Osteopenia and rickets in the extremely low birth weight infant: A survey of the incidence and a radiological classification

A review was carried out of the radiographs of twenty-five infants with birth weights under 1000 G, who survived for more than twenty-eight days; eighteen of these had enough suitable films for a survey of the progressive bone changes which occur in these infants, including estimation of humeral cortical cross-sectional area. The incidence of the changes has been assessed and a typical progression of radiographic appearances has been shown, with a suggested system of staging. All infants showed some loss of bone mineral, with frank changes of rickets occurring in forty-four percent. Aetiological factors are mainly concerned with the difficulty of supplying and ensuring absorption of sufficient bone mineral (calcium and phosphate) and vitamin D. Liver immaturity may be another factor. Disease states additional to prematurity accentuate the problem. Rib fractures occurring around 80–90 days post-nataEy commonly draw attention to the bone disorder and are probably the major clinical factor of importance; there is a high incidence of associated lung disease of uncertain pathology. Attention is drawn to possible confusion with other bone disorders in the post-natal period.

A Spectral Iteration Technique For The Analysis Of Yagi-Uda Arrays

The paper present a spectral iteration technique for the analysis of linear arrays of unequally spaced dipoles of unequal lengths. As an example, the Yagi-Uda array is considered for illustration. Analysis is carried out in both the spatial as well as the spectral domains, the two being linked by the Fourier transform. The fast Fourier transform algorithm is employed to obtain an iterative solution to the electric field integral equation and the need for matrix inversion is circumvented. This technique also provides a convenient means for testing the satisfaction of the boundary conditions on the array elements. Numerical comparison of the input impedance and radiation pattern have been made with results deduced elsewhere by other methods. The computational efficency of this technique has been found to be significant for large arrays.

Spectral Sensing for Cognitive Radio: Estimation of Adaptive Frequency Hopping Signal

The issue of dynamic spectrum scene analysis in any cognitive radio network becomes extremely complex when low probability of intercept, spread spectrum systems are present in environment. The detection and estimation become more complex if frequency hopping spread spectrum is adaptive in nature. In this paper, we propose two phase approach for detection and estimation of frequency hoping signals. Polyphase filter bank has been proposed as the architecture of choice for detection phase to efficiently detect the presence of frequency hopping signal. Based on the modeling of frequency hopping signal it can be shown that parametric methods of line spectral analysis are well suited for estimation of frequency hopping signals if the issues of order estimation and time localization are resolved. An algorithm using line spectra parameter estimation and wavelet based transient detection has been proposed which resolves above issues in computationally efficient manner suitable for implementation in cognitive radio. The simulations show promising results proving that adaptive frequency hopping signals can be detected and demodulated in a non cooperative context, even at a very low signal to noise ratio in real time.

Detection of nitrogen deficiency in wheat from spectral reflectance indices and basic crop eco-physiological concepts

We tested the capacity of several published multispectral indices to estimate the nitrogen nutrition of wheat canopies grown under different levels of water supply and plant density and derived a simple canopy reflectance index that is greatly independent of those factors. Planar domain geometry was used to account for mixed signals from the canopy and soil when the ground cover was low. A nitrogen stress index was developed, which adjusts shoot %N for plant biomass and area, thereby accounting for environmental conditions that affect growth, such as crop water status. The canopy chlorophyll content index (CCCi) and the modified spectral ratio planar index (mSRPi) could explain 68 and 69% of the observed variability in the nitrogen nutrition of the crop as early as Zadoks 33, irrespective of water status or ground cover. The CCCi was derived from the combination of 3 wavebands 670, 720 and 790 nm, and the mSRPi from 445, 705 and 750 nm, together with broader bands in the NIR and RED. The potential for their spatial application over large fields/paddocks is discussed.

Comparison of decision tree, support vector machines, and Bayesian network approaches for classification of falls in Parkinson’s disease

Being able to accurately predict the risk of falling is crucial in patients with Parkinson’s dis- ease (PD). This is due to the unfavorable effect of falls, which can lower the quality of life as well as directly impact on survival. Three methods considered for predicting falls are decision trees (DT), Bayesian networks (BN), and support vector machines (SVM). Data on a 1-year prospective study conducted at IHBI, Australia, for 51 people with PD are used. Data processing are conducted using rpart and e1071 packages in R for DT and SVM, con- secutively; and Bayes Server 5.5 for the BN. The results show that BN and SVM produce consistently higher accuracy over the 12 months evaluation time points (average sensitivity and specificity > 92%) than DT (average sensitivity 88%, average specificity 72%). DT is prone to imbalanced data so needs to adjust for the misclassification cost. However, DT provides a straightforward, interpretable result and thus is appealing for helping to identify important items related to falls and to generate fallers’ profiles.

