (the red channel) and band 4 (the near IR channel). Image processing to generate NDVI was performed using ENVI 5.1 software. The NDVI results were used to assess mangrove density on a scale from 0 to 1. The growth of mangrove ecosystems, both in terms of area and density, showed a significant increase from year to year. The development of mangrove ecosystems was influenced by the deposition of Lapindo mud in the estuaries of the Porong and Brantas rivers, where the silt provided a suitable medium for the growth of the mangrove ecosystem, leading to an increase in its density. The rise in density was supported by public awareness to mitigate heavy metal contamination, allowing for mangrove breeding near the affected areas.

Keywords: Archipelagic nation, Mangrove, Lapindo mudflow disaster, NDVI.

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633 The Effect of Relaxation Training on First Year Nursing Students Anxiety in Clinical Setting

Authors: S. Ahmadnejad, Z. Monjamed, M. Pakravannejad, A. Malekian

Abstract:

The investigating and assessing the effects of relaxation training on the levels of state anxiety concerning first year female nursing students at their initial experience in clinical setting. This research is a quasi experimental study that was carried out in nursing and midwifery faculty of Tehran university of medical sciences .The sample of research consists 60 first term female nursing students were selected through convenience and random sampling. 30 of them were the experimental group and 30 of them were in control group. The Instruments of data-collection has been a questionnaire which consists of 3 parts. The first part includes 10 questions about demographic characteristics .the second part includes 20 question about anxiety (test 'Spielberg' ). The 3rd part includes physiological indicators of anxiety (BP, P, R, body temperature). The statistical tests included t-test and  and fisher test, Data were analyzed by SPSS software.

Keywords: Anxiety, Nursing students, Relaxation

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632 Landfill Gas Monitoring at Borehole Wells using an Autonomous Environmental Monitoring System

Authors: Breda M. Kiernan, Stephen Beirne, Cormac Fay, Dermot Diamond

Abstract:

An autonomous environmental monitoring system (Smart Landfill) has been constructed for the quantitative measurement of the components of landfill gas found at borehole wells at the perimeter of landfill sites. The main components of landfill gas are the greenhouse gases, methane and carbon dioxide and have been monitored in the range 0-5 % volume. This monitoring system has not only been tested in the laboratory but has been deployed in multiple field trials and the data collected successfully compared with on-site monitors. This success shows the potential of this system for application in environments where reliable gas monitoring is crucial.

Keywords: Environmental monitoring, greenhouse gas, landfill gas, sensor deployment

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631 The Impact of Web Based Education on Cancer Patients’ Clinical Outcomes

Authors: F. Arıkan, Z. Karakus

Abstract:

Cancer is a widespread disease in the world and is the third reason of deaths among the chronic diseases. Educating patients and caregivers has a vital role for empowering them in managing disease and treatment's symptoms. Informing of the patients about their disease and treatment process decreases patient's distress and decisional conflicts, improves wellbeing of them, increase success of the treatment and survival. In this era, technological education methods are used for patients that have different chronic disease. Many studies indicated that especially web based patient education such as chronic obstructive lung disease; heart failure is more effective than printed materials. Web based education provide easiness to patients while they are reaching health services. It also has more advantages because of it decreases health cost and requirement of staff. It is thought that web based education may be beneficial method for cancer patient's empowerment in coping with the disease's symptoms. The aim of the study is evaluate the effectiveness of web based education for cancer patients' clinical outcomes.

Keywords: Cancer Patients, E-Learning, Nursing, Web Based Education.

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630 Blockchain’s Feasibility in Military Data Networks

Authors: Brenden M. Shutt, Lubjana Beshaj, Paul L. Goethals, Ambrose Kam

Abstract:

Communication security is of particular interest to military data networks. A relatively novel approach to network security is blockchain, a cryptographically secured distribution ledger with a decentralized consensus mechanism for data transaction processing. Recent advances in blockchain technology have proposed new techniques for both data validation and trust management, as well as different frameworks for managing dataflow. The purpose of this work is to test the feasibility of different blockchain architectures as applied to military command and control networks. Various architectures are tested through discrete-event simulation and the feasibility is determined based upon a blockchain design’s ability to maintain long-term stable performance at industry standards of throughput, network latency, and security. This work proposes a consortium blockchain architecture with a computationally inexpensive consensus mechanism, one that leverages a Proof-of-Identity (PoI) concept and a reputation management mechanism.

