The solitary solutions for the stochastic fractional Chen Lee Liu model perturbed by multiplicative noise in optical fibers and plasma physics.

In this paper, we consider the stochastic fractional Chen Lee Liu model (SFCLLM). We apply the mapping method in order to get hyperbolic, elliptic, rational and trigonometric stochastic fractional solutions. These solutions are important for understanding some fundamentally complicated phenomena. The acquired solutions will be very helpful for applications such as fiber optics and plasma physics. Finally, we show how the conformable derivative order and stochastic term affect the exact solution of the SFCLLM.

Time-dependent changes in cell population data obtained using Sysmex XN-series hematology analyzer in bacterial infections.

BACKGROUND: Time-dependent changes in cell populations during acute bacterial infections remain unclear. We assessed time-dependent changes in fluorescent light intensity of the neutrophil area (NE-SFL) and fluorescent light distribution width index of the neutrophil area (NE-WY) and their association with sepsis and bacteremia. METHODS: Patients with acute bacterial infections were enrolled in this prospective, observational cohort study. Blood samples were collected from all patients at the onset of bacterial infections (day 0) and on days 1 and 3. Microbiological evaluation included the examination of blood bacterial load using PCR. Cell population data were assessed using an automated hematology analyzer (Sysmex series XN-2000). RESULTS: Forty-three participants with acute bacterial infections were enrolled in the study. Twenty-five participants developed definite sepsis. All the participants improved after the onset of infection. NE-WY levels showed significant time-dependent changes in participants with sepsis, peaking on day 0 and significantly decreasing until day 3, whereas these changes were not statistically significant for NE-SFL. A significant correlation with the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score was observed with NE-WY and NE-SFL in the entire cohort on days 0 and 1. However, only NE-WY showed a significant correlation with blood bacterial load on days 0 and 1. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that NE-WY elevation in sepsis peaked earlier than NE-SFL, which may partly reflect the early bacterial invasion into circulation. These findings advocate caution in interpreting cell population data values as sepsis biomarkers and propose the potential of NE-WY as a therapeutic indicator.

Identification and development of implementation strategies: the important role of codesign.

Background: To date, implementation strategies reported in the literature are commonly poorly described and take the implementation context insufficiently into account. To unravel the black box of implementation strategy development, insight is needed into effective theory-based and practical-informed strategies. The current study aims to describe the stepwise development of a practical-informed and theory-based implementation strategy bundle to implement ProMuscle, a nutrition and exercise intervention for community-dwelling older adults, in multiple settings in primary care. Methods: The first four steps of Implementation Mapping were adopted to develop appropriate implementation strategies. First, previously identified barriers to implementation were categorized into the constructs of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Second, the CFIR-ERIC matching tool linked barriers to existing implementation strategies. Behavioral change strategies were added from the literature where necessary. Third, evidence for implementation strategies was sought. Fourth, in codesign with involved healthcare professionals and implementation experts, implementation strategies were operationalized to practical implementation activities following the guidance provided by Proctor et al. These practical implementation activities were processed into an implementation toolbox, which can be tailored to a specific context and presents prioritized implementation activities in a chronological order. Results: A previous study identified and categorized a total of 654 barriers for the implementation of a combined lifestyle intervention within the CFIR framework. Subsequently, the barriers were linked to 40 strategies. Due to the fact that many strategies impacted multiple barriers, seven overarching themes emerged based on the strategies: assessing the context, network internally, network externally, costs, knowledge, champions, and patient needs and resources. Codesign sessions with professionals and implementation experts resulted in the development of supported and tangible implementation activities for the final 20 strategies. The implementation activities were processed into a web-based implementation toolbox, which allows healthcare professionals to tailor the implementation activities to their specific context and guides healthcare professionals to prioritize implementation activities chronologically during their implementation. Conclusion: A theory-based approach in combination with codesign sessions with stakeholders is a usable Implementation Strategy Mapping Method for developing a practical implementation strategy bundle to implement ProMuscle across multiple settings in primary care. The next step involves evaluating the developed implementation strategies, including the implementation toolbox, to assess their impact on the implementation and adoption of ProMuscle.

An Automatic Needle Puncture Path-Planning Method for Thermal Ablation of Lung Tumors.