Automatic ICD-10 classification of cancers from free-text death certificates

Objective Death certificates provide an invaluable source for cancer mortality statistics; however, this value can only be realised if accurate, quantitative data can be extracted from certificates – an aim hampered by both the volume and variable nature of certificates written in natural language. This paper proposes an automatic classification system for identifying cancer related causes of death from death certificates. Methods Detailed features, including terms, n-grams and SNOMED CT concepts were extracted from a collection of 447,336 death certificates. These features were used to train Support Vector Machine classifiers (one classifier for each cancer type). The classifiers were deployed in a cascaded architecture: the first level identified the presence of cancer (i.e., binary cancer/nocancer) and the second level identified the type of cancer (according to the ICD-10 classification system). A held-out test set was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the classifiers according to precision, recall and F-measure. In addition, detailed feature analysis was performed to reveal the characteristics of a successful cancer classification model. Results The system was highly effective at identifying cancer as the underlying cause of death (F-measure 0.94). The system was also effective at determining the type of cancer for common cancers (F-measure 0.7). Rare cancers, for which there was little training data, were difficult to classify accurately (F-measure 0.12). Factors influencing performance were the amount of training data and certain ambiguous cancers (e.g., those in the stomach region). The feature analysis revealed a combination of features were important for cancer type classification, with SNOMED CT concept and oncology specific morphology features proving the most valuable. Conclusion The system proposed in this study provides automatic identification and characterisation of cancers from large collections of free-text death certificates. This allows organisations such as Cancer Registries to monitor and report on cancer mortality in a timely and accurate manner. In addition, the methods and findings are generally applicable beyond cancer classification and to other sources of medical text besides death certificates.

Estimation of peak ground acceleration and spectral acceleration for South India with local site effects: probabilistic approach

In this work an attempt has been made to evaluate the seismic hazard of South India (8.0 degrees N-20 degrees N; 72 degrees E-88 degrees E) based on the probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA). The earthquake data obtained from different sources were declustered to remove the dependent events. A total of 598 earthquakes of moment magnitude 4 and above were obtained from the study area after declustering, and were considered for further hazard analysis. The seismotectonic map of the study area was prepared by considering the faults, lineaments and the shear zones in the study area which are associated with earthquakes of magnitude 4 and above. For assessing theseismic hazard, the study area was divided into small grids of size 0.1 degrees x0.1 degrees, and the hazard parameters were calculated at the centre of each of these grid cells by considering all the seismic sources with in a radius of 300 km. Rock level peak horizontal acceleration (PHA) and spectral acceleration (SA) values at 1 corresponding to 10% and 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years have been calculated for all the grid points. The contour maps showing the spatial variation of these values are presented here. Uniform hazard response spectrum (UHRS) at rock level for 5% damping and 10% and 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years were also developed for all the grid points. The peak ground acceleration (PGA) at surface level was calculated for the entire South India for four different site classes. These values can be used to find the PGA values at any site in South India based on site class at that location. Thus, this method can be viewed as a simplified method to evaluate the PGA values at any site in the study area.

Conformation of some N,N'-arylalkyl thioureas by 1H-NMR and infrared spectral analysis

Several N,N-²-arylalkyl thioureas were examined with 1H-NMR and i.r. spectra in order to study the conformation of the -NHCSNH- group. The influence of temperature and substituents on the chemical shift of the N---H protons has been investigated. Formation of a strong intramolecular hydrogen bond stabilizes the trans-cis conformation for most systems, while for the others the prevalence of different rotational isomers can be postulated. The influence of the steric effect on hydrogen bonding and molecular conformation is discussed.

Measuring and predicting canopy nitrogen nutrition in wheat using a spectral index—The canopy chlorophyll content index (CCCI).

