GALANT: a Cytoscape plugin for visualizing data as functional landscapes projected onto biological networks

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Physical properties data for rock salt /

Mode of access: Internet.

Non-normally distributed data and non-parametric statistics

Different types of numerical data can be collected in a scientific investigation and the choice of statistical analysis will often depend on the distribution of the data. A basic distinction between variables is whether they are ‘parametric’ or ‘non-parametric’. When a variable is parametric, the data come from a symmetrically shaped distribution known as the ‘Gaussian’ or ‘normal distribution’ whereas non-parametric variables may have a distribution which deviates markedly in shape from normal. This article describes several aspects of the problem of non-normality including: (1) how to test for two common types of deviation from a normal distribution, viz., ‘skew’ and ‘kurtosis’, (2) how to fit the normal distribution to a sample of data, (3) the transformation of non-normally distributed data and scores, and (4) commonly used ‘non-parametric’ statistics which can be used in a variety of circumstances.

Population inversion between the sup(3)Hsub(4) and the sup(3)Fsub(4) excited states of Tmsup(3+) investigated by means of numerical solutions of the rate equations system in Tmsup(3+)-doped and Tmsup(3+), Hosup(3+)-codoped fluoride glasses

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Applied web traffic analysis for numerical encoding of SQL Injection attack features.

SQL Injection Attack (SQLIA) remains a technique used by a computer network intruder to pilfer an organisation’s confidential data. This is done by an intruder re-crafting web form’s input and query strings used in web requests with malicious intent to compromise the security of an organisation’s confidential data stored at the back-end database. The database is the most valuable data source, and thus, intruders are unrelenting in constantly evolving new techniques to bypass the signature’s solutions currently provided in Web Application Firewalls (WAF) to mitigate SQLIA. There is therefore a need for an automated scalable methodology in the pre-processing of SQLIA features fit for a supervised learning model. However, obtaining a ready-made scalable dataset that is feature engineered with numerical attributes dataset items to train Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Machine Leaning (ML) models is a known issue in applying artificial intelligence to effectively address ever evolving novel SQLIA signatures. This proposed approach applies numerical attributes encoding ontology to encode features (both legitimate web requests and SQLIA) to numerical data items as to extract scalable dataset for input to a supervised learning model in moving towards a ML SQLIA detection and prevention model. In numerical attributes encoding of features, the proposed model explores a hybrid of static and dynamic pattern matching by implementing a Non-Deterministic Finite Automaton (NFA). This combined with proxy and SQL parser Application Programming Interface (API) to intercept and parse web requests in transition to the back-end database. In developing a solution to address SQLIA, this model allows processed web requests at the proxy deemed to contain injected query string to be excluded from reaching the target back-end database. This paper is intended for evaluating the performance metrics of a dataset obtained by numerical encoding of features ontology in Microsoft Azure Machine Learning (MAML) studio using Two-Class Support Vector Machines (TCSVM) binary classifier. This methodology then forms the subject of the empirical evaluation.

Numerical estimation of Carbonate properties using a digital rock physics workflow

Digital rock physics combines modern imaging with advanced numerical simulations to analyze the physical properties of rocks -- In this paper we suggest a special segmentation procedure which is applied to a carbonate rock from Switzerland -- Starting point is a CTscan of a specimen of Hauptmuschelkalk -- The first step applied to the raw image data is a nonlocal mean filter -- We then apply different thresholds to identify pores and solid phases -- Because we are aware of a nonneglectable amount of unresolved microporosity we also define intermediate phases -- Based on this segmentation determine porositydependent values for the pwave velocity and for the permeability -- The porosity measured in the laboratory is then used to compare our numerical data with experimental data -- We observe a good agreement -- Future work includes an analytic validation to the numerical results of the pwave velocity upper bound, employing different filters for the image segmentation and using data with higher resolution

Infertility, medical advice and treatment with fertility hormones and/or in vitro fertilisation: a population perspective from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health

OBJECTIVE: To identify the factors associated with infertility, seeking advice and treatment with fertility hormones and/or in vitro fertilisation (IVF) among a general population of women. METHODS: Participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health aged 28-33 years in 2006 had completed up to four mailed surveys over 10 years (n=9,145). Parsimonious multivariate logistic regression was used to identify the socio-demographic, biological (including reproductive histories), and behavioural factors associated with infertility, advice and hormonal/IVF treatment. RESULTS: For women who had tried to conceive or had been pregnant (n=5,936), 17% reported infertility. Among women with infertility (n=1031), 72% (n=728) sought advice but only 50% (n=356) used hormonal/IVF treatment. Women had higher odds of infertility when: they had never been pregnant (OR=7.2, 95% CI 5.6-9.1) or had a history of miscarriage (OR range=1.5-4.0) than those who had given birth (and never had a miscarriage or termination). CONCLUSION: Only one-third of women with infertility used hormonal and/or IVF treatment. Women with PCOS or endometriosis were the most proactive in having sought advice and used hormonal/IVF treatment. IMPLICATIONS: Raised awareness of age-related declining fertility is important for partnered women aged approximately 30 years to encourage pregnancy during their prime reproductive years and reduce the risk of infertility.