Keywords: Blockchain, command & control network, discrete-event simulation, reputation management.

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629 An Agent-based Model for Analyzing Interaction of Two Stable Social Networks

Authors: Masatora Daito, Hisashi Kojima

Abstract:

In this research, the authors analyze network stability using agent-based simulation. Firstly, the authors focus on analyzing large networks (eight agents) by connecting different two stable small social networks (A small stable network is consisted on four agents.). Secondly, the authors analyze the network (eight agents) shape which is added one agent to a stable network (seven agents). Thirdly, the authors analyze interpersonal comparison of utility. The “star-network "was not found on the result of interaction among stable two small networks. On the other hand, “decentralized network" was formed from several combination. In case of added one agent to a stable network (seven agents), if the value of “c"(maintenance cost of per a link) was larger, the number of patterns of stable network was also larger. In this case, the authors identified the characteristics of a large stable network. The authors discovered the cases of decreasing personal utility under condition increasing total utility.

Keywords: Social Network, Symmetric Situation, Network Stability, Agent-Based Modeling.

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628 Evaluation of Gingival Hyperplasia Caused by Medications

Authors: Ilma Robo, Saimir Heta, Greta Plaka, Vera Ostreni

Abstract:

Purpose: Drug gingival hyperplasia is an uncommon pathology encountered during routine work in dental units. The purpose of this paper is to present the clinical appearance of gingival hyperplasia caused by medications. There are already three classes of medications that cause hyperplasia and based on data from the literature, the clinical cases encountered and included in this study have been compared. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in a total of 311 patients, out of which 182 patients were included in our study, meeting the inclusion criteria. After each patient's history was recorded and it was found that patients were in their knowledge of chronic illness, undergoing treatment of gingivitis hypertrophic drugs was performed with a clinical examination of oral cavity and assessment by vertical and horizontal evaluation according to the periodontal indexes. Results: Of the data collected during the study, it was observed that 97% of patients with gingival hyperplasia are treated with nifedipine. 84% of patients treated with selected medicines and gingival hyperplasia in the oral cavity has been exposed at time period for more than 1 year and 1 month. According to the GOI, in the first rank of this index are about 21% of patients, in the second rank are 52%, in the third rank are 24% and in the fourth grade are 3%. According to the horizontal growth index of gingival hyperplasia, grade 1 included about 61% of patients and grade 2 included about 39% of patients with gingival hyperplasia. Bacterial index divides patients by degrees: grading 0 - 8.2%, grading 1 - 32.4%, grading 2 - 14% and grading 3 - 45.1%. Conclusions: The highest percentage of gingival hyperplasia caused by drugs is due to dosing of nifedipine for a duration of dosing and application for systemic healing for more than 1 year.

Keywords: Drug gingival hyperplasia, horizontal growth index, vertical growth index.

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627 Trunk and Gluteus-Medius Muscles’ Fatigability during Occupational Standing in Clinical Instructors with Low Back Pain

Authors: Eman A. Embaby, Amira A. A. Abdallah

Abstract:

Background: Occupational standing is associated with low back pain (LBP) development. Yet, trunk and gluteus-medius muscles’ fatigability has not been extensively studied during occupational standing. This study examined and correlated the rectus abdominus (RA), erector-spinae (ES), external oblique (EO), and gluteus-medius (GM) muscles’ fatigability on both sides while standing in a confined area for 30min Methods: Median frequency EMG data were collected from 15 female clinical instructors with chronic LBP (group A) and 15 asymptomatic controls (group B) (mean age 29.53±2.4 vs 29.07±2.4years, weight 63.6±7 vs 60±7.8kg, and height 162.73±4 vs 162.8±6cm respectively) using a spectrum analysis program. Data were collected in the first and last 5min of the standing task. Results: Using Mixed three-way ANOVA, group A showed significantly (p<0.05) lower frequencies for the right and left ES, and right GM in the last 5min and significantly higher frequencies for the left RA in the first and last 5min than group B. In addition, the left ES and right EO, ES and GM in group B showed significantly higher frequencies and the left ES in group A showed significantly lower frequencies in the last 5min compared with the first. Moreover, the right RA showed significantly higher frequencies than the left in the last 5min in group B. Finally, there were significant (p<0.05) correlations among the median frequencies of the tested four muscles on the same side and between both sides in both groups. Discussion/Conclusions: Clinical instructors with LBP are more liable to have higher trunk and gluteus-medius muscle fatigue than asymptomatic individuals. Thus, endurance training for these muscles should be included in the rehabilitation of such patients.