Computed tomography (CT)-guided thermal ablation is an emerging treatment method for lung tumors. Ablation needle path planning in preoperative diagnosis is of critical importance. In this work, we proposed an automatic needle path-planning method for thermal lung tumor ablation. First, based on the improved cube mapping algorithm, binary classification was performed on the surface of the bounding box of the patient's CT image to obtain a feasible puncture area that satisfied all hard constraints. Then, for different clinical soft constraint conditions, corresponding grayscale constraint maps were generated, respectively, and the multi-objective optimization problem was solved by combining Pareto optimization and weighted product algorithms. Finally, several optimal puncture paths were planned within the feasible puncture area obtained for the clinicians to choose. The proposed method was evaluated with 18 tumors of varying sizes (482.79 mm3 to 9313.81 mm3) and the automatically planned paths were compared and evaluated with manually planned puncture paths by two clinicians. The results showed that over 82% of the paths (74 of 90) were considered reasonable, with clinician A finding the automated planning path superior in 7 of 18 cases, and clinician B in 9 cases. Additionally, the time efficiency of the algorithm (35 s) was much higher than that of manual planning. The proposed method is expected to aid clinicians in preoperative path planning for thermal ablation of lung tumors. By providing a valuable reference for the puncture path during preoperative diagnosis, it may reduce the clinicians' workload and enhance the objectivity and rationality of the planning process, which in turn improves the effectiveness of treatment.

Percolation Effect on the Complex Permittivities of Polymer Blends.

This study focuses on the measurement and analysis of the complex permittivities of polymer blends using the field enhancement method (FEM). The blends, consisting of air-powder or solvent-solute mixtures, are placed in a Teflon holder and inserted into the FEM cavity to determine the complex permittivity. The resonant frequency and quality factor of the FEM cavity coupled with the samples provide information on the blends' dielectric constant and loss tangents. To extract the complex permittivities of three specific samples of DC-840, MCL-805, and MCL-Siloxane, we employ effective medium theories and the high-frequency structure simulator (HFSS) together with the measured data. The results reveal that when the volume fraction of the DC-840 solute in the xylene solvent surpasses a specific threshold, the dielectric constants and the loss tangents experience a notable increase. This phenomenon, known as percolation, strongly correlates with the viscosity of polymer blends. The observed percolation effect on the dielectric behavior is further elucidated using the generalized dielectric constant and the Debye model. By employing these models, the percolation effect and its impact on the dielectric properties of the blends can be explained.

Observational evidence for detrimental impact of inhaled ozone on human respiratory system.

The detrimental influence of inhaled ozone on human respiratory system is ambiguous due to the complexity of dose response relationship between ozone and human respiratory system. This study collects inhaled ozone concentration and respiratory disease data from Shenzhen City to reveal the impact of ozone on respiratory diseases using the Generalized Additive Models (GAM) and Convergent Cross Mapping (CCM) method at the 95% confidence level. The result of GAM exhibits a partially significant lag effect on acute respiratory diseases in cumulative mode. Since the traditional correlation analysis is incapable of capturing causality, the CCM method is applied to examine whether the inhaled ozone affects human respiratory system. The results demonstrate that the inhaled ozone has a significant causative impact on hospitalization rates of both upper and lower respiratory diseases. Furthermore, the harmful causative effects of ozone to the human health are varied with gender and age. Females are more susceptible to inhaled ozone than males, probably because of the estrogen levels and the differential regulation of lung immune response. Adults are more sensitive to ozone exposure than children, potentially due to the fact that children need longer time to react to ozone stress than adults, and the elderly are more tolerant than adults and children, which may be related to pulmonary hypofunction of the elderly while has little correlation with ozone exposure.

Influence of Circular through Hole in Pt-Rh Bushing on Temperature Propagation at High Temperature.

In the fiberglass industry, Pt-Rh bushings made of platinum and rhodium have very good characteristics, such as high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, oxidation resistance, and creep resistance. In this paper, a semi-infinite lath structure model is constructed, and the expression of the surface temperature distribution of a Pt-Rh alloy plate with a circular through hole is obtained based on the non-Fourier heat conduction equation, complex function method and conformal mapping method. At the same time, the influence of the position of the circular through hole in the Pt-Rh bushing and the parameters of the incident light source (Non-diffusion incident wave number and relative thermal diffusion length) on the surface temperature distribution of the Pt-Rh bushing is studied by using this formula. It is found that: 1. heat concentration and fracture are occur easily at the through hole; 2. when the through hole is in the asymmetric center, the greater the asymmetry, the smaller the maximum temperature amplitude; 3. when the buried depth of the through hole increases, the maximum temperature amplitude decreases; 4. when the incident wave number and the relative thermal diffusion length of the incident light source are larger, the maximum temperature amplitude is smaller. The numerical results are almost consistent with those of ANSYS thermal simulation. The expression of the surface temperature distribution of the semi-infinite lath structure proposed in this paper can effectively reduce the loss of precious metal materials and the time of thermal simulation in the experimental process, as well as provide important significance for structural design, quality inspection, process optimization, and service life improvement of Pt-Rh bushings.

