Business Analytics-Based Enterprise Information Systems

Big data analytics and business analytics are a disruptive technology and innovative solution for enterprise development. However, what is the relationship between business analytics, big data analytics, and enterprise information systems (EIS)? How can business analytics enhance the development of EIS? How can analytics be incorporated into EIS? These are still big issues. This article addresses these three issues by proposing ontology of business analytics, presenting an analytics service-oriented architecture (ASOA) and applying ASOA to EIS, where our surveyed data analysis showed that the proposed ASOA is viable for developing EIS. This article then examines incorporation of business analytics into EIS through proposing a model for business analytics service-based EIS, or ASEIS for short. The proposed approach in this article might facilitate the research and development of EIS, business analytics, big data analytics, and business intelligence.     

Cannulation of neonates for venovenous extracorporeal life support

Venovenous access via a double-lumen cannula in the right internal jugular vein is the extracorporeal life support mode of choice for neonates with respiratory failure. We report a simplified method of cannulation. The advantages of this "semi-Seldinger" method include the ability to cannulate without ligating the internal jugular vein, and to adjust the position of the cannula and decannulate without re-exploring the wound.     

Velocity mapping of coronary artery blood flow

A segmentedk-space gradient-echo phase velocity mapping sequence has been developed for the measurement of through-plane and in-plane coronary artery blood flow velocity in a single breath-hold. The sequence was validated in phantom models representing stenosed and unste-nosed coronary arteries and also in the descending aortas of several normal volunteers. In-plane and through-planein vivo velocity maps of coronary arteries in normal subjects have been obtained and the problems associated with their acquisition are discussed.     

Motion and deformation tracking for short-axis echo-planar myocardial perfusion imaging

Aggression research does not lack data--it lacks a model for integrating data. One of the problems confronting aggression researchers is the extensive body of multidisciplinary data that is difficult to synthesize to generate new directions in research. This paper proposes one solution that starts by asking "what is the minimal number of categories of concepts and measurements which are necessary to describe a person?". The answer is four categories of concepts: biological; cognitive; behavioral; environmental (physical and social). One way of many for integrating these four categories of concepts is a proposed discipline neutral heuristic model that is used herein to compare two different research approaches to the study of impulsive aggression. This comparison identifies clearly the differences in the two approaches with regard to different emphases among the four categories of constructs for each program. Using the model an example of common ground between the two approaches is sought as a basis for extending aggression research. The main conclusion of one of the research programs was that central nervous arousal is related to impulsive aggression. This program demonstrated that phenytoin will reduce impulsive aggressive acts and has an effect on CNS arousal. The other research program on impulsive aggression has been at the forefront in demonstrating the well established inverse relationship between serotonin levels and aggression. The comparison resulted in the suggestion that both serotonin and phenytoin may relate to a common neurochemical substrate which interacts in part to control CNS arousal, especially at the cortical level. The proposed heuristic model made obvious the need to use synthesizing concepts (e.g. information processing or language) which can interrelate multidisciplinary concepts and data from different research programs within the four categories of constructs when comparing interdisciplinary research.     

Automatic MRI adipose tissue mapping using overlapping mosaics

This paper presents an automatic method of correcting non-uniform RF coil response for the classification of body composition using MR imaging. By linear mosaic modelling, the smoothly but non-linearly varying bias field, which modulates tissue intensities within the image, was corrected. The overlapping between adjacent mosaics ensured consistent segmentation of body fat content and the effectiveness of the technique was validated by both phantom and in vivo experiments. Ten whole body composition data sets, each with 39 trans-axial slices, were acquired. Automatic segmentation results using the proposed technique were compared with those from manual delineations. The automatic segmentation method was found to be highly accurate and the mean percentage error between the two methods was less than 1.5%.     

Predictive cardiac motion modeling and correction with partial least squares regression

Respiratory-induced cardiac deformation is a major problem for high-resolution cardiac imaging. This paper presents a new technique for predictive cardiac motion modeling and correction, which uses partial least squares regression to extract intrinsic relationships between three-dimensional (3-D) cardiac deformation due to respiration and multiple one-dimensional real-time measurable surface intensity traces at chest or abdomen. Despite the fact that these surface intensity traces can be strongly coupled with each other but poorly correlated with respiratory-induced cardiac deformation, we demonstrate how they can be used to accurately predict cardiac motion through the extraction of latent variables of both the input and output of the model. The proposed method allows cross-modality reconstruction of patient specific models for dense motion field prediction, which after initial modeling can be used for real-time prospective motion tracking or correction. Detailed numerical issues related to the technique are discussed and the effectiveness of the motion and deformation modeling is validated with 3-D magnetic resonance data sets acquired from ten asymptomatic subjects covering the entire respiratory range.     

