HIV transmission network analysis plays a significant role in the precise prevention and control of AIDS. The current studies inferred the HIV transmission networks mainly based on the social network methods and molecular network methods and interpret the structural characteristics using individual-level and network-level metrics. To provide references for further researches, we summarized the principles, advantages or disadvantages, and application of HIV transmission network analysis methods and metrics in this paper.
Benchmarking ; HIV Infections ; Humans

This study was performed to suggest a new efficiency measurement indicator is necessary for evaluating management efficiency of food service operations in contract-managed foodservice companies, to distinguish efficient food service providers and inefficient ones by measuring comparative efficiency among food service operations, and to provide guidance for effective management through showing benchmarking targets for improving inefficient food service providers. The subjects of this study were the 93 B&I foodservice Operations of a domestic contract food service company. The analysis was conducted using CCR model in DEA model. A software, 'Frontier analyst', was used for the analysis. Based on the results derived from comparison of efficiency evaluation classified by providers with use of DEA, it was possible to identify efficient food providers and inefficient providers, and subsequently provide benchmarking guidelines for improvement of the inefficient groups. In analyzing the differences between the results of DEA efficiency evaluation by detailed operation status of food service providers, there was significant difference of efficiency outcomes in terms of contract types, while there was no significant difference in terms of business condition.
Benchmarking ; Commerce* ; Efficiency ; Food Services

PURPOSE: A PC based brachytherapy planning system was developed to display dose distributions on simulation images by 2D isodose curve including the dose profiles, dose-volume histogram and 3D dose distributions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Brachytherapy dose planning software was developed especially for the Ir-192 source, which had been developed by KAERI as a substitute for the Co-60 source. The dose computation was achieved by searching for a pre-computed dose matrix which was tabulated as a function of radial and axial distance from a source. In the computation process, the effects of the tissue scattering correction factor and anisotropic dose distributions were included. The computed dose distributions were displayed in 2D film image including the profile dose, 3D isodose curves with wire frame forms and dose- volume histogram. RESULTS: The brachytherapy dose plan was initiated by obtaining source positions on the principal plane of the source axis. The dose distributions in tissue were computed on a 200x200 (mm2) plane on which the source axis was located at the center of the plane. The point doses along the longitudinal axis of the source were 4.5~9.0% smaller than those on the radial axis of the plane, due to the anisotropy created by the cylindrical shape of the source. When compared to manual calculation, the point doses showed 1~5% discrepancies from the benchmarking plan. The 2D dose distributions of different planes were matched to the same administered isodose level in order to analyze the shape of the optimized dose level. The accumulated dose-volume histogram, displayed as a function of the percentage volume of administered minimum dose level, was used to guide the volume analysis. CONCLUSION: This study evaluated the developed computerized dose planning system of brachytherapy. The dose distribution was displayed on the coronal, sagittal and axial planes with the dose histogram. The accumulated DVH and 3D dose distributions provided by the developed system may be useful tools for dose analysis in comparison with orthogonal dose planning.
Anisotropy ; Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Benchmarking ; Brachytherapy*

Benchmarking ; China ; Humans ; Public Health Administration ; standards

OBJECTIVE: To introduce a systematic classification of diaphragmatic surgery in patients with ovarian cancer based on disease spread and surgical complexity.METHODS: For all consecutive patients who underwent diaphragmatic surgery during Visceral-Peritoneal debulking (VPD) in the period 2009–2017, we extracted: initial surgical finding, extent of liver mobilization and type of procedure. Combining these features, we aimed to classify the surgical procedures necessary to tackle different presentation of diaphragmatic disease. We also report histology, intra- and post-operative specific complication rate based on the classification.RESULTS: A total of 170 patients were included in this study, 110 (64.7%) had a peritonectomy, while 60 (35.3%) had a full thickness resection with pleurectomy. We identified 3 types of surgical procedures. Type I treated 28 out of 170 patients (16.5%) who only had anterior diaphragm disease, needed no liver mobilization, included peritonectomy and had no morbidity recorded. Type II pertained to 105 out of 170 patients (61.7%) who had anterior and posterior disease, needed partial and sometimes full liver mobilization, had a mix of peritonectomy and full thickness resection, and experienced 10% specific morbidity. Type III included 37 out of 170 patients (21.7%) who needed full mobilization of the liver, always had full thickness resection, and suffered 30% specific morbidity.CONCLUSION: Diaphragmatic surgery can be classified in 3 types. The adoption of this classification can facilitate standardization of the surgery, comparison of data and define the expertise required. Finally, this classification can be a benchmark to establish the training required to treat diaphragmatic disease.
Benchmarking ; Classification ; Diaphragm ; Humans ; Liver ; Ovarian Neoplasms

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if shoulder and pelvic angular velocities differ at impact or peak magnitude between professional and amateur golfers. Golf swing rotational biomechanics are a key determinant of power generation, driving distance, and injury prevention. We hypothesize that shoulder and pelvic angular velocities would be highly consistent in professionals. METHODS: Rotational velocities of the upper-torso and pelvis throughout the golf swing and in relation to phases of the golf swing were examined in 11 professionals and compared to 5 amateurs using three-dimensional motion analysis. RESULTS: Peak rotational velocities of professionals were highly consistent, demonstrating low variability (coefficient of variation [COV]), particularly upper-torso rotational velocity (COV=0.086) and pelvic rotational velocity (COV=0.079) during down swing. Peak upper-torso rotational velocity and peak X-prime, the relative rotational velocity of uppertorso versus pelvis, occurred after impact in follow-through, were reduced in amateurs compared to professionals (p=0.005 and p=0.005, respectively) and differentiated professionals from most (4/5) amateurs. In contrast, peak pelvic rotational velocity occurred in down swing. Pelvic velocity at impact was reduced in amateurs compared to professionals (p=0.019) and differentiated professionals from most (4/5) amateurs. CONCLUSION: Golf swing rotational velocity of professionals was consistent in pattern and magnitude, offering benchmarks for amateurs. Understanding golf swing rotational biomechanics can guide swing modifications to help optimize performance and prevent injury.
Back Pain ; Benchmarking ; Golf* ; Pelvis ; Shoulder

