WorldWideScience

Sample records for irig serial time

  1. Guide to Synchronization of Video Systems to IRIG Timing

    Science.gov (United States)

    1992-07-01

    and industry. 1-2 CHAPTER 2 SYNCHRONISATION Before delving into the details of synchronization , a review is needed of the reasons for synchronizing ... Synchronization of Video Systems to IRIG Timing Optical Systems Group Range Commanders Council White Sands Missile Range, NM 88002-5110 RCC Document 456-92 Range...This document addresses a broad field of video synchronization to IRIG timing with emphasis on color synchronization . This document deals with

  2. Telemetry Standards, IRIG Standard 106-17, Chapter 22, Network Based Protocol Suite

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-07-01

    requirements. 22.2 Network Access Layer 22.2.1 Physical Layer Connectors and cable media should meet the electrical or optical properties required by the...Telemetry Standards, IRIG Standard 106-17 Chapter 22, July 2017 i CHAPTER 22 Network -Based Protocol Suite Acronyms...iii Chapter 22. Network -Based Protocol Suite

  3. Multistage parallel-serial time averaging filters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Theodosiou, G.E.

    1980-01-01

    Here, a new time averaging circuit design, the 'parallel filter' is presented, which can reduce the time jitter, introduced in time measurements using counters of large dimensions. This parallel filter could be considered as a single stage unit circuit which can be repeated an arbitrary number of times in series, thus providing a parallel-serial filter type as a result. The main advantages of such a filter over a serial one are much less electronic gate jitter and time delay for the same amount of total time uncertainty reduction. (orig.)

  4. Time does not cause forgetting in short-term serial recall.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewandowsky, Stephan; Duncan, Matthew; Brown, Gordon D A

    2004-10-01

    Time-based theories expect memory performance to decline as the delay between study and recall of an item increases. The assumption of time-based forgetting, central to many models of serial recall, underpins their key behaviors. Here we compare the predictions of time-based and event-based models by simulation and test them in two experiments using a novel manipulation of the delay between study and retrieval. Participants were trained, via corrective feedback, to recall at different speeds, thus varying total recall time from 6 to 10 sec. In the first experiment, participants used the keyboard to enter their responses but had to repeat a word (called the suppressor) aloud during recall to prevent rehearsal. In the second experiment, articulation was again required, but recall was verbal and was paced by the number of repetitions of the suppressor in between retrieval of items. In both experiments, serial position curves for all retrieval speeds overlapped, and output time had little or no effect. Comparative evaluation of a time-based and an event-based model confirmed that these results present a particular challenge to time-based approaches. We conclude that output interference, rather than output time, is critical in serial recall.

  5. Serials collection management in recessionary times

    CERN Document Server

    Lawson, Karen G

    2015-01-01

    Strategic planning, collaboration, continual stewardship, best practices, and re-engineering can provide librarians with a toolkit of innovative strategies that meets the worst of economic times with bold, persistent experimentation. This book covers the implications for libraries of a broad range of technological and economic challenges. These challenges include the fallout from the global economic crisis, the positioning of usage statistics, the advent of open access scholarship, database management, responding to budgetary constrictions and general access to serials. Taken as a whole, this

  6. Mobile Digital Recording: Adequacy of the iRig and iOS Device for Acoustic and Perceptual Analysis of Normal Voice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oliveira, Gisele; Fava, Gaetano; Baglione, Melody; Pimpinella, Michael

    2017-03-01

    To determine whether the iRig and iOS device recording system is comparable with a standard computer recording system for digital voice recording. Thirty-seven vocally healthy adults, between ages 20 and 62, with a mean age of 33.9 years, 13 males and 24 females, were recruited. Recordings were simultaneously digitalized in an iPad and iPhone using a unidirectional condenser microphone for smartphones/tablets (iRig Mic, IK Multimedia) and in a computer laptop (Dell-Inspiron) using a unidirectional condenser microphone (Samson-CL5) connected to a preamplifier with phantom power. Both microphones were lined up at an equal fixed distance from the subject's mouth. Speech tasks consisted of a sustained vowel "ah" at comfortable pitch/loudness, counting from 1 to 10, and a glissando "ah" from a low to a high note. The samples captured on the iOS devices were transferred via SoundCloud in WAV format, and analyzed using the Praat software. The acoustic parameters measured were mean, min, and max F0, SD F0, jitter local, jitter rap, jitter ppq5, jitter ddp, shimmer local, shimmer local-dB, shimmer apq3, shimmer apq5, shimmer apq11, shimmer dda, NHR, and HNR. There were no statistically significant differences for any parameter and speech task analyzed for both iOS devices as compared with the gold standard computer/preamp system (all P values > 0.050). In addition, there were no statistical differences in the perceptual identification of the recordings among devices (P device may provide reliable digital recording of normal voices. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Reading Time Allocation Strategies and Working Memory Using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Busler, Jessica N.; Lazarte, Alejandro A.

    2017-01-01

    Rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) is a useful method for controlling the timing of text presentations and studying how readers' characteristics, such as working memory (WM) and reading strategies for time allocation, influence text recall. In the current study, a modified version of RSVP (Moving Window RSVP [MW-RSVP]) was used to induce…

  8. The cortisol awakening response is associated with performance of a serial sequence reaction time task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hodyl, Nicolette A; Schneider, Luke; Vallence, Ann-Maree; Clow, Angela; Ridding, Michael C; Pitcher, Julia B

    2016-02-01

    There is emerging evidence of a relationship between the cortisol awakening response (CAR) and the neural mechanisms underlying learning and memory. The aim of this study was to determine whether the CAR is associated with acquisition, retention and overnight consolidation or improvement of a serial sequence reaction time task. Salivary samples were collected at 0, 15, 30 and 45 min after awakening in 39 healthy adults on 2 consecutive days. The serial sequence reaction time task was repeated each afternoon. Participants completed the perceived stress scale and provided salivary samples prior to testing for cortisol assessment. While the magnitude of the CAR (Z score) was not associated with either baseline performance or the timed improvement during task acquisition of the serial sequence task, a positive correlation was observed with reaction times during the stable performance phase on day 1 (r=0.373, p=0.019). Residuals derived from the relationship between baseline and stable phase reaction times on day 1 were used as a surrogate for the degree of learning: these residuals were also correlated with the CAR mean increase on day 1 (r=0.357, p=0.048). Task performance on day 2 was not associated with the CAR obtained on this same day. No association was observed between the perceived stress score, cortisol at testing or task performance. These data indicate that a smaller CAR in healthy adults is associated with a greater degree of learning and faster performance of a serial sequence reaction time task. These results support recognition of the CAR as an important factor contributing to cognitive performance throughout the day. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Multi-Period Mean-Variance Portfolio Selection with Uncertain Time Horizon When Returns Are Serially Correlated

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ling Zhang

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available We study a multi-period mean-variance portfolio selection problem with an uncertain time horizon and serial correlations. Firstly, we embed the nonseparable multi-period optimization problem into a separable quadratic optimization problem with uncertain exit time by employing the embedding technique of Li and Ng (2000. Then we convert the later into an optimization problem with deterministic exit time. Finally, using the dynamic programming approach, we explicitly derive the optimal strategy and the efficient frontier for the dynamic mean-variance optimization problem. A numerical example with AR(1 return process is also presented, which shows that both the uncertainty of exit time and the serial correlations of returns have significant impacts on the optimal strategy and the efficient frontier.

  10. Serial Expression Analysis: a web tool for the analysis of serial gene expression data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nueda, Maria José; Carbonell, José; Medina, Ignacio; Dopazo, Joaquín; Conesa, Ana

    2010-01-01

    Serial transcriptomics experiments investigate the dynamics of gene expression changes associated with a quantitative variable such as time or dosage. The statistical analysis of these data implies the study of global and gene-specific expression trends, the identification of significant serial changes, the comparison of expression profiles and the assessment of transcriptional changes in terms of cellular processes. We have created the SEA (Serial Expression Analysis) suite to provide a complete web-based resource for the analysis of serial transcriptomics data. SEA offers five different algorithms based on univariate, multivariate and functional profiling strategies framed within a user-friendly interface and a project-oriented architecture to facilitate the analysis of serial gene expression data sets from different perspectives. SEA is available at sea.bioinfo.cipf.es. PMID:20525784

  11. The application of GPS time information in the telemetry ground station

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Songtao; Zhang Yusong; Sun Xiurui

    2001-01-01

    GPS time information is a kind of practicable information resource that can be shared all over the world. Now it is the most accurate wireless time information. The major of this paper is the application information of GPS time information in telemetry. The main point introduces how to make use of the GPS time information to produce GPS-IRIG-B time code for proving ground and how to send time information to related equipment in telemetry ground station

  12. Fixed target matrix for femtosecond time-resolved and in situ serial micro-crystallography

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Mueller

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available We present a crystallography chip enabling in situ room temperature crystallography at microfocus synchrotron beamlines and X-ray free-electron laser (X-FEL sources. Compared to other in situ approaches, we observe extremely low background and high diffraction data quality. The chip design is robust and allows fast and efficient loading of thousands of small crystals. The ability to load a large number of protein crystals, at room temperature and with high efficiency, into prescribed positions enables high throughput automated serial crystallography with microfocus synchrotron beamlines. In addition, we demonstrate the application of this chip for femtosecond time-resolved serial crystallography at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS, Menlo Park, California, USA. The chip concept enables multiple images to be acquired from each crystal, allowing differential detection of changes in diffraction intensities in order to obtain high signal-to-noise and fully exploit the time resolution capabilities of XFELs.

  13. CMOS continuous-time adaptive equalizers for high-speed serial links

    CERN Document Server

    Gimeno Gasca, Cecilia; Aldea Chagoyen, Concepción

    2015-01-01

    This book introduces readers to the design of adaptive equalization solutions integrated in standard CMOS technology for high-speed serial links. Since continuous-time equalizers offer various advantages as an alternative to discrete-time equalizers at multi-gigabit rates, this book provides a detailed description of continuous-time adaptive equalizers design - both at transistor and system levels-, their main characteristics and performances. The authors begin with a complete review and analysis of the state of the art of equalizers for wireline applications, describing why they are necessary, their types, and their main applications. Next, theoretical fundamentals of continuous-time adaptive equalizers are explored. Then, new structures are proposed to implement the different building blocks of the adaptive equalizer: line equalizer, loop-filters, power comparator, etc.  The authors demonstrate the design of a complete low-power, low-voltage, high-speed, continuous-time adaptive equalizer. Finally, a cost-...

  14. Cerebral activation related to implicit sequence learning in a Double Serial Reaction Time task

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Graaf, FHCE; Maguire, RP; Leenders, KL; de Jong, BM

    2006-01-01

    Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined the distribution of cerebral activations related to implicitly learning a series of fixed stimulus-response combinations. In a novel - bimanual - variant of the Serial Reaction Time task (SRT), simultaneous finger movements of the two

  15. Estimating serial correlation and self-similarity in financial time series-A diversification approach with applications to high frequency data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerlich, Nikolas; Rostek, Stefan

    2015-09-01

    We derive a heuristic method to estimate the degree of self-similarity and serial correlation in financial time series. Especially, we propagate the use of a tailor-made selection of different estimation techniques that are used in various fields of time series analysis but until now have not consequently found their way into the finance literature. Following the idea of portfolio diversification, we show that considerable improvements with respect to robustness and unbiasedness can be achieved by using a basket of estimation methods. With this methodological toolbox at hand, we investigate real market data to show that noticeable deviations from the assumptions of constant self-similarity and absence of serial correlation occur during certain periods. On the one hand, this may shed a new light on seemingly ambiguous scientific findings concerning serial correlation of financial time series. On the other hand, a proven time-changing degree of self-similarity may help to explain high-volatility clusters of stock price indices.

  16. Comparing Young and Elderly Serial Reaction Time Task Performance on Repeated and Random Conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fatemeh Ehsani

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: Acquisition motor skill training in elderly is at great importance. The main purpose of this study was to compare young and elderly performance in serial reaction time task on different repeated and random conditions. Methods & Materials: A serial reaction time task by using software was applied for studying motor learning in 30 young and 30 elderly. Each group divided randomly implicitly and explicitly into subgroups. A task 4 squares with different colors appeared on the monitor and subjects were asked to press its defined key immediately after observing it. Subjects practiced 8 motor blocks (4 repeated blocks, then 2 random blocks and 2 repeated blocks. Block time that was dependent variable measured and Independent-samples t- test with repeated ANOVA measures were used in this test. Results: young groups performed both repeated and random sequences significantly faster than elderly (P0.05. Explicit older subgroup performed 7,8 blocks slower than 6 block with a significant difference (P<0.05. Conclusion: Young adults discriminate high level performance than elderly in both repeated and random practice. Elderly performed random practice better than repeated practice.

  17. GPS Precision Timing at CERN

    CERN Document Server

    Beetham, C G

    1999-01-01

    For the past decade, the Global Positioning System (GPS) has been used to provide precise time, frequency and position co-ordinates world-wide. Recently, equipment has become available specialising in providing extremely accurate timing information, referenced to Universal Time Co-ordinates (UTC). This feature has been used at CERN to provide time of day information for systems that have been installed in the Proton Synchrotron (PS), Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) and the Large Electron Positron (LEP) machines. The different systems are described as well as the planned developments, particularly with respect to optical transmission and the Inter-Range Instrumentation Group IRIG-B standard, for future use in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

  18. Serial killers with military experience: applying learning theory to serial murder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castle, Tammy; Hensley, Christopher

    2002-08-01

    Scholars have endeavored to study the motivation and causality behind serial murder by researching biological, psychological, and sociological variables. Some of these studies have provided support for the relationship between these variables and serial murder. However, the study of serial murder continues to be an exploratory rather than explanatory research topic. This article examines the possible link between serial killers and military service. Citing previous research using social learning theory for the study of murder, this article explores how potential serial killers learn to reinforce violence, aggression, and murder in military boot camps. As with other variables considered in serial killer research, military experience alone cannot account for all cases of serial murder. Future research should continue to examine this possible link.

  19. Stochastic modeling of a serial killer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simkin, M V; Roychowdhury, V P

    2014-08-21

    We analyze the time pattern of the activity of a serial killer, who during 12 years had murdered 53 people. The plot of the cumulative number of murders as a function of time is of "Devil's staircase" type. The distribution of the intervals between murders (step length) follows a power law with the exponent of 1.4. We propose a model according to which the serial killer commits murders when neuronal excitation in his brain exceeds certain threshold. We model this neural activity as a branching process, which in turn is approximated by a random walk. As the distribution of the random walk return times is a power law with the exponent 1.5, the distribution of the inter-murder intervals is thus explained. We illustrate analytical results by numerical simulation. Time pattern activity data from two other serial killers further substantiate our analysis. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Reconstructing genealogies of serial samples under the assumption of a molecular clock using serial-sample UPGMA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drummond, A; Rodrigo, A G

    2000-12-01

    Reconstruction of evolutionary relationships from noncontemporaneous molecular samples provides a new challenge for phylogenetic reconstruction methods. With recent biotechnological advances there has been an increase in molecular sequencing throughput, and the potential to obtain serial samples of sequences from populations, including rapidly evolving pathogens, is fast being realized. A new method called the serial-sample unweighted pair grouping method with arithmetic means (sUPGMA) is presented that reconstructs a genealogy or phylogeny of sequences sampled serially in time using a matrix of pairwise distances. The resulting tree depicts the terminal lineages of each sample ending at a different level consistent with the sample's temporal order. Since sUPGMA is a variant of UPGMA, it will perform best when sequences have evolved at a constant rate (i.e., according to a molecular clock). On simulated data, this new method performs better than standard cluster analysis under a variety of longitudinal sampling strategies. Serial-sample UPGMA is particularly useful for analysis of longitudinal samples of viruses and bacteria, as well as ancient DNA samples, with the minimal requirement that samples of sequences be ordered in time.

  1. The Serial Murderer's Motivations: An Interdisciplinary Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeHart, Dana D.; Mahoney, John M.

    1994-01-01

    Defines serial killer as individual who murders two or more victims over an extended period of time, ranging from days to years, with the crimes often being sexually motivated. Reviews existing motivational theories of serial murder and proposes additional explications from range of disciplines. Presents suggestions for future research and…

  2. Serial Entrepreneurship, Learning by Doing and Self-selection

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rocha, Vera; Carneiro, Anabela; Varum, Celeste

    2015-01-01

    of the person-specific effect, using information on individuals’ past histories in paid employment, confirm that serial entrepreneurs exhibit, on average, a larger person-specific effect than non-serial business owners. Moreover, ignoring serial entrepreneurs’ self-selection overestimates learning by doing......It remains a question whether serial entrepreneurs typically perform better than their novice counterparts owing to learning by doing effects or mostly because they are a selected sample of higher-than-average ability entrepreneurs. This paper tries to unravel these two effects by exploring a novel...... empirical strategy based on continuous time duration models with selection. We use a large longitudinal matched employer-employee dataset that allows us to identify about 220,000 individuals who have left their first entrepreneurial experience, out of which over 35,000 became serial entrepreneurs. We...

  3. PORNOGRAFI DALAM SERIAL ANIME ANAK (ANALISIS SEMIOTIKA DALAM SERIAL CRAYON SHIN CHAN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    - Sangidun

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Crayon Shin Chan, a Japanese two-dimension animation series broadcast in one of private Indonesian TVs, is categorized into child’s program since it is broadcast at child’s prime time, Sunday 08.30 a.m. In spite of its broadcast time, this series consist of symbols directed not for children, such as some acts that are not appropriate to be done by children, especially in Indonesia. Moreover, adult symbols of sex are also found in the program. For this reason it will be interesting to analyze it using semiotic analysis. Semiotics is the study of symbol and its meaning which its principle concept is that both signifier and signified consist of symbols and are related to denotation and connotation.   Crayon Shin Chan merupakan serial animasi dua dimensi yang tayang di salah satu stasiun televisi swasta di Indonesia. Ini merupakan produk animasi 2 dimensi yang diimpor dari Jepang. Di Indonesia, serial ini masuk dalam kategori acara anak. Hal ini dapat dilihat dari jam penayangannya yang merupakan waktu prime time bagi anak, yakni pada hari minggu pukul 08.30. Akan tetapi, pada serial ini banyak simbol-simbol yang mengarah pada tayangan yang bukan untuk anak-anak, yakni adeganadegan yang tidak pantas dilakukan oleh anak khususnya di Indonesia. Serta adanya pula simbol-simbol yang mengarah pada tayangan berbau dewasa. Tentu akan menarik jika tayangan ini diteliti menggunakan analisis semiotika. Semiotika sendiri merupakan kajian ilmu mengenai tanda dan makna. Yang pada prinsipnya, konsep penting seperti penanda (signifier dan petanda (signified sama-sama terdiri dari tanda dan terkait dengan denotasi dan konotasi.

  4. Domain-Generality of Timing-Based Serial Order Processes in Short-Term Memory: New Insights from Musical and Verbal Domains.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simon Gorin

    Full Text Available Several models in the verbal domain of short-term memory (STM consider a dissociation between item and order processing. This view is supported by data demonstrating that different types of time-based interference have a greater effect on memory for the order of to-be-remembered items than on memory for the items themselves. The present study investigated the domain-generality of the item versus serial order dissociation by comparing the differential effects of time-based interfering tasks, such as rhythmic interference and articulatory suppression, on item and order processing in verbal and musical STM domains. In Experiment 1, participants had to maintain sequences of verbal or musical information in STM, followed by a probe sequence, this under different conditions of interference (no-interference, rhythmic interference, articulatory suppression. They were required to decide whether all items of the probe list matched those of the memory list (item condition or whether the order of the items in the probe sequence matched the order in the memory list (order condition. In Experiment 2, participants performed a serial order probe recognition task for verbal and musical sequences ensuring sequential maintenance processes, under no-interference or rhythmic interference conditions. For Experiment 1, serial order recognition was not significantly more impacted by interfering tasks than was item recognition, this for both verbal and musical domains. For Experiment 2, we observed selective interference of the rhythmic interference condition on both musical and verbal order STM tasks. Overall, the results suggest a similar and selective sensitivity to time-based interference for serial order STM in verbal and musical domains, but only when the STM tasks ensure sequential maintenance processes.

  5. Domain-Generality of Timing-Based Serial Order Processes in Short-Term Memory: New Insights from Musical and Verbal Domains.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gorin, Simon; Kowialiewski, Benjamin; Majerus, Steve

    2016-01-01

    Several models in the verbal domain of short-term memory (STM) consider a dissociation between item and order processing. This view is supported by data demonstrating that different types of time-based interference have a greater effect on memory for the order of to-be-remembered items than on memory for the items themselves. The present study investigated the domain-generality of the item versus serial order dissociation by comparing the differential effects of time-based interfering tasks, such as rhythmic interference and articulatory suppression, on item and order processing in verbal and musical STM domains. In Experiment 1, participants had to maintain sequences of verbal or musical information in STM, followed by a probe sequence, this under different conditions of interference (no-interference, rhythmic interference, articulatory suppression). They were required to decide whether all items of the probe list matched those of the memory list (item condition) or whether the order of the items in the probe sequence matched the order in the memory list (order condition). In Experiment 2, participants performed a serial order probe recognition task for verbal and musical sequences ensuring sequential maintenance processes, under no-interference or rhythmic interference conditions. For Experiment 1, serial order recognition was not significantly more impacted by interfering tasks than was item recognition, this for both verbal and musical domains. For Experiment 2, we observed selective interference of the rhythmic interference condition on both musical and verbal order STM tasks. Overall, the results suggest a similar and selective sensitivity to time-based interference for serial order STM in verbal and musical domains, but only when the STM tasks ensure sequential maintenance processes.

  6. The Windows serial port programming handbook

    CERN Document Server

    Bai, Ying

    2004-01-01

    The fundamentals of serial port communications. Serial port programming in ANSI C and Assembly languages for MS-DOS. Serial ports interface developed in VC++ 6.0. Serial port programming in Visual Basic. Serial port programming in LabVIEW. Serial port programming in MATLAB. Serial port programming in Smalltalk. Serial port programming in Java.

  7. Decreasing Serial Cost Sharing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hougaard, Jens Leth; Østerdal, Lars Peter

    The increasing serial cost sharing rule of Moulin and Shenker [Econometrica 60 (1992) 1009] and the decreasing serial rule of de Frutos [Journal of Economic Theory 79 (1998) 245] have attracted attention due to their intuitive appeal and striking incentive properties. An axiomatic characterization...... of the increasing serial rule was provided by Moulin and Shenker [Journal of Economic Theory 64 (1994) 178]. This paper gives an axiomatic characterization of the decreasing serial rule...

  8. Decreasing serial cost sharing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hougaard, Jens Leth; Østerdal, Lars Peter Raahave

    2009-01-01

    The increasing serial cost sharing rule of Moulin and Shenker (Econometrica 60:1009-1037, 1992) and the decreasing serial rule of de Frutos (J Econ Theory 79:245-275, 1998) are known by their intuitive appeal and striking incentive properties. An axiomatic characterization of the increasing serial...... rule was provided by Moulin and Shenker (J Econ Theory 64:178-201, 1994). This paper gives an axiomatic characterization of the decreasing serial rule....

  9. IMPLEMENTATION OF SERIAL AND PARALLEL BUBBLE SORT ON FPGA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dwi Marhaendro Jati Purnomo

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Sorting is common process in computational world. Its utilization are on many fields from research to industry. There are many sorting algorithm in nowadays. One of the simplest yet powerful is bubble sort. In this study, bubble sort is implemented on FPGA. The implementation was taken on serial and parallel approach. Serial and parallel bubble sort then compared by means of its memory, execution time, and utility which comprises slices and LUTs. The experiments show that serial bubble sort required smaller memory as well as utility compared to parallel bubble sort. Meanwhile, parallel bubble sort performed faster than serial bubble sort

  10. The value of serial personal photographs in timing the onset of unilateral cataracts in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sawhney, Gagan K; Hutchinson, Amy K; Lambert, Scott R

    2009-10-01

    To determine the value of serial personal photographs in timing the onset of unilateral cataracts in children over 6 months of age. Personal photographs from children with unilateral cataracts who underwent cataract extraction and intraocular lens implantation when > or =6 months of age were reviewed. Photographs were evaluated for changes in the red reflex, which might indicate the presence of a cataract. Twelve children underwent cataract surgery at a mean age of 37 months. They were followed for a mean of 32 months. Ten children were diagnosed as having an acquired cataract by photographic review documenting a previously normal red reflex. The visual acuity in the affected eye of 4 of these children improved to > or =20/60. Cataracts were visible on photographs prior to clinical diagnosis in 6 patients, from 0.5 to 22 months prior to clinical diagnosis. Visual outcomes did not relate closely to the photographically documented duration of the cataract prior to treatment. Photographs were not helpful in timing the onset of cataract in 2 children due to the poor quality of the images. Serial personal photographs are sometimes helpful in determining whether cataracts are acquired. However, the usefulness of personal photographs alone in predicting the visual outcome after cataract surgery was limited in this small, retrospective study.

  11. Implementation of Serial and Parallel Bubble Sort on Fpga

    OpenAIRE

    Purnomo, Dwi Marhaendro Jati; Arinaldi, Ahmad; Priyantini, Dwi Teguh; Wibisono, Ari; Febrian, Andreas

    2016-01-01

    Sorting is common process in computational world. Its utilization are on many fields from research to industry. There are many sorting algorithm in nowadays. One of the simplest yet powerful is bubble sort. In this study, bubble sort is implemented on FPGA. The implementation was taken on serial and parallel approach. Serial and parallel bubble sort then compared by means of its memory, execution time, and utility which comprises slices and LUTs. The experiments show that serial bubble sort r...

  12. Converting serial networks to Ethernet communications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rosado, Elroy [Freewave Technologies, Inc., Boulder, CO (United States). Latin America

    2008-07-01

    Many oil and gas producers and pipeline companies find themselves in an awkward position. They have invested millions of dollars in legacy serial communications systems and in most cases, millions more in older SCADA remote terminal units and electronic flow meters. There is a desire throughout most of the industry to convert these systems to Ethernet. This presentation will explore how Ethernet protocol offers advantages over the older serial communications in terms of peer to peer communication, faster polling cycles, and the ability to poll multiple devices at the same time. (author)

  13. Serial forced displacement in American cities, 1916-2010.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fullilove, Mindy Thompson; Wallace, Rodrick

    2011-06-01

    Serial forced displacement has been defined as the repetitive, coercive upheaval of groups. In this essay, we examine the history of serial forced displacement in American cities due to federal, state, and local government policies. We propose that serial forced displacement sets up a dynamic process that includes an increase in interpersonal and structural violence, an inability to react in a timely fashion to patterns of threat or opportunity, and a cycle of fragmentation as a result of the first two. We present the history of the policies as they affected one urban neighborhood, Pittsburgh's Hill District. We conclude by examining ways in which this problematic process might be addressed.

  14. A psychological profile of a serial killer: a case report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dogra, T D; Leenaars, Antoon A; Chadha, R K; Manju, Mehta; Lalwani, Sanjeev; Sood, Mamta; Lester, David; Raina, Anupuma; Behera, C

    2012-01-01

    Serial killers have always fascinated society. A serial killer is typically defined as a perpetrator who murders three or more people over a period of time. Most reported cases of serial killers come from the United States and Canada. In India, there are few reported cases. We present, to the best of our knowledge, the first Indian case in the literature. The present case is of a 28-year-old man, Surinder Koli. The Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delphi handled the forensic study. We present a most unique psychological investigation into the mind of a serial killer.

  15. A high speed serializer ASIC for ATLAS Liquid Argon calorimeter upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Liu, T; The ATLAS collaboration

    2011-01-01

    The current front-end electronics of the ATLAS Liquid Argon calorimeters need to be upgraded to sustain the higher radiation levels and data rates expected at the upgraded LHC machine (HL-LHC), which will have 5 times more luminosity than the LHC in its ultimate configuration. This upgrade calls for an optical link system of 100 Gbps per front-end board (FEB). A high speed, low power, radiation tolerant serializer is the critical component in this system. In this paper, we present the design and test results of a single channel 16:1 serializer and the design of a double-channel 16:1 serializer. Both designs are based on a commercial 0.25 μm silicon-on-sapphire CMOS technology. The single channel serializer consists of a serializing unit, a PLL clock generator and a line driver implemented in current mode logic (CML). The serializing unit multiplexes 16 bit parallel LVDS data into 1-bit width serial CMOS data. The serializing unit is composed of a cascade of 2:1 multiplexing circuits based on static D-flip-fl...

  16. Serial position markers in space: visuospatial priming of serial order working memory retrieval.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maya De Belder

    Full Text Available Most general theories on serial order working memory (WM assume the existence of position markers that are bound to the to-be-remembered items to keep track of the serial order. So far, the exact cognitive/neural characteristics of these markers have remained largely underspecified, while direct empirical evidence for their existence is mostly lacking. In the current study we demonstrate that retrieval from verbal serial order WM can be facilitated or hindered by spatial cuing: begin elements of a verbal WM sequence are retrieved faster after cuing the left side of space, while end elements are retrieved faster after cuing the right side of space. In direct complement to our previous work--where we showed the reversed impact of WM retrieval on spatial processing--we argue that the current findings provide us with a crucial piece of evidence suggesting a direct and functional involvement of space in verbal serial order WM. We outline the idea that serial order in verbal WM is coded within a spatial coordinate system with spatial attention being involved when searching through WM, and we discuss how this account can explain several hallmark observations related to serial order WM.

  17. A low power CMOS 3.3 Gbps continuous-time adaptive equalizer for serial link

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ju Hao; Zhou Yumei; Zhao Jianzhong

    2011-01-01

    This paper describes using a high-speed continuous-time analog adaptive equalizer as the front-end of a receiver for a high-speed serial interface, which is compliant with many serial communication specifications such as USB2.0, PCI-E2.0 and Rapid IO. The low and high frequency loops are merged to decrease the effect of delay between the two paths, in addition, the infinite input impedance facilitates the cascade stages in order to improve the high frequency boosting gain. The implemented circuit architecture could facilitate the wide frequency range from 1 to 3.3 Gbps with different length FR4-PCB traces, which brings as much as 25 dB loss. The replica control circuits are injected to provide a convenient way to regulate common-mode voltage for full differential operation. In addition, AC coupling is adopted to suppress the common input from the forward stage. A prototype chip was fabricated in 0.18-μm 1P6M mixed-signal CMOS technology. The actual area is 0.6 x 0.57 mm 2 and the analog equalizer operates up to 3.3 Gbps over FR4-PCB trace with 25 dB loss. The overall power dissipation is approximately 23.4 mW. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

  18. A low power CMOS 3.3 Gbps continuous-time adaptive equalizer for serial link

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hao, Ju; Yumei, Zhou; Jianzhong, Zhao

    2011-09-01

    This paper describes using a high-speed continuous-time analog adaptive equalizer as the front-end of a receiver for a high-speed serial interface, which is compliant with many serial communication specifications such as USB2.0, PCI-E2.0 and Rapid IO. The low and high frequency loops are merged to decrease the effect of delay between the two paths, in addition, the infinite input impedance facilitates the cascade stages in order to improve the high frequency boosting gain. The implemented circuit architecture could facilitate the wide frequency range from 1 to 3.3 Gbps with different length FR4-PCB traces, which brings as much as 25 dB loss. The replica control circuits are injected to provide a convenient way to regulate common-mode voltage for full differential operation. In addition, AC coupling is adopted to suppress the common input from the forward stage. A prototype chip was fabricated in 0.18-μm 1P6M mixed-signal CMOS technology. The actual area is 0.6 × 0.57 mm2 and the analog equalizer operates up to 3.3 Gbps over FR4-PCB trace with 25 dB loss. The overall power dissipation is approximately 23.4 mW.

  19. Broad ion beam serial section tomography

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Winiarski, B., E-mail: b.winiarski@manchester.ac.uk [School of Materials, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL (United Kingdom); Materials Division, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington TW11 0LW (United Kingdom); Gholinia, A. [School of Materials, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL (United Kingdom); Mingard, K.; Gee, M. [Materials Division, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington TW11 0LW (United Kingdom); Thompson, G.E.; Withers, P.J. [School of Materials, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL (United Kingdom)

    2017-01-15

    and compare for the first time the application of Broad Ion Beams (BIBs) using the Gatan PECS and Ilion systems for large volume serial sectioning and 3D-EBSD data acquisition. • Volumetric data registration schemes usually assume that the data comprises a series of parallel, planar slices. We quantify the variations in slice thickness and parallelity which can arise when using BIB systems. • Raw 3D-EBSD data is affected by distortions and artefacts arising from serial sectioning such that quantitative analyses and visualisation can give misleading and erroneous results. Addressing and correcting these issues offer real benefits in understanding microstructures reconstructed by 3D-EBSD.

  20. Estimating infection attack rates and severity in real time during an influenza pandemic: analysis of serial cross-sectional serologic surveillance data.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joseph T Wu

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available In an emerging influenza pandemic, estimating severity (the probability of a severe outcome, such as hospitalization, if infected is a public health priority. As many influenza infections are subclinical, sero-surveillance is needed to allow reliable real-time estimates of infection attack rate (IAR and severity.We tested 14,766 sera collected during the first wave of the 2009 pandemic in Hong Kong using viral microneutralization. We estimated IAR and infection-hospitalization probability (IHP from the serial cross-sectional serologic data and hospitalization data. Had our serologic data been available weekly in real time, we would have obtained reliable IHP estimates 1 wk after, 1-2 wk before, and 3 wk after epidemic peak for individuals aged 5-14 y, 15-29 y, and 30-59 y. The ratio of IAR to pre-existing seroprevalence, which decreased with age, was a major determinant for the timeliness of reliable estimates. If we began sero-surveillance 3 wk after community transmission was confirmed, with 150, 350, and 500 specimens per week for individuals aged 5-14 y, 15-19 y, and 20-29 y, respectively, we would have obtained reliable IHP estimates for these age groups 4 wk before the peak. For 30-59 y olds, even 800 specimens per week would not have generated reliable estimates until the peak because the ratio of IAR to pre-existing seroprevalence for this age group was low. The performance of serial cross-sectional sero-surveillance substantially deteriorates if test specificity is not near 100% or pre-existing seroprevalence is not near zero. These potential limitations could be mitigated by choosing a higher titer cutoff for seropositivity. If the epidemic doubling time is longer than 6 d, then serial cross-sectional sero-surveillance with 300 specimens per week would yield reliable estimates when IAR reaches around 6%-10%.Serial cross-sectional serologic data together with clinical surveillance data can allow reliable real-time estimates of IAR and

  1. Tevatron serial data repeater system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ducar, R.J.

    1981-01-01

    A ten megabit per second serial data repeater system has been developed for the 6.28km Tevatron accelerator. The repeaters are positioned at each of the thirty service buildings and accommodate control and abort system communications as well as distribution of the Tevatron time and energy clocks. The repeaters are transparent to the particular protocol of the transmissions. Serial data are encoded locally as unipolar two volt signals employing the self-clocking Manchester Bi-Phase code. The repeaters modulate the local signals to low-power bursts of 50 MHz rf carrier for the 260m transmission between service buildings. The repeaters also demodulate the transmission and restructure the data for local utilization. The employment of frequency discrimination techniques yields high immunity to the characteristic noise spectrum

  2. Developments in Serials: 1977

    Science.gov (United States)

    James, John R.

    1978-01-01

    Discusses issues and developments relating to several aspects of serials, including economics and acquisitions; bibliographic control; automation; education; serials literature and bibliographies; and copyrights. A bibliography is included. (Author/MBR)

  3. Malaysian Serials: Issues and Problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahri, Che Norma

    This paper analyzes the issues and problems while looking at the trends and developments of serials publishing in Malaysia. The first section provides background; topics addressed include the country and people of Malaysia, the history of serials publishing in Malaysia, categories and formats of serials publishing, academic publications,…

  4. Eye movements and serial memory for visual-spatial information: does time spent fixating contribute to recall?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saint-Aubin, Jean; Tremblay, Sébastien; Jalbert, Annie

    2007-01-01

    This research investigated the nature of encoding and its contribution to serial recall for visual-spatial information. In order to do so, we examined the relationship between fixation duration and recall performance. Using the dot task--a series of seven dots spatially distributed on a monitor screen is presented sequentially for immediate recall--performance and eye-tracking data were recorded during the presentation of the to-be-remembered items. When participants were free to move their eyes at their will, both fixation durations and probability of correct recall decreased as a function of serial position. Furthermore, imposing constant durations of fixation across all serial positions had a beneficial impact (though relatively small) on item but not order recall. Great care was taken to isolate the effect of fixation duration from that of presentation duration. Although eye movement at encoding contributes to immediate memory, it is not decisive in shaping serial recall performance. Our results also provide further evidence that the distinction between item and order information, well-established in the verbal domain, extends to visual-spatial information.

  5. How Do We Write about Performance in Serial Television?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elliott Logan

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Television studies has produced few sustained analyses of performance in serial television. Yet film studies scholarship has shown how attending to the integration of performances with other aspects of film style is crucial to the interpretation and appreciation of expression and meaning in filmed narrative fictions. However, as a particle form of filmed serial narrative, series television raises a number of questions about performance that will not necessarily be satisfyingly addressed by the direct adoption and application of approaches to writing about performance that have been honed in regard to film. How, then, do we write about performance in television serials in ways that recognise and accommodate the form’s relationship to film, while at the same time appropriately acknowledging and responding to long-form television’s serial status? To examine the difficulties and opportunities of approaching performance in serial television this way, the article conducts close readings of various pieces of television studies writing on performance, by scholars such as Jason Mittell, Sue Turnbull, George Toles, and Steven Peacock. Their work brings into view film and television’s points of common relation, and the distinctive challenges, achievements, and rewards of appreciating the best television serials, and the performances in them.

  6. Serial Austen. Mashingups with Zombies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eleonora Federici

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Jane Austen sells. She sells in all possible ways, her novels have been adapted for the cinema and the stage, they have been rewritten as comics and graphic novels. Jane austen is a cultural icon. The interest in her life is so strong that many biographies have been written in order to recover new facts and details. The places where she has lived and the places depicted in her novels have become tourist sites for literary pilgrims. Austen is a cross-over phenomenon, with regency costume balls recreated in her name and an endless proliferation of her works in all media. My essay will investigate Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009, a mash-up novel which has become a real cultural phenomenon of the last decade and will demonstrate how it can be considered a serial narrative. If as Henry Jenkins asserts, seriality implies the unfolding of a story over time through a process of “chunking” (that is creating meaningful parts of the same story and of “dispersal” (that is breaking the story into more parts and in more genres and media, mash-ups seems to do this.  Austen’s story remains as a “story hook” which pushes the reader to come back to different products for a continuation of the same story. So, if on the one hand, seriality occurs within the same text, the story-telling of Austen’s stories across genres and media is part of a seriality process.

  7. Scale and time dependence of serial correlations in word-length time series of written texts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodriguez, E.; Aguilar-Cornejo, M.; Femat, R.; Alvarez-Ramirez, J.

    2014-11-01

    This work considered the quantitative analysis of large written texts. To this end, the text was converted into a time series by taking the sequence of word lengths. The detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) was used for characterizing long-range serial correlations of the time series. To this end, the DFA was implemented within a rolling window framework for estimating the variations of correlations, quantified in terms of the scaling exponent, strength along the text. Also, a filtering derivative was used to compute the dependence of the scaling exponent relative to the scale. The analysis was applied to three famous English-written literary narrations; namely, Alice in Wonderland (by Lewis Carrol), Dracula (by Bram Stoker) and Sense and Sensibility (by Jane Austen). The results showed that high correlations appear for scales of about 50-200 words, suggesting that at these scales the text contains the stronger coherence. The scaling exponent was not constant along the text, showing important variations with apparent cyclical behavior. An interesting coincidence between the scaling exponent variations and changes in narrative units (e.g., chapters) was found. This suggests that the scaling exponent obtained from the DFA is able to detect changes in narration structure as expressed by the usage of words of different lengths.

  8. CRNL library serials list

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alburger, T.P.

    1982-04-01

    A list of 1900 serial publications (periodicals, society transactions and proceedings, annuals and directories, indexes, newspapers, etc.) is presented with volumes and years held by the Main Library. This library is the largest in AECL as well as one of the largest scientific and technical libraries in North America, and functions as a Canadian resource for nuclear information. A main alphabetical list is followed by broad subject field lists representing research interests, and lists of abstract and index serials, general bibliographic serials, conference indexes, press releases, English translations, and original language journals

  9. Measuring propagation delay over a coded serial communication channel using FPGAs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jansweijer, P.P.M.; Peek, H.Z.

    2011-01-01

    Measurement and control applications are increasingly using distributed system technologies. In such applications, which may be spread over large distances, it is often necessary to synchronize system timing and know with great precision the time offsets between parts of the system. Measuring the propagation delay over a coded serial communication channel using serializer/deserializer (SerDes) functionality in FPGAs is described. The propagation delay between transmitter and receiver is measured with a resolution of a single unit interval (i.e. a serial link running at 3.125 Gbps provides a 320 ps resolution). The technique has been demonstrated to work over 100 km fibre to verify the feasibility for application in the future KM3NeT telescope.

  10. Serial CSTR digester configuration for improving biogas production from manure

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boe, Kanokwan; Angelidaki, Irini

    2009-01-01

    distribution ratio of 80/20 and 90/10, and total HRT of 15 days. The results showed that the serial CSTR could obtain 11% higher biogas yield compared to the single CSTR. The increased biogas yield in the serial CSTR was mainly from the second reactor, which accounted for 16% and 12% of total biogas yield......A new configuration of manure digesters for improving biogas production has been investigated in laboratory scale. A single thermophilic continuous-flow stirred tank reactor (CSTR) operated with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 15 days was compared to a serial CSTR configuration with volume...

  11. Searching for serial refreshing in working memory: Using response times to track the content of the focus of attention over time.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vergauwe, Evie; Hardman, Kyle O; Rouder, Jeffrey N; Roemer, Emily; McAllaster, Sara; Cowan, Nelson

    2016-12-01

    One popular idea is that, to support the maintenance of a set of elements over brief periods of time, the focus of attention rotates among the different elements, thereby serially refreshing the content of working memory (WM). In the research reported here, probe letters were presented between to-be-remembered letters, and response times to these probes were used to infer the status of the different items in WM. If the focus of attention cycles from one item to the next, its content should be different at different points in time, and this should be reflected in a change in the response time patterns over time. Across a set of four experiments, we demonstrated a striking pattern of invariance in the response time patterns over time, suggesting either that the content of the focus of attention did not change over time or that response times cannot be used to infer the content of the focus of attention. We discuss how this pattern constrains models of WM, attention, and human information processing.

  12. Serial-order short-term memory predicts vocabulary development: evidence from a longitudinal study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leclercq, Anne-Lise; Majerus, Steve

    2010-03-01

    Serial-order short-term memory (STM), as opposed to item STM, has been shown to be very consistently associated with lexical learning abilities in cross-sectional study designs. This study investigated longitudinal predictions between serial-order STM and vocabulary development. Tasks maximizing the temporary retention of either serial-order or item information were administered to kindergarten children aged 4 and 5. At age 4, age 5, and from age 4 to age 5, serial-order STM capacities, but not item STM capacities, were specifically associated with vocabulary development. Moreover, the increase of serial-order STM capacity from age 4 to age 5 predicted the increase of vocabulary knowledge over the same time period. These results support a theoretical position that assumes an important role for serial-order STM capacities in vocabulary acquisition.

  13. IEEE 1394/firewire a low cost, high speed, digital serial bus

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gaunt, R.

    1997-05-01

    Does the world need yet another 1/0 bus standard? If you need fast and cheap serial video communication, then the answer is yes. As technology advances, so too must data transport mechanisms advance. You can`t expect RS-232 to support real-time digital video, and if you can`t afford expensive professional serial video interfaces, (such as Sony`s Serial Digital Interface), Firewire may be a good solution. IEEE 1394, or commonly known as Firewire, is a general purpose serial bus that meets many of the 1/0 needs of today`s video and multimedia developers. For those of you who only read the first paragraph, here`s Firewire in a nutshell: It provides a guaranteed transfer rate of 10OMbps or 20OMbps of digital data (such as video direct from camera to computer), over an inexpensive, non-proprietary serial bus. Here is a list of its features.

  14. Scientific and Technical Serials Holdings Optimization in an Inefficient Market: A LSU Serials Redesign Project Exercise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bensman, Stephen J.; Wilder, Stanley J.

    1998-01-01

    Analyzes the structure of the library market for scientific and technical (ST) serials. Describes an exercise aimed at a theoretical reconstruction of the ST-serials holdings of Louisiana State University (LSU) Libraries. Discusses the set definitions, measures, and algorithms necessary in the design of a computer program to appraise ST serials.…

  15. Union Listing via OCLC's Serials Control Subsystem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Malley, Terrence J.

    1984-01-01

    Describes library use of Conversion of Serials Project's (CONSER) online national machine-readable database for serials to create online union lists of serials via OCLC's Serial Control Subsystem. Problems in selection of appropriate, accurate, and authenticated records and prospects for the future are discussed. Twenty sources and sample records…

  16. Three more semantic serial position functions and a SIMPLE explanation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelley, Matthew R; Neath, Ian; Surprenant, Aimée M

    2013-05-01

    There are innumerable demonstrations of serial position functions-with characteristic primacy and recency effects-in episodic tasks, but there are only a handful of such demonstrations in semantic memory tasks, and those demonstrations have used only two types of stimuli. Here, we provide three more examples of serial position functions when recalling from semantic memory. Participants were asked to reconstruct the order of (1) two cartoon theme song lyrics, (2) the seven Harry Potter books, and (3) two sets of movies, and all three demonstrations yielded conventional-looking serial position functions with primacy and recency effects. The data were well-fit by SIMPLE, a local distinctiveness model of memory that was originally designed to account for serial position effects in short- and long-term episodic memory. According to SIMPLE, serial position functions in both episodic and semantic memory tasks arise from the same type of processing: Items that are more separated from their close neighbors in psychological space at the time of recall will be better remembered. We argue that currently available evidence suggests that serial position functions observed when recalling items that are presumably in semantic memory arise because of the same processes as those observed when recalling items that are presumably in episodic memory.

  17. Natural born killers?: the development of the sexually sadistic serial killer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, B R; Becker, J V

    1997-01-01

    Today's society seems enthralled with serial killers in the news and the media. Forensic psychiatrists often interview serial killers after they have been caught. There are retrospective studies and case reports of individuals who have committed sexually sadistic serial murders. However, there exists a dearth of case reports on adolescents who have expressed serious fantasies about becoming serial killer prior to actualizing their fantasy. This article presents nine clinical cases of 14- to 18-year-olds who have clinically significant fantasies of becoming a serial killer. Similarities exist in these adolescent cases when compared with retrospective studies and case reports of serial killers on the role of sexually sadistic fantasies and actual killings. Since it has been established that sexual paraphilias may develop at a young age, one can surmise that sadistic paraphilias may also develop in some adolescents. The question is posed, can we predict which of these adolescents may go on to actually become serial killers? This article focuses on how the sexually sadistic fantasy can eventually be acted out and possible motives for the act to be repeated multiple times. Finally, recommendations are made about assessing and treating a youngster who expresses violent sexually sadistic killing fantasies so that attempts can be made to interrupt the progression to actual killing.

  18. Handbook of serial communications interfaces a comprehensive compendium of serial digital input/output (I/O) standards

    CERN Document Server

    Frenzel, Louis

    2015-01-01

    This book catalogs the most popular and commonly used serial-port interfaces and provides details on the specifications and the latest standards, enabling you to select an interface for a new design or verify that an interface is working correctly. Each chapter is based on a different interface and is written in an easy to follow, standard format. With this book you will learn: The most widely used serial interfacesHow to select the best serial interface for a specific application or designThe trade-offs between data rate and distance (length or range)The operation and benefits of serial

  19. Repetition priming of face recognition in a serial choice reaction-time task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, T; Bruce, V

    1989-05-01

    Marshall & Walker (1987) found that pictorial stimuli yield visual priming that is disrupted by an unpredictable visual event in the response-stimulus interval. They argue that visual stimuli are represented in memory in the form of distinct visual and object codes. Bruce & Young (1986) propose similar pictorial, structural and semantic codes which mediate the recognition of faces, yet repetition priming results obtained with faces as stimuli (Bruce & Valentine, 1985), and with objects (Warren & Morton, 1982) are quite different from those of Marshall & Walker (1987), in the sense that recognition is facilitated by pictures presented 20 minutes earlier. The experiment reported here used different views of familiar and unfamiliar faces as stimuli in a serial choice reaction-time task and found that, with identical pictures, repetition priming survives and intervening item requiring a response, with both familiar and unfamiliar faces. Furthermore, with familiar faces such priming was present even when the view of the prime was different from the target. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.

  20. A deterministic, gigabit serial timing, synchronization and data link for the RHIC LLRF

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hayes, T.; Smith, K.S.; Severino, F.

    2011-01-01

    A critical capability of the new RHIC low level rf (LLRF) system is the ability to synchronize signals across multiple locations. The 'Update Link' provides this functionality. The 'Update Link' is a deterministic serial data link based on the Xilinx RocketIO protocol that is broadcast over fiber optic cable at 1 gigabit per second (Gbps). The link provides timing events and data packets as well as time stamp information for synchronizing diagnostic data from multiple sources. The new RHIC LLRF was designed to be a flexible, modular system. The system is constructed of numerous independent RF Controller chassis. To provide synchronization among all of these chassis, the Update Link system was designed. The Update Link system provides a low latency, deterministic data path to broadcast information to all receivers in the system. The Update Link system is based on a central hub, the Update Link Master (ULM), which generates the data stream that is distributed via fiber optic links. Downstream chassis have non-deterministic connections back to the ULM that allow any chassis to provide data that is broadcast globally.

  1. Numerical discrepancy between serial and MPI parallel computations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sang Bong Lee

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Numerical simulations of 1D Burgers equation and 2D sloshing problem were carried out to study numerical discrepancy between serial and parallel computations. The numerical domain was decomposed into 2 and 4 subdomains for parallel computations with message passing interface. The numerical solution of Burgers equation disclosed that fully explicit boundary conditions used on subdomains of parallel computation was responsible for the numerical discrepancy of transient solution between serial and parallel computations. Two dimensional sloshing problems in a rectangular domain were solved using OpenFOAM. After a lapse of initial transient time sloshing patterns of water were significantly different in serial and parallel computations although the same numerical conditions were given. Based on the histograms of pressure measured at two points near the wall the statistical characteristics of numerical solution was not affected by the number of subdomains as much as the transient solution was dependent on the number of subdomains.

  2. Alcohol purchase age laws and the serial beginning drinker in New York.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, J

    1995-08-01

    Raising the drinking age twice in New York State in the 1980s might have created a generation of "serial beginning drinkers." Findings indicate that when young adults become beginning drinkers, their chances of drinking-driving increase; when they become serial beginning drinkers, their involvement in drinking-driving remains high over time. The beginning drinkers belong to a special historical period and are only composed of birth cohorts of 3 or 4 years (mainly early 1960s). The effect of the serial beginning drinker should fade out as those birth cohorts grow into maturity.

  3. Reaction kinetics in open reactors and serial transfers between closed reactors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blokhuis, Alex; Lacoste, David; Gaspard, Pierre

    2018-04-01

    Kinetic theory and thermodynamics of reaction networks are extended to the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of continuous-flow stirred tank reactors (CSTR) and serial transfers. On the basis of their stoichiometry matrix, the conservation laws and the cycles of the network are determined for both dynamics. It is shown that the CSTR and serial transfer dynamics are equivalent in the limit where the time interval between the transfers tends to zero proportionally to the ratio of the fractions of fresh to transferred solutions. These results are illustrated with a finite cross-catalytic reaction network and an infinite reaction network describing mass exchange between polymers. Serial transfer dynamics is typically used in molecular evolution experiments in the context of research on the origins of life. The present study is shedding a new light on the role played by serial transfer parameters in these experiments.

  4. New developments in electron microscopy for serial image acquisition of neuronal profiles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kubota, Yoshiyuki

    2015-02-01

    Recent developments in electron microscopy largely automate the continuous acquisition of serial electron micrographs (EMGs), previously achieved by laborious manual serial ultrathin sectioning using an ultramicrotome and ultrastructural image capture process with transmission electron microscopy. The new systems cut thin sections and capture serial EMGs automatically, allowing for acquisition of large data sets in a reasonably short time. The new methods are focused ion beam/scanning electron microscopy, ultramicrotome/serial block-face scanning electron microscopy, automated tape-collection ultramicrotome/scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscope camera array. In this review, their positive and negative aspects are discussed. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Japanese Society of Microscopy. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  5. Reframing Serial Murder Within Empirical Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gurian, Elizabeth A

    2017-04-01

    Empirical research on serial murder is limited due to the lack of consensus on a definition, the continued use of primarily descriptive statistics, and linkage to popular culture depictions. These limitations also inhibit our understanding of these offenders and affect credibility in the field of research. Therefore, this comprehensive overview of a sample of 508 cases (738 total offenders, including partnered groups of two or more offenders) provides analyses of solo male, solo female, and partnered serial killers to elucidate statistical differences and similarities in offending and adjudication patterns among the three groups. This analysis of serial homicide offenders not only supports previous research on offending patterns present in the serial homicide literature but also reveals that empirically based analyses can enhance our understanding beyond traditional case studies and descriptive statistics. Further research based on these empirical analyses can aid in the development of more accurate classifications and definitions of serial murderers.

  6. Female serial killing: review and case report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frei, Andreas; Völlm, Birgit; Graf, Marc; Dittmann, Volker

    2006-01-01

    Single homicide committed by women is rare. Serial killing is very infrequent, and the perpetrators are usually white, intelligent males with sadistic tendencies. Serial killing by women has, however, also been described. To conduct a review of published literature on female serial killers and consider its usefulness in assessing a presenting case. A literature review was conducted, after searching EMBASE, MEDLINE and PsycINFO. The presenting clinical case is described in detail in the context of the literature findings. Results The literature search revealed few relevant publications. Attempts to categorize the phenomenon of female serial killing according to patterns of and motives for the homicides have been made by some authors. The most common motive identified was material gain or similar extrinsic gratification while the 'hedonistic' sadistic or sexual serial killer seems to be extremely rare in women. There is no consistent theory of serial killing by women, but psychopathic personality traits and abusive childhood experiences have consistently been observed. The authors' case did not fit the description of a 'typical' female serial killer. In such unusual circumstances as serial killing by a woman, detailed individual case formulation is required to make sense of the psychopathology in each case. Publication of cases in scientific journals should be encouraged to advance our understanding of this phenomenon. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  7. Hemispatial neglect and serial order in verbal working memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antoine, Sophie; Ranzini, Mariagrazia; van Dijck, Jean-Philippe; Slama, Hichem; Bonato, Mario; Tousch, Ann; Dewulf, Myrtille; Bier, Jean-Christophe; Gevers, Wim

    2018-01-09

    Working memory refers to our ability to actively maintain and process a limited amount of information during a brief period of time. Often, not only the information itself but also its serial order is crucial for good task performance. It was recently proposed that serial order is grounded in spatial cognition. Here, we compared performance of a group of right hemisphere-damaged patients with hemispatial neglect to healthy controls in verbal working memory tasks. Participants memorized sequences of consonants at span level and had to judge whether a target consonant belonged to the memorized sequence (item task) or whether a pair of consonants were presented in the same order as in the memorized sequence (order task). In line with this idea that serial order is grounded in spatial cognition, we found that neglect patients made significantly more errors in the order task than in the item task compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, this deficit seemed functionally related to neglect severity and was more frequently observed following right posterior brain damage. Interestingly, this specific impairment for serial order in verbal working memory was not lateralized. We advance the hypotheses of a potential contribution to the deficit of serial order in neglect patients of either or both (1) reduced spatial working memory capacity that enables to keep track of the spatial codes that provide memorized items with a positional context, (2) a spatial compression of these codes in the intact representational space. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

  8. Position Analysis of a Hybrid Serial-Parallel Manipulator in Immersion Lithography

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jie-jie Shao

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a novel hybrid serial-parallel mechanism with 6 degrees of freedom. The new mechanism combines two different parallel modules in a serial form. 3-P̲(PH parallel module is architecture of 3 degrees of freedom based on higher joints and specializes in describing two planes’ relative pose. 3-P̲SP parallel module is typical architecture which has been widely investigated in recent researches. In this paper, the direct-inverse position problems of the 3-P̲SP parallel module in the couple mixed-type mode are analyzed in detail, and the solutions are obtained in an analytical form. Furthermore, the solutions for the direct and inverse position problems of the novel hybrid serial-parallel mechanism are also derived and obtained in the analytical form. The proposed hybrid serial-parallel mechanism is applied to regulate the immersion hood’s pose in an immersion lithography system. Through measuring and regulating the pose of the immersion hood with respect to the wafer surface simultaneously, the immersion hood can track the wafer surface’s pose in real-time and the gap status is stabilized. This is another exploration to hybrid serial-parallel mechanism’s application.