Perceptions and expectations for learning and development for older workers within Queensland local government councils : a case study

Current literature warns organisations about a global ageing phenomenon. Workplace ageing is causing a diminishing work pool which has consequences for a sustainable workforce in the future. This phenomenon continues to impact on local government councils in Australia. Australia has one of the world’s most rapidly ageing populations, and there is evidence that Australian local government councils are already resulting in an unsustainable workforce. Consequently, this research program investigated the role of older workers in the Queensland local government workplace in enabling them to extend their working lives towards transitional employment and a sustainable workforce in the future. Transitional Employment is intended as a strategy for enabling individuals to have greater control over their employment options and their employability during the period leading to their final exit from the workforce. There was no evidence of corporate support for older workers in Queensland local government councils other than tokenistic government campaigns encouraging organisations to "better value their older workers". (Queensland Government, 2007d, p.6). TE is investigated as a possible intervention for older workers in the future. The international and national literature review reflected a range of matters impacting on current older workers in the workforce and barriers preventing them from accessing services towards extending their employment beyond the traditional retirement age (60 years) as defined by the Australian Government; an age when individuals can access their superannuation. Learning and development services were identified as one of those barriers. There was little evidence of investment in or consistent approaches to supporting older workers by organisations. Learning and development services appeared at best to be ad hoc, reactive to corporate productivity and outputs with little recognition of the ageing phenomenon (OECD, 2006, p.23) and looming skills and labour shortages (ALGA, 2006, p. 19). Themes from the literature review led to the establishment of three key research questions: 1. What are the current local government workforce issues impacting on skills and labour retention? 2. What are perceptions about the current workplace environment? And, 3. What are the expectations about learning and development towards extending employability of older workers within the local government sector? The research questions were explored by utilising three qualitative empirical studies, using some numerical data for reporting and comparative analysis. Empirical Study One investigated common themes for accessing transitional employment and comprised two phases. A literature review and Study One data analysis enabled the construction of an initial Transitional Employment Model which includes most frequent themes. Empirical Study Two comprised focus groups to further consider those themes. This led to identification of issues impacting the most on access to learning and development by older workers and towards a revised TEM. Findings presented majority support for transitional employment as a strategy for supporting older workers to work beyond their traditional retirement age. Those findings are presented as significant issues impacting on access to transitional employment within the final 3-dimensionsal TEM. The model is intended as a guide for responding to an ageing workforce by local government councils in the future. This study argued for increased and improved corporate support, particularly for learning and development services for older workers. Such support will enable older workers to maintain their employability and extend their working lives; a sustainable workforce in the future.

A retrospective cohort study of Acticoat™ versus Silvazine™ in a paediatric population

We wished to determine whether changing our centre's practice of using Acticoat instead of Silvazine as our first-line burns dressing provided a better standard of care in terms of efficacy, cost and ease of use. A retrospective cohort study was performed examining 328 Silvazine treated patients from January 2000 to June 2001 and 241 Acticoat treated patients from July 2002 to July 2003. During those periods the respective dressings were used exclusively. There was no significant difference in age, %BSA and mechanism of burn between the groups. In the Silvazine group, 25.6% of children required grafting compared to 15.4% in the Acticoat group (p=0.001). When patients requiring grafting were excluded, the time taken for re-epithelialisation in the Acticoat group (14.9 days) was significantly less than that for the Silvazine group (18.3 days), p=0.047. There were more wounds requiring long term scar management in the Silvazine group (32.6%) compared to the Acticoat group (29.5%), however this was not significant. There was only one positive blood culture in each group, indicating that both Silvazine and Acticoat are potent antimicrobial agents. The use of Acticoat as our primary burns dressing has dramatically changed our clinical practice. Inpatients are now only 18% of the total admissions, with the vast majority of patients treated on an outpatient basis. In terms of cost, Acticoat was demonstrated to be less expensive over the treatment period than Silvazine . We have concluded that Acticoat is a safe, cost-effective, efficacious dressing that reduces the time for re-epithelialisation and the requirement for grafting and long term scar management, compared to Silvazine.