By preparing 15 batches of substance benchmarks of Taohong Siwu Decoction, the methodology of the characteristic spectrums of substance benchmarks was established. The paste-forming rate range, the contents and the transfer rate range of the index components, hydroxy safflower yellow A, ferulic acid and paeoniflorin, the characteristic peaks and the similarity range of the characteristic spectrums of Taohong Siwu Decoction were determined to define key quality attributes of substance benchmarks of Taohong Siwu Decoction.In the 15 batches of substance benchmarks of Taohong Siwu Decoction, the similarity of characteristic spectrums was higher than 0.9. Furthermore, based on summarization of the characteristic peak information, there were 13 characteristic peaks in the whole decoction. Baishao had three characteristic peaks, Honghua had seven characteristic peaks, and Chuanxiong and Danggui had three characteristic peaks. The paste-forming rate of the 15 batches of substance benchmarks was controlled at 33.11%-40.62%. The content of hydroxy safflower yellow A was 0.129%-0.203%, with the average transfer rate of 16.596%±0.669%.The content of ferulic acid was 0.043%-0.055%, with the average transfer rate of 20.489%±1.772%.The content of paeoniflorin was 0.676%-0.943%, with the average transfer rate of 29.112%±3.273%.The quality value transfer of substance benchmarks of classical prescription Taohong Siwu Decoction was analyzed by the combination of characteristic spectrums, paste-forming rate and the content of index components. The established substance benchmark quality evaluation method was stable and feasible, and could provide a basis for quality control and subsequent development of relevant preparations of Taohong Siwu Decoction.
Benchmarking ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Quality Control

Segmentation of fundamental heart sounds–S1 and S2 is important for automated monitoring of cardiac activity including diagnosis of the heart diseases. This pa-per proposes a novel hybrid method for S1 and S2 heart sound segmentation using group sparsity denoising and variation mode decomposition (VMD) technique. In the proposed method, the measured phonocardiogram (PCG) signals are denoised using group sparsity algorithm by exploiting the group sparse (GS) property of PCG signals. The denoised GS-PCG signals are then decomposed into subsequent modes with specific spectral characteristics using VMD algorithm. The appropriate mode for further processing is selected based on mode central frequencies and mode energy. It is then followed by the extraction of Hilbert envelope (HEnv) and a thresholding on the selected mode to segment S1 and S2 heart sounds. The performance advantage of the proposed method is verified using PCG signals from benchmark databases namely eGeneralMedical, Littmann, Washington, and Michigan. The proposed hybrid algorithm has achieved a sensitivity of 100%, positive predictivity of 98%, accuracy of 98% and detection error rate of 1.5%. The promising results obtained suggest that proposed approach can be considered for automated heart sound segmentation.
Benchmarking ; Diagnosis ; Heart Diseases ; Heart Sounds ; Heart ; Methods ; Michigan ; Washington

Currently, Illumina sequencers are the globally leading sequencing platform in the next-generation sequencing market. Recently, MGI Tech launched a series of new sequencers, including the MGISEQ-2000, which promise to deliver high-quality sequencing data faster and at lower prices than Illumina’s sequencers. In this study, we compared the performance of two major sequencers (MGISEQ-2000 and HiSeq 4000) to test whether the MGISEQ-2000 sequencer delivers high-quality sequence data as suggested. We performed RNA sequencing of four human colon cancer samples with the two platforms, and compared the sequencing quality and expression values. The data produced from the MGISEQ-2000 and HiSeq 4000 showed high concordance, with Pearson correlation coefficients ranging from 0.98 to 0.99. Various quality control (QC) analyses showed that the MGISEQ-2000 data fulfilled the required QC measures. Our study suggests that the performance of the MGISEQ-2000 is comparable to that of the HiSeq 4000 and that the MGISEQ-2000 can be a useful platform for sequencing.
Benchmarking ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Humans ; Quality Control ; RNA ; Sequence Analysis, RNA

By preparing 15 batches of Zhenwu Decoction substance benchmarks,the characteristic map,index component content and paste-forming rate were determined to define the peak attribution,similarity range,paste-forming rate range,paeoniflorin and6-gingerol content range and transfer rate range. The similarity between the substance benchmark characteristic map and the control map R generated from the 15 batches of substance benchmarks was higher than 0. 970. There were 19 characteristic peaks in total. By further summarization of the characteristic peaks,it could be seen that tuckahoe had 3 characteristic peaks,white peony root had 10 characteristic peaks,atractylodes had 3 characteristic peaks,ginger had 1 characteristic peak,and Aconite root had 3 characteristic peaks; among them,white peony root and aconite root had 1 common peak. The contents and transfer rates of the 15 batches were0. 50%-0. 93 and 16. 11%-26. 20%; those for 6-gingerol were 0. 018 2%-0. 033 9% and 13. 16%-24. 10%,respectively. The pasteforming rate ranged from 10. 00% to 14. 85%. In this study,the transfer process of substance benchmark value of classic formula Zhenwu Decoction was analyzed based on the characteristic map,the paste-forming rate and the content of the index components; a scientific and stable substance benchmark quality evaluation method was preliminarily established to provide a basis for subsequent development of classic formula Zhenwu Decoction and quality control of relevant preparations.
Benchmarking ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Quality Control