Optimal Piecewise Linear Function Approximation for GPU-Based Applications.

Many computer vision and human-computer interaction applications developed in recent years need evaluating complex and continuous mathematical functions as an essential step toward proper operation. However, rigorous evaluation of these kind of functions often implies a very high computational cost, unacceptable in real-time applications. To alleviate this problem, functions are commonly approximated by simpler piecewise-polynomial representations.

The Impact of Polyvictimization on Delinquency Among Latino Adolescents: A General Strain Theory Perspective.

Although criminological research has provided support for general strain theory (GST), there is still little known about the relationship between victimization and delinquency among Latino adolescents. This study seeks to fill the gap in the literature by examining the association between a broader measure of victimization (i.e.

Tool for Semiautomatic Labeling of Moving Objects in Video Sequences: TSLAB.

An advanced and user-friendly tool for fast labeling of moving objects captured with surveillance sensors is proposed, which is available to the public. This tool allows the creation of three kinds of labels: moving objects, shadows and occlusions. These labels are created at both the pixel level and object level, which makes them suitable to assess the quality of both moving object detection strategies and tracking algorithms.

Multidisciplinary perspective of hepatocellular carcinoma: A Pacific Northwest experience.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most rapidly increasing type of cancer in the United States. HCC is a highly malignant cancer, accounting for at least 14000 deaths in the United States annually, and it ranks third as a cause of cancer mortality in men. One major difficulty is that most patients with HCC are diagnosed when the disease is already at an advanced stage, and the cancer cannot be surgically removed.

Explaining pharmacophobia and pharmacophilia in psychiatric patients: relationship with treatment adherence.

Objective: The objective of this study is to assess psychiatric patient attitudes towards psychotropic medication and their association with adherence, as well as to identify the factors that influence these attitudes.

Methods: Nine hundred and forty nine consecutive psychiatric outpatients categorized as "pharmacophobic" or "pharmacophilic" according to the Drug Attitude Inventory were compared with regard to adherence to prescribed treatment, socio-demographic variables, clinical characteristics, health locus of control, self-efficacy, and psychological reactance.

Results: Seventy three per cent of psychiatric outpatients showed a "pharmacophilic" attitude and 15.

A novel reporting system to improve accuracy in appendicitis imaging.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to ascertain if standardized radiologic reporting for appendicitis imaging increases diagnostic accuracy.

Materials And Methods: We developed a standardized appendicitis reporting system that includes objective imaging findings common in appendicitis and a certainty score ranging from 1 (definitely not appendicitis) through 5 (definitely appendicitis). Four radiologists retrospectively reviewed the preoperative CT scans of 96 appendectomy patients using our reporting system.

Imaging Techniques for the Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Several imaging modalities are available for diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Purpose: To evaluate the test performance of imaging modalities for HCC.

Data Sources: MEDLINE (1998 to December 2014), the Cochrane Library Database, Scopus, and reference lists.

β-Catenin-Dependent Signaling Pathway Contributes to Renal Fibrosis in Hypertensive Rats.

The mechanism of hypertension-induced renal fibrosis is not well understood, although it is established that high levels of angiotensin II contribute to the effect. Since β-catenin signal transduction participates in fibrotic processes, we evaluated the contribution of β-catenin-dependent signaling pathway in hypertension-induced renal fibrosis. Two-kidney one-clip (2K1C) hypertensive rats were treated with lisinopril (10 mg/kg/day for four weeks) or with pyrvinium pamoate (Wnt signaling inhibitor, single dose of 60 ug/kg, every 3 days for 2 weeks).

Psychometric properties of the eight-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) in a psychiatric outpatient setting.

The eight-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) is a structured self-report measure of medication-taking behavior that has been widely used in various cultures. In Spain, no studies to date have analyzed the psychometric properties of the scale in psychiatric care. The purpose of the present instrumental study was to determine the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the MMAS-8 in a sample of 967 consecutive psychiatric outpatients.

What do psychiatric patients believe regarding where control over their illness lies? Validation of the multidimensional health locus of control scale in psychiatric outpatient care.

Patients' perceived control constructs are important factors moderating health-related behaviors. We established the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Form C Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale (C-MHLC) and assessed the usefulness of these measures in the clinical setting. A cross-sectional survey querying about patients' health locus of control (HLOC) beliefs was offered to 607 psychiatric outpatients, of whom 507 accepted.

Violence Against Latinas: The Effects of Undocumented Status on Rates of Victimization and Help-Seeking.

This study investigated whether legal status was related to interpersonal victimization and help-seeking by comparing Latina immigrants with permanent legal status with Latina immigrants who are undocumented on rates of reported interpersonal victimization, types of perpetrators, and rates of help-seeking. Data come from the Sexual Assault Among Latinas (SALAS) study, which interviewed 1,377 immigrant Latinas about their lifetime histories of sexual assault, physical assault, stalking, and threats along with help-seeking efforts. Results did not reveal significant differences between legal status and reported victimization rates or types of perpetrators.

The relationship of psychological reactance, health locus of control and sense of self-efficacy with adherence to treatment in psychiatric outpatients with depression.

Background: Although non-adherence to antidepressant medications is a significant barrier to the successful treatment of depression in clinical practice, few potentially modifiable predictors of poor adherence to antidepressant treatment are known. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship of psychological reactance, health locus of control and the sense of self-efficacy on adherence to treatment regimen among psychiatric outpatients with depression.

Methods: One hundred and forty-five consecutive psychiatric outpatients suffering from depressive disorders were invited to participate in a cross-sectional study and 119 accepted.

Angiotensin II increases fibronectin and collagen I through the β-catenin-dependent signaling in mouse collecting duct cells.

The contribution of angiotensin II (ANG II) to renal and tubular fibrosis has been widely reported. Recent studies have shown that collecting duct cells can undergo mesenchymal transition suggesting that collecting duct cells are involved in interstitial fibrosis. The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays an essential role in development, organogenesis, and tissue homeostasis; however, the dysregulation of this pathway has been linked to fibrosis.

Glutathione transferase-M2-2 secreted from glioblastoma cell protects SH-SY5Y cells from aminochrome neurotoxicity.

U373MG cells are able to take up aminochrome that induces glutathione transferase M2-2 (GSTM2) expression in a concentration-dependent manner where 100 µM aminochrome increases GSTM2 expression by 2.1-fold (P < 0.001) at 3 h.

To what extent is treatment adherence of psychiatric patients influenced by their participation in shared decision making?

Rationale: Nonadherence to prescribed medications is a significant barrier to the successful treatment of psychiatric disorders in clinical practice. It has been argued that patient participation in shared decision making improves adherence to treatment plans.

Purpose: To assess to what extent treatment adherence of psychiatric patients is influenced by the concordance between their preferred participation and their actual participation in decision making.

Phormidolides B and C, cytotoxic agents from the sea: enantioselective synthesis of the macrocyclic core.

New cytotoxic polyketide macrolides named phormidolides B and C were isolated from a marine sponge of the Petrosiidae family collected off the coast of Pemba (Tanzania). The isolation, structure elucidation, and enantioselective synthesis of three diastereomers of the macrocyclic core is described herein. The described synthetic methodology started from 2-deoxy-D-ribose or 2-deoxy-L-ribose and afforded the desired macrocycles with high enantiomeric purity.

To what extent psychiatric patients feel involved in decision making about their mental health care? Relationships with socio-demographic, clinical, and psychological variables.

Background: Shared decision making (SDM) is an essential component of patient-centered care, but there is little information about its use in the psychiatric care.

Objective: To measure to what extent psychiatric patients feel they were involved in the process and steps of decision making about treatment choice and to analyse the influence of socio-demographic, clinical, and psychological processes on this perception.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey involving 1100 consecutive psychiatric outpatients invited to complete the nine-item Shared Decision-Making Questionnaire (SDM-Q-9), health locus of control and control preferences, self-efficacy and drug attitude scales, as well as a questionnaire including socio-demographic and clinical variables.

The influence of ethnic group variation on victimization and help seeking among Latino women.

Interpersonal violence research on Latinos has largely ignored the ethnic group variations that are included under the pan-ethnic term Latino. The current study adds to the literature by utilizing a national sample of Latino women to examine the interpersonal victimization experiences and help-seeking responses to victimization by ethnic group. The sample was drawn from the Sexual Assault Among Latinas Study (SALAS; Cuevas & Sabina, 2010) that surveyed 2,000 self-identified adult Latino women.

Evolution of NO₂ levels in Spain from 1996 to 2012.

We report on the evolution of tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) over Spain, focusing on the densely populated cities of Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Sevilla and Valencia, during 17 years, from 1996 to 2012. This data series combines observations from in-situ air quality monitoring networks and the satellite-based instruments GOME and SCIAMACHY. The results in these five cities show a smooth decrease in the NO2 concentrations of ~2% per year in the period 1996-2008, due to the implementation of emissions control environmental legislation, and a more abrupt descend of ~7% per year from 2008 to 2012 as a consequence of the economic recession.

Psychiatric patients' preferences and experiences in clinical decision-making: examining concordance and correlates of patients' preferences.

Objective: To assess the concordance between patients' preferred role in clinical decision-making and the role they usually experience in their psychiatric consultations and to analyze the influence of socio-demographic, clinical and personality characteristics on patients' preferences.

Methods: 677 consecutive psychiatric outpatients were invited to participate in a cross-sectional survey and 507 accepted. Patients completed Control Preference Scale twice consecutively before consultation, one for their preferences of participation and another for the style they usually experienced until then, and locus of control and self-efficacy scales.

Dating violence and interpersonal victimization among a national sample of Latino youth.

Purpose: The purpose of this analysis was (1) to provide the rates of dating violence victimization among a national sample of Latino adolescents, (2) to determine the degree to which different forms of dating violence victimization co-occurred for this sample, and (3) to determine how much dating violence victimization overlapped with other forms of non-partner-perpetrated victimization.

Method: This analysis used data from the Dating Violence Among Latinos Study, which surveyed 1,525 Latino adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 years about past-year dating violence and non-partner-perpetrated victimization. We calculated victimization rates and relative risk ratios to evaluate the co-occurrence among different forms of dating violence victimization as well as the co-occurrence of dating violence and other forms of victimization.

Toll-like receptor 2-mediated innate immune responses against Junín virus in mice lead to antiviral adaptive immune responses during systemic infection and do not affect viral replication in the brain.

Successful adaptive immunity to virus infection often depends on the initial innate response. Previously, we demonstrated that Junín virus, the etiological agent responsible for Argentine hemorrhagic fever (AHF), activates an early innate immune response via an interaction between the viral glycoprotein and Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2). Here we show that TLR2/6 but not TLR1/2 heterodimers sense Junín virus glycoprotein and induce a cytokine response, which in turn upregulates the expression of the RNA helicases RIG-I and MDA5.