Semantic Information Retrieval on Medical Texts

The explosive growth and widespread accessibility of medical information on the Internet have led to a surge of research activity in a wide range of scientific communities including health informatics and information retrieval (IR). One of the common concerns of this research, across these disciplines, is how to design either clinical decision support systems or medical search engines capable of providing adequate support for both novices (e.g., patients and their next-of-kin) and experts (e.g., physicians, clinicians) tackling complex tasks (e.g., search for diagnosis, search for a treatment). However, despite the significant multi-disciplinary research advances, current medical search systems exhibit low levels of performance. This survey provides an overview of the state of the art in the disciplines of IR and health informatics, and bridging these disciplines shows how semantic search techniques can facilitate medical IR. First,we will give a broad picture of semantic search and medical IR and then highlight the major scientific challenges. Second, focusing on the semantic gap challenge, we will discuss representative state-of-the-art work related to feature-based as well as semantic-based representation and matching models that support medical search systems. In addition to seminal works, we will present recent works that rely on research advancements in deep learning. Third, we make a thorough cross-model analysis and provide some findings and lessons learned. Finally, we discuss some open issues and possible promising directions for future research trends.

Analysis of the Shear-Thinning Viscosity Behavior of the Johnson–Segalman Viscoelastic Fluids

This paper presents a numerical comparison of viscoelastic shear-thinning fluid flow using a generalized Oldroyd-B model and Johnson–Segalman model under various settings. Results for the standard shear-thinning generalization of Oldroyd-B model are used as a reference for comparison with those obtained for the same flow cases using Johnson–Segalman model that has specific adjustment of convected derivative to assure shear-thinning behavior. The modeling strategy is first briefly described, pointing out the main differences between the generalized Oldroyd-B model (using the Cross model for shear-thinning viscosity) and the Johnson–Segalman model operating in shear-thinning regime. Then, both models are used for blood flow simulation in an idealized stenosed axisymmetric vessel under different flow rates for various model parameters. The simulations are performed using an in-house numerical code based on finite-volume discretization. The obtained results are mutually compared and discussed in detail, focusing on the qualitative assessment of the most distinct flow field differences. It is shown that despite all models sharing the same asymptotic viscosities, the behavior of the Johnson–Segalman model can be (depending on flow regime) quite different from the predictions of the generalized Oldroyd-B model.

Exploring Structural Uncertainty and Impact of Health State Utility Values on Lifetime Outcomes in Diabetes Economic Simulation Models: Findings from the Ninth Mount Hood Diabetes Quality-of-Life Challenge

Background Structural uncertainty can affect model-based economic simulation estimates and study conclusions. Unfortunately, unlike parameter uncertainty, relatively little is known about its magnitude of impact on life-years (LYs) and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) in modeling of diabetes. We leveraged the Mount Hood Diabetes Challenge Network, a biennial conference attended by international diabetes modeling groups, to assess structural uncertainty in simulating QALYs in type 2 diabetes simulation models. Methods Eleven type 2 diabetes simulation modeling groups participated in the 9th Mount Hood Diabetes Challenge. Modeling groups simulated 5 diabetes-related intervention profiles using predefined baseline characteristics and a standard utility value set for diabetes-related complications. LYs and QALYs were reported. Simulations were repeated using lower and upper limits of the 95% confidence intervals of utility inputs. Changes in LYs and QALYs from tested interventions were compared across models. Additional analyses were conducted postchallenge to investigate drivers of cross-model differences. Results Substantial cross-model variability in incremental LYs and QALYs was observed, particularly for HbA1c and body mass index (BMI) intervention profiles. For a 0.5%-point permanent HbA1c reduction, LY gains ranged from 0.050 to 0.750. For a 1-unit permanent BMI reduction, incremental QALYs varied from a small decrease in QALYs (−0.024) to an increase of 0.203. Changes in utility values of health states had a much smaller impact (to the hundredth of a decimal place) on incremental QALYs. Microsimulation models were found to generate a mean of 3.41 more LYs than cohort simulation models ( P = 0.049). Conclusions Variations in utility values contribute to a lesser extent than uncertainty captured as structural uncertainty. These findings reinforce the importance of assessing structural uncertainty thoroughly because the choice of model (or models) can influence study results, which can serve as evidence for resource allocation decisions. Highlights The findings indicate substantial cross-model variability in QALY predictions for a standardized set of simulation scenarios and is considerably larger than within model variability to alternative health state utility values (e.g., lower and upper limits of the 95% confidence intervals of utility inputs). There is a need to understand and assess structural uncertainty, as the choice of model to inform resource allocation decisions can matter more than the choice of health state utility values.

