To determine whether the cough of the common cold arises from upper respiratory stimuli and whether antihistamine-decongestant therapy is an effective treatment for this cough, we prospectively evaluated volunteers with uncomplicated common colds in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. After completing a standardized questionnaire and undergoing a physical examination, throat-culturing, and pulmonary function testing, subjects took the active drug or identical-appearing placebo for 7 days while they kept a diary in which they ranked the severity of 17 symptoms for 14 days. Pulmonary function testing was repeated, on average, on Days 4, 8, and 14. Forty-six percent of the variation in cough severity could be explained by throat-clearing and 47% of the variation in throat-clearing severity by postnasal drip. FIF50%, the only physiologic parameter that significantly correlated with cough, rose as cough severity fell. Antihistamine-decongestant therapy reduced postnasal drip and significantly decreased the severity of cough, nasal obstruction, nasal discharge, and throat-clearing during the first few days of the common cold. In addition, cough was 20 to 30% less prevalent in the active drug group within 3 days of starting therapy. We conclude that the cough of the common cold arose from upper respiratory tract stimuli and that cough and other cardinal symptoms of the common cold were reduced with antihistamine-decongestant therapy when these symptoms were at their worst.
Knowledge-based engineering systems are now becoming more commonplace in engineering industry. There is a need to ensure the technology is used correctly and to provide the user with all the possible benefits that the system can offer. This paper looks at how product knowledge can be managed within knowledge-based engineering systems to ensure that the knowledge retains its value and usefulness during the product lifecycle. Presently, the use of these systems has been for the short-term benefit of the company. However, it is believed that it is important to consider longer-term issues also, since knowledge normally has a half-life of around 20 years. The main aim of this paper is to demonstrate the need for product knowledge management within knowledge-based engineering systems by looking at key issues that are related to the longer-term use of these systems. This paper will also provide a product knowledge management scheme for the development and management of product knowledge within knowledge-based engineering systems, thereby extending the benefits of knowledge-based engineering systems into the longer-term.
This paper details research carried out into the clustering of large market research data sets. The aim of the analysis was to find clusters of vectors in the data with maximum similarity expressed in the form of identical question answers. A novel paradigm (the interrogative memory structure) has been developed and compared with current unsupervised artificial neural network and statistical clustering techniques. The interrogative memory structure is a bi-directional network, which, when utilised with the controlling algorithm detailed in this paper, has produced encouraging results with initial tests. A detailed account of the paradigm is given along with an analysis of the initial results.
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