  9. Changing Series: Narrative Models and the Role of the Viewer in Contemporary Television Seriality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Veronica Innocenti

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available In the past few years television serial narratives have gone through some severe changes in the way they are organized from a narrative point of view, as well as in the way they are perceived by the audiences. Our article originates from the necessity of investigating the products of this new wave of serial production, with the purpose of focusing on narrative formulas and on the relationships that serial products establish with their users. Vast serialized narratives are not just texts anymore, they have become complex universes of meaning that last for long time and that have a strong influence on the audiences. The article aims to investigate serial narratives as usable objects, that are not just seen by the public, but that are part of a complex experience.

  10. Serial Millisecond Crystallography of Membrane Proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaeger, Kathrin; Dworkowski, Florian; Nogly, Przemyslaw; Milne, Christopher; Wang, Meitian; Standfuss, Joerg

    2016-01-01

    Serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) at X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) is a powerful method to determine high-resolution structures of pharmaceutically relevant membrane proteins. Recently, the technology has been adapted to carry out serial millisecond crystallography (SMX) at synchrotron sources, where beamtime is more abundant. In an injector-based approach, crystals grown in lipidic cubic phase (LCP) or embedded in viscous medium are delivered directly into the unattenuated beam of a microfocus beamline. Pilot experiments show the application of microjet-based SMX for solving the structure of a membrane protein and compatibility of the method with de novo phasing. Planned synchrotron upgrades, faster detectors and software developments will go hand-in-hand with developments at free-electron lasers to provide a powerful methodology for solving structures from microcrystals at room temperature, ligand screening or crystal optimization for time-resolved studies with minimal or no radiation damage.

  11. The eyeball killer: serial killings with postmortem globe enucleation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coyle, Julie; Ross, Karen F; Barnard, Jeffrey J; Peacock, Elizabeth; Linch, Charles A; Prahlow, Joseph A

    2015-05-01

    Although serial killings are relatively rare, they can be the cause of a great deal of anxiety while the killer remains at-large. Despite the fact that the motivations for serial killings are typically quite complex, the psychological analysis of a serial killer can provide valuable insight into how and why certain individuals become serial killers. Such knowledge may be instrumental in preventing future serial killings or in solving ongoing cases. In certain serial killings, the various incidents have a variety of similar features. Identification of similarities between separate homicidal incidents is necessary to recognize that a serial killer may be actively killing. In this report, the authors present a group of serial killings involving three prostitutes who were shot to death over a 3-month period. Scene and autopsy findings, including the unusual finding of postmortem enucleation of the eyes, led investigators to recognize the serial nature of the homicides. © 2015 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

  12. “It’s Always the Same, and It’s Always Different” Mythologisation and the Serial Killer in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.

    OpenAIRE

    Smyth, David A.

    2015-01-01

    Serial killers are important in American horror because of their ability to exist between ‘myth’ and ‘reality’. The serial killer is one of the most important American myths, but it is one firmly rooted in real life: unlike Paul Bunyan or Superman, serial killers do exist. This essay examines the relationship between the ‘myth’ and the ‘reality’ of serial killers, and the complex relationship between the American public and the serial killer, using Henry: Portrait of a Serial K...

  13. Spatial patterns of serial murder: an analysis of disposal site location choice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lundrigan, S; Canter, D

    2001-01-01

    Although the murders committed by serial killers may not be considered rational, there is growing evidence that the locations in which they commit their crimes may be guided by an implicit, if limited rationality. The hypothesized logic of disposal site choice of serial killers led to predictions that (a) their criminal domains would be around their home base and relate to familiar travel distances, (b) they would have a size that was characteristic of each offender, (c) the distribution would be biased towards other non-criminal activities, and (d) the size of the domains would increase over time. Examination of the geographical distribution of the sites at which 126 US and 29 UK serial killers disposed of their victims' bodies supported all four hypotheses. It was found that rational choice and routine activity models of criminal behavior could explain the spatial choices of serial murderers. It was concluded that the locations at which serial killers dispose of their victims' bodies reflect the inherent logic of the choices that underlie their predatory activities. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  14. Karl Ove Knausgård’s My Struggle and the Serial Self

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Inge van de Ven

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This article analyzes Karl Ove Knausgård’s six-volume autobiography My Struggle in the frame of an emerging cross-medial aesthetics of the ‘serial self’. This aesthetics is informed by the technological potentialities of digital media, and by social media practices like taking a selfie or posting a blog every single day and accumulating these self-representations, without selection. The serial self is marked by continuity, real-time effects, open-endedness, rhythm, repetition, and a thematic attention to the mundane. It can be discerned in the daily comic strip, the daily selfie, and time-lapse cinema. The article embeds My Struggle in this larger, intermedial framework. Moreover, it refers to the work of psychologist Galen Strawson to argue that the self-representations in Knausgård’s work should be understood as episodic rather than diachronic in nature. This results in a sequential and paratactic, rather than causal and hierarchical, presentation of memorial material. It is claimed that serial self-representations of this type are increasingly central to our current media ecology. They offer a valuable medium for investigating, materializing, and mapping on the page the traces left by the passage of time, as serialization lends itself to performative and cumulative representations of a ‘self’ in flux, that dramatize and perform the struggles of the episodic personality in search for continuity.

  15. Efficient multitasking: parallel versus serial processing of multiple tasks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fischer, Rico; Plessow, Franziska

    2015-01-01

    In the context of performance optimizations in multitasking, a central debate has unfolded in multitasking research around whether cognitive processes related to different tasks proceed only sequentially (one at a time), or can operate in parallel (simultaneously). This review features a discussion of theoretical considerations and empirical evidence regarding parallel versus serial task processing in multitasking. In addition, we highlight how methodological differences and theoretical conceptions determine the extent to which parallel processing in multitasking can be detected, to guide their employment in future research. Parallel and serial processing of multiple tasks are not mutually exclusive. Therefore, questions focusing exclusively on either task-processing mode are too simplified. We review empirical evidence and demonstrate that shifting between more parallel and more serial task processing critically depends on the conditions under which multiple tasks are performed. We conclude that efficient multitasking is reflected by the ability of individuals to adjust multitasking performance to environmental demands by flexibly shifting between different processing strategies of multiple task-component scheduling.

  16. The neural signature of emotional memories in serial crimes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chassy, Philippe

    2017-10-01

    Neural plasticity is the process whereby semantic information and emotional responses are stored in neural networks. It is hypothesized that the neural networks built over time to encode the sexual fantasies that motivate serial killers to act should display a unique, detectable activation pattern. The pathological neural watermark hypothesis posits that such networks comprise activation of brain sites that reflect four cognitive components: autobiographical memory, sexual arousal, aggression, and control over aggression. The neural sites performing these cognitive functions have been successfully identified by previous research. The key findings are reviewed to hypothesise the typical pattern of activity that serial killers should display. Through the integration of biological findings into one framework, the neural approach proposed in this paper is in stark contrast with the many theories accounting for serial killers that offer non-medical taxonomies. The pathological neural watermark hypothesis offers a new framework to understand and detect deviant individuals. The technical and legal issues are briefly discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Serial type-specific human papillomavirus (HPV) load measurement allows differentiation between regressing cervical lesions and serial virion productive transient infections

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Depuydt, Christophe E; Jonckheere, Jef; Berth, Mario; Salembier, Geert M; Vereecken, Annie J; Bogers, Johannes J

    2015-01-01

    Persistent high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is strongly associated with the development of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) or cancer. Not all persistent infections lead to cancer. Viral load measured at a single time-point is a poor predictor of the natural history of HPV infections. However the profile of viral load evolution over time could distinguish nonprogressive from progressive (carcinogenic) infections. A retrospective natural history study was set up using a Belgian laboratory database including more than 800,000 liquid cytology specimens. All samples were submitted to qPCR identifying E6/E7 genes of 18 HPV types. Viral load changes over time were assessed by the linear regression slope. Database search identified 261 untreated women with persistent type-specific HPV DNA detected (270 infections) in at least three of the last smears for a average period of 3.2 years. Using the coefficient of determination (R²) infections could be subdivided in a latency group (n = 143; R² < 0.85) and a regressing group (n = 127; R² ≥ 0.85). In (≥3) serial viral load measurements, serial transient infections with latency is characterized by a nonlinear limited difference in decrease or increase of type-specific viral load (R² < 0.85 and slopes between 2 measurements 0.0010 and −0.0010 HPV copies/cell per day) over a longer period of time (1553 days), whereas regression of a clonal cell population is characterized by a linear (R² ≥ 0.85) decrease (−0.0033 HPV copies/cell per day) over a shorter period of time (708 days; P < 0.001). Using serial HPV type-specific viral load measurements we could for the first time identify regressing CIN2 and CIN3 lesions. Evolution of the viral load is an objective measurable indicator of the natural history of HPV infections and could be used for future triage in HPV-based cervical screening programs

  18. Co-simulation of dynamic systems in parallel and serial model configurations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sweafford, Trevor; Yoon, Hwan Sik

    2013-01-01

    Recent advancement in simulation software and computation hardware make it realizable to simulate complex dynamic systems comprised of multiple submodels developed in different modeling languages. The so-called co-simulation enables one to study various aspects of a complex dynamic system with heterogeneous submodels in a cost-effective manner. Among several different model configurations for co-simulation, synchronized parallel configuration is regarded to expedite the simulation process by simulation multiple sub models concurrently on a multi core processor. In this paper, computational accuracies as well as computation time are studied for three different co-simulation frameworks : integrated, serial, and parallel. for this purpose, analytical evaluations of the three different methods are made using the explicit Euler method and then they are applied to two-DOF mass-spring systems. The result show that while the parallel simulation configuration produces the same accurate results as the integrated configuration, results of the serial configuration, results of the serial configuration show a slight deviation. it is also shown that the computation time can be reduced by running simulation in the parallel configuration. Therefore, it can be concluded that the synchronized parallel simulation methodology is the best for both simulation accuracy and time efficiency.

  19. Evidence for spontaneous serial refreshing in verbal working memory?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vergauwe, Evie; Langerock, Naomi; Cowan, Nelson

    2018-04-01

    Working memory (WM) keeps information temporarily accessible for ongoing cognition. One proposed mechanism to keep information active in WM is refreshing. This mechanism is assumed to operate by bringing memory items into the focus of attention, thereby serially refreshing the content of WM. We report two experiments in which we examine evidence for the spontaneous occurrence of serial refreshing in verbal WM. Participants had to remember series of red letters, while black probe letters were presented between these memory items, with each probe to be judged present in or absent from the list presented so far, as quickly as possible (i.e., the probe-span task). Response times to the probes were used to infer the status of the representations in WM and, in particular, to examine whether the content of the focus of attention changed over time, as would be expected if serial refreshing occurs spontaneously during inter-item pauses. In sharp contrast with this hypothesis, our results indicate that the last-presented memory item remained in the focus of attention during the inter-item pauses of the probe-span task. We discuss how these findings help to define the boundary conditions of spontaneous refreshing of verbal material in WM, and discuss implications for verbal WM maintenance and forgetting.

  20. Testing serial dependence by Random-shuffle surrogates and the Wayland method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hirata, Yoshito [Department of Mathematical Informatics, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656 (Japan); Aihara Complexity Modelling Project, ERATO, JST (Japan); Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505 (Japan)], E-mail: yoshito@sat.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp; Horai, Shunsuke [Aihara Complexity Modelling Project, ERATO, JST (Japan); Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505 (Japan); Suzuki, Hideyuki [Department of Mathematical Informatics, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656 (Japan); Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505 (Japan); Aihara, Kazuyuki [Department of Mathematical Informatics, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656 (Japan); Aihara Complexity Modelling Project, ERATO, JST (Japan); Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505 (Japan)

    2007-10-22

    Given time series, a primary concern is existence of serial dependence and determinism. They are often tested with Random-shuffle surrogates, which totally break serial dependence, and the Wayland method. Since the statistic of the Wayland method fundamentally shows a smaller value for a more deterministic time series, for real-world data, we usually expect that the statistic for the original data is smaller than or equal to those of Random-shuffle surrogates. However, we show herewith an opposite result with wind data in high time resolution. We argue that this puzzling phenomenon can be produced by observational or dynamical noise, both of which may be produced by a low-dimensional deterministic system. Thus the one-sided test is dangerous.

  1. Testing serial dependence by Random-shuffle surrogates and the Wayland method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hirata, Yoshito; Horai, Shunsuke; Suzuki, Hideyuki; Aihara, Kazuyuki

    2007-01-01

    Given time series, a primary concern is existence of serial dependence and determinism. They are often tested with Random-shuffle surrogates, which totally break serial dependence, and the Wayland method. Since the statistic of the Wayland method fundamentally shows a smaller value for a more deterministic time series, for real-world data, we usually expect that the statistic for the original data is smaller than or equal to those of Random-shuffle surrogates. However, we show herewith an opposite result with wind data in high time resolution. We argue that this puzzling phenomenon can be produced by observational or dynamical noise, both of which may be produced by a low-dimensional deterministic system. Thus the one-sided test is dangerous

  2. Pulse shaping for all-optical signal processing of ultra-high bit rate serial data signals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Palushani, Evarist

    The following thesis concerns pulse shaping and optical waveform manipulation for all-optical signal processing of ultra-high bit rate serial data signals, including generation of optical pulses in the femtosecond regime, serial-to-parallel conversion and terabaud coherent optical time division...

  3. Serial position effects are sensitive predictors of conversion from MCI to Alzheimer's disease dementia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Egli, Simone C; Beck, Irene R; Berres, Manfred; Foldi, Nancy S; Monsch, Andreas U; Sollberger, Marc

    2014-10-01

    It is unclear whether the predictive strength of established cognitive variables for progression to Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) varies depending on time to conversion. We investigated which cognitive variables were best predictors, and which of these variables remained predictive for patients with longer times to conversion. Seventy-five participants with MCI were assessed on measures of learning, memory, language, and executive function. Relative predictive strengths of these measures were analyzed using Cox regression models. Measures of word-list position-namely, serial position scores-together with Short Delay Free Recall of word-list learning best predicted conversion to AD dementia. However, only serial position scores predicted those participants with longer time to conversion. Results emphasize that the predictive strength of cognitive variables varies depending on time to conversion to dementia. Moreover, finer measures of learning captured by serial position scores were the most sensitive predictors of AD dementia. Copyright © 2014 The Alzheimer's Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Numerical investigation of power requirements for ultra-high-speed serial-to-parallel conversion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lillieholm, Mads; Mulvad, Hans Christian Hansen; Palushani, Evarist

    2012-01-01

    We present a numerical bit-error rate investigation of 160-640 Gbit/s serial-to-parallel conversion by four-wave mixing based time-domain optical Fourier transformation, showing an inverse scaling of the required pump energy per bit with the bit rate.......We present a numerical bit-error rate investigation of 160-640 Gbit/s serial-to-parallel conversion by four-wave mixing based time-domain optical Fourier transformation, showing an inverse scaling of the required pump energy per bit with the bit rate....

  5. Serial interprocessor communications system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Labiak, W.; Siemens, P.; Bailey, C.

    1980-01-01

    A serial communications system based on the EIA RS232-C standard with modem control lines has been developed. The DLV11-E interface is used for this purpose. All handshaking is done with the modem control lines. This allows totally independent full duplex communication. The message format consists of eight bit data with odd parity and a sixteen bit checksum on the whole message. All communications are fully interrupt driven. A program was written to load a program into a remote LSI-11 using the serial line without bootstrap ROM

  6. A Survey of Electronic Serials Managers Reveals Diversity in Practice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Costello

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available A Review of: Branscome, B. A. (2013. Management of electronic serials in academic libraries: The results of an online survey. Serials Review, 39(4, 216-226. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.serrev.2013.10.004 Abstract Objective – To examine industry standards for the management of electronic serials and measure the adoption of electronic serials over print. Design – Survey questionnaire. Setting – Email lists aimed at academic librarians working in serials management. Subjects – 195 self-selected subscribers to serials email lists. Methods – The author created a 20 question survey that consisted primarily of closed-ended questions pertaining to the collection demographics, staff, budget, and tools of serials management groups in academic libraries. The survey was conducted via Survey Monkey and examined using the analytical features of the tool. Participants remained anonymous and the survey questions did not ask them to reveal identifiable information about their libraries. Main Results – Collection demographics questions revealed that 78% of surveyed librarians estimated that print-only collections represented 40% or fewer of their serials holdings. The author observed diversity in the factors that influence print to digital transitions in academic libraries. However 71.5% of participants indicated that publisher technology support like IP authentication was required before adopting digital subscriptions. A lack of standardization also marked serials workflows, department responsibilities, and department titles. The author did not find a correlation between serials budget and the enrollment size of the institution. Participants reported that they used tools from popular serials management vendors like Serials Solutions, Innovative Interfaces, EBSCO, and Ex Libris, but most indicated that they used more than one tool for serials management. Participants specified 52 unique serials management products used in their libraries. Conclusion

  7. Criminal psychological profiling of serial arson crimes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kocsis, Richard N; Cooksey, Ray W

    2002-12-01

    The practice of criminal psychological profiling is frequently cited as being applicable to serial arson crimes. Despite this claim, there does not appear to be any empirical research that examines serial arson offence behaviors in the context of profiling. This study seeks to develop an empirical model of serial arsonist behaviors that can be systematically associated with probable offender characteristics. Analysis has produced a model of offence behaviors that identify four discrete behavior patterns, all of which share a constellation of common nondiscriminatory behaviors. The inherent behavioral themes of each of these patterns are explored with discussion of their broader implications for our understanding of serial arson and directions for future research.

  8. CMOS serial link for fully duplexed data communication

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Kyeongho; Kim, Sungjoon; Ahn, Gijung; Jeong, Deog-Kyoon

    1995-04-01

    This paper describes a CMOS serial link allowing fully duplexed 500 Mbaud serial data communication. The CMOS serial link is a robust and low-cost solution to high data rate requirements. A central charge pump PLL for generating multiphase clocks for oversampling is shared by several serial link channels. Fully duplexed serial data communication is realized in the bidirectional bridge by separating incoming data from the mixed signal on the cable end. The digital PLL accomplishes process-independent data recovery by using a low-ratio oversampling, a majority voting, and a parallel data recovery scheme. Mostly, digital approach could extend its bandwidth further with scaled CMOS technology. A single channel serial link and a charge pump PLL are integrated in a test chip using 1.2 micron CMOS process technology. The test chip confirms upto 500 Mbaud unidirectional mode operation and 320 Mbaud fully duplexed mode operation with pseudo random data patterns.

  9. The Productivity Advantage of Serial Entrepreneurs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Shaw, Kathryn L.; Sørensen, Anders

    Serial entrepreneurs, who open more than one business, are found to have higher sales and higher productivity than novice entrepreneurs, who open one business. Using panel data on entrepreneurs and their firms from Denmark for 2001-2013, the serial entrepreneur has 67% higher sales than the novice......, but also opens firms that are larger in terms of the initial capital and labor, and thus is 39% more productive. There are subsets of firms that perform especially well – serial entrepreneurs that hold a portfolio of overlapping ongoing firms perform the best, as do those that open as limited liability...

  10. The American Serialization of Lord Jim

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephen Donovan

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This essay presents the discovery of the American serialization of Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim in New York’s Evening Telegram in 1903. This ‘lost’ serialization, it argues, invites a new perspective on Conrad’s early career by foregrounding the role of newspaper serialization and syndication in establishing his literary standing. After surveying the principal differences in the respective reading experiences of the periodical versus the book, it concludes by proposing that the prominence of women among Conrad’s first audiences requires us to reassess the basis for his success in North America and elsewhere.

  11. Procedural learning is impaired in dyslexia: Evidence from a meta-analysis of serial reaction time studies☆

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lum, Jarrad A.G.; Ullman, Michael T.; Conti-Ramsden, Gina

    2013-01-01

    A number of studies have investigated procedural learning in dyslexia using serial reaction time (SRT) tasks. Overall, the results have been mixed, with evidence of both impaired and intact learning reported. We undertook a systematic search of studies that examined procedural learning using SRT tasks, and synthesized the data using meta-analysis. A total of 14 studies were identified, representing data from 314 individuals with dyslexia and 317 typically developing control participants. The results indicate that, on average, individuals with dyslexia have worse procedural learning abilities than controls, as indexed by sequence learning on the SRT task. The average weighted standardized mean difference (the effect size) was found to be 0.449 (CI95: .204, .693), and was significant (p dyslexia. PMID:23920029

  12. Serial Position Functions in General Knowledge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelley, Matthew R.; Neath, Ian; Surprenant, Aimée M.

    2015-01-01

    Serial position functions with marked primacy and recency effects are ubiquitous in episodic memory tasks. The demonstrations reported here explored whether bow-shaped serial position functions would be observed when people ordered exemplars from various categories along a specified dimension. The categories and dimensions were: actors and age;…

  13. Rapid-Sequence Serial Sexual Homicides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schlesinger, Louis B; Ramirez, Stephanie; Tusa, Brittany; Jarvis, John P; Erdberg, Philip

    2017-03-01

    Serial sexual murderers have been described as committing homicides in a methodical manner, taking substantial time between offenses to elude the authorities. The results of our study of the temporal patterns (i.e., the length of time between homicides) of a nonrandom national sample of 44 serial sexual murderers and their 201 victims indicate that this representation may not always be accurate. Although 25 offenders (56.8%) killed with longer than a 14-day period between homicides, a sizeable subgroup was identified: 19 offenders (43.2%) who committed homicides in rapid-sequence fashion, with fewer than 14 days between all or some of the murders. Six offenders (13.6%) killed all their victims in one rapid-sequence, spree-like episode, with homicides just days apart or sometimes two murders in the same day. Thirteen offenders (29.5%) killed in one or two rapid-sequence clusters (i.e., more than one murder within a 14-day period, as well as additional homicides with greater than 14 days between each). The purpose of our study was to describe this subgroup of rapid-sequence offenders who have not been identified until now. These findings argue for accelerated forensic assessments of dangerousness and public safety when a sexual murder is detected. Psychiatric disorders with rapidly occurring symptom patterns, or even atypical mania or mood dysregulation, may serve as exemplars for understanding this extraordinary group of offenders. © 2017 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

  14. SMALL SERIAL AND SERIAL PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT IN UNSTABLE DEMAND ENVIROUMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tsomaeva I. V.

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available The work presents the methodological approach to production program of the enterprise serial engineering for the current period in the conditions of uncertainty of demand. Here are two problems with this. The first is connected with the formation of the production program of the next quarter, year. Objective could be to stochastic programming, but this task is difficult. Therefore, in this paper we proposed a simple solution. On the basis of statistical historical information about the deviation of actual sales data products from predicted by Monte Carlo generated a lot of production programs. Fixed worst key performance (sales, profit etc. The difference between the values of the planned target and the settlement defines stochastic reserve, to be established at the expense of additional innovations. The second problem is connected with the formation of the production program production in the planned month, taking into account the creation of stocks of production in the conditions when for a short period of time is difficult to build a pattern of change in the quantity demanded by month for serial production, as in some months of the year the products are not produced nor sold. To justify the level of inventories of finished products is information on deviations from the fact plan for past periods. Built function of frequency distribution of the values of deviations. This allows you to further build the methodology for determining the level of production (taking into account the reserves and sales of products that deliver maximum economic effect from the sales in the conditions of a random process of realization of production.

  15. Analysis of assembly serial number usage in domestic light-water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reich, W.J.; Moore, R.S.

    1991-05-01

    Domestic light-water reactor (LWR) fuel assemblies are identified by a serial number that is placed on each assembly. These serial numbers are used as identifiers throughout the life of the fuel. The uniqueness of assembly serial numbers is important in determining their effectiveness as unambiguous identifiers. The purpose of this study is to determine what serial numbering schemes are used, the effectiveness of these schemes, and to quantify how many duplicate serial numbers occur on domestic LWR fuel assemblies. The serial numbering scheme adopted by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) ensures uniqueness of assembly serial numbers. The latest numbering scheme adopted by General Electric (GE), was also found to be unique. Analysis of 70,971 fuel assembly serial numbers from permanently discharged fuel identified 11,948 serial number duplicates. Three duplicate serial numbers were found when analysis focused on duplication within the individual fuel inventory at each reactor site, but these were traced back to data entry errors and will be corrected by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). There were also three instances where the serial numbers used to identify assemblies used for hot cell studies differed from the serial numbers reported to the EIA. It is recommended that fuel fabricators and utilities adhere to the ANSI serial numbering scheme to ensure serial number uniqueness. In addition, organizations collecting serial number information, should request that all known serial numbers physically attached or associated with each assembly be reported and identified by the corresponding number scheme. 10 refs., 5 tabs

  16. Serial consolidation of orientation information into visual short-term memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Taosheng; Becker, Mark W

    2013-06-01

    Previous research suggests that there is a limit to the rate at which items can be consolidated in visual short-term memory (VSTM). This limit could be due to either a serial or a limited-capacity parallel process. Historically, it has proven difficult to distinguish between these two types of processes. In the present experiment, we took a novel approach that allowed us to do so. Participants viewed two oriented gratings either sequentially or simultaneously and reported one of the gratings' orientation via method of adjustment. Performance was worse for the simultaneous than for the sequential condition. We fit the data with a mixture model that assumes performance is limited by a noisy memory representation plus random guessing. Critically, the serial and limited-capacity parallel processes made distinct predictions regarding the model's guessing and memory-precision parameters. We found strong support for a serial process, which implies that one can consolidate only a single orientation into VSTM at a time.

  17. Implementation of a Multichannel Serial Data Streaming Algorithm using the Xilinx Serial RapidIO Solution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doxley, Charles A.

    2016-01-01

    In the current world of applications that use reconfigurable technology implemented on field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), there is a need for flexible architectures that can grow as the systems evolve. A project has limited resources and a fixed set of requirements that development efforts are tasked to meet. Designers must develop robust solutions that practically meet the current customer demands and also have the ability to grow for future performance. This paper describes the development of a high speed serial data streaming algorithm that allows for transmission of multiple data channels over a single serial link. The technique has the ability to change to meet new applications developed for future design considerations. This approach uses the Xilinx Serial RapidIO LOGICORE Solution to implement a flexible infrastructure to meet the current project requirements with the ability to adapt future system designs.

  18. SERIAL TELEVISI DEXTER SEBAGAI ANAKRONISME DALAM SASTRA POPULER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ida Rochani Adi

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available In the popular literature context, this study aims to investigate: (1 how the formulation of the characterization of Dexter in the television serial Dexter violates the tradition of literary characterization, and (2 how the formula of moral values is dramatized through Dexter, who is a sociopath, psychopath, serial killer, and person without moral. The research object was the television serial Dexter, which ranks five in popularity in the world. The data were collected by documenting 84 episodes of the serial having been broadcast since 2006. They were analyzed by means of content analysis and qualitative descriptive techniques. Based on the findings, the conclusions are as follows. First, there is a violation or anachronism of characterization through the main character in the serial. Second, the dramatized moral values still contain conventional values although they are in different forms.

  19. Delaware's first serial killer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inguito, G B; Sekula-Perlman, A; Lynch, M J; Callery, R T

    2000-11-01

    The violent murder of Shirley Ellis on November 29, 1987, marked the beginning of the strange and terrible tale of Steven Bryan Pennell's reign as the state of Delaware's first convicted serial killer. Three more bodies followed the first victim, and all had been brutally beaten and sadistically tortured. The body of a fifth woman has never been found. State and county police collaborated with the FBI to identify and hunt down their suspect, forming a task force of over 100 officers and spending about one million dollars. Through their knowledge and experience with other serial killers, the FBI was able to make an amazingly accurate psychological profile of Delaware's serial killer. After months of around-the-clock surveillance, Steven Pennell was arrested on November 29, 1988, one year to the day after the first victim was found. Pennell was found guilty in the deaths of the first two victims on November 29, 1989, and plead no contest to the murder of two others on October 30, 1991. Still maintaining his innocence, he asked for the death penalty so that he could spare his family further agony. Steven Pennell was executed by lethal injection on March 15, 1992.

  20. Serial MRI studies using gadolinium DTPA in active multiple sclerosis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, D.H.; Johnson, G.; Barnes, D.; Rudge, P.; McDonald, W.I.

    1988-01-01

    It has been suggested that blood brain barrier (BBB) impairment is a necessary early event in the pathogenesis of the multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions. To evaluate such an hypothesis in vivo would require: (1) serial imaging studies using a modality with high sensitivity for detecting plaques; (2) a contrast enhancing agent which demonstrates BBB impairment. A serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study was undertaken of a group of MS patients using the contrast agent gadolinium-DTPA. As it has been suggested that T 1 and T 2 relaxation times are longer in acute than chronic MS lesions, these were also measured. 3 refs.; 1 figure

  1. Classifying serial killers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Promish, D I; Lester, D

    1999-11-08

    We attempted to match the appearance and demeanor of 27 serial killers to the postmortem 'signatures' found on their victims' bodies. Our results suggest that a link may exist between postmortem signatures and two complementary appearance-demeanor types.

  2. Theory of Visual Attention (TVA) applied to mice in the 5-choice serial reaction time task

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fitzpatrick, C. M.; Caballero-Puntiverio, M.; Gether, U.

    2017-01-01

    Rationale The 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT) is widely used to measure rodent attentional functions. In humans, many attention studies in healthy and clinical populations have used testing based on Bundesen’s Theory of Visual Attention (TVA) to estimate visual processing speeds...... on an individual level. Scopolamine HBr dose-dependently reduced 5-CSRTT attentional performance while also increasing reward collection latency at the highest dose. Upon TVA modelling, scopolamine HBr significantly reduced visual processing speed at both doses, while having less pronounced effects on visual...... modelled using a new three-parameter version of TVA to obtain estimates of visual processing speeds, visual thresholds and motor response baselines in each mouse. Results The parameter estimates for each animal were reliable across sessions, showing that the data were stable enough to support analysis...

  3. CAMAC serial highway interface for the LSI-11

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lau, N.H.

    1980-01-01

    A CAMAC Serial Highway Interface has been designed for the Local Control and Instrumentation System of the Mirror Fusion Test Facility. There are over 50 distinguishable systems in the facility, each of which consists of the LSI-11 computer, fiber optic communication links, and the CAMAC system. The LSI-11 computer includes a 32k memory, serial modem interface and the CAMAC Serial Highway Interface

  4. Notorious Cases of Serial Killers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iosub Elena-Cătălina

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The reconstruction of a death scene provides an overall picture of the crime and will indicate the murder as an event or one of a series of events and also the criminal. But when the criminal is declared a serial killer, many questions are raised up. How could a person kill some else without a reason or why people react in such a disorganized way and become so brutal or what made them act like that and so many questions with also so many answers. This project explains the psychology of a murderer, his own way of thinking and acting by presuming that we may accurately discover what is in their minds when they kill. It is about a very complex issue regarding murder investigations, biological factors and psychological profile of a serial killer. Dealing with this problem we will at last reach to the question that could solve finally the puzzle: ―Are serial murderers distorted reflections of society's own values?

  5. Modus operandi of female serial killers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, W; Hilton, T

    1998-04-01

    The modus operandi of female serial killers was examined from a chronology of 58 cases in America and 47 cases in 17 other countries, compiled over 25-year intervals. Female serial killers in other countries accounted for a disproportionately greater number of victims, but those in America managed a longer killing career when associated with a low profile modus operandi.

  6. Analysis of aging in lager brewing yeast during serial repitching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bühligen, Franziska; Lindner, Patrick; Fetzer, Ingo; Stahl, Frank; Scheper, Thomas; Harms, Hauke; Müller, Susann

    2014-10-10

    Serial repitching of brewing yeast inoculates is an important economic factor in the brewing industry, as their propagation is time and resource intensive. Here, we investigated whether replicative aging and/or the population distribution status changed during serial repitching in three different breweries with the same brewing yeast strain but different abiotic backgrounds and repitching regimes with varying numbers of reuses. Next to bud scar numbers the DNA content of the Saccharomyces pastorianus HEBRU cells was analyzed. Gene expression patterns were investigated using low-density microarrays with genes for aging, stress, storage compound metabolism and cell cycle. Two breweries showed a stable rejuvenation rate during serial repitching. In a third brewery the fraction of virgin cells varied, which could be explained with differing wort aeration rates. Furthermore, the number of bud scars per cell and cell size correlated in all 3 breweries throughout all runs. Transcriptome analyses revealed that from the 6th run on, mainly for the cells positive gene expression could be seen, for example up-regulation of trehalose and glycogen metabolism genes. Additionally, the cells' settling in the cone was dependent on cell size, with the lowest and the uppermost cone layers showing the highest amount of dead cells. In general, cells do not progressively age during extended serial repitching. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Macular hole formation, progression, and surgical repair: case series of serial optical coherence tomography and time lapse morphing video study

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    Background To use a new medium to dynamically visualize serial optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans in order to illustrate and elucidate the pathogenesis of idiopathic macular hole formation, progression, and surgical closure. Case Presentations Two patients at the onset of symptoms with early stage macular holes and one patient following repair were followed with serial OCTs. Images centered at the fovea and at the same orientation were digitally exported and morphed into an Audiovisual Interleaving (avi) movie format. Morphing videos from serial OCTs allowed the OCTs to be viewed dynamically. The videos supported anterior-posterior vitreofoveal traction as the initial event in macular hole formation. Progression of the macular hole occurred with increased cystic thickening of the fovea without evidence of further vitreofoveal traction. During cyst formation, the macular hole enlarged as the edges of the hole became elevated from the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) with an increase in subretinal fluid. Surgical repair of a macular hole revealed initial closure of the macular hole with subsequent reabsorption of the sub-retinal fluid and restoration of the foveal contour. Conclusions Morphing videos from serial OCTs are a useful tool and helped illustrate and support anterior-posterior vitreofoveal traction with subsequent retinal hydration as the pathogenesis of idiopathic macular holes. PMID:20849638

  8. Asymmetrical learning between a tactile and visual serial RT task

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Abrahamse, E.L.; van der Lubbe, Robert Henricus Johannes; Verwey, Willem B.

    2007-01-01

    According to many researchers, implicit learning in the serial reaction-time task is predominantly motor based and therefore should be independent of stimulus modality. Previous research on the task, however, has focused almost completely on the visual domain. Here we investigated sequence learning

  9. SERIAL TELEVISI DEXTER SEBAGAI ANAKRONISME DALAM SASTRA POPULER

    OpenAIRE

    Ida Rochani Adi

    2014-01-01

    In the popular literature context, this study aims to investigate: (1) how the formulation of the characterization of Dexter in the television serial Dexter violates the tradition of literary characterization, and (2) how the formula of moral values is dramatized through Dexter, who is a sociopath, psychopath, serial killer, and person without moral. The research object was the television serial Dexter, which ranks five in popularity in the world. The data were collected by documenting 84 epi...

  10. From brief gaps to very long pauses: temporal isolation does not benefit serial recall.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nimmo, Lisa M; Lewandowsky, Stephan

    2005-12-01

    Theoretical explanations of short-term memory for serial order can be classified on the basis of whether or not they invoke time as a causal variable. According to time-based accounts, such as temporal distinctiveness theories, there is an intimate link between time and memory. Event-based theories, by contrast, postulate processes such as interference or rehearsal to account for seemingly temporal phenomena in short-term memory. We report an experiment that examined whether extended temporal isolation benefits serial recall performance. Regardless of whether the participants were quiet or performed articulatory suppression during list presentation, temporal isolation did not benefit memory even if items were separated from their neighbors by up to 7 sec. These findings challenge time-based theories of short-term memory.

  11. From animal cruelty to serial murder: applying the graduation hypothesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Jeremy; Hensley, Christopher

    2003-02-01

    Although serial murder has been recorded for centuries, limited academic attention has been given to this important topic. Scholars have attempted to examine the causality and motivations behind the rare phenomenon of serial murder. However, scant research exists which delves into the childhood characteristics of serial murderers. Using social learning theory, some of these studies present supporting evidence for a link between childhood animal cruelty and adult aggression toward humans. Based on five case studies of serial murderers, we contribute to the existing literature by exploring the possible link between childhood cruelty toward animals and serial murder with the application of the graduation hypothesis.

  12. Sensing the Opaque : Seriality and the Aesthetics of Televisual Form

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dasgupta, S.; Kelleter, F.

    2017-01-01

    Recent work on TV seriality focuses on the deference of meaning through narrative extension. Contemporary seriality, it has been argued, exploits this expanding textuality to construct complicated narratives that tip the pleasures of seriality toward detecting the meaning of the plot's

  13. Evaluation of the prognosis of cancer patients with metastatic bone tumors based on serial bone scintigrams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohmori, Kazuo; Matsui, Hisao; Yasuda, Taketoshi; Kanamori, Masahiko; Yudoh, Kazuo; Seto, Hikaru; Tsuji, Haruo

    1997-01-01

    We counted the lesions at the time of detection of bone metastases and calculated the rate of increase in the number of bone metastases from changes in serial bone scintigrams, and investigated the usefulness of serial scintigrams as a prognostic indicator in patients with metastatic bone tumors. Subjects were 112 patients with bone metastases from four types of primary lesion: 21 with prostate cancer, 27 breast cancer, 39 lung cancer and 25 stomach cancer. Of these, 18 (prostate), 19 (breast), nine (lung) and eight (stomach) underwent serial bone scintigrams in which bone metastases were first detected and identified as progressing. The numbers of lesions at the time of detection of bone metastases for prostate and stomach cancers were significantly greater than those for lung cancer. The rate of increase in the number of bone metastases for stomach cancer was significantly higher than that for prostate or breast cancers. There was no correlation between the survival time after the detection of bone metastases and the number of lesions at the time of detection in the four types of cancer. However, in prostate cancer, a negative correlation existed between the survival time after the detection of bone metastases and the rate of increase in the number of bone metastases. Thus, in patients with bone metastases from prostate cancer, it appears that the rate of increase in the number of bone metastases, estimated from serial bone scintigrams, was indicative of prognosis. (author)

  14. Serial private infrastructures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Berg, V.A.C.

    2013-01-01

    This paper investigates private supply of two congestible infrastructures that are serial, where the consumer has to use both in order to consume. Four market structures are analysed: a monopoly and 3 duopolies that differ in how firms interact. It is well known that private supply leads too high

  15. Serial murder: An unusual stereotype.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sane, Mandar R; Mugadlimath, Anand B; Farooqui, Jamebaseer M; Janagond, Anand B; Mishra, Pradeep K

    2017-12-01

    Serial murders attract attention from the media, mental health experts, academia, and the general public. We present a case of serial murders that took place in a limited area and which caused public anxiety and anguish in central India. All the victims were homeless beggars, who were bludgeoned to death (crush injury). Individual murders were initially investigated by different police stations; fortunately, since they sent all the bodies to a common autopsy centre, a forensic pathologist was able to link all the cases, the first person to do so. This emphasises the need for sharing information among police stations and autopsy centres.

  16. Child serial murder-psychodynamics: closely watched shadows.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turco, R

    2001-01-01

    There is a malignant transformation in object relations resulting in an identification with an omnipotent and cruel object resulting in an identity transformation. If the tension, desperation, and dissociation increase, serial murder becomes spree murder. The presence of pathological narcissism and psychopathic tendencies are of diagnostic significance in understanding the murderer's personality functioning and motivation to kill. Meloy (1988) considered the degree of sadism and aggression combined with narcissistic qualities to reflect the "malignancy" of the psychopathic disturbance where gratification (of aggression) occurs in the service of narcissistic functioning--that is, cruelty toward others in the form of a triumphant victory over a rejecting object. Meloy also believes that dissociation is ubiquitious in the psychopath. The initial murder of the serial murderer may reflect a "new identity." The pathological object-relations of narcissism and the malignant narcissism are important diagnostic indicators in the personality functioning of serial killers and the occurrence of these phenomena is a significant factor in the formation of the personalities of serial killers, their inner motivations, and their pattern of commission.

  17. [The serial murder: a few theoretical perspectives].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leistedt, S; Linkowski, P

    2011-01-01

    Despite numbers of publications and effort to try to establish the definition, the classification, the epidemiology, the clinical aspects and the psychopathology of serial killers, a universal consensus seems to say the least. Crime, though reduced in some countries, appears to impact more and more consistent worldwide, generating controversial ideas and a multitude of possible explanations. The serial killer usually presents as a caucasian man, aged between 20 and 40 years, often embedded socially and in his family, but with serious psychiatric, personal and especially family history. Usually acting alone, the serial killer plans a crime well in advance, but sometimes within the scope of impulsivity for a minority, the victim not being previously selected. In the latter case, an actual mental illness like psychosis is found. It is clear from numerous psychopathological studies conducted so far that most serial killers are defined as psychopathic sexual sadists, whose childhood was difficult, if not flouted, punctuated by physical and psychological violence situations. In addition, pervasive fantasies combined with thoughts of death, sex and violence are as much in common with the original acts of which they are the instigators. Beyond a relentless media that is constantly watering the public with stories and pictures depicting them as such, serial killers remain an enigma. We can therefore attempt to answer the various questions raised by this phenomenon, the way these people operate and how we can curb the rise, thanks to the neurobiological and neurophysiological approaches that science offers us.

  18. Development of serial magnification angiography and its clinical significance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sasaki, Tsuneo; Matsubara, Kazuhito; Ishiguchi, Tsuneo; Mashita, Shinichi; Kaii, Osamu

    1979-01-01

    In order to apply serial magnification angiography to clinical examinations so easily, a serial cardioangiography apparatus was equipped with a tube having 0.1 mm focal spot and with DRX-431HD diode. A CAT-FK Type catheter bed (Toshiba) was used as a roentgenographic table and a PUCK film changer was used. Thus, serial magnification angiography can be easily used to clinical examinations, and can be set in a usual x-ray photographic studio. Serial magnification angiography was used to examine the cerebral vessels in 6 patients, vessels of the pulmonary circulation in 1 patient, bronchial arteries in 6 patients, the celiac artery in 18 patients, the superior mesenteric artery in 2 patients, inferior mesenteric artery in 2 patients, the renal artery in 2 patients, and the adrenal vein in 7 patients. Owing to this angiography, minute changes in the vessel in the lesion can be observed and fine neovascularity can be detected. Thus, serial magnification angiography makes diagnoses of vascular disorders easier. (Ichikawa, K.)

  19. The role of serial casting in early-onset scoliosis (EOS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baulesh, David M; Huh, Jeannie; Judkins, Timothy; Garg, Sumeet; Miller, Nancy H; Erickson, Mark A

    2012-01-01

    Serial casting has demonstrated efficacy for idiopathic early-onset scoliosis (EOS). Results of casting in nonidiopathic (syndromic and congenital) EOS patients have not previously been well described. A total of 53 patients underwent serial casting for EOS from 2005 to 2010 at a single institution. Deformity was classified as idiopathic or nonidiopathic. Diagnosis, time in cast, number of casts, use of bracing, complications, and outcomes were recorded. Radiographic measures included Cobb angle and thoracic height (T1-T12). Thoracic height velocity was calculated and compared with established norms. A total of 36 patients, 19 idiopathic and 17 nonidiopathic (14 syndromic, 3 congenital), completed cast treatment and had >6-month follow-up and were therefore included. Of those, 17% (6/36) experienced resolution of their deformity, 53% (19/26) are currently in braces, and 31% (11/36) had undergone surgery. Surgery occurred on average at age 5.6 years and was delayed by an average of 2.1 years from time of first cast. A 19% complication was observed. There was no statistical difference in the rate of resolution of deformity between idiopathic (5/19) and nonidiopathic (1/17) patients (P=0.182), although there exists a trend toward greater curve correction in idiopathic patients. Surgery occurred in fewer patients (2/19) in the idiopathic group compared with the nonidiopathic group (9/17) (P=0.006). Significant improvements in Cobb angle was observed in the idiopathic group (12.2 degrees) during casting (P=0.003). Nonidiopathic patients did not maintain the correction gained during casting at the time of final follow-up. T1-T12 height increased across all study patients regardless of etiology during the period of casting at similar velocity to established norms of 1.4 cm/y for this age group. Serial casting offers modest deformity correction in idiopathic deformities compared with nonidiopathic deformities. Thoracic height growth continued throughout the casting period

  20. Alur Kerja Tahap Produksi Karakter Animasi Serial 3D Menggunakan Perangkat Lunak Maxon Cinema 4D

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ardiyan Ardiyan

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available 3D Animation serial for television needs have been showed in the national television program, especially fantasy theme and educational program for children. There are so many and sequential needs which tricked by instant and high quality production so the work flow in creating 3D animation serial are facilitating the producers. The article will explain specifically how the software of Maxon Cinema 4D in process production in 3D animation serial. The article will also clarify and focus on how the work flow of Maxon Cinema 4D software in processing production and post-production stages. The writer does research including audio visual tutorial, end-result comparison and rendering time between some software, self-observation of work flow in creating 3D animation serial using Maxon Cinema 4D software and digital literature study (e-book.  

  1. Determination of motive of serial invaders as a stage of serial murders investigation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Davydov A.B.

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available the article discusses the existing classification of motives of serial murderers. The author provides the classification, which is based on the technique of extreme meanings offered by D.A. Leontyev.

  2. Playing at Serial Acquisitions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    J.T.J. Smit (Han); T. Moraitis (Thras)

    2010-01-01

    textabstractBehavioral biases can result in suboptimal acquisition decisions-with the potential for errors exacerbated in consolidating industries, where consolidators design serial acquisition strategies and fight escalating takeover battles for platform companies that may determine their future

  3. An Investigation of Selective College and University Libraries' Serial Arrangement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kesler, Elizabeth Gates; Teborek, Gay

    Data from a survey on serials arrangement procedures and policies at academic libraries was used by the University of Rhode Island (URI) Library in changing current serials policies. Ten libraries, four of which have similar serial holdings and user populations to URI, responded to a questionnaire. Information was obtained on classification versus…

  4. Serials cataloging at the turn of the century

    CERN Document Server

    Williams, James W

    2014-01-01

    An overview of the research topics and trends that have appeared over the last five years, Serials Cataloging at the Turn of the Century doesn't just tell you that there has been a lot of change--that the information environment is something of a chameleon, always beguiling and slipping out of grasp. Instead, it gives you the plain facts on the specific challenges serials catalogers have been facing and how they're meeting adversity head-on, ready to gain the advantage in the rumble with proliferating information and formats.Comprehensive, resource-packed, and easy-to-digest, Serials Catalogin

  5. Serial Echocardiographic Characteristics, Novel Biomarkers and Cachexia Development in Patients with Stable Chronic Heart Failure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaggin, Hanna K; Belcher, Arianna M; Gandhi, Parul U; Ibrahim, Nasrien E; Januzzi, James L

    2016-12-01

    Little is known regarding objective predictors of cachexia affecting patients with heart failure (HF). We studied 108 stable chronic systolic HF patients with serial echocardiography and biomarker measurements over 10 months. Cachexia was defined as weight loss ≥5 % from baseline or final BMI cachexia. While there were no significant differences in baseline or serial echocardiographic measures in those developing cachexia, we found significant differences in baseline amino-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), highly sensitive troponin I, sST2, and endothelin-1. Baseline log NT-proBNP (hazard ratio (HR) = 2.57, p = 0.004) and edema (HR = 3.36, p = 0.04) were predictive of cachexia in an adjusted analysis. When serial measurement of biomarkers was considered, only percent time with NT-proBNP ≥1000 pg/mL was predictive of cachexia. Thus, a close association exists between baseline and serial measurement of NT-proBNP and HF cachexia.

  6. Fast Grasp Contact Computation for a Serial Robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Jianying (Inventor); Hargrave, Brian (Inventor); Diftler, Myron A. (Inventor)

    2015-01-01

    A system includes a controller and a serial robot having links that are interconnected by a joint, wherein the robot can grasp a three-dimensional (3D) object in response to a commanded grasp pose. The controller receives input information, including the commanded grasp pose, a first set of information describing the kinematics of the robot, and a second set of information describing the position of the object to be grasped. The controller also calculates, in a two-dimensional (2D) plane, a set of contact points between the serial robot and a surface of the 3D object needed for the serial robot to achieve the commanded grasp pose. A required joint angle is then calculated in the 2D plane between the pair of links using the set of contact points. A control action is then executed with respect to the motion of the serial robot using the required joint angle.

  7. One-year retention of general and sequence-specific skills in a probabilistic, serial reaction time task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romano, Jennifer C; Howard, James H; Howard, Darlene V

    2010-05-01

    Procedural skills such as riding a bicycle and playing a musical instrument play a central role in daily life. Such skills are learned gradually and are retained throughout life. The present study investigated 1-year retention of procedural skill in a version of the widely used serial reaction time task (SRTT) in young and older motor-skill experts and older controls in two experiments. The young experts were college-age piano and action video-game players, and the older experts were piano players. Previous studies have reported sequence-specific skill retention in the SRTT as long as 2 weeks but not at 1 year. Results indicated that both young and older experts and older non-experts revealed sequence-specific skill retention after 1 year with some evidence that general motor skill was retained as well. These findings are consistent with theoretical accounts of procedural skill learning such as the procedural reinstatement theory as well as with previous studies of retention of other motor skills.

  8. Representation of the serial killer on the Italian Internet.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Villano, P; Bastianoni, P; Melotti, G

    2001-10-01

    The representation of serial killers was examined from the analysis of 317 Web pages in the Italian language to study how the psychological profiles of serial killers are described on the Italian Internet. The correspondence analysis of the content of these Web pages shows that in Italy the serial killer is associated with words such as "monster" and "horror," which suggest and imply psychological perversion and aberrant acts. These traits are peculiar for the Italian scenario.

  9. Effects of Serial Rehearsal Training on Memory Search

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCauley, Charley; And Others

    1976-01-01

    Half the subjects were trained to use a serial rehearsal strategy during target set storage and half were given no strategy training. The results indicate that the rate of memory search is IQ-related, and that serial rehearsal training facilitates memory search when rehearsal is covert. (Author/BW)

  10. Highlights in radiation measuring technique's - Serial Micro Channel SMC 2100

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kandler, M.; Hoffmann, Ch.

    2002-01-01

    The Serial Micro Channel SMC 2100 offers an ''intelligent stand alone'' electronics for the radiation measuring technique's. First it is designed of being connected to a serial interface RS232 of a PC. With a RS485 serial interface on a PC, a network structure can be generated. It has all functional modules which are necessary for the measurement of detector signals. Hence it is possible to directly connect any detector for radiation measurement to a PC, laptop, or notebook. All variations can be operated without PC support too. It has a modular structure and consists of two blocks, the functional modules and the basic modules. The Serial Micro Channel SMC 2100 may be directly coupled to a detector, which therefore makes the realisation of an ''intelligent radiation detector'' with serial link RS232 or RS485. (orig.)

  11. Examining the relationship between free recall and immediate serial recall: the serial nature of recall and the effect of test expectancy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhatarah, Parveen; Ward, Geoff; Tan, Lydia

    2008-01-01

    In two experiments, we examined the relationship between free recall and immediate serial recall (ISR), using a within-subjects (Experiment 1) and a between-subjects (Experiment 2) design. In both experiments, participants read aloud lists of eight words and were precued or postcued to respond using free recall or ISR. The serial position curves were U-shaped for free recall and showed extended primacy effects with little or no recency for ISR, and there was little or no difference between recall for the precued and the postcued conditions. Critically, analyses of the output order showed that although the participants started their recall from different list positions in the two tasks, the degree to which subsequent recall was serial in a forward order was strikingly similar. We argue that recalling in a serial forward order is a general characteristic of memory and that performance on ISR and free recall is underpinned by common memory mechanisms.

  12. Distinct enlargement of network size or measurement speed for serial FBG sensor networks utilizing SIK-DS-CDMA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abbenseth, S; Lochmann, S I [Hochschule Wismar, Univ. of Technology, Business and Design, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, Philipp-Mueller-Strasse, 23952, Wismar (Germany)

    2005-01-01

    Using the spectral selectivity and adjustable reflectivity FBGs are predestined for serial networking. Presently the addressing is realised by time division multiplex (TDM) or wavelength division multiplex (WDM). But these technologies have big disadvantages regarding the effective use of the prevailing resources time and wavelength, respectively. In this paper a new scheme capable of addressing a large number of FBGs in a single serial network is proposed and compared to TDM and WDM. Using all optical sequence inversion keyed (SIK) direct sequence (DS) code division multiplex (CDM) it overcomes the restrictions handling the resources time and wavelength without losing accuracy.

  13. Distinct enlargement of network size or measurement speed for serial FBG sensor networks utilizing SIK-DS-CDMA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abbenseth, S; Lochmann, S I

    2005-01-01

    Using the spectral selectivity and adjustable reflectivity FBGs are predestined for serial networking. Presently the addressing is realised by time division multiplex (TDM) or wavelength division multiplex (WDM). But these technologies have big disadvantages regarding the effective use of the prevailing resources time and wavelength, respectively. In this paper a new scheme capable of addressing a large number of FBGs in a single serial network is proposed and compared to TDM and WDM. Using all optical sequence inversion keyed (SIK) direct sequence (DS) code division multiplex (CDM) it overcomes the restrictions handling the resources time and wavelength without losing accuracy

  14. Forgetting in immediate serial recall: decay, temporal distinctiveness, or interference?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oberauer, Klaus; Lewandowsky, Stephan

    2008-07-01

    Three hypotheses of forgetting from immediate memory were tested: time-based decay, decreasing temporal distinctiveness, and interference. The hypotheses were represented by 3 models of serial recall: the primacy model, the SIMPLE (scale-independent memory, perception, and learning) model, and the SOB (serial order in a box) model, respectively. The models were fit to 2 experiments investigating the effect of filled delays between items at encoding or at recall. Short delays between items, filled with articulatory suppression, led to massive impairment of memory relative to a no-delay baseline. Extending the delays had little additional effect, suggesting that the passage of time alone does not cause forgetting. Adding a choice reaction task in the delay periods to block attention-based rehearsal did not change these results. The interference-based SOB fit the data best; the primacy model overpredicted the effect of lengthening delays, and SIMPLE was unable to explain the effect of delays at encoding. The authors conclude that purely temporal views of forgetting are inadequate. Copyright (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

  15. Kinematics and dynamics analysis of a novel serial-parallel dynamic simulator

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hu, Bo; Zhang, Lian Dong; Yu, Jingjing [Parallel Robot and Mechatronic System Laboratory of Hebei Province, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, Hebei (China)

    2016-11-15

    A serial-parallel dynamics simulator based on serial-parallel manipulator is proposed. According to the dynamics simulator motion requirement, the proposed serial-parallel dynamics simulator formed by 3-RRS (active revolute joint-revolute joint-spherical joint) and 3-SPR (Spherical joint-active prismatic joint-revolute joint) PMs adopts the outer and inner layout. By integrating the kinematics, constraint and coupling information of the 3-RRS and 3-SPR PMs into the serial-parallel manipulator, the inverse Jacobian matrix, velocity, and acceleration of the serial-parallel dynamics simulator are studied. Based on the principle of virtual work and the kinematics model, the inverse dynamic model is established. Finally, the workspace of the (3-RRS)+(3-SPR) dynamics simulator is constructed.