TIM: Modelling pathways to meet Ireland’s long-term energy system challenges with the TIMES-Ireland Model (v1.0)

Ireland has significantly increased its climate mitigation ambition, with a recent government commitment to reduce greenhouse-gases by an average of 7 % per year in the period to 2030 and a “net-zero” target for 2050, underpinned by a series of five-year carbon budgets. Energy systems optimisation modelling (ESOM) is a widely-used tool to inform pathways to address long-term energy challenges. This article describes a new ESOM developed to inform Ireland's energy system decarbonisation challenge. The TIMES-Ireland Model (TIM) is an optimisation model of the Irish energy system, which calculates the cost-optimal fuel and technology mix to meet future energy service demands in the transport, buildings, industry and agriculture sectors, while respecting constraints in greenhouse-gas emissions, primary energy resources and feasible deployment rates. TIM is developed to take into account Ireland's unique energy system context, including a very high potential for offshore wind energy and the challenge of integrating this on a relatively isolated grid, a very ambitious decarbonisation target in the period to 2030, the policy need to inform five-year carbon budgets to meet policy targets, and the challenge of decarbonising heat in the context of low building stock thermal efficiency and high reliance on fossil fuels. To that end, model features of note include “future proofing” with flexible temporal and spatial definitions, with a possible hourly time resolution, unit commitment and capacity expansion features in power sector, residential and passenger transport underpinned by detailed bottom-up sectoral models, cross-model harmonisation and soft-linking with demand and macro models. The paper also outlines a priority list of future model developments to better meet the challenge of deeply decarbonising energy supply and demand, taking into account equity, cost-effectiveness and technical feasibility. To support transparency and openness in decision-making, TIM is available to download under a Creative Commons licence.

The Ageing and Rejuvenation of Soft, Glassy Complex Fluids

<p>Suspensions of multiarm star polymers are studied as models for soft colloidal interactionsin colloidal glasses. Establishing a pre-shearing protocol which ensures a reproducible initial state (the "rejuvenation" of the system), we report here the stress evolution from startup for two different concentrations for a range of shear rates using conventional rheological techniques. We show the existence of critical shear rateswhich are functions of the concentration. When the suspensions are sheared at rates below the critical rates, the stress rises to a common value which is also a function of the concentration. The system thus evolves into a yield stress-like fluid. This behavior manifests itself as an evolution from a monotonic, slightly shear-thinning flow curve to a flow curve dominated by a stress plateau. Complementary to the controlled-rate measurements, stress-controlled measurementsshow that for a stress below the critical stress, the rate at which strain is acquired drops several orders of magnitude, providing evidence of a lower branch of the flow curve. In stress-controlled ageing experiments, the material recovers an increasing fraction of the strain acquired under stress with waiting time upon cessation of the (less than critical) stress. The freshly rejuvenated suspension recovers a mere 2%of the acquired strain, while for a waiting time of 104 s the material recovers 97% of the acquired strain. The material thus appears to evolve from a nearly ideal fluid to a nearly ideal solid. We relate this bulk evolution to spatially and temporally resolved Rheo-NMR velocity profiles which clearly show an evolution to a strongly shear-banded state. The velocity of the suspension in the lower shear band is below the uncertainty of the experiment. The growth of the (assumed) zero-shear band is well described by a Gompertz relation. The effects of shear-rate, temperature and waiting time on the Gompertzparameters are investigated. Phenomenological understanding is provided through a scalar model that describes the stress-dependent free-energy landscape. Using a dual-minimum free-energy landscape, the model is able to replicate the behaviour of the stress after startup in shearratecontrolled experiments, the flow curve and the velocity profiles across the gap of a Couette geometry. The Large-Amplitude-Oscillatory-Shear (LAOS) response is reported along with discussions of current LAOS analysis techniques. The stress response to LAOS of the star suspensions is well described in a Cox-Merz manner by a modified Cross model. The modified Cross model highlights an asymmetry in the LAOS response. This constitutes the first ever report of asymmetric LAOS responses. The asymmetry is followed as a function of time using two complementary scalar variables. A speculativeinterpretation is given to account for the evolution of the asymmetry.</p>

