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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
981

Head-to-head comparison between endoscopic ultrasound guided lumen apposing metal stent and plastic stents for the treatment of pancreatic fluid collections: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Guzmán-Calderón, Edson, Chacaltana, Alfonso, Díaz, Ramiro, Li, Bruno, Martinez-Moreno, Belen, Aparicio, José Ramón 01 February 2022 (has links)
Background/Aims: Peripancreatic fluid collections (PFCs) result from acute or chronic pancreatic inflammation that suffers a rupture of its ducts. Currently, there exists three options for drainage or debridement of pancreatic pseudocysts and walled-off necrosis (WON). The traditional procedure is drainage by placing double pigtail plastic stents (DPPS); lumen-apposing metal stent (LAMS) has a biflanged design with a wide lumen that avoids occlusion with necrotic tissue, which is more common with DPPS and reduces the possibility of migration. We performed a systematic review and meta-analyses head-to-head, including only studies that compare the two main techniques to drainage of PFCs: LAMS vs DPPS. Methods: We conducted a systematic review in different databases, such as PubMed, OVID, Medline, and Cochrane Databases. This meta-analysis considers studies published from 2014 to 2020, including only studies that compare the two main techniques to drainage of PFCs: LAMS vs DPPS. Results: Thirteen studies were included in the meta-analyses. Only one of all studies was a randomized controlled trial. These studies comprise 1584 patients; 68.2% were male, and 31.8% were female. Six hundred sixty-three patients (41.9%) were treated with LAMS, and 921 (58.1%) were treated with DPPS. Six studies included only WON in their analysis, two included only pancreatic pseudocysts, and five studies included both pancreatic pseudocysts and WON. The technical success was similar in patients treated with LAMS and DPPS (97.6% vs 97.5%, respectively, P =.986, RR = 1.00 [95% CI 0.93-1.08]). The clinical success was similar in both groups (LAMS: 90.1% vs DPPS: 84.2%, P =.139, RR = 1.063 [95% CI 0.98-1.15]). Patients treated with LAMS had a lower complication rate than the DPPS groups, with a significant statistical difference (LAMS: 16.0% vs DPPS: 20.2%, P =.009, RR = 0.746 [95% CI 0.60-0.93]). Bleeding was the most common complication in the LAMS group (33 patients, [5.0%]), whereas infection was the most common complication in the DPPS group (56 patients, [6.1%]). The LAMS migration rate was lower than in the DPPS (0.9% vs 2.2%, respectively, P =.05). The mortality rate was similar in both groups, 0.6% in the LAMS group (four patients) and 0.4% in the DPPS group (four patients; P =.640). Conclusion: The PFCs drainage is an indication when persistent symptoms or PFCs-related complications exist. EUS guided drainage with LAMS has similar technical and clinical success to DPPS drainage for the management of PFCs. The technical and clinical success rates are high in both groups. However, LAMS drainage has a lower adverse events rate than DPPS drainage. More randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm the real advantage of LAMS drainage over DPPS drainage. / Revisión por pares
982

Efficient Realistic Cloud Rendering using the Volumetric Rendering Technique : Science, Digital Game Development

Bengtsson, Adam January 2022 (has links)
With high quality in graphics being demanded a lot in modern video games, realistic clouds are noexception. In many video games, it is common that its rendering implementation is based on acollection of 2D cloud-images rendered into the scene. Through previously published work, it was found that while other techniques can be more appropriate depending on the project, volumetricrendering is the highest state-of-the-art in cloud rendering. The only lacking feature of this techniqueis the performance rate, as it is a very expensive technique. Two general problems regarding theperformance rate is that either the high quality of the clouds is not applicable to real-time rendering orthe quality has been pushed back to the point where the clouds lacked accuracy or realism in shape. There are three basic objectives to the project that were forumulated so that the aim can be completed. The objectives are listed as the following to satisfy the aim: Aim: Create a cloud generator with the volumetric rendering technique Objective 1: Create a 3D engine in OpenGL that generates clouds with volumetric rendering in real-time. Objective 2: Create different scenes that increase computational cost for the computer to render. Objective 3: Arrange tests across different computers running the engine and document the results in terms of performance. The project is created using the programming language C++ and the OpenGL library in Visual Studio. The code comes from a combination of other previously made projects regarding the subject ofrendering clouds in real-time. In order to save time in the project, two projects created by FedericoVaccaro and Sébastien Hillaire were used as references in order to quickly reach a solid foundation for experimenting with the performance rate of volumetric clouds. The resulting cloud implementation contains three of many cloud types and updates in real-time. It is possible to configure the clouds in real-time and have the density, coverage, light absorption and more be altered to generate between the three different cloud types. When changing the settings for the boxcontaining the clouds, as well as coloring and changing the position of the clouds and global light, the clouds updates in real-time. To conclude the project, rendering the clouds at the goal of above 60 FPS if only limiting the resultsdown to high-end computer was somewhat successful. The clouds visually looked realistic enough inthe scene and the efforts for improving the performance rate did not affect its overall quality. The high-end computer was able to render the clouds but the low-end computer was struggling with theclouds on their own
983