Contributions of Emphysema and Functional Small Airway Disease on Intrapulmonary Vascular Volume in COPD.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that there is a certain correlation between emphysema and changes in pulmonary small blood vessels in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but most of them were limited to the investigation of the inspiratory phase. The emphysema indicators need to be further optimized. Based on the parametric response mapping (PRM) method, this study aimed to investigate the effect of emphysema and functional small airway disease on intrapulmonary vascular volume (IPVV). Methods: This retrospective study enrolled 63 healthy subjects and 47 COPD patients, who underwent both inspiratory and expiratory CT scans of the chest and pulmonary function tests (PFTs). Inspiratory and expiratory IPVV were measured by using an automatic pulmonary vessels integration segmentation approach, the ratio of emphysema volume (Emph%), functional small airway disease volume (fsAD%), and normal areas volume (Normal%) were quantified by the PRM method for biphasic CT scans. The participants were grouped according to PFTs. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Kruskal-Wallis H-test were used to analyze the differences in indicators between different groups. Then, Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were used to analyze the correlation between Emph%, fsAD%, Normal%, PFTs, and IPVV. Finally, multiple linear regression was applied to analyze the effects of Emph% and fsAD% on IPVV. Results: Differences were found in age, body mass index (BMI), smoking index, FEV1%, FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC), expiratory IPVV, IPVV relative value, IPVV difference value, Emph%, fsAD%, and Normal% between the groups (P<0.05). A strong correlation was established between the outcomes of PFTs and quantitative CT indexes. Finally, the effect of Emph% was more significant than that of fsAD% on expiratory IPVV, IPVV difference value, and IPVV relative value. Conclusion: IPVV may have a potential value in assessing COPD severity and is significantly affected by emphysema.

Migration and diffusion characteristics of air pollutants and meteorological influences in Northwest China: a case study of four mining areas.

In the process of exploiting mineral resources, dust enters the environment through air suspended particles and surface runoff, which has a serious impact on the atmospheric environment and human health. From all-year and seasonal scenarios, the migration trajectories and cumulative concentration based on the secondary development of Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) in four mining areas (SF, BC, SJZ, and MJT) in Northwest China are studied. The convergent cross mapping (CCM) method is used to study the causal relationship between concentration and meteorological factors. In this process, the problem of missing non-station meteorological data is solved with the help of the inverse distance weighted interpolation method, and the problem in which the convergence requirements of the CCM algorithm cannot meet the requirements is solved with the bootstrap method. The results indicated that the short path has the characteristics of slow movement, short migration path, low altitude(< 1 km), and high contribution rate, while the long path has the opposite characteristics. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that the concentration is centered on the pollution source and diffuses around, with a diffusion radius of 220-270 km, showing a serious pollution center and slight gradient settlement on the edge, but the overall distribution of accumulated concentration is uneven. The results also show that temperature (TEMP and S_TEMP), evaporation, and air pressure are the main meteorological factors affecting the all-year concentration. The concentration and meteorological factors in the four mining areas also show significant seasonal characteristics, and the correlation in spring, summer, and autumn is stronger than that in winter. This study not only provides a reference for the green and sustainable exploitation of mineral resources but also provides theoretical support for the joint prevention and control of transboundary pollution.

Heterogeneous material mapping methods for patient-specific finite element models of pelvic trabecular bone: A convergence study.

Patient-specific finite element (FE) models of bone require the assignment of heterogeneous material properties extracted from the subject's computed tomography (CT) images. Though node-based (NB) and element-based (EB) material mapping methods (MMMs) have been proposed, the sensitivity and convergence of FE models to MMM for varying mesh sizes are not well understood. In this work, CT-derived and synthetic bone material data were used to evaluate the effect of MMM on results from FE analyses. Pelvic trabecular bone data was extracted from CT images of six subjects, while synthetic data were created to resemble trabecular bone properties. The numerical convergence of FE bone models using different MMMs were evaluated for strain energy, von-Mises stress, and strain. NB and EB MMMs both demonstrated good convergence regarding total strain energy, with the EB method having a slight edge over the NB. However, at the local level (e.g., maximum stress and strain), FE results were sensitive to the field type, MMM, and the FE mesh size. The EB method exhibited superior performance in finer meshes relative to the voxel size. The NB method converged better than did the EB method for coarser meshes. These findings may lead to higher-fidelity patient-specific FE bone models.