  16. Kinematics and dynamics analysis of a novel serial-parallel dynamic simulator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hu, Bo; Zhang, Lian Dong; Yu, Jingjing

    2016-01-01

    A serial-parallel dynamics simulator based on serial-parallel manipulator is proposed. According to the dynamics simulator motion requirement, the proposed serial-parallel dynamics simulator formed by 3-RRS (active revolute joint-revolute joint-spherical joint) and 3-SPR (Spherical joint-active prismatic joint-revolute joint) PMs adopts the outer and inner layout. By integrating the kinematics, constraint and coupling information of the 3-RRS and 3-SPR PMs into the serial-parallel manipulator, the inverse Jacobian matrix, velocity, and acceleration of the serial-parallel dynamics simulator are studied. Based on the principle of virtual work and the kinematics model, the inverse dynamic model is established. Finally, the workspace of the (3-RRS)+(3-SPR) dynamics simulator is constructed

  17. Simple measuring rod method for the coaxiality of serial holes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Lei; Yang, Tongyu; Wang, Zhong; Ji, Yuchen; Liu, Changjie; Fu, Luhua

    2017-11-01

    Aiming at the rapid coaxiality measurement of serial hole part with a small diameter, a coaxiality measuring rod for each layer hole with a single LDS (laser displacement sensor) is proposed. This method does not require the rotation angle information of the rod, and the coaxiality of serial holes can be calculated from the measured values of LDSs after randomly rotating the measuring rod several times. With the mathematical model of the coaxiality measuring rod, each factor affecting the accuracy of coaxiality measurement is analyzed by simulation, and the installation accuracy requirements of the measuring rod and LDSs are presented. In the tolerance of a certain installation error of the measuring rod, the relative center of the hole is calculated by setting the over-determined nonlinear equations of the fitting circles of the multi-layer holes. In experiment, coaxiality measurement accuracy is realized by a 16 μm precision LDS, and the validity of the measurement method is verified. The manufacture and measurement requirements of the coaxiality measuring rod are low, by changing the position of LDSs in the measuring rod, the serial holes with different sizes and numbers can be measured. The rapid coaxiality measurement of parts can be easily implemented in industrial sites.

  18. Recommendations for CAMAC Serial Highway drivers and LAM Graders for the SCC-L2 Serial Crate Controller

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1978-01-01

    The functional requirements of Drivers for the CAMAC Serial Highway defined in IEEE Standard 595-1976 are described. The description is independent of the implementation, and in particular no assumption is made about the boundary between hardware and software within the Driver. Topics covered are the user interface, the supporting system services required, demand handling, and a detailed discussion of the message analysis for various levels of error recovery. An appendix describes the recommended features of LAM Graders for use with the Serial Crate Controller Type L2 of IEEE Std 595-1976

  19. Oscillating in synchrony with a metronome: serial dependence, limit cycle dynamics, and modeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torre, Kjerstin; Balasubramaniam, Ramesh; Delignières, Didier

    2010-07-01

    We analyzed serial dependencies in periods and asynchronies collected during oscillations performed in synchrony with a metronome. Results showed that asynchronies contain 1/f fluctuations, and the series of periods contain antipersistent dependence. The analysis of the phase portrait revealed a specific asymmetry induced by synchronization. We propose a hybrid limit cycle model including a cycle-dependent stiffness parameter provided with fractal properties, and a parametric driving function based on velocity. This model accounts for most experimentally evidenced statistical features, including serial dependence and limit cycle dynamics. We discuss the results and modeling choices within the framework of event-based and emergent timing.

  20. Malignant sex and aggression: an overview of serial sexual homicide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myers, W C; Reccoppa, L; Burton, K; McElroy, R

    1993-01-01

    Serial murderers have attracted considerable attention in the popular press and criminal justice field, but scientific literature about these individuals is limited. This article provides an overview, from a psychiatric perspective, of serial sexual homicide, one type of serial killing. Characteristics of this type of murder and of these offenders are discussed. Defining qualities and diagnoses applicable to serial sexual killers are reviewed. Various etiologic theories are discussed, with emphasis on the role of fantasy and psychodynamic explanations. Governmental agencies involved in combating this type of crime, along with the role of mental health professionals in criminal profiling, are presented. Finally, the authors explore the reaction of society to this phenomenon.

  1. Transtornos de personalidade, psicopatia e serial killers Personality disorders, psychopathy and serial killers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hilda C P Morana

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Apresentar as características básicas dos diversos transtornos específicos de personalidade, mas centrando-se no transtorno de personalidade anti-social, fazendo sua diferenciação com psicopatia. O estudo ainda se propõe a abordar a figura do serial killer, apontando a presença de aspectos psicopáticos no homicídio seriado. MÉTODO: Uma revisão bibliográfica foi feita no sentido de se abordar convergências e divergências entre diversos autores sobre um assunto tão polêmico, sobretudo quanto à viabilidade de tratamento dessa clientela forense. RESULTADOS: Enquanto o transtorno de personalidade anti-social é um diagnóstico médico, pode-se entender o termo "psicopatia", pertencente à esfera psiquiátrico-forense, como um "diagnóstico legal". Não se pode falar ainda de tratamento eficaz para os chamados "serial killers". CONCLUSÃO: Os transtornos de personalidade, especialmente o tipo anti-social, representam ainda hoje um verdadeiro desafio para a psiquiatria forense. O local mais adequado e justo para seus portadores, bem como recomendação homogênea e padronizada de tratamento são questões ainda não respondidas.OBJECTIVE: To illustrate the basic characteristics of several specific personality disorders, focusing mainly in antisocial personality disorder. The differences between antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy are highlighted. Serial killers and its psychopathic aspects are also discussed. METHOD: A bibliographic review was completed in order to outline convergences and divergences among different authors about this controversial issue, especially those concerning the possibility of treatment. RESULTS: While anti-social personality disorder is a medical diagnosis, the term "psychopathy" (which belongs to the sphere of forensic psychiatry may be understood as a "legal diagnosis". It is not still possible to identify an effective treatment for serial killers. CONCLUSION: Personality disorders

  2. Effect of post-digestion temperature on serial CSTR biogas reactor performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boe, Kanokwan; Karakashev, Dimitar Borisov; Trably, Eric

    2009-01-01

    The effect of post-digestion temperature on a lab-scale serial continuous-flow stirred tank reactor (CSTR) system performance was investigated. The system consisted of a main reactor operated at 55 degrees C with hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 15 days followed by post-digestion reactors with HRT...

  3. Selection and Serial Entrepreneurs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chen, Jing

    2011-01-01

    Although it has been broadly evidenced that entrepreneurial experience plays a substantial role in the emergence of serial entrepreneurship, the debate is still going on about whether this relationship should be attributed to learning by doing or instead be explained by selection on ability. This...

  4. Suicide in serial killers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lester, David; White, John

    2010-02-01

    In a sample of 248 killers of two victims in America from 1900 to 2005, obtained from an encyclopedia of serial killers by Newton (2006), those completing suicide did not differ in sex, race, or the motive for the killing from those who were arrested.

  5. Development and implementation of a three-choice serial reaction time task for zebrafish (Danio rerio).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parker, Matthew O; Millington, Mollie E; Combe, Fraser J; Brennan, Caroline H

    2012-02-01

    Zebrafish are an established and widely utilized developmental genetic model system, but limitations in developed behavioral assays have meant that their potential as a model in behavioral neuroscience has yet to be fully realized. Here, we describe the development of a novel operant behavioral assay to examine a variety of aspects of stimulus control in zebrafish using a 3 choice serial reaction time task (3 CSRTT). Fish were briefly exposed to three spatially distinct, but perceptually identical stimuli, presented in a random order after a fixed-time inter-trial interval (ITI). Entries to the correct response aperture either during the stimulus presentation, or within a brief limited hold period following presentation, were reinforced with illumination of the magazine light and delivery of a small food reward. Following training, premature responding was probed with a long-ITI session three times; once at baseline, once following a saline injection and once following an injection of a low dose of amphetamine (AMPH; 0.025 mg/kg). We predicted that if premature responding was related to impulsivity (as in rodents) it would be reduced following the AMPH injection. Results confirmed that zebrafish could learn to perform a complex operant task similar to tasks developed for rodents which are used to probe sustained attention and impulsivity, but the results from the AMPH trials were inconclusive. This study provides the foundations for development and further validation of this species as a model for some aspects of human attentional and impulse control disorders, such as substance abuse disorder. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. The serial message-passing schedule for LDPC decoding algorithms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Mingshan; Liu, Shanshan; Zhou, Yuan; Jiang, Xue

    2015-12-01

    The conventional message-passing schedule for LDPC decoding algorithms is the so-called flooding schedule. It has the disadvantage that the updated messages cannot be used until next iteration, thus reducing the convergence speed . In this case, the Layered Decoding algorithm (LBP) based on serial message-passing schedule is proposed. In this paper the decoding principle of LBP algorithm is briefly introduced, and then proposed its two improved algorithms, the grouped serial decoding algorithm (Grouped LBP) and the semi-serial decoding algorithm .They can improve LBP algorithm's decoding speed while maintaining a good decoding performance.

  7. Nanoflow electrospinning serial femtosecond crystallography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sierra, Raymond G.; Laksmono, Hartawan; Kern, Jan; Tran, Rosalie; Hattne, Johan; Alonso-Mori, Roberto; Lassalle-Kaiser, Benedikt; Glöckner, Carina; Hellmich, Julia; Schafer, Donald W.; Echols, Nathaniel; Gildea, Richard J.; Grosse-Kunstleve, Ralf W.; Sellberg, Jonas; McQueen, Trevor A.; Fry, Alan R.; Messerschmidt, Marc M.; Miahnahri, Alan; Seibert, M. Marvin; Hampton, Christina Y.; Starodub, Dmitri; Loh, N. Duane; Sokaras, Dimosthenis; Weng, Tsu-Chien; Zwart, Petrus H.; Glatzel, Pieter; Milathianaki, Despina; White, William E.; Adams, Paul D.; Williams, Garth J.; Boutet, Sébastien; Zouni, Athina; Messinger, Johannes; Sauter, Nicholas K.; Bergmann, Uwe; Yano, Junko; Yachandra, Vittal K.; Bogan, Michael J.

    2012-01-01

    A low flow rate liquid microjet method for delivery of hydrated protein crystals to X-ray lasers is presented. Linac Coherent Light Source data demonstrates serial femtosecond protein crystallography with micrograms, a reduction of sample consumption by orders of magnitude. An electrospun liquid microjet has been developed that delivers protein microcrystal suspensions at flow rates of 0.14–3.1 µl min −1 to perform serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) studies with X-ray lasers. Thermolysin microcrystals flowed at 0.17 µl min −1 and diffracted to beyond 4 Å resolution, producing 14 000 indexable diffraction patterns, or four per second, from 140 µg of protein. Nanoflow electrospinning extends SFX to biological samples that necessitate minimal sample consumption

  8. Nanoflow electrospinning serial femtosecond crystallography

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sierra, Raymond G.; Laksmono, Hartawan [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States); Kern, Jan [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States); Tran, Rosalie; Hattne, Johan [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Alonso-Mori, Roberto [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States); Lassalle-Kaiser, Benedikt [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Glöckner, Carina; Hellmich, Julia [Technische Universität Berlin, Strasse des 17 Juni 135, 10623 Berlin (Germany); Schafer, Donald W. [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States); Echols, Nathaniel; Gildea, Richard J.; Grosse-Kunstleve, Ralf W. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Sellberg, Jonas [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States); Stockholm University, S-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden); McQueen, Trevor A. [Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94025 (United States); Fry, Alan R.; Messerschmidt, Marc M.; Miahnahri, Alan; Seibert, M. Marvin; Hampton, Christina Y.; Starodub, Dmitri; Loh, N. Duane; Sokaras, Dimosthenis; Weng, Tsu-Chien [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States); Zwart, Petrus H. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Glatzel, Pieter [European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble (France); Milathianaki, Despina; White, William E. [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States); Adams, Paul D. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Williams, Garth J.; Boutet, Sébastien [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States); Zouni, Athina [Technische Universität Berlin, Strasse des 17 Juni 135, 10623 Berlin (Germany); Messinger, Johannes [Umeå Universitet, Umeå (Sweden); Sauter, Nicholas K. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Bergmann, Uwe [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States); Yano, Junko; Yachandra, Vittal K. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Bogan, Michael J., E-mail: mbogan@slac.stanford.edu [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States)

    2012-11-01

    A low flow rate liquid microjet method for delivery of hydrated protein crystals to X-ray lasers is presented. Linac Coherent Light Source data demonstrates serial femtosecond protein crystallography with micrograms, a reduction of sample consumption by orders of magnitude. An electrospun liquid microjet has been developed that delivers protein microcrystal suspensions at flow rates of 0.14–3.1 µl min{sup −1} to perform serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) studies with X-ray lasers. Thermolysin microcrystals flowed at 0.17 µl min{sup −1} and diffracted to beyond 4 Å resolution, producing 14 000 indexable diffraction patterns, or four per second, from 140 µg of protein. Nanoflow electrospinning extends SFX to biological samples that necessitate minimal sample consumption.

  9. Galileo - The Serial-Production AIT Challenge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ragnit, Ulrike; Brunner, Otto

    2008-01-01

    The Galileo Project is one of the most demanding projects of ESA, being Europe's autarkic navigation system and a constellation composed of 30 satellites. This presentation points out the different phases of the project up to the full operational capability and the corresponding launch options with respect to launch vehicles as well as launch configurations. One of the biggest challenges is to set up a small serial 'production line' for the overall integration and test campaign of satellites. This production line demands an optimization of all relevant tasks, taking into account also backup and recovery actions. A comprehensive AIT concept is required, reflecting a tightly merged facility layout and work flow design. In addition a common data management system is needed to handle all spacecraft related documentation and to have a direct input-out flow for all activities, phases and positions at the same time. Process optimization is a well known field of engineering in all small high tech production lines, nevertheless serial production of satellites are still not the daily task in space business and therefore new concepts have to be put in place. Therefore, and in order to meet the satellites overall system optimization, a thorough interface between unit/subsystem manufacturing and satellite AIT must be realized to ensure a smooth flow and to avoid any process interruption, which would directly lead to a schedule impact.

  10. Adjustment to subtle time constraints and power law learning in rapid serial visual presentation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacqueline Chakyung Shin

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available We investigated whether attention could be modulated through the implicit learning of temporal information in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP task. Participants identified two target letters among numeral distractors. The stimulus-onset asynchrony immediately following the first target (SOA1 varied at three levels (70, 98, and 126 ms randomly between trials or fixed within blocks of trials. Practice over three consecutive days resulted in a continuous improvement in the identification rate for both targets and attenuation of the attentional blink (AB, a decrement in target (T2 identification when presented 200-400 ms after another target (T1. Blocked SOA1s led to a faster rate of improvement in RSVP performance and more target order reversals relative to random SOA1s, suggesting that the implicit learning of SOA1 positively affected performance. The results also reveal power law learning curves for individual target identification as well as the reduction in the AB decrement. These learning curves reflect the spontaneous emergence of skill through subtle attentional modulations rather than general attentional distribution. Together, the results indicate that implicit temporal learning could improve high level and rapid cognitive processing and highlights the sensitivity and adaptability of the attentional system to subtle constraints in stimulus timing.

  11. Using Serial and Discrete Digit Naming to Unravel Word Reading Processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altani, Angeliki; Protopapas, Athanassios; Georgiou, George K

    2018-01-01

    During reading acquisition, word recognition is assumed to undergo a developmental shift from slow serial/sublexical processing of letter strings to fast parallel processing of whole word forms. This shift has been proposed to be detected by examining the size of the relationship between serial- and discrete-trial versions of word reading and rapid naming tasks. Specifically, a strong association between serial naming of symbols and single word reading suggests that words are processed serially, whereas a strong association between discrete naming of symbols and single word reading suggests that words are processed in parallel as wholes. In this study, 429 Grade 1, 3, and 5 English-speaking Canadian children were tested on serial and discrete digit naming and word reading. Across grades, single word reading was more strongly associated with discrete naming than with serial naming of digits, indicating that short high-frequency words are processed as whole units early in the development of reading ability in English. In contrast, serial naming was not a unique predictor of single word reading across grades, suggesting that within-word sequential processing was not required for the successful recognition for this set of words. Factor mixture analysis revealed that our participants could be clustered into two classes, namely beginning and more advanced readers. Serial naming uniquely predicted single word reading only among the first class of readers, indicating that novice readers rely on a serial strategy to decode words. Yet, a considerable proportion of Grade 1 students were assigned to the second class, evidently being able to process short high-frequency words as unitized symbols. We consider these findings together with those from previous studies to challenge the hypothesis of a binary distinction between serial/sublexical and parallel/lexical processing in word reading. We argue instead that sequential processing in word reading operates on a continuum

  12. The Organized/Disorganized Typology of Serial Murder: Myth or Model?

    OpenAIRE

    Canter, David V.; Alison, Laurence J.; Alison, Emily; Wentink, Natalia

    2004-01-01

    Despite weaknesses in the organized/disorganized classification of serial killers, it is drawn on for "offender profiles," theories of offending, and in murder trials. This dichotomy was therefore tested by the multidimensional scaling of the co-occurrence of 39 aspects of serial killings derived 100 murders committed by 100 U.S. serial killers. Results revealed no distinct subsets of offense characteristics reflecting the dichotomy. They showed a subset of organized features typical of most ...

  13. The effect and complication of botulinum toxin type a injection with serial casting for the treatment of spastic equinus foot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Sook Joung; Sung, In Young; Jang, Dae Hyun; Yi, Jin Hwa; Lee, Jin Ho; Ryu, Ju Seok

    2011-06-01

    To identify the effect of serial casting combined with Botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) injection on spastic equinus foot. Twenty-nine children with cerebral palsy who had equinus foot were recruited from the outpatient clinic of Rehabilitation Medicine. The children were divided into 2 groups, one of which received serial casting after BTX-A injection, and the other which only received BTX-A injection. Serial casting started 3 weeks after the BTX-A injection, and was changed weekly for 3 times. Spasticity of the ankle joint was evaluated using the modified Ashworth scale (MAS), and the modified Tardieu scale (MTS). Gait pattern was measured using the physician's rating scale (PRS). The degree of ankle dorsiflexion and the MAS improved significantly until 12 weeks following the BTX-A injection in the serial casting group (pcasting. Our study demonstrated that the effect of BTX-A injection with serial casting was superior and lasted longer than the effect of BTX-A injection only in patients with spastic equinus foot. We therefore recommend BTX-A injection with serial casting for the treatment of equinus foot. However, physicians must also consider the possible complications associated with serial casting.

  14. Short- and long-term memory contributions to immediate serial recognition: evidence from serial position effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purser, Harry; Jarrold, Christopher

    2010-04-01

    A long-standing body of research supports the existence of separable short- and long-term memory systems, relying on phonological and semantic codes, respectively. The aim of the current study was to measure the contribution of long-term knowledge to short-term memory performance by looking for evidence of phonologically and semantically coded storage within a short-term recognition task, among developmental samples. Each experimental trial presented 4-item lists. In Experiment 1 typically developing children aged 5 to 6 years old showed evidence of phonologically coded storage across all 4 serial positions, but evidence of semantically coded storage at Serial Positions 1 and 2. In a further experiment, a group of individuals with Down syndrome was investigated as a test case that might be expected to use semantic coding to support short-term storage, but these participants showed no evidence of semantically coded storage and evidenced phonologically coded storage only at Serial Position 4, suggesting that individuals with Down syndrome have a verbal short-term memory capacity of 1 item. Our results suggest that previous evidence of semantic effects on "short-term memory performance" does not reflect semantic coding in short-term memory itself, and provide an experimental method for researchers wishing to take a relatively pure measure of verbal short-term memory capacity, in cases where rehearsal is unlikely.

  15. Utilization of serial resources in libraries of selected tertiary ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Information Impact: Journal of Information and Knowledge Management ... security personnel for adequate monitoring of the serial materials, as well as the need for authors and stakeholders in education to donate more serial materials in order to enrich the collections in the library and enhance academic performance.

  16. Technical note: An inverse method to relate organic carbon reactivity to isotope composition from serial oxidation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. D. Hemingway

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Serial oxidation coupled with stable carbon and radiocarbon analysis of sequentially evolved CO2 is a promising method to characterize the relationship between organic carbon (OC chemical composition, source, and residence time in the environment. However, observed decay profiles depend on experimental conditions and oxidation pathway. It is therefore necessary to properly assess serial oxidation kinetics before utilizing decay profiles as a measure of OC reactivity. We present a regularized inverse method to estimate the distribution of OC activation energy (E, a proxy for bond strength, using serial oxidation. Here, we apply this method to ramped temperature pyrolysis or oxidation (RPO analysis but note that this approach is broadly applicable to any serial oxidation technique. RPO analysis directly compares thermal reactivity to isotope composition by determining the E range for OC decaying within each temperature interval over which CO2 is collected. By analyzing a decarbonated test sample at multiple masses and oven ramp rates, we show that OC decay during RPO analysis follows a superposition of parallel first-order kinetics and that resulting E distributions are independent of experimental conditions. We therefore propose the E distribution as a novel proxy to describe OC thermal reactivity and suggest that E vs. isotope relationships can provide new insight into the compositional controls on OC source and residence time.

  17. Technical note: An inverse method to relate organic carbon reactivity to isotope composition from serial oxidation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hemingway, Jordon D.; Rothman, Daniel H.; Rosengard, Sarah Z.; Galy, Valier V.

    2017-11-01

    Serial oxidation coupled with stable carbon and radiocarbon analysis of sequentially evolved CO2 is a promising method to characterize the relationship between organic carbon (OC) chemical composition, source, and residence time in the environment. However, observed decay profiles depend on experimental conditions and oxidation pathway. It is therefore necessary to properly assess serial oxidation kinetics before utilizing decay profiles as a measure of OC reactivity. We present a regularized inverse method to estimate the distribution of OC activation energy (E), a proxy for bond strength, using serial oxidation. Here, we apply this method to ramped temperature pyrolysis or oxidation (RPO) analysis but note that this approach is broadly applicable to any serial oxidation technique. RPO analysis directly compares thermal reactivity to isotope composition by determining the E range for OC decaying within each temperature interval over which CO2 is collected. By analyzing a decarbonated test sample at multiple masses and oven ramp rates, we show that OC decay during RPO analysis follows a superposition of parallel first-order kinetics and that resulting E distributions are independent of experimental conditions. We therefore propose the E distribution as a novel proxy to describe OC thermal reactivity and suggest that E vs. isotope relationships can provide new insight into the compositional controls on OC source and residence time.

  18. IT-based Value Creation in Serial Acquisitions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Henningsson, Stefan; Yetton, Philip

    2013-01-01

    serial acquirers realize IT-based value, we integrate and model the findings on individual acquisitions from the extant literature, and extend that model to explain the effects of sequential acquisitions in a growth-by-acquisition strategy. This extended model, drawing on the Resource-Based Theory......The extant research on post-acquisition IT integration analyzes how acquirers realize IT-based value in individual acquisitions. However, serial acquirers make 60% of acquisitions. These acquisitions are not isolated events, but are components in growth-by-acquisition programs. To explain how...

  19. Serial migration and its implications for the parent-child relationship: a retrospective analysis of the experiences of the children of Caribbean immigrants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Andrea; Lalonde, Richard N; Johnson, Simone

    2004-05-01

    This study addressed the potential impact of serial migration for parent-children relationships and for children's psychological well-being. The experience of being separated from their parents during childhood and reunited with them at a later time was retrospectively examined for 48 individuals. A series of measures (e.g., self-esteem, parental identification) associated with appraisals at critical time periods during serial migration (separation, reunion, current) revealed that serial migration can potentially disrupt parent-child bonding and unfavorably affect children's self-esteem and behavior. Time did not appear to be wholly effective in repairing rifts in the parent-child relationship. Risk factors for less successful reunions included lengthy separations and the addition of new members to the family unit in the child's absence. (c) 2004 APA

  20. Opportunity recognition: delineating the process and motivators for serial entrepreneurs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boris Urban

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Opportunity recognition is a fundamental research issue in entrepreneurship which this paper empirically investigates for serial entrepreneurs. Initially key definitions and boundary conditions of opportunity recognition are explored to elucidate the relevant motivators driving serial entrepreneurs. After operationalising the various concepts, data is collected by surveying serial entrepreneurs (n= 77 based on pre-determined selection criteria. Since the study’s objective is to build solid theory on these new phenomena, descriptive analysis on the empirical results is provided. To test the hypotheses inferential statistics employing parametric and non-parametric tests are used. The findings reveal that the opportunity recognition behaviours are manifest among serial entrepreneurs, with few significant differences on how many new, major businesses have been pursued, or whether they can be said to be successes.

  1. Female serial murderers: directions for future research on a hidden population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gurian, Elizabeth A

    2011-02-01

    This comprehensive overview on a sample of 65 cases (134 total offenders, including some partnered teams of more than 2 offenders) provides information on female serial murderers who either work in a mixed-sex offending group or alone. These female serial homicide offenders have a distinct set of offender-victim characteristics, including specific victim preferences, methods, and motivations: Partnered serial homicide offenders are more likely to target adult strangers and dispatch them using a combination of methods, whereas solo female serial murderers are most likely to target adult family members and murder them with poison. These patterns have the potential to add to our understanding of the possible similarities and differences of serial homicide cases by building on established offender characteristics. Convictions and sentences for the offenders are included and areas of future research and implications for treatment with this sample are also explored.

  2. Indexing Serialized Fiction: May the Force Be with You.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barr, Melissa M.

    The adult novel offers indexers an unusual opportunity to create a serialized fiction index. This research paper involved designing and creating a Character Index, Thesaurus, Glossary, and Abstract (with descriptors) for 21 novels based on the "Star Wars" movies. The novels are an unusual example of serialized fiction featuring main…

  3. Selective interference of grasp and space representations with number magnitude and serial order processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Dijck, Jean-Philippe; Fias, Wim; Andres, Michael

    2015-10-01

    It has been proposed that the metrics of space, time and other magnitudes relevant for action are coupled through a generalized magnitude system that also contribute to number representation. Several studies capitalized on stimulus-response compatibility effects to show that numbers map onto left-right representations and grasp representations as a function of their magnitude. However, the tasks typically used do not allow disentangling magnitude from serial order processing. Here, we devised a working memory (WM) task where participants had to remember random sequences of numbers and perform a precision/whole-hand grip (Experiment 1) or a uni-manual left/right button press (Experiment 2) in response to numbers presented during the retention interval. This task does allow differentiating the interference of number magnitude and serial order with each set of responses. Experiment 1 showed that precision grips were initiated faster than whole-hand grips in response to small numbers, irrespective of their serial position in WM. In contrast, Experiment 2 revealed an advantage of right over left button presses as serial position increased, without any influence of number magnitude. These findings demonstrate that grasping and left-right movements overlap with distinct dimensions of number processing. These findings are discussed in the light of different theories explaining the interactions between numbers, space and action.

  4. Stress in Harmonic Serialism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pruitt, Kathryn Ringler

    2012-01-01

    This dissertation proposes a model of word stress in a derivational version of Optimality Theory (OT) called Harmonic Serialism (HS; Prince and Smolensky 1993/2004, McCarthy 2000, 2006, 2010a). In this model, the metrical structure of a word is derived through a series of optimizations in which the "best" metrical foot is chosen…

  5. The relationship between serial sexual murder and autoerotic asphyxiation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myers, Wade C; Bukhanovskiy, Alexandr; Justen, Elle; Morton, Robert J; Tilley, John; Adams, Kenneth; Vandagriff, Virgil L; Hazelwood, Robert R

    2008-04-07

    This case series documents and examines the association between autoerotic asphyxiation, sadomasochism, and serial sexual murderers. Autoerotic asphyxiation, along with other paraphilias found in this population, is reviewed. Five cases of serial sexual killers who engaged in autoerotic asphyxiation were identified worldwide: four from the United States and one from Russia. Case reports for each are provided. All (100%) were found to have sexual sadism in addition to autoerotic asphyxiation. Furthermore, two (40%) had bondage fetishism, and two (40%) had transvestic fetishism, consistent with these paraphilias co-occurring in those with autoerotic asphyxiation. Overall the group averaged 4.0 lifetime paraphilias. Some possible relationships were observed between the offenders' paraphilic orientation and their modus operandi, e.g., all of these serial killers strangled victims-suggesting an association between their sadistic and asphyxiative paraphilic interests. The overlap of seemingly polar opposite paraphilias in this sample--sexual sadism and autoerotic asphyxiation--is explored from a historical and clinical perspective. Multiple commonalities shared between these five offenders and serial sexual murderers in general are addressed. A primary limitation of this study is its small sample size and empirical basis; the results may not be generalizable beyond the sample. The findings from this study support the supposition that crime scene behaviors often reflect paraphilic disturbances in those who commit serial sexual homicides.

  6. Serial crystallography captures enzyme catalysis in copper nitrite reductase at atomic resolution from one crystal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sam Horrell

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Relating individual protein crystal structures to an enzyme mechanism remains a major and challenging goal for structural biology. Serial crystallography using multiple crystals has recently been reported in both synchrotron-radiation and X-ray free-electron laser experiments. In this work, serial crystallography was used to obtain multiple structures serially from one crystal (MSOX to study in crystallo enzyme catalysis. Rapid, shutterless X-ray detector technology on a synchrotron MX beamline was exploited to perform low-dose serial crystallography on a single copper nitrite reductase crystal, which survived long enough for 45 consecutive 100 K X-ray structures to be collected at 1.07–1.62 Å resolution, all sampled from the same crystal volume. This serial crystallography approach revealed the gradual conversion of the substrate bound at the catalytic type 2 Cu centre from nitrite to nitric oxide, following reduction of the type 1 Cu electron-transfer centre by X-ray-generated solvated electrons. Significant, well defined structural rearrangements in the active site are evident in the series as the enzyme moves through its catalytic cycle, namely nitrite reduction, which is a vital step in the global denitrification process. It is proposed that such a serial crystallography approach is widely applicable for studying any redox or electron-driven enzyme reactions from a single protein crystal. It can provide a `catalytic reaction movie' highlighting the structural changes that occur during enzyme catalysis. The anticipated developments in the automation of data analysis and modelling are likely to allow seamless and near-real-time analysis of such data on-site at some of the powerful synchrotron crystallographic beamlines.

  7. Testing Cross-Sectional Correlation in Large Panel Data Models with Serial Correlation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Badi H. Baltagi

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper considers the problem of testing cross-sectional correlation in large panel data models with serially-correlated errors. It finds that existing tests for cross-sectional correlation encounter size distortions with serial correlation in the errors. To control the size, this paper proposes a modification of Pesaran’s Cross-sectional Dependence (CD test to account for serial correlation of an unknown form in the error term. We derive the limiting distribution of this test as N , T → ∞ . The test is distribution free and allows for unknown forms of serial correlation in the errors. Monte Carlo simulations show that the test has good size and power for large panels when serial correlation in the errors is present.

  8. A remember-know analysis of the semantic serial position function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelley, Matthew R; Neath, Ian; Surprenant, Aimée M

    2014-01-01

    Did the serial position functions observed in certain semantic memory tasks (e.g., remembering the order of books or films) arise because they really tapped episodic memory? To address this issue, participants were asked to make "remember-know" judgments as they reconstructed the release order of the 7 Harry Potter books and 2 sets of movies. For both classes of stimuli, the "remember" and "know" serial position functions were indistinguishable, and all showed the characteristic U-shape with marked primacy and recency effects. These results are inconsistent with a multiple memory systems view, which predicts recency effects only for "remember" responses and no recency effects for "know" responses. However, the data were consistent with a general memory principle account: the relative distinctiveness principle. According to this view, performance on both episodic and semantic memory tasks arises from the same type of processing: Items that are more separated from their close neighbors in psychological space at the time of recall will be better remembered.

  9. Is human sentence parsing serial or parallel? Evidence from event-related brain potentials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hopf, Jens-Max; Bader, Markus; Meng, Michael; Bayer, Josef

    2003-01-01

    In this ERP study we investigate the processes that occur in syntactically ambiguous German sentences at the point of disambiguation. Whereas most psycholinguistic theories agree on the view that processing difficulties arise when parsing preferences are disconfirmed (so-called garden-path effects), important differences exist with respect to theoretical assumptions about the parser's recovery from a misparse. A key distinction can be made between parsers that compute all alternative syntactic structures in parallel (parallel parsers) and parsers that compute only a single preferred analysis (serial parsers). To distinguish empirically between parallel and serial parsing models, we compare ERP responses to garden-path sentences with ERP responses to truly ungrammatical sentences. Garden-path sentences contain a temporary and ultimately curable ungrammaticality, whereas truly ungrammatical sentences remain so permanently--a difference which gives rise to different predictions in the two classes of parsing architectures. At the disambiguating word, ERPs in both sentence types show negative shifts of similar onset latency, amplitude, and scalp distribution in an initial time window between 300 and 500 ms. In a following time window (500-700 ms), the negative shift to garden-path sentences disappears at right central parietal sites, while it continues in permanently ungrammatical sentences. These data are taken as evidence for a strictly serial parser. The absence of a difference in the early time window indicates that temporary and permanent ungrammaticalities trigger the same kind of parsing responses. Later differences can be related to successful reanalysis in garden-path but not in ungrammatical sentences. Copyright 2003 Elsevier Science B.V.

  10. KANBAN allocation in a serial suply chain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guillermo Andrés Sánchez C.

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this project is to simulate a Kanban system using N stages with the objective of maintaining an acceptable throughput and mean system time. The document shows the production systems where Kanban is applicable and what the potential benefits are. A serial of simulations will be done using a demand given by a poison distribution with rate λ ^ ext. The simulation aimed to find the best number of withdrawal Kanban on all stages when the values of μ (for exponential distribution of the process and λ ^ ext increase and decrease. At the end of this simulation, the best way to allocate the withdrawal Kanban over N stages with the objective of maintaining acceptable throughput and mean system time will be clearer thus the conclusions of this work will be done.

  11. Further evidence that similar principles govern recall from episodic and semantic memory: the Canadian prime ministerial serial position function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neath, Ian; Saint-Aubin, Jean

    2011-06-01

    The serial position function, with its characteristic primacy and recency effects, is one of the most ubiquitous findings in episodic memory tasks. In contrast, there are only two demonstrations of such functions in tasks thought to tap semantic memory. Here, we provide a third demonstration, showing that free recall of the prime ministers of Canada also results in a serial position function. Scale Independent Memory, Perception, and Learning (SIMPLE), a local distinctiveness model of memory that was designed to account for serial position effects in episodic memory, fit the data. According to SIMPLE, serial position functions observed in episodic and semantic memory all reflect the relative distinctiveness principle: items will be well remembered to the extent that they are more distinct than competing items at the time of retrieval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

  12. Serial binary interval ratios improve rhythm reproduction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiang eWu

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Musical rhythm perception is a natural human ability that involves complex cognitive processes. Rhythm refers to the organization of events in time, and musical rhythms have an underlying hierarchical metrical structure. The metrical structure induces the feeling of a beat and the extent to which a rhythm induces the feeling of a beat is referred to as its metrical strength. Binary ratios are the most frequent interval ratio in musical rhythms. Rhythms with hierarchical binary ratios are better discriminated and reproduced than rhythms with hierarchical non-binary ratios. However, it remains unclear whether a superiority of serial binary over non-binary ratios in rhythm perception and reproduction exists. In addition, how different types of serial ratios influence the metrical strength of rhythms remains to be elucidated. The present study investigated serial binary vs. non-binary ratios in a reproduction task. Rhythms formed with exclusively binary (1:2:4:8, non-binary integer (1:3:5:6, and non-integer (1:2.3:5.3:6.4 ratios were examined within a constant meter. The results showed that the 1:2:4:8 rhythm type was more accurately reproduced than the 1:3:5:6 and 1:2.3:5.3:6.4 rhythm types, and the 1:2.3:5.3:6.4 rhythm type was more accurately reproduced than the 1:3:5:6 rhythm type. Further analyses showed that reproduction performance was better predicted by the distribution pattern of event occurrences within an inter-beat interval, than by the coincidence of events with beats, or the magnitude and complexity of interval ratios. Whereas rhythm theories and empirical data emphasize the role of the coincidence of events with beats in determining metrical strength and predicting rhythm performance, the present results suggest that rhythm processing may be better understood when the distribution pattern of event occurrences is taken into account. These results provide new insights into the mechanisms underlining musical rhythm perception.

  13. Serial binary interval ratios improve rhythm reproduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Xiang; Westanmo, Anders; Zhou, Liang; Pan, Junhao

    2013-01-01

    Musical rhythm perception is a natural human ability that involves complex cognitive processes. Rhythm refers to the organization of events in time, and musical rhythms have an underlying hierarchical metrical structure. The metrical structure induces the feeling of a beat and the extent to which a rhythm induces the feeling of a beat is referred to as its metrical strength. Binary ratios are the most frequent interval ratio in musical rhythms. Rhythms with hierarchical binary ratios are better discriminated and reproduced than rhythms with hierarchical non-binary ratios. However, it remains unclear whether a superiority of serial binary over non-binary ratios in rhythm perception and reproduction exists. In addition, how different types of serial ratios influence the metrical strength of rhythms remains to be elucidated. The present study investigated serial binary vs. non-binary ratios in a reproduction task. Rhythms formed with exclusively binary (1:2:4:8), non-binary integer (1:3:5:6), and non-integer (1:2.3:5.3:6.4) ratios were examined within a constant meter. The results showed that the 1:2:4:8 rhythm type was more accurately reproduced than the 1:3:5:6 and 1:2.3:5.3:6.4 rhythm types, and the 1:2.3:5.3:6.4 rhythm type was more accurately reproduced than the 1:3:5:6 rhythm type. Further analyses showed that reproduction performance was better predicted by the distribution pattern of event occurrences within an inter-beat interval, than by the coincidence of events with beats, or the magnitude and complexity of interval ratios. Whereas rhythm theories and empirical data emphasize the role of the coincidence of events with beats in determining metrical strength and predicting rhythm performance, the present results suggest that rhythm processing may be better understood when the distribution pattern of event occurrences is taken into account. These results provide new insights into the mechanisms underlining musical rhythm perception.

  14. Cinema 4D Dalam Pipeline Produksi Serial Animasi

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ardiyansah Ardiyansah

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Cinema 4D is best known as software that is efficient in render time. This is very beneficial especially for those who engaged in animated projects with tight deadlines and require work time efficiency, such as serial project. In addition to time, in the animated series production pipeline also generally require various items of work that involves a lot of resources implemented in parallel. This is to avoid delays to the overall project progress whenever a work item suffers setback due to any reason. Cinema 4D as a tool, allowing a project carried out with the most efficient method in accordance with needs, and flexibility that is the appeal of Cinema 4D as well as strength in the context of the animated series production. 

  15. Antisocial personality disorder, sexual sadism, malignant narcissism, and serial murder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geberth, V J; Turco, R N

    1997-01-01

    This paper examines the research on serial murder and its relationship to antisocial personality disorder and sexual sadism. The concept of malignant narcissism is also discussed. Case studies of serial killers are examined regarding the nature of sexual violation and crime scene behavior.

  16. Attractive Serial Dependence in the Absence of an Explicit Task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fornaciai, Michele; Park, Joonkoo

    2018-03-01

    Attractive serial dependence refers to an adaptive change in the representation of sensory information, whereby a current stimulus appears to be similar to a previous one. The nature of this phenomenon is controversial, however, as serial dependence could arise from biased perceptual representations or from biased traces of working memory representation at a decisional stage. Here, we demonstrated a neural signature of serial dependence in numerosity perception emerging early in the visual processing stream even in the absence of an explicit task. Furthermore, a psychophysical experiment revealed that numerosity perception is biased by a previously presented stimulus in an attractive way, not by repulsive adaptation. These results suggest that serial dependence is a perceptual phenomenon starting from early levels of visual processing and occurring independently from a decision process, which is consistent with the view that these biases smooth out noise from neural signals to establish perceptual continuity.

  17. Using Behavior Sequence Analysis to Map Serial Killers' Life Histories.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keatley, David A; Golightly, Hayley; Shephard, Rebecca; Yaksic, Enzo; Reid, Sasha

    2018-03-01

    The aim of the current research was to provide a novel method for mapping the developmental sequences of serial killers' life histories. An in-depth biographical account of serial killers' lives, from birth through to conviction, was gained and analyzed using Behavior Sequence Analysis. The analyses highlight similarities in behavioral events across the serial killers' lives, indicating not only which risk factors occur, but the temporal order of these factors. Results focused on early childhood environment, indicating the role of parental abuse; behaviors and events surrounding criminal histories of serial killers, showing that many had previous convictions and were known to police for other crimes; behaviors surrounding their murders, highlighting differences in victim choice and modus operandi; and, finally, trial pleas and convictions. The present research, therefore, provides a novel approach to synthesizing large volumes of data on criminals and presenting results in accessible, understandable outcomes.

  18. Serial murder by healthcare professionals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yorker, Beatrice Crofts; Kizer, Kenneth W; Lampe, Paula; Forrest, A R W; Lannan, Jacquetta M; Russell, Donna A

    2008-01-01

    The prosecution of Charles Cullen, a nurse who killed at least 40 patients over a 16-year period, highlights the need to better understand the phenomenon of serial murder by healthcare professionals. The authors conducted a LexisNexis search which yielded 90 criminal prosecutions of healthcare providers that met inclusion criteria for serial murder of patients. In addition we reviewed epidemiologic studies, toxicology evidence, and court transcripts, to provide data on healthcare professionals who have been prosecuted between 1970 and 2006. Fifty-four of the 90 have been convicted; 45 for serial murder, four for attempted murder, and five pled guilty to lesser charges. Twenty-four more have been indicted and are either awaiting trial or the outcome has not been published. The other 12 prosecutions had a variety of legal outcomes. Injection was the main method used by healthcare killers followed by suffocation, poisoning, and tampering with equipment. Prosecutions were reported from 20 countries with 40% taking place in the United States. Nursing personnel comprised 86% of the healthcare providers prosecuted; physicians 12%, and 2% were allied health professionals. The number of patient deaths that resulted in a murder conviction is 317 and the number of suspicious patient deaths attributed to the 54 convicted caregivers is 2113. These numbers are disturbing and demand that systemic changes in tracking adverse patient incidents associated with presence of a specific healthcare provider be implemented. Hiring practices must shift away from preventing wrongful discharge or denial of employment lawsuits to protecting patients from employees who kill.

  19. Selection and Serial Entrepreneurs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chen, Jing

    2013-01-01

    There is substantial evidence that serial entrepreneurs outperform de novo entrepreneurs. But is this positive association between prior experience and performance the result of learning by doing or of selection on ability? This paper proposes a strategy that combines the fixed-effects model and IV...... when the analysis focuses on founding new startups in sectors closely related to entrepreneurs' previous ventures....

  20. Serial position effects in mild cognitive impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howieson, Diane B; Mattek, Nora; Seeyle, Adriana M; Dodge, Hiroko H; Wasserman, Dara; Zitzelberger, Tracy; Jeffrey, Kaye

    2011-03-01

    Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is often associated with the preclinical phase of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Special scoring of word-list recall data for serial position has been suggested to improve discrimination of normal aging from dementia. We examined serial position effects in word-list recall for MCI participants compared to Alzheimer patients and controls. Individuals with MCI, like Alzheimer patients, had a diminished primacy effect in recalling words from a list. No alternative scoring system was better than standard scoring of word-list recall in distinguishing MCI patients from controls. Retention weighted scoring improved the discrimination of MCI and AD groups.

  1. A combination strategy for tracking the serial criminal

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Chuan; Zhang, Yuan-Biao; Wan, Jiadi; Yu, Wenjing

    2010-08-01

    We build a Geographic Profiling Model to generate the criminal's geographical profile, by combining two complementary strategies: the Spatial Distribution Strategy and the Probability Distance Strategy. In the first strategy, we designate the mean of all the known crime sites as the anchor point, and build a Standard Deviational Ellipse Model, considering the effect of landscape. In the second strategy, we take many factors such as the buffer zone and distance decay theory into consideration and calculate the probability of the offender's residence in a certain area by using the Bayesian Theorem and the Rossmo Algorithm. Then, we combine the result of two strategies and get three search areas suit different conditions of the police to track the serial criminal. Apply the model to the English serial killer Peter Sutcliffe's case, the calculation result shows that the model can effectively be used to track serial criminal.

  2. Spatial attention interacts with serial-order retrieval from verbal working memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Dijck, Jean-Philippe; Abrahamse, Elger L; Majerus, Steve; Fias, Wim

    2013-09-01

    The ability to maintain the serial order of events is recognized as a major function of working memory. Although general models of working memory postulate a close link between working memory and attention, such a link has so far not been proposed specifically for serial-order working memory. The present study provided the first empirical demonstration of a direct link between serial order in verbal working memory and spatial selective attention. We show that the retrieval of later items of a sequence stored in working memory-compared with that of earlier items-produces covert attentional shifts toward the right. This observation suggests the conceptually surprising notion that serial-order working memory, even for nonspatially defined verbal items, draws on spatial attention.

  3. Serial millisecond crystallography of membrane and soluble protein microcrystals using synchrotron radiation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin-Garcia, Jose M; Conrad, Chelsie E; Nelson, Garrett; Stander, Natasha; Zatsepin, Nadia A; Zook, James; Zhu, Lan; Geiger, James; Chun, Eugene; Kissick, David; Hilgart, Mark C; Ogata, Craig; Ishchenko, Andrii; Nagaratnam, Nirupa; Roy-Chowdhury, Shatabdi; Coe, Jesse; Subramanian, Ganesh; Schaffer, Alexander; James, Daniel; Ketwala, Gihan; Venugopalan, Nagarajan; Xu, Shenglan; Corcoran, Stephen; Ferguson, Dale; Weierstall, Uwe; Spence, John C H; Cherezov, Vadim; Fromme, Petra; Fischetti, Robert F; Liu, Wei

    2017-07-01

    Crystal structure determination of biological macromolecules using the novel technique of serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) is severely limited by the scarcity of X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) sources. However, recent and future upgrades render microfocus beamlines at synchrotron-radiation sources suitable for room-temperature serial crystallography data collection also. Owing to the longer exposure times that are needed at synchrotrons, serial data collection is termed serial millisecond crystallography (SMX). As a result, the number of SMX experiments is growing rapidly, with a dozen experiments reported so far. Here, the first high-viscosity injector-based SMX experiments carried out at a US synchrotron source, the Advanced Photon Source (APS), are reported. Microcrystals (5-20 µm) of a wide variety of proteins, including lysozyme, thaumatin, phycocyanin, the human A 2A adenosine receptor (A 2A AR), the soluble fragment of the membrane lipoprotein Flpp3 and proteinase K, were screened. Crystals suspended in lipidic cubic phase (LCP) or a high-molecular-weight poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO; molecular weight 8 000 000) were delivered to the beam using a high-viscosity injector. In-house data-reduction (hit-finding) software developed at APS as well as the SFX data-reduction and analysis software suites Cheetah and CrystFEL enabled efficient on-site SMX data monitoring, reduction and processing. Complete data sets were collected for A 2A AR, phycocyanin, Flpp3, proteinase K and lysozyme, and the structures of A 2A AR, phycocyanin, proteinase K and lysozyme were determined at 3.2, 3.1, 2.65 and 2.05 Å resolution, respectively. The data demonstrate the feasibility of serial millisecond crystallography from 5-20 µm crystals using a high-viscosity injector at APS. The resolution of the crystal structures obtained in this study was dictated by the current flux density and crystal size, but upcoming developments in beamline optics and the planned APS

  4. Serial millisecond crystallography of membrane and soluble protein microcrystals using synchrotron radiation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jose M. Martin-Garcia

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Crystal structure determination of biological macromolecules using the novel technique of serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX is severely limited by the scarcity of X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL sources. However, recent and future upgrades render microfocus beamlines at synchrotron-radiation sources suitable for room-temperature serial crystallography data collection also. Owing to the longer exposure times that are needed at synchrotrons, serial data collection is termed serial millisecond crystallography (SMX. As a result, the number of SMX experiments is growing rapidly, with a dozen experiments reported so far. Here, the first high-viscosity injector-based SMX experiments carried out at a US synchrotron source, the Advanced Photon Source (APS, are reported. Microcrystals (5–20 µm of a wide variety of proteins, including lysozyme, thaumatin, phycocyanin, the human A2A adenosine receptor (A2AAR, the soluble fragment of the membrane lipoprotein Flpp3 and proteinase K, were screened. Crystals suspended in lipidic cubic phase (LCP or a high-molecular-weight poly(ethylene oxide (PEO; molecular weight 8 000 000 were delivered to the beam using a high-viscosity injector. In-house data-reduction (hit-finding software developed at APS as well as the SFX data-reduction and analysis software suites Cheetah and CrystFEL enabled efficient on-site SMX data monitoring, reduction and processing. Complete data sets were collected for A2AAR, phycocyanin, Flpp3, proteinase K and lysozyme, and the structures of A2AAR, phycocyanin, proteinase K and lysozyme were determined at 3.2, 3.1, 2.65 and 2.05 Å resolution, respectively. The data demonstrate the feasibility of serial millisecond crystallography from 5–20 µm crystals using a high-viscosity injector at APS. The resolution of the crystal structures obtained in this study was dictated by the current flux density and crystal size, but upcoming developments in beamline optics and the

  5. Whole-pattern fitting technique in serial femtosecond nanocrystallography

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruben A. Dilanian

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Serial femtosecond X-ray crystallography (SFX has created new opportunities in the field of structural analysis of protein nanocrystals. The intensity and timescale characteristics of the X-ray free-electron laser sources used in SFX experiments necessitate the analysis of a large collection of individual crystals of variable shape and quality to ultimately solve a single, average crystal structure. Ensembles of crystals are commonly encountered in powder diffraction, but serial crystallography is different because each crystal is measured individually and can be oriented via indexing and merged into a three-dimensional data set, as is done for conventional crystallography data. In this way, serial femtosecond crystallography data lie in between conventional crystallography data and powder diffraction data, sharing features of both. The extremely small sizes of nanocrystals, as well as the possible imperfections of their crystallite structure, significantly affect the diffraction pattern and raise the question of how best to extract accurate structure-factor moduli from serial crystallography data. Here it is demonstrated that whole-pattern fitting techniques established for one-dimensional powder diffraction analysis can be feasibly extended to higher dimensions for the analysis of merged SFX diffraction data. It is shown that for very small crystals, whole-pattern fitting methods are more accurate than Monte Carlo integration methods that are currently used.

  6. Serial killer: il database mondiale

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaetano parente

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available The complex and multisided study of serial killers is partly made difficult by the current level of progress that has led these deviant people to evolve in relation to the aspects of shrewdness (concerning the staging and mobility. Despite the important work of some scholars who proposed important theories, all this shows that, concerning serial murders, it is still particularly frequent not to pay attention to links among homicides committed by the same person but in different parts of the world. It is therefore crucial to develop a worldwide database that allows all police forces to access information collected on crime scenes of murders which are particularly absurd and committed without any apparent reason. It will then be up to the profiler, through ad hoc and technologically advanced tools, to collect this information on the crime scene that would be made available to all police forces thanks to the worldwide database.

  7. Monitoring transcranial direct current stimulation induced changes in cortical excitability during the serial reaction time task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ambrus, Géza Gergely; Chaieb, Leila; Stilling, Roman; Rothkegel, Holger; Antal, Andrea; Paulus, Walter

    2016-03-11

    The measurement of the motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitudes using single pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a common method to observe changes in motor cortical excitability. The level of cortical excitability has been shown to change during motor learning. Conversely, motor learning can be improved by using anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). In the present study, we aimed to monitor cortical excitability changes during an implicit motor learning paradigm, a version of the serial reaction time task (SRTT). Responses from the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) and forearm flexor (FLEX) muscles were recorded before, during and after the performance of the SRTT. Online measurements were combined with anodal, cathodal or sham tDCS for the duration of the SRTT. Negative correlations between the amplitude of online FDI MEPs and SRTT reaction times (RTs) were observed across the learning blocks in the cathodal condition (higher average MEP amplitudes associated with lower RTs) but no significant differences in the anodal and sham conditions. tDCS did not have an impact on SRTT performance, as would be predicted based on previous studies. The offline before-after SRTT MEP amplitudes showed an increase after anodal and a tendency to decrease after cathodal stimulation, but these changes were not significant. The combination of different interventions during tDCS might result in reduced efficacy of the stimulation that in future studies need further attention. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Challenges of microtome‐based serial block‐face scanning electron microscopy in neuroscience

    Science.gov (United States)

    WANNER, A. A.; KIRSCHMANN, M. A.

    2015-01-01

    Summary Serial block‐face scanning electron microscopy (SBEM) is becoming increasingly popular for a wide range of applications in many disciplines from biology to material sciences. This review focuses on applications for circuit reconstruction in neuroscience, which is one of the major driving forces advancing SBEM. Neuronal circuit reconstruction poses exceptional challenges to volume EM in terms of resolution, field of view, acquisition time and sample preparation. Mapping the connections between neurons in the brain is crucial for understanding information flow and information processing in the brain. However, information on the connectivity between hundreds or even thousands of neurons densely packed in neuronal microcircuits is still largely missing. Volume EM techniques such as serial section TEM, automated tape‐collecting ultramicrotome, focused ion‐beam scanning electron microscopy and SBEM (microtome serial block‐face scanning electron microscopy) are the techniques that provide sufficient resolution to resolve ultrastructural details such as synapses and provides sufficient field of view for dense reconstruction of neuronal circuits. While volume EM techniques are advancing, they are generating large data sets on the terabyte scale that require new image processing workflows and analysis tools. In this review, we present the recent advances in SBEM for circuit reconstruction in neuroscience and an overview of existing image processing and analysis pipelines. PMID:25907464

  9. Establishment of an attenuated strain of porcine parvovirus by serial passage at low temperature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujisaki, Y; Murakami, Y; Suzuki, H

    1982-01-01

    To prepare a live virus vaccine strain for the prevention of porcine parvovirus infection, the 90HS strain, isolated from the brain of a stillborn porcine fetus, was subjected to the first 45 serial passages in swine kidney established (ESK) cells of porcine kidney origin at 30-35 degrees C and to the 46th and later serial passages in the same cells as these at 32 degrees C. When swine were inoculated with the strain at the 38th passage level possessing such properties as expressed with rct/37+ and rct/40-, they presented viremia, virus discharge, and the transmission of virus to other swine. When swine were inoculated with the strain at the 54th and 55th passage level possessing such properties as expressed with rct/37- and rct/40-, they failed to exhibit viremia, virus discharge, and the transmission of virus to other swine, but retained for a long time hemagglutination-inhibiting antibody which had been produced after inoculation. A low virulent variant strain was obtained after 54 serial passages at low temperature. It was called the HT- strain.

  10. A comparison of serial order short-term memory effects across verbal and musical domains.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gorin, Simon; Mengal, Pierre; Majerus, Steve

    2018-04-01

    Recent studies suggest that the mechanisms involved in the short-term retention of serial order information may be shared across short-term memory (STM) domains such as verbal and visuospatial STM. Given the intrinsic sequential organization of musical material, the study of STM for musical information may be particularly informative about serial order retention processes and their domain-generality. The present experiment examined serial order STM for verbal and musical sequences in participants with no advanced musical expertise and experienced musicians. Serial order STM for verbal information was assessed via a serial order reconstruction task for digit sequences. In the musical domain, serial order STM was assessed using a novel melodic sequence reconstruction task maximizing the retention of tone order information. We observed that performance for the verbal and musical tasks was characterized by sequence length as well as primacy and recency effects. Serial order errors in both tasks were characterized by similar transposition gradients and ratios of fill-in:infill errors. These effects were observed for both participant groups, although the transposition gradients and ratios of fill-in:infill errors showed additional specificities for musician participants in the musical task. The data support domain-general serial order STM effects but also suggest the existence of additional domain-specific effects. Implications for models of serial order STM in verbal and musical domains are discussed.