Keywords: EMG, Fatigability, Gluteus-medius, LBP, Standing, Trunk.

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626 Concepts Extraction from Discharge Notes using Association Rule Mining

Authors: Basak Oguz Yolcular

Abstract:

A large amount of valuable information is available in plain text clinical reports. New techniques and technologies are applied to extract information from these reports. In this study, we developed a domain based software system to transform 600 Otorhinolaryngology discharge notes to a structured form for extracting clinical data from the discharge notes. In order to decrease the system process time discharge notes were transformed into a data table after preprocessing. Several word lists were constituted to identify common section in the discharge notes, including patient history, age, problems, and diagnosis etc. N-gram method was used for discovering terms co-Occurrences within each section. Using this method a dataset of concept candidates has been generated for the validation step, and then Predictive Apriori algorithm for Association Rule Mining (ARM) was applied to validate candidate concepts.

Keywords: association rule mining, otorhinolaryngology, predictive apriori, text mining

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625 System Security Impact on the Dynamic Characteristics of Measurement Sensors in Smart Grids

Authors: Yiyang Su, Jörg Neumann, Jan Wetzlich, Florian Thiel

Abstract:

Smart grid is a term used to describe the next generation power grid. New challenges such as integration of renewable and decentralized energy sources, the requirement for continuous grid estimation and optimization, as well as the use of two-way flows of energy have been brought to the power gird. In order to achieve efficient, reliable, sustainable, as well as secure delivery of electric power more and more information and communication technologies are used for the monitoring and the control of power grids. Consequently, the need for cybersecurity is dramatically increased and has converged into several standards which will be presented here. These standards for the smart grid must be designed to satisfy both performance and reliability requirements. An in depth investigation of the effect of retrospectively embedded security in existing grids on it’s dynamic behavior is required. Therefore, a retrofitting plan for existing meters is offered, and it’s performance in a test low voltage microgrid is investigated. As a result of this, integration of security measures into measurement architectures of smart grids at the design phase is strongly recommended.

Keywords: Cyber security, performance, protocols, security standards, smart grid.

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624 A study on a Generic Development Process for the BPM+SOA Design and Implementation

Authors: Toshimi Munehira

Abstract:

In order to optimize annual IT spending and to reduce the complexity of an entire system architecture, SOA trials have been started. It is common knowledge that to design an SOA system we have to adopt the top-down approach, but in reality silo systems are being made, so these companies cannot reuse newly designed services, and cannot enjoy SOA-s economic benefits. To prevent this situation, we designed a generic SOA development process referred to as the architecture of “mass customization." To define the generic detail development processes, we did a case study on an imaginary company. Through the case study, we could define the practical development processes and found this could vastly reduce updating development costs.

Keywords: SOA, BPM, Generic Model, MassCustomization

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623 Optimal Prices under Revenue Sharing Contract in a Supply Chain with Direct Channel

Authors: Aussadavut Dumrongsiri

Abstract:

Westudy a dual-channel supply chain under decentralized setting in which manufacturer sells to retailer and to customers directly usingan online channel. A customer chooses the purchase-channel based on price and service quality. Also, to buy product from the retail store, the customer incurs a transportation cost influenced by the fluctuating gasoline cost. Both companies are under the revenue sharing contract. In this contract the retailer share a portion of the revenue to the manufacturer while the manufacturer will charge the lower wholesales price. The numerical result shows that the effects of gasoline costs, the revenue sharing ratio and the wholesale price play an important role in determining optimal prices. The result shows that when the gasoline price fluctuatesthe optimal on-line priceis relatively stable while the optimal retail price moves in the opposite direction of the gasoline prices.

