Identification of case complexity and increased health care utilization in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVES: To document biopsychosocial profiles of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by means of the INTERMED and to correlate the results with conventional methods of disease assessment and health care utilization. METHODS: Patients with RA (n = 75) were evaluated with the INTERMED, an instrument for assessing case complexity and care needs. Based on their INTERMED scores, patients were compared with regard to severity of illness, functional status, and health care utilization. RESULTS: In cluster analysis, a 2-cluster solution emerged, with about half of the patients characterized as complex. Complex patients scoring especially high in the psychosocial domain of the INTERMED were disabled significantly more often and took more psychotropic drugs. Although the 2 patient groups did not differ in severity of illness and functional status, complex patients rated their illness as more severe on subjective measures and on most items of the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36. Complex patients showed increased health care utilization despite a similar biologic profile. CONCLUSIONS: The INTERMED identified complex patients with increased health care utilization, provided meaningful and comprehensive patient information, and proved to be easy to implement and advantageous compared with conventional methods of disease assessment. Intervention studies will have to demonstrate whether management strategies based on INTERMED profiles can improve treatment response and outcome of complex patients.

Bayesian Networks for Probabilistic Inference and Decision Analysis in Forensic Science

Continuing developments in science and technology mean that the amounts of information forensic scientists are able to provide for criminal investigations is ever increasing. The commensurate increase in complexity creates difficulties for scientists and lawyers with regard to evaluation and interpretation, notably with respect to issues of inference and decision. Probability theory, implemented through graphical methods, and specifically Bayesian networks, provides powerful methods to deal with this complexity. Extensions of these methods to elements of decision theory provide further support and assistance to the judicial system. Bayesian Networks for Probabilistic Inference and Decision Analysis in Forensic Science provides a unique and comprehensive introduction to the use of Bayesian decision networks for the evaluation and interpretation of scientific findings in forensic science, and for the support of decision-makers in their scientific and legal tasks. Includes self-contained introductions to probability and decision theory. Develops the characteristics of Bayesian networks, object-oriented Bayesian networks and their extension to decision models. Features implementation of the methodology with reference to commercial and academically available software. Presents standard networks and their extensions that can be easily implemented and that can assist in the reader's own analysis of real cases. Provides a technique for structuring problems and organizing data based on methods and principles of scientific reasoning. Contains a method for the construction of coherent and defensible arguments for the analysis and evaluation of scientific findings and for decisions based on them. Is written in a lucid style, suitable for forensic scientists and lawyers with minimal mathematical background. Includes a foreword by Ian Evett. The clear and accessible style of this second edition makes this book ideal for all forensic scientists, applied statisticians and graduate students wishing to evaluate forensic findings from the perspective of probability and decision analysis. It will also appeal to lawyers and other scientists and professionals interested in the evaluation and interpretation of forensic findings, including decision making based on scientific information.

Creació d'un media center amb software lliure

Treball de recerca realitzat per un alumne d'ensenyament secundari i guardonat amb un Premi CIRIT per fomentar l'esperit científic del Jovent l'any 2009. L’objectiu d’aquest treball de recerca és la creació d’un dispositiu encarregat de centralitzar totes les necessitats multimèdia de casa nostra i distribuir aquest contingut a tots els terminals de la xarxa local d’una manera senzilla i automatitzada. Aquest dispositiu s’ha dissenyat per estar connectat a una televisió d’alta definició, que permetrà la reproducció i l’organització de tot el nostre multimèdia d’una manera còmoda i fàcil. El media center s’encarrega de gestionar la nostra filmoteca, fototeca, biblioteca musical i sèries de TV de manera transparent i automàtica. A més a més, l’usuari pot accedir a tot el multimèdia emmagatzemat al media center des de qualsevol dispositiu de la xarxa local a través de protocols com CIFS o UPnP, en un intent de replicar el cloud computing a escala local. El dispositiu ha estat dissenyat per a suportar tot tipus de formats i subtítols, assegurant la compatibilitat total amb arxius lliures de DRM. El seu disseny minimalista i silenciós el fa perfecte per a substituir el reproductor de DVD de la sala. Tot això sense oblidar el seu baix consum, de l’ordre d’un 75% inferior al d’un PC convencional.

Transitions in social complexity along elevational gradients reveal a combined impact of season length and development time on social evolution.

Eusociality is taxonomically rare, yet associated with great ecological success. Surprisingly, studies of environmental conditions favouring eusociality are often contradictory. Harsh conditions associated with increasing altitude and latitude seem to favour increased sociality in bumblebees and ants, but the reverse pattern is found in halictid bees and polistine wasps. Here, we compare the life histories and distributions of populations of 176 species of Hymenoptera from the Swiss Alps. We show that differences in altitudinal distributions and development times among social forms can explain these contrasting patterns: highly social taxa develop more quickly than intermediate social taxa, and are thus able to complete the reproductive cycle in shorter seasons at higher elevations. This dual impact of altitude and development time on sociality illustrates that ecological constraints can elicit dynamic shifts in behaviour, and helps explain the complex distribution of sociality across ecological gradients.

Experimentació amb un receptor software GPS-Galileo d'alta sensibilitat per a entorns interiors

Este proyecto se centra en el análisis de señales GPS, utilizando un receptor software desarrollado con Matlab en un proyecto de investigación para la Agencia Espacial Europea (ESA), llevado a cabo por parte del departamento de Telecomunicaciones e Ingeniería de Sistemas de la ETSE. Este software utiliza técnicas de procesado de señal de alta sensibilidad (HS-GNSS) que permite al usuario determinar su posición en entornos de difícil propagación como puede ser el caso de los escenarios interiores. Los datos experimentales se analizan en función del nivel de multipath que afecta a la señal de cada uno de los satélites, y la degradación que los escenarios interiores provocan en las señales, a causa del mobiliario, paredes, personas, etc. Para analizar los datos experimentales, se ha utilizado una métrica presentada en el congreso internacional EuCAP 2009, con la que es posible caracterizar las señales en función del nivel de multipath.

Análisis de prestaciones de sistemas de comunicaciones inalámbricas en aplicaciones de robótica: sistema software

Una característica importante de la robótica es la comunicación entre sistema base y robot que puede establecerse de forma remota. Ello representa la base del proyecto que se describe a continuación, el cual se descompone de dos partes, una por cada miembro del proyecto: sistema software y sistema hardware. En el sistema software analizaremos las diferentes tecnologías inalámbricas (características, funcionamiento, seguridad, etc.), se realizará una comparativa de los diferentes módulos de comunicación y finalmente decidiremos aquellos que nos interesa para la implementación en Radiofrecuencia (RF) y Bluetooth. En este sistema también estudiaremos la interfaz gráfica que se utilizará, así como los programas creados en este entorno para realizar las implementaciones. En el sistema hardware trataremos de realizar el control de dos periféricos de forma independiente, un servomotor y un sonar, que nos servirán como ejemplo para analizar una posible comunicación entre varios robots y un PC. Por lo tanto, en este apartado analizaremos a fondo los diferentes componentes que harán posible tanto la comunicación, vía RF y Bluetooth, como el control de los diferentes dispositivos.

MSight: an image analysis software for liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Images obtained from high-throughput mass spectrometry (MS) contain information that remains hidden when looking at a single spectrum at a time. Image processing of liquid chromatography-MS datasets can be extremely useful for quality control, experimental monitoring and knowledge extraction. The importance of imaging in differential analysis of proteomic experiments has already been established through two-dimensional gels and can now be foreseen with MS images. We present MSight, a new software designed to construct and manipulate MS images, as well as to facilitate their analysis and comparison.

Creación de una aplicación web basada en software libre para la visualización y consulta de información catastral del Ajuntament de Cerdanyola del Vallès

La aplicación web creada tiene como objetivo convertirse en un instrumento útil para la consulta de información catastral del municipio de Cerdanyola del Vallès, ampliando el alcance de la información al personal del Ajuntament. Entre esta información, se incluye cartografía catastral urbana y rústica de diferentes años y la posibilidad de efectuar una serie de consultas alfanuméricas sencillas sobre la misma.

3D visualization software to analyze topological outcomes of topoisomerase reactions.

The action of various DNA topoisomerases frequently results in characteristic changes in DNA topology. Important information for understanding mechanistic details of action of these topoisomerases can be provided by investigating the knot types resulting from topoisomerase action on circular DNA forming a particular knot type. Depending on the topological bias of a given topoisomerase reaction, one observes different subsets of knotted products. To establish the character of topological bias, one needs to be aware of all possible topological outcomes of intersegmental passages occurring within a given knot type. However, it is not trivial to systematically enumerate topological outcomes of strand passage from a given knot type. We present here a 3D visualization software (TopoICE-X in KnotPlot) that incorporates topological analysis methods in order to visualize, for example, knots that can be obtained from a given knot by one intersegmental passage. The software has several other options for the topological analysis of mechanisms of action of various topoisomerases.

GWAS of human bitter taste perception identifies new loci and reveals additional complexity of bitter taste genetics.

Human perception of bitterness displays pronounced interindividual variation. This phenotypic variation is mirrored by equally pronounced genetic variation in the family of bitter taste receptor genes. To better understand the effects of common genetic variations on human bitter taste perception, we conducted a genome-wide association study on a discovery panel of 504 subjects and a validation panel of 104 subjects from the general population of São Paulo in Brazil. Correction for general taste-sensitivity allowed us to identify a SNP in the cluster of bitter taste receptors on chr12 (10.88- 11.24 Mb, build 36.1) significantly associated (best SNP: rs2708377, P = 5.31 × 10(-13), r(2) = 8.9%, β = -0.12, s.e. = 0.016) with the perceived bitterness of caffeine. This association overlaps with-but is statistically distinct from-the previously identified SNP rs10772420 influencing the perception of quinine bitterness that falls in the same bitter taste cluster. We replicated this association to quinine perception (P = 4.97 × 10(-37), r(2) = 23.2%, β = 0.25, s.e. = 0.020) and additionally found the effect of this genetic locus to be concentration specific with a strong impact on the perception of low, but no impact on the perception of high concentrations of quinine. Our study, thus, furthers our understanding of the complex genetic architecture of bitter taste perception.