  11. S3-1: The Serial Dependence of Visual Perception

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Whitney

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available In our moment-to-moment perceptual experience, visual scenes can change, but objects rarely spontaneously come into or out of existence. The visual system may therefore delicately balance the need to optimize sensitivity to image changes (e.g., by adapting to changes in color, orientation, object identity, etc with the desire to represent the temporal continuity of objects—the likelihood that objects perceived at this moment tend to exist in subsequent moments. One way that the visual system may promote such stability is through the introduction of serial dependence to visual perception: by biasing the current percept toward what was seen at previous moments, the brain could compensate for variability in visual input that might otherwise disrupt perceptual continuity. Here, in two sets of experiments, we tested for serial dependence in visual perception of orientation and facial expression. We found that on a given trial, a subject's perception of the orientation of a grating reflected not only the currently viewed stimulus, but also a systematic attraction toward the orientations of the previously viewed stimuli. We found the same serial dependence in the perception of facial expression. This perceptual attraction extended over several trials and seconds, and displayed clear tuning to the difference (in orientation or facial expression between the sequential stimuli. Furthermore, serial dependence in object perception was spatially specific and selective to the attended object within a scene. Several control experiments showed that the perceptual serial dependence we report cannot be explained by effects of priming, known hysteresis effects, visual short-term memory, or expectation. Our results reveal a systematic influence of recent visual experiences on perception at any given moment: visual percepts, even of unambiguous stimuli, are attracted toward what was previously seen. We propose that such serial dependence helps to maintain

  12. Some Considerations on Seriality and Synchronicity

    OpenAIRE

    Elena Nechita

    2010-01-01

    This paper presents an overview of the results that have been obtained lately on seriality and synchronicity and their link, in the light of the new theories and within the frame of complexity science.

  13. Automated detection of multiple sclerosis lesions in serial brain MRI

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Llado, Xavier; Ganiler, Onur; Oliver, Arnau; Marti, Robert; Freixenet, Jordi; Valls, Laia; Vilanova, Joan C.; Ramio-Torrenta, Lluis; Rovira, Alex

    2012-01-01

    Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a serious disease typically occurring in the brain whose diagnosis and efficacy of treatment monitoring are vital. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is frequently used in serial brain imaging due to the rich and detailed information provided. Time-series analysis of images is widely used for MS diagnosis and patient follow-up. However, conventional manual methods are time-consuming, subjective, and error-prone. Thus, the development of automated techniques for the detection and quantification of MS lesions is a major challenge. This paper presents an up-to-date review of the approaches which deal with the time-series analysis of brain MRI for detecting active MS lesions and quantifying lesion load change. We provide a comprehensive reference source for researchers in which several approaches to change detection and quantification of MS lesions are investigated and classified. We also analyze the results provided by the approaches, discuss open problems, and point out possible future trends. Lesion detection approaches are required for the detection of static lesions and for diagnostic purposes, while either quantification of detected lesions or change detection algorithms are needed to follow up MS patients. However, there is not yet a single approach that can emerge as a standard for the clinical practice, automatically providing an accurate MS lesion evolution quantification. Future trends will focus on combining the lesion detection in single studies with the analysis of the change detection in serial MRI. (orig.)

  14. Automated detection of multiple sclerosis lesions in serial brain MRI

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Llado, Xavier; Ganiler, Onur; Oliver, Arnau; Marti, Robert; Freixenet, Jordi [University of Girona, Computer Vision and Robotics Group, Girona (Spain); Valls, Laia [Dr. Josep Trueta University Hospital, Department of Radiology, Girona (Spain); Vilanova, Joan C. [Girona Magnetic Resonance Center, Girona (Spain); Ramio-Torrenta, Lluis [Dr. Josep Trueta University Hospital, Institut d' Investigacio Biomedica de Girona, Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology Unit, Girona (Spain); Rovira, Alex [Vall d' Hebron University Hospital, Magnetic Resonance Unit, Department of Radiology, Barcelona (Spain)

    2012-08-15

    Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a serious disease typically occurring in the brain whose diagnosis and efficacy of treatment monitoring are vital. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is frequently used in serial brain imaging due to the rich and detailed information provided. Time-series analysis of images is widely used for MS diagnosis and patient follow-up. However, conventional manual methods are time-consuming, subjective, and error-prone. Thus, the development of automated techniques for the detection and quantification of MS lesions is a major challenge. This paper presents an up-to-date review of the approaches which deal with the time-series analysis of brain MRI for detecting active MS lesions and quantifying lesion load change. We provide a comprehensive reference source for researchers in which several approaches to change detection and quantification of MS lesions are investigated and classified. We also analyze the results provided by the approaches, discuss open problems, and point out possible future trends. Lesion detection approaches are required for the detection of static lesions and for diagnostic purposes, while either quantification of detected lesions or change detection algorithms are needed to follow up MS patients. However, there is not yet a single approach that can emerge as a standard for the clinical practice, automatically providing an accurate MS lesion evolution quantification. Future trends will focus on combining the lesion detection in single studies with the analysis of the change detection in serial MRI. (orig.)

  15. A 16:1 Serializer ASIC for Data Transmission at 5 Gbps

    CERN Document Server

    Gong, D; The ATLAS collaboration

    2010-01-01

    A high speed, low power 16:1 serializer has been developed with a commercial 0.25 μm silicon-on-sapphire CMOS technology. The serializer operates from 4.0 to 5.7 Gbps. Total jitter is 62 ps and the eye openning of the bathtub curve is 122 ps at bit rate error of 10-12 at 5 Gbps. Power consumption is 463 mW at 5 Gbps. A proton beam test indicates the serializer is suitable for applications in high energy physics experiments.

  16. Hi-speed versatile serial crate controller for CAMAC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Horelick, D.

    1984-10-01

    A serial crate controller, primarily for use in the SLC CAMAC control system, has been designed, and has been in use for about 2 years. The design supports a party line approach, with up to 16 crates on a single twisted pair for data transfers, plus another pair for prompt L response. The bit rate is 5 megabits/s, and complete transaction times of about 10 μs are achieved for 16-bit data transfers over cables up to 1000 feet long. One of the primary objects of the design was simplicity - there are approximately 60 chips in the two-board unit

  17. The predictive diagnostic value of serial daily bedside ultrasonography for severe dengue in Indonesian adults.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meta Michels

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Identification of dengue patients at risk for progressing to severe disease is difficult. Significant plasma leakage is a hallmark of severe dengue infection which can suddenly lead to hypovolemic shock around the time of defervescence. We hypothesized that the detection of subclinical plasma leakage may identify those at risk for severe dengue. The aim of the study was to determine the predictive diagnostic value of serial ultrasonography for severe dengue. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Daily bedside ultrasounds were performed with a handheld ultrasound device in a prospective cohort of adult Indonesians with dengue. Timing, localization and relation to dengue severity of the ultrasonography findings were determined, as well as the relation with serial hematocrit and albumin values. The severity of dengue was retrospectively determined by WHO 2009 criteria. A total of 66 patients with proven dengue infection were included in the study of whom 11 developed severe dengue. Presence of subclinical plasma leakage at enrollment had a positive predictive value of 35% and a negative predictive value of 90% for severe dengue. At enrollment, 55% of severe dengue cases already had subclinical plasma leakage, which increased to 91% during the subsequent days. Gallbladder wall edema was more pronounced in severe than in non-severe dengue patients and often preceded ascites/pleural effusion. Serial hematocrit and albumin measurements failed to identify plasma leakage and patients at risk for severe dengue. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Serial ultrasonography, in contrast to existing markers such as hematocrit, may better identify patients at risk for development of severe dengue. Patients with evidence of subclinical plasma leakage and/or an edematous gallbladder wall by ultrasonography merit intensive monitoring for development of complications.

  18. Serial Learning Process: Test of Chaining, Position, and Dual-Process Hypotheses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giurintano, S. L.

    1973-01-01

    The chaining, position, and dual-process hypotheses of serial learning (SL) as well as serial recall, reordering, and relearning of paired-associate learning were examined to establish learning patterns. Results provide evidence for dual-process hypothesis. (DS)

  19. In vivo serial sampling of epididymal sperm in mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Del Val, Gonzalo Moreno; Robledano, Patricia Muñoz

    2013-07-01

    This study was undertaken to refine the techniques of in vivo collection of sperm in the mouse. The principal objective was to offer a viable, safe and reliable method for serial collection of in vivo epididimary sperm through the direct puncture of the epididymis. Six C57Bl/6J males were subjected to the whole experiment. First we obtain a sperm sample of the right epididymis, and perform a vasectomy on the left side. This sample was used in an in vitro fertilization (IVF) experiment while the males were individually housed for 10 days to let them recover from the surgery, and then their fertility was tested with natural matings until we obtained a litter of each one. After that, the animals were subjected another time to the same process (sampling, recover and natural mating). The results of these experiments were a fertilization average value of 56.7%, and that all the males had a litter in the first month after the natural matings. This study documented the feasibility of the epididimary puncture technique to in vivo serial sampling of sperm in the mouse.

  20. The Effect of Concurrent Semantic Categorization on Delayed Serial Recall

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acheson, Daniel J.; MacDonald, Maryellen C.; Postle, Bradley R.

    2011-01-01

    The influence of semantic processing on the serial ordering of items in short-term memory was explored using a novel dual-task paradigm. Participants engaged in 2 picture-judgment tasks while simultaneously performing delayed serial recall. List material varied in the presence of phonological overlap (Experiments 1 and 2) and in semantic content…

  1. Infants' Memory Processing of a Serial List: List Length Effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gulya, Michele; Sweeney, Becky; Rovee-Collier, Carolyn

    1999-01-01

    Three experiments demonstrated that increasing the length of a mobile serial list impaired 6-month olds' memory for serial order. Findings indicated that the primacy effect was absent on a 24-hour delayed recognition test and was exhibited on a reactivation test, adding to growing evidence that young infants possess two functionally distinct…

  2. Motor cortical encoding of serial order in a context-recall task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carpenter, A F; Georgopoulos, A P; Pellizzer, G

    1999-03-12

    The neural encoding of serial order was studied in the motor cortex of monkeys performing a context-recall memory scanning task. Up to five visual stimuli were presented successively on a circle (list presentation phase), and then one of them (test stimulus) changed color; the monkeys had to make a single motor response toward the stimulus that immediately followed the test stimulus in the list. Correct performance in this task depends on memorization of the serial order of the stimuli during their presentation. It was found that changes in neural activity during the list presentation phase reflected the serial order of the stimuli; the effect on cell activity of the serial order of stimuli during their presentation was at least as strong as the effect of motor direction on cell activity during the execution of the motor response. This establishes the serial order of stimuli in a motor task as an important determinant of motor cortical activity during stimulus presentation and in the absence of changes in peripheral motor events, in contrast to the commonly held view of the motor cortex as just an "upper motor neuron."

  3. The effects of nidopallium caudolaterale inactivation on serial-order behaviour in pigeons (Columba livia).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnston, Melissa Jane; Clarkson, Andrew N; Gowing, Emma K; Scarf, Damian; Colombo, Mike

    2018-06-06

    Serial-order behaviour is the ability to complete a sequence of responses in a predetermined order to achieve a reward. In birds, serial-order behaviour is thought to be impaired by damage to the nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL). In the current study, we examined the role of the NCL in serial-order behaviour by training pigeons on a 4-item serial-order task and a go/no-go discrimination task. Following training, pigeons were received infusions of 1μl of either tetrodotoxin (TTX) or saline. Saline infusions had no impact on serial-order behaviour whereas TTX infusions resulted in a significant decrease in performance. The serial-order impairments, however, were not the results of errors of any specific error at any specific list item. With respect to the go/no-go discrimination task, saline infusions also had no impact on performance whereas TTX infusions impaired pigeons' discrimination abilities. Given the impairments on the go/no-go discrimination task, which does not require processing of serial-order information, we tentatively conclude that damage to the NCL does not impair serial-order behaviour per se, but rather results in a more generalised impairment that may impact performance across a range of tasks.

  4. Some Considerations on Seriality and Synchronicity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena Nechita

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an overview of the results that have been obtained lately on seriality and synchronicity and their link, in the light of the new theories and within the frame of complexity science.

  5. Development of High-Speed, Low-fixed Latency Serial Links for the Router of ATLAS NSW sTGC Detector

    CERN Document Server

    Hu, Xueye; The ATLAS collaboration

    2014-01-01

    The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) needs to be upgraded in order to cope with the increased luminosity and particle rates expected for the High Luminosity LHC (HL­LHC) running. Part of the phase­1 upgrade, to be done in the 2018/19 shutdown, is the replacement of the present muon forward detector (wheel) by a new detector, the so called New Small Wheel (NSW). The NSW detector consists of two detector technologies and the work here is on the small­strip Thin­Gap Chambers (sTGC). For sTGC, it requires very high­speed electronic triggering of signal events. The data must be quickly digitized, serialized, and transmitted off­detector for computer processing. The serialized data is sent to the trigger processor through a routing system that serves as a switchyard for all active signals. Design requirements on the router are low latency and stable/predictable data transfer timing with high­speed serial links (4.8 Gbps). We describe a 4.8 Gbps (maximum 6.6 Gbps) serial link structure base...

  6. Serial femtosecond X-ray diffraction of enveloped virus microcrystals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert M. Lawrence

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX using X-ray free-electron lasers has produced high-resolution, room temperature, time-resolved protein structures. We report preliminary SFX of Sindbis virus, an enveloped icosahedral RNA virus with ∼700 Å diameter. Microcrystals delivered in viscous agarose medium diffracted to ∼40 Å resolution. Small-angle diffuse X-ray scattering overlaid Bragg peaks and analysis suggests this results from molecular transforms of individual particles. Viral proteins undergo structural changes during entry and infection, which could, in principle, be studied with SFX. This is an important step toward determining room temperature structures from virus microcrystals that may enable time-resolved studies of enveloped viruses.

  7. Telemetry Group Inter-Range Instrumentation Group Range Commanders Council

    Science.gov (United States)

    1975-11-01

    PMR-AFWR-NWC- AFETR -•AMTEC-ADTC-AFFTC-AFSCF REPLY TO STEWS-SA-R ATTN OF, SuWu, IRIG Standard 106-73 (Revised November 1975) TO% Holders of IRIG...ETV-TM-67-16, "Multiple-Link Reception Through Wideband Nonlinear Components," 31 March 1967. 1. Purpose - To provide guidelines for the most effective ...telemetering must be restricted to .the 1435-1535 MHz and 2200-2300 MHz bands, effective 1 January 1970, in ord’er to permit unrestricted use of the 225-400

  8. [Personality disorders, psychopathy and serial killers].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morana, Hilda C P; Stone, Michael H; Abdalla-Filho, Elias

    2006-10-01

    To illustrate the basic characteristics of several specific personality disorders, focusing mainly in antisocial personality disorder. The differences between antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy are highlighted. Serial killers and its psychopathic aspects are also discussed. A bibliographic review was completed in order to outline convergences and divergences among different authors about this controversial issue, especially those concerning the possibility of treatment. While anti-social personality disorder is a medical diagnosis, the term "psychopathy" (which belongs to the sphere of forensic psychiatry) may be understood as a "legal diagnosis". It is not still possible to identify an effective treatment for serial killers. Personality disorders, especially of the antisocial type, still represent a formidable challenge to forensic psychiatry today. Questions as yet unanswered include the best and most humane place for patients with this condition and the nature of a standardised treatment recommendation.

  9. How Do We Write about Performance in Serial Television?

    OpenAIRE

    Elliott Logan

    2015-01-01

    Television studies has produced few sustained analyses of performance in serial television. Yet film studies scholarship has shown how attending to the integration of performances with other aspects of film style is crucial to the interpretation and appreciation of expression and meaning in filmed narrative fictions. However, as a particle form of filmed serial narrative, series television raises a number of questions about performance that will not necessarily be satisfyingly addressed by th...

  10. Serial cranial ultrasonography or early MRI for detecting preterm brain injury?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Plaisier, Annemarie; Raets, Marlou M A; Ecury-Goossen, Ginette M; Govaert, Paul; Feijen-Roon, Monique; Reiss, Irwin K M; Smit, Liesbeth S; Lequin, Maarten H; Dudink, Jeroen

    OBJECTIVE: To investigate detection ability and feasibility of serial cranial ultrasonography (CUS) and early MRI in preterm brain injury. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Level III neonatal intensive care unit. PATIENTS: 307 infants, born below 29 weeks of gestation. METHODS: Serial CUS

  11. Paths to destruction: the lives and crimes of two serial killers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolf, Barbara C; Lavezzi, Wendy A

    2007-01-01

    Although research into the phenomenon of serial murder has revealed that serial killers frequently do not fit the initially described paradigm in terms of their physical and psychological profiles, backgrounds, and motives to kill, the media continues to sensationalize the figures of such killers and the investigators who attempt to analyze them on the basis of aspects of their crimes. Although the so-called "typical" profile of the serial murderer has proven accurate in some instances, in many other cases the demographics and behaviors of these killers have deviated widely from the generalized assumptions. This report details two unusual cases in which five and eight murders were committed in upstate New York. The lives and crimes of these offenders illustrate the wide spectrum of variations in the backgrounds, demographics, motivations, and actions witnessed among serial murderers, and highlight the limitations and dangers of profiling based on generalities.

  12. Rehearsal in serial memory for visual-spatial information: evidence from eye movements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tremblay, Sébastien; Saint-Aubin, Jean; Jalbert, Annie

    2006-06-01

    It is well established that rote rehearsal plays a key role in serial memory for lists of verbal items. Although a great deal of research has informed us about the nature of verbal rehearsal, much less attention has been devoted to rehearsal in serial memory for visual-spatial information. By using the dot task--a visual-spatial analogue of the classical verbal serial recall task--with delayed recall, performance and eyetracking data were recorded in order to establish whether visual-spatial rehearsal could be evidenced by eye movement. The use of eye movement as a form of rehearsal is detectable (Experiment 1), and it seems to contribute to serial memory performance over and above rehearsal based on shifts of spatial attention (Experiments 1 and 2).

  13. DDCMP protocol on a DMA serial-line board

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hunt, D.N.; Kessler, G.C.

    1982-01-01

    The Nuclear Chemistry Division of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is in the midst of an upgrade to their radiation counting facility. The result of this upgrade wil be a computer-based data acquisition network, the Nuclear Chemistry Counting Facility Network (NCCF-NET). This network will consist of forty dedicated LSI-11/2 based controllers, ten interactive LSI-11/23 based workstations and a VAX-11/750 central node for data reduction and storage. One of the data acquisition instruments used in this network is a Nuclear Data pulse-height analyzer, the ND66L. This analyzer communicates to a host system over a 9600-baud serial line, using the DDCMP link level protocol. In order to relieve the host computer from the overhead of handling the DDCMP protocol, an in-house designed DMA serial line board was implemented to communicate with the ND66L. The hardware used and its environment will be duscussed along with the design and implementation of the firmware, which implements the serial DDCMP link

  14. A network-based Macintosh serial host interface program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wight, J.

    1991-03-01

    A program has been written for the Apple Macintosh to replace conventional host RS232 terminals with customizable user interfaces. Serial port NuBus cards in the Macintosh allow many simultaneous sessions to be maintained. A powerful system is attained by connecting multiple Macintoshes on a network, each running this program. Each is then able to share incoming data from any of its serial ports with any other Macintosh, as well as accept data from any other Macintosh for output to any of its serial ports. The program has been used to eliminate multiple host terminals, modernize the user interface, and to centralize operation of a complex control system. Minimal changes to host software have been required. By making extensive use of Macintosh resources, the same executable code serves in a variety of roles. An object oriented C language with a class library made the development straightforward and easy to modify. This program is used to control a 2 MW neutral beam system on the DIII-D magnetic fusion tokamak. 7 figs

  15. Serial casting for reconstruction of a deformed Charcot foot: a case report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosenblum, Jonathan I; Weiss, Shmuel; Gazes, Michael; Amit-Kohn, Michal

    2015-05-01

    Charcot neuroarthropathy may occur in patients with peripheral neuropathy who do not notice pain while their bones and joints collapse or breakdown under the constant pressure of body weight. This can lead to ulcerations from severe deformity and potentially limb-threatening and life-threatening infections. Current treatments vary from immobilization to extensive reconstructive surgical interventions. Serial casting, used to correct many pediatric deformities while bones are often more pliable, was used with a 63-year-old male patient who presented with an active phase of Charcot foot with ulceration. The patient previously underwent foot reconstruction and had all hardware removed prior to serial casting. Due to the potential pliability of the bones, serial casting was attempted to reform the shape and position of the foot in a reverse Ponseti-type serial casting to create a more stable structure with less deformity that could lead to epithelial breakdown. The patient regained full ambulation with a plantargrade foot and no wounds, and was followed without complications for 36 months. Serial weekly casting was an effective modality for treatment of this patient's Charcot foot deformity.

  16. The utilization of forensic science and criminal profiling for capturing serial killers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, John H; Lester, David; Gentile, Matthew; Rosenbleeth, Juliana

    2011-06-15

    Movies and nightly television shows appear to emphasize highly efficient regimens in forensic science and criminal investigative analysis (profiling) that result in capturing serial killers and other perpetrators of homicide. Although some of the shows are apocryphal and unrealistic, they reflect major advancements that have been made in the fields of forensic science and criminal psychology during the past two decades that have helped police capture serial killers. Some of the advancements are outlined in this paper. In a study of 200 serial killers, we examined the variables that led to police focusing their attention on specific suspects. We developed 12 categories that describe how serial killers come to the attention of the police. The results of the present study indicate that most serial killers are captured as a result of citizens and surviving victims contributing information that resulted in police investigations that led to an arrest. The role of forensic science appears to be important in convicting the perpetrator, but not necessarily in identifying the perpetrator. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Assessing Working Memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment with Serial Order Recall.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emrani, Sheina; Libon, David J; Lamar, Melissa; Price, Catherine C; Jefferson, Angela L; Gifford, Katherine A; Hohman, Timothy J; Nation, Daniel A; Delano-Wood, Lisa; Jak, Amy; Bangen, Katherine J; Bondi, Mark W; Brickman, Adam M; Manly, Jennifer; Swenson, Rodney; Au, Rhoda

    2018-01-01

    Working memory (WM) is often assessed with serial order tests such as repeating digits backward. In prior dementia research using the Backward Digit Span Test (BDT), only aggregate test performance was examined. The current research tallied primacy/recency effects, out-of-sequence transposition errors, perseverations, and omissions to assess WM deficits in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Memory clinic patients (n = 66) were classified into three groups: single domain amnestic MCI (aMCI), combined mixed domain/dysexecutive MCI (mixed/dys MCI), and non-MCI where patients did not meet criteria for MCI. Serial order/WM ability was assessed by asking participants to repeat 7 trials of five digits backwards. Serial order position accuracy, transposition errors, perseverations, and omission errors were tallied. A 3 (group)×5 (serial position) repeated measures ANOVA yielded a significant group×trial interaction. Follow-up analyses found attenuation of the recency effect for mixed/dys MCI patients. Mixed/dys MCI patients scored lower than non-MCI patients for serial position 3 (p Mixed/dys MCI patients also produced more transposition errors than both groups (p order parameters obtained from the BDT may provide a useful operational definition as well as additional diagnostic information regarding working memory deficits in MCI.

  18. Effects of amphetamine and methylphenidate on attentional performance and impulsivity in the mouse 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Caballero Puntiverio, Maitane; Fitzpatrick, Ciarán Martin; Woldbye, David Paul Drucker

    2017-01-01

    assessed. Saline treatment data determined high- and lowattentive (LA), and high- and low-impulsive (LI) subgroups according to the upper and lower 30th percentiles, respectively. Results: In the LA subgroup accuracy was improved by 0.5 mg/kg AMPH and 2 mg/kg MPH, while no effect was found in the high-attentive......Background: Few studies have investigated the effects of conventional attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication in the mouse 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT), and rat studies have yielded inconsistent results. Objective: We aimed to examine the effects of acute...... (HA) subgroup. Premature responses were increased by 1 mg/kg AMPH and 0.5 mg/kg MPH for all animals, and by 1 mg/kg AMPH for the LI subgroup. Conclusions: The use of variable stimulus duration, along with the division into high- and LA, and high-and LI subgroups, may improve the sensitivity of the 5...

  19. A serial-kinematic nanopositioner for high-speed atomic force microscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wadikhaye, Sachin P., E-mail: sachin.wadikhaye@uon.edu.au; Yong, Yuen Kuan; Reza Moheimani, S. O. [School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW (Australia)

    2014-10-15

    A flexure-guided serial-kinematic XYZ nanopositioner for high-speed Atomic Force Microscopy is presented in this paper. Two aspects influencing the performance of serial-kinematic nanopositioners are studied in this work. First, mass reduction by using tapered flexures is proposed to increased the natural frequency of the nanopositioner. 25% increase in the natural frequency is achieved due to reduced mass with tapered flexures. Second, a study of possible sensor positioning in a serial-kinematic nanopositioner is presented. An arrangement of sensors for exact estimation of cross-coupling is incorporated in the proposed design. A feedforward control strategy based on phaser approach is presented to mitigate the dynamics and nonlinearity in the system. Limitations in design approach and control strategy are discussed in the Conclusion.

  20. A serial-kinematic nanopositioner for high-speed atomic force microscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wadikhaye, Sachin P.; Yong, Yuen Kuan; Reza Moheimani, S. O.

    2014-01-01

    A flexure-guided serial-kinematic XYZ nanopositioner for high-speed Atomic Force Microscopy is presented in this paper. Two aspects influencing the performance of serial-kinematic nanopositioners are studied in this work. First, mass reduction by using tapered flexures is proposed to increased the natural frequency of the nanopositioner. 25% increase in the natural frequency is achieved due to reduced mass with tapered flexures. Second, a study of possible sensor positioning in a serial-kinematic nanopositioner is presented. An arrangement of sensors for exact estimation of cross-coupling is incorporated in the proposed design. A feedforward control strategy based on phaser approach is presented to mitigate the dynamics and nonlinearity in the system. Limitations in design approach and control strategy are discussed in the Conclusion

  1. Serial-position effects on a free-recall task in bilinguals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoo, Jeewon; Kaushanskaya, Margarita

    2016-01-01

    In this study, we examined mechanisms that underlie free-recall performance in bilinguals' first language (L1) and second language (L2) through the prism of serial-position effects. On free-recall tasks, a typical pattern of performance follows a U-shaped serial-position curve, where items from the beginning of the list (the primacy effect) and items from the end of the list (the recency effect) are recalled with higher accuracy than items from the middle of the list. The present study contrasted serial-position effects on the free-recall task in Korean-English bilinguals' L1 vs. L2 and examined the relationship between an independent working memory (WM) measure and serial-position effects in bilinguals' two languages. Results revealed stronger pre-recency (primacy and middle) effects in L1 than in L2, but similar recency effects in the two languages. A close association was observed between WM and recall performance in the pre-recency region in the L1 but not in the L2. Together, these findings suggest that linguistic knowledge constrains free-recall performance in bilinguals, but only in the pre-recency region.

  2. A comparative study between South African serial killers and their American counterparts

    OpenAIRE

    2009-01-01

    M.A. This dissertation explores the similarities and differences between South African serial killers and their American counterparts. Seven male candidates, each having committed their reign of terror within the relevant time period, have been included. The candidates compared well in home environments, number of friendships, emotional maturity, abuse undergone, temperament, and anti-social behaviour. Differences were found in comparing family bonding, wealth and education. This dissertat...

  3. A study on the utilization of serial resources in selected tertiary ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    A study on the utilization of serial resources in selected tertiary institutions in Ogun State. ... Lagos Journal of Library and Information Science ... Serial resources are publications either in printed form or electronic format issued in successive parts usually having numerical or chronological designations and intended to be ...

  4. Subject-Verb Agreement in Children and Adults: Serial or Hierarchical Processing?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Negro, Isabelle; Chanquoy, Lucile; Fayol, Michel; Louis-Sidney, Maryse

    2005-01-01

    Two processes, serial and hierarchical, are generally opposed to account for grammatical encoding in language production. In a developmental perspective, the question addressed here is whether the subject-verb agreement during writing is computed serially, once the words are linearly ordered in the sentence, or hierarchically, as soon as the…

  5. Serial Position Effects in the Identification of Letters, Digits, and Symbols

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tydgat, Ilse; Grainger, Jonathan

    2009-01-01

    In 6 experiments, the authors investigated the form of serial position functions for identification of letters, digits, and symbols presented in strings. The results replicated findings obtained with the target search paradigm, showing an interaction between the effects of serial position and type of stimulus, with symbols generating a distinct…

  6. Automated segmentation of ventricles from serial brain MRI for the quantification of volumetric changes associated with communicating hydrocephalus in patients with brain tumor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pura, John A.; Hamilton, Allison M.; Vargish, Geoffrey A.; Butman, John A.; Linguraru, Marius George

    2011-03-01

    Accurate ventricle volume estimates could improve the understanding and diagnosis of postoperative communicating hydrocephalus. For this category of patients, associated changes in ventricle volume can be difficult to identify, particularly over short time intervals. We present an automated segmentation algorithm that evaluates ventricle size from serial brain MRI examination. The technique combines serial T1- weighted images to increase SNR and segments the means image to generate a ventricle template. After pre-processing, the segmentation is initiated by a fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm to find the seeds used in a combination of fast marching methods and geodesic active contours. Finally, the ventricle template is propagated onto the serial data via non-linear registration. Serial volume estimates were obtained in an automated robust and accurate manner from difficult data.

  7. Technical report: serial collections of placentomes during parturition in cattle and subsequent reproductive performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McNeel, Anthony K; Ondrak, Jeff D; Cushman, Robert A

    2013-05-01

    Placental separation is a complex physiological event in reproductive physiology and the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. When comparing different experiments the timing of tissue collections is a significant consideration due to the variability in time between fetal expulsion and expulsion of the placenta (30 min to >24 h). This makes comparison of tissues samples across animals difficult and supports the need for serial tissue collections within animal. Additionally, the instrument most commonly used, a modified Richter-Resinsinger effeminator, for placentome collections is difficult to obtain and there are no data in the literature record regarding subsequent reproductive performance of animals subjected placentome collections. To facilitate continued research into the physiology behind placental separation, we designed an instrument from readily available components and performed serial transvaginal placentome collections in cattle. Three placentomes at 2-h intervals were collected after expulsion of the calf in 18 multiparous cows. There was no incidence of mortality and all cows resumed estrous after the procedure. Neither time from placentome collection nor age had a significant effect on pregnancy status at diagnosis (P > 0.05). These results demonstrate the viability of and utility of this device for collecting multiple placentomes in cattle.

  8. Synchronic Seriality: The Dissolving of Diegetic Borders Through Metalepsis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paige M. Piper

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available In dialogue with Gérard Genette’s literary concept of metalepsis to television, this paper considers instances of meta-textual actor/character portrayals in serial narratives to show that meta-narrative intrusion fosters a greater empathetic link between the spectator and character, whilst simultaneously inviting the viewer to appreciate the technique as an artifice-aware gesture. The fluidity of diegetic borders brought on by the conflation of performer/performance replicates Baudrillard’s simulacra, creating a synchronic form of seriality and transcending rigid genre classifications.

  9. A comparison of high-order explicit Runge–Kutta, extrapolation, and deferred correction methods in serial and parallel

    KAUST Repository

    Ketcheson, David I.

    2014-06-13

    We compare the three main types of high-order one-step initial value solvers: extrapolation, spectral deferred correction, and embedded Runge–Kutta pairs. We consider orders four through twelve, including both serial and parallel implementations. We cast extrapolation and deferred correction methods as fixed-order Runge–Kutta methods, providing a natural framework for the comparison. The stability and accuracy properties of the methods are analyzed by theoretical measures, and these are compared with the results of numerical tests. In serial, the eighth-order pair of Prince and Dormand (DOP8) is most efficient. But other high-order methods can be more efficient than DOP8 when implemented in parallel. This is demonstrated by comparing a parallelized version of the wellknown ODEX code with the (serial) DOP853 code. For an N-body problem with N = 400, the experimental extrapolation code is as fast as the tuned Runge–Kutta pair at loose tolerances, and is up to two times as fast at tight tolerances.

  10. Semi-automatic analysis of standard uptake values in serial PET/CT studies in patients with lung cancer and lymphoma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ly John

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Changes in maximum standardised uptake values (SUVmax between serial PET/CT studies are used to determine disease progression or regression in oncologic patients. To measure these changes manually can be time consuming in a clinical routine. A semi-automatic method for calculation of SUVmax in serial PET/CT studies was developed and compared to a conventional manual method. The semi-automatic method first aligns the serial PET/CT studies based on the CT images. Thereafter, the reader selects an abnormal lesion in one of the PET studies. After this manual step, the program automatically detects the corresponding lesion in the other PET study, segments the two lesions and calculates the SUVmax in both studies as well as the difference between the SUVmax values. The results of the semi-automatic analysis were compared to that of a manual SUVmax analysis using a Philips PET/CT workstation. Three readers did the SUVmax readings in both methods. Sixteen patients with lung cancer or lymphoma who had undergone two PET/CT studies were included. There were a total of 26 lesions. Results Linear regression analysis of changes in SUVmax show that intercepts and slopes are close to the line of identity for all readers (reader 1: intercept = 1.02, R2 = 0.96; reader 2: intercept = 0.97, R2 = 0.98; reader 3: intercept = 0.99, R2 = 0.98. Manual and semi-automatic method agreed in all cases whether SUVmax had increased or decreased between the serial studies. The average time to measure SUVmax changes in two serial PET/CT examinations was four to five times longer for the manual method compared to the semi-automatic method for all readers (reader 1: 53.7 vs. 10.5 s; reader 2: 27.3 vs. 6.9 s; reader 3: 47.5 vs. 9.5 s; p Conclusions Good agreement was shown in assessment of SUVmax changes between manual and semi-automatic method. The semi-automatic analysis was four to five times faster to perform than the manual analysis. These findings show the

  11. Spatial serial order processing in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraser, David; Park, Sohee; Clark, Gina; Yohanna, Daniel; Houk, James C

    2004-10-01

    The aim of this study was to examine serial order processing deficits in 21 schizophrenia patients and 16 age- and education-matched healthy controls. In a spatial serial order working memory task, one to four spatial targets were presented in a randomized sequence. Subjects were required to remember the locations and the order in which the targets were presented. Patients showed a marked deficit in ability to remember the sequences compared with controls. Increasing the number of targets within a sequence resulted in poorer memory performance for both control and schizophrenia subjects, but the effect was much more pronounced in the patients. Targets presented at the end of a long sequence were more vulnerable to memory error in schizophrenia patients. Performance deficits were not attributable to motor errors, but to errors in target choice. The results support the idea that the memory errors seen in schizophrenia patients may be due to saturating the working memory network at relatively low levels of memory load.

  12. Quick, sensitive serial NMR experiments with Radon transform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dass, Rupashree; Kasprzak, Paweł; Kazimierczuk, Krzysztof

    2017-09-01

    The Radon transform is a potentially powerful tool for processing the data from serial spectroscopic experiments. It makes it possible to decode the rate at which frequencies of spectral peaks shift under the effect of changing conditions, such as temperature, pH, or solvent. In this paper we show how it also improves speed and sensitivity, especially in multidimensional experiments. This is particularly important in the case of low-sensitivity techniques, such as NMR spectroscopy. As an example, we demonstrate how Radon transform processing allows serial measurements of 15 N-HSQC spectra of unlabelled peptides that would otherwise be infeasible. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Theory of Visual Attention (TVA) applied to mice in the 5-choice serial reaction time task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fitzpatrick, C M; Caballero-Puntiverio, M; Gether, U; Habekost, T; Bundesen, C; Vangkilde, S; Woldbye, D P D; Andreasen, J T; Petersen, A

    2017-03-01

    The 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT) is widely used to measure rodent attentional functions. In humans, many attention studies in healthy and clinical populations have used testing based on Bundesen's Theory of Visual Attention (TVA) to estimate visual processing speeds and other parameters of attentional capacity. We aimed to bridge these research fields by modifying the 5-CSRTT's design and by mathematically modelling data to derive attentional parameters analogous to human TVA-based measures. C57BL/6 mice were tested in two 1-h sessions on consecutive days with a version of the 5-CSRTT where stimulus duration (SD) probe length was varied based on information from previous TVA studies. Thereafter, a scopolamine hydrobromide (HBr; 0.125 or 0.25 mg/kg) pharmacological challenge was undertaken, using a Latin square design. Mean score values were modelled using a new three-parameter version of TVA to obtain estimates of visual processing speeds, visual thresholds and motor response baselines in each mouse. The parameter estimates for each animal were reliable across sessions, showing that the data were stable enough to support analysis on an individual level. Scopolamine HBr dose-dependently reduced 5-CSRTT attentional performance while also increasing reward collection latency at the highest dose. Upon TVA modelling, scopolamine HBr significantly reduced visual processing speed at both doses, while having less pronounced effects on visual thresholds and motor response baselines. This study shows for the first time how 5-CSRTT performance in mice can be mathematically modelled to yield estimates of attentional capacity that are directly comparable to estimates from human studies.

  14. Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Ruissen, Fred; Baas, Frank

    2007-01-01

    In 1995, serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) was developed as a versatile tool for gene expression studies. SAGE technology does not require pre-existing knowledge of the genome that is being examined and therefore SAGE can be applied to many different model systems. In this chapter, the SAGE

  15. Religious Tourism and TV Serials: the Case of Two Italian Papal Birthplaces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lorenzo Bagnoli

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper the authors examine two of Italy’s lesser religious tourism destinations: Sotto il Monte and Concesio, small towns in northern Italy which have the distinction of being the birthplaces of Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI. In 2002 and 2008 respectively, two of the country’s national television networks broadcast during prime time short television serials dedicated to the two popes. Despite being very successful with the viewing public, the serials proved to have little impact in terms of tourism, as demonstrated by comprehensive tourist surveys and in-depth conversations with the parties concerned. The aim of the present research is to ascertain, using a visual geographical research approach, whether the reasons for this can be identified, taking account of the pull factors of place, personality and performance referred to by Macionis in 2004. In the first part of the study the authors put forward a definition of film-induced religious tourism based on the commonly agreed definitions of film-induced tourism and religious tourism, and outline the unique characteristics ofItaly’s religious-themed television productions. In the second part the two case studies are analysed, with an outline of the geographical features of the locations and biographical aspects of the two men, and an assessment of the degree of success in terms of tourism achieved by their home towns, with particular reference to the years following the screening of the TV serials.

  16. Auditory distraction and serial memory: The avoidable and the ineluctable

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dylan M Jones

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available One mental activity that is very vulnerable to auditory distraction is serial recall. This review of the contemporary findings relating to serial recall charts the key determinants of distraction. It is evident that there is one form of distraction that is a joint product of the cognitive characteristics of the task and of the obligatory cognitive processing of the sound. For sequences of sound, distraction appears to be an ineluctable product of similarity-of-process, specifically, the serial order processing of the visually presented items and the serial order coding that is the by-product of the streaming of the sound. However, recently emerging work shows that the distraction from a single sound (one deviating from a prevailing sequence results in attentional capture and is qualitatively distinct from that of a sequence in being restricted in its action to encoding, not to rehearsal of list members. Capture is also sensitive to the sensory task load, suggesting that it is subject to top-down control and therefore avoidable. These two forms of distraction-conflict of process and attentional capture-may be two consequences of auditory perceptual organization processes that serve to strike the optimal balance between attentional selectivity and distractability.

  17. Kinematics/statics analysis of a novel serial-parallel robotic arm with hand

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lu, Yi; Dai, Zhuohong; Ye, Nijia; Wang, Peng [Yanshan University, Hebei (China)

    2015-10-15

    A robotic arm with fingered hand generally has multi-functions to complete various complicated operations. A novel serial-parallel robotic arm with a hand is proposed and its kinematics and statics are studied systematically. A 3D prototype of the serial-parallel robotic arm with a hand is constructed and analyzed by simulation. The serial-parallel robotic arm with a hand is composed of an upper 3RPS parallel manipulator, a lower 3SPR parallel manipulator and a hand with three finger mechanisms. Its kinematics formulae for solving the displacement, velocity, acceleration of are derived. Its statics formula for solving the active/constrained forces is derived. Its reachable workspace and orientation workspace are constructed and analyzed. Finally, an analytic example is given for solving the kinematics and statics of the serial-parallel robotic arm with a hand and the analytic solutions are verified by a simulation mechanism.

  18. Kinematics/statics analysis of a novel serial-parallel robotic arm with hand

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu, Yi; Dai, Zhuohong; Ye, Nijia; Wang, Peng

    2015-01-01

    A robotic arm with fingered hand generally has multi-functions to complete various complicated operations. A novel serial-parallel robotic arm with a hand is proposed and its kinematics and statics are studied systematically. A 3D prototype of the serial-parallel robotic arm with a hand is constructed and analyzed by simulation. The serial-parallel robotic arm with a hand is composed of an upper 3RPS parallel manipulator, a lower 3SPR parallel manipulator and a hand with three finger mechanisms. Its kinematics formulae for solving the displacement, velocity, acceleration of are derived. Its statics formula for solving the active/constrained forces is derived. Its reachable workspace and orientation workspace are constructed and analyzed. Finally, an analytic example is given for solving the kinematics and statics of the serial-parallel robotic arm with a hand and the analytic solutions are verified by a simulation mechanism.

  19. Piezoelectric micromotor based on the structure of serial bending arms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tong, Jianhua; Cui, Tianhong; Shao, Peige; Wang, Liding

    2003-09-01

    This paper presents a new piezoelectric micromotor based on the structure of serial bending arms. Serial bending arms are composed of two piezoelectric bimorphs with one end fixed and the other end free, driven by two signals of a biased square wave with a phase difference of pi/2. The free end of a cantilever arm will move along an elliptic orbit so that the cantilever is used to drive a cylinder rotor. The rotor's end surface contacts the free end of the cantilever, resulting in the rotor's rotation. There are six serial bending arms anchored on the base. The driving mechanism of the micromotor is proposed and analyzed. A new micromotor prototype, 5 mm in diameter, has been fabricated and characterized. The maximum rotational speed reaches 325 rpm, and the output torque is about 36.5 microNm.

  20. Serial position learning in honeybees.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Randolf Menzel

    Full Text Available Learning of stimulus sequences is considered as a characteristic feature of episodic memory since it contains not only a particular item but also the experience of preceding and following events. In sensorimotor tasks resembling navigational performance, the serial order of objects is intimately connected with spatial order. Mammals and birds develop episodic(-like memory in serial spatio-temporal tasks, and the honeybee learns spatio-temporal order when navigating between the nest and a food source. Here I examine the structure of the bees' memory for a combined spatio-temporal task. I ask whether discrimination and generalization are based solely on simple forms of stimulus-reward learning or whether they require sequential configurations. Animals were trained to fly either left or right in a continuous T-maze. The correct choice was signaled by the sequence of colors (blue, yellow at four positions in the access arm. If only one of the possible 4 signals is shown (either blue or yellow, the rank order of position salience is 1, 2 and 3 (numbered from T-junction. No learning is found if the signal appears at position 4. If two signals are shown, differences at positions 1 and 2 are learned best, those at position 3 at a low level, and those at position 4 not at all. If three or more signals are shown these results are corroborated. This salience rank order again appeared in transfer tests, but additional configural phenomena emerged. Most of the results can be explained with a simple model based on the assumption that the four positions are equipped with different salience scores and that these add up independently. However, deviations from the model are interpreted by assuming stimulus configuration of sequential patterns. It is concluded that, under the conditions chosen, bees rely most strongly on memories developed during simple forms of associative reward learning, but memories of configural serial patterns contribute, too.

  1. Serial cultivation of human scalp hair follicle keratinocytes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weterings, P J; Roelofs, H M; Vermorken, A J; Bloemendal, H

    1983-01-01

    A method is described for the serial cultivation of adult human hair follicle keratinocytes. Plucked scalp hair follicles, placed on bovine eye lens capsules as a growth substrate, give rise to quickly expanding colonies within a few days. After trypsinization, the cells are replated with irradiated 3T3 cells as 'feeders'. Using this combination of techniques the keratinocytes can be subcultured up to four times. In this way about 10(7) keratinocytes can be generated from one single hair follicle. Moreover, the technique enables cryogenic storage of the cells, allowing for instance, convenient transportation. Subcultured hair follicle keratinocytes can be plated on glass coverslips. This allows immunofluorescence studies. The keratin cytoskeletons visualized using an antiserum against human keratin.

  2. Influence of Seasonality and Circulating Cytokines on Serial QuantiFERON Discordances

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marsha L. Griffin

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Objectives. An 18-month prospective study serially tested healthcare workers (HCWs for tuberculosis infection (TBI and reported discordant QuantiFERON Gold In-Tube® (QFT results in some participants. The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether the interferon-gamma (IFN-γ measured by QFT in discordant individuals could be influenced by other circulating cytokines that vary seasonally at the time of phlebotomy. Methods. The CDC funded TBESC Task Order 18 (TO18 project to assess the use of Interferon Gamma Release Assays (IGRAs, T-SPOT.TB® and QFT, compared to the tuberculin skin test (TST for the serial testing of TBI in HCW at 4 US sites. Unstimulated plasma from 9 discordant TO18 participants at 4 different time points from the Houston site was multiplexed to determine the association between circulating cytokines and antigen stimulated IFN-γ levels. Results. IL-12, IL-1β, IL-3, GCSF, and IL-7 were associated with the amount of IFN-γ measured in response to antigen stimulation. In addition to these cytokines, a significant relationship was found between a positive QFT result and the spring season. Conclusions. Allergens during the spring season can result in the upregulation of IL-1β and IL-3, and this upregulation was observed with the amount of IFN-γ measured in discordant results.

  3. Analysis of each branch current of serial solar cells by using an equivalent circuit model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yi Shi-Guang; Zhang Wan-Hui; Ai Bin; Song Jing-Wei; Shen Hui

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, based on the equivalent single diode circuit model of the solar cell, an equivalent circuit diagram for two serial solar cells is drawn. Its equations of current and voltage are derived from Kirchhoff's current and voltage law. First, parameters are obtained from the I—V (current—voltage) curves for typical monocrystalline silicon solar cells (125 mm × 125 mm). Then, by regarding photo-generated current, shunt resistance, serial resistance of the first solar cell, and resistance load as the variables. The properties of shunt currents (I sh1 and I sh2 ), diode currents (I D1 and I D2 ), and load current (I L ) for the whole two serial solar cells are numerically analyzed in these four cases for the first time, and the corresponding physical explanations are made. We find that these parameters have different influences on the internal currents of solar cells. Our results will provide a reference for developing higher efficiency solar cell module and contribute to the better understanding of the reason of efficiency loss of solar cell module. (interdisciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology)

  4. Advances in Serials Management. Volume 6.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hepfer, Cindy, Ed.; Gammon, Julia, Ed.; Malinowski, Teresa, Ed.

    In order to further discussion and support constructive change, this volume presents the following eight papers on various dimensions of serials management: (1) "CD-ROMs, Surveys, and Sales: The OSA [Optical Society of America] Experience" (Frank E. Harris and Alan Tourtlotte); (2) "Management and Integration of Electronic Journals into the…

  5. The serial order of response units in word production: The case of typing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scaltritti, Michele; Longcamp, Marieke; Alario, F-Xavier

    2018-05-01

    The selection and ordering of response units (phonemes, letters, keystrokes) represents a transversal issue across different modalities of language production. Here, the issue of serial order was investigated with respect to typewriting. Following seminal investigations in the spoken modality, we conducted an experiment where participants typed as many times as possible a pair of words during a fixed time-window. The 2 words shared either their first 2 keystrokes, the last 2 ones, all the keystrokes, or were unrelated. Fine-grained performance measures were recorded at the level of individual keystrokes. In contrast with previous results from the spoken modality, we observed an overall facilitation for words sharing the initial keystrokes. In addition, the initial overlap briefly delayed the execution of the following keystroke. The results are discussed with reference to different theoretical perspectives on serial order, with a particular attention to the competing accounts offered by position coding models and chaining models. Our findings point to potential major differences between the speaking and typing modalities in terms of interactive activation between lexical and response units processing levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  6. Impact of Serials Management, Access and Use on Publication Output of Lecturers in Nigerian Universities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akinbode, Rahmon O. Onaolapo; Nwalo, Kenneth Ivo Ngozi

    2017-01-01

    This study investigates serials management in university libraries, determines the extent to which serials are accessed and used and appraises the influence of availability, accessibility and use of serials on publications output of lecturers in federal universities in Nigeria. Questionnaire administration method was adopted to accumulate data for…

  7. Real-Time In Vivo Dosimetry With MOSFET Detectors in Serial Tomotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer Patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qi Zhenyu; Deng Xiaowu; Huang Shaomin; Shiu, Almon; Lerch, Michael; Metcalfe, Peter; Rosenfeld, Anatoly; Kron, Tomas

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: A real-time dose verification method using a recently designed metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) dosimetry system was evaluated for quality assurance (QA) of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Methods and Materials: Following the investigation of key parameters that might affect the accuracy of MOSFET measurements (i.e., source surface distance [SSD], field size, beam incident angles and radiation energy spectrum), the feasibility of this detector in IMRT dose verification was demonstrated by comparison with ion chamber measurements taken in an IMRT QA phantom. Real-time in vivo measurements were also performed with the MOSFET system during serial tomotherapy treatments administered to 8 head and neck cancer patients. Results: MOSFET sensitivity did not change with SSD. For field sizes smaller than 20 x 20 cm 2 , MOFET sensitivity varied within 1.0%. The detector angular response was isotropic within 2% over 360 o , and the observed sensitivity variation due to changes in the energy spectrum was negligible in 6-MV photons. MOSFET system measurements and ion chamber measurements agreed at all points in IMRT phantom plan verification, within 5%. The mean difference between 48 IMRT MOSFET-measured doses and calculated values in 8 patients was 3.33% and ranged from -2.20% to 7.89%. More than 90% of the total measurements had deviations of less than 5% from the planned doses. Conclusion: The MOSFET dosimetry system has been proven to be an effective tool in evaluating the actual dose within individual patients during IMRT treatment.

  8. Real-time in vivo dosimetry with MOSFET detectors in serial tomotherapy for head and neck cancer patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qi, Zhen-Yu; Deng, Xiao-Wu; Huang, Shao-Min; Shiu, Almon; Lerch, Michael; Metcalfe, Peter; Rosenfeld, Anatoly; Kron, Tomas

    2011-08-01

    A real-time dose verification method using a recently designed metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) dosimetry system was evaluated for quality assurance (QA) of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Following the investigation of key parameters that might affect the accuracy of MOSFET measurements (i.e., source surface distance [SSD], field size, beam incident angles and radiation energy spectrum), the feasibility of this detector in IMRT dose verification was demonstrated by comparison with ion chamber measurements taken in an IMRT QA phantom. Real-time in vivo measurements were also performed with the MOSFET system during serial tomotherapy treatments administered to 8 head and neck cancer patients. MOSFET sensitivity did not change with SSD. For field sizes smaller than 20 × 20 cm(2), MOFET sensitivity varied within 1.0%. The detector angular response was isotropic within 2% over 360°, and the observed sensitivity variation due to changes in the energy spectrum was negligible in 6-MV photons. MOSFET system measurements and ion chamber measurements agreed at all points in IMRT phantom plan verification, within 5%. The mean difference between 48 IMRT MOSFET-measured doses and calculated values in 8 patients was 3.33% and ranged from -2.20% to 7.89%. More than 90% of the total measurements had deviations of less than 5% from the planned doses. The MOSFET dosimetry system has been proven to be an effective tool in evaluating the actual dose within individual patients during IMRT treatment. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Fungal myositis in children: serial ultrasonographic findings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kwon, Jung Hwa; Lee, Hee Jung; Choi, Jin Soo [Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu (Korea, Republic of)

    2003-08-01

    To evaluate serial ultrasonographic findings of fungal myositis in children. Eleven lesions caused by fungal myositis and occurring in six children were included in this study. Eight lesions in five children were histopathologically proven and the other three were clinically diagnosed. Serial ultrasonographic findings were retrospectively evaluated in terms of size, location, margin, internal echotexture and adjacent cortical change occurring during the follow-up period ranging from five days to two months. Three patients (50%) had multiple lesions. The sites of involvment were the thigh (n=4), calf (n=3), chest wall (n=2), abdominal wall (n=1) and forearm (n=1). Initially, diffuse muscular swelling was revealed, with ill-defined hypoechoic lesions confined to the muscle layer (n=8). Follow-up examination of eight lesions over a period of 5-10 days showed that round central echogenic lesions were surrounded by previous slightly echogenic lesions (n=6, 75%). Long-term follow-up of five lesions over a two-month period revealed periosteal thickening in one case (20%), and the peristence of echogenic solid nodules in four (80%). Pathologic examination showed that the central lesions correlated with a fungus ball and the peripheral slightly echogenic lesions corresponded to hematoma and necrosis. Serial ultrasonographic findings of fungal myositis in children revealed relatively constant features in each case. In particular, the findings of muscular necrosis and a fungus ball over a period of 5-14 days were thought to be characteristic.

  10. Fungal myositis in children: serial ultrasonographic findings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kwon, Jung Hwa; Lee, Hee Jung; Choi, Jin Soo

    2003-01-01

    To evaluate serial ultrasonographic findings of fungal myositis in children. Eleven lesions caused by fungal myositis and occurring in six children were included in this study. Eight lesions in five children were histopathologically proven and the other three were clinically diagnosed. Serial ultrasonographic findings were retrospectively evaluated in terms of size, location, margin, internal echotexture and adjacent cortical change occurring during the follow-up period ranging from five days to two months. Three patients (50%) had multiple lesions. The sites of involvment were the thigh (n=4), calf (n=3), chest wall (n=2), abdominal wall (n=1) and forearm (n=1). Initially, diffuse muscular swelling was revealed, with ill-defined hypoechoic lesions confined to the muscle layer (n=8). Follow-up examination of eight lesions over a period of 5-10 days showed that round central echogenic lesions were surrounded by previous slightly echogenic lesions (n=6, 75%). Long-term follow-up of five lesions over a two-month period revealed periosteal thickening in one case (20%), and the peristence of echogenic solid nodules in four (80%). Pathologic examination showed that the central lesions correlated with a fungus ball and the peripheral slightly echogenic lesions corresponded to hematoma and necrosis. Serial ultrasonographic findings of fungal myositis in children revealed relatively constant features in each case. In particular, the findings of muscular necrosis and a fungus ball over a period of 5-14 days were thought to be characteristic

  11. Race as Seriality: A Response to David Benatar and Zimitri Erasmus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gouws, A.

    2010-01-01

    In this article I draw on the Sarte's notion of "seriality" as theorized in his book "Dialectic of Reason" and as interpreted by Iris Marion Young. I argue that seriality can be used to escape the false essentialism and identity politics of race as a category for admissions to universities. A series is a social collective whose members are unified…

  12. A high speed serializer ASIC for ATLAS Liquid Argon calorimeter upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Liu, T; The ATLAS collaboration

    2014-01-01

    We have been developing a serializer application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) based on a commercial 0.25-μm silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) CMOS technology for the ATLAS liquid argon calorimeter front-end electronics upgrade. The first prototype, a 5 Gbps 16:1 serializer has been designed, fabricated, and tested in lab environment and in 200 MeV proton beam. The test results indicate that the first prototype meets the design goals. The second prototype, a double-lane, 8 Gbps per lane serializer is under development. The post layout simulation indicates that 8 Gbps is achievable. In this paper we present the design and the test results of the first prototype and the design and status of the second prototype.

  13. Anti-deception: reliable EEG-based biometrics with real-time capability from the neural response of face rapid serial visual presentation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Qunjian; Yan, Bin; Zeng, Ying; Zhang, Chi; Tong, Li

    2018-05-03

    The electroencephalogram (EEG) signal represents a subject's specific brain activity patterns and is considered as an ideal biometric given its superior invisibility, non-clonality, and non-coercion. In order to enhance its applicability in identity authentication, a novel EEG-based identity authentication method is proposed based on self- or non-self-face rapid serial visual presentation. In contrast to previous studies that extracted EEG features from rest state or motor imagery, the designed paradigm could obtain a distinct and stable biometric trait with a lower time cost. Channel selection was applied to select specific channels for each user to enhance system portability and improve discriminability between users and imposters. Two different imposter scenarios were designed to test system security, which demonstrate the capability of anti-deception. Fifteen users and thirty imposters participated in the experiment. The mean authentication accuracy values for the two scenarios were 91.31 and 91.61%, with 6 s time cost, which illustrated the precision and real-time capability of the system. Furthermore, in order to estimate the repeatability and stability of our paradigm, another data acquisition session is conducted for each user. Using the classification models generated from the previous sessions, a mean false rejected rate of 7.27% has been achieved, which demonstrates the robustness of our paradigm. Experimental results reveal that the proposed paradigm and methods are effective for EEG-based identity authentication.