Strategies for the development of hybrid collections in academic libraries in Mozambique : a study of three academic libraries

Chiconela, Acuceno Joao, Chissano, Helena Amarilda January 2021 (has links)
Mozambique academic libraries are quite vulnerable in hybrid collection development for various reasons. In the process of collection development, physical collections have dominated the Mozambican libraries’ scene because they can acquire printed materials relatively easily. Digital materials, on the other hand, have caused difficulties due to the costs of subscribing to databases and poor technological infrastructure generated by insufficient resources. This work aims to understand the strategies followed by the libraries of Mozambican higher education institutions for the development of their hybrid collections, and to highlight the acquisition patterns, trends of integration of the collections and general challenges they face in this area. To answer the research questions, we have conducted the literature review and collected empirical data from university library documents and through semi-structured interviews with librarians responsible for collection development in three universities. The research adopted a qualitative study method and investigated three university libraries in Mozambique. As a result, we have identified collection development strategies used for the development of hybrid collections. These are partly overlapping as they must help to solve similar problems, and some strategies are specific to a university, because of different conditions and opportunities. It was also realized that, despite the efforts of those university libraries, there is a general weakness in state funding. The influence of external investment proved to be a great positive differential in the working areas of the affected libraries. It was also found out that university libraries participate and use the potential of the Mozambican library consortium AMOBAP unequally and the integration of institutional repositories is not on the same stage among the libraries.
984

Aging, Object-Based Inhibition, and Online Data Collection

Huether, Asenath Xochitl Arauza January 2020 (has links)
Visual selective attention operates in space- and object-based frames of reference. Stimulus salience and task demands influence whether a space- or object-based frame of reference guides attention. I conducted two experiments for the present dissertation to evaluate age patterns in the role of inhibition in object-based attention. The biased competition account (Desimone & Duncan, 1995) proposes that one mechanism through which targets are selected is through suppression of irrelevant stimuli. The inhibitory deficit hypothesis (Hasher & Zacks, 1988) predicts that older adults do not appropriately suppress or ignore irrelevant information. The purpose of the first study was to evaluate whether inhibition of return (IOR) patterns, originally found in a laboratory setting, could be replicated with online data collection (prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic). Inhibition of return is a cognitive mechanism to bias attention from returning to previously engaged items. In a lab setting, young and older adults produced location- and object-based IOR. In the current study, both types of IOR were also observed within object boundaries, although location-based IOR from data collected online was smaller than that from the laboratory. In addition, there was no evidence of an age-related reduction in IOR effects. There was some indication that sampling differences or testing circumstances led to increased variability in online data.The purpose of the second study was to evaluate age differences in top-down inhibitory processes during an attention-demanding object tracking task. Data were collected online. I used a dot-probe multiple object tracking (MOT) task to evaluate distractor suppression during target tracking. Both young and older adults showed poorer dot-probe detection accuracies when the probes appeared on distractors compared to when they appeared at empty locations, reflecting inhibition. The findings suggest that top-down inhibition works to suppress distractors during target tracking and that older adults show a relatively preserved ability to inhibit distractor objects. The findings across both experiments support models of selective attention that posit that goal-related biases suppress distractor information and that inhibition can be directed selectively by both young and older adults on locations and objects in the visual field.
985

A household survey of maternal and child health in the Mount Frere Health District, Eastern Cape