Varying the spatial distribution of applied nitrogen (N) fertilizer to match demand in crops has been shown to increase profits in Australia. Better matching the timing of N inputs to plant requirements has been shown to improve nitrogen use efficiency and crop yields and could reduce nitrous oxide emissions from broad acre grains. Farmers in the wheat production area of south eastern Australia are increasingly splitting N application with the second timing applied at stem elongation (Zadoks 30). Spectral indices have shown the ability to detect crop canopy N status but a robust method using a consistent calibration that functions across seasons has been lacking. One spectral index, the canopy chlorophyll content index (CCCI) designed to detect canopy N using three wavebands along the "red edge" of the spectrum was combined with the canopy nitrogen index (CNI), which was developed to normalize for crop biomass and correct for the N dilution effect of crop canopies. The CCCI-CNI index approach was applied to a 3-year study to develop a single calibration derived from a wheat crop sown in research plots near Horsham, Victoria, Australia. The index was able to predict canopy N (g m-2) from Zadoks 14-37 with an r2 of 0.97 and RMSE of 0.65 g N m-2 when dry weight biomass by area was also considered. We suggest that measures of N estimated from remote methods use N per unit area as the metric and that reference directly to canopy %N is not an appropriate method for estimating plant concentration without first accounting for the N dilution effect. This approach provides a link to crop development rather than creating a purely numerical relationship. The sole biophysical input, biomass, is challenging to quantify robustly via spectral methods. Combining remote sensing with crop modelling could provide a robust method for estimating biomass and therefore a method to estimate canopy N remotely. Future research will explore this and the use of active and passive sensor technologies for use in precision farming for targeted N management.

Spectral analysis of pair-correlation bandwidth: Application to cell biology images

Images from cell biology experiments often indicate the presence of cell clustering, which can provide insight into the mechanisms driving the collective cell behaviour. Pair-correlation functions provide quantitative information about the presence, or absence, of clustering in a spatial distribution of cells. This is because the pair-correlation function describes the ratio of the abundance of pairs of cells, separated by a particular distance, relative to a randomly distributed reference population. Pair-correlation functions are often presented as a kernel density estimate where the frequency of pairs of objects are grouped using a particular bandwidth (or bin width), Δ>0. The choice of bandwidth has a dramatic impact: choosing Δ too large produces a pair-correlation function that contains insufficient information, whereas choosing Δ too small produces a pair-correlation signal dominated by fluctuations. Presently, there is little guidance available regarding how to make an objective choice of Δ. We present a new technique to choose Δ by analysing the power spectrum of the discrete Fourier transform of the pair-correlation function. Using synthetic simulation data, we confirm that our approach allows us to objectively choose Δ such that the appropriately binned pair-correlation function captures known features in uniform and clustered synthetic images. We also apply our technique to images from two different cell biology assays. The first assay corresponds to an approximately uniform distribution of cells, while the second assay involves a time series of images of a cell population which forms aggregates over time. The appropriately binned pair-correlation function allows us to make quantitative inferences about the average aggregate size, as well as quantifying how the average aggregate size changes with time.

Porn, censorship, classification and free speech: Global paradoxes in the governance of media content

In this presentation, I reflect upon the global landscape surrounding the governance and classification of media content, at a time of rapid change in media platforms and services for content production and distribution, and contested cultural and social norms. I discuss the tensions and contradictions arising in the relationship between national, regional and global dimensions of media content distribution, as well as the changing relationships between state and non-state actors. These issues will be explored through consideration of issues such as: recent debates over film censorship; the review of the National Classification Scheme conducted by the Australian Law Reform Commission; online controversies such as the future of the Reddit social media site; and videos posted online by the militant group ISIS.

Direct measurement of inner prosthesis loading during activities of daily living: Proposal for classification of functional outcome

Background The purpose of this presentation is to outline the relevance of the categorization of the load regime data to assess the functional output and usage of the prosthesis of lower limb amputees. The objectives are • To highlight the need for categorisation of activities of daily living • To present a categorization of load regime applied on residuum, • To present some descriptors of the four types of activity that could be detected, • To provide an example the results for a case. Methods The load applied on the osseointegrated fixation of one transfemoral amputee was recorded using a portable kinetic system for 5 hours. The load applied on the residuum was divided in four types of activities corresponding to inactivity, stationary loading, localized locomotion and directional locomotion as detailed in previously publications. Results The periods of directional locomotion, localized locomotion, and stationary loading occurred 44%, 34%, and 22% of recording time and each accounted for 51%, 38%, and 12% of the duration of the periods of activity, respectively. The absolute maximum force during directional locomotion, localized locomotion, and stationary loading was 19%, 15%, and 8% of the body weight on the anteroposterior axis, 20%, 19%, and 12% on the mediolateral axis, and 121%, 106%, and 99% on the long axis. A total of 2,783 gait cycles were recorded. Discussion Approximately 10% more gait cycles and 50% more of the total impulse than conventional analyses were identified. The proposed categorization and apparatus have the potential to complement conventional instruments, particularly for difficult cases.