  14. Large volume serial section tomography by Xe Plasma FIB dual beam microscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burnett, T.L.; Kelley, R.; Winiarski, B.; Contreras, L.; Daly, M.; Gholinia, A.; Burke, M.G.; Withers, P.J.

    2016-01-01

    Ga + Focused Ion Beam-Scanning Electron Microscopes (FIB-SEM) have revolutionised the level of microstructural information that can be recovered in 3D by block face serial section tomography (SST), as well as enabling the site-specific removal of smaller regions for subsequent transmission electron microscope (TEM) examination. However, Ga + FIB material removal rates limit the volumes and depths that can be probed to dimensions in the tens of microns range. Emerging Xe + Plasma Focused Ion Beam-Scanning Electron Microscope (PFIB-SEM) systems promise faster removal rates. Here we examine the potential of the method for large volume serial section tomography as applied to bainitic steel and WC–Co hard metals. Our studies demonstrate that with careful control of milling parameters precise automated serial sectioning can be achieved with low levels of milling artefacts at removal rates some 60× faster. Volumes that are hundreds of microns in dimension have been collected using fully automated SST routines in feasible timescales (<24 h) showing good grain orientation contrast and capturing microstructural features at the tens of nanometres to the tens of microns scale. Accompanying electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD) maps show high indexing rates suggesting low levels of surface damage. Further, under high current Ga + FIB milling WC–Co is prone to amorphisation of WC surface layers and phase transformation of the Co phase, neither of which have been observed at PFIB currents as high as 60 nA at 30 kV. Xe + PFIB dual beam microscopes promise to radically extend our capability for 3D tomography, 3D EDX, 3D EBSD as well as correlative tomography. - Highlights: • The uptake of dual beam FIBs has been rapid but long milling times have limited imaged volumes to tens of micron dimensions. • Emerging plasma Xe + PFIB-SEM technology offers materials removal rates at least 60× greater than conventional Ga + FIB systems with comparable or less damage. • The

  15. Facial rejuvenation: Serial fat graft transfer

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Saad Mohamed Saad Ibrahiem

    2016-02-01

    Feb 1, 2016 ... This a clinical study carried out to test the aesthetic outcome of serial injection of the cryo-preserved fat cells for both aesthetic and reconstructive purposes. Methods: Clinical ..... ucts, devices, or drugs mentioned in this manuscript that might create a ... Adipose stem cells and regenerative medicine. 7th ed.

  16. Smart grid serialization comparison: Comparision of serialization for distributed control in the context of the Internet of Things

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Bo Søborg; Bindner, Henrik W.; You, Shi

    2017-01-01

    within a given timeframe, especially in the context of the Internet of Things, using low-bandwidth data connections and constrained devices. The paper shows that there are better alternatives than XML & JAXB and gives guidance in choosing the most appropriate serialization format and library depending...

  17. Native sulfur/chlorine SAD phasing for serial femtosecond crystallography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakane, Takanori; Song, Changyong; Suzuki, Mamoru; Nango, Eriko; Kobayashi, Jun; Masuda, Tetsuya; Inoue, Shigeyuki; Mizohata, Eiichi; Nakatsu, Toru; Tanaka, Tomoyuki; Tanaka, Rie; Shimamura, Tatsuro; Tono, Kensuke; Joti, Yasumasa; Kameshima, Takashi; Hatsui, Takaki; Yabashi, Makina; Nureki, Osamu; Iwata, So; Sugahara, Michihiro

    2015-01-01

    Sulfur SAD phasing facilitates the structure determination of diverse native proteins using femtosecond X-rays from free-electron lasers via serial femtosecond crystallography. Serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) allows structures to be determined with minimal radiation damage. However, phasing native crystals in SFX is not very common. Here, the structure determination of native lysozyme from single-wavelength anomalous diffraction (SAD) by utilizing the anomalous signal of sulfur and chlorine at a wavelength of 1.77 Å is successfully demonstrated. This sulfur SAD method can be applied to a wide range of proteins, which will improve the determination of native crystal structures

  18. Word-serial Architectures for Filtering and Variable Rate Decimation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eugene Grayver

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available A new flexible architecture is proposed for word-serial filtering and variable rate decimation/interpolation. The architecture is targeted for low power applications requiring medium to low data rate and is ideally suited for implementation on either an ASIC or an FPGA. It combines the small size and low power of an ASIC with the programmability and flexibility of a DSP. An efficient memory addressing scheme eliminates the need for power hungry shift registers and allows full reconfiguration. The decimation ratio, filter length and filter coefficients can all be changed in real time. The architecture takes advantage of coefficient symmetries in linear phase filters and in polyphase components.

  19. The death of recency: Relationship between end-state comfort and serial position effects in serial recall: Logan and Fischman (2011) revisited.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Logan, Samuel W; Fischman, Mark G

    2015-12-01

    Two experiments examined the dynamic interaction between cognitive resources in short-term memory and bimanual object manipulation by extending recent research by Logan and Fischman (2011). In Experiment 1, 16 participants completed a bimanual end-state comfort task and a memory task requiring serial recall of 12 words or pictures. The end-state comfort task involved moving two glasses between two shelves. Participants viewed the items, performed the end-state comfort task, and then serially recalled the items. Recall was evaluated by the presence or absence of primacy and recency effects. The end-state comfort effect (ESCE) was assessed by the percentage of initial hand positions that allowed the hands to end comfortably. The main findings indicated that the ESCE was disrupted; the primacy effect remained intact; and the recency effect disappeared regardless of the type of memory item recalled. In Experiment 2, 16 participants viewed six items, performed an end-state comfort task, viewed another six items, and then serially recalled all 12 items. Results were essentially the same as in Experiment 1. Findings suggest that executing a bimanual end-state comfort task, regardless of when it is completed during a memory task, diminishes the recency effect irrespective of the type of memory item. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. On the Performance of the Python Programming Language for Serial and Parallel Scientific Computations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xing Cai

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available This article addresses the performance of scientific applications that use the Python programming language. First, we investigate several techniques for improving the computational efficiency of serial Python codes. Then, we discuss the basic programming techniques in Python for parallelizing serial scientific applications. It is shown that an efficient implementation of the array-related operations is essential for achieving good parallel performance, as for the serial case. Once the array-related operations are efficiently implemented, probably using a mixed-language implementation, good serial and parallel performance become achievable. This is confirmed by a set of numerical experiments. Python is also shown to be well suited for writing high-level parallel programs.

  1. Impaired Processing of Serial Order Determines Working Memory Impairments in Alzheimer's Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Belder, Maya; Santens, Patrick; Sieben, Anne; Fias, Wim

    2017-01-01

    Working memory (WM) problems are commonly observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the affected mechanisms leading to impaired WM are still insufficiently understood. The ability to efficiently process serial order in WM has been demonstrated to be fundamental to fluent daily life functioning. The decreased capability to mentally process serial position in WM has been put forward as the underlying explanation for generally compromised WM performance. Determine which mechanisms, such as order processing, are responsible for deficient WM functioning in AD. A group of AD patients (n = 32) and their partners (n = 25), assigned to the control group, were submitted to an extensive battery of neuropsychological and experimental tasks, assessing general cognitive state and functioning of several aspects related to serial order WM. The results revealed an impaired ability to bind item information to serial position within WM in AD patients compared to controls. It was additionally observed that AD patients experienced specific difficulties with directing spatial attention when searching for item information stored in WM. The processing of serial order and the allocation of attentional resources are both disrupted, explaining the generally reduced WM functioning in AD patients. Further studies should now clarify whether this observation could explain disease-related problems for other cognitive functions such as verbal expression, auditory comprehension, or planning.

  2. Timing system for TRISTAN AR using time division multiplexed serial transmission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ishii, Kazuhiro; Kadokura, Eiichi.

    1984-10-01

    The global timing signals of standard clock pulse, event code and time code for TRISTAN AR are transmitted by means of a single coaxial cable. The timing system is composed of the CAMAC system with a microcomputer (LSI-11) and the control computers (Hidic 80 E's). The CAMAC modules and the softwares for the timing system have been developed, and so the flexible and extensible system has been completed. (author)

  3. Serializing off-the-shelf MOSFETs by Magnetically Coupling Their Gate Electrodes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dimopoulos, Emmanouil; Munk-Nielsen, Stig

    2013-01-01

    While the semiconductor industry struggles with the inherent trade-offs of solid-state devices, serialization of power switches, like the Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) or the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT), has been proven to be an advantageous alternative...... to acquire a high-efficient, high-voltage, fast-switching device. More than twenty years of research, on the serialization of solid-state devices, have resulted into several different stacking concepts. Among the prevailing ones, the gate balancing core technique, which has demonstrated very good performance...... in strings of high-power IGBT modules. In this paper, the limitations of the gate balancing core technique, when employed to serialize low or medium power off-the-shelf switches, are identified via experimental results. A new design specification for the interwinding capacitance of the employed transformer...

  4. Serial Network Flow Monitor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Julie A.; Tate-Brown, Judy M.

    2009-01-01

    Using a commercial software CD and minimal up-mass, SNFM monitors the Payload local area network (LAN) to analyze and troubleshoot LAN data traffic. Validating LAN traffic models may allow for faster and more reliable computer networks to sustain systems and science on future space missions. Research Summary: This experiment studies the function of the computer network onboard the ISS. On-orbit packet statistics are captured and used to validate ground based medium rate data link models and enhance the way that the local area network (LAN) is monitored. This information will allow monitoring and improvement in the data transfer capabilities of on-orbit computer networks. The Serial Network Flow Monitor (SNFM) experiment attempts to characterize the network equivalent of traffic jams on board ISS. The SNFM team is able to specifically target historical problem areas including the SAMS (Space Acceleration Measurement System) communication issues, data transmissions from the ISS to the ground teams, and multiple users on the network at the same time. By looking at how various users interact with each other on the network, conflicts can be identified and work can begin on solutions. SNFM is comprised of a commercial off the shelf software package that monitors packet traffic through the payload Ethernet LANs (local area networks) on board ISS.

  5. Recalling visual serial order for verbal sequences

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Logie, R.H.; Saito, S.; Morita, A.; Varma, S.; Norris, D.

    2016-01-01

    We report three experiments in which participants performed written serial recall of visually presented verbal sequences with items varying in visual similarity. In Experiments 1 and 2 native speakers of Japanese recalled visually presented Japanese Kanji characters. In Experiment 3, native speakers

  6. A matter of emphasis: Linguistic stress habits modulate serial recall.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, John C; Macken, Bill; Jones, Dylan M

    2015-04-01

    Models of short-term memory for sequential information rely on item-level, feature-based descriptions to account for errors in serial recall. Transposition errors within alternating similar/dissimilar letter sequences derive from interactions between overlapping features. However, in two experiments, we demonstrated that the characteristics of the sequence are what determine the fates of items, rather than the properties ascribed to the items themselves. Performance in alternating sequences is determined by the way that the sequences themselves induce particular prosodic rehearsal patterns, and not by the nature of the items per se. In a serial recall task, the shapes of the canonical "saw-tooth" serial position curves and transposition error probabilities at successive input-output distances were modulated by subvocal rehearsal strategies, despite all item-based parameters being held constant. We replicated this finding using nonalternating lists, thus demonstrating that transpositions are substantially influenced by prosodic features-such as stress-that emerge during subvocal rehearsal.

  7. [Some criminological and psychopathologic reflexions about serial crimes].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romi, Juan Carlos

    2011-01-01

    This article reviews the concept of serial crime, including murder as well as any action for the purpose of inflicting bodily harm upon any person. It characterizes three types of multi-murderers: serial killers, mass murderers, and spree killers. These offenders often have a specific (ritual) behavior that is idiosyncratic and repeated on each crime, which allows the psychological profiling of the murderer. Examples, a psychopathological background, and a description of both their criminal behavior and dynamics are provided for each of these criminals. They are further classified according to their different motivations: psychotic, prophetic or enlightened, pleasure, secondary or pecuniary profits, power or control. Finally, the author shares his personal experience over 20 years in the assessment of sexual offenders.

  8. Serial SPECT in children with partial epilepsy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hosoya, Machiko; Ushiku, Hideo

    1995-01-01

    We performed serial single-photon emission CT (SPECT) with N-isopropyl-p-( 123 I)-Iodoamphetamine to measure the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in 15 children with partial epilepsy. SPECT showed focal changes in 14 cases. Ten cases had abnormalities in the initial SPECT and another four cases in the second test. The cases with normal rCBF in initial SPECT had been tested in an early phase after the onset, and then decreased rCBF were observed in the second SPECT. The cases with both abnormal rCBF in the initial SPECT and improved rCBF in the second SPECT showed good prognosis in clinico-electrophysiological evolutions. In cases with abnormal changes of rCBF in the second SPECT, clinical prognosis was found to be not so good. These findings suggest that serial SPECT may be used to follow the course of epilepsy. (author)

  9. Direct kinematics solution architectures for industrial robot manipulators: Bit-serial versus parallel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, J.; Kim, K.

    1991-01-01

    A Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) architecture for robot direct kinematic computation suitable for industrial robot manipulators was investigated. The Denavit-Hartenberg transformations are reviewed to exploit a proper processing element, namely an augmented CORDIC. Specifically, two distinct implementations are elaborated on, such as the bit-serial and parallel. Performance of each scheme is analyzed with respect to the time to compute one location of the end-effector of a 6-links manipulator, and the number of transistors required.

  10. Direct kinematics solution architectures for industrial robot manipulators: Bit-serial versus parallel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, J.; Kim, K.

    A Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) architecture for robot direct kinematic computation suitable for industrial robot manipulators was investigated. The Denavit-Hartenberg transformations are reviewed to exploit a proper processing element, namely an augmented CORDIC. Specifically, two distinct implementations are elaborated on, such as the bit-serial and parallel. Performance of each scheme is analyzed with respect to the time to compute one location of the end-effector of a 6-links manipulator, and the number of transistors required.

  11. Closed-Loop Analysis of Soft Decisions for Serial Links

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lansdowne, Chatwin A.; Steele, Glen F.; Zucha, Joan P.; Schlesinger, Adam M.

    2013-01-01

    We describe the benefit of using closed-loop measurements for a radio receiver paired with a counterpart transmitter. We show that real-time analysis of the soft decision output of a receiver can provide rich and relevant insight far beyond the traditional hard-decision bit error rate (BER) test statistic. We describe a Soft Decision Analyzer (SDA) implementation for closed-loop measurements on single- or dual- (orthogonal) channel serial data communication links. The analyzer has been used to identify, quantify, and prioritize contributors to implementation loss in live-time during the development of software defined radios. This test technique gains importance as modern receivers are providing soft decision symbol synchronization as radio links are challenged to push more data and more protocol overhead through noisier channels, and software-defined radios (SDRs) use error-correction codes that approach Shannon's theoretical limit of performance.

  12. The value of serial FDG PET on therapeutic evaluation and relapse monitoring of lung cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu Zhaohui; Cheng Wuying; Cui Ruixue; Chen Xin; Hao Li; Dang Yonghong; Zhe Fu; Wang Bocheng

    2004-01-01

    Purpose: A retrospective study was designed to investigate the value of serial FDG PET on therapeutic evaluation and relapse monitoring of lung cancer, and the influence factors to the evaluation and follow-up were also analyzed. Methods: Nineteen patients with confirmed lung cancer were included in the study, and they accepted a total of 87 FDG PET scans, with 3 to 12 times for each patient. The follow-up intervals of FDG PET varied from 14 days to 32 months, and 51 of 68 intervals were within 6 months with a mean of 3.3 months. The PET images of serial studies were analyzed with both visual and semi-quantitative Methods, and they were compared with other imaging techniques (CT, MRI and/or bone scan) and clinical follow-ups. Results: By providing metabolic information, FDG PET detected tumors with high contrast to normal tissue, and the serial examinations helped 9 patients in detecting and evaluating lesions in areas with complicated anatomic structures, such as lung hilus, mediastinum, supraclavicular and abdomen. PET also showed more accuracy and sensitivity than bone scan, CT or MRI in evaluation of bone metastases in two cases. Serial FDG PET was also helpful to the cases in complicated conditions with necrosis, fibrosis or changes of anatomic structures after multiple therapies. In two cases, the follow-up studies confirmed the metastases in the incision wound, which had increasing uptake while it decreased in the repairing wound tissue. By analyzing metabolism of the lesions, PET also showed changes in 3 cases, while they were unconcluded by CT and/or MRI. In some circumstances, benign uptake of FDG influenced the evaluation and monitoring. Inflammation after radiotherapy showed high uptake in 7 cases, and influenced the evaluation of therapy in the serial examinations. Recent use of granulocyte clone stimulation factor (G-CSF) caused diffuse high uptake in bone marrow, and it covered the bone metastases in one case. And in other two cases, diffuse high

  13. Wandering carotid arteries: Reciprocating change between normal and retropharyngeal positions on serial CT studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akira Baba

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Positional change in the retropharyngeal carotid artery, a rare phenomenon over time, is even rarer in previous reports, and it is important to be aware of this before any neck surgical procedure. A woman in her 50s underwent an anterior maxillectomy for upper gingival cancer, without neck dissection. The patient had medical histories of diabetes mellitus and liver dysfunction, with unremarkable family histories. Serial neck contrast-enhanced computed tomography for detecting locoregional recurrence had been performed as a follow-up during 4 years. A radiological course of moving carotid arteries in serial computed tomography studies showed reciprocating positional changes (wandering between normal and retropharyngeal regions. There was no locoregional recurrence of the gingival cancer. This is the first case to describe a so-rare presentation of wandering carotid arteries. It is important for clinicians to be aware of a wandering carotid artery to avoid potentially fatal complications.

  14. Woody Allen, serial schlemiel ?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frédérique Brisset

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Woody Allen a développé au fil des années une persona cinématographique de schlemiel new-yorkais aisément reconnaissable par le spectateur. Elle marque nombre de ses films, qu’il y apparaisse en tant qu’acteur ou y dirige des substituts comédiens comme déclinaisons de lui-même. Si cette figure prototypique est le fondement de la sérialité dans sa filmographie, il est des traits stylistiques qui en portent trace tout au long de son œuvre : la récurrence annuelle de ses réalisations, la signature formelle symbolisée par ses génériques à la typographie singulière, le rythme de ses dialogues ponctués d’interjections et l’usage de l’autocitation sont autant de procédés qui marquent son cinéma d’un sceau très personnel. Ils fonctionnent comme des clins d’œil au spectateur qui reçoit dès lors LE Woody Allen millésimé comme une invitation à retrouver son microcosme. Ainsi la sérialité se pose comme à la fois initiale et conséquentielle de son système filmique, processus de création unique dans le cinéma américain.Woody Allen has long constructed a cinematographic persona of schlemiel New- Yorker that the audience can easily identify. It impacts most of his films, whether he stars in them or directs “substitute” actors to impersonate his character. If this prototypical figure is the basis of seriality in his cinematography, serial stylistic features can also be found all along his career: the annual recurrence of his productions, the formal signature symbolised by the typography of his singular credit titles, his rhythmical interjection-punctuated dialogues and the use of self-quotation imprint a very personal seal upon his movies. They all work as a recognition signals for the audience who thus receive THE Woody Allen vintage as an invitation to re-enter his microcosm. Seriality is then both initial and consequential to his cinematographic system, a unique creative process in American film history.

  15. Juvenility and serial vegetative propagation of Norway spruce clones (Picea abies Karst.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    J.B. St. Clair; J. Kleinschmit; J. Svolba

    1985-01-01

    Effects associated with progressive maturation of clones are of greatest concern in clonal tree improvement programs. Serial propagation has been in use at the Lower Saxony Forest Research Institute since 1968 to arrest maturation in Norway spruce clones. By 1980 cuttings were established in the nursery that had been serially propagated from one to five cycles. This...

  16. Serials Management In Polytechnic Libraries in Nigeria: A ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Serials Management In Polytechnic Libraries in Nigeria: A Comparative Study of Kaduna Polytechnic And Yaba College of Technology Libraries. ... Samaru Journal of Information Studies. Journal Home · ABOUT THIS JOURNAL · Advanced ...

  17. The Functional Determinants of Short-Term Memory: Evidence from Perceptual-Motor Interference in Verbal Serial Recall

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, Robert W.; Marsh, John E.

    2017-01-01

    A functional, perceptual-motor, account of serial short-term memory (STM) is examined by investigating the way in which an irrelevant spoken sequence interferes with verbal serial recall. Even with visual list-presentation, verbal serial recall is particularly susceptible to disruption by irrelevant spoken stimuli that have the same identity…

  18. Effect of parental family history of Alzheimer's disease on serial position profiles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    La Rue, Asenath; Hermann, Bruce; Jones, Jana E; Johnson, Sterling; Asthana, Sanjay; Sager, Mark A

    2008-07-01

    An exaggerated recency effect (ie, disproportionate recall of last-presented items) has been consistently observed in the word list learning of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Our study sought to determine whether there were similar alterations in serial position learning among asymptomatic persons at risk for AD as a result of parental family history. Subjects included 623 asymptomatic middle-aged children of patients with AD (median, 53 years) and 157 control participants whose parents survived to at least age 70 without AD or other memory disorders. All participants were administered the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, which requires learning and recall of 15 unrelated nouns. There was no significant difference in total words recalled between the AD children and control groups. However, compared with controls, AD children exhibited a significantly greater tendency to recall words from the end (recency) versus beginning (primacy) of the list. Serial position effects were unrelated to apolipoprotein allele epsilon 4 or depressive symptoms. Asymptomatic persons at risk for AD by virtue of family history do not show a difference in total words recalled compared with controls, but they exhibit a distinctly different serial position curve, suggesting greater reliance on immediate as opposed to episodic memory. This is the same serial position pattern observed in mild AD, seen here in reduced severity. Longitudinal follow-up is planned to determine whether changes in serial position patterns are a meaningful marker for preclinical detection of AD.

  19. Neurodevelopmental and psychosocial risk factors in serial killers and mass murderers

    OpenAIRE

    Allely, Clare S.; Minnis, Helen; Thompson, Lucy; Wilson, Philip; Gillberg, Christopher

    2014-01-01

    Multiple and serial murders are rare events that have a very profound societal impact. We have conducted a systematic review, following PRISMA guidelines, of both the peer reviewed literature and of journalistic and legal sources regarding mass and serial killings. Our findings tentatively indicate that these extreme forms of violence may be a result of a highly complex interaction of biological, psychological and sociological factors and that, potentially, a significant proportion of mass or...

  20. Viscous hydrophilic injection matrices for serial crystallography

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriela Kovácsová

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Serial (femtosecond crystallography at synchrotron and X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL sources distributes the absorbed radiation dose over all crystals used for data collection and therefore allows measurement of radiation damage prone systems, including the use of microcrystals for room-temperature measurements. Serial crystallography relies on fast and efficient exchange of crystals upon X-ray exposure, which can be achieved using a variety of methods, including various injection techniques. The latter vary significantly in their flow rates – gas dynamic virtual nozzle based injectors provide very thin fast-flowing jets, whereas high-viscosity extrusion injectors produce much thicker streams with flow rates two to three orders of magnitude lower. High-viscosity extrusion results in much lower sample consumption, as its sample delivery speed is commensurate both with typical XFEL repetition rates and with data acquisition rates at synchrotron sources. An obvious viscous injection medium is lipidic cubic phase (LCP as it is used for in meso membrane protein crystallization. However, LCP has limited compatibility with many crystallization conditions. While a few other viscous media have been described in the literature, there is an ongoing need to identify additional injection media for crystal embedding. Critical attributes are reliable injection properties and a broad chemical compatibility to accommodate samples as heterogeneous and sensitive as protein crystals. Here, the use of two novel hydrogels as viscous injection matrices is described, namely sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and the thermo-reversible block polymer Pluronic F-127. Both are compatible with various crystallization conditions and yield acceptable X-ray background. The stability and velocity of the extruded stream were also analysed and the dependence of the stream velocity on the flow rate was measured. In contrast with previously characterized injection media, both new

  1. CARDIAC TRANSPLANT REJECTION AND NON-INVASIVE COMON CAROTID ARTERY WALL FUNCTIONAL INDICES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. O. Shevchenko

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Allograft rejection would entail an increase in certain blood biomarkers and active substances derived from activated inflammatory cells which could influence entire vascular endothelial function and deteriorate arterial wall stiffness. We propose that carotid wall functional indices measured with non-invasive ultrasound could we valuable markers of the subclinical cardiac allograft rejection. Aim. Our goal was to analyze the clinical utility of functional common carotid wall (CCW variables measured with high-resolution Doppler ultrasound as a non-invasive screening tool for allograft rejection in cardiac transplant patients (pts. Methods. One hundred and seventy one pts included 93 cardiac recipients, 30 dilated cardiomyopathy waiting list pts, and 48 stable coronary artery disease (SCAD pts without decompensated heart failure were included. Along with resistive index (Ri, pulsative index (Pi, and CCW intima-media thickness (IMT, CCW rigidity index (iRIG was estimated using empirical equation. Non-invasive evaluation was performed in cardiac transplant recipients prior the endomyo- cardial biopsy. Results. Neither of Ri, Pi, or CCW IMT were different in studied subgroups. iRIG was signifi- cantly lower in SCAD pts when compared to the dilated cardiomyopathy subgroup. The later had similar values with cardiac transplant recipients without rejection. Antibody-mediated and cellular rejection were found in 22 (23.7% and 17 (18.3% cardiac recipients, respectively. Mean iRIG in pts without rejection was significantly lower in comparison to antibody-mediated rejection and cell-mediated (5514.7 ± 2404.0 vs 11856.1 ± 6643.5 and 16071.9 ± 10029.1 cm/sec2, respectively, p = 0.001. Area under ROC for iRIG was 0.90 ± 0.03 units2. Analysis showed that iRIG values above estimated treshold 7172 cm/sec2 suggested relative risk of any type of rejection 17.7 (95%CI = 6.3–49.9 sensitivity 80.5%, specificity – 81.1%, negative predictive value – 84

  2. Malingering, coaching, and the serial position effect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suhr, Julie A

    2002-01-01

    The normal pattern of performance on list-learning tasks is to recall more words from the beginning (primacy) and end (recency) of the list. This pattern is also seen in patients with closed head injury, but malingerers tend to recall less words from the beginning of word lists, leading to a suppressed primacy effect. The present study examined this pattern on both learning trials and delayed recall of the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) in 34 persons performing with normal effort, 38 naive malingerers, 33 warned malingerers, and 29 head-injured patients. Both malingering groups had lower scores on the primacy portion of the list during learning trials, while normals and head-injured patients had normal serial position curves. During delayed recall, normals and head-injured patients did better than the two malingering groups on middle and recency portions of the list. Findings suggest that the serial position effect during learning trials may be a useful pattern of performance to watch for when suspicious of malingering.

  3. BRAIN Journal - Some Considerations on Seriality and Synchronicity

    OpenAIRE

    Elena Nechita

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT This paper presents an overview of the results that have been obtained lately on seriality and synchronicity and their link, in the light of the new theories and within the frame of complexity science.

  4. Fault tolerance based on serial communication of FPGA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peng Jing; Fang Zongliang; Xu Quanzhou; Hu Jiewei; Ma Guizhen

    2012-01-01

    There maybe appear mistake in serial communication. This paper was described the intellectual detector of γ dose ratemeter communication with FPGA. The software of FPGA designed the code about fault tolerance, prevented mistake effectively. (authors)

  5. Ranking serials in oceanography: An analysis based on the Indian contributions and their citations

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Tapaswi, M.P.; Maheswarappa, B.S.

    An analysis of serials preferred and cited in various communications by the Indian oceanographers during 1963 to 1992 is presented. A shift in preference of serials from general sciences to oceanography (interdisciplinary) and to core subject...

  6. Estimating Population Parameters using the Structured Serial Coalescent with Bayesian MCMC Inference when some Demes are Hidden

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Allen Rodrigo

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Using the structured serial coalescent with Bayesian MCMC and serial samples, we estimate population size when some demes are not sampled or are hidden, ie ghost demes. It is found that even with the presence of a ghost deme, accurate inference was possible if the parameters are estimated with the true model. However with an incorrect model, estimates were biased and can be positively misleading. We extend these results to the case where there are sequences from the ghost at the last time sample. This case can arise in HIV patients, when some tissue samples and viral sequences only become available after death. When some sequences from the ghost deme are available at the last sampling time, estimation bias is reduced and accurate estimation of parameters associated with the ghost deme is possible despite sampling bias. Migration rates for this case are also shown to be good estimates when migration values are low.

  7. Serial measurements of serum human placental lactogen (hPL) and serial ultrasound examinations in the evaluation of fetal growth

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Steen; von Tabouillot, D; Schioler, V

    2000-01-01

    Serial serum hPL measurements and serial ultrasound fetometry were compared in the evaluation of fetal growth by relating these two parameters to size at birth and to clinical factors known to influence size at birth. The data were from a prospective study of 1000 consecutive pregnant women...... considered to be at risk for fetal growth retardation with retrospective analysis. Serum hPL was measured by radioimmunoassay and fetal weight estimated by ultrasound every 3 weeks during the last trimester. hPL values were expressed as multiples of the median (MoM) and linear regression analysis of the h......PL MoM values was carried out for each pregnancy to find the slope of the line (hPL-slope); at least 3 serum hPL values were required. The estimated fetal weight and weight-for-age at birth was expressed in Z-scores. The individual intrauterine growth velocity was calculated by regression analysis...

  8. Bit-Serial Adder Based on Quantum Dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fijany, Amir; Toomarian, Nikzad; Modarress, Katayoon; Spotnitz, Mathew

    2003-01-01

    quantum-mechanical sense) between neighboring dots within the cell. The Coulomb repulsion between the two electrons tends to make them occupy antipodal dots in the cell. For an isolated cell, there are two energetically equivalent arrangements (denoted polarization states) of the extra electrons. The cell polarization is used to encode binary information. Because the polarization of a nonisolated cell depends on Coulomb-repulsion interactions with neighboring cells, universal logic gates and binary wires could be constructed, in principle, by arraying QCA of suitable design in suitable patterns. Again, for reasons too complex to describe here, in order to ensure accuracy and timeliness of the output of a QCA array, it is necessary to resort to an adiabatic switching scheme in which the QCA array is divided into subarrays, each controlled by a different phase of a multiphase clock signal. In this scheme, each subarray is given time to perform its computation, then its state is frozen by raising its inter-dot potential barriers and its output is fed as the input to the successor subarray. The successor subarray is kept in an unpolarized state so it does not influence the calculation of preceding subarray. Such a clocking scheme is consistent with pipeline computation in the sense that each different subarray can perform a different part of an overall computation. In other words, QCA arrays are inherently suitable for pipeline and, moreover, systolic computations. This sequential or pipeline aspect of QCA would be utilized in the proposed bit-serial adders.

  9. A serial founder effect model for human settlement out of Africa

    OpenAIRE

    Deshpande, Omkar; Batzoglou, Serafim; Feldman, Marcus W.; Luca Cavalli-Sforza, L.

    2008-01-01

    The increasing abundance of human genetic data has shown that the geographical patterns of worldwide genetic diversity are best explained by human expansion out of Africa. This expansion is modelled well by prolonged migration from a single origin in Africa with multiple subsequent serial founding events. We discuss a new simulation model for the serial founder effect out of Africa and compare it with results from previous studies. Unlike previous models, we distinguish colonization events fr...

  10. Evaluation of Serial Casting for Boys with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: A Case Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carroll, Kate; de Valle, Katy; Kornberg, Andrew; Ryan, Monique; Kennedy, Rachel

    2018-02-01

    To report the effects of below-knee serial casting in two boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who presented with well-preserved strength and calf shortening. Bilateral below-knee serial casts were applied over two weeks with follow-up of daily stretching and wearing of customized night splints. Outcome measures were performed at baseline, 1, 3, 6, and 12 months post-casting. These included measures of calf length, leg strength, motor function, endurance, and spatio-temporal gait parameters. Both boys completed serial casting with gains in muscle length. No adverse effects on strength or motor function were observed over a 12-month follow-up period.

  11. Serial Derotational Casting in Idiopathic and Non-Idiopathic Progressive Early-Onset Scoliosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gussous, Yazeed M; Tarima, Sergey; Zhao, Shi; Khan, Safdar; Caudill, Angela; Sturm, Peter; Hammerberg, Kim W

    2015-05-01

    Serial derotational casting has been used as a definitive treatment or as delaying strategy in progressive idiopathic (IS) and non-idiopathic (NIS) early-onset scoliosis (EOS). Retrospective chart and radiographic review of patients who underwent serial casting for progressive EOS between 2005 and 2012 at a single institution. A total of 74 consecutive patients entered serial cast treatment. Twenty-eight were currently being casted, 30 completed cast treatment and were converted to thoracolumbosacral orthosis (TLSO), 9 were treated surgically, 6 were lost to follow-up, and 1 had no further treatment. The researchers diagnosed IS in 41 patients; 33 had NIS. At presentation the IS group had an average Cobb angle (CA) of 49° and a rib vertebral angle difference (RVAD) of 37°. The NIS group had a CA of 51° (p = .69) and RVAD of 37° (p = .94). In patients currently being casted, 19 IS patients had a decreased CA, from 47° to 27°. The 9 NIS patients had a decreased CA, from 62° to 57° (p = .0002). Cobb angle improvement was significantly better in IS (p = .0005). In the TLSO group the 17 IS patients had a decreased average CA, from 46° to 18°, after serial casting and the 13 NIS patients decreased CA from 42° to 32°. Patients with IS had better improvement in CA than the NIS group (p Casting initiated before age 2 years yielded better curve correction for IS (p casting than NIS patients. Casting in IS patients before age 24 months yielded better curve correction. Patients who required surgery had a higher age and Cobb angle at presentation than those who transitioned to a TLSO. The surgical group was observed for a similar duration of time and there was no significant statistical difference. Although RVAD is a predictor of progression in infantile IS, it did not show a predictive value in the response to casting of either the IS or NIS groups. Copyright © 2015 Scoliosis Research Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Large volume serial section tomography by Xe Plasma FIB dual beam microscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burnett, T.L. [School of Materials, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL (United Kingdom); FEI Company, Achtseweg Noord 5, Bldg, 5651 GG, Eindhoven (Netherlands); Kelley, R. [FEI Company, 5350 NE Dawson Creek Drive, Hillsboro, OR 97124 (United States); Winiarski, B. [School of Materials, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL (United Kingdom); FEI Company, Achtseweg Noord 5, Bldg, 5651 GG, Eindhoven (Netherlands); Contreras, L. [FEI Company, 5350 NE Dawson Creek Drive, Hillsboro, OR 97124 (United States); Daly, M.; Gholinia, A.; Burke, M.G. [School of Materials, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL (United Kingdom); Withers, P.J., E-mail: P.J.Withers@manchester.ac.uk [School of Materials, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL (United Kingdom); BP International Centre for Advanced Materials, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL (United Kingdom)

    2016-02-15

    Ga{sup +} Focused Ion Beam-Scanning Electron Microscopes (FIB-SEM) have revolutionised the level of microstructural information that can be recovered in 3D by block face serial section tomography (SST), as well as enabling the site-specific removal of smaller regions for subsequent transmission electron microscope (TEM) examination. However, Ga{sup +} FIB material removal rates limit the volumes and depths that can be probed to dimensions in the tens of microns range. Emerging Xe{sup +} Plasma Focused Ion Beam-Scanning Electron Microscope (PFIB-SEM) systems promise faster removal rates. Here we examine the potential of the method for large volume serial section tomography as applied to bainitic steel and WC–Co hard metals. Our studies demonstrate that with careful control of milling parameters precise automated serial sectioning can be achieved with low levels of milling artefacts at removal rates some 60× faster. Volumes that are hundreds of microns in dimension have been collected using fully automated SST routines in feasible timescales (<24 h) showing good grain orientation contrast and capturing microstructural features at the tens of nanometres to the tens of microns scale. Accompanying electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD) maps show high indexing rates suggesting low levels of surface damage. Further, under high current Ga{sup +} FIB milling WC–Co is prone to amorphisation of WC surface layers and phase transformation of the Co phase, neither of which have been observed at PFIB currents as high as 60 nA at 30 kV. Xe{sup +} PFIB dual beam microscopes promise to radically extend our capability for 3D tomography, 3D EDX, 3D EBSD as well as correlative tomography. - Highlights: • The uptake of dual beam FIBs has been rapid but long milling times have limited imaged volumes to tens of micron dimensions. • Emerging plasma Xe{sup +} PFIB-SEM technology offers materials removal rates at least 60× greater than conventional Ga{sup +} FIB systems with

  13. Serial network simplifies the design of multiple microcomputer systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Folkes, D.

    1981-01-01

    Recently there has been a lot of interest in developing network communication schemes for carrying digital data between locally distributed computing stations. Many of these schemes have focused on distributed networking techniques for data processing applications. These applications suggest the use of a serial, multipoint bus, where a number of remote intelligent units act as slaves to a central or host computer. Each slave would be serially addressable from the host and would perform required operations upon being addressed by the host. Based on an MK3873 single-chip microcomputer, the SCU 20 is designed to be such a remote slave device. The capabilities of the SCU 20 and its use in systems applications are examined.

  14. Serial murder in America: case studies of seven offenders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beasley, James O

    2004-01-01

    This article summarizes and compares information on seven interviewed serial killers in an ongoing project designed to study similarities and differences among these individuals. The aim of this article is to increase our collective knowledge of the dynamics of serial murder by examining the perpetrators' backgrounds, as well as the unique ways in which they view themselves and the world around them. Although qualitative interview research alone is not sufficient to fully understand such behavior, it is useful in many ways. Some of the information discussed based on the seven offenders interviewed is compared with broader epidemiological studies, and the strengths and limitations of each type of research are discussed. Published in 2004 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  15. Serial changes of humor comprehension for four-frame comic Manga: an fMRI study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osaka, Mariko; Yaoi, Ken; Minamoto, Takehiro; Osaka, Naoyuki

    2014-07-25

    Serial changes of humor comprehension evoked by a well organized four-frame comic Manga were investigated by fMRI in each step of humor comprehension. The neural substrates underlying the amusing effects in response to funny and mixed order manga were compared. In accordance with the time course of the four frames, fMRI activations changed serially. Beginning with the second frame (development scene), activation of the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) was observed, followed by activations in the temporal and frontal areas during viewing of the third frame (turn scene). For the fourth frame (punch line), strong increased activations were confirmed in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and cerebellum. Interestingly, distinguishable activation differences in the cerebellum between funny and non-funny conditions were also found for the fourth frame. These findings suggest that humor comprehension evokes activation that initiates in the TPJ and expands to the MPFC and cerebellum at the convergence level.

  16. Cognitive, emotional and social markers of serial murdering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Angrilli, Alessandro; Sartori, Giuseppe; Donzella, Giovanna

    2013-01-01

    Although criminal psychopathy is starting to be relatively well described, our knowledge of the characteristics and scientific markers of serial murdering is still very poor. A serial killer who murdered more than five people, KT, was administered a battery of standardized tests aimed at measuring neuropsychological impairment and social/emotional cognition deficits. KT exhibited a striking dissociation between a high level of emotional detachment and a low score on the antisocial behavior scale on the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 showed a normal pattern with the psychotic triad at borderline level. KT had a high intelligence score and showed almost no impairment in cognitive tests sensitive to frontal lobe dysfunction (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Theory of Mind, Tower of London, this latter evidenced a mild impairment in planning performance). In the tests on moral, emotional and social cognition, his patterns of response differed from matched controls and from past reports on criminal psychopaths as, unlike these individuals, KT exhibited normal recognition of fear and a relatively intact knowledge of moral rules but he was impaired in the recognition of anger, embarrassment and conventional social rules. The overall picture of KT suggests that serial killing may be closer to normality than psychopathy defined according to either the DSM IV or the PCL-R, and it would be characterized by a relatively spared moral cognition and selective deficits in social and emotional cognition domains.

  17. Cross-domain interference costs during concurrent verbal and spatial serial memory tasks are asymmetric

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Morey, Candice C.; Mall, Jonathan T.

    2012-01-01

    Some evidence suggests that memory for serial order is domain-general. Evidence also points to asymmetries in interference between verbal and visual-spatial tasks. We confirm that concurrently remembering verbal and spatial serial lists provokes substantial interference compared with remembering a

  18. Nanoflow electrospinning serial femtosecond crystallography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sierra, Raymond G.; Laksmono, Hartawan; Kern, Jan; Tran, Rosalie; Hattne, Johan; Alonso-Mori, Roberto; Lassalle-Kaiser, Benedikt; Glöckner, Carina; Hellmich, Julia; Schafer, Donald W.; Echols, Nathaniel; Gildea, Richard J.; Grosse-Kunstleve, Ralf W.; Sellberg, Jonas; McQueen, Trevor A.; Fry, Alan R.; Messerschmidt, Marc M.; Miahnahri, Alan; Seibert, M. Marvin; Hampton, Christina Y.; Starodub, Dmitri; Loh, N. Duane; Sokaras, Dimosthenis; Weng, Tsu-Chien; Zwart, Petrus H.; Glatzel, Pieter; Milathianaki, Despina; White, William E.; Adams, Paul D.; Williams, Garth J.; Boutet, Sébastien; Zouni, Athina; Messinger, Johannes; Sauter, Nicholas K.; Bergmann, Uwe; Yano, Junko; Yachandra, Vittal K.; Bogan, Michael J.

    2012-01-01

    An electrospun liquid microjet has been developed that delivers protein microcrystal suspensions at flow rates of 0.14–3.1 µl min−1 to perform serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) studies with X-ray lasers. Thermolysin microcrystals flowed at 0.17 µl min−1 and diffracted to beyond 4 Å resolution, producing 14 000 indexable diffraction patterns, or four per second, from 140 µg of protein. Nanoflow electrospinning extends SFX to biological samples that necessitate minimal sample consumption. PMID:23090408

  19. Eco and the forms of serial narration. Some Starting point for a discussion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrea Bernardelli

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available These few pages are meant to start a discussion about Eco’s work on serial narration and its forms, which is the topic of this issue. Obviously, it is at the same time a way to remember Eco as an intellectual, a scholar and a professor, and also an attempt to avoid the banality of an obituary, stimulating new research and continuing his work – an approach he would have liked for sure.

  20. Identification of Bodies by Unique Serial Numbers on Implanted Medical Devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blessing, Melissa M; Lin, Peter T

    2018-05-01

    Visual identification is the most common identification method used by medical examiners but is not always possible. Alternative methods include X-ray, fingerprint, or DNA comparison, but these methods require additional resources. Comparison of serial numbers on implanted medical devices is a rapid and definitive method of identification. To assess the practicality of using this method, we reviewed 608 consecutive forensic autopsies performed at a regional medical examiner office. Of these, 56 cases required an alternative method of identification due to decomposition (n = 35), gunshot wound (n = 9), blunt trauma (n = 6), or charring (n = 6). Of these 56 cases, eight (14.3%) were known to have an implanted medical device. Of these eight cases, five (63%) could be positively identified by comparing serial numbers. If an implanted medical device is known to be present, and medical records are available, identification by medical device serial number should be a first-line method. © 2017 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

  1. Serial casting for elbow flexion contractures in neonatal brachial plexus palsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duijnisveld, B J; Steenbeek, D; Nelissen, R G H H

    2016-09-02

    The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of serial casting of elbow flexion contractures in neonatal brachial plexus palsy. A prospective consecutive cohort study was performed with a median follow-up of 5 years. Forty-one patients with elbow flexion contractures ≥ 30° were treated with serial casting until the contracture was ≤ 10°, for a maximum of 8 weeks. Range of motion, number of recurrences and patient satisfaction were recorded and analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank and Cox regression tests. Passive extension increased from a median of -40° (IQR -50 to -30) to -15° (IQR -10 to -20, p casting had to be prematurely replaced by night splinting due to complaints. Serial casting improved elbow flexion contractures, although recurrences were frequent. The severity of elbow flexion contracture is a predictor of recurrence. We recommend more research on muscle degeneration and determinants involved in elbow flexion contractures to improve treatment strategies and prevent side-effects.

  2. A Snapshot of Serial Rape: An Investigation of Criminal Sophistication and Use of Force on Victim Injury and Severity of the Assault.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Heer, Brooke

    2016-02-01

    Prior research on rapes reported to law enforcement has identified criminal sophistication and the use of force against the victim as possible unique identifiers to serial rape versus one-time rape. This study sought to contribute to the current literature on reported serial rape by investigating how the level of criminal sophistication of the rapist and use of force used were associated with two important outcomes of rape: victim injury and overall severity of the assault. In addition, it was evaluated whether rapist and victim ethnicity affected these relationships. A nation-wide sample of serial rape cases reported to law enforcement collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was analyzed (108 rapists, 543 victims). Results indicated that serial rapists typically used a limited amount of force against the victim and displayed a high degree of criminal sophistication. In addition, the more criminally sophisticated the perpetrator was, the more sexual acts he performed on his victim. Finally, rapes between a White rapist and White victim were found to exhibit higher levels of criminal sophistication and were more severe in terms of number and types of sexual acts committed. These findings provide a more in-depth understanding of serial rape that can inform both academics and practitioners in the field about contributors to victim injury and severity of the assault. © The Author(s) 2014.

  3. Factors in Variability of Serial Gabapentin Concentrations in Elderly Patients with Epilepsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conway, Jeannine M; Eberly, Lynn E; Collins, Joseph F; Macias, Flavia M; Ramsay, R Eugene; Leppik, Ilo E; Birnbaum, Angela K

    2017-10-01

    To characterize and quantify the variability of serial gabapentin concentrations in elderly patients with epilepsy. This study included 83 patients (age ≥ 60 yrs) from an 18-center randomized double-blind double-dummy parallel study from the Veterans Affairs Cooperative 428 Study. All patients were taking 1500 mg/day gabapentin. Within-person coefficient of variation (CV) in gabapentin concentrations, measured weekly to bimonthly for up to 52 weeks, then quarterly, was computed. Impact of patient characteristics on gabapentin concentrations (linear mixed model) and CV (linear regression) were estimated. A total of 482 gabapentin concentration measurements were available for analysis. Gabapentin concentrations and intrapatient CVs ranged from 0.5 to 22.6 μg/ml (mean 7.9 μg/ml, standard deviation [SD] 4.1 μg/ml) and 2% to 79% (mean 27.9%, SD 15.3%), respectively, across all visits. Intrapatient CV was higher by 7.3% for those with a body mass index of ≥ 30 kg/m 2 (coefficient = 7.3, p=0.04). CVs were on average 0.5% higher for each 1-unit higher CV in creatinine clearance (coefficient = 0.5, p=0.03) and 1.2% higher for each 1-hour longer mean time after dose (coefficient = 1.2, p=0.04). Substantial intrapatient variability in serial gabapentin concentration was noted in elderly patients with epilepsy. Creatinine clearance, time of sampling relative to dose, and obesity were found to be positively associated with variability. © 2017 Pharmacotherapy Publications, Inc.

  4. Improvements and important considerations for the 5-choice serial reaction time task-An effective measurement of visual attention in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhandari, Jayant; Daya, Ritesh; Mishra, Ram K

    2016-09-01

    The 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT) is an automated operant conditioning task that measures rodent attention. The task allows the measurement of several parameters such as response accuracy, speed of processing, motivation, and impulsivity. The task has been widely used to investigate attentional processes in rodents for attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder and has expanded to other illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease, depression, and schizophrenia. The 5-CSRTT is accompanied with two significant caveats: a time intensive training period and largely varied individual rat capability to learn and perform the task. Here we provide a regimented acquisition protocol to enhance training for the 5-CSRTT and discuss important considerations for researchers using the 5-CSRTT. We offer guidelines to ensure that inferences on performance in the 5-CSRTT are in fact a result of experimental manipulation rather than training differences, or individual animal capability. According to our findings only rats that have been trained successfully within a limited time frame should be used for the remainder of the study. Currently the 5-CSRTT employs a training period of variable duration and procedure, and its inferences on attention must overcome heterogeneous innate animal differences. The 5-CSRTT offers valuable and valid insights on various rodent attentional processes and their translation to the underpinnings of illnesses such as schizophrenia. The recommendations made here provide important criteria to ensure inferences made from this task are in fact relevant to the attentional processes being measured. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Smart grid communication comparison: Distributed control middleware and serialization comparison for the Internet of Things

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Bo Søborg; Bindner, Henrik W.; Poulsen, Bjarne

    2017-01-01

    To solve the problems caused by intermittent renewable energy production, communication between Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and system operators is necessary. The communication middleware and serialization used for communication are essential to ensure delivery of the messages within...... communication middleware and serialization format/library, aided by the authors' earlier work, which investigates the performance and characteristics of communication middleware and serialization independently. Given the performance criteria of the paper, ZeroMQ, YAMI4, and ICE are the middleware that performs...

  6. Test amnioinfusion to determine suitability for serial therapeutic amnioinfusion in midtrimester premature rupture of membranes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, L-K; Kumar, S; Jolly, M; Gleeson, C; Johnson, P; Fisk, N M

    2003-01-01

    To evaluate whether a test amnioinfusion procedure is useful in selecting cases of midtrimester preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) which may benefit from serial amnioinfusions if the initial fluid is retained. The Centre for Fetal Care database between 1992 and 2000 was reviewed for women with PPROM amnioinfusion. Amniotic fluid index (AFI) was assessed before and after a test amnioinfusion procedure. Those who retained fluid > or =48 h underwent serial AFI assessment with a view to serial amnioinfusion when oligohydramnios recurred. Eighty-five amnioinfusion procedures were performed in 60 women with oligohydramnios. Nineteen of these women presented with confirmed PPROM at a median gestation of 19 (range 15-22) weeks and severe olighohydramnios (median AFI 1, range 0-3 cm), in whom 20 test amnioinfusions were carried out. Two amnioinfusions were abandoned during the procedure because of fetal bradycardia and both mothers opted for termination of pregnancy. Only 4 women retained fluid during the test amnioinfusion, 1 of whom miscarried at 19 weeks before serial amnioinfusion could be started. The remaining 3 underwent a median of 4 (range 1-6) serial amnioinfusion procedures; none had evidence of pulmonary hypoplasia. Thirteen (68%) leaked fluid within 48 h; within this group there was 1 subsequent miscarriage and 9 pregnancy terminations. The remaining 3 pregnancies resulted in livebirths 2 of which had pulmonary hypoplasia with 1 early neonatal death. Overall survival was poor (4/19), largely attributed to the high incidence of terminations in the presence of persistent severe oligohydramnios. In continuing pregnancies reaching viability survival was 67% (4 of 6). Three quarters of women with mid-trimester PPROM lose fluid at test amnioinfusion and therefore would not be suitable candidates for serial amnioinfusion. However, if infused fluid is retained, this allows subsequent serial amnioinfusion and prolongation of pregnancy in about 75%, with an

  7. The motivation behind serial sexual homicide: is it sex, power, and control, or anger?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myers, Wade C; Husted, David S; Safarik, Mark E; O'Toole, Mary Ellen

    2006-07-01

    Controversy exists in the literature and society regarding what motivates serial sexual killers to commit their crimes. Hypotheses range from the seeking of sexual gratification to the achievement of power and control to the expression of anger. The authors provide theoretical, empirical, evolutionary, and physiological support for the argument that serial sexual murderers above all commit their crimes in pursuit of sadistic pleasure. The seeking of power and control over victims is believed to serve the two secondary purposes of heightening sexual arousal and ensuring victim presence for the crime. Anger is not considered a key component of these offenders' motivation due to its inhibitory physiological effect on sexual functioning. On the contrary, criminal investigations into serial sexual killings consistently reveal erotically charged crimes, with sexual motivation expressed either overtly or symbolically. Although anger may be correlated with serial sexual homicide offenders, as it is with criminal offenders in general, it is not causative. The authors further believe serial sexual murderers should be considered sex offenders. A significant proportion of them appear to have paraphilic disorders within the spectrum of sexual sadism. "sexual sadism, homicidal type" is proposed as a diagnostic subtype of sexual sadism applicable to many of these offenders, and a suggested modification of DSM criteria is presented.

  8. Raster-scanning serial protein crystallography using micro- and nano-focused synchrotron beams

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Coquelle, Nicolas [Université Grenoble Alpes, IBS, 38044 Grenoble (France); CNRS, IBS, 38044 Grenoble (France); CEA, IBS, 38044 Grenoble (France); Brewster, Aaron S. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Kapp, Ulrike; Shilova, Anastasya; Weinhausen, Britta [European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, BP 220, 38043 Grenoble (France); Burghammer, Manfred, E-mail: burgham@esrf.fr [European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, BP 220, 38043 Grenoble (France); Ghent University, Ghent B-9000 (Belgium); Colletier, Jacques-Philippe, E-mail: burgham@esrf.fr [Université Grenoble Alpes, IBS, 38044 Grenoble (France); CNRS, IBS, 38044 Grenoble (France); CEA, IBS, 38044 Grenoble (France)

    2015-05-01

    A raster scanning serial protein crystallography approach is presented, that consumes as low ∼200–700 nl of sedimented crystals. New serial data pre-analysis software, NanoPeakCell, is introduced. High-resolution structural information was obtained from lysozyme microcrystals (20 µm in the largest dimension) using raster-scanning serial protein crystallography on micro- and nano-focused beamlines at the ESRF. Data were collected at room temperature (RT) from crystals sandwiched between two silicon nitride wafers, thereby preventing their drying, while limiting background scattering and sample consumption. In order to identify crystal hits, new multi-processing and GUI-driven Python-based pre-analysis software was developed, named NanoPeakCell, that was able to read data from a variety of crystallographic image formats. Further data processing was carried out using CrystFEL, and the resultant structures were refined to 1.7 Å resolution. The data demonstrate the feasibility of RT raster-scanning serial micro- and nano-protein crystallography at synchrotrons and validate it as an alternative approach for the collection of high-resolution structural data from micro-sized crystals. Advantages of the proposed approach are its thriftiness, its handling-free nature, the reduced amount of sample required, the adjustable hit rate, the high indexing rate and the minimization of background scattering.

  9. Emotional prosody of task-irrelevant speech interferes with the retention of serial order.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kattner, Florian; Ellermeier, Wolfgang

    2018-04-09

    Task-irrelevant speech and other temporally changing sounds are known to interfere with the short-term memorization of ordered verbal materials, as compared to silence or stationary sounds. It has been argued that this disruption of short-term memory (STM) may be due to (a) interference of automatically encoded acoustical fluctuations with the process of serial rehearsal or (b) attentional capture by salient task-irrelevant information. To disentangle the contributions of these 2 processes, the authors investigated whether the disruption of serial recall is due to the semantic or acoustical properties of task-irrelevant speech (Experiment 1). They found that performance was affected by the prosody (emotional intonation), but not by the semantics (word meaning), of irrelevant speech, suggesting that the disruption of serial recall is due to interference of precategorically encoded changing-state sound (with higher fluctuation strength of emotionally intonated speech). The authors further demonstrated a functional distinction between this form of distraction and attentional capture by contrasting the effect of (a) speech prosody and (b) sudden prosody deviations on both serial and nonserial STM tasks (Experiment 2). Although serial recall was again sensitive to the emotional prosody of irrelevant speech, performance on a nonserial missing-item task was unaffected by the presence of neutral or emotionally intonated speech sounds. In contrast, sudden prosody changes tended to impair performance on both tasks, suggesting an independent effect of attentional capture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  10. Measuring attention in rodents: comparison of a modified signal detection task and the 5-choice serial reaction time task

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karly Maree Turner

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Neuropsychiatric research has utilised cognitive testing in rodents to improve our understanding of cognitive deficits and for preclinical drug development. However, more sophisticated cognitive tasks have not been as widely exploited due to low throughput and the extensive training time required. We developed a modified signal detection task (SDT based on the growing body of literature aimed at improving cognitive testing in rodents. This study directly compares performance on the modified SDT with the traditional test for measuring attention, the 5-choice serial reaction time task (5CSRTT. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained on either the 5CSRTT or the SDT. Briefly, the 5CSRTT required rodents to pay attention to a spatial array of 5 apertures and respond with a nose poke when an aperture was illuminated. The SDT required the rat to attend to a light panel and respond either left or right to indicate the presence of a signal. In addition, modifications were made to the reward delivery, timing, control of body positioning and the self-initiation of trials. It was found that less training time was required for the SDT, with both sessions to criteria and daily session duration significantly reduced. Rats performed with a high level of accuracy (>87% on both tasks, however omissions were far more frequent on the 5CSRTT. The signal duration was reduced on both tasks as a manipulation of task difficulty relevant to attention and a similar pattern of decreasing accuracy was observed on both tasks. These results demonstrate some of the advantages of the SDT over the traditional 5CSRTT as being higher throughput with reduced training time, fewer omission responses and their body position at stimulus onset was controlled. In addition, rats performing the SDT had comparable high levels of accuracy. These results highlight the differences and similarities between the 5CSRTT and a modified SDT as tools for assessing attention in preclinical animal

  11. The Effect of Concurrent Semantic Categorization on Delayed Serial Recall

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acheson, Daniel J.; MacDonald, Maryellen C.; Postle, Bradley R.