Irlam, James January 1998 (has links)
A cross-sectional household survey of maternal and child health was conducted in the Mount Frere health district of the Eastern Cape in August / September 1997. The aim was to describe key aspects of maternal and child health to inform the planning activities of the District Health Management Team (DHMT). A participatory process was followed, in order to develop research capacity within the district, and to facilitate interaction between health workers and the community. Methods: Structured questionnaires were used by local research trainees to gather data from each household on: • household demographics; • deaths in household since April 1994; • household access to water and sanitation; • children under five years; • children aged 5 to 15 years; • deliveries in the past 12 months; • knowledge of prevention and transmission of HIV/AIDS. Focus group discussions around the key findings were conducted with community members and clinic nurses to provide a qualitative component. Results: A high proportion of children under the age of 16, high household density, high unemployment, migrant labour, and absent mothers, are some of the defining demographic characteristics which affect the status of maternal and child health in the district. Access to health services is constrained by distance, lack of transport, and poor roads. Registration of births and deaths is poor, and the crude birth and death rates were found to be significantly higher than the " official" provincial rates. Tuberculosis, diarrhoea, trauma and homicide are notable features of the overall mortality profile, although the majority of deaths were classified "ill-defined / unknown". Diarrhoea and pneumonia accounted for half of all infant deaths. Eight out of ten deaths due to diarrhoea in under-fives occurred at home, but knowledge and use of oral rehydration solution is poor. Access to clean drinking water and sanitation is a major concern, with almost three quarters of homes using unprotected sources, a third more than 30 minutes' walk from the nearest source, and a half having no toilet. Areas of the district with particularly poor environmental health indicators were identified. Immunisation coverage among children 1-4 years is poor. Coverage for all vaccines except BCG falls well short of the national target of 90%, and fewer than 1 in 3 children was fully immunised with valid doses at the age of one year. Long intervals between doses and a high "dropout" rate between subsequent doses was observed. The road to health card (RTHC) could be produced for just over a half of under-five children. The proportion of home deliveries is high (45%), and traditional birth attendants (TBAs) therefore play an important role in this community. Nine out of ten mothers had attended antenatal clinic at least once, but almost half reported receiving no tetanus toxoid and no WR test for syphilis during their antenatal visits. More than a half of all mothers was using no family planning method at the time of the survey. Almost all 15-49 year-olds had heard about HIV/AIDS, but one in five did not know how HIV is transmitted, and a third did not know how it could be prevented. Recommendations: A detailed set of recommendations with action points for the DHMT was developed in a district workshop around the following key issues: 1. Improving access to health care, including road access, mobile clinic coverage, and waiting facilities for expectant mothers. 2. Promoting health in the community, by means of integration of health promotion into all health programmes, and more involvement of communities. 3. Improving the quality of care in the existing health facilities and services, including minimising missed opportunities for immunisation, and promoting home-made oral rehydration (sugar-salt) solution. 4. Improving the district health information system, especially the registration of vital events, and the provision of feedback to district health managers. 5. Identifying areas of further research, including the reasons for home deliveries, management of diarrhoea at home, and the use of traditional healers. Conclusion: The participatory research process that was used has helped to build research capacity in the district, to provide a deeper insight into community health problems, to highlight the value of health workers listening to the people they serve, to further collaboration between the disciplines, and to develop specific action plans. This is a process that should be followed in all research conducted in health districts.
986

A Novel HVDC Architecture for Offshore Wind Farm Applications

Dezem Bertozzi Junior, Otávio José 11 1900 (has links)
The increasing global participation of wind power in the overall generation ca- pacity makes it one of the most promising renewable resources. Advances in power electronics have enabled this market growth and penetration. Through a literature review, this work explores the challenges and opportunities presented by offshore wind farms, as well as the different solutions proposed concerning power electron- ics converters, collection and transmission schemes, as well as control and protection techniques. A novel power converter solution for the parallel connection of high power offshore wind turbines, suitable for HVDC collection and transmission, is presented. For the parallel operation of energy sources in an HVDC grid, DC link voltage con- trol is required. The proposed system is based on a full-power rated uncontrolled diode bridge rectifier in series with a partially-rated fully-controlled thyristor bridge rectifier. The thyristor bridge acts as a voltage regulator to ensure the flow of the desired current through each branch, where a reactor is placed in series for filtering of the DC current. AC filters are installed on the machine side to mitigate harmonic content. The mathematical modeling of the system is derived and the control design procedure is discussed. Guidelines for equipment and device specifications are pre- sented. Different setups for an experimental framework are suggested and discussed, including a conceptual application for hardware-in-the-loop real-time simulation and testing.
987

Patronage, Connoisseurship and Antiquarianism in Georgian England: The Fitzwilliam Music Collection (1763-1815)

Heiden, Mary Gifford 12 1900 (has links)
In eighteenth-century Britain, many aristocrats studied music, participated as amateurs in musical clubs, and patronized London’s burgeoning concert life. Richard Fitzwilliam, Seventh Viscount Fitzwilliam of Merrion and Thorncastle (1745-1816), was one such patron and amateur. Fitzwilliam shaped his activities – participation, patronage, and collecting – in a unique way that illustrates his specialized tastes and interests. While as an amateur musician he sang in the Noblemen’s and Gentlemen’s Catch Club (the premiere social club dedicated to musical performance), he rose to the highest level of patronage by spearheading the Handel Commemoration Festival of 1784 and serving for many years as a Director of the Concert of Antient Music, the most prestigious concert series in Georgian Britain. His lasting legacy, however, was his bequest to Cambridge University of his extensive collection of art, books and music, as well as sufficient funds to establish the Fitzwilliam Museum. At the time of his death, Fitzwilliam’s collection of music was the best in the land, save that in the Royal Library. Thus, his collection is ideally suited for examination as proof of his activities, taste and connoisseurship. Moreover, the music in Fitzwilliam’s collection shows his participation in the contemporary musicological debate, evidenced by his advocacy for ancient music, his agreement with the views of Charles Avison and his support for the music of Domenico Scarlatti. On one side of this debate were proponents of learned, ancient music, such as Fitzwilliam and Avison, whose Essay on Musical Expression of 1752 was a milestone in musical criticism. On the other side of the discussion were advocates for the more modern, “classical” style and genres, led by historian Charles Burney.
988