Keywords: direct-channel, e-business, pricing model, dualchannel supply chain, gasoline cost, revenue sharing

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622 A Reconfigurable Distributed Multiagent System Optimized for Scalability

Authors: Summiya Moheuddin, Afzel Noore, Muhammad Choudhry

Abstract:

This paper proposes a novel solution for optimizing the size and communication overhead of a distributed multiagent system without compromising the performance. The proposed approach addresses the challenges of scalability especially when the multiagent system is large. A modified spectral clustering technique is used to partition a large network into logically related clusters. Agents are assigned to monitor dedicated clusters rather than monitor each device or node. The proposed scalable multiagent system is implemented using JADE (Java Agent Development Environment) for a large power system. The performance of the proposed topologyindependent decentralized multiagent system and the scalable multiagent system is compared by comprehensively simulating different fault scenarios. The time taken for reconfiguration, the overall computational complexity, and the communication overhead incurred are computed. The results of these simulations show that the proposed scalable multiagent system uses fewer agents efficiently, makes faster decisions to reconfigure when a fault occurs, and incurs significantly less communication overhead.

Keywords: Multiagent system, scalable design, spectral clustering, reconfiguration.

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621 Industrial Production and Clinical Application of L-Asparaginase: A Chemotherapeutic Agent

Authors: Soni Yadav, Sitansu Kumar Verma, Jitendra Singh, Ajay Kumar

Abstract:

This article comprises detail information about L-asparaginase, encompassing topic such as various sources of L-asparaginase, mechanism and properties of L-asparaginase. Also describe the production, cultivation and purification of L-asparaginase along with information about the application of L-asparaginase. L-asparaginase catalyzes the conversion reaction to convert asparagine to aspartic acid and ammonia. Asparagine is a nutritional requirement for both normal and tumor cell. Present scenario has found that L-asparaginase has been found to be a best anti tumor or antileukemic agent. In the recent years this enzyme gained application in the field of clinical research pharmacologic and food industry. It has been characterized based on the enzyme assay principle hydrolyzing L-asparagine into L-aspartic acid and ammonia. It has been observed that eukaryotic microorganisms such as yeast and filamentous fungi have a potential for L-asparaginase production. L-asparaginase has been and is still one of the most lengthily studied therapeutic enzymes by scientist and researchers worldwide.

Keywords: L-asparaginase, antitumor, solid state fermentation, chemotherapeutic.

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620 HIV Treatment Planning on a case-by-CASE Basis

Authors: Marios M. Hadjiandreou, Raul Conejeros, Ian Wilson

Abstract:

This study presents a mathematical modeling approach to the planning of HIV therapies on an individual basis. The model replicates clinical data from typical-progressors to AIDS for all stages of the disease with good agreement. Clinical data from rapid-progressors and long-term non-progressors is also matched by estimation of immune system parameters only. The ability of the model to reproduce these phenomena validates the formulation, a fact which is exploited in the investigation of effective therapies. The therapy investigation suggests that, unlike continuous therapy, structured treatment interruptions (STIs) are able to control the increase in both the drug-sensitive and drug-resistant virus population and, hence, prevent the ultimate progression from HIV to AIDS. The optimization results further suggest that even patients characterised by the same progression type can respond very differently to the same treatment and that the latter should be designed on a case-by-case basis. Such a methodology is presented here.

Keywords: AIDS, chemotherapy, mathematical modeling, optimal control, progression.

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619 Visual and Clinical Outcome in Patients with Corneal Lacerations

Authors: Avantika Verma

Abstract:

In industrialized nations, corneal lacerations are one of the most common reason for hospitalization. This study was designed to study visual and clinical outcome in patients presenting with full thickness corneal lacerations in Indian population and to ascertain the impact of various preoperative and operative factors influencing prognosis after repair of corneal lacerations. Males in third decade with injuries at work with metallic objects were common. Lens damage, hyphema, vitreous hemorrhage, retinal detachment and endophthalmitis were seen. All the patients underwent primary repair within first 24 hours of presentation. At 3 months, 74.3% had a good visual outcome. About 5.7% of patients had no perception of light.In conclusion, various demographic and preoperative factors like age, time of presentation, vision at presentation, length of corneal wound, involvement of visual axis, associated ocular features like hyphaema, lenticular changes, vitreous haemorrhage and retinal detachment are significant prognostic indicators for final visual outcome.