    2010-01-01

    The influence of semantic processing on the serial ordering of items in short-term memory was explored using a novel dual-task paradigm. Subjects engaged in two picture judgment tasks while simultaneously performing delayed serial recall. List material varied in the presence of phonological overlap (Experiments 1 and 2) and in semantic content (concrete words in Experiment 1 and 3; nonwords in Experiments 2 and 3). Picture judgments varied in the extent to which they required accessing visual semantic information (i.e., semantic categorization and line orientation judgments). Results showed that, relative to line orientation judgments, engaging in semantic categorization judgments increased the proportion of item ordering errors for concrete lists but did not affect error proportions for nonword lists. Furthermore, although more ordering errors were observed for phonologically similar relative to dissimilar lists, no interactions were observed between the phonological overlap and picture judgment task manipulations. These results thus demonstrate that lexical-semantic representations can affect the serial ordering of items in short-term memory. Furthermore, the dual-task paradigm provides a new method for examining when and how semantic representations affect memory performance. PMID:21058880

  12. Serial position curves in free recall.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laming, Donald

    2010-01-01

    The scenario for free recall set out in Laming (2009) is developed to provide models for the serial position curves from 5 selected sets of data, for final free recall, and for multitrial free recall. The 5 sets of data reflect the effects of rate of presentation, length of list, delay of recall, and suppression of rehearsal. Each model accommodates the serial position curve for first recalls (where those data are available) as well as that for total recalls. Both curves are fit with the same parameter values, as also (with 1 exception) are all of the conditions compared within each experiment. The distributions of numbers of recalls are also examined and shown to have variances increased above what would be expected if successive recalls were independent. This is taken to signify that, in those experiments in which rehearsals were not recorded, the retrieval of words for possible recall follows the same pattern that is observed following overt rehearsal, namely, that retrieval consists of runs of consecutive elements from memory. Finally, 2 sets of data are examined that the present approach cannot accommodate. It is argued that the problem with these data derives from an interaction between the patterns of (covert) rehearsal and the parameters of list presentation.

  13. Deployment and future prospects of high performance diagnostics featuring serial I/O (SIO) data acquisition (DAQ) at ASDEX Upgrade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Behler, K., E-mail: karl.behler@ipp.mpg.de [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Boltzmannstr. 2, D-85748 Garching bei Muenchen (Germany); Blank, H.; Eixenberger, H. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Boltzmannstr. 2, D-85748 Garching bei Muenchen (Germany); Fitzek, M. [Unlimited Computer Systems GmbH, Seeshaupterstr. 15, D-82393 Iffeldorf (Germany); Lohs, A. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Boltzmannstr. 2, D-85748 Garching bei Muenchen (Germany); Lueddecke, K. [Unlimited Computer Systems GmbH, Seeshaupterstr. 15, D-82393 Iffeldorf (Germany); Merkel, R. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Boltzmannstr. 2, D-85748 Garching bei Muenchen (Germany)

    2012-12-15

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The high sustained data rates transferring measured data from periphery into memory of computers. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The achieved low latency in real-time interrupt handling under Solaris 10. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The new prototype of an even more powerful 2nd generation SIO II device. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The fusion of all blocks of board logic (serializer, FIFO, TDC, merge engine, PCIe controller) into one single FPGA simplifying the boards physical layout significantly. - Abstract: The SIO DAQ concept used at the ASDEX Upgrade fusion experiment features data acquisition from a modular front-end (a modular crate-and-interface-cards concept for analog and digital input and output) over standardized serial lines and via a serial input/output computer interface card (the SIO card) in real-time directly into the main memory of a host computer. Deployment of a series of diagnostics using SIO led to various solutions and configurations for the different requirements. Experience has been gained and lessons learned applying the SIO concept at its technical limits. Requirements for a further development of the SIO concept have been identified, and a performance improvement by a factor of 4-8 beyond its current limits seems achievable. An effort has been started to develop a SIO version 2 (SIO II) featuring upgraded serial links and a more powerful FPGA for merging and forwarding data streams to host computer memory. (Compatibility with the existing SIO (SIO I) front-end system has to be maintained.) This paper presents results achieved and experiences gained in the deployment of SIO I, the status of SIO II development (currently in the prototype phase), and projected enhancements and updates to existing implementations.

  14. Nicotine-induced enhancement of attention in the five-choice serial reaction time task: the influence of task demands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hahn, B; Shoaib, M; Stolerman, I P

    2002-07-01

    Beneficial effects of nicotine on cognitive processes including attention have potential therapeutic uses and have been proposed as incentives for tobacco smoking. To establish task conditions under which the effects of nicotine on attention are obtained reliably and to characterise such effects further. Rats were trained in a modified version of the five-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT) to detect 1-s light stimuli with greater than 70% accuracy and fewer than 20% omission errors. Nicotine was tested under different task requirements by varying signal event rate, stimulus duration and stimulus predictability, and by introducing white-noise distractors. Nicotine (0.05-0.2 mg/kg, s.c.) repeatedly improved accuracy and reduced omission errors and reaction times, leading to increases in numbers of reinforcers earned. Anticipatory responding was increased. Parametric modifications intended to increase demands on sustained attention did not affect performance in a manner suggesting that this subtype of attention was being taxed, and the effects of nicotine were not more marked under such conditions. Shorter stimulus durations impaired performance, but this manipulation weakened the effect of nicotine on accuracy. In contrast, the presence of noise distractors facilitated the effects of nicotine to the extent that distractor-induced impairments were abolished by the drug. The 5-CSRTT can provide a sensitive rodent model for the attention-enhancing effects of nicotine. Changes made to the procedure may have increased its sensitivity to nicotine, particularly with respect to accuracy. There were indications that the effects of nicotine were largest on processes of selective attention or on disengaging attention from irrelevant events and shifting it to behaviourally significant stimuli.

  15. Development of parallel/serial program analyzing tool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Watanabe, Hiroshi; Nagao, Saichi; Takigawa, Yoshio; Kumakura, Toshimasa

    1999-03-01

    Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute has been developing 'KMtool', a parallel/serial program analyzing tool, in order to promote the parallelization of the science and engineering computation program. KMtool analyzes the performance of program written by FORTRAN77 and MPI, and it reduces the effort for parallelization. This paper describes development purpose, design, utilization and evaluation of KMtool. (author)

  16. Long-Term Resolution of Severe Ankle Contractures Using Botulinum Toxin, Serial Casting, Splinting, and Motor Retraining.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leung, Joan; Stroud, Katarina

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: Serial casting for ankle contractures is traditionally performed in prone, a position that patients may not easily tolerate. Also, although serial casting is effective in correcting contracture, its effect dissipates quickly. This case report describes a procedure for performing casting for ankle contractures in a supine or sitting position. It also describes a process that enables the effect of serial casting to be maintained long term. Client Description: The client was an adult who had suffered traumatic brain injury and severe bilateral ankle contractures. Intervention: He received botulinum toxin and serial casting for his bilateral ankle contractures, one ankle at 8 months and the other at 13 months after the injury. He then underwent a programme of splinting and motor training. Measures and Outcome: The client gained more than 40° dorsiflexion for both ankles after receiving botulinum toxin injections and serial casting. The improvement in ankle range enabled him to progress to walking practice. Ankle splinting was gradually reduced. On discharge at 25 months post-injury, the ankle joint range was maintained. Implications: The use of botulinum toxin and serial casting, followed by an intensive programme of splinting and motor training, may be an option to consider for effective long-term resolution of severe contractures after acquired brain injury.

  17. Serial Killers: Academic Libraries Respond to Soaring Costs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCarthy, Paul

    1994-01-01

    Discusses ways in which academic libraries are responding to rising costs of serials. Topics addressed include pricing by publishers; the effect of journal cancellations on research activities; interlibrary loans and document delivery services; coordinated cancelling; electronic journals; and experiences at the University of Arizona. (LRW)

  18. Characteristics of voltage regulators with serial NPN transistor in the fields of medium and high energy photons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vukic, V.; Osmokrovic, P.

    2007-01-01

    Variation of collector - emitter dropout voltage on serial transistors of voltage regulators LM2990T-5 and LT1086CT5 were used as the parameter for detection of examined devices' radiation hardness in X and ? radiation fields. Biased voltage regulators with serial super-β transistor in the medium dose rate X radiation field had significantly different response from devices with conventional serial NPN transistor. Although unbiased components suffered greater damage in most cases, complete device failure happened only among the biased components with serial super-β transistor in Bremsstrahlung field. Mechanisms of transistors degradation in ionizing radiation fields were analysed [sr

  19. Optimizing the 3D-reconstruction technique for serial block-face scanning electron microscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wernitznig, Stefan; Sele, Mariella; Urschler, Martin; Zankel, Armin; Pölt, Peter; Rind, F Claire; Leitinger, Gerd

    2016-05-01

    Elucidating the anatomy of neuronal circuits and localizing the synaptic connections between neurons, can give us important insights in how the neuronal circuits work. We are using serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBEM) to investigate the anatomy of a collision detection circuit including the Lobula Giant Movement Detector (LGMD) neuron in the locust, Locusta migratoria. For this, thousands of serial electron micrographs are produced that allow us to trace the neuronal branching pattern. The reconstruction of neurons was previously done manually by drawing cell outlines of each cell in each image separately. This approach was very time consuming and troublesome. To make the process more efficient a new interactive software was developed. It uses the contrast between the neuron under investigation and its surrounding for semi-automatic segmentation. For segmentation the user sets starting regions manually and the algorithm automatically selects a volume within the neuron until the edges corresponding to the neuronal outline are reached. Internally the algorithm optimizes a 3D active contour segmentation model formulated as a cost function taking the SEM image edges into account. This reduced the reconstruction time, while staying close to the manual reference segmentation result. Our algorithm is easy to use for a fast segmentation process, unlike previous methods it does not require image training nor an extended computing capacity. Our semi-automatic segmentation algorithm led to a dramatic reduction in processing time for the 3D-reconstruction of identified neurons. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Memory for serial order across domains: An overview of the literature and directions for future research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurlstone, Mark J; Hitch, Graham J; Baddeley, Alan D

    2014-03-01

    From vocabulary learning to imitating sequences of motor actions, the ability to plan, represent, and recall a novel sequence of items in the correct order is fundamental for many verbal and nonverbal higher level cognitive activities. Here we review phenomena of serial order documented across the verbal, visual, and spatial short-term memory domains and interpret them with reference to the principles of serial order and ancillary assumptions instantiated in contemporary computational theories of memory for serial order. We propose that functional similarities across domains buttress the notion that verbal, visual, and spatial sequences are planned and controlled by a competitive queuing (CQ) mechanism in which items are simultaneously active in parallel and the strongest item is chosen for output. Within the verbal short-term memory CQ system, evidence suggests that serial order is represented via a primacy gradient, position marking, response suppression, and cumulative matching. Evidence further indicates that output interference operates during recall and that item similarity effects manifest during both serial order encoding and retrieval. By contrast, the principles underlying the representation of serial order in the visual and spatial CQ systems are unclear, largely because the relevant studies have yet to be performed. In the spatial domain, there is some evidence for a primacy gradient and position marking, whereas in the visual domain there is no direct evidence for either of the principles of serial order. We conclude by proposing some directions for future research designed to bridge this and other theoretical gaps in the literature.

  1. Implications of Market Frictions : Serial Correlations in Indexes on the Emerging Stock Markets in Central and Eastern Europe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joanna Olbrys

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Implications of market frictions in the context of serial correlations in indexes on the Central and Eastern European (CEE stock markets have been analysed. Market frictions, such as non-trading effects, bid/ask spreads, other transaction costs, etc., may be detected by direct measurement, or by indirect identification. Direct measurement of frictions is difficult as intraday trading data are unavailable in the case of most of the emerging CEE stock markets. Indirect identification may be conducted by detecting some empirical phenomena. One of them is evidence of serial correlations in indexes, the so-called the Fisher effect. We explore the problem of serial correlations in indexes on the eight CEE stock markets using data samples from each CEE market separately, as well as a "common trading window" approach, which is widely applied in the case of databases with multivariate time series. The evidence is that nonsynchronous trading effect II between markets may substantially disrupt the analysis of index returns on a domestic market. Using a synchronized database, one may erroneously conclude that the Fisher effect does not exist, although it is present. (original abstract

  2. E-serials cataloging access to continuing and integrating resources via the catalog and the web

    CERN Document Server

    Cole, Jim

    2014-01-01

    This comprehensive guide examines the state of electronic serials cataloging with special attention paid to online capacities. E-Serials Cataloging: Access to Continuing and Integrating Resources via the Catalog and the Web presents a review of the e-serials cataloging methods of the 1990s and discusses the international standards (ISSN, ISBD[ER], AACR2) that are applicable. It puts the concept of online accessibility into historical perspective and offers a look at current applications to consider. Practicing librarians, catalogers and administrators of technical services, cataloging and serv

  3. Using identification in entertainment-education drama serials to ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study used two entertainment-education drama serials which were designed using Albert Bandura's theoretical framework to communicate positive messages of women's rights to real life audiences in select communities. The study sought to find out if there was any significant relationship i.e. identification between TV ...

  4. Working memory capacity and controlled serial memory search.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mızrak, Eda; Öztekin, Ilke

    2016-08-01

    The speed-accuracy trade-off (SAT) procedure was used to investigate the relationship between working memory capacity (WMC) and the dynamics of temporal order memory retrieval. High- and low-span participants (HSs, LSs) studied sequentially presented five-item lists, followed by two probes from the study list. Participants indicated the more recent probe. Overall, accuracy was higher for HSs compared to LSs. Crucially, in contrast to previous investigations that observed no impact of WMC on speed of access to item information in memory (e.g., Öztekin & McElree, 2010), recovery of temporal order memory was slower for LSs. While accessing an item's representation in memory can be direct, recovery of relational information such as temporal order information requires a more controlled serial memory search. Collectively, these data indicate that WMC effects are particularly prominent during high demands of cognitive control, such as serial search operations necessary to access temporal order information from memory. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Phase Variation Analysis of Coxiella burnetii during Serial Passage in Cell Culture by Use of Monoclonal Antibodies

    OpenAIRE

    Hotta, Akitoyo; Kawamura, Midori; To, Ho; Andoh, Masako; Yamaguchi, Tsuyoshi; Fukushi, Hideto; Hirai, Katsuya

    2002-01-01

    Antigenic changes in Coxiella burnetii Nine Mile strain phase I during serial passages in cell culture were analyzed with three groups of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against lipopolysaccharide. The MAbs of group 1 did not react with organisms that were passaged over five times, and the MAbs of group 2 did not react with organisms that were passaged over eight times. The MAbs of group 3 reacted with organisms passaged up to 15 times but did not react with phase II cells. These results suggest...

  6. Serial MR findings of metaphyseal cyst in Legg-Calve-Perthes disease: a case report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shim, Chang Min; Na, Jae Boem; Moon, Haeng Jin

    2001-01-01

    Metaphyseal cysts are common findings in Lee-Calve-Perthes(LCP) disease, though usually disappear within 6-12 months several studies have described the MR imaging findings of these cysts, though serial MRI findings have not been documented. In this report, therefore, we report the serial MRI results of metaphyseal cyst in LCP patients

  7. Lexical Learning in Bilingual Adults: The Relative Importance of Short-Term Memory for Serial Order and Phonological Knowledge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Majerus, Steve; Poncelet, Martine; Van der Linden, Martial; Weekes, Brendan S.

    2008-01-01

    Studies of monolingual speakers have shown a strong association between lexical learning and short-term memory (STM) capacity, especially STM for serial order information. At the same time, studies of bilingual speakers suggest that phonological knowledge is the main factor that drives lexical learning. This study tested these two hypotheses…

  8. Short-term Memory in Childhood Dyslexia: Deficient Serial Order in Multiple Modalities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cowan, Nelson; Hogan, Tiffany P; Alt, Mary; Green, Samuel; Cabbage, Kathryn L; Brinkley, Shara; Gray, Shelley

    2017-08-01

    In children with dyslexia, deficits in working memory have not been well-specified. We assessed second-grade children with dyslexia, with and without concomitant specific language impairment, and children with typical development. Immediate serial recall of lists of phonological (non-word), lexical (digit), spatial (location) and visual (shape) items were included. For the latter three modalities, we used not only standard span but also running span tasks, in which the list length was unpredictable to limit mnemonic strategies. Non-word repetition tests indicated a phonological memory deficit in children with dyslexia alone compared with those with typical development, but this difference vanished when these groups were matched for non-verbal intelligence and language. Theoretically important deficits in serial order memory in dyslexic children, however, persisted relative to matched typically developing children. The deficits were in recall of (1) spoken digits in both standard and running span tasks and (2) spatial locations, in running span only. Children with dyslexia with versus without language impairment, when matched on non-verbal intelligence, had comparable serial order memory, but differed in phonology. Because serial orderings of verbal and spatial elements occur in reading, the careful examination of order memory may allow a deeper understanding of dyslexia and its relation to language impairment. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  9. Identification of serial number on bank card using recurrent neural network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Li; Huang, Linlin; Xue, Jian

    2018-04-01

    Identification of serial number on bank card has many applications. Due to the different number printing mode, complex background, distortion in shape, etc., it is quite challenging to achieve high identification accuracy. In this paper, we propose a method using Normalization-Cooperated Gradient Feature (NCGF) and Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) based on Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) for serial number identification. The NCGF maps the gradient direction elements of original image to direction planes such that the RNN with direction planes as input can recognize numbers more accurately. Taking the advantages of NCGF and RNN, we get 90%digit string recognition accuracy.

  10. Taking serial correlation into account in tests of the mean

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zwiers, F.W.; Storch, H. von

    1993-01-01

    The comparison of means derived from samples of noisy data is a standard part of climatology. When the data are not serially correlated the appropriate statistical tool for this task is usually the conventional Student's t-test. However, data frequently are serially correlated in climatological applications with the result that the t-tests in its standard form is not applicable. The usual solution to this problem is to scale the t-statistic by a factor which depends upon the equivalent sample size n e . We show, by means of simulations, that the revised t-test is often conservative (the actual significance level is smaller than the specified significance level) when the equivalent sample size is known. However, in most practical cases the equivalent sample size is not known. Then the test becomes liberal (the actual significance level is greater than the specified significance level). This systematic error becomes small when the true equivalent sample size is large (greater than approximately 30). We re-examine the difficulties inherent in difference of means tests when there is serial dependence. We provide guidelines for the application of the 'usual' t-test and propose two alternative tests which substantially improve upon the 'usual' t-test when samples are small. (orig.)

  11. Short-term memory loss over time without retroactive stimulus interference.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cowan, Nelson; AuBuchon, Angela M

    2008-02-01

    A key question in cognitive psychology is whether information in short-term memory is lost as a function of time. Lewandowsky, Duncan, and Brown (2004) argued against that memory loss because forgetting in serial recall occurred to the same extent across serial positions regardless of the rate of recall. However, we believe Lewandowsky et al. (2004) only prevented one of two types of rehearsal; they did not prevent nonarticulatory rehearsal via attention. To prevent articulatory and nonarticulatory rehearsal without introducing interference, we presented unevenly timed stimuli for serial recall and, on some trials, required that the timing of stimuli be reproduced in the response. In those trials only, evidence of memory loss over time emerged. Further research is needed to identify whether this memory loss is decay or lost distinctiveness.

  12. Lipidic cubic phase serial millisecond crystallography using synchrotron radiation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Przemyslaw Nogly

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Lipidic cubic phases (LCPs have emerged as successful matrixes for the crystallization of membrane proteins. Moreover, the viscous LCP also provides a highly effective delivery medium for serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX at X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs. Here, the adaptation of this technology to perform serial millisecond crystallography (SMX at more widely available synchrotron microfocus beamlines is described. Compared with conventional microcrystallography, LCP-SMX eliminates the need for difficult handling of individual crystals and allows for data collection at room temperature. The technology is demonstrated by solving a structure of the light-driven proton-pump bacteriorhodopsin (bR at a resolution of 2.4 Å. The room-temperature structure of bR is very similar to previous cryogenic structures but shows small yet distinct differences in the retinal ligand and proton-transfer pathway.

  13. Serials Management by Microcomputer: The Potential of DBMS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vogel, J. Thomas; Burns, Lynn W.

    1984-01-01

    Describes serials management at Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science library via a microcomputer, a file manager called PFS, and a relational database management system called dBase II. Check-in procedures, programing with dBase II, "static" and "active" databases, and claim procedures are discussed. Check-in forms are…

  14. Serial measurement of radiation leakage dose rates in safekeeping at the Gammaknife room

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baba, Sadaaki; Nozaki, Kenichi; Toyoda, Tatsuya; Wakamatsu, Osamu; Machida, Toru

    2006-01-01

    We report the serial measurement of leakage dose rates in safekeeping at the Gammaknife room during the past 4 years and 9 months by scintillation survey meter. The leakage dose rates at the radiation boundaries were the same as the natural background levels. Leakage dose rates at each shield calculation point from two 90 Sr calibration sources contained in the storehouse were negligible compared with those from 60 Co sources of the Gammaknife. 60 Co sources of the Gammaknife are arranged in 201 pieces at 10 degree interval on the circumference and in five lines within an arc of 35 degrees. Its shield container is made of iron at least 43 cm thick. We got leakage dose rates less than 40% of the calculated values. We think it is caused by the difference of each actual distance and shield thickness because 60 Co sources are usually considered as a point source in the shield calculation. There are shutters opening up and down when patients go in and out to the direction of the couch. The leakage values to this direction were about twice as much as the calculated value. So, we knew the thickness of those shutters was thinner than 43 cm. The half life time of 60 Co source calculated from the serial measurements of leakage dose rates was 4.93 years on average. It is 94% of the physical half life value of 5.27 years. We judged it was acceptable considering the difficulty of measuring low dose rate level with the radiation survey meter. Very strong correlation was observed between the decrease of 60 Co dose rate acquired from one minute measurement at the center of 18 cm diameter polysterene phantom gotten from December 2000 to August 2005 and that of computation based on the physical half life time. Likewise there was strong and more correlation with leakage dose rate in the Gammaknife room. From this, we deduce the leakage dose rate decreases according to the theory of the disintegration of radioactivity with passage of time. Revised radiation related laws took effect

  15. Serial analysis of resected prostate cancer suggests up-regulation of type 1 IGF receptor with disease progression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turney, Benjamin W; Turner, Gareth D H; Brewster, Simon F; Macaulay, Valentine M

    2011-05-01

    • To compare immunostaining protocols using different antibodies for the type 1 insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-1R) in channel transurethal resection of the prostate (chTURP) chips, and to investigate how IGF-1R expression varies with time in serial prostate cancer specimens from individual patients. • We studied IGF-1R expression in 44 prostate cancer specimens from 18 patients who had undergone serial chTURP at least 3 months apart. • Retrospective analysis of the hospital notes was undertaken to obtain clinical information, including age, Gleason score, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, hormone treatment and metastatic disease status at the time of each operation. • After an optimization process using three commercially-available IGF-1R antibodies, we used two antibodies for semiquantititve immunostaining of serial chTURP chips. • Santa Cruz antibody sc713 gave positive staining in IGF-1R null R- cells, and was not used further. Antibodies from Cell Signaling Technology (Beverly, MA, USA) (CS) and NeoMarkers Inc. (Fremont, CA, USA) (NM) did not stain R- cells and, in prostate tissue, showed staining of the glandular epithelium, with negligible stromal staining. All 44 chTURP samples contained identifiable malignant tissue and, of these, 73% and 64% scored moderately or strongly (score 3 or 4) with the CS and NM antibodies respectively. • There was significant correlation of IGF-1R scores of malignant tissue between the two antibodies (P < 0.001). By contrast, staining of benign glands showed poor correlation between antibodies: CS gave significantly weaker staining than malignant epithelium in the same sections (P < 0.001), whereas NM showed poor discrimination between malignant and benign glands. IGF-1R staining scores generated by the CS antibody were used to analyze the clinical data. • Most patients (six of seven) with falling IGF-1R staining scores were responding to androgen deprivation therapy (confirmed by PSA response

  16. Biceps Tendon Lengthening Surgery for Failed Serial Casting Patients With Elbow Flexion Contractures Following Brachial Plexus Birth Injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nath, Rahul K; Somasundaram, Chandra

    2016-01-01

    Assessment of surgical outcomes of biceps tendon lengthening (BTL) surgery in obstetric brachial plexus injury (OBPI) patients with elbow flexion contractures, who had unsuccessful serial casting. Serial casting and splinting have been shown to be effective in correcting elbow flexion contractures in OBPI. However, the possibilities of radial head dislocations and other complications have been reported in serial casting and splinting. Literature indicates surgical intervention when such nonoperative techniques and range-of-motion exercises fail. Here, we demonstrated a significant reduction of the contractures of the affected elbow and improvement in arm length to more normal after BTL in these patients, who had unsuccessful serial casting. Ten OBPI patients (6 girls and 4 boys) with an average age of 11.2 years (4-17.7 years) had BTL surgery after unsuccessful serial casting. Mean elbow flexion contracture was 40° before and 37° (average) after serial casting. Mean elbow flexion contracture was reduced to 8° (0°-20°) post-BTL surgical procedure with an average follow-up of 11 months. This was 75% improvement and statistically significant (P casting. These OBPI patients in our study had 75% significant reduction in elbow flexion contractures and achieved an improved and more normal length of the affected arm after the BTL surgery when compared to only 7% insignificant reduction and no improvement in arm length after serial casting.

  17. Il ruolo della neurocriminologia nella costruzione di un profilo criminologico dell’omicida seriale

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samuel Occhi

    2015-09-01

    The purpose of this article is to analyse modalities permitting the investigators to determine the profile of a serial killer according to their neurocriminological characteristics. The phenomenon of serial killing is described in the introduction. This descriptive analysis takes into account the typically used classifications, the criminogenesis, and the criminodynamics. In the second part, neurocriminological variables associated with this criminal profile are reviewed. Among them, the main variables are genetics and brain functioning.

  18. A Serializer ASIC for High Speed Data Transmission in Cryogenic and HiRel Environment

    CERN Document Server

    Liu, T; The ATLAS collaboration

    2010-01-01

    A high speed 16:1 serializer ASIC has been developed using a commercial 0.25 μm silicon-on-sapphire CMOS technology. At room temperature the ASIC operates from 4.0 to 5.7 Gbps with power consumption of 463 mW. The total jitter is 62 ps at the bit error rate of 10-12 at 5 Gbps. A 200-MeV proton beam test indicates that the ASIC is suitable for high energy physics applications. A liquid nitrogen temperature test indicates that the ASIC may be used at cryogenic temperature applications. The reliability of the serializer at liquid nitrogen temperature is to be studied. A 6-lane serializer array with 10 Gbps/lane with redundancy capability is under development.

  19. Update on the high speed serializer ASIC development for ATLAS Liquid Argon calorimeter upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Liu, T; The ATLAS collaboration

    2011-01-01

    We have been developing a serializer application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) based on a commercial 0.25-μm silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) CMOS technology for the ATLAS liquid argon calorimeter front-end electronics upgrade. The first prototype, a 5 Gbps 16:1 serializer has been designed, fabricated, and tested in lab environment and in a 200 MeV proton beam. The test results indicate that the first prototype meets the design goals. The second prototype, a double-lane, 8 Gbps per lane serializer is under development. The post-layout simulation indicates that 8 Gbps is achievable. In this paper we present the design and the test results of the first prototype and the design and status of the second prototype.

  20. Optical Waveform Sampling and Error-Free Demultiplexing of 1.28 Tb/s Serial Data in a Nanoengineered Silicon Waveguide

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ji, Hua; Pu, Minhao; Hu, Hao

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents the experimental demonstrations of using a pure nanoengineered silicon waveguide for 1.28 Tb/s serial data optical waveform sampling and 1.28 Tb/s–10 Gb/s error free demultiplexing. The 330-fs pulses are resolved in each 780-fs time slot in waveform sampling. Error...

  1. Visual and Phonological Similarity Effects in Verbal Immediate Serial Recall: A Test with Kanji Materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saito, Satoru; Logie, Robert H.; Morita, Aiko; Law, Anna

    2008-01-01

    In a series of three experiments, native speakers of Japanese performed serial ordered written recall of visually presented Japanese kanji characters that varied systematically in visual and phonological similarity. Overall effects of phonological similarity were observed for retention of serial order under silent reading in Experiments 1 and 3…

  2. Inverse Kinematics of a Serial Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amici Cinzia

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This work describes a technique to treat the inverse kinematics of a serial manipulator. The inverse kinematics is obtained through the numerical inversion of the Jacobian matrix, that represents the equation of motion of the manipulator. The inversion is affected by numerical errors and, in different conditions, due to the numerical nature of the solver, it does not converge to a reasonable solution. Thus a soft computing approach is adopted to mix different traditional methods to obtain an increment of algorithmic convergence.

  3. CAR-T cells are serial killers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davenport, Alexander J; Jenkins, Misty R; Ritchie, David S; Prince, H Miles; Trapani, Joseph A; Kershaw, Michael H; Darcy, Phillip K; Neeson, Paul J

    2015-12-01

    Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells have enjoyed unprecedented clinical success against haematological malignancies in recent years. However, several aspects of CAR T cell biology remain unknown. We recently compared CAR and T cell receptor (TCR)-based killing in the same effector cell and showed that CAR T cells can not only efficiently kill single tumor targets, they can also kill multiple tumor targets in a sequential manner. Single and serial killing events were not sustained long term due to CAR down-regulation after 20 hours.

  4. Serial office-based steroid injections for treatment of idiopathic subglottic stenosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoffman, Matthew R; Coughlin, Adam R; Dailey, Seth H

    2017-11-01

    Current treatment options for idiopathic subglottic stenosis include endoscopic interventions, resection, and tracheotomy. Recently, serial office-based steroid injections were proposed as an alternative that may stabilize or induce regression of airway stenosis without the need for repeated operations. Procedure completion rate, pain, complications, effect on stenosis, time since the last operation, and limitations have not been described. Retrospective case series. Retrospective series of 19 patients undergoing serial office-based steroid injection for idiopathic subglottic stenosis. Outcome measures included completion rate, procedure-related pain scores, complications, percentage of airway stenosis, and time since the last operative intervention. Procedure completion rate was 98.8%. Average pain score during the procedure was 2.3 ± 1.7 on a 10-point scale. There were no immediate complications. One patient underwent awake tracheotomy 8 days after her second injection and was later decannulated. Average stenosis decreased from 35% ± 15% to 25% ± 15% (n = 16; P = .086) over the first of three injections and 40% ± 15% to 25% ± 10% to 20% ± 10% (n = 8; P = .002) for those patients completing two sets of three injections. Fourteen of 17 patients undergoing at least three injections have not returned to the operating room since the first injection. Office-based steroid injection represents a promising new treatment pathway for a disease that requires long-term management, offering a purely pharmacologic approach to a disorder that has traditionally been approached from a mechanical perspective. It is safe, well tolerated, and effective. Furthermore, it may help patients and physicians avoid repeated trips to the operating room and the associated risks. 4. Laryngoscope, 127:2475-2481, 2017. © 2017 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

  5. Fine motor movements while drawing during the encoding phase of a serial verbal recall task reduce working memory performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tindle, Richard; Longstaff, Mitchell G

    2016-02-01

    The time-based resource-sharing (TBRS) model of working memory indicates that secondary tasks that capture attention for relatively long periods can result in the interference of working memory processing and maintenance. The current study investigates if discrete and continuous movements have differing effects on a concurrent, verbal serial recall task. In the listening condition, participants were asked to recall spoken words presented in lists of six. In the drawing conditions, participants performed the same task while producing discrete (star) or continuous (circle) movements. As hypothesised, participants recalled more words overall in the listening condition compared to the combined drawing conditions. The prediction that the continuous movement condition would reduce recall compared to listening was also supported. Fine-grained analysis at each serial position revealed significantly more words were recalled at mid serial positions in the listening condition, with worst recall for the continuous condition at position 5 compared to the listening and discrete conditions. Kinematic analysis showed that participants increased the size and speed of the continuous movements resulting in a similar duration and number of strokes for each condition. The duration of brief pauses in the discrete condition was associated with the number of words recalled. The results indicate that fine motor movements reduced working memory performance; however, it was not merely performing a movement but the type of the movement that determined how resources were diverted. In the context of the TBRS, continuous movements could be capturing attention for longer periods relative to discrete movements, reducing verbal serial recall. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. The attentional blink reveals serial working memory encoding: evidence from virtual and human event-related potentials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Craston, Patrick; Wyble, Brad; Chennu, Srivas; Bowman, Howard

    2009-03-01

    Observers often miss a second target (T2) if it follows an identified first target item (T1) within half a second in rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP), a finding termed the attentional blink. If two targets are presented in immediate succession, however, accuracy is excellent (Lag 1 sparing). The resource sharing hypothesis proposes a dynamic distribution of resources over a time span of up to 600 msec during the attentional blink. In contrast, the ST(2) model argues that working memory encoding is serial during the attentional blink and that, due to joint consolidation, Lag 1 is the only case where resources are shared. Experiment 1 investigates the P3 ERP component evoked by targets in RSVP. The results suggest that, in this context, P3 amplitude is an indication of bottom-up strength rather than a measure of cognitive resource allocation. Experiment 2, employing a two-target paradigm, suggests that T1 consolidation is not affected by the presentation of T2 during the attentional blink. However, if targets are presented in immediate succession (Lag 1 sparing), they are jointly encoded into working memory. We use the ST(2) model's neural network implementation, which replicates a range of behavioral results related to the attentional blink, to generate "virtual ERPs" by summing across activation traces. We compare virtual to human ERPs and show how the results suggest a serial nature of working memory encoding as implied by the ST(2) model.

  7. Serial casting versus stretching technique to treat knee flexion contracture in children with spina bifida: a comparative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Oraibi, S; Tariah, Hashem Abu; Alanazi, Abdullah

    2013-01-01

    Severe knee contractures that develop soon after muscle imbalance may not improve with stretching exercises and splinting. An alternative treatment is serial casting, which has been used to promote increased range of motion. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of using serial casting and passive stretching approaches to treat knee flexion contracture in children with spina bifida. In a pre/post randomized controlled study, ten participants were included in the serial casting group, while eight participants were included in the passive stretching intervention group. The degree of knee extension was measured at baseline, immediately after intervention, and at a one-year follow-up using a standard goniometer. Both groups showed significant improvements in the degree of flexion contracture at the post-treatment evaluation and the follow-up evaluation. The serial casting group showed significant improvements in knee flexion contracture at the post-treatment evaluation, t (9)=13.4, p casting group compared with passive stretching group in relation to the degree of flexion contracture were found at the immediate post-treatment evaluation, F(1, 15)=246, p=0.0001, and the one-year follow-up evaluation, F (1, 15)=51.5, p=0.0001. The outcomes of this study provide the first evidence that serial casting may be a useful intervention in treating knee flexion contracture in children with spina bifida. However, further investigations into serial casting, as well as investigations into the use of serial casting with other interventions, are warranted.

  8. The Serial Link Processor for the Fast TracKer (FTK) at ATLAS

    CERN Document Server

    Annovi, A; The ATLAS collaboration; Beccherle, R; Beretta, M; Biesuz, N; Billereau, W; Combe, J M; Citterio, M; Citraro, S; Crescioli, F; Dimas, D; Donati, S; Gentsos, C; Giannetti, P; Kordas, K; Lanza, A; Liberali, V; Luciano, P; Magalotti, D; Neroutsos, P; Nikolaidis, S; Piendibene, M; Rossi, E; Sakellariou, A; Shojaii, S; Sotiropoulou, C-L; Stabile, A; Vulliez, P

    2014-01-01

    The Associative Memory (AM) system of the FTK processor has been designed to perform pattern matching using the hit information of the ATLAS silicon tracker. The AM is the heart of the FTK and it finds track candidates at low resolution that are seeds for a full resolution track fitting. To solve the very challenging data traffic problem inside the FTK, multiple designs and tests have been performed. The currently proposed solution is named the “Serial Link Processor” and is based on an extremely powerful network of 2 Gb/s serial links. This paper reports on the design of the Serial Link Processor consisting of the AM chip, an ASIC designed and optimized to perform pattern matching, and two types of boards, the Local Associative Memory Board (LAMB), a mezzanine where the AM chips are mounted, and the Associative Memory Board (AMB), a 9U VME board which holds and exercises four LAMBs. We report also on the performance of a first prototype based on the use of a min@sic AM chip, a small but complete version ...

  9. A Serializer ASIC at 5 Gbps for Detector Front-end Electronics Readout

    CERN Document Server

    Gong, D; The ATLAS collaboration; Liu, T; Xiang, A; Ye, J

    2010-01-01

    High speed and ultra low power serial data transmission over fiber optics plays an essential roll in detector front-end electronics readout for experiments at the LHC. The ATLAS Liquid Argon Calorimeter front-end readout upgrade for the sLHC calls for an optical link system with a data bandwidth of 100 Gbps per each front-end board (FEB), a factor of 62 increase compared with the present optical link system. The transmitter of this optical link will have to withstand the radiation environment where the front-end crates are situated, and stay within the current power dissipation budget limited by the present FEB cooling capacity. To meet these challenges, we developed a 16:1 serializer based on a commercial 0.25 μm silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) CMOS technology. This serializer, designed to work at 5 Gbps, is a key component in an optical link system. Test results of this ASIC will be reported. A system design for the 100 Gbps optical link system will also be presented, with discussions about key components identi...

  10. Superior serial memory in the blind: a case of cognitive compensatory adjustment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raz, Noa; Striem, Ella; Pundak, Golan; Orlov, Tanya; Zohary, Ehud

    2007-07-03

    In the absence of vision, perception of space is likely to be highly dependent on memory. As previously stated, the blind tend to code spatial information in the form of "route-like" sequential representations [1-3]. Thus, serial memory, indicating the order in which items are encountered, may be especially important for the blind to generate a mental picture of the world. In accordance, we find that the congenitally blind are remarkably superior to sighted peers in serial memory tasks. Specifically, subjects heard a list of 20 words and were instructed to recall the words according to their original order in the list. The blind recalled more words than the sighted (indicating better item memory), but their greatest advantage was in recalling longer word sequences (according to their original order). We further show that the serial memory superiority of the blind is not merely a result of their advantage in item recall per se (as we additionally confirm via a separate recognition memory task). These results suggest the refinement of a specific cognitive ability to compensate for blindness in humans.

  11. Room-temperature serial crystallography using a kinetically optimized microfluidic device for protein crystallization and on-chip X-ray diffraction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Heymann

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available An emulsion-based serial crystallographic technology has been developed, in which nanolitre-sized droplets of protein solution are encapsulated in oil and stabilized by surfactant. Once the first crystal in a drop is nucleated, the small volume generates a negative feedback mechanism that lowers the supersaturation. This mechanism is exploited to produce one crystal per drop. Diffraction data are measured, one crystal at a time, from a series of room-temperature crystals stored on an X-ray semi-transparent microfluidic chip, and a 93% complete data set is obtained by merging single diffraction frames taken from different unoriented crystals. As proof of concept, the structure of glucose isomerase was solved to 2.1 Å, demonstrating the feasibility of high-throughput serial X-ray crystallography using synchrotron radiation.

  12. Perpendicular serial maxillary distraction osteogenesis in cleft lip and palate patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ylikontiola, Leena P; Sándor, George K; Harila, Virpi

    2015-01-01

    Cleft lip and palate patients often have a retruded maxilla with a severely narrowed deficient maxillary arch. This report aims to describe the management of severe maxillary retrusion and constriction in cleft lip and palate patients using distraction osteogenesis applied in serial sequence in two directions perpendicular to each other. Two adult male cleft lip and palate patients were treated with maxillary distraction osteogenesis in two stages. In the first stage, surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion with a tooth-borne device was performed to significantly expand the maxillary arch in the transverse dimension. After the teeth were orthodontically aligned, the horizontal distraction of the maxilla was made by two internal maxillary distraction devices. In the first patient, the maxilla was initially widened by 11 mm and then distracted forward by 20 mm. Despite the breakage of the shaft of one of the two distractors at the end of distraction, a satisfactory occlusion was found at the time of distractor device removal. The maxillary position has remained stable through 8 years of follow-up. In the second patient, the palate was widened by 14 mm and the maxilla was distracted forward by 22 mm. The maxillary position has remained stable through 3 years of follow-up. Sequential serial distraction of maxilla in two planes perpendicular to each other is a safe and stable approach for the treatment of cleft lip and palate patients with severe transverse and anteroposterior discrepancies.

  13. An application of stereoscopy and image processing in forensics: recovering obliterated firearms serial number

    Science.gov (United States)

    da Silva Nunes, L. C.; dos Santos, Paulo Acioly M.

    2004-10-01

    We present an application of the use of stereoscope to recovering obliterated firearms serial number. We investigate a promising new combined cheap method using both non-destructive and destructive techniques. With the use of a stereomicroscope coupled with a digital camera and a flexible cold light source, we can capture the image of the damaged area, and with continuous polishing and sometimes with the help of image processing techniques we could enhance the observed images and they can also be recorded as evidence. This method has already proven to be useful, in certain cases, in aluminum dotted pistol frames, whose serial number is printed with a laser, when etching techniques are not successful. We can also observe acid treated steel surfaces and enhance the images of recovered serial numbers, which sometimes lack of definition.

  14. The Locus of Serial Processing in Reading Aloud: Orthography-to-Phonology Computation or Speech Planning?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mousikou, Petroula; Rastle, Kathleen; Besner, Derek; Coltheart, Max

    2015-01-01

    Dual-route theories of reading posit that a sublexical reading mechanism that operates serially and from left to right is involved in the orthography-to-phonology computation. These theories attribute the masked onset priming effect (MOPE) and the phonological Stroop effect (PSE) to the serial left-to-right operation of this mechanism. However,…

  15. Autism: Too eager to learn? Event related potential findings of increased dependency on intentional learning in a serial reaction time task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zwart, Fenny S; Vissers, Constance Th W M; van der Meij, Roemer; Kessels, Roy P C; Maes, Joseph H R

    2017-09-01

    It has been suggested that people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have an increased tendency to use explicit (or intentional) learning strategies. This altered learning may play a role in the development of the social communication difficulties characterizing ASD. In the current study, we investigated incidental and intentional sequence learning using a Serial Reaction Time (SRT) task in an adult ASD population. Response times and event related potentials (ERP) components (N2b and P3) were assessed as indicators of learning and knowledge. Findings showed that behaviorally, sequence learning and ensuing explicit knowledge were similar in ASD and typically developing (TD) controls. However, ERP findings showed that learning in the TD group was characterized by an enhanced N2b, while learning in the ASD group was characterized by an enhanced P3. These findings suggest that learning in the TD group might be more incidental in nature, whereas learning in the ASD group is more intentional or effortful. Increased intentional learning might serve as a strategy for individuals with ASD to control an overwhelming environment. Although this led to similar behavioral performances on the SRT task, it is very plausible that this intentional learning has adverse effects in more complex social situations, and hence contributes to the social impairments found in ASD. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1533-1543. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. A constrained rasch model of trace redintegration in serial recall.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roodenrys, Steven; Miller, Leonie M

    2008-04-01

    The notion that verbal short-term memory tasks, such as serial recall, make use of information in long-term as well as in short-term memory is instantiated in many models of these tasks. Such models incorporate a process in which degraded traces retrieved from a short-term store are reconstructed, or redintegrated (Schweickert, 1993), through the use of information in long-term memory. This article presents a conceptual and mathematical model of this process based on a class of item-response theory models. It is demonstrated that this model provides a better fit to three sets of data than does the multinomial processing tree model of redintegration (Schweickert, 1993) and that a number of conceptual accounts of serial recall can be related to the parameters of the model.

  17. Plastic optical fiber serial communications link for distributed control system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saxena, Piyush; Sharangpani, K. K.; Vora, H. S.; Nakhe, S. V.; Jain, R.; Shenoy, N. M.; Bhatnagar, R.; Shirke, N. D.

    2001-09-01

    One of the most common interface for communications specified is RS 232C standard. Though widely accepted, RS232 has limited transmission speed, range and networking capabilities. RS 422 standard overcomes limitations by using differential signal lines. In automation of the operation of gas discharge lasers, multiple processors are used for control of lasers, cooling system, vacuum system etc. High EMI generated by lasers interfere through galvanic transmission or by radiation over the length of cables, and hang up operation of processors or control PC. A serial communications link was designed eliminating copper transmission media, using plastic optical fiber cables and components, to connect local controllers with the master PC working on RS232 protocols. The paper discusses the design and implementation of a high ly reliable EMI harden serial communications link.

  18. Energy Information Data Base: serial titles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1980-06-01

    The Department of Energy Technical Information Center (TIC) is responsible for creating bibliographic data bases that are used in the announcement and retrieval of publications dealing with all phases of energy. The TIC interactive information processing system makes use of a number of computerized authorities so that consistency can be maintained and indexes can be produced. One such authority is the Energy Information Data Base: Serial Titles. This authority contains the full and abbreviated journal title, country of publication, CODEN, and certain codes. This revision replaces previous revisions of this document

  19. Personality disorders, psychopathy and serial killers

    OpenAIRE

    Morana, Hilda C P; Stone, Michael H; Abdalla-Filho, Elias

    2006-01-01

    OBJETIVO: Apresentar as características básicas dos diversos transtornos específicos de personalidade, mas centrando-se no transtorno de personalidade anti-social, fazendo sua diferenciação com psicopatia. O estudo ainda se propõe a abordar a figura do serial killer, apontando a presença de aspectos psicopáticos no homicídio seriado. MÉTODO: Uma revisão bibliográfica foi feita no sentido de se abordar convergências e divergências entre diversos autores sobre um assunto tão polêmico, sobretudo...

  20. Serial MR imaging in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Uchino, A.; Hata, H.; Ohno, M. (Kyushu Rosai Hospital, Kitakyushu (Japan). Dept. of Radiology); Yoshinaga, M.; Shiokawa, O. (Kyushu Rosai Hospital, Kitakyushu (Japan). Stroke Care Unit)

    1991-08-01

    Serial magnetic resonance (MR) imagings of two autopsied patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) are presented. Both patients showed a dramatic progression of brain atrophy. The initial MR imagings were, however, interpreted as normal except for localized mild cortical atrophy in one patient. When a normal MR image is obtained in a demented middle-aged or aged patient, CJD may still need to be ruled out: follow up MR imaging may be useful. (orig.).

  1. Serial MR imaging in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uchino, A.; Hata, H.; Ohno, M.; Yoshinaga, M.; Shiokawa, O.

    1991-01-01

    Serial magnetic resonance (MR) imagings of two autopsied patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) are presented. Both patients showed a dramatic progression of brain atrophy. The initial MR imagings were, however, interpreted as normal except for localized mild cortical atrophy in one patient. When a normal MR image is obtained in a demented middle-aged or aged patient, CJD may still need to be ruled out: follow up MR imaging may be useful. (orig.)

  2. Phase Variation Analysis of Coxiella burnetii during Serial Passage in Cell Culture by Use of Monoclonal Antibodies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hotta, Akitoyo; Kawamura, Midori; To, Ho; Andoh, Masako; Yamaguchi, Tsuyoshi; Fukushi, Hideto; Hirai, Katsuya

    2002-01-01

    Antigenic changes in Coxiella burnetii Nine Mile strain phase I during serial passages in cell culture were analyzed with three groups of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against lipopolysaccharide. The MAbs of group 1 did not react with organisms that were passaged over five times, and the MAbs of group 2 did not react with organisms that were passaged over eight times. The MAbs of group 3 reacted with organisms passaged up to 15 times but did not react with phase II cells. These results suggest that C. burnetii could be differentiated into four phase states during phase variation. PMID:12117996

  3. The stand-alone test and decreasing serial cost sharing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hougaard, Jens Leth; Thorlund-Petersen, Lars

    2000-01-01

    The rule of decreasing serial cost sharing defined in de Frutos [1] over the class of concave cost functions may violate the important stand-alone test. Sufficient conditions for the test to be satisfied are given, in terms of individual rationality as well as coalitional stability...

  4. Mixed-List Phonological Similarity Effects in Delayed Serial Recall

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farrell, Simon

    2006-01-01

    Recent experiments have shown that placing dissimilar items on lists of phonologically similar items enhances accuracy of ordered recall of the dissimilar items [Farrell, S., & Lewandowsky, S. (2003). Dissimilar items benefit from phonological similarity in serial recall. "Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition," 29,…

  5. RProtoBuf: Efficient Cross-Language Data Serialization in R

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dirk Eddelbuettel

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Modern data collection and analysis pipelines often involve a sophisticated mix of applications written in general purpose and specialized programming languages. Many formats commonly used to import and export data between different programs or systems, such as CSV or JSON, are verbose, inefficient, not type-safe, or tied to a specific programming language. Protocol Buffers are a popular method of serializing structured data between applications - while remaining independent of programming languages or operating systems. They offer a unique combination of features, performance, and maturity that seems particularly well suited for data-driven applications and numerical computing. The RProtoBuf package provides a complete interface to Protocol Buffers from the R environment for statistical computing. This paper outlines the general class of data serialization requirements for statistical computing, describes the implementation of the RProtoBuf package, and illustrates its use with example applications in large-scale data collection pipelines and web services.

  6. 3D Topography of the Young Adult Anal Sphincter Complex Reconstructed from Undeformed Serial Anatomical Sections

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wu, Yi; Dabhoiwala, Noshir F.; Hagoort, Jaco; Shan, Jin-Lu; Tan, Li-Wen; Fang, Bin-Ji; Zhang, Shao-Xiang; Lamers, Wouter H.

    2015-01-01

    Pelvic-floor anatomy is usually studied by artifact-prone dissection or imaging, which requires prior anatomical knowledge. We used the serial-section approach to settle contentious issues and an interactive 3D-pdf to make the results widely accessible. 3D reconstructions of undeformed thin serial

  7. ASSESSMENT OF ATTENTION THRESHOLD IN RATS BY TITRATION OF VISUAL CUE DURATION DURING THE FIVE CHOICE SERIAL REACTION TIME TASK

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Thomas J.; Grigg, Amanda; Kim, Susy A.; Ririe, Douglas G.; Eisenach, James C.

    2014-01-01

    Background The 5 choice serial reaction time task (5CSRTT) is commonly used to assess attention in rodents. We sought to develop a variant of the 5CSRTT that would speed training to objective success criteria, and to test whether this variant could determine attention capability in each subject. New Method Fisher 344 rats were trained to perform a variant of the 5CSRTT in which the duration of visual cue presentation (cue duration) was titrated between trials based upon performance. The cue duration was decreased when the subject made a correct response, or increased with incorrect responses or omissions. Additionally, test day challenges were provided consisting of lengthening the intertrial interval and inclusion of a visual distracting stimulus. Results Rats readily titrated the cue duration to less than 1 sec in 25 training sessions or less (mean ± SEM, 22.9 ± 0.7), and the median cue duration (MCD) was calculated as a measure of attention threshold. Increasing the intertrial interval increased premature responses, decreased the number of trials completed, and increased the MCD. Decreasing the intertrial interval and time allotted for consuming the food reward demonstrated that a minimum of 3.5 sec is required for rats to consume two food pellets and successfully attend to the next trial. Visual distraction in the form of a 3 Hz flashing light increased the MCD and both premature and time out responses. Comparison with existing method The titration variant of the 5CSRTT is a useful method that dynamically measures attention threshold across a wide range of subject performance, and significantly decreases the time required for training. Task challenges produce similar effects in the titration method as reported for the classical procedure. Conclusions The titration 5CSRTT method is an efficient training procedure for assessing attention and can be utilized to assess the limit in performance ability across subjects and various schedule manipulations. PMID

  8. Energy information data base. Serial titles, February 1978--June 1979

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1979-06-01

    This supplement contains changes and additions to TID-4579-R10 (the authority list for serial titles used by TIC), and is intended to be used with that publication. Supplements are cumulative until another revision is issued

  9. Implementation of a multicrate CAMAC serial highway for data acquisition on the ARGUS laser

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frerking, C.E.; Greenwood, J.R.

    1976-09-01

    Much of the target diagnostics data from the ARGUS laser are acquired through a CAMAC interface system, including equipment on a CAMAC serial highway. A scheme has been developed which allows a very general capability for dynamically defining the experimental configuration such that the serial highway is invisible to the controlling program. High level language software compiles the existence of each experimental entity in the system. As the position and description of each module is defined, a software structure is built, with each entry containing the information to be provided to the CAMAC handlers during operation of the equipment. Provision is made to allow tight loops at the lowest software level for critical high speed data acquisition. Currently, the serial highway is operated at a one megabit rate, allowing 24 bit CAMAC words to be transferred at a 5 KHz rate

  10. Developing a 3-choice serial reaction time task for examining neural and cognitive function in an equine model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, Kirsty; Hemmings, Andrew J; McBride, Sebastian D; Parker, Matthew O

    2017-12-01

    Large animal models of human neurological disorders are advantageous compared to rodent models due to their neuroanatomical complexity, longevity and their ability to be maintained in naturalised environments. Some large animal models spontaneously develop behaviours that closely resemble the symptoms of neural and psychiatric disorders. The horse is an example of this; the domestic form of this species consistently develops spontaneous stereotypic behaviours akin to the compulsive and impulsive behaviours observed in human neurological disorders such as Tourette's syndrome. The ability to non-invasively probe normal and abnormal equine brain function through cognitive testing may provide an extremely useful methodological tool to assess brain changes associated with certain human neurological and psychiatric conditions. An automated operant system with the ability to present visual and auditory stimuli as well as dispense salient food reward was developed. To validate the system, ten horses were trained and tested using a standard cognitive task (three choice serial reaction time task (3-CSRTT)). All animals achieved total learning criterion and performed six probe sessions. Learning criterion was met within 16.30±0.79 sessions over a three day period. During six probe sessions, level of performance was maintained at 80.67±0.57% (mean±SEM) accuracy. This is the first mobile fully automated system developed to examine cognitive function in the horse. A fully-automated operant system for mobile cognitive function of a large animal model has been designed and validated. Horses pose an interesting complementary model to rodents for the examination of human neurological dysfunction. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Voltage balancing strategies for serial connection of microbial fuel cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khaled, Firas; Ondel, Olivier; Allard, Bruno; Buret, François

    2015-07-01

    The microbial fuel cell (MFC) converts electrochemically organic matter into electricity by means of metabolisms of bacteria. The MFC power output is limited by low voltage and low current characteristics in the range of microwatts or milliwatts per litre. In order to produce a sufficient voltage level (>1.5 V) and sufficient power to supply real applications such as autonomous sensors, it is necessary to either scale-up one single unit or to connect multiple units together. Many topologies of connection are possible as the serial association to improve the output voltage, or the parallel connection to improve the output current or the series/parallel connection to step-up both voltage and current. The association of MFCs in series is a solution to increase the voltage to an acceptable value and to mutualize the unit's output power. The serial association of a large number of MFCs presents several issues. The first one is the hydraulic coupling among MFCs when they share the same substrate. The second one is the dispersion between generators that lead to a non-optimal stack efficiency because the maximum power point (MPP) operation of all MFCs is not permitted. Voltage balancing is a solution to compensate non-uniformities towards MPP. This paper presents solutions to improve the efficiency of a stack of serially connected MFCs through a voltage-balancing circuit. Contribution to the topical issue "Electrical Engineering Symposium (SGE 2014)", edited by Adel Razek

  12. Serial-order learning impairment and hypersensitivity-to-interference in dyscalculia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Visscher, Alice; Szmalec, Arnaud; Van Der Linden, Lize; Noël, Marie-Pascale

    2015-11-01

    In the context of heterogeneity, the different profiles of dyscalculia are still hypothetical. This study aims to link features of mathematical difficulties to certain potential etiologies. First, we wanted to test the hypothesis of a serial-order learning deficit in adults with dyscalculia. For this purpose we used a Hebb repetition learning task. Second, we wanted to explore a recent hypothesis according to which hypersensitivity-to-interference hampers the storage of arithmetic facts and leads to a particular profile of dyscalculia. We therefore used interfering and non-interfering repeated sequences in the Hebb paradigm. A final test was used to assess the memory trace of the non-interfering sequence and the capacity to manipulate it. In line with our predictions, we observed that people with dyscalculia who show good conceptual knowledge in mathematics but impaired arithmetic fluency suffer from increased sensitivity-to-interference compared to controls. Secondly, people with dyscalculia who show a deficit in a global mathematical test suffer from a serial-order learning deficit characterized by a slow learning and a quick degradation of the memory trace of the repeated sequence. A serial-order learning impairment could be one of the explanations for a basic numerical deficit, since it is necessary for the number-word sequence acquisition. Among the different profiles of dyscalculia, this study provides new evidence and refinement for two particular profiles. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. What's Your Money Worth? Materials Budgets and the Selection and Evaluation of Book and Serial Vendors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barker, Joseph W.