An international survey of daily disposable contact lens prescribing

Purpose The aim was to determine the extent of daily disposable contact lens prescribing worldwide and to characterise the associated demographics and fitting patterns. Methods Up to 1,000 survey forms were sent to contact lens fitters in up to 40 countries between January and March every year for five consecutive years (2007 to 2011). Practitioners were asked to record data relating to the first 10 contact lens fits or refits performed after receiving the survey form. Survey data collected since 1996 were also analysed for seven nations to assess daily disposable lens fitting trends since that time. Results Data were collected in relation to 97,289 soft lens fits, of which 23,445 (24.1 per cent) were with daily disposable lenses and 73,170 (75.9 per cent) were with reusable lenses. Daily disposable lens prescribing ranged from 0.6 per cent of all soft lenses in Nepal to 66.2 per cent in Qatar. Compared with reusable lens fittings, daily disposable lens fittings can be characterised as follows: older age (30.0 ± 12.5 versus 29.3 ± 12.3 years for reusable lenses); males are over-represented; a greater proportion of new fits versus refits; 85.9 per cent hydrogel; lower proportion of toric and presbyopia designs and a higher proportion of part-time wear. There has been a continuous increase in daily disposable lens prescribing between 1996 and 2011. The proportion of daily disposable lens fits (as a function of all soft lens fits) is positively related to the gross domestic product at purchasing power parity per capita (r2 = 0.55, F = 46.8, p < 0.0001). Conclusions The greater convenience and other benefits of daily disposable lenses have resulted in this modality capturing significant market share. The contact lens field appears to be heading toward a true single-use-only, disposable lens market.

International survey of rigid contact lens fitting

Purpose To determine the extent of rigid contact lens fitting worldwide and to characterize the associated demographics and fitting patterns. Methods Survey forms were sent to contact lens fitters in up to 40 countries between January and March every year for five consecutive years (2007 to 2011). Practitioners were asked to record data relating to the first 10 contact lens fits or refits performed after receiving the survey form. Survey data collected between 1996 and 2011 were also analyzed to assess rigid lens fitting trends in seven nations during this period. Results Data were obtained for 12,230 rigid and 100,670 soft lens fits between 2007 and 2011. Overall, rigid lenses represented 10.8% of all contact lens fits, ranging from 0.2% in Lithuania to 37% in Malaysia. Compared with soft lens fits, rigid lens fits can be characterized as follows: older age (rigid, 37.3 ± 15.0 years; soft, 29.8 ± 12.4 years); fewer spherical and toric fits; more bifocal/multifocal fits; less frequent replacement (rigid, 7%; soft, 85%); and less part-time wear (rigid, 4%; soft, 10%). High-Dk (contact lens oxygen permeability) (36%) and mid-Dk (42%) materials are predominantly used for rigid lens fitting. Orthokeratology represents 11.5% of rigid contact lens fits. There has been a steady decline in rigid lens fitting between 1996 and 2011. Conclusions Rigid contact lens prescribing is in decline but still represents approximately 10% of all contact lenses fitted worldwide. It is likely that rigid lenses will remain as a viable, albeit increasingly specialized, form of vision correction.

An international survey of toric contact lens prescribing

Objectives To characterize toric contact lens prescribing worldwide. Methods Up to 1,000 survey forms were sent to contact lens fitters in up to 39 countries between January and March every year for 5 consecutive years (2007–2011). Practitioners were asked to record data relating to the first 10 contact lens fits or refits performed after receiving the survey form. Only data for toric and spherical soft lens fits were analyzed. Survey data collected since 1996 were also analyzed for 7 nations to assess toric lens fitting trends since that time. Results Data were collected in relation to 21,150 toric fits (25%) and 62,150 spherical fits (75%). Toric prescribing ranged from 6% of lenses in Russia to 48% in Portugal. Compared with spherical fittings, toric fittings can be characterized as follows: older age (29.8 ± 11.4 years vs. 27.6 ± 10.8 years for spherical lenses); men are overrepresented (38% vs. 34%); greater proportion of new fits (39% vs. 32%); use of silicone hydrogel lenses (49% vs. 39%); and lower proportion of daily disposable lenses (14% vs. 28%). There has been a continuous increase in toric lens prescribing between 1996 and 2011. The proportion of toric lens fits was positively related to the gross domestic product at purchasing power parity per capita for year 2011 (r2 = 0.21; P=0.004). Conclusions At the present time, in the majority of countries surveyed, toric soft contact lens prescribing falls short of that required to correct clinically significant astigmatism (≥0.75 diopters) in all lens wearers.