The Ageing and Rejuvenation of Soft, Glassy Complex Fluids

<p>Suspensions of multiarm star polymers are studied as models for soft colloidal interactionsin colloidal glasses. Establishing a pre-shearing protocol which ensures a reproducible initial state (the "rejuvenation" of the system), we report here the stress evolution from startup for two different concentrations for a range of shear rates using conventional rheological techniques. We show the existence of critical shear rateswhich are functions of the concentration. When the suspensions are sheared at rates below the critical rates, the stress rises to a common value which is also a function of the concentration. The system thus evolves into a yield stress-like fluid. This behavior manifests itself as an evolution from a monotonic, slightly shear-thinning flow curve to a flow curve dominated by a stress plateau. Complementary to the controlled-rate measurements, stress-controlled measurementsshow that for a stress below the critical stress, the rate at which strain is acquired drops several orders of magnitude, providing evidence of a lower branch of the flow curve. In stress-controlled ageing experiments, the material recovers an increasing fraction of the strain acquired under stress with waiting time upon cessation of the (less than critical) stress. The freshly rejuvenated suspension recovers a mere 2%of the acquired strain, while for a waiting time of 104 s the material recovers 97% of the acquired strain. The material thus appears to evolve from a nearly ideal fluid to a nearly ideal solid. We relate this bulk evolution to spatially and temporally resolved Rheo-NMR velocity profiles which clearly show an evolution to a strongly shear-banded state. The velocity of the suspension in the lower shear band is below the uncertainty of the experiment. The growth of the (assumed) zero-shear band is well described by a Gompertz relation. The effects of shear-rate, temperature and waiting time on the Gompertzparameters are investigated. Phenomenological understanding is provided through a scalar model that describes the stress-dependent free-energy landscape. Using a dual-minimum free-energy landscape, the model is able to replicate the behaviour of the stress after startup in shearratecontrolled experiments, the flow curve and the velocity profiles across the gap of a Couette geometry. The Large-Amplitude-Oscillatory-Shear (LAOS) response is reported along with discussions of current LAOS analysis techniques. The stress response to LAOS of the star suspensions is well described in a Cox-Merz manner by a modified Cross model. The modified Cross model highlights an asymmetry in the LAOS response. This constitutes the first ever report of asymmetric LAOS responses. The asymmetry is followed as a function of time using two complementary scalar variables. A speculativeinterpretation is given to account for the evolution of the asymmetry.</p>

Morphometry Difference of the Hippocampal Formation Between Blind and Sighted Individuals

The detailed morphometry alterations of the human hippocampal formation (HF) for blind individuals are still understudied. 50 subjects were recruited from Yantai Affiliated Hospital of Binzhou Medical University, including 16 congenital blindness, 14 late blindness, and 20 sighted controls. Volume and shape analysis were conducted between the blind (congenital or late) and sighted groups to observe the (sub)regional alterations of the HF. No significant difference of the hippocampal volume was observed between the blind and sighted subjects. Rightward asymmetry of the hippocampal volume was found for both congenital and late blind individuals, while no significant hemispheric difference was observed for the sighted controls. Shape analysis showed that the superior and inferior parts of both the hippocampal head and tail expanded, while the medial and lateral parts constrained for the blind individuals as compared to the sighted controls. The morphometry alterations for the congenital blind and late blind individuals are nearly the same. Significant expansion of the superior part of the hippocampal tail for both congenital and late blind groups were observed for the left hippocampi after FDR correction. Current results suggest that the cross-model plastic may occur in both hemispheres of the HF to improve the navigation ability without the stimuli of visual cues, and the alteration is more prominent for the left hemisphere.

Effects of Different Viscometer Test on Stencil Printing Process for CFD Simulation

This study discusses the use of different spindle type for the testing of lead-free solder paste by using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation. The study focuses on measuring the volume of solder paste deposition on the solder pad. Parallel-plate (PP) and Cone-plate (CP) spindle were used with five different tests consist of different spindle type and setting. The Volume of Fluid (VOF) method was used for the simulation while Cross model was applied as viscosity model for the solder paste. SAC305 type 3 lead-free solder paste was used in this study as it is mostly popular used by the industries nowadays. The solder paste filled the volume under different squeegee speeds and aperture size was compared between experiments and simulations. For different squeegee speed, PP 0.5 mm gap obtained the lowest average discrepancy value between simulation and experimental results. At different aperture size, all test show similar trend line and about the same value of average discrepancy with CP1° while PP 0.5 mm gap showed the lowest average discrepancy. At small aperture volume, all tests performed shows similar value of filled volume except PP 0.5 mm which exhibit the lowest percentage difference when compared with the experimental values at a bigger aperture volume.

Numerical Computation of MHD Thermal Flow of Cross Model over an Elliptic Cylinder: Reduction of Forces via Thickness Ratio

The present work is concerned with a comprehensive analysis of hydrodynamic forces, under MHD and forced convection thermal flow over a heated cylinder in presence of insulated plates installed at walls. The magnetic field is imposed in the transverse direction of flow. The Galerkin finite element (GFE) scheme has been used to discretize the two-dimensional system of nonlinear partial different equations. The study is executed for the varying range of flow behavior index n from 0.4 to 1.6, Hartmann number Ha from 0 to 100, Reynolds number Re from 10 to 50, Grashof number Gr from 1 to 10, thickness ratio e from 0.5 to 1.0, and Prandtl number Pr from 1 to 10, respectively. A coarse hybrid computational grid is developed, and further refinement is carried out for obtaining the highly accurate solution. The optimum case selection is based on flow patterns, drag and lift coefficients, and pressure drop reduction against cylinder thickness ratios and average Nusselt numbers. Drag coefficient increases with an increase in thickness ratio e . The drag force reduction for e = 0.5 and e = 0.75 is also observed for a range of the power law index as compared with e = 1.0 cylinder. Maximum pressure drop over the back and front points of cylinder is reported at Ha = 100 .