    1992-01-01

    Discusses budgets for library materials and how to select and evaluate book and serial vendors. Trends in automation, publishing, and economics that affect both libraries and vendors are discussed; and examples from the University of California at Berkeley that include serials service charges and approval plan discounts are presented. (six…

  14. Serial Comparison Processes and Sex Differences in Clerical Speed.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Majeres, Raymond L.

    1988-01-01

    Three experiments were conducted with 91 male and 91 female university students to assess sex differences in performance on speeded matching tests and theory on same-different judgments. Results are interpreted via the dual-process hypothesis of same-difference judgments with sex differences explained in terms of serial comparison processes rather…

  15. Benchmarking Usage Statistics in Collection Management Decisions for Serials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tucker, Cory

    2009-01-01

    Usage statistics are an important metric for making decisions on serials. Although the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Libraries have been collecting usage statistics, the statistics had not frequently been used to make decisions and had not been included in collection development policy. After undergoing a collection assessment, the…

  16. The functional determinants of short-term memory: Evidence from perceptual-motor interference in verbal serial recall.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, Robert W; Marsh, John E

    2017-04-01

    A functional, perceptual-motor, account of serial short-term memory (STM) is examined by investigating the way in which an irrelevant spoken sequence interferes with verbal serial recall. Even with visual list-presentation, verbal serial recall is particularly susceptible to disruption by irrelevant spoken stimuli that have the same identity as-but that are order-incongruent with-the to-be-remembered items. We test the view that such interference is because of the obligatory perceptual organization of the spoken stimuli yielding a sequence that competes with a subvocal motor-plan assembled to support the reproduction of the to-be-remembered list. In support of this view, the interference can be eliminated without changing either the identities or objective serial order of the spoken stimuli but merely by promoting a subjective perceptual organization that strips them of their order-incongruent relation to the to-be-remembered list (Experiment 1). The interference is also eliminated if subvocal motor sequence-planning is impeded via articulatory suppression (Experiment 2). The results are in line with the view that performance-limits in verbal serial STM are because of having to exploit perceptual and motor processes for purposes for which they did not evolve, not the inherently limited capacity of structures or mechanisms dedicated to storage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  17. IRIG 106 Chapter 10 Programmers Handbook

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-08-16

    szDataItem. Specific parsers are called for specific attribute types, indicated by the first letter of the code name. After all TMATS attributes are...EnI106Status I106_CALL_DECL enI106Ch10Close(int iHandle) { // If handles have been init’ed then bail if

  18. Prospective study of serial 18F-FDG PET and 18F-fluoride (18F-NaF) PET to predict time to skeletal related events, time-to-progression, and survival in patients with bone-dominant metastatic breast cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peterson, Lanell M; O'Sullivan, Janet; Wu, Qian Vicky; Novakova-Jiresova, Alena; Jenkins, Isaac; Lee, Jean H; Shields, Andrew; Montgomery, Susan; Linden, Hannah M; Gralow, Julie R; Gadi, Vijayakrishna K; Muzi, Mark; Kinahan, Paul E; Mankoff, David A; Specht, Jennifer M

    2018-05-10

    Assessing therapy response of breast cancer bone metastases is challenging. In retrospective studies, serial 18 F-FDG PET was predictive of time to skeletal related events (tSRE) and time-to-progression (TTP). 18 F-NaF PET improves bone metastasis detection compared to bone scans. We prospectively tested 18 F-FDG PET and 18 F-NaF PET to predict tSRE, TTP, and overall survival (OS) in patients with bone-dominant metastatic breast cancer (BD MBC). Methods: Patients with BD MBC were imaged with 18 F-FDG PET and 18 F-NaF PET prior to starting new therapy (scan1) and again at a range of times centered around approximately 4 months later (scan2). SUV max and SULpeak were recorded for a single index lesion and up to 5 most dominant lesions for each scan. tSRE, TTP, and OS were assessed exclusive of the PET images. Univariate Cox regression was performed to test the association between clinical endpoints and 18 F-FDG PET and 18 F-NaF PET measures. mPERCIST (Modified PET Response Criteria in Solid Tumors) criteria were also applied. Survival curves for mPERCIST compared response categories of Complete Response+Partial Response+Stable Disease versus Progressive Disease (CR+PR+SD vs PD) for tSRE, TTP, and OS. Results: Twenty-eight patients were evaluated. Higher FDG SULpeak at scan2 predicted shorter time to tSRE ( P = PET mPERCIST, tSRE and TTP were longer in responders (CR, PR, or stable) compared to non-responders (PD) ( P = 0.007, 0.028 respectively), with a trend toward improved survival ( P = 0.1). An increase in the uptake between scans of up to 5 lesions by 18 F-NaF PET was associated with longer OS ( P = 0.027). Conclusion: Changes in 18 F-FDG PET parameters during therapy are predictive of tSRE and TTP, but not OS. mPERCIST evaluation in bone lesions may be useful in assessing response to therapy and is worthy of evaluation in multicenter, prospective trials. Serial 18 F-NaF PET was associated with OS, but was not useful for predicting TTP or tSRE in BD MBC

  19. Nonlinear registration of serial coronary CT angiography (CCTA) for assessment of changes in atherosclerotic plaque

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Woo, Jonghye; Dey, Damini; Cheng, Victor Y.; Hong, Byung-Woo; Ramesh, Amit; Sundaramoorthi, Ganesh; Nakazato, Ryo; Berman, Daniel S.; Germano, Guido; Kuo, C.-C. Jay; Slomka, Piotr J.

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: Coronary CT angiography (CCTA) is a high-resolution three-dimensional imaging technique for the evaluation of coronary arteries in suspected or confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD). Coregistration of serial CCTA scans would allow precise superimposition of images obtained at two different points in time, which could aid in recognition of subtle changes and precise monitoring of coronary plaque progression or regression. To this end, the authors aimed at developing a fully automatic nonlinear volume coregistration for longitudinal CCTA scan pairs. Methods: The algorithm combines global displacement and local deformation using nonlinear volume coregistration with a volume-preserving constraint. Histogram matching of intensities between two serial scans is performed prior to nonlinear coregistration with dense nonparametric local deformation in which sum of squared differences is used as a similarity measure. The approximate segmentation of coronary arteries obtained from commercially available software provides initial anatomical landmarks for the coregistration algorithm that help localize and emphasize the structure of interest. To avoid possible bias caused by incorrect segmentation, the authors convolve the Gaussian kernel with the segmented binary coronary tree mask and define an extended weighted region of interest. A multiresolution approach is employed to represent coarse-to-fine details of both volumes and the energy function is optimized using a gradient descent method. The authors applied the algorithm in ten paired CCTA datasets (20 scans in total) obtained within 10.7±5.7 months from each other on a dual source CT scanner to monitor progression of CAD. Results: Serial CCTA coregistration was successful in 9/10 cases as visually confirmed. The global displacement and local deformation of target registration error obtained from four anatomical landmarks were 2.22±1.15 and 1.56±0.74 mm, respectively, and the inverse consistency error of local

  20. Serially cultured keratinocytes from human scalp hair follicles: a tool for cytogenetic studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weterings, P J; Roelofs, H M; Jansen, B A; Vermorken, A J

    1983-01-01

    Keratinocytes originating from adult human hair follicles, the most convenient biopsy tissue, can be serially cultured using a combination of two techniques. Primary cultures are established using plucked scalp hair follicles and the bovine eye lens capsule as a growth substrate. Subsequently, cells from these cultures are serially cultivated in the presence of irradiated 3T3 cells as feeders. By this combination of techniques many keratinocytes can be generated from one single hair follicle. These cultures, appropriately treated with colchicine, can provide an adequate number of metaphases suitable for chromosome studies.

  1. Kinematic Gait Changes Following Serial Casting and Bracing to Treat Toe Walking in a Child With Autism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barkocy, Marybeth; Dexter, James; Petranovich, Colleen

    2017-07-01

    To evaluate the effectiveness of serial casting in a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibiting a toe-walking gait pattern with equinus contractures. Although many children with ASD toe walk, little research on physical therapy interventions exists for this population. Serial casting has been validated for use in idiopathic toe walking to increase passive dorsiflexion and improve gait, but not for toe walking in children with ASD. Serial casting followed by ankle-foot orthosis use was implemented to treat a child with ASD who had an obligatory equinus gait pattern. Gait analysis supported improvements in kinematic, spatial, and temporal parameters of gait, and the child maintained a consistent heel-toe gait at 2-year follow-up. STATEMENT OF CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE:: Serial casting followed by ankle-foot orthosis use is a viable treatment option for toe walking in children with ASD.

  2. Learning and memory for sequences of pictures, words, and spatial locations: an exploration of serial position effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonk, William J; Healy, Alice F

    2010-01-01

    A serial reproduction of order with distractors task was developed to make it possible to observe successive snapshots of the learning process at each serial position. The new task was used to explore the effect of several variables on serial memory performance: stimulus content (words, blanks, and pictures), presentation condition (spatial information vs. none), semantically categorized item clustering (grouped vs. ungrouped), and number of distractors relative to targets (none, equal, double). These encoding and retrieval variables, along with learning attempt number, affected both overall performance levels and the shape of the serial position function, although a large and extensive primacy advantage and a small 1-item recency advantage were found in each case. These results were explained well by a version of the scale-independent memory, perception, and learning model that accounted for improved performance by increasing the value of only a single parameter that reflects reduced interference from distant items.

  3. Attempted Serial Neonaticides: Case Report and a Brief Review of the Literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barros, Alcina Juliana Soares; Rosa, Regis Goulart; Telles, Lisieux Elaine de Borba; Taborda, José Geraldo Vernet

    2016-01-01

    Neonaticide is an infant murder occurring on the day of birth. The case reports found in the literature are often focused on the mother as the agent in the context of pregnancy denial, dissociative symptoms, or psychosis. However, this report describes a rare case of attempted serial neonaticides, in which the acts were committed by a nurse at the nursery of a referral hospital in Brazil. The authors describe a forensic psychiatric evaluation for criminal responsibility and correlate the information from this particular case with relevant forensic themes, namely neonaticide, Munchausen by proxy syndrome, and serial healthcare killers. © 2015 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

  4. The magnitude of muscle strain does not influence serial sarcomere number adaptations following eccentric exercise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butterfield, Timothy A; Herzog, Walter

    2006-02-01

    It is generally accepted that eccentric exercise, when performed by a muscle that is unaccustomed to that type of contraction, results in a delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS). A prolonged exposure to eccentric exercise leads to the disappearance of the signs and symptoms associated with DOMS, which has been referred to as the repeated bout effect (RBE). Although the mechanisms underlying the RBE remain unclear, several mechanisms have been proposed, including the serial sarcomere number addition following exercise induced muscle damage. In the traditional DOMS and RBE protocols, muscle injury has been treated as a global parameter, with muscle force and strain assumed to be uniform throughout the muscle. To assess the effects of muscle-tendon unit strain, fiber strain, torque and injury on serial sarcomere number adaptations, three groups of New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits were subjected to chronic repetitive eccentric exercise bouts of the ankle dorsiflexors for 6 weeks. These eccentric exercise protocols consisted of identical muscle tendon unit (MTU) strain, but other mechanical factors were systematically altered. Following chronic eccentric exercise, serial sarcomere number adaptations were not identical between the three eccentric exercise protocols, and serial sarcomere number adaptations were not uniform across all regions of the muscle. Peak torque and relaxation fiber strain were the best predictors of serial sarcomere number across all three protocols. Therefore, MTU strain does not appear to be the primary cause for sarcomerogenesis, and differential adaptations within the muscle may be explained by the nonuniform architecture of the muscle, resulting in differential local fiber strains.

  5. Evaluation of Esophageal Anastomotic Integrity With Serial Pleural Amylase Levels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Daniel L; Helms, Gerald A; Mayfield, William R

    2018-01-01

    An anastomotic leak is the most devastating and potentially fatal complication after esophagectomy. Current detection methods can be inaccurate and place patients at risk of other complications. Analysis of pleural fluid for amylase may be more accurate and place patients at less of a risk for evaluating the integrity of an esophageal anastomosis. We retrospectively reviewed prospective data of 45 consecutive patients who underwent an Ivor Lewis esophagectomy over an 18-month period and evaluated their anastomotic integrity with serial pleural amylase levels (PAL). There were 40 men (89%), and median age was 63 years (range, 35 to 79). Indication for esophagectomy was cancer in 38 patients (84%); 27 (71%) underwent neoadjuvant chemoradiation. A barium swallow was performed in the first 25 patients at median postoperative day (POD) 5 (range, 5 to 10); the swallow was negative in 23 patients (93%). Serial PALs were obtained starting on POD 3 and stopped 1 day after toleration of clear liquids. The PALs in the no-leak patients were highest on POD 3 (median 42 IU/L; range, 20 to 102 IU/L) and decreased (median 15 IU/L; range, 8 to 34 IU/L) to the lowest levels 1 day after clear liquid toleration (p = 0.04). Two patients had a leak and had peak PALs of 227 IU/L and 630 IU/L, respectively; both leaks occurred on POD 4, 1 day before their scheduled swallow test. The last 20 patients underwent serial PALs only, without a planned swallow test or computed tomography scan for anastomotic integrity evaluation. One of these patients had a leak on POD 5 with a low PAL of 55 IU/L the day before the spike of more than 4,000 IU/L. Two of the leaks were treated with esophageal stent placement and intravenous antibiotics, and the remaining patient's leak resolved with intravenous antibiotics, no oral intake, and observation only. None of the leak patients required transthoracic esophageal repair or drainage of an empyema. There was 1 postoperative death (2%) secondary to aspiration

  6. Pancreatic pseudocyst-portal vein fistula: Serial imaging and clinical follow-up from pseudocyst to fistula

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jee, Keun Nahn [Dept. of Radiology, Dankook University Hospital, Dankook University College of Medicine, Cheonan (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-03-15

    Pancreatic pseudocyst-portal vein fistula is an extremely rare complication of pancreatitis. Only 18 such cases have been previously reported in the medical literature. However, a serial process from pancreatic pseudocyst to fistula formation has not been described. The serial clinical and radiological findings in a 52-year-old chronic alcoholic male patient with fistula between pancreatic pseudocyst and main portal vein are presented.

  7. Comparing the radiosensitivity of cervical and thoracic spinal cord using the relative seriality model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adamus-Gorka, M.; Lind, B.K.; Brahme, A.

    2003-01-01

    Spinal cord is one of the most important normal tissues that are aimed to be spared during radiation therapy of cancer. This organ has been known for its strongly serial character and its high sensitivity to radiation. In order to compare the sensitivity of different parts of spinal cord, the early data (1970's) for radiation myelopathy available in the literature could be used. In the present study the relative seriality model (Kallman et al. 1992) has been fitted to two different sets of clinical data for spinal cord irradiation: radiation myelitis of cervical spinal cord after treating 248 patients for malignant disease of head and neck (Abbatucci et al. 1978) and radiation myelitis of thoracic spinal cord after radiation treating 43 patients with lung carcinoma (Reinhold et al. 1976). The maximum likelihood method was applied for the fitting and the corresponding parameters together with their 68% confidence intervals calculated for each of the datasets respectively. The alpha-beta ratio for the thoracic survival was also obtained. On the basis of the present study the following conclusions can be drawn: 1. radiation myelopathy is a strongly serial endpoint, 2. it appears to be differences in radiosensitivity between the cervical and thoracic region of spinal cord, 3. thoracic spinal cord revealed very serial characteristic of dose response, while the cervical myelopathy seems to be a bit less serial endpoint, 4. the dose-response curve is much steeper in case of myelopathy of cervical spinal cord, due to the much higher gamma value for this region. This work compares the fitting of NTCP model to the cervical and thoracic regions of the spinal cord and shows quite different responses. In the future more data should be tested for better understanding the mechanism of spinal cord sensitivity to radiation

  8. Influence of X and gamma radiation and bias conditions on dropout voltage of voltage regulators serial transistors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vukic, V.; Osmokrovic, P.; Stankovic, S.; Kovacevic, M.

    2005-01-01

    Research topic presented in this paper is degradation of characteristics of low-dropout voltage regulator's serial transistor during exposure of device to the ionizing radiation. Voltage regulators were exposed to X and γ radiation in two modes: without bias conditions, and with bias conditions and load. Tested circuits are representatives of the first and the second generation of low-dropout voltage regulators, with lateral and vertical PNP serial transistor: LM2940 and L4940. Experimental results of output voltage and serial dropout voltage change in function of total ionizing dose, during the medium-dose-rate exposure, were presented. (author) [sr

  9. Simulating Serial-Target Antibacterial Drug Synergies Using Flux Balance Analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krueger, Andrew S.; Munck, Christian; Dantas, Gautam

    2016-01-01

    Flux balance analysis (FBA) is an increasingly useful approach for modeling the behavior of metabolic systems. However, standard FBA modeling of genetic knockouts cannot predict drug combination synergies observed between serial metabolic targets, even though such synergies give rise to some of t...

  10. The Rise in Consumerism: The Year's Work in Serials, 1990.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lonberger, Jana

    1991-01-01

    Examines major issues and trends in serials management represented in the literature published during 1990. Topics covered include the pricing crisis; publishing and scholarly communication; cancellation projects; technological developments and alternatives to print; claiming and replacement activities; acquisitions and collection development;…

  11. The Serial Link Processor for the Fast TracKer (FTK) processor at ATLAS

    CERN Document Server

    Biesuz, Nicolo Vladi; The ATLAS collaboration; Luciano, Pierluigi; Magalotti, Daniel; Rossi, Enrico

    2015-01-01

    The Associative Memory (AM) system of the Fast Tracker (FTK) processor has been designed to perform pattern matching using the hit information of the ATLAS experiment silicon tracker. The AM is the heart of FTK and is mainly based on the use of ASICs (AM chips) designed on purpose to execute pattern matching with a high degree of parallelism. It finds track candidates at low resolution that are seeds for a full resolution track fitting. To solve the very challenging data traffic problems inside FTK, multiple board and chip designs have been performed. The currently proposed solution is named the “Serial Link Processor” and is based on an extremely powerful network of 2 Gb/s serial links. This paper reports on the design of the Serial Link Processor consisting of two types of boards, the Local Associative Memory Board (LAMB), a mezzanine where the AM chips are mounted, and the Associative Memory Board (AMB), a 9U VME board which holds and exercises four LAMBs. We report on the performance of the intermedia...

  12. The Serial Link Processor for the Fast TracKer (FTK) processor at ATLAS

    CERN Document Server

    Andreani, A; The ATLAS collaboration; Beccherle, R; Beretta, M; Cipriani, R; Citraro, S; Citterio, M; Colombo, A; Crescioli, F; Dimas, D; Donati, S; Giannetti, P; Kordas, K; Lanza, A; Liberali, V; Luciano, P; Magalotti, D; Neroutsos, P; Nikolaidis, S; Piendibene, M; Sakellariou, A; Shojaii, S; Sotiropoulou, C-L; Stabile, A

    2014-01-01

    The Associative Memory (AM) system of the FTK processor has been designed to perform pattern matching using the hit information of the ATLAS silicon tracker. The AM is the heart of the FTK and it finds track candidates at low resolution that are seeds for a full resolution track fitting. To solve the very challenging data traffic problems inside the FTK, multiple designs and tests have been performed. The currently proposed solution is named the “Serial Link Processor” and is based on an extremely powerful network of 2 Gb/s serial links. This paper reports on the design of the Serial Link Processor consisting of the AM chip, an ASIC designed and optimized to perform pattern matching, and two types of boards, the Local Associative Memory Board (LAMB), a mezzanine where the AM chips are mounted, and the Associative Memory Board (AMB), a 9U VME board which holds and exercises four LAMBs. Special relevance will be given to the AMchip design that includes two custom cells optimized for low consumption. We repo...

  13. The Serial Link Processor for the Fast TracKer (FTK) processor at ATLAS

    CERN Document Server

    Biesuz, Nicolo Vladi; The ATLAS collaboration; Luciano, Pierluigi; Magalotti, Daniel; Rossi, Enrico

    2015-01-01

    The Associative Memory (AM) system of the Fast Tracker (FTK) processor has been designed to perform pattern matching using the hit information of the ATLAS experiment silicon tracker. The AM is the heart of FTK and is mainly based on the use of ASICs (AM chips) designed to execute pattern matching with a high degree of parallelism. The AM system finds track candidates at low resolution that are seeds for a full resolution track fitting. To solve the very challenging data traffic problems inside FTK, multiple board and chip designs have been performed. The currently proposed solution is named the “Serial Link Processor” and is based on an extremely powerful network of 828 2 Gbit/s serial links for a total in/out bandwidth of 56 Gb/s. This paper reports on the design of the Serial Link Processor consisting of two types of boards, the Local Associative Memory Board (LAMB), a mezzanine where the AM chips are mounted, and the Associative Memory Board (AMB), a 9U VME board which holds and exercises four LAMBs. ...

  14. Prediction of radiosensitivity of oral cancers by serial cytological assay of nuclear changes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhattathiri, N.V.; Nair, K.M.; Bharathykkutty, C.; Prathapan, R.; Chirayathmanjiyil, D.A.

    1998-01-01

    Background and purpose: To identify the relationship between the radiosensitivity of oral cancers and the induction of micronucleation, nuclear budding and multinucleation (polynucleation) evaluated by serial cytology during fractionated radiotherapy. Materials and methods: Forty-four patients with epidermoid cancer of the oral cavity receiving radiotherapy (60 Gy in 25 fractions over 5 weeks) were studied. Serial scrape smears were taken from the tumour before and during radiotherapy and stained by Giemsa and the frequency of micronucleated cells (MNC), nuclear budded cells (NBC) and multinucleated cells (PNC) was evaluated by light microscopy. After a minimum follow-up period of 30 months the patients were classified as having resistant or sensitive tumours, depending on whether the primary tumour had recurred or not within that time. Within-group and between-group analysis on the induction of the above individual parameters and two combined parameters, the micro- or multinucleated cell (MPC) count and the abnormally nucleated cell (ANC) count, was done. The counts were expressed per 1000 uni-nucleated cells. Results: In both groups each parameter showed a statistically significant increase with dose, the increase being higher in the sensitive group. The ANC count showed the greatest increase, the mean counts before treatment and after 28.8 Gy being 24.3 and 157.8 (P<0.0005), respectively, in the sensitive group and 21.0 and 65.2 (P<0.0005), respectively, in the resistant group. After 28.8 Gy the sensitive tumours had significantly higher ANC (P=0.01), MPC (P<0.05) and PNC (P<0.05) counts. Conclusion: The study shows that serial cytological assay of nuclear changes (SCANCing) during radiotherapy is a potentially useful test to predict radiosensitivity. The fact that multinucleation showed the greatest relation with radiosensitivity suggests that injury to the cytokinetic apparatus is important in determining tumour radiosensitivity. (Copyright (c) 1998 Elsevier

  15. Ultra-compact coherent receiver with serial interface for pluggable transceiver.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Itoh, Toshihiro; Nakajima, Fumito; Ohno, Tetsuichiro; Yamanaka, Shogo; Soma, Shunichi; Saida, Takashi; Nosaka, Hideyuki; Murata, Koichi

    2014-09-22

    An ultra-compact integrated coherent receiver with a volume of 1.3 cc using a quad-channel transimpedance amplifier (TIA)-IC chip with a serial peripheral interface (SPI) is demonstrated for the first time. The TIA with the SPI and photodiode (PD) bias circuits, a miniature dual polarization optical hybrid, an octal-PD and small optical coupling system enabled the realization of the compact receiver. Measured transmission performance with 32 Gbaud dual-polarization quadrature phase shift keying signal is equivalent to that of the conventional multi-source agreement-based integrated coherent receiver with dual channel TIA-ICs. By comparing the bit-error rate (BER) performance with that under continuous SPI access, we also confirmed that there is no BER degradation caused by SPI interface access. Such an ultra-compact receiver is promising for realizing a new generation of pluggable transceivers.

  16. FPGA based fast synchronous serial multi-wire links synchronization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pozniak, Krzysztof T.

    2013-10-01

    The paper debates synchronization method of multi-wire, serial link of constant latency, by means of pseudo-random numbers generators. The solution was designed for various families of FPGA circuits. There were debated synchronization algorithm and functional structure of parameterized transmitter and receiver modules. The modules were realized in VHDL language in a behavioral form.

  17. Comparison of SUV and Patlak slope for monitoring of cancer therapy using serial PET scans

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Freedman, Nanette M.T.; Sundaram, Senthil K.; Kurdziel, Karen; Carrasquillo, Jorge A.; Whatley, Millie; Carson, Joann M.; Sellers, David; Libutti, Steven K.; Yang, James C.; Bacharach, Stephen L.

    2003-01-01

    The standardized uptake value (SUV) and the slope of the Patlak plot (K) have both been proposed as indices to monitor the progress of disease during cancer therapy. Although a good correlation has been reported between SUV and K, they are not equivalent, and may not be equally affected by metabolic changes occurring during disease progression or therapy. We wished to compare changes in tumor SUV with changes in K during serial positron emission tomography (PET) scans for monitoring therapy. Thirteen patients enrolled in a protocol to treat renal cell carcinoma metastases were studied. Serial dynamic fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET scans and computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) scans were performed once prior to treatment, once at 36±2 days after the start of treatment, and (in 7/13 subjects, 16/27 lesions) a third time at 92±9 days after the start of treatment. This resulted in a total of 33 scans, and 70 tumor Patlak and SUV values (one value for each lesion at each time point). SUV and K were measured over one to four predefined tumors/patient at each time point. The input function was obtained from regions of interest over the heart, combined, if necessary, with late blood samples. Over all tumors and scans, SUV and K correlated well (r=0.97, P<0.0001). However, change in SUV with treatment over all tumor scan pairs was much less well correlated with the corresponding change in K (r=0.73, P<0.0001). The absolute difference in % change was outside the 95% confidence limits expected from previous variability studies in 6 of 43 pairs of tumor scans, and greater than 50% in 2 of 43 tumor scan pairs. In four of the six cases, the two indices predicted opposing therapeutic outcomes. Similar results were obtained for SUV normalized by body weight or body surface area and for SUVs using mean or maximum count. Changes in CT and MR tumor cross-product dimensions correlated poorly with each other (r=0.47, P=NS), and so could not be used to determine the

  18. Comparative analysis of serial and parallel laser patterning of Ag nanowire thin films

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oh, Harim; Lee, Myeongkyu, E-mail: myeong@yonsei.ac.kr

    2017-03-31

    Highlights: • Serial and parallel laser patterning of Ag nanowire thin films is comparatively analyzed. • AgNW film can be directly patterned by a spatially-modulated pulsed Nd:YAG laser beam. • An area of 2.24 cm{sup 2} can be simultaneously patterned by a single pulse with energy of 350 mJ. - Abstract: Ag nanowire (AgNW) films solution-coated on a glass substrate were laser-patterned in two different ways. For the conventional serial process, a pulsed ultraviolet laser of 30 kHz repetition rate and ∼20 ns pulse width was employed as the laser source. For parallel patterning, the film was directly irradiated by a spatially-modulated Nd:YAG laser beam that has a low repetition rate of 10 kHz and a shorter pulse width of 5 ns. While multiple pulses with energy density ranging from 3 to 9 J/cm{sup 2} were required to pattern the film in the serial process, a single pulse with energy density of 0.16 J/cm{sup 2} completely removed AgNWs in the parallel patterning. This may be explained by the difference in patterning mechanism. In the parallel process using short pulses of 5 ns width, AgNWs can be removed in their solid state by the laser-induced thermo-elastic force, while they should be evaporated in the serial process utilizing a high-repetition rate laser. Important process parameters such as threshold energy density, speed, and available feature sizes are comparatively discussed for the two patterning.

  19. Serial completely stirred tank reactors for improving biogas production and substance degradation during anaerobic digestion of corn stover.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, YuQian; Liu, ChunMei; Wachemo, Akiber Chufo; Yuan, HaiRong; Zou, DeXun; Liu, YanPing; Li, XiuJin

    2017-07-01

    Several completely stirred tank reactors (CSTR) connected in series for anaerobic digestion of corn stover were investigated in laboratory scale. Serial anaerobic digestion systems operated at a total HRT of 40days, and distribution of HRT are 10+30days (HRT10+30d), 20+20days (HRT20+20d), and 30+10days (HRT30+10d) were compared to a conventional one-step CSTR at the same HRT of 40d. The results showed that in HRT10+30d serial system, the process became very unstable at organic load of 50gTS·L -1 . The HRT20+20d and HRT30+10d serial systems improved methane production by 8.3-14.6% compared to the one-step system in all loads of 50, 70, 90gTS·L -1 . The conversion rates of total solid, cellulose, and hemicellulose were increased in serial anaerobic digestion systems compared to single system. The serial systems showed more stable process performance in high organic load. HRT30+10d system showed the best biogas production and conversions among all systems. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  20. High speed serial link for UA1 microprocessor network

    CERN Document Server

    Cittolin, S; Zurfluh, E

    1981-01-01

    The UA1 data acquisition system consists of a set of distributed microprocessor units. An interprocessor link, independent of the CAMAC data readout, has been developed in order to have continuous remote control and run-time data handling, e.g. transmission of calibration programs/parameters, equipment test/status and histogram accumulation. The data transmission system is designed to be used in a loop configuration equipped with transceivers for twisted pair cables (RS-422). As an economical system, it is running as an ancillary serial loop-link between microprocessors, like Data Acquisition Crate Controllers and systems with distributed intelligence. The software driver consists of a loop-controller package, which may run in a BAMBI Computer Language environment and a fully interrupt controlled program for all other secondary stations. A special single-character mode provides a handy link for remote debugging in a pseudo-full-duplex mode. The format is based on the HDLC protocol without sequence numbering. ...

  1. High speed serial link for UA1 microprocessor network

    CERN Document Server

    Cittolin, Sergio; Zurfluh, E

    1981-01-01

    The UA1 data acquisition system consists of a set of distributed microprocessor units. An interprocessor link, independent of the CAMAC data readout, has been developed in order to have continuous remote control and run-time data handling, e.g. transmission of calibration programs/parameters, equipment test/status and histogram accumulation. The data transmission system is designed to be used in a loop configuration equipped with transceivers for twisted pair cables (RS-422). As an economical system, it is running as an ancillary serial loop-link between microprocessors, like data acquisition crate controllers and systems with distributed intelligence. The software driver consists of a loop-controller package, which may run in a BAMBI computer language environment and a fully interrupt controlled program for all other secondary stations. A special single-character mode provides a handy link for remote debugging in a pseudo-full-duplex mode. The format is based on the HDLC protocol without sequence numbering. ...

  2. cDNA Microarray Analysis of Serially Sampled Cervical Cancer Specimens From Patients Treated With Thermochemoradiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borkamo, Erling Dahl; Schem, Baard-Christian; Fluge, Oystein; Bruland, Ove; Dahl, Olav; Mella, Olav

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: To elucidate changes in gene expression after treatment with regional thermochemoradiotherapy in locally advanced squamous cell cervical cancer. Methods and Materials: Tru-Cut biopsy specimens were serially collected from 16 patients. Microarray gene expression levels before and 24 h after the first and second trimodality treatment sessions were compared. Pathway and network analyses were conducted by use of Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (IPA; Ingenuity Systems, Redwood City, CA). Single gene expressions were analyzed by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Results: We detected 53 annotated genes that were differentially expressed after trimodality treatment. Central in the three top networks detected by IPA were interferon alfa, interferon beta, and interferon gamma receptor; nuclear factor κB; and tumor necrosis factor, respectively. These genes encode proteins that are important in regulation cell signaling, proliferation, gene expression, and immune stimulation. Biological processes over-represented among the 53 genes were fibrosis, tumorigenesis, and immune response. Conclusions: Microarrays showed minor changes in gene expression after thermochemoradiotherapy in locally advanced cervical cancer. We detected 53 differentially expressed genes, mainly involved in fibrosis, tumorigenesis, and immune response. A limitation with the use of serial biopsy specimens was low quality of ribonucleic acid from tumors that respond to highly effective therapy. Another 'key limitation' is timing of the post-treatment biopsy, because 24 h may be too late to adequately assess the impact of hyperthermia on gene expression.

  3. The involvement of long-term serial-order memory in reading development: A longitudinal study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bogaerts, Louisa; Szmalec, Arnaud; De Maeyer, Marjolijn; Page, Mike P A; Duyck, Wouter

    2016-05-01

    Recent findings suggest that Hebb repetition learning-a paradigmatic example of long-term serial-order learning-is impaired in adults with dyslexia. The current study further investigated the link between serial-order learning and reading using a longitudinal developmental design. With this aim, verbal and visual Hebb repetition learning performance and reading skills were assessed in 96 Dutch-speaking children who we followed from first through second grade of primary school. We observed a positive association between order learning capacities and reading ability as well as weaker Hebb learning performance in early readers with poor reading skills even at the onset of reading instruction. Hebb learning further predicted individual differences in later (nonword) reading skills. Finally, Hebb learning was shown to explain a significant part of the variance in reading performance above and beyond phonological awareness. These findings highlight the role of serial-order memory in reading ability. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Continuous path control of a 5-DOF parallel-serial hybrid robot

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uchiyama, Takuma; Terada, Hidetsugu; Mitsuya, Hironori

    2010-01-01

    Using the 5-degree of freedom parallel-serial hybrid robot, to realize the de-burring, new forward and inverse kinematic calculation methods based on the 'off-line teaching' method are proposed. This hybrid robot consists of a parallel stage section and a serial stage section. Considering this point, each section is calculated individually. And the continuous path control algorithm of this hybrid robot is proposed. To verify the usefulness, a prototype robot is tested which is controlled based on the proposed methods. This verification includes a positioning test and a pose test. The positioning test evaluates the continuous path of the tool center point. The pose test evaluates the pose on the tool center point. As the result, it is confirmed that this hybrid robot moves correctly using the proposed methods

  5. Effects of serial and concurrent training on receptive identification tasks: A Systematic replication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wunderlich, Kara L; Vollmer, Timothy R

    2017-07-01

    The current study compared the use of serial and concurrent methods to train multiple exemplars when teaching receptive language skills, providing a systematic replication of Wunderlich, Vollmer, Donaldson, and Phillips (2014). Five preschoolers diagnosed with developmental delays or autism spectrum disorders were taught to receptively identify letters or letter sounds. Subjects learned the target stimuli slightly faster in concurrent training and a high degree of generalization was obtained following both methods of training, indicating that both the serial and concurrent methods of training are efficient and effective instructional procedures. © 2017 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

  6. Serial Holter ST-segment monitoring after first acute myocardial infarction. Prevalence, variability, and long-term prognostic importance of transient myocardial ischemia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mickley, H; Nielsen, J R; Berning, J

    1998-01-01

    Based on serial Holter monitoring performed 7 times within 3 years after a first acute myocardial infarction, we assessed the prevalence, variability and long-term clinical importance of transient myocardial ischemia (TMI) defined as episodes of ambulatory ST-segment depression. In all, 121...... consecutive male patients variability was found within and between patients...

  7. Muscle atrophy and metal-on-metal hip implants: a serial MRI study of 74 hips.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berber, Reshid; Khoo, Michael; Cook, Erica; Guppy, Andrew; Hua, Jia; Miles, Jonathan; Carrington, Richard; Skinner, John; Hart, Alister

    2015-06-01

    Muscle atrophy is seen in patients with metal-on-metal (MOM) hip implants, probably because of inflammatory destruction of the musculo-tendon junction. However, like pseudotumors, it is unclear when atrophy occurs and whether it progresses with time. Our objective was to determine whether muscle atrophy associated with MOM hip implants progresses with time. We retrospectively reviewed 74 hips in 56 patients (32 of them women) using serial MRI. Median age was 59 (23-83) years. The median time post-implantation was 83 (35-142) months, and the median interval between scans was 11 months. Hip muscles were scored using the Pfirrmann system. The mean scores for muscle atrophy were compared between the first and second MRI scans. Blood cobalt and chromium concentrations were determined. The median blood cobalt was 6.84 (0.24-90) ppb and median chromium level was 4.42 (0.20-45) ppb. The median Oxford hip score was 34 (5-48). The change in the gluteus minimus mean atrophy score between first and second MRI was 0.12 (p = 0.002). Mean change in the gluteus medius posterior portion (unaffected by surgical approach) was 0.08 (p = 0.01) and mean change in the inferior portion was 0.10 (p = 0.05). Mean pseudotumor grade increased by 0.18 (p = 0.02). Worsening muscle atrophy and worsening pseudotumor grade occur over a 1-year period in a substantial proportion of patients with MOM hip implants. Serial MRI helps to identify those patients who are at risk of developing worsening soft-tissue pathology. These patients should be considered for revision surgery before irreversible muscle destruction occurs.

  8. Asymmetric binding in serial memory for verbal and spatial information

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Guerard, Katherine; Morey, Candice C.; Lagace, Sebastien; Tremblay, Sebastien

    As the number of studies showing that items can be retained as bound representations in memory increases, researchers are beginning to investigate how the different features are bound together. In the present study, we examined the relative importances of the verbal and spatial features in serial

  9. 'American Psycho': a double portrait of serial yuppie Patrick Bateman

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kooijman, J.; Laine, T.

    2003-01-01

    Kooijman and Laine analyze Mary Harron's "American Psycho," a 2000 film adaptation of the 1980s satirical novel by Bret Easton Ellis in which Patrick Bateman, a narcissistic Wall Street young urban professional ("yuppie"), assumes an alternate identity as a serial killer. The authors examine the

  10. Visual analysis of serial T2-weighted MRI in multiple sclerosis: intra- and interobserver reproducibility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Molyneux, P.D.; Miller, D.H.; Filippi, M.; Yousry, T.A.; Radue, E.W.; Ader, H.J.; Barkhof, F.

    1999-01-01

    We evaluated the effect of consensus formation and training on the agreement between observers in scoring the number of new and enlarging multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions on serial T2-weighted MRI studies. The baseline and month 9 MRI studies of 16 patients with a range of MRI activity were used (dual-echo conventional spin-echo sequence, TR 2000, TE 34 and 90 ms, 5 mm contiguous slices, in-plane resolution 1 mm). First, the serial studies were visually analysed for the presence of new and enlarging lesions, on two occasions, by five experienced observers, without adopting any consensus strategy and in isolation. Next, the observers met to identify the common sources of inconsistencies in reporting between observers and formulate consensus rules. Finally, a further independent reading session was performed on the same MRI dataset, this time applying the consensus rules. Agreement between observers was assessed using kappa scores. Without the consensus rules, interobserver kappa scores for the first and second reading sessions for new lesions were only 0.51 and 0.39 respectively; agreement for enlarging lesions was even worse. The mean intraobserver kappa score for new lesions was higher at 0.72, reflecting the fact that the observers were consistently applying their individual assessment strategies. Application of the consensus rules did not lead to a significant improvement in inter observer kappas; the kappa scores adopting the guidelines were 0.46 and 0.21 for new and enlarging lesions respectively. Consensus guidelines thus did not improve the reproducibility of visual analysis of serial T2-weighted MRI, and the level of agreement between observers remained only moderate. Suboptimal repositioning is likely to be a major source of residual variability and this suggests a future role for image registration strategies; until then, a single observer, or pair of observers working in consensus, should be used in MS studies. (orig.)

  11. The Time Lens Concept Applied to Ultra-High-Speed OTDM Signal Processing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Clausen, Anders; Palushani, Evarist; Mulvad, Hans Christian Hansen

    2013-01-01

    This survey paper presents some of the applications where the versatile time-lens concept successfully can be applied to ultra-high-speed serial systems by offering expected needed functionalities for future optical communication networks.......This survey paper presents some of the applications where the versatile time-lens concept successfully can be applied to ultra-high-speed serial systems by offering expected needed functionalities for future optical communication networks....

  12. Clinical and anatomic pathology effects of serial blood sampling in rat toxicology studies, using conventional or microsampling methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caron, Alexis; Lelong, Christine; Bartels, T; Dorchies, O; Gury, T; Chalier, Catherine; Benning, Véronique

    2015-08-01

    As a general practice in rodent toxicology studies, satellite animals are used for toxicokinetic determinations, because of the potential impact of serial blood sampling on toxicological endpoints. Besides toxicological and toxicokinetic determinations, blood samples obtained longitudinally from a same animal may be used for the assessment of additional parameters (e.g., metabolism, pharmacodynamics, safety biomarkers) to maximize information that can be deduced from rodents. We investigated whether removal of up to 6 × 200 μL of blood over 24h can be applied in GLP rat toxicology studies without affecting the scientific outcome. 8 week-old female rats (200-300 g) were dosed for up to 1 month with a standard vehicle and subjected or not (controls) to serial blood sampling for sham toxicokinetic/ancillary determinations, using miniaturized methods allowing collection of 6 × 50, 100 or 200 μL over 24h. In-life endpoints, clinical pathology parameters and histopathology of organs sensitive to blood volume reduction were evaluated at several time points after completion of sampling. In sampled rats, minimal and reversible changes in red blood cell mass (maximally 15%) and subtle variations in liver enzymes, fibrinogen and neutrophils were not associated with any organ/tissue macroscopic or microscopic correlate. Serial blood sampling (up to 6 × 200 μL over 24h) is compatible with the assessment of standard toxicity endpoints in adult rats. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Serial CT Findings of Paragonimus Infested Dogs and the Micro-CT Findings of the Worm Cysts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Chang Hyun; Im, Jung Gi; Goo, Jin Mo; Lee, Hyun Ju; Hong, Sung Tae; Shen, Cheng Hua; Chung, Doo Hyun; Son, Kyu Ri; Chang, Jung Min; Eo, Hong

    2007-01-01

    To investigate the serial CT findings of Paragonimus westermani infected dogs and the microscopic structures of the worm cysts using Micro-CT. This study was approved by the committee on animal research at our institution. Fifteen dogs infected with P. westermani underwent serial contrast-enhanced CT scans at pre-infection, after 10 days of infection, and monthly thereafter until six months for determining the radiologic-pathologic correlation. Three dogs (one dog each time) were sacrificed at 1, 3 and 6 months, respectively. After fixation of the lungs, both multi-detector CT and Micro-CT were performed for examining the worm cysts. The initial findings were pleural effusion and/or subpleural groundglass opacities or linear opacities at day 10. At day 30, subpleural and peribronchial nodules appeared with hydropneumothorax and abdominal or chest wall air bubbles. Cavitary change and bronchial dilatation began to be seen on CT scan at day 30 and this was mostly seen together with mediastinal lymphadenopathy at day 60. Thereafter, subpleural ground-glass opacities and nodules with or without cavitary changes were persistently observed until day 180. After cavitary change of the nodules, the migratory features of the subpleural or peribronchial nodules were seen on all the serial CT scans. Micro-CT showed that the cyst wall contained dilated interconnected tubular structures, which had communications with the cavity and the adjacent distal bronchus. The CT findings of paragonimiasis depend on the migratory stage of the worms. The worm cyst can have numerous interconnected tubular channels within its own wall and these channels have connections with the cavity and the adjacent distal bronchus

  14. Implementation and analysis of trajectory schemes for informate: a serial link robot manipulator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rauf, A.; Ahmed, S.M.; Asif, M.; Ahmad, M.

    1997-01-01

    Trajectory planning schemes generally interpolate or approximate the desired path by a class of polynomial functions and generate a sequence of time based control set points for the control of the manipulator movement from certain initial configuration to final configuration. Schemes for trajectory generation can be implemented in Joint space and in Cartesian space. This paper describes Joint Space trajectory schemes and Cartesian Space trajectory schemes and their implementation for Infomate, a six degrees of freedom serial link robot manipulator. LSPBs and cubic Spline are chosen as interpolating functions of time for each type of schemes. Modules developed have been incorporated in an OLP system for Infomate. Trajectory planning Schemes discussed in this paper incorporate the constraints of velocities and accelerations of the actuators. comparison with respect to computation and motion time is presented for above mentioned trajectory schemes. Algorithms have been developed that enable the end effector to follow a straight line; other paths like circle, ellipse, etc. can be approximated by straight line segments. (author)

  15. Which serial killers commit suicide? An exploratory study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lester, David; White, John

    2012-11-30

    In a sample of 483 serial killers, 6.2% were documented to have committed suicide. Those who committed suicide were found to come from more dysfunctional homes characterized by more psychiatric disturbance in the parents. The sexual acts involved in the murders by the suicides seemed to be more deviant in some aspects, such as committing more bizarre sexual acts or more often taping the murder. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Development of a serial order in speech constrained by articulatory coordination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oohashi, Hiroki; Watanabe, Hama; Taga, Gentaro

    2013-01-01

    Universal linguistic constraints seem to govern the organization of sound sequences in words. However, our understanding of the origin and development of these constraints is incomplete. One possibility is that the development of neuromuscular control of articulators acts as a constraint for the emergence of sequences in words. Repetitions of the same consonant observed in early infancy and an increase in variation of consonantal sequences over months of age have been interpreted as a consequence of the development of neuromuscular control. Yet, it is not clear how sequential coordination of articulators such as lips, tongue apex and tongue dorsum constrains sequences of labial, coronal and dorsal consonants in words over the course of development. We examined longitudinal development of consonant-vowel-consonant(-vowel) sequences produced by Japanese children between 7 and 60 months of age. The sequences were classified according to places of articulation for corresponding consonants. The analyses of individual and group data show that infants prefer repetitive and fronting articulations, as shown in previous studies. Furthermore, we reveal that serial order of different places of articulations within the same organ appears earlier and then gradually develops, whereas serial order of different articulatory organs appears later and then rapidly develops. In the same way, we also analyzed the sequences produced by English children and obtained similar developmental trends. These results suggest that the development of intra- and inter-articulator coordination constrains the acquisition of serial orders in speech with the complexity that characterizes adult language.

  17. Phonological Similarity in Serial Recall: Constraints on Theories of Memory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewandowsky, Stephan; Farrell, Simon

    2008-01-01

    In short-term serial recall, similar-sounding items are remembered more poorly than items that do not sound alike. When lists mix similar and dissimilar items, performance on the dissimilar items is of considerable theoretical interest. Farrell and Lewandowsky [Farrell, S., & Lewandowsky, S. (2003). Dissimilar items benefit from phonological…

  18. Power Efficient Design of Parallel/Serial FIR Filters in RNS

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petricca, Massimo; Albicocco, Pietro; Cardarilli, Gian Carlo

    2012-01-01

    It is well known that the Residue Number System (RNS) provides an efficient implementation of parallel FIR filters especially when the filter order and the dynamic range are high. The two main drawbacks of RNS, need of converters and coding overhead, make a serialized implementation of the FIR...

  19. The implementation of the serial trial intervention for pain and challenging behaviour in advanced dementia patients (STA OP!): a clustered randomized controlled trial.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pieper, M.J.C.; Achterberg, W.P.; Francke, A.L.; Steen, J.T. van der; Scherder, E.J.A.; Kovach, C.R.

    2011-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Pain (physical discomfort) and challenging behaviour are highly prevalent in nursing home residents with dementia: at any given time 45-80% of nursing home residents are in pain and up to 80% have challenging behaviour. In the USA Christine Kovach developed the serial trial intervention

  20. A comparison of pecking generated by serial, delay, and trace autoshaping procedures1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newlin, Robert J.; LoLordo, Vincent M.

    1976-01-01

    Pigeons were exposed to serial, delay, and trace autoshaping procedures. In Experiment I, all conditioned stimuli (CSs) were changes in illumination of the response key. The number of trials to acquisition of the keypeck increased from serial, to 4-sec delay, 8-sec delay, and 8-sec trace procedures, in that order. In Experiment II, which used a longer intertrial interval, trials to criterion increased from 8-sec delay, to 28-sec delay, 8-sec trace, and 28-sec trace procedures, in that order. In Experiment III, two groups received serial procedures in which the first CS was either a tone or a houselight, and the second was a keylight. The tone group acquired the key peck more rapidly than the houselight group. Early in conditioning in these experiments, and when the conditioned stimulus was a change in the keylight, there was a short latency to the onset of pecking and pecking was directed at the CS. After extensive conditioning, or when the CS was relatively diffuse, pecking still occurred, but had a longer latency and was not reliably directed toward the conditioned stimulus. PMID:16811907

  1. Universal Linear Motor Driven Leg Press Dynamometer and Concept of Serial Stretch Loading.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamar, Dušan

    2015-08-24

    Paper deals with backgrounds and principles of universal linear motor driven leg press dynamometer and concept of serial stretch loading. The device is based on two computer controlled linear motors mounted to the horizontal rails. As the motors can keep either constant resistance force in selected position or velocity in both directions, the system allows simulation of any mode of muscle contraction. In addition, it also can generate defined serial stretch stimuli in a form of repeated force peaks. This is achieved by short segments of reversed velocity (in concentric phase) or acceleration (in eccentric phase). Such stimuli, generated at the rate of 10 Hz, have proven to be a more efficient means for the improvement of rate of the force development. This capability not only affects performance in many sports, but also plays a substantial role in prevention of falls and their consequences. Universal linear motor driven and computer controlled dynamometer with its unique feature to generate serial stretch stimuli seems to be an efficient and useful tool for enhancing strength training effects on neuromuscular function not only in athletes, but as well as in senior population and rehabilitation patients.

  2. What serial homologs can tell us about the origin of insect wings [version 1; referees: 2 approved

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yoshinori Tomoyasu

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Although the insect wing is a textbook example of morphological novelty, the origin of insect wings remains a mystery and is regarded as a chief conundrum in biology. Centuries of debates have culminated into two prominent hypotheses: the tergal origin hypothesis and the pleural origin hypothesis. However, between these two hypotheses, there is little consensus in regard to the origin tissue of the wing as well as the evolutionary route from the origin tissue to the functional flight device. Recent evolutionary developmental (evo-devo studies have shed new light on the origin of insect wings. A key concept in these studies is “serial homology”. In this review, we discuss how the wing serial homologs identified in recent evo-devo studies have provided a new angle through which this century-old conundrum can be explored. We also review what we have learned so far from wing serial homologs and discuss what we can do to go beyond simply identifying wing serial homologs and delve further into the developmental and genetic mechanisms that have facilitated the evolution of insect wings.

  3. Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) in rat liver regeneration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cimica, Velasco; Batusic, Danko; Haralanova-Ilieva, Borislava; Chen, Yonglong; Hollemann, Thomas; Pieler, Tomas; Ramadori, Giuliano

    2007-01-01

    We have applied serial analysis of gene expression for studying the molecular mechanism of the rat liver regeneration in the model of 70% partial hepatectomy. We generated three SAGE libraries from a normal control liver (NL library: 52,343 tags), from a sham control operated liver (Sham library: 51,028 tags), and from a regenerating liver (PH library: 53,061 tags). By SAGE bioinformatics analysis we identified 40 induced genes and 20 repressed genes during the liver regeneration. We verified temporal expression of such genes by real time PCR during the regeneration process and we characterized 13 induced genes and 3 repressed genes. We found connective tissue growth factor transcript and protein induced very early at 4 h after PH operation before hepatocytes proliferation is triggered. Our study suggests CTGF as a growth factor signaling mediator that could be involved directly in the mechanism of liver regeneration induction

  4. Faculty Decisions on Serials Subscriptions Differ Significantly from Decisions Predicted by a Bibliometric Tool.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sue F. Phelps

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Objective – To compare faculty choices of serials subscription cancellations to the scores of a bibliometric tool. Design – Natural experiment. Data was collected about faculty valuations of serials. The California Digital Library Weighted Value Algorithm (CDL-WVA was used to measure the value of journals to a particular library. These two sets of scores were then compared. Setting – A public research university in the United States of America. Subjects – Teaching and research faculty, as well as serials data. Methods – Experimental methodology was used to compare faculty valuations of serials (based on their journal cancellation choices to bibliometric valuations of the same journal titles (determined by CDL-WVA scores to identify the match rate between the faculty choices and the bibliographic data. Faculty were asked to select titles to cancel that totaled approximately 30% of the budget for their disciplinary fund code. This “keep” or “cancel” choice was the binary variable for the study. Usage data was gathered for articles downloaded through the link resolver for titles in each disciplinary dataset, and the CDL-WVA scores were determined for each journal title based on utility, quality, and cost effectiveness. Titles within each dataset were ranked highest to lowest using the CDL-WVA scores within each fund code, and then by subscription cost for titles with the same CDL-WVA score. The journal titles selected for comparison were those that ranked above the approximate 30% of titles chosen for cancellation by faculty and CDL-WVA scores. Researchers estimated an odds ratio of faculty choosing to keep a title and a CDL-WVA score that indicated the title should be kept. The p-value for that result was less than 0.0001, indicating that there was a negligible probability that the results were by chance. They also applied logistic regression to quantify the association between the numeric score of CDL-WVA and the binary variable

  5. A Lie-Theoretic Perspective on O(n) Mass Matrix Inversion for Serial Manipulators and Polypeptide Chains.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Kiju; Wang, Yunfeng; Chirikjian, Gregory S

    2007-11-01

    Over the past several decades a number of O(n) methods for forward and inverse dynamics computations have been developed in the multi-body dynamics and robotics literature. A method was developed in 1974 by Fixman for O(n) computation of the mass-matrix determinant for a serial polymer chain consisting of point masses. In other recent papers, we extended this method in order to compute the inverse of the mass matrix for serial chains consisting of point masses. In the present paper, we extend these ideas further and address the case of serial chains composed of rigid-bodies. This requires the use of relatively deep mathematics associated with the rotation group, SO(3), and the special Euclidean group, SE(3), and specifically, it requires that one differentiates functions of Lie-group-valued argument.