A casework review of sexual assault evidence collection kit smear slides received by Boston Police Department crime laboratory and reported time since intercourse

Swart, Cassandra Arlene 14 June 2019 (has links)
In the field of forensic biology, the term “time since intercourse (TSI)” is used to describe the approximate time elapsed between an alleged sexual assault and the collection of a Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit (SAECK) from a victim. The estimation of TSI, or Post Coital Interval (PCI), can be crucial information for particular cases in which the time between offense and the collection of a SAECK is in question. Oftentimes, forensic scientists must evaluate the significance of biological test results from evidence in SAECKs, but the variability in current literature complicates interpreting these results. Developing a reliable framework to estimate TSI based on a more extensive review of forensic casework would provide investigators with a fundamental tool for estimating a general timeline in which the offense occurred. This information may play an important role in supporting or refuting a narrative, or weighing the significance of the evidence at hand. This study aims to develop a dependable framework for estimating TSI in living victims based on casework received by Boston Police Department (BPD) Crime Laboratory, Boston, MA. Additionally, this study seeks to determine if any significance exists between the victim’s reported post coital activities and the collection of evidence, including the presence of intact sperm cells. The need to expand research on estimating TSI for sexual assault victims using actual forensic casework is crucial to provide a more reliable method for TSI estimation, compared to previous studies, which have generally been based on fertility studies. Between the years of 2009 and 2017, over 1,800 reported SAECKs were submitted to the Boston Police Department for evidence processing. More than 500 of these kits met the qualifications for this study, including: a living victim, smear slides prepared by a medical professional, and the identification of sperm cells during original kit processing. In order to estimate TSI, the smear slides from these cases were microscopically examined for the presence of intact sperm cells with the aid of Kernechtrot Picroindigocarmine (KPIC) stain. Based on casework received by the BPD, the maximum TSI reported for observing intact spermatozoa on vaginal smear slides was 105 hours, with an average collection time of 15 hours. The maximum TSI in which intact spermatozoa were observed on anorectal smear slides was 17.75 hours, with an average collection time of 7.9 hours. The average collection time in which intact spermatozoa on oral smear slides were observed was 6.9 hours, with a maximum reported TSI of 13.5 hours. Moreover, data from this study indicates a positive relationship between the total number of post coital activities completed before kit collection and the passage of time. Overall, this study provides reliable evidence based on actual casework samples for more accurately estimating the timeframe in which sperm evidence can be recovered after intercourse in living victims of sexual assault crimes.
989

Preserving Legacy: The Development of the Design Workshop Archives and Digital Collection at Utah State University

Dunlap, Amanda J. 01 May 2014 (has links)
The Design Workshop Archives and Digital Collection offer a unique opportunity for analysis of the archival process for landscape architecture collections. The goal of this project was to analyze the format of landscape architecture archive collections and design protocol for the creation of the Design Workshop Archives and Digital Collection. A review of best practices and experimentation has guided the appraisal and accessioning of four of Design Workshop’s Legacy Projects. The integration of a digital collection gathered from physical drawings, paper manuscripts, and computer files offers unique opportunities to establish standards and procedures for the creation of an archive at a university campus. The collaboration of professionals, archivists, and landscape architecture staff to create the archives has proven to be useful in many ways. The result is a manual composed of a review of best practices along with an account of the accessioning process undertaken in the creation of this new collection. Scholarly review of the archives evidenced the need for an altered approach to the archiving process in order to support the creation of the digital collection and the quantity of project material. Additional measures were created to appropriately represent and preserve the unique visual components of the works.
990

The decline and conservation status of North American bumble bees

Koch, Jonathan B. 01 August 2011 (has links)
Several reports of North American bumble bee (Bombus Latreille) decline have been documented across the continent, but no study has fully assessed the geographic scope of decline. In this study I discuss the importance of Natural History Collections (NHC) in estimating historic bumble bee distributions and abundances, as well as in informing current surveys. To estimate changes in distribution and relative abundance I compare historic data assembled from a >73,000 specimen database with a contemporary 3-year survey of North American bumble bees across 382 locations in the contiguous U.S.A. Based on my results, four historically abundant bumble bees, B. affinis, B. occidentalis, B. pensylvanicus and B. terricola, have declined by 72 - 96% relative abundance across their native distribution, while B. bifarius, B. bimaculatus, B. impatiens, and B. vosnesenskii appear to be relatively stable. Finally, I provide some notes on the distribution, abundance, and frequency of Nosema bombi infections in Alaskan B. occidentalis.

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