Keywords: Cornea, laceration, visual outcome, wound repair.

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618 Comparison between Associative Classification and Decision Tree for HCV Treatment Response Prediction

Authors: Enas M. F. El Houby, Marwa S. Hassan

Abstract:

Combined therapy using Interferon and Ribavirin is the standard treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C. However, the number of responders to this treatment is low, whereas its cost and side effects are high. Therefore, there is a clear need to predict patient’s response to the treatment based on clinical information to protect the patients from the bad drawbacks, Intolerable side effects and waste of money. Different machine learning techniques have been developed to fulfill this purpose. From these techniques are Associative Classification (AC) and Decision Tree (DT). The aim of this research is to compare the performance of these two techniques in the prediction of virological response to the standard treatment of HCV from clinical information. 200 patients treated with Interferon and Ribavirin; were analyzed using AC and DT. 150 cases had been used to train the classifiers and 50 cases had been used to test the classifiers. The experiment results showed that the two techniques had given acceptable results however the best accuracy for the AC reached 92% whereas for DT reached 80%.

Keywords: Associative Classification, Data mining, Decision tree, HCV, interferon.

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617 Development of a Telemedical Network Supporting an Automated Flow Cytometric Analysis for the Clinical Follow-up of Leukaemia

Authors: Claude Takenga, Rolf-Dietrich Berndt, Erling Si, Markus Diem, Guohui Qiao, Melanie Gau, Michael Brandstoetter, Martin Kampel, Michael Dworzak

Abstract:

In patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), treatment response is increasingly evaluated with minimal residual disease (MRD) analyses. Flow Cytometry (FCM) is a fast and sensitive method to detect MRD. However, the interpretation of these multi-parametric data requires intensive operator training and experience. This paper presents a pipeline-software, as a ready-to-use FCM-based MRD-assessment tool for the daily clinical practice for patients with ALL. The new tool increases accuracy in assessment of FCM-MRD in samples which are difficult to analyse by conventional operator-based gating since computer-aided analysis potentially has a superior resolution due to utilization of the whole multi-parametric FCM-data space at once instead of step-wise, two-dimensional plot-based visualization. The system developed as a telemedical network reduces the work-load and lab-costs, staff-time needed for training, continuous quality control, operator-based data interpretation. It allows dissemination of automated FCM-MRD analysis to medical centres which have no established expertise for the benefit of an even larger community of diseased children worldwide. We established a telemedical network system for analysis and clinical follow-up and treatment monitoring of Leukaemia. The system is scalable and adapted to link several centres and laboratories worldwide.

Keywords: Data security, flow cytometry, leukaemia, telematics platform, telemedicine.

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616 Promoting Complex Systems Learning through the use of Computer Modeling

Authors: Kamel Hashem, David Mioduser

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This paper describes part of a project about Learningby- Modeling (LbM). Studying complex systems is increasingly important in teaching and learning many science domains. Many features of complex systems make it difficult for students to develop deep understanding. Previous research indicates that involvement with modeling scientific phenomena and complex systems can play a powerful role in science learning. Some researchers argue with this view indicating that models and modeling do not contribute to understanding complexity concepts, since these increases the cognitive load on students. This study will investigate the effect of different modes of involvement in exploring scientific phenomena using computer simulation tools, on students- mental model from the perspective of structure, behavior and function. Quantitative and qualitative methods are used to report about 121 freshmen students that engaged in participatory simulations about complex phenomena, showing emergent, self-organized and decentralized patterns. Results show that LbM plays a major role in students' concept formation about complexity concepts.

Keywords: Complexity, Educational technology, Learning by modeling, Mental models

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615 An Approach to Improvement of Information Integrity in Key Areas of Portfolio Management

Authors: Victoria A. Bakhtina

Abstract:

At a time of growing market turbulence and a strong shifts towards increasingly complex risk models and more stringent audit requirements, it is more critical than ever to maintain the highest quality of financial and credit information. IFC implemented an approach that helps increase data integrity and quality significantly. This approach is called “Screening". Screening is based on linking information from different sources to identify potential inconsistencies in key financial and credit data. That, in turn, can help to ease the trials of portfolio supervision, and improve overall company global reporting and assessment systems. IFC experience showed that when used regularly, Screening led to improved information.