  6. Digit-color synaesthesia only enhances memory for colors in a specific context: A new method of duration thresholds to measure serial recall.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teichmann, A Lina; Nieuwenstein, Mark R; Rich, Anina N

    2017-08-01

    For digit-color synaesthetes, digits elicit vivid experiences of color that are highly consistent for each individual. The conscious experience of synaesthesia is typically unidirectional: Digits evoke colors but not vice versa. There is an ongoing debate about whether synaesthetes have a memory advantage over non-synaesthetes. One key question in this debate is whether synaesthetes have a general superiority or whether any benefit is specific to a certain type of material. Here, we focus on immediate serial recall and ask digit-color synaesthetes and controls to memorize digit and color sequences. We developed a sensitive staircase method manipulating presentation duration to measure participants' serial recall of both overlearned and novel sequences. Our results show that synaesthetes can activate digit information to enhance serial memory for color sequences. When color sequences corresponded to ascending or descending digit sequences, synaesthetes encoded these sequences at a faster rate than their non-synaesthetes counterparts and faster than non-structured color sequences. However, encoding color sequences is approximately 200 ms slower than encoding digit sequences directly, independent of group and condition, which shows that the translation process is time consuming. These results suggest memory advantages in synaesthesia require a modified dual-coding account, in which secondary (synaesthetically linked) information is useful only if it is more memorable than the primary information to be recalled. Our study further shows that duration thresholds are a sensitive method to measure subtle differences in serial recall performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  7. Adapting Parcellation Schemes to Study Fetal Brain Connectivity in Serial Imaging Studies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cheng, Xi; Wilm, Jakob; Seshamani, Sharmishtaa

    2013-01-01

    A crucial step in studying brain connectivity is the definition of the Regions Of Interest (ROI's) which are considered as nodes of a network graph. These ROI's identified in structural imaging reflect consistent functional regions in the anatomies being compared. However in serial studies...... of the developing fetal brain such functional and associated structural markers are not consistently present over time. In this study we adapt two non-atlas based parcellation schemes to study the development of connectivity networks of a fetal monkey brain using Diffusion Weighted Imaging techniques. Results...... demonstrate that the fetal brain network exhibits small-world characteristics and a pattern of increased cluster coefficients and decreased global efficiency. These findings may provide a route to creating a new biomarker for healthy fetal brain development....

  8. Kiondo Bag Boutique: A Serial Case for Introductory Financial Accounting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siriwardane, Harshini P.

    2014-01-01

    Kiondo Bag Boutique is a hypothetical serial case involving a start-up retail business. The case evolves from an ambitious business idea to a successful business. Through the evolving business, the importance of accounting information is highlighted. Different iterations are used to illustrate the role of accounting in serving and managing…

  9. Serials use in a College of Agriculture Education Library | Adzobu ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Serials use in a College of Agriculture Education Library. J Adzobu, JA Opare. Abstract. No Abstract. Ghana Library Journal Vol. 20 (1) 2008: pp. 81-88. Full Text: EMAIL FULL TEXT EMAIL FULL TEXT · DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT. Article Metrics. Metrics Loading ... Metrics powered by PLOS ALM

  10. Incidence of Dysphagia and Serial Videofluoroscopic Swallow Study Findings After Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion: A Prospective Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Min, Yusun; Kim, Won-Seok; Kang, Sung Shik; Choi, Jin Man; Yeom, Jin S; Paik, Nam-Jong

    2016-05-01

    Prospective study. To prospectively assess the incidence of dysphagia and to present the serial changes of each finding in the videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS) after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). The reported incidence of dysphagia after ACDF has varied widely, and the serial changes of dysphagia using VFSS have not been clearly determined yet. Data of 47 patients preoperatively and at 1 week and 1 month postoperatively were used for the analyses. The Bazaz dysphagia score and VFSS were checked preoperatively and at 1 week and 1 month postoperatively. The presence of aspiration or penetration, amount of vallecular and pyriform sinus residues, functional dysphagia scale, temporal parameters of oral transit time, pharyngeal transit time, and pharyngeal delay time (PDT) were evaluated from the VFSS data. Incidences of dysphagia measured by the Bazaz dysphagia score were 83.0% at 1 week and 59.6% at 1 month after ACDF. Although the incidence of aspiration was 4.3% and the incidence of penetration was 36.2% at 1 week and 25.5% at 1 month after surgery, none of the patients had aspiration pneumonia. The number of patients with vallecular and pyriform sinus residues significantly increased after ACDF. Further, there were no statistically significant changes at all time points in terms of oral transit time, pharyngeal transit time, and pharyngeal delay time. Dysphagia is common until 1 month after ACDF. Although the incidence of aspiration or penetration in VFSS after ACDF was high, no patient had aspiration pneumonia, which may be because of the intact neurological swallowing mechanism. The typical pattern of dysphagia after ACDF included vallecular and pyriform sinuses filled with postswallow residue, which may result from soft tissue edema and weak constriction of pharyngeal muscles after ACDF.

  11. Serial quantitative MR assessment of optic neuritis in a case of neuromyelitis optica, using gadolinium-'enhanced' STIR imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barkhof, F.; Scheltens, P.; Valk, J.; Waalewijn, C.; Uitdehaag, B.M.J.; Polman, C.H.

    1991-01-01

    A patient is presented with neuromyelitis optica. MR imaging, using a short inversion time inversion recovery (STIR) technique, clearly depicted the lesion in the left optic nerve. Subsequent serial STIR imaging, with and without Gadolinium-DTPA, allowed quantitative assessment of changes parallel to improved optic nerve function. STIR imaging is a sensitive technique to demonstrate optic nerve lesions, and enables quantitative assessment to be made of the effect of (steroid) medication. (orig.)

  12. Central attention is serial but mid-level and peripheral attention are parallel—a hypothesis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marois, Rene

    2016-01-01

    In this brief review, we will argue that attention falls along a hierarchy from peripheral through central mechanisms. We further argue that these mechanisms are distinguished not just by their functional roles in cognition, but also by a distinction between serial mechanisms (associated with central attention) and parallel mechanisms (associated with mid-level and peripheral attention). In particular, we suggest that peripheral attentional deployments in distinct representational systems may be maintained simultaneously with little or no interference, but that the serial nature of central attention means that even tasks that largely rely on distinct representational systems will come into conflict when central attention is demanded. We go on to review both behavioral and neural evidence for this prediction. We conclude that even though the existing evidence mostly favors our account of serial central and parallel non-central attention, we know of no experiment that has conclusively borne out these claims. As such, this paper offers a framework of attentional mechanisms that will aid in guiding future research on this topic. PMID:27388496

  13. Injection Methods and Instrumentation for Serial X-ray Free Electron Laser Experiments

    Science.gov (United States)

    James, Daniel

    Scientists have used X-rays to study biological molecules for nearly a century. Now with the X-ray free electron laser (XFEL), new methods have been developed to advance structural biology. These new methods include serial femtosecond crystallography, single particle imaging, solution scattering, and time resolved techniques. The XFEL is characterized by high intensity pulses, which are only about 50 femtoseconds in duration. The intensity allows for scattering from microscopic particles, while the short pulses offer a way to outrun radiation damage. XFELs are powerful enough to obliterate most samples in a single pulse. While this allows for a "diffract and destroy" methodology, it also requires instrumentation that can position microscopic particles into the X-ray beam (which may also be microscopic), continuously renew the sample after each pulse, and maintain sample viability during data collection. Typically these experiments have used liquid microjets to continuously renew sample. The high flow rate associated with liquid microjets requires large amounts of sample, most of which runs to waste between pulses. An injector designed to stream a viscous gel-like material called lipidic cubic phase (LCP) was developed to address this problem. LCP, commonly used as a growth medium for membrane protein crystals, lends itself to low flow rate jetting and so reduces the amount of sample wasted significantly. This work discusses sample delivery and injection for XFEL experiments. It reviews the liquid microjet method extensively, and presents the LCP injector as a novel device for serial crystallography, including detailed protocols for the LCP injector and anti-settler operation.

  14. Fractional Flow Reserve Assessment of a Significant Coronary Stenosis Masked by a Downstream Serial Lesion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lawrence Yu-Min Liu

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Fractional flow reserve (FFR has been recognized as an effective tool to determine functional significance in intermediate coronary lesions and FFR-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI improves clinical outcomes. However, hemodynamic interaction between serial stenoses within one coronary artery complicates the assessment of functional severity of each individual lesion. We present a case in which FFR measurement by intracoronary bolus injection of adenosine helps to make appropriate revascularization decision in serial stenoses when the procedures are performed systemically and properly.

  15. Serial position effects in patients with mild cognitive impairment and early and moderate Alzheimer's disease compared with healthy comparison subjects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moser, B; Deisenhammer, E A; Marksteiner, J; Papousek, I; Fink, A; Weiss, E M

    2014-01-01

    This study aimed to investigate whether the serial position effects in memory can differentiate patients with different subtypes of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from healthy controls and patients with different stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The serial position effects was tested with the CERAD word list task in 184 persons (39 healthy control subjects, 15 amnestic MCI single domain subjects, 23 amnestic MCI multiple domain subjects, 31 nonamnestic MCI subjects, 45 early or mild AD patients, and 31 moderate AD patients). With progression of dementia, memory deficits increased and the impairment in the primacy effect during the learning trials advanced, whereas the recall of recent items was less impaired. The serial position profile of nonamnestic MCI patients resembled that of healthy control subjects, whereas amnestic MCI patients showed poorer performance in all 3 positions but no significant difference as a function of serial word position. Analyses of the serial position effect may be a useful complement to clinical neuropsychological measures for distinguishing amnestic MCI patients from normal aging and patients with different stages of dementia. © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  16. 3D imaging by serial block face scanning electron microscopy for materials science using ultramicrotomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hashimoto, Teruo; Thompson, George E; Zhou, Xiaorong; Withers, Philip J

    2016-04-01

    Mechanical serial block face scanning electron microscopy (SBFSEM) has emerged as a means of obtaining three dimensional (3D) electron images over volumes much larger than possible by focused ion beam (FIB) serial sectioning and at higher spatial resolution than achievable with conventional X-ray computed tomography (CT). Such high resolution 3D electron images can be employed for precisely determining the shape, volume fraction, distribution and connectivity of important microstructural features. While soft (fixed or frozen) biological samples are particularly well suited for nanoscale sectioning using an ultramicrotome, the technique can also produce excellent 3D images at electron microscope resolution in a time and resource-efficient manner for engineering materials. Currently, a lack of appreciation of the capabilities of ultramicrotomy and the operational challenges associated with minimising artefacts for different materials is limiting its wider application to engineering materials. Consequently, this paper outlines the current state of the art for SBFSEM examining in detail how damage is introduced during slicing and highlighting strategies for minimising such damage. A particular focus of the study is the acquisition of 3D images for a variety of metallic and coated systems. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Penerapan Metoda Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI pada Rancang Bangun Data Logger berbasis SD card

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    RATNA SUSANA

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRAK Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI adalah protokol komunikasi yang dapat digunakan sebagai interface komunikasi antara mikrokontroler dengan SD Card. Dengan menerapkan metoda SPI pada data logger berbasis SD Card, maka dapat diketahui karakteristik protokol komunikasi SPI antara mikrokontroler dengan SD Card. SD Card diformat dengan tipe FAT 16, dan data di dalam SD Card berupa sekumpulan paket data sensor yang diambil secara periodik dan disimpan dalam bentuk file dengan format.csv. Berdasarkan format paket data sensor yang dibuat, dapat dihitungwaktu perekaman data yang diperlukan agar kapasitas SD Card terisi penuh oleh data sensor. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan,bahwa metoda SPI yang diterapkan pada penelitian ini memiliki sifat akan melakukan pemeriksaan berulang pada pin MISO terhadap command yang dikirimkan oleh mikrokontroler melalui pin MOSI. Proses read/write data pada SD Card data logger memiliki keberhasilan 100%, karena SD Card telah terinisialisasi dalam mode SPI melalui perintah reset dan init SD Card. Komunikasi ini dapat dilakukan dengan menggunakan crystal 4 Mhz – 20 Mhz. Untuk pengujian konfigurasi SPI, hanya Independent Slave Configuration yang dapat digunakan pada komunikasi SPI dengan 2 SD card sebagai slave. Kata kunci: Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI, Data Logger, SD card, FAT16 ABSTRACT Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI is a communication protocol that can be applied as a communication interface between microcontroller to SD Card. By implementing the SPI method to a data logger based on SD Card, it can be known the characteristics of the SPI communications protocol between microcontroller to SD Card. SD Card formatted in FAT 16 type, and data on the SD Card is the form of sensor data packets collection which be captured periodically and saved in .csv format file. Based on the sensor data packet format is created, it can be calculated recording time data required so that the SD Card capacity completely filled by the

  18. Counterbalancing for Serial Order Carryover Effects in Experimental Condition Orders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brooks, Joseph L.

    2012-01-01

    Reactions of neural, psychological, and social systems are rarely, if ever, independent of previous inputs and states. The potential for serial order carryover effects from one condition to the next in a sequence of experimental trials makes counterbalancing of condition order an essential part of experimental design. Here, a method is proposed…

  19. Serial position effects in Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment, and normal aging: predictive value for conversion to dementia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cunha, Catarina; Guerreiro, Manuela; de Mendonça, Alexandre; Oliveira, Paulo Eduardo; Santana, Isabel

    2012-01-01

    Serial position effects in word list learning have been used to differentiate normal aging and dementia. Prominent recency and diminished primacy have consistently been observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We examined serial position effects in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), in patients with AD, and in normal healthy controls. Additionally, we classified MCI patients into those who progressed to AD (MCI-p) and those who did not (MCI-np). We compared two serial position measures: regional and standard scores. Regional scores, mainly the primacy effect, improved discrimination between MCI and controls and between MCI-np and MCI-p, proving to be more sensitive and specific than the recency effect.

  20. Selective Serial Multi-Antibody Biosensing with TOPAS Microstructured Polymer Optical Fibers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Emiliyanov, Grigoriy Andreev; Høiby, Poul E.; Pedersen, Lars H.

    2013-01-01

    We have developed a fluorescence-based fiber-optical biosensor, which can selectively detect different antibodies in serial at preselected positions inside a single piece of fiber. The fiber is a microstructured polymer optical fiber fabricated from TOPAS cyclic olefin copolymer, which allows...

  1. Telemetry Attributes Transfer Standard (TMATS) Handbook

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-01-01

    intermediate frequency IRIG Inter-Range Instrumentation Group kbps kilobits per second kHz kilohertz LHCP left hand circular polarization lsb...repeatedly to automate the setup of the station for a particular test. The receiver filters are defined below. The receiver intermediate

  2. Rapid, serial, non-invasive assessment of drug efficacy in mice with autoluminescent Mycobacterium ulcerans infection.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tianyu Zhang

    Full Text Available Buruli ulcer (BU caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans is the world's third most common mycobacterial infection. There is no vaccine against BU and surgery is needed for patients with large ulcers. Although recent experience indicates combination chemotherapy with streptomycin and rifampin improves cure rates, the utility of this regimen is limited by the 2-month duration of therapy, potential toxicity and required parenteral administration of streptomycin, and drug-drug interactions caused by rifampin. Discovery and development of drugs for BU is greatly hampered by the slow growth rate of M. ulcerans, requiring up to 3 months of incubation on solid media to produce colonies. Surrogate markers for evaluating antimicrobial activity in real-time which can be measured serially and non-invasively in infected footpads of live mice would accelerate pre-clinical evaluation of new drugs to treat BU. Previously, we developed bioluminescent M. ulcerans strains, demonstrating proof of concept for measuring luminescence as a surrogate marker for viable M. ulcerans in vitro and in vivo. However, the requirement of exogenous substrate limited the utility of such strains, especially for in vivo experiments.For this study, we engineered M. ulcerans strains that express the entire luxCDABE operon and therefore are autoluminescent due to endogenous substrate production. The selected reporter strain displayed a growth rate and virulence similar to the wild-type parent strain and enabled rapid, real-time monitoring of in vitro and in vivo drug activity, including serial, non-invasive assessments in live mice, producing results which correlated closely with colony-forming unit (CFU counts for a panel of drugs with various mechanisms of action.Our results indicate that autoluminescent reporter strains of M. ulcerans are exceptional tools for pre-clinical evaluation of new drugs to treat BU due to their potential to drastically reduce the time, effort, animals, compound

  3. Development of a serial order in speech constrained by articulatory coordination.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hiroki Oohashi

    Full Text Available Universal linguistic constraints seem to govern the organization of sound sequences in words. However, our understanding of the origin and development of these constraints is incomplete. One possibility is that the development of neuromuscular control of articulators acts as a constraint for the emergence of sequences in words. Repetitions of the same consonant observed in early infancy and an increase in variation of consonantal sequences over months of age have been interpreted as a consequence of the development of neuromuscular control. Yet, it is not clear how sequential coordination of articulators such as lips, tongue apex and tongue dorsum constrains sequences of labial, coronal and dorsal consonants in words over the course of development. We examined longitudinal development of consonant-vowel-consonant(-vowel sequences produced by Japanese children between 7 and 60 months of age. The sequences were classified according to places of articulation for corresponding consonants. The analyses of individual and group data show that infants prefer repetitive and fronting articulations, as shown in previous studies. Furthermore, we reveal that serial order of different places of articulations within the same organ appears earlier and then gradually develops, whereas serial order of different articulatory organs appears later and then rapidly develops. In the same way, we also analyzed the sequences produced by English children and obtained similar developmental trends. These results suggest that the development of intra- and inter-articulator coordination constrains the acquisition of serial orders in speech with the complexity that characterizes adult language.

  4. Rapid serial visual presentation design for cognition

    CERN Document Server

    Spence, Robert

    2013-01-01

    A powerful new image presentation technique has evolved over the last twenty years, and its value demonstrated through its support of many and varied common tasks. Conceptually, Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) is basically simple, exemplified in the physical world by the rapid riffling of the pages of a book in order to locate a known image. Advances in computation and graphics processing allow RSVP to be applied flexibly and effectively to a huge variety of common tasks such as window shopping, video fast-forward and rewind, TV channel selection and product browsing. At its heart is a

  5. Accounting for partiality in serial crystallography using ray-tracing principles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kroon-Batenburg, Loes M. J.; Schreurs, Antoine M. M.; Ravelli, Raimond B. G.; Gros, Piet

    2015-01-01

    Serial crystallography generates partial reflections from still diffraction images. Partialities are estimated with EVAL ray-tracing simulations, thereby improving merged reflection data to a similar quality as conventional rotation data. Serial crystallography generates ‘still’ diffraction data sets that are composed of single diffraction images obtained from a large number of crystals arbitrarily oriented in the X-ray beam. Estimation of the reflection partialities, which accounts for the expected observed fractions of diffraction intensities, has so far been problematic. In this paper, a method is derived for modelling the partialities by making use of the ray-tracing diffraction-integration method EVAL. The method estimates partialities based on crystal mosaicity, beam divergence, wavelength dispersion, crystal size and the interference function, accounting for crystallite size. It is shown that modelling of each reflection by a distribution of interference-function weighted rays yields a ‘still’ Lorentz factor. Still data are compared with a conventional rotation data set collected from a single lysozyme crystal. Overall, the presented still integration method improves the data quality markedly. The R factor of the still data compared with the rotation data decreases from 26% using a Monte Carlo approach to 12% after applying the Lorentz correction, to 5.3% when estimating partialities by EVAL and finally to 4.7% after post-refinement. The merging R int factor of the still data improves from 105 to 56% but remains high. This suggests that the accuracy of the model parameters could be further improved. However, with a multiplicity of around 40 and an R int of ∼50% the merged still data approximate the quality of the rotation data. The presented integration method suitably accounts for the partiality of the observed intensities in still diffraction data, which is a critical step to improve data quality in serial crystallography

  6. Accounting for partiality in serial crystallography using ray-tracing principles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kroon-Batenburg, Loes M. J., E-mail: l.m.j.kroon-batenburg@uu.nl; Schreurs, Antoine M. M. [Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht (Netherlands); Ravelli, Raimond B. G. [Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht (Netherlands); Gros, Piet [Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht (Netherlands)

    2015-08-25

    Serial crystallography generates partial reflections from still diffraction images. Partialities are estimated with EVAL ray-tracing simulations, thereby improving merged reflection data to a similar quality as conventional rotation data. Serial crystallography generates ‘still’ diffraction data sets that are composed of single diffraction images obtained from a large number of crystals arbitrarily oriented in the X-ray beam. Estimation of the reflection partialities, which accounts for the expected observed fractions of diffraction intensities, has so far been problematic. In this paper, a method is derived for modelling the partialities by making use of the ray-tracing diffraction-integration method EVAL. The method estimates partialities based on crystal mosaicity, beam divergence, wavelength dispersion, crystal size and the interference function, accounting for crystallite size. It is shown that modelling of each reflection by a distribution of interference-function weighted rays yields a ‘still’ Lorentz factor. Still data are compared with a conventional rotation data set collected from a single lysozyme crystal. Overall, the presented still integration method improves the data quality markedly. The R factor of the still data compared with the rotation data decreases from 26% using a Monte Carlo approach to 12% after applying the Lorentz correction, to 5.3% when estimating partialities by EVAL and finally to 4.7% after post-refinement. The merging R{sub int} factor of the still data improves from 105 to 56% but remains high. This suggests that the accuracy of the model parameters could be further improved. However, with a multiplicity of around 40 and an R{sub int} of ∼50% the merged still data approximate the quality of the rotation data. The presented integration method suitably accounts for the partiality of the observed intensities in still diffraction data, which is a critical step to improve data quality in serial crystallography.

  7. Mapping the continuous reciprocal space intensity distribution of X-ray serial crystallography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yefanov, Oleksandr; Gati, Cornelius; Bourenkov, Gleb; Kirian, Richard A; White, Thomas A; Spence, John C H; Chapman, Henry N; Barty, Anton

    2014-07-17

    Serial crystallography using X-ray free-electron lasers enables the collection of tens of thousands of measurements from an equal number of individual crystals, each of which can be smaller than 1 µm in size. This manuscript describes an alternative way of handling diffraction data recorded by serial femtosecond crystallography, by mapping the diffracted intensities into three-dimensional reciprocal space rather than integrating each image in two dimensions as in the classical approach. We call this procedure 'three-dimensional merging'. This procedure retains information about asymmetry in Bragg peaks and diffracted intensities between Bragg spots. This intensity distribution can be used to extract reflection intensities for structure determination and opens up novel avenues for post-refinement, while observed intensity between Bragg peaks and peak asymmetry are of potential use in novel direct phasing strategies.

  8. Importance of the temporal structure of movement sequences on the ability of monkeys to use serial order information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deffains, Marc; Legallet, Eric; Apicella, Paul

    2011-10-01

    The capacity to acquire motor skills through repeated practice of a sequence of movements underlies many everyday activities. Extensive research in humans has dealt with the importance of spatial and temporal factors on motor sequence learning, standing in contrast to the few studies available in animals, particularly in nonhuman primates. In the present experiments, we studied the effect of the serial order of stimuli and associated movements in macaque monkeys overtrained to make arm-reaching movements in response to spatially distinct visual targets. Under different conditions, the temporal structure of the motor sequence was varied by changing the duration of the interval between successive target stimuli or by adding a cue that reliably signaled the onset time of the forthcoming target stimulus. In each condition, the extent to which the monkeys are sensitive to the spatial regularities was assessed by comparing performance when stimulus locations follow a repeating sequence, as opposed to a random sequence. We observed no improvement in task performance on repeated sequence blocks, compared to random sequence blocks, when target stimuli are relatively distant from each other in time. On the other hand, the shortening of the time interval between successive target stimuli or, more efficiently, the addition of a temporal cue before the target stimulus yielded a performance advantage under repeated sequence, reflected in a decrease in the latency of arm and saccadic eye movements accompanied by an increased tendency for eye movements to occur in an anticipatory manner. Contrary to the effects on movement initiation, the serial order of stimuli and movements did not markedly affect the execution of movement. Moreover, the location of a given target in the random sequence influenced task performance based on the location of the preceding target, monkeys being faster in responding as a result of familiarity caused by extensive practice with some target transitions

  9. Improved Software to Browse the Serial Medical Images for Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwon, Koojoo; Chung, Min Suk; Park, Jin Seo; Shin, Byeong Seok; Chung, Beom Sun

    2017-07-01

    The thousands of serial images used for medical pedagogy cannot be included in a printed book; they also cannot be efficiently handled by ordinary image viewer software. The purpose of this study was to provide browsing software to grasp serial medical images efficiently. The primary function of the newly programmed software was to select images using 3 types of interfaces: buttons or a horizontal scroll bar, a vertical scroll bar, and a checkbox. The secondary function was to show the names of the structures that had been outlined on the images. To confirm the functions of the software, 3 different types of image data of cadavers (sectioned and outlined images, volume models of the stomach, and photos of the dissected knees) were inputted. The browsing software was downloadable for free from the homepage (anatomy.co.kr) and available off-line. The data sets provided could be replaced by any developers for their educational achievements. We anticipate that the software will contribute to medical education by allowing users to browse a variety of images. © 2017 The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences.

  10. Volume imaging NDE and serial sectioning of carbon fiber composites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hakim, Issa; Schumacher, David; Sundar, Veeraraghavan; Donaldson, Steven; Creuz, Aline; Schneider, Rainer; Keller, Juergen; Browning, Charles; May, Daniel; Ras, Mohamad Abo; Meyendorf, Norbert

    2018-04-01

    A composite material is a combination of two or more materials with very different mechanical, thermal and electrical properties. The various forms of composite materials, due to their high material properties, are widely used as structural materials in the aviation, space, marine, automobile, and sports industries. However, some defects like voids, delamination, or inhomogeneous fiber distribution that form during the fabricating processes of composites can seriously affect the mechanical properties of the composite material. In this study, several imaging NDE techniques such as: thermography, high frequency eddy current, ultrasonic, x-ray radiography, x-ray laminography, and high resolution x-ray CT were conducted to characterize the microstructure of carbon fiber composites. Then, a 3D analysis was implemented by the destructive technique of serial sectioning for the same sample tested by the NDE methods. To better analyze the results of this work and extract a clear volume image for all features and defects contained in the composite material, an intensive comparison was conducted among hundreds of 3D-NDE and multi serial sections' scan images showing the microstructure variation.

  11. Serial lung model for simulation and parameter estimation in body plethysmography

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    A.F.M. Verbraak (Anton); J.M. Bogaard (Jan); J.E.W. Beneken; E.J. Hoorn (Ewout); A. Versprille (Adrian)

    1991-01-01

    textabstractA serial lung model with a compressible segment has been implemented to simulate different types of lung and airway disorders such as asthma, emphysema, fibrosis and upper airway obstruction. The model described can be used during normal breathing, and moreover the compliant segment is

  12. Silicon Photonics for Signal Processing of Tbit/s Serial Data Signals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Oxenløwe, Leif Katsuo; Ji, Hua; Galili, Michael

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, we describe our recent work on signal processing of terabit per second optical serial data signals using pure silicon waveguides. We employ nonlinear optical signal processing in nanoengineered silicon waveguides to perform demultiplexing and optical waveform sampling of 1.28-Tbit/...

  13. A reappraisal of serial isotope bone scans in prostate cancer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    O' Donoghue, J M; Rogers, E; Grimes, H; McCarthy, P; Corcoran, M; Bredin, H; Given, H F [University College Hospital, Galway (Ireland)

    1993-08-01

    The authors have evaluated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) as alternatives to conventional serial bone scanning in 129 patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer over a period of 3 years. Although serum PSA did not reflect local tumour burden at presentation, it was significantly elevated in those with stage D disease (p < 0.01). 45 patients presented de novo with metastatic bone deposits and a further 18 patients developed metastases during the study. The sensitivity of PSA in detecting secondary deposits at presentation for levels in excess of 100 [mu]g/l was 93.75%, the positive predictive value 95.7% and the negative predictive value for levels less than 5 [mu]g/l was 90.6%. During the follow-up period sensitivity was 94.4%, the positive predictive value 100%, the negative predictive value 100%, with a median lead time of 3 months in predicting metastases in the 18 patients with progressive disease. (author).

  14. High speed serial link for UA1 microprocessor network

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cittolin, S.; Loefstedt, B.; Zurfluh, E.

    1981-01-01

    The UA1 data acquisition system consists of a set of distributed microprocessor units. An interprocessor link, independent of the CAMAC data readout, has been developed in order to have continuous remote control and run-time data handling, e.g. transmission of calibration programs/parameters, equipment rest/status and histogram accumulation. The data transmission system is designed to be used in a loop configuration equipped with transceivers for twisted pair cables (RS-422). As an economical system it is running as an ancillary serial loop-link between microprocessors Like Data Acquisition Crate Controllers and systems with distributed intelligence. The software driver consists of a loop-controller package, which may run in a BAMBI Computer Language environment and a fully interrupt controlled program for all other secondary stations. A special single-character mode provides a handy link for remote debugging in a pseudo-full-duplex mode. The format is based on the HDLC protocol without sequence numbering. The Chip MC-6854 from Motorola, Inc. enables an implementation with few components. (orig.)

  15. Comparative anatomy, evolution, and homologies of tetrapod hindlimb muscles, comparison with forelimb muscles, and deconstruction of the forelimb-hindlimb serial homology hypothesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diogo, Rui; Molnar, Julia

    2014-06-01

    For more than two centuries, the idea that the forelimb and hindlimb are serially homologous structures has been accepted without serious question. This study presents the first detailed analysis of the evolution and homologies of all hindlimb muscles in representatives of each major tetrapod group and proposes a unifying nomenclature for these muscles. These data are compared with information obtained previously about the forelimb muscles of tetrapods and the muscles of other gnathostomes in order to address one of the most central and enigmatic questions in evolutionary and comparative anatomy: why are the pelvic and pectoral appendages of gnathostomes generally so similar to each other? An integrative analysis of the new myological data, combined with a review of recent paleontological, developmental, and genetic works and of older studies, does not support serial homology between the structures of these appendages. For instance, many of the strikingly similar forelimb and hindlimb muscles found in each major extant tetrapod taxon were acquired at different geological times and/or have different embryonic origins. These similar muscles are not serial homologues, but the result of evolutionary parallelism/convergence due to a complex interplay of ontogenetic, functional, topological, and phylogenetic constraints/factors. Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Reconstruction of vessel structures from serial whole slide sections of murine liver samples

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwier, Michael; Hahn, Horst K.; Dahmen, Uta; Dirsch, Olaf

    2013-03-01

    Image-based analysis of the vascular structures of murine liver samples is an important tool for scientists to understand liver physiology and morphology. Typical assessment methods are MicroCT, which allows for acquiring images of the whole organ while lacking resolution for fine details, and confocal laser scanning microscopy, which allows detailed insights into fine structures while lacking the broader context. Imaging of histological serial whole slide sections is a recent technology able to fill this gap, since it provides a fine resolution up to the cellular level, but on a whole organ scale. However, whole slide imaging is a modality providing only 2D images. Therefore the challenge is to use stacks of serial sections from which to reconstruct the 3D vessel structures. In this paper we present a semi-automatic procedure to achieve this goal. We employ an automatic method that detects vessel structures based on continuity and shape characteristics. Furthermore it supports the user to perform manual corrections where required. With our methods we were able to successfully extract and reconstruct vessel structures from a stack of 100 and a stack of 397 serial sections of a mouse liver lobe, thus proving the potential of our approach.

  17. Mortimer Lightwood; or, Seriality, Counterfactuals, Co-Production, and Queer Fantasy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Holly Furneaux

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available In this reflection on her participation as Mortimer Lightwood in Birkbeck’s Our Mutual Friend Twitter reading project, Holly Furneaux situates the project in a long legacy of actively reading Dickens’s works. She opens up some possibilities about the queer potentials of the serial form, the counterfactual, and Dickens fans’ creative responses.

  18. Serial assessment of doxorubicin cardiomyopathy with the computerized scintillation probe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strashun, A.; Goldsmith, S.J.; Horowitz, S.F.

    1982-01-01

    Cardiac function was serially monitored in 55 patients receiving adriamycin chemotherapy over 18 months with quantitative radionuclide assessment by both a nonimaging computerized scintillation probe and gamma camera-computer imaging. Interval ejection fraction change was comparable with both techniques and predicted incipient cardiotoxicity. Probe data revealed ejection fraction decline was antedated by decline left ventricular emptying and filling rates

  19. Electronic conductance of quantum wire with serial periodic potential structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fayad, Hisham M.; Shabat, Mohammed M.; Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste

    2000-08-01

    A theory based on the total transfer matrix is presented to investigate the electronic conductance in a quantum wire with serial periodic potentials. We apply the formalism in computation of the electronic conductance in a wire with different physical parameters of the wire structure. The numerical results could be used in designing some future quantum electronic devices. (author)

  20. Target Acquisition: Human Observer Performance Studies and TARGAC Model Validation

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-06-01

    complete Scenario I run were displayed on a monitor. A transparent sheet was attached to the face of the monitor, the approach route was sketched on...track, passed a mark on the monitor face , the target was at a stop-sign location. The IRIG-B time of that instance was noted, and, since the distance of...route right 100- 80- 60 - 40 C.) 20 [- ion, A20 recognitio 0 0 . identification,C.) . 1I . I - - -• , 4) 1000 2000 3000 4000 SP Target G Q Target I0

  1. A new fixed-target approach for serial crystallography at synchrotron light sources and X-ray free electron lasers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roedig, Philip

    2017-07-01

    In the framework of this thesis, a new method for high-speed fixed-target serial crystallography experiments and its applicability to biomacromolecular crystallography at both synchrotron light sources and X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) is presented. The method is based on a sample holder, which can carry up to 20,000 microcrystals and which is made of single-crystalline silicon. Using synchrotron radiation, the structure of Operophtera brumata cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus type 18 polyhedrin, lysozyme and cubic insulin was determined by collecting X-ray diffraction data from multiple microcrystals. Data collection was shown to be possible at both cryogenic and ambient conditions. For room-temperature measurements, both global and specific indications of radiation damage were investigated and characterized. Due to the sieve-like structure of the chip, the microcrystals tend to arrange themselves according to the micropore pattern, which allows for efficient sampling of the sample material. In combination with a high-speed scanning stage, the sample holder was furthermore shown to be highly suitable for serial femtosecond crystallography experiments. By fast raster scanning of the chip through the pulsed X-ray beam of an XFEL, structure determination of a virus, using the example of bovine enterovirus type 2, has been demonstrated at an XFEL for the first time. Hit rates of up to 100% were obtained by the presented method, which refers to a reduction in sample consumption by at least three orders of magnitude with respect to common liquid-jet injection methods used for sample delivery. In this way, the typical time needed for data collection in serial femtosecond crystallography is significantly decreased. The presented technique for sample loading of the chip is easy to learn and results in efficient removal of the surrounding mother liquor, thereby reducing the generated background signal. Since the chip is made of single-crystalline silicon, in principle no

  2. A new fixed-target approach for serial crystallography at synchrotron light sources and X-ray free electron lasers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roedig, Philip

    2017-07-15

    In the framework of this thesis, a new method for high-speed fixed-target serial crystallography experiments and its applicability to biomacromolecular crystallography at both synchrotron light sources and X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) is presented. The method is based on a sample holder, which can carry up to 20,000 microcrystals and which is made of single-crystalline silicon. Using synchrotron radiation, the structure of Operophtera brumata cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus type 18 polyhedrin, lysozyme and cubic insulin was determined by collecting X-ray diffraction data from multiple microcrystals. Data collection was shown to be possible at both cryogenic and ambient conditions. For room-temperature measurements, both global and specific indications of radiation damage were investigated and characterized. Due to the sieve-like structure of the chip, the microcrystals tend to arrange themselves according to the micropore pattern, which allows for efficient sampling of the sample material. In combination with a high-speed scanning stage, the sample holder was furthermore shown to be highly suitable for serial femtosecond crystallography experiments. By fast raster scanning of the chip through the pulsed X-ray beam of an XFEL, structure determination of a virus, using the example of bovine enterovirus type 2, has been demonstrated at an XFEL for the first time. Hit rates of up to 100% were obtained by the presented method, which refers to a reduction in sample consumption by at least three orders of magnitude with respect to common liquid-jet injection methods used for sample delivery. In this way, the typical time needed for data collection in serial femtosecond crystallography is significantly decreased. The presented technique for sample loading of the chip is easy to learn and results in efficient removal of the surrounding mother liquor, thereby reducing the generated background signal. Since the chip is made of single-crystalline silicon, in principle no

  3. 19 CFR 143.24 - Preparation of Customs Form 7501 and Customs Form 368 or 368A (serially numbered).

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 19 Customs Duties 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Preparation of Customs Form 7501 and Customs Form 368 or 368A (serially numbered). 143.24 Section 143.24 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER... Informal Entry § 143.24 Preparation of Customs Form 7501 and Customs Form 368 or 368A (serially numbered...

  4. Geografía criminal y el homicidio serial: El caso de Juana Barraza/Criminal geography and serial murder: The case of Juana Barraza

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tonatiuh Suárez-Meaney

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The case of La Mataviejitas is emblematic for the large number of victims of the third age. The case apparently unique situations (female murders serial, sexual component in elderly women although actually known by the criminological, in form of prejudice to false tracks led to researchers. This article presents some answers to the question of if had served the tools of environmental geography in the case.

  5. Estimating allele age and selection coefficient from time-serial data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Malaspinas, Anna Sapfo; Malaspinas, Orestis; Evans, Steven N.

    2012-01-01

    Recent advances in sequencing technologies have made available an ever-increasing amount of ancient genomic data. In particular, it is now possible to target specific single nucleotide polymorphisms in several samples at different time points. Such time-series data are also available in the conte...

  6. Key Conditions for Successful Serial Entrepreneurship in Healthcare.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piron, Cameron

    2017-01-01

    As a serial entrepreneur in the medical device industry, the author embraces Snowdon's (2017) effort to create and stimulate dialogue among experts in health system innovation in an effort to define and support Canada's innovation agenda. In this paper, he outlines some of the attributes and skills that companies need to launch their products and scale their companies. He also identifies the main conditions of an innovation ecosystem that create the necessary infrastructure to enable and support highly successful companies while allowing them to accelerate their growth.

  7. Serial computed tomography findings in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schlenska, G.K.; Walter, G.F.

    1989-01-01

    Serial CT investigations of 3 patients with histologically confirmed Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease revealed persisting slight brain atrophy to progressive extreme atrophy corresponding to the absolute, not the individual duration of illness. No correlation was observed between CT findings and the patients condition or electroencephalographic results. In one case with a duration of about 16 months and a terminal brain weight of 750 g a massive bilateral, later unilateral subdural hygroma appeared which probably was caused by retraction of the brain showing an enormous atrophy. (orig.)

  8. Serial computed tomography findings in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schlenska, G.K.; Walter, G.F.

    1989-09-01

    Serial CT investigations of 3 patients with histologically confirmed Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease revealed persisting slight brain atrophy to progressive extreme atrophy corresponding to the absolute, not the individual duration of illness. No correlation was observed between CT findings and the patients condition or electroencephalographic results. In one case with a duration of about 16 months and a terminal brain weight of 750 g a massive bilateral, later unilateral subdural hygroma appeared which probably was caused by retraction of the brain showing an enormous atrophy. (orig.).

  9. Freeform Optics: current challenges for future serial production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schindler, C.; Köhler, T.; Roth, E.

    2017-10-01

    One of the major developments in optics industry recently is the commercial manufacturing of freeform surfaces for optical mid- and high performance systems. The loss of limitation on rotational symmetry enables completely new optical design solutions - but causes completely new challenges for the manufacturer too. Adapting the serial production from radial-symmetric to freeform optics cannot be done just by the extension of machine capabilities and software for every process step. New solutions for conventional optics productions or completely new process chains are necessary.

  10. Gasoline-powered serial hybrid cars cause lower life cycle carbon emissions than battery cars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meinrenken, Christoph J.; Lackner, Klaus S.

    2011-04-01

    Battery cars powered by grid electricity promise reduced life cycle green house gas (GHG) emissions from the automotive sector. Such scenarios usually point to the much higher emissions from conventional, internal combustion engine cars. However, today's commercially available serial hybrid technology achieves the well known efficiency gains from regenerative breaking, lack of gearbox, and light weighting - even if the electricity is generated onboard, from conventional fuels. Here, we analyze emissions for commercially available, state-of the-art battery cars (e.g. Nissan Leaf) and those of commercially available serial hybrid cars (e.g., GM Volt, at same size and performance). Crucially, we find that serial hybrid cars driven on (fossil) gasoline cause fewer life cycle GHG emissions (126g CO2e per km) than battery cars driven on current US grid electricity (142g CO2e per km). We attribute this novel finding to the significant incremental life cycle emissions from battery cars from losses during grid transmission, battery dis-/charging, and larger batteries. We discuss crucial implications for strategic policy decisions towards a low carbon automotive sector as well as relative land intensity when powering cars by biofuel vs. bioelectricity.

  11. Nomenclature of Vertebral Laminae in Lizards, with Comments on Ontogenetic and Serial Variation in Lacertini (Squamata, Lacertidae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tschopp, Emanuel

    2016-01-01

    Vertebral laminae are bony ridges or sheets that connect important morphological landmarks on the vertebrae, like diapophyses or zygapophyses. They usually exhibit some serial variation throughout the column. A consistent terminology facilitates the morphological description of this variation, and the recognition of patterns that could be taxonomically significant and could serve as phylogenetic characters. Such a terminology was designed for saurischian dinosaurs, and has also been applied to other members of Archosauriformes. Herein, this terminology is applied for the first time to lizards (Squamata). Probably due to their generally smaller size compared to saurischian dinosaurs, lizards have less developed vertebral laminae. Some laminae could not be recognized in this group and others require new names to account for differences in basic vertebral morphology. For instance, the fusion of diapophysis and parapophysis in lacertids into a structure called synapophysis necessitates the creation of the new term synapophyseal laminae for both diapophyseal and parapophyseal laminae. An assessment of occurrence and serial variation in a number of lacertid species shows that some laminae develop throughout ontogeny or only occur in large-sized species, whereas the distribution of other laminae might prove to be taxonomically significant in future.

  12. Nomenclature of Vertebral Laminae in Lizards, with Comments on Ontogenetic and Serial Variation in Lacertini (Squamata, Lacertidae.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emanuel Tschopp

    Full Text Available Vertebral laminae are bony ridges or sheets that connect important morphological landmarks on the vertebrae, like diapophyses or zygapophyses. They usually exhibit some serial variation throughout the column. A consistent terminology facilitates the morphological description of this variation, and the recognition of patterns that could be taxonomically significant and could serve as phylogenetic characters. Such a terminology was designed for saurischian dinosaurs, and has also been applied to other members of Archosauriformes. Herein, this terminology is applied for the first time to lizards (Squamata. Probably due to their generally smaller size compared to saurischian dinosaurs, lizards have less developed vertebral laminae. Some laminae could not be recognized in this group and others require new names to account for differences in basic vertebral morphology. For instance, the fusion of diapophysis and parapophysis in lacertids into a structure called synapophysis necessitates the creation of the new term synapophyseal laminae for both diapophyseal and parapophyseal laminae. An assessment of occurrence and serial variation in a number of lacertid species shows that some laminae develop throughout ontogeny or only occur in large-sized species, whereas the distribution of other laminae might prove to be taxonomically significant in future.

  13. LHCb: SPECS: a Serial Protocol for the Experiment Control System of LHCb

    CERN Multimedia

    Charlet, D

    2007-01-01

    The SPECS is a single master, multi slave serial bus. It communicates between an unique master and up to 32 slaves (limit fixed by the address range), at a 10 MHz rate, thanks to 4 different unidirectional lines.

  14. The inpatient evaluation and treatment of a self-professed budding serial killer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reisner, Andrew D; McGee, Mark; Noffsinger, Stephen G

    2003-02-01

    The authors present the case of a man who was hospitalized after claiming that he was about to become a serial killer. The patient presented with extensive written homicidal fantasies and homicidal intentions without evidence of actual homicidal acts. In addition to routine assessments, hospital staff members used case conferences, psychological testing, outside forensic consultation, and a forensic review process to make decisions regarding diagnosis, treatment planning, and discharge. The patient was discharged after 8 months of inpatient treatment and was apparently free of homicidal impulses or symptoms of severe mental illness. A 2-year court commitment allowed for the enactment and potential enforcement of a discharge plan that was endorsed by the patient, the hospital, and community care providers. The authors review diagnostic and risk management issues. Comparisons with known features of typical serial killers are made.

  15. Short-Term Memory for Serial Order: A Recurrent Neural Network Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Botvinick, Matthew M.; Plaut, David C.

    2006-01-01

    Despite a century of research, the mechanisms underlying short-term or working memory for serial order remain uncertain. Recent theoretical models have converged on a particular account, based on transient associations between independent item and context representations. In the present article, the authors present an alternative model, according…

  16. A Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE) database analysis of chemosensitivity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stein, Wilfred D; Litman, Thomas; Fojo, Tito

    2004-01-01

    are their corresponding solid tumors. We used the Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE) database to identify differences between solid tumors and cell lines, hoping to detect genes that could potentially explain differences in drug sensitivity. SAGE libraries were available for both solid tumors and cell lines from...

  17. Serial CT scannings in herpes simplex encephalitis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fukushima, Masashi; Sawada, Tohru; Kuriyama, Yoshihiro; Kinugawa, Hidekazu; Yamaguchi, Takenori

    1981-01-01

    Two patients with serologically confirmed herpes simplex encephalitis were studied by serial CT scannings. Case 1, a 60-year-old woman, was admitted to National Cardiovascular Center because of headache, fever, and attacks of Jacksonian seizure. Case 2, a 54-year-old man, was admitted because of fever, consciousness disturbance and right hemipare sis. Pleocytosis (mainly lymphocytes) and elevation of protein content in cerebrospinal fluid were observed in both cases. Both patients presented ''das apallische Syndrom'' one month after admission. The diagnosis of herpes simplex encephalitis was confirmed by typical clinical courses and by greater than fourfold rises in serum antibody titer for herpes simplex virus as well as that in cerebrospinal fluid in case 1. Characteristic CT findings observed in these two cases were summarized as follows: Within a week after the onset, no obvious abnormalities could be detected on CT scans (Case 1). Two weeks after the onset, a large low-density area appeared in the left temporal lobe and in the contralateral insular cortex with midline shift toward the right side (Case 2). One month later, an ill-defined linear and ring-like high-density area (Case 1), or a well-defined high-density area (Case 2), that was enhanced after contrast administration, was observed in the large low-density area in the temporal lobe. These findings were considered as characteristic for hemorrhagic encephalitis. These high-density areas disappeared two months later, however, widespread and intensified low-density areas still remained. In both cases, the basal ganglia and thalamus were completely spared on CT scans. From these observations, it can be concluded that serial CT scannings are quite useful for diagnosis of herpes simplex encephalitis. (author)

  18. Thalamic inputs to dorsomedial striatum are involved in inhibitory control: evidence from the five-choice serial reaction time task in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saund, Jasjot; Dautan, Daniel; Rostron, Claire; Urcelay, Gonzalo P; Gerdjikov, Todor V

    2017-08-01

    Corticostriatal circuits are widely implicated in the top-down control of attention including inhibitory control and behavioural flexibility. However, recent neurophysiological evidence also suggests a role for thalamic inputs to striatum in behaviours related to salient, reward-paired cues. Here, we used designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs) to investigate the role of parafascicular (Pf) thalamic inputs to the dorsomedial striatum (DMS) using the five-choice serial reaction time task (5CSRTT) in rats. The 5CSRTT requires sustained attention in order to detect spatially and temporally distributed visual cues and provides measures of inhibitory control related to impulsivity (premature responses) and compulsivity (perseverative responses). Rats underwent bilateral Pf injections of the DREADD vector, AAV2-CaMKIIa-HA-hM4D(Gi)-IRES-mCitrine. The DREADD agonist, clozapine N-oxide (CNO; 1 μl bilateral; 3 μM) or vehicle, was injected into DMS 1 h before behavioural testing. Task parameters were manipulated to increase attention load or reduce stimulus predictability respectively. We found that inhibition of the Pf-DMS projection significantly increased perseverative responses when stimulus predictability was reduced but had no effect on premature responses or response accuracy, even under increased attentional load. Control experiments showed no effects on locomotor activity in an open field. These results complement previous lesion work in which the DMS and orbitofrontal cortex were similarly implicated in perseverative responses and suggest a specific role for thalamostriatal inputs in inhibitory control.

  19. Comparison and Validation of Long Time Serial Global GEOV1 and Regional Australian MODIS Fractional Vegetation Cover Products Over the Australian Continent

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanling Ding

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Fractional vegetation cover (FVC is one of the most critical parameters in monitoring vegetation status. Comprehensive assessment of the FVC products is critical for their improvement and use in land surface models. This study investigates the performances of two major long time serial FVC products: GEOV1 and Australian MODIS. The spatial and temporal consistencies of these products were compared during the 2000–2012 period over the main biome types across the Australian continent. Their accuracies were validated by 443 FVC in-situ measurements during the 2011–2012 period. Our results show that there are strong correlations between the GEOV1 and Australian MODIS FVC products over the main Australian continent while they exhibit large differences and uncertainties in the coastal regions covered by dense forests. GEOV1 and Australian MODIS describe similar seasonal variations over the main biome types with differences in magnitude, while Australian MODIS exhibit unstable temporal variations over grasslands and shifted seasonal variations over evergreen broadleaf forests. The GEOV1 and Australian MODIS products overestimate FVC values over the biome types with high vegetation density and underestimate FVC in sparsely vegetated areas and grasslands. Overall, the GEOV1 and Australian MODIS FVC products agree with in-situ FVC values with a RMSE around 0.10 over the Australian continent.

  20. A novel technique of serial biopsy in mouse brain tumour models.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sasha Rogers

    Full Text Available Biopsy is often used to investigate brain tumour-specific abnormalities so that treatments can be appropriately tailored. Dacomitinib (PF-00299804 is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI, which is predicted to only be effective in cancers where the targets of this drug (EGFR, ERBB2, ERBB4 are abnormally active. Here we describe a method by which serial biopsy can be used to validate response to dacomitinib treatment in vivo using a mouse glioblastoma model. In order to determine the feasibility of conducting serial brain biopsies in mouse models with minimal morbidity, and if successful, investigate whether this can facilitate evaluation of chemotherapeutic response, an orthotopic model of glioblastoma was used. Immunodeficient mice received cortical implants of the human glioblastoma cell line, U87MG, modified to express the constitutively-active EGFR mutant, EGFRvIII, GFP and luciferase. Tumour growth was monitored using bioluminescence imaging. Upon attainment of a moderate tumour size, free-hand biopsy was performed on a subgroup of animals. Animal monitoring using a neurological severity score (NSS showed that all mice survived the procedure with minimal perioperative morbidity and recovered to similar levels as controls over a period of five days. The technique was used to evaluate dacomitinib-mediated inhibition of EGFRvIII two hours after drug administration. We show that serial tissue samples can be obtained, that the samples retain histological features of the tumour, and are of sufficient quality to determine response to treatment. This approach represents a significant advance in murine brain surgery that may be applicable to other brain tumour models. Importantly, the methodology has the potential to accelerate the preclinical in vivo drug screening process.

  1. US stock market efficiency over weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly time scales

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodriguez, E.; Aguilar-Cornejo, M.; Femat, R.; Alvarez-Ramirez, J.

    2014-11-01

    In financial markets, the weak form of the efficient market hypothesis implies that price returns are serially uncorrelated sequences. In other words, prices should follow a random walk behavior. Recent developments in evolutionary economic theory (Lo, 2004) have tailored the concept of adaptive market hypothesis (AMH) by proposing that market efficiency is not an all-or-none concept, but rather market efficiency is a characteristic that varies continuously over time and across markets. Within the AMH framework, this work considers the Dow Jones Index Average (DJIA) for studying the deviations from the random walk behavior over time. It is found that the market efficiency also varies over different time scales, from weeks to years. The well-known detrended fluctuation analysis was used for the characterization of the serial correlations of the return sequences. The results from the empirical showed that interday and intraday returns are more serially correlated than overnight returns. Also, some insights in the presence of business cycles (e.g., Juglar and Kuznets) are provided in terms of time variations of the scaling exponent.

  2. Serial Contradictions. The Italian Debate on Tv Series

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniela Cardini

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available In the last decade the academic debate on television seriality has become lively and often quite animated, in the US as well as in Italy. The traditional hierarchic relation between cinema and television is clearly represented by the form of the most recent tv drama, whose boundaries are more and more difficult to locate. The main questions at stake seem to be the so-called “cinematic television” (Mills, 2013; Jaramillo, 2013, the umbrella definition of “quality tv” (McCabe and Akass, 2007 and its relation with the broadest concept of “complex tv” (Mittell, 2009, 2015. The essay will take into consideration these oxymorons, which are deeply rooted in the Italian tv series debate, with the aim of considering both their risks and their opportunities. A great variety of texts are grouped under the “tv series” label, but they are very different as far as content, production values and audience reactions are concerned. The academic discourse, however, only recently has tried to identify the differences between longstanding mainstream shows (such as, for instance, Grey’s Anatomy or CSI and some more recent, and supposedly “cinematic” series like True Detective or Fargo. Together with the analysis of the oxymoric nature of recent television seriality, the essay will explore the need to historicising what is proving to be one of the most dense and fruitful domains of recent television studies.

  3. Serial Head and Brain Imaging of 17 Fetuses With Confirmed Zika Virus Infection in Colombia, South America.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parra-Saavedra, Miguel; Reefhuis, Jennita; Piraquive, Juan Pablo; Gilboa, Suzanne M; Badell, Martina L; Moore, Cynthia A; Mercado, Marcela; Valencia, Diana; Jamieson, Denise J; Beltran, Mauricio; Sanz-Cortes, Magda; Rivera-Casas, Ana Maria; Yepez, Mayel; Parra, Guido; Ospina Martinez, Martha; Honein, Margaret A

    2017-07-01

    To evaluate fetal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging findings among a series of pregnant women with confirmed Zika virus infection to evaluate the signs of congenital Zika syndrome with respect to timing of infection. We conducted a retrospective case series of pregnant women referred to two perinatal clinics in Barranquilla and Ibagué, Colombia, who had findings consistent with congenital Zika syndrome and Zika virus infection confirmed in maternal, fetal, or neonatal samples. Serial ultrasound measurements, fetal magnetic resonance imaging results, laboratory results, and perinatal outcomes were evaluated. We describe 17 cases of confirmed prenatal maternal Zika virus infection with adverse fetal outcomes. Among the 14 symptomatic women, the median gestational age for maternal Zika virus symptoms was 10 weeks (range 7-14 weeks of gestation). The median time between Zika virus symptom onset and microcephaly (head circumference less than 3 standard deviations below the mean) was 18 weeks (range 15-24 weeks). The earliest fetal head circumference measurement consistent with microcephaly diagnosis was at 24 weeks of gestation. The earliest sign of congenital Zika syndrome was talipes equinovarus, which in two patients was noted first at 19 weeks of gestation. Common findings on fetal magnetic resonance imaging were microcephaly, ventriculomegaly, polymicrogyria, and calcifications. Our analysis suggests a period of at least 15 weeks between maternal Zika virus infection in pregnancy and development of microcephaly and highlights the importance of serial and detailed neuroimaging.

  4. Serial section scanning electron microscopy (S3EM) on silicon wafers for ultra-structural volume imaging of cells and tissues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horstmann, Heinz; Körber, Christoph; Sätzler, Kurt; Aydin, Daniel; Kuner, Thomas

    2012-01-01

    High resolution, three-dimensional (3D) representations of cellular ultrastructure are essential for structure function studies in all areas of cell biology. While limited subcellular volumes have been routinely examined using serial section transmission electron microscopy (ssTEM), complete ultrastructural reconstructions of large volumes, entire cells or even tissue are difficult to achieve using ssTEM. Here, we introduce a novel approach combining serial sectioning of tissue with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) using a conductive silicon wafer as a support. Ribbons containing hundreds of 35 nm thick sections can be generated and imaged on the wafer at a lateral pixel resolution of 3.7 nm by recording the backscattered electrons with the in-lens detector of the SEM. The resulting electron micrographs are qualitatively comparable to those obtained by conventional TEM. S(3)EM images of the same region of interest in consecutive sections can be used for 3D reconstructions of large structures. We demonstrate the potential of this approach by reconstructing a 31.7 µm(3) volume of a calyx of Held presynaptic terminal. The approach introduced here, Serial Section SEM (S(3)EM), for the first time provides the possibility to obtain 3D ultrastructure of large volumes with high resolution and to selectively and repetitively home in on structures of interest. S(3)EM accelerates process duration, is amenable to full automation and can be implemented with standard instrumentation.

  5. Serial section scanning electron microscopy (S3EM on silicon wafers for ultra-structural volