Comparison of ACUITY and CRUSADE Scores in Predicting Major Bleeding during Acute Coronary Syndrome

Background:The ACUITY and CRUSADE scores are validated models for prediction of major bleeding events in acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, the comparative performances of these scores are not known.Objective:To compare the accuracy of ACUITY and CRUSADE in predicting major bleeding events during ACS.Methods:This study included 519 patients consecutively admitted for unstable angina, non-ST-elevation or ST-elevation myocardial infarction. The scores were calculated based on admission data. We considered major bleeding events during hospitalization and not related to cardiac surgery, according to the Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) criteria (type 3 or 5: hemodynamic instability, need for transfusion, drop in hemoglobin ≥ 3 g, and intracranial, intraocular or fatal bleeding).Results:Major bleeding was observed in 31 patients (23 caused by femoral puncture, 5 digestive, 3 in other sites), an incidence of 6%. While both scores were associated with bleeding, ACUITY demonstrated better C-statistics (0.73, 95% CI = 0.63 - 0.82) as compared with CRUSADE (0.62, 95% CI = 0.53 - 0.71; p = 0.04). The best performance of ACUITY was also reflected by a net reclassification improvement of + 0.19 (p = 0.02) over CRUSADE’s definition of low or high risk. Exploratory analysis suggested that the presence of the variables ‘age’ and ‘type of ACS’ in ACUITY was the main reason for its superiority.Conclusion:The ACUITY Score is a better predictor of major bleeding when compared with the CRUSADE Score in patients hospitalized for ACS.

Efficiency Comparison of DFT/IDFT Algorithms by Evaluating Diverse Hardware Implementations

In this paper we investigate various algorithms for performing Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT)/Inverse Fast Fourier Transformation (IFFT), and proper techniques for maximizing the FFT/IFFT execution speed, such as pipelining or parallel processing, and use of memory structures with pre-computed values (look up tables -LUT) or other dedicated hardware components (usually multipliers). Furthermore, we discuss the optimal hardware architectures that best apply to various FFT/IFFT algorithms, along with their abilities to exploit parallel processing with minimal data dependences of the FFT/IFFT calculations. An interesting approach that is also considered in this paper is the application of the integrated processing-in-memory Intelligent RAM (IRAM) chip to high speed FFT/IFFT computing. The results of the assessment study emphasize that the execution speed of the FFT/IFFT algorithms is tightly connected to the capabilities of the FFT/IFFT hardware to support the provided parallelism of the given algorithm. Therefore, we suggest that the basic Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT)/Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) can also provide high performances, by utilizing a specialized FFT/IFFT hardware architecture that can exploit the provided parallelism of the DFT/IDF operations. The proposed improvements include simplified multiplications over symbols given in polar coordinate system, using sinе and cosine look up tables, and an approach for performing parallel addition of N input symbols.

Efficiency Comparison of DFT/IDFT Algorithms by Evaluating Diverse Hardware : Implementations,Parallelization Prospectsand Possible Improvements

In this paper we investigate various algorithms for performing Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT)/Inverse Fast Fourier Transformation (IFFT), and proper techniquesfor maximizing the FFT/IFFT execution speed, such as pipelining or parallel processing, and use of memory structures with pre-computed values (look up tables -LUT) or other dedicated hardware components (usually multipliers). Furthermore, we discuss the optimal hardware architectures that best apply to various FFT/IFFT algorithms, along with their abilities to exploit parallel processing with minimal data dependences of the FFT/IFFT calculations. An interesting approach that is also considered in this paper is the application of the integrated processing-in-memory Intelligent RAM (IRAM) chip to high speed FFT/IFFT computing. The results of the assessment study emphasize that the execution speed of the FFT/IFFT algorithms is tightly connected to the capabilities of the FFT/IFFT hardware to support the provided parallelism of the given algorithm. Therefore, we suggest that the basic Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT)/Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) can also provide high performances, by utilizing a specialized FFT/IFFT hardware architecture that can exploit the provided parallelism of the DFT/IDF operations. The proposed improvements include simplified multiplications over symbols given in polar coordinate system, using sinе and cosine look up tables,and an approach for performing parallel addition of N input symbols.

Comparison of Contemporary Protocols for High-speed Data Transport via 10 Gbps WAN Connections

This work is dedicated to comparison of open source as well as proprietary transport protocols for highspeed data transmission via IP networks. The contemporary common TCP needs significant improvement since it was developed as general-purpose transport protocol and firstly introduced four decades ago. In nowadays networks, TCP fits not all communication needs that society has. Caused of it another transport protocols have been developed and successfully used for e.g. Big Data movement. In scope of this research the following protocols have been investigated for its efficiency on 10Gbps links: UDT, RBUDP, MTP and RWTP. The protocols were tested under different impairments such as Round Trip Time up to 400 ms and packet losses up to 2%. Investigated parameters are the data rate under different conditions of the network, the CPU load by sender andreceiver during the experiments, size of feedback data, CPU usage per Gbps and the amount of feedback data per GiByte of effectively transmitted data. The best performance and fair resources consumption was observed by RWTP. From the opensource projects, the best behavior is showed by RBUDP.

Comparison of calling songs in three allopatric populations of Endecous itatibensis (Orthoptera, Phalangopsinae)

Three isolated populations of the cricket Endecous itatibensis Rehn, 1918 had been analyzed to test the hypothesis of divergence in the calling song estridulation and to discuss its implications in the speciation process. The song registers were obtained from specimens in Corumbataí, Piraciacaba and Itatiba cities, state of São Paulo, Brazil. In the three analyzed populations, calling songs are composed by pairs of notes. Specimens from Corumbataí emit composed phrases with 3 to 18 pairs of notes, while those of Piracicaba and Itatiba have 1 to 3 pairs of notes. Inter- and intrapopulational variability in the frequencies of acoustic signals were detected. While recording the calling songs, other stridulations were registered, possibly from species of Orthoptera or Hemiptera. When the tapes were analyzed in the laboratory, it was verified that there was no overlap among the species' calling songs, in such a way that each species had their particular band of frequencies, avoiding interespecific acoustic competition.

Auctions for government securities: a laboratory comparison of uniform, discriminatory and spanish designs

The Bank of Spain uses a unique auction format to sell government bonds, which can be seen as a hybrid of a uniform and a discriminatory auction. For winning bids above the average winning bid, buyers are charged the average winning bid, otherwise they pay their respective bids. We report on an experiment that compares this auction format to the discriminatory format, used in most other countries, and to the uniform format. Our design is based on a common value model with multi-unit supply and two-unit demand. The results show significantly higher revenue with the Spanish and the uniform formats than with the discriminatory one, while volatility of prices over time is significantly lower in the discriminatory format than in the Spanish and uniform cases. Actual price dispersion is significantly larger in the discriminatory than in the Spanish. Our data also exhibit the use of bid-spreading strategies in all three designs.

How universal is behavior? A four country comparison of spite, cooperation and errors in voluntary contribution mechanisms

This paper studies behavior in experiments with a linear voluntary contributions mechanism for public goods conducted in Japan, the Netherlands, Spain and the USA. The same experimental design was used in the four countries. Our 'contribution function' design allows us to obtain a view of subjects' behavior from two complementary points of view. If yields information about situations where, in purely pecuniary terms, it is a dominant strategy to contribute all the endowment and about situations where it is a dominant strategy to contribute nothing. Our results show, first, that differences in behavior across countries are minor. We find that when people play "the same game" they behave similarly. Second, for all four countries our data are inconsistent with the explanation that subjects contribute only out of confusion. A common cooperative motivation is needed to explain the date.

A Comparison of polarization measures

This paper provides a systematic classification of the different measures of polarization based on their properties. Together with the axioms proposed in Duclos, Esteban and Ray (2004) and in Wang and Tsui (2000) we consider three additional properties. We examine which properties are common to all indices and which set them apart.

A nonlinear threshold model for the dependence of extremes of stationary sequences

One of the main implications of the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) is that expected future returns on financial assets are not predictable if investors are risk neutral. In this paper we argue that financial time series offer more information than that this hypothesis seems to supply. In particular we postulate that runs of very large returns can be predictable for small time periods. In order to prove this we propose a TAR(3,1)-GARCH(1,1) model that is able to describe two different types of extreme events: a first type generated by large uncertainty regimes where runs of extremes are not predictable and a second type where extremes come from isolated dread/joy events. This model is new in the literature in nonlinear processes. Its novelty resides on two features of the model that make it different from previous TAR methodologies. The regimes are motivated by the occurrence of extreme values and the threshold variable is defined by the shock affecting the process in the preceding period. In this way this model is able to uncover dependence and clustering of extremes in high as well as in low volatility periods. This model is tested with data from General Motors stocks prices corresponding to two crises that had a substantial impact in financial markets worldwide; the Black Monday of October 1987 and September 11th, 2001. By analyzing the periods around these crises we find evidence of statistical significance of our model and thereby of predictability of extremes for September 11th but not for Black Monday. These findings support the hypotheses of a big negative event producing runs of negative returns in the first case, and of the burst of a worldwide stock market bubble in the second example. JEL classification: C12; C15; C22; C51 Keywords and Phrases: asymmetries, crises, extreme values, hypothesis testing, leverage effect, nonlinearities, threshold models

RS virus diagnosis: comparison of isolation, immunofluorescence and enzyme immunoassay

Two techniques for rapid diagnosis, immunofluorescence (IFAT) and enzyme immunoassay (EIA), have been compared with virus isolaion in tissue culture for the detection of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in specimens of nasopharyngeal secretions. The specimens were obtained from children under five years of age suffering from acute respiratory iliness, during a period of six months from January to June 1982. Of 471 specimens examined 54 (11.5%) were positive by virus isolation and 180 (38.2%) were positive by immunofluorescence. The bacterial contamination of inoculated tissue cultures unfortunately prevented the isolation of virus from many samples. Specimens from 216 children were tested to compare enzyme immunoassay and immunofluorescence. Of these 60 (27%) were positive by EIA and 121 (56%) were positive by IFAT. Our results suggest that the EIA technique although highly specific is rather insensitive. This may be because by the time these tests were done the originl nasopharyngeal secretions were considerably diluted and contained more mucus fragments than the call suspension used for IFAT. Of the three techniques, IFAT gives the best results although EIA may be useful where IFAT is not possible.

A comparison of simian rotavirus SA11 preparations maintained in different laboratories

Preparations of simian SA11 maintained in different laboratories were compared with each other by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of genomic RNA. Differences in the migration of genome segments 4,5 and 7 allowed the classification of eight virus preparations into four electrophoretic types.

Segmentation and Clustering of Textual Sequences: a Typological Approach

The long term goal of this research is to develop a program able to produce an automatic segmentation and categorization of textual sequences into discourse types. In this preliminary contribution, we present the construction of an algorithm which takes a segmented text as input and attempts to produce a categorization of sequences, such as narrative, argumentative, descriptive and so on. Also, this work aims at investigating a possible convergence between the typological approach developed in particular in the field of text and discourse analysis in French by Adam (2008) and Bronckart (1997) and unsupervised statistical learning.

Octopus Standard Automated Perimetry, Pulsar Perimetry, Moorfields Motion Displacement Test and Heidelberg Retinal Tomography in Glaucoma Detection - A Comparison of Diagnostic Accuracy

Purpose: To investigate the accuracy of 4 clinical instruments in the detection of glaucomatous damage. Methods: 102 eyes of 55 test subjects (Age mean = 66.5yrs, range = [39; 89]) underwent Heidelberg Retinal Tomography (HRTIII), (disc area<2.43); and standard automated perimetry (SAP) using Octopus (Dynamic); Pulsar (TOP); and Moorfields Motion Displacement Test (MDT) (ESTA strategy). Eyes were separated into three groups 1) Healthy (H): IOP<21mmHg and healthy discs (clinical examination), 39 subjects, 78 eyes; 2) Glaucoma suspect (GS): Suspicious discs (clinical examination), 12 subjects, 15 eyes; 3) Glaucoma (G): progressive structural or functional loss, 14 subjects, 20 eyes. Clinical diagnostic precision was examined using the cut-off associated with the p<5% normative limit of MD (Octopus/Pulsar), PTD (MDT) and MRA (HRT) analysis. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were calculated for each instrument. Results: See table Conclusions: Despite the advantage of defining glaucoma suspects using clinical optic disc examination, the HRT did not yield significantly higher accuracy than functional measures. HRT, MDT and Octopus SAP yielded higher accuracy than Pulsar perimetry, although results did not reach statistical significance. Further studies are required to investigate the structure-function correlations between these instruments.

Albuterol delivery in an in vitro pediatric ventilator lung model: comparison of jet, ultrasonic, and mesh nebulizers.

OBJECTIVE: : To determine the influence of nebulizer types and nebulization modes on bronchodilator delivery in a mechanically ventilated pediatric lung model. DESIGN: : In vitro, laboratory study. SETTING: : Research laboratory of a university hospital. INTERVENTIONS: : Using albuterol as a marker, three nebulizer types (jet nebulizer, ultrasonic nebulizer, and vibrating-mesh nebulizer) were tested in three nebulization modes in a nonhumidified bench model mimicking the ventilatory pattern of a 10-kg infant. The amounts of albuterol deposited on the inspiratory filters (inhaled drug) at the end of the endotracheal tube, on the expiratory filters, and remaining in the nebulizers or in the ventilator circuit were determined. Particle size distribution of the nebulizers was also measured. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: : The inhaled drug was 2.8% ± 0.5% for the jet nebulizer, 10.5% ± 2.3% for the ultrasonic nebulizer, and 5.4% ± 2.7% for the vibrating-mesh nebulizer in intermittent nebulization during the inspiratory phase (p < 0.01). The most efficient nebulizer was the vibrating-mesh nebulizer in continuous nebulization (13.3% ± 4.6%, p < 0.01). Depending on the nebulizers, a variable but important part of albuterol was observed as remaining in the nebulizers (jet and ultrasonic nebulizers), or being expired or lost in the ventilator circuit (all nebulizers). Only small particles (range 2.39-2.70 µm) reached the end of the endotracheal tube. CONCLUSIONS: : Important differences between nebulizer types and nebulization modes were seen for albuterol deposition at the end of the endotracheal tube in an in vitro pediatric ventilator-lung model. New aerosol devices, such as ultrasonic and vibrating-mesh nebulizers, were more efficient than the jet nebulizer.