Keywords: Information Integrity, Information Quality, Business Rules, Portfolio Management

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614 Integration of Multi-Source Data to Monitor Coral Biodiversity

Authors: K. Jitkue, W. Srisang, C. Yaiprasert, K. Jaroensutasinee, M. Jaroensutasinee

Abstract:

This study aims at using multi-source data to monitor coral biodiversity and coral bleaching. We used coral reef at Racha Islands, Phuket as a study area. There were three sources of data: coral diversity, sensor based data and satellite data.

Keywords: Coral reefs, Remote sensing, Sea surfacetemperatue, Satellite imagery.

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613 Three-Stage Mining Metals Supply Chain Coordination and Product Quality Improvement with Revenue Sharing Contract

Authors: Hamed Homaei, Iraj Mahdavi, Ali Tajdin

Abstract:

One of the main concerns of miners is to increase the quality level of their products because the mining metals price depends on their quality level; however, increasing the quality level of these products has different costs at different levels of the supply chain. These costs usually increase after extractor level. This paper studies the coordination issue of a decentralized three-level supply chain with one supplier (extractor), one mineral processor and one manufacturer in which the increasing product quality level cost at the processor level is higher than the supplier and at the level of the manufacturer is more than the processor. We identify the optimal product quality level for each supply chain member by designing a revenue sharing contract. Finally, numerical examples show that the designed contract not only increases the final product quality level but also provides a win-win condition for all supply chain members and increases the whole supply chain profit.

Keywords: Three-stage supply chain, product quality improvement, channel coordination, revenue sharing.

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612 First Person View Camera Based Quadcopter with Raspberry Pi

Authors: C. R. Balamurugan, P. Vijayakumar, P. Kiruba, S. Arun Kanna, E. R. Hariprasath, C. Anu Priya

Abstract:

This paper studies in details about the need of quadcopter in various fields especially in the place of remote area where the road transportation facility is very less. It is used to monitor and collect data in a specific region. The movement of this quadcopter is controlled by the Raspberry Pi. FPV camera is used for capturing the image and will transmit the image to the receiver which can be monitored using an android smart phone. This is mainly used for surveillance purpose and hidden activities can be captured.

Keywords: FPV camera, A2212 brushless direct current motor, Raspberry Pi, lithium polymer battery.

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611 The CEO Mission II, Rescue Robot with Multi-Joint Mechanical Arm

Authors: Amon Tunwannarux, Supanunt Tunwannarux

Abstract:

This paper presents design features of a rescue robot, named CEO Mission II. Its body is designed to be the track wheel type with double front flippers for climbing over the collapse and the rough terrain. With 125 cm. long, 5-joint mechanical arm installed on the robot body, it is deployed not only for surveillance from the top view but also easier and faster access to the victims to get their vital signs. Two cameras and sensors for searching vital signs are set up at the tip of the multi-joint mechanical arm. The third camera is at the back of the robot for driving control. Hardware and software of the system, which controls and monitors the rescue robot, are explained. The control system is used for controlling the robot locomotion, the 5-joint mechanical arm, and for turning on/off devices. The monitoring system gathers all information from 7 distance sensors, IR temperature sensors, 3 CCD cameras, voice sensor, robot wheels encoders, yawn/pitch/roll angle sensors, laser range finder and 8 spare A/D inputs. All sensors and controlling data are communicated with a remote control station via IEEE 802.11b Wi-Fi. The audio and video data are compressed and sent via another IEEE 802.11g Wi-Fi transmitter for getting real-time response. At remote control station site, the robot locomotion and the mechanical arm are controlled by joystick. Moreover, the user-friendly GUI control program is developed based on the clicking and dragging method to easily control the movement of the arm. Robot traveling map is plotted from computing the information of wheel encoders and the yawn/pitch data. 2D Obstacle map is plotted from data of the laser range finder. The concept and design of this robot can be adapted to suit many other applications. As the Best Technique awardee from Thailand Rescue Robot Championship 2006, all testing results are satisfied.

Keywords: Controlling, monitoring, rescue robot, mechanicalarm.

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