Analyzing complexity in foreign language monologic oral production in a CLIL context

The study tested three analytic tools applied in SLA research (T-unit, AS-unit and Idea-unit) against FL learner monologic oral data. The objective was to analyse their effectiveness for the assessment of complexity of learners' academic production in English. The data were learners' individual productions gathered during the implementation of a CLIL teaching sequence on Natural Sciences in a Catalan state secondary school. The analysis showed that only AS-unit was easily applicable and highly effective in segmenting the data and taking complexity measures

Creació d’un programari per a l’avaluació de la qualitat dels resultats analítics generats al laboratori

La validació de mètodes és un dels pilars fonamentals de l’assegurament de la qualitat en els laboratoris d’anàlisi, tal i com queda reflectit en la norma ISO/IEC 17025. És, per tant, un aspecte que cal abordar en els plans d’estudis dels presents i dels futurs graus en Química. Existeix molta bibliografia relativa a la validació de mètodes, però molt sovint aquesta s’utilitza poc, degut a la dificultat manifesta de processar tota la informació disponible i aplicar-la al laboratori i als problemes concrets. Una altra de les limitacions en aquest camps és la manca de programaris adaptats a les necessitats del laboratori. Moltes de les rutines estadístiques que es fan servir en la validació de mètodes són adaptacions fetes amb Microsoft Excel o venen incorporades en paquets estadístics gegants, amb un alt grau de complexitat. És per aquest motiu que l’objectiu del projecte ha estat generar un programari per la validació de mètodes i l’assegurament de la qualitat dels resultats analítics, que incorporés únicament les rutines necessàries. Específicament, el programari incorpora les funcions estadístiques necessàries per a verificar l’exactitud i avaluar la precisió d’un mètode analític. El llenguatge de programació triat ha estat el Java en la seva versió 6. La part de creació del programari ha constat de les següents etapes: recollida de requisits, anàlisi dels requisits, disseny del programari en mòduls, programació d les funcions del programa i de la interfície gràfica, creació de tests d’integració i prova amb usuaris reals, i, finalment, la posada en funcionament del programari (creació de l’instal·lador i distribució del programari).

Desarrollo de software para el procesado numérico en tarjetas gráficas

Debido al gran número de transistores por mm2 que hoy en día podemos encontrar en las GPU convencionales, en los últimos años éstas se vienen utilizando para propósitos generales gracias a que ofrecen un mayor rendimiento para computación paralela. Este proyecto implementa el producto sparse matrix-vector sobre OpenCL. En los primeros capítulos hacemos una revisión de la base teórica necesaria para comprender el problema. Después veremos los fundamentos de OpenCL y del hardware sobre el que se ejecutarán las librerías desarrolladas. En el siguiente capítulo seguiremos con una descripción del código de los kernels y de su flujo de datos. Finalmente, el software es evaluado basándose en comparativas con la CPU.

What do we gain from simplicity versus complexity in species distribution models?

Species distribution models (SDMs) are widely used to explain and predict species ranges and environmental niches. They are most commonly constructed by inferring species' occurrence-environment relationships using statistical and machine-learning methods. The variety of methods that can be used to construct SDMs (e.g. generalized linear/additive models, tree-based models, maximum entropy, etc.), and the variety of ways that such models can be implemented, permits substantial flexibility in SDM complexity. Building models with an appropriate amount of complexity for the study objectives is critical for robust inference. We characterize complexity as the shape of the inferred occurrence-environment relationships and the number of parameters used to describe them, and search for insights into whether additional complexity is informative or superfluous. By building 'under fit' models, having insufficient flexibility to describe observed occurrence-environment relationships, we risk misunderstanding the factors shaping species distributions. By building 'over fit' models, with excessive flexibility, we risk inadvertently ascribing pattern to noise or building opaque models. However, model selection can be challenging, especially when comparing models constructed under different modeling approaches. Here we argue for a more pragmatic approach: researchers should constrain the complexity of their models based on study objective, attributes of the data, and an understanding of how these interact with the underlying biological processes. We discuss guidelines for balancing under fitting with over fitting and consequently how complexity affects decisions made during model building. Although some generalities are possible, our discussion reflects differences in opinions that favor simpler versus more complex models. We conclude that combining insights from both simple and complex SDM building approaches best advances our knowledge of current and future species ranges.

Coltop3D: A new software for structural analysis with high resolution 3D point clouds and DEM

Coltop3D is a software that performs structural analysis by using digital elevation model (DEM) and 3D point clouds acquired with terrestrial laser scanners. A color representation merging slope aspect and slope angle is used in order to obtain a unique code of color for each orientation of a local slope. Thus a continuous planar structure appears in a unique color. Several tools are included to create stereonets, to draw traces of discontinuities, or to compute automatically density stereonet. Examples are shown to demonstrate the efficiency of the method.