IUCN classification zones concord with, but underestimate, the population genetic structure of the zebra shark Stegostoma fasciatum in the Indo-West Pacific

The Indo-West Pacific (IWP), from South Africa in the western Indian Ocean to the western Pacific Ocean, contains some of the most biologically diverse marine habitats on earth, including the greatest biodiversity of chondrichthyan fishes. The region encompasses various densities of human habitation leading to contrasts in the levels of exploitation experienced by chondrichthyans, which are targeted for local consumption and export. The demersal chondrichthyan, the zebra shark, Stegostoma fasciatum, is endemic to the IWP and has two current regional International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List classifications that reflect differing levels of exploitation: ‘Least Concern’ and ‘Vulnerable’. In this study, we employed mitochondrial ND4 sequence data and 13 microsatellite loci to investigate the population genetic structure of 180 zebra sharks from 13 locations throughout the IWP to test the concordance of IUCN zones with demographic units that have conservation value. Mitochondrial and microsatellite data sets from samples collected throughout northern Australia and Southeast Asia concord with the regional IUCN classifications. However, we found evidence of genetic subdivision within these regions, including subdivision between locations connected by habitat suitable for migration. Furthermore, parametric FST analyses and Bayesian clustering analyses indicated that the primary genetic break within the IWP is not represented by the IUCN classifications but rather is congruent with the Indonesian throughflow current. Our findings indicate that recruitment to areas of high exploitation from nearby healthy populations in zebra sharks is likely to be minimal, and that severe localized depletions are predicted to occur in zebra shark populations throughout the IWP region.

Spectral analysis of finite section normal integral operators

Some continuity and differentiability properties of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of finite section normal integral operators are proved. These are the extension of corresponding results for symmetric operators ([4.], 554–566; K. B. Athreya and R. Vittal Rao, to appear; [10.], 463–471.

1H and 13C NMR spectral studies of C-2 substituted isomeric exo- and endo-5-methyl-bicyclo[3.2.1]octane-6,8-diones

A detailed analysis of the 1H and 13C NMR spectra of C-2 aryl and alkyl/desalkyl substituted isomeric exo- and endo-5-methylbicyclo[3.2.1]octane-6,8-diones is presented. The chemical shift of the C-5 angular methyl, the C-2 alkyl/olefinic (C-10)/C-2 methine protons, the aromatic proton shieldings and the characteristic AMX and ABX spectral pattern of the ketomethylene and bridgehead protons were found to be sensitive to the phenyl ring orientation (anisotropy). These distinctive features could be used for configurational distinction for this class of compounds. With increasing ortho-methoxy substitution on the phenyl ring, considerable deshilelding of the bridgehead proton was observed (ca. 0.6 ppm). Absence of the C-2 alkyl group in the desalkyl isomers resulted in substantial changes in the chemical shifts of different protons. A study of the NMR spectra of the corresponding bicyclic compounds with C-2 methoxy/hydroxy substitution instead of the aryl group revealed that the anisotropy of the phenyl ring and the electronegative oxygen substituents have opposite effects. The 13C NMR spectral assignment of each carbon resonance of C-2 aryl and alkyl/desalkyl substituted isomeric exo- and endo-5-methylbicyclo[3.2.1]octane-6,8-diones and the corresponding C-2 methoxy/hydroxy/chloro and methyl bicyclic compounds are reported. Additional ortho-methoxy substitution on the phenyl ring was found to produce considerable high field shifts of the C-10 and C-1 carbon resonances. A high-field shift was observed for the C-6 and C-8 carbonyl carbons, presumably due to 1,3-dicarbonyl interactions. The chemical shifts of C-1 aromatic, C-10 alkyl and C-2 carbons, which are sensitive to exo/endo isomerism, could be utilized in differentiating a pair of isomers.