Combined MRI and CFD analysis of fully developed steady and pulsatile laminar flow through a bend

A combined MR and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study is made of flow in a simple phantom laboratory flow rig consisting of a 180 degree bend with straight entry and exit sections. The aim was to investigate the potential of the use of MRI-linked CFD simulations for in vivo use. To this end, the experiment was set up for both steady and pulsatile laminar flow conditions, with Reynolds and Dean numbers and Womersley pulsatility parameter representative of resting flow in the human aorta. The geometrical images of the pipe and the velocity images at entry to the bend were used as boundary conditions for CFD simulations of the flow. The CFD results for both steady and pulsatile cases compared favorably with velocity images obtained at exit from the bend. Additional information such as pressure and wall shear stress, which either could not be measured adequately via MRI, or could not be measured at all, was also extracted from the simulation. Overall, the results were sufficiently promising to justify pursuing subsequent in vivo studies.     

Design of nonlinear photonic crystal fibers with ultra‐flattened zero dispersion for supercontinuum generation

The study reports on the design and performance of two air‐filled and two partial ethanol‐filled photonic crystal fiber (PCF) structures with a tetra core for supercontinuum generation. The PCFs are nonlinear with ultra‐flattened zero dispersion. Holes with smaller areas are used to create a tetra‐core PCF structure. Ethanol is filled in the holes of smaller area while the larger holes of cladding region are air‐filled. Optical properties including dispersion, effective mode area, confinement loss, normalized frequency, and nonlinear coefficient of the designed PCF structures are investigated via full vector finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. A PCF structure with lead silicate as wafer exhibits significantly better results than a PCF structure with silica as wafer. However, both structures report dispersion at a telecommunication wavelength corresponding to 1.55 μm. Furthermore, the PCF structure with lead silicate as wafer exhibits a very high nonlinear coefficient corresponding to 1375 W^?1 km^?1 at the same wavelength. This scheme can be used for optical communication systems and in optical devices by exploiting the principle of nonlinearity.     

Extracorporeal support for intractable cardiorespiratory failure due to meningococcal disease

BACKGROUND: Meningococcal disease is still associated with considerable mortality, despite the use of early antibiotics and management in specialised intensive care units, due principally to early refractory myocardial depression and hypotension as well as severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a complex technology that uses a modified "heart-lung" machine to provide temporary cardiac and respiratory support. We reviewed the UK and Australian experience of the use of ECMO in patients with refractory cardiorespiratory failure due to meningococcal disease. METHODS: The records from all 12 known patients supported with ECMO for meningococcal disease in the UK and Australia since 1989 were reviewed. FINDINGS: 12 patients (aged 4 months to 18 years, median 26 months) with meningococcal disease received ECMO over 8 years. In seven patients, ECMO was required early for cardiac support for intractable shock within 36 h of admission to intensive care. In the other five patients, ECMO was indicated for respiratory failure due to severe adult respiratory distress syndrome, which tended to occur later in the disease. The paediatric risk of mortality score ranged from 13 to 40 (median 29, median predicted risk of mortality 72%). Six of the 12 patients required cardiopulmonary resuscitation before ECMO and the other six were deteriorating despite maximal conventional therapy. Overall, eight of the 12 patients survived, with six leading functionally normal lives at a median of 1 year (range 4 months to 4 years) of follow-up. INTERPRETATION: ECMO might be considered to support patients with intractable cardiorespiratory failure due to meningococcal disease who are not responding to conventional treatment.     

The feasibility of a novel limited field of view spiral cine DENSE sequence to assess myocardial strain in dilated cardiomyopathy

Objective

Develop an accelerated cine displacement encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) sequence to enable clinically feasible myocardial strain evaluation in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).

Materials and methods

A spiral cine DENSE sequence was modified by limiting the field of view in two dimensions using in-plane slice-selective pulses in the stimulated echo. This reduced breath hold duration from 20RR to 14RR intervals. Following phantom and pilot studies, the feasibility of the sequence to assess peak radial, circumferential, and longitudinal strain was tested in control subjects (n = 18) and then applied in DCM patients (n = 29).

Results

DENSE acquisition was possible in all participants. Elements of the data were not analysable in 1 control (6%) and 4 DCM r(14%) subjects due to off-resonance or susceptibility artefacts and low signal-to-noise ratio. Peak radial, circumferential, short-axis contour strain and longitudinal strain was reduced in DCM patients (p < 0.001 vs. controls) and strain measurements correlated with left ventricular ejection fraction (with circumferential strain r = − 0.79, p < 0.0001; with vertical long-axis strain r = − 0.76, p < 0.0001). All strain measurements had good inter-observer agreement (ICC > 0.80), except peak radial strain.

Discussion

We demonstrate the feasibility of CMR strain assessment in healthy controls and DCM patients using an accelerated cine DENSE technique. This may facilitate integration of strain assessment into routine CMR studies.