Determinants of the frequency of contact lens wear

Objectives To characterize and discover the determinants of the frequency of wear (FOW) of contact lenses. Methods Survey forms were sent to contact lens fitters in up to 40 countries between January and March every year for 5 consecutive years (2007–2011). Practitioners were asked to record data relating to the first 10 contact lens fits or refits performed after receiving the survey form. Only data for daily wear lens fits were analyzed. Results Data were collected in relation to 74,510 and 9,014 soft and rigid lens fits, respectively. Overall, FOW was 5.9±1.7 days per week (DPW). When considering the proportion of lenses worn between one to seven DPW, the distribution for rigid lenses is skewed toward full-time wear (7 DPW), whereas the distribution for soft daily disposable lenses is perhaps bimodal, with large and small peaks at seven and two DPW, respectively. There is a significant variation in FOW among nations (P<0.0001), ranging from 6.8±1.0 DPW in Greece to 5.1±2.5 DPW in Kuwait. For soft lenses, FOW increases with decreasing age. Females (6.0±1.6 DPW) wear lenses more frequently than males (5.8±1.7 DPW) (P=0.0002). FOW is greater among those wearing presbyopic corrections (6.1±1.4 DPW) compared with spherical (5.9±1.7 DPW) and toric (5.9±1.6 DPW) designs (P<0.0001). FOW with hydrogel peroxide systems (6.4±1.1 DPW) was greater than that with multipurpose systems (6.2±1.3 DPW) (P<0.0001). Conclusions Numerous demographic and contact lens–related factors impact FOW. There may be a future trend toward a lower FOW associated with the increasing popularity of daily disposable lenses.

Bucket attack on numeric set watermarking model and safeguards

Numeric set watermarking is a way to provide ownership proof for numerical data. Numerical data can be considered to be primitives for multimedia types such as images and videos since they are organized forms of numeric information. Thereby, the capability to watermark numerical data directly implies the capability to watermark multimedia objects and discourage information theft on social networking sites and the Internet in general. Unfortunately, there has been very limited research done in the field of numeric set watermarking due to underlying limitations in terms of number of items in the set and LSBs in each item available for watermarking. In 2009, Gupta et al. proposed a numeric set watermarking model that embeds watermark bits in the items of the set based on a hash value of the items’ most significant bits (MSBs). If an item is chosen for watermarking, a watermark bit is embedded in the least significant bits, and the replaced bit is inserted in the fractional value to provide reversibility. The authors show their scheme to be resilient against the traditional subset addition, deletion, and modification attacks as well as secondary watermarking attacks. In this paper, we present a bucket attack on this watermarking model. The attack consists of creating buckets of items with the same MSBs and determine if the items of the bucket carry watermark bits. Experimental results show that the bucket attack is very strong and destroys the entire watermark with close to 100% success rate. We examine the inherent weaknesses in the watermarking model of Gupta et al. that leave it vulnerable to the bucket attack and propose potential safeguards that can provide resilience against this attack.

Partial epilepsy syndrome in a Gypsy family linked to 5q31.3-q32

PURPOSE The restricted genetic diversity and homogeneous molecular basis of Mendelian disorders in isolated founder populations have rarely been explored in epilepsy research. Our long-term goal is to explore the genetic basis of epilepsies in one such population, the Gypsies. The aim of this report is the clinical and genetic characterization of a Gypsy family with a partial epilepsy syndrome. METHODS Clinical information was collected using semistructured interviews with affected subjects and informants. At least one interictal electroencephalography (EEG) recording was performed for each patient and previous data obtained from records. Neuroimaging included structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Linkage and haplotype analysis was performed using the Illumina IVb Linkage Panel, supplemented with highly informative microsatellites in linked regions and Affymetrix SNP 5.0 array data. RESULTS We observed an early-onset partial epilepsy syndrome with seizure semiology strongly suggestive of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), with mild intellectual deficit co-occurring in a large proportion of the patients. Psychiatric morbidity was common in the extended pedigree but did not cosegregate with epilepsy. Linkage analysis definitively excluded previously reported loci, and identified a novel locus on 5q31.3-q32 with an logarithm of the odds (LOD) score of 3 corresponding to the expected maximum in this family. DISCUSSION The syndrome can be classified as familial temporal lobe epilepsy (FTLE) or possibly a new syndrome with mild intellectual deficit. The linked 5q region does not contain any ion channel-encoding genes and is thus likely to contribute new knowledge about epilepsy pathogenesis. Identification of the mutation in this family and in additional patients will define the full phenotypic spectrum.