Measuring the Complex Permittivities of Plastics in Irregular Shapes.

This work presents the measurement of the complex permittivities of high density polyethylene (HDPE), linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), Nylon, and thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPV) in irregular shapes at the microwave frequency. A Teflon sample holder was employed to pack irregularly shaped plastic materials with various volumetric percentages. The samples were put into a resonant cavity with an enhanced electric field in its center, which is known as the enhanced-field method (EFM). The resonant frequencies and the quality factors at different volumetric percentages were measured by a network analyzer and compared with simulated results using a full-wave simulator (high-frequency structure simulator (HFSS)). Three simulation models, layer, ring, and hybrid, are proposed and compared with the experimental results. It is found that the hybrid model (denoted as Z5R5) with five heights and five radii in the partition is the most suitable. The complex permittivities of six plastic materials were evaluated by the contour maps of the HFSS simulation using the hybrid model. The measured complex permittivities of the irregularly shaped polymers agree well with their counterparts in bulk form.

Study on the Influence of Geometric Characteristics of Grain Membranes on Permeability Properties in Porous Sandstone.

Studying the influence of grain characteristics on fluid flow in complex porous rock is one of the most important premises to reveal the permeability mechanism. Previous studies have mainly investigated the fluid flow laws in complex rock structures using an uncontrollable one single parameter of natural rock models or oversimplified control group models. In order to solve these problems, this paper proposes a novel method to reconstruct models that can independently control one single parameter of rock grain membranes based on mapping and reverse-mapping ideas. The lattice Boltzmann method is used to analyze the influence of grain parameters (grain radius, space, roundness, orientation, and model resolution) on the permeability characteristics (porosity, connectivity, permeability, flow path, and flow velocity). Results show that the grain radius and space have highly positive and negative correlations with permeability properties. The effect of grain roundness and resolution on permeability properties shows a strong regularity, while grain orientation on permeability properties shows strong randomness. This study is of great significance to reveal the fluid flow laws of natural rock structures.

Infected simple renal cyst due to Streptococcus pneumoniae rapidly diagnosed by the melting temperature mapping method: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous infection of preexisting solitary renal cysts has been documented in adults but is extremely rare in children. To date, no cases of simple renal cysts infected with Streptococcus pneumoniae have been described. Recently, reports have described the diagnosis of bacterial infection using the 16 S rRNA gene as well as the accompanying antimicrobial stewardship for microorganisms that are difficult to culture and for culture-negative cases after preceding antibacterial administration. CASE PRESENTATION: A four-year-old Japanese girl who had a pleuroperitoneal shunt inserted to drain a right pleural effusion due to occlusion of the hepatic portion of the inferior vena cava at three years old visited our hospital due to fever and respiratory discomfort. She was incidentally found to have a right simple renal cyst 10 months before admission. The patient was suspected to have pneumonitis or catheter-related blood stream infection on chest X-ray, which showed right-side pleural effusion. She was diagnosed with invasive pneumococcal infection, as Streptococcus pneumoniae was detected from blood culture on admission. Transient improvements in her symptoms and decreases in the white blood cell count and C-reactive protein level were observed after effective antibiotic administration, but her respiratory condition deteriorated. Enhanced CT showed right renal cyst enlargement and enhancement and thickening of the surrounding wall. Using the melting temperature (Tm) mapping method, S. pneumoniae was rapidly detected directly from pus 4.5 hours after drainage. The specimen culture was negative, but the extracted 16 S rDNA sequence revealed 100 % identity for S. pneumoniae from the same specimen the subsequent day. We successfully performed optimal treatment and reduced medical cost based on the positive Tm mapping method result. CONCLUSIONS: We report the first case of a S. pneumoniae-infected simple renal cyst. The drainage culture was negative, but the Tm mapping method rapidly detected S. pneumoniae directly from the drainage. The Tm mapping method may have great impacts on rapid diagnosis and effective antimicrobial stewardship.

Current Status of Research on the Mapping Function of Health Utility Values in the Asia Pacific Region: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVES: This systematic review aimed to analyze the published studies on the use of the mapping method between generic scales and disease-specific scales as well as between 2 universal scales. METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted using PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, CNKI, Weipa Database, Wanfang Database, and HERC Database to collect articles about the application of the mapping method to the measurement of health utility value from January 2000 to December 2019. RESULTS: Overall, 59 articles met the inclusion requirements, and most of them were a mapping study between a disease-specific scale and a generic scale. Then all these articles were classified by the following study types: a clear functional relationship; unclear functional relationship; disease-specific scale and universality; mapping between generic scales and disease-specific scales, and mapping between universal scales. Most studies derived the best mapping model from the ordinary least squares regression, and fewer studies chose to use new regression methods. Sample sizes in the retrieved studies generally affected the reliability of the study results. CONCLUSIONS: In recent years, as more attention has been paid to the research of the mapping method, a large number of problems have followed, such as the selection of scale types, the coverage of the study sample, and the selection of evaluation index of model performance and sample size. It is hoped that these problems can be properly solved in the future research.

A new method for estimating three-dimensional movement of the patella using a surface mapping method and computed tomography.

INTRODUCTION: A previous study reported a method called the 2D-3D registration technique to examine three-dimensional movement of the patella. However, that method requires a biplane fluoroscopy system. In the present study, the aim was to establish a new method (CT-based surface mapping method) to estimate three-dimensional positions and angles of the patella with a motion capture system and CT. METHODS: In Study 1, the most appropriate parameters for the CT-based surface mapping method (i.e., target edge length, threshold of thickness of the soft tissue, and minimum distance between markers) were explored and determined. In Study 2, three-dimensional movement (i.e., positions and angles) of the patella using the CT-based surface mapping method and the most appropriate parameters were determined, and they were compared with the true positions and angles obtained by CT. RESULTS: The results of Study 1 showed that the most appropriate conditions were as follows: (1) target edge length, 3 mm; (2) threshold of thickness of the soft tissue, 0-20 mm; and (3) minimum distance between markers, 10 mm. The results of Study 2 showed that the errors of the positions and angles were less than approximately 10 mm and 10° at most, respectively (both supine and sitting positions). CONCLUSION: The CT-based surface mapping method may be useful for a future study to clarify differences in three-dimensional movements of the patella between patients with patellar tendinitis and healthy subjects.

Concept Mapping of Career Motivation of Women With Higher Education.

The purpose of the present study was to identify and categorize career motivations in highly educated married Korean women. Twenty-five participants who are working were interviewed and asked why they continue their work despite various difficulties. Sixty-seven career persistence motivations were elicited and reliably organized into six categories: low interest in childcare and household labor, family-related motives, high need for achievement, financial problems/needs, self-actualization and job satisfaction, and positive perception of working women. This study is significant as it conceptualizes the motivation for career persistence as the major variable affecting highly educated married women's decision to continue their careers and establishes the theoretical basis for future research.

Bibliometric Study on Health Utility Value Obtained by Mapping Method in Pharmacoeconomic Evaluation / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE：To know about the research status of health utility value obtained by mapping method in pharmacoeconomic evaluation ，and to provide reference for bibliometric study in pharmacoeconomic evaluation . METHODS ： Using“Mapping method ”“Health utility value ”“Cost-utility”“Utility point system ”as Chinese and English keywords ，retrieved from CNKI ，Wanfang database ，PubMed，Medline，Ebsco，Ovid and Wiley database ，empirical journal documents published from the inception to Dec. 31st，2018 about using mapping method to obtain health utility value were collected. The bibliometrics was used to statistically analyze basic information of included literature ，the construction and test of the model ，the type of the best model and so on. RESULTS ：The 124 included documents were all published in English journal. In the construction and testing of the mapping model ，the most frequently used econometric methods ，performance evaluation indicators and model testing methods were ordinary least squares （OLS），mean absolute error （MAE）and residual normality test ，application frequency of which were 97 times（31.60％），89 times（24.93％）and 62 times（21.09％）. There are 117 articles that define the best mapping model ，of which 101 articles（86.32％）have the best direct mapping effect. Most of the non-utility measurement scales adopted specific scales （92 articles，77.97％），and a few literatures adopted the universal scale （26 articles，22.03％）. The most utility measurement scales were 3-level European 5-dimensional health scale （79 articles，66.95％）. CONCLUSIONS ：The domestic empirical researches that use the mapping method to obtain health utility values need to be developed yet. A series of mapping models successfully developed by foreign scholars not only provide the feasibility of using non-utility measurement scales for cost-utility analysis ，but also provide more ideas for China to choose the corresponding econometric methods ，evaluation indicators and mapping methods in the empirical research of the mapping method in the future.

Ablation in Persistent Atrial Fibrillation Using Stochastic Trajectory Analysis of Ranked Signals (STAR) Mapping Method.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to demonstrate that a stochastic vector-based mapping approach could guide ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) drivers as evidenced by ablation response and long-term follow-up outcomes. BACKGROUND: The optimal method for mapping and ablation of AF drivers is yet to be defined. METHODS: Patients undergoing persistent AF ablation were recruited. Patients underwent pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) with further ablation guided by the stochastic trajectory analysis of ranked signals (STAR) mapping method. The proportion of the time an electrode's activation was seen to precede its neighboring electrodes activation was used to determine early sites of activation (ESA). A positive ablation response at ESA was defined as AF termination or cycle length slowing of ≥30 ms. Clinical outcome was defined as recurrence of AF/atrial tachycardia (AT) during a follow-up of 12 months. RESULTS: Thirty-five patients were included (AF duration of 14.4 ± 5.3 months). After PVI, an average of 2.6 ± 0.8 ESA were ablated per patient with study-defined ablation response achieved in all patients. Of the 86 STAR maps created post-PVI, the same ESA was identified on 73.8 ± 26.1% of maps. ESA that resulted in AF termination were more likely to be identified on both pre- and post-PVI maps than those associated with cycle length slowing (23 of 24 vs. 16 of 49; p < 0.001). During a follow-up of 18.5 ± 3.7 months, 28 (80%) patients were free from AF/AT. CONCLUSIONS: The ablation response at ESA suggests they may be drivers of AF. Ablation guided by STAR mapping produced a favorable clinical outcome and warrants testing through a randomized controlled trial. (Identification, Electro-mechanical Characterisation and Ablation of Driver Regions in Persistent Atrial Fibrillation [STAR MAPPING]; NCT02950844).

Data on THMs concentration and spatial trend in water distribution network (a preliminary study in center of Iran).

The Trihalomethanes (THMs) formed due to a reaction between water disinfection chlorine and some natural organic matters, as chlorinated by products. The aim of this study was determination of THMs values and spatial trend in Yazd city water distribution network, in center of Iran. Sampling of tap water was done in two autumn and winter seasons. The THMs value were measured by using a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC/MS), Agilent Company 6890 N. The spatial analysis of THMs values was carried out using ArcGIS 10.1 to show the spatial spreading. The Kriging method was used to draw distribution maps. Using the Kriging method to illustrate the difference or precision of forecasts is relatively easy compared to the other interpolation methods. Also, the acceptable level of % RMSE (Root mean square error) was calculated for Kriging method (% RMSE > 40). Thus, this protocol as integrated between data and geraphic could easily used for reporting of THMs level in studies of water distribution network. Finally, the maximum THMs value were obtained lower than USEPA and WHO guidelines for drinking water (THMs < 40 ppb).

Development, in vitro validation and human application of a novel method to identify arrhythmia mechanisms: The stochastic trajectory analysis of ranked signals mapping method.

INTRODUCTION: Stochastic trajectory analysis of ranked signals (STAR) is a novel method for mapping arrhythmia. The aim was to describe its development and validation as a mapping tool. METHODS AND RESULTS: The method ranks electrodes in terms of the proportion of the time they lead relative to neighboring electrodes and ascribes a predominant direction of activation between electrodes. This was conceived with the aim of mapping atrial fibrillation (AF) drivers. Validation of this approach was performed in stages. First, in vitro simultaneous multi-electrode array and optical mapping were performed on spontaneously fibrillating HL1 cell cultures, to determine if such a method would be able to determine early sites of activation (ESA). A clinical study acquiring unipolar electrograms using a 64-pole basket for the purposes of STAR mapping in patients undergoing atrial tachycardia (AT) ablation. STAR maps were analyzed by physicians to see if arrhythmia mechanisms could be correctly determined. Mapping was then repeated during atrial pacing. STAR mapping of in vitro activation sequences accurately correlated to the optical maps of planar and rotational activation. Thirty-two ATs were mapped in 25 patients. The ESA accurately identified focal/micro-reentrant ATs and the mechanism of macro-reentrant ATs was effectively demonstrated. STAR method accurately identified four pacing sites in all patients. CONCLUSIONS: This novel STAR method correlated well with the gold standard of optical mapping in vitro and was able to accurately identify AT mechanisms. Further analysis is needed to determine whether the method might be of use mapping AF.