New principles and criteria in assessing pathogenic and opportunistic microorganisms

Using the ecological and natural-science approaches, the authors have come to the conclusion that microorganisms, pathogenic for humans (animals), are their parasites for whom the disease of their biological host is the necessary condition of their existence as a biological species. And accordingly, microorganisms, opportunistic in humans (animals) are their parasites and commensals, as well as saprophytes, for whom the disease of their host is not the necessary condition of their existence in nature. The biological host is a symbion necessary for the existence of pathogenic and most opportunistic microorganisms, but for a pathogenic microorganism the disease of the host is the result of symbiotic relationships, while for an opportunistic microorganism the disease of the host is the consequence of disturbances in symbiotic relationships. Such view of pathogenicity is important for creating a scientifically grounded theory of the liquidation of human infectious diseases.     

New criteria for evaluation of soil bacterial complexes

The initial concentration of prokaryotic microorganisms, the type of their growth, doubling time, and the growth dynamics of bacteria and actinomycetes in three types of soil (meadow, chestnut, and soddy forest) were evaluated by the luminescence microscopic analysis of soil samples incubated in a humid chamber for 1 day. Soddy forest and chestnut soils differed in most of the parameters analyzed. Meadow soil was close to soddy forest soil in some parameters and to chestnut soil in other parameters. All soil suspensions exhibited high growth rates of bacteria and actinomycetes, indicating that the fraction of viable microorganisms in the soils was high.     

New stability criteria for uncertain neural networks with interval time-varying delays

This paper is concerned with the stability analysis for neural networks with interval time-varying delays and parameter uncertainties. An approach combining the Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional with the differential inequality and linear matrix inequality techniques is taken to investigate this problem. By constructing a new Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and introducing some free weighting matrices, some less conservative delay-derivative-dependent and delay-derivative-independent stability criteria are established in term of linear matrix inequality. And the new criteria are applicable to both fast and slow time-varying delays. Three numerical examples show that the proposed criterion are effective and is an improvement over some existing results in the literature.     

New diagnostic reporting format for endometrial cytology based on cytoarchitectural criteria

Objective:  The aim of this study was to develop a new reporting format for endometrial cytology that would standardize the diagnostic criteria and the terminology used for reporting.
Methods:  In previous studies, cytoarchitectural criteria were found to be useful for the cytological assessment of endometrial lesions. To apply these criteria, an appropriate cytological specimen is imperative. In this article, the requirements of an adequate endometrial cytological specimen for the new diagnostic criteria are first discussed. Then, the diagnostic criteria, standardized on a combination of conventional and cytoarchitectural criteria, are presented. Third, terminology that could be used, not only for reporting the histopathological diagnosis, but also for providing better guidance for the gynaecologist to determine further clinical action, is introduced. The proposed reporting format was investigated using endometrial cytology of 58 cases that were cytologically underestimated or overestimated compared to the histopathological diagnosis made on the subsequent endometrial biopsy or surgical specimens.
Results:  Of the 58 cases, 12 were reassessed as being unsatisfactory for evaluation. Among the remaining 46 cases, 25 of the 27 cases, which had been underestimated and subsequently diagnosed as having endometrial carcinoma or a precursor stage on histopathological examination,were reassessed as recommended for endometrial biopsy. On the other hand, 19 cases overestimated by cytology were all reassessed as not requiring biopsy.
Conclusions:  The reporting format for endometrial cytology proposed in this article may improve diagnostic accuracy and reduce the number of patients managed inappropriately.     

New method and criteria for national assessments of threatened habitat types

Consistent information on threatened habitat types is needed for land use planning and for prioritizing conservation, management, and restoration actions. However, detailed background data for assessing extinction risks of habitat types exists only in few countries. We present a new, flexible procedure for assigning habitat types into Red List Categories similar to those used for species by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The procedure allows variation in the character or scale of assessment units and it is applicable even with incomplete data. The assessment protocol consists of two primary criteria: the change in the quantity and the change in the quality of the habitat type. The criteria are analyzed by expert groups with a transparent and repeatable stepwise procedure. The quantitative and qualitative changes in habitat types over the last 50 years serve as a starting point for the assessment, and the status is adjusted by assessing sub-criteria that address earlier changes, predicted future change, and the overall commonness or rarity of the habitat type. We also report the main results of the first assessment of threatened habitat types in Finland, and illustrate the application of the criteria by two case studies.     

The New Zealand priority criteria project. Part 1: Overview.

New Zealand restructured its health system in 1992 with the aim of achieving greater levels of assessment and accountability in the publicly funded health sector. A committee was established specifically to advise the minister of health on the kinds, and relative priorities, of health services that should be publicly funded. One of its projects has been to develop standardised sets of criteria to assess the extent of benefit expected from elective surgical procedures. These have been developed with the help of professional advisory groups using a modified Delphi technique to reach consensus. So far the committee has developed criteria for cataract surgery, coronary artery bypass grafting, hip and knee replacement, cholecystectomy, and tympanostomy tubes for otitis media with effusion. These criteria incorporate both clinical and social factors. Use of priority criteria to ensure consistency and transparency regarding patients'' priority for surgery is required for access to a dedicated NZ$130m (pounds 57m; US$90m) pool of money, created to help eliminate surgical waiting lists and move to booking systems. The criteria will also be used in surgical outcome studies, currently in the planning phase.     

New criteria of almost periodic solution for bam neural networks with delays and impulsive effects

This paper presents some sufficient conditions for the existence and global exponential stability of the almost periodic solution for impulsive bi-directional associative memory neural networks with time-varying delays by using Lyapunov functional and Gronwall-Bellmans inequality technique. Comparing with known literatures, the results of this paper are new and they complement previously known results.     

Diagnostic criteria for diabetes revisited: making use of combined criteria

Background  

Existing cut-offs for fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and post-load glucose (2hPG) criteria are not equivalent in the diagnosis of diabetes and glucose intolerance. Adjusting cut-offs of single measurements have not helped so we undertook this project to see if they could be complementary.     

New criteria on global exponential stability of bam neural networks with distributed delays and reaction-diffusion terms

This paper presents new theoretical results on global exponential stability of bi-directional associative memory neural networks with distributed delays and reaction-diffusion terms based on the inequality technique, Lyapunov functional, and analysis technique. The results remove the usual assumption that the activation functions are of monotonous or differential character. Exponential converging velocity index is estimated, which depends on the delay kernel functions and system parameters. Finally, two numerical examples are given to show the validity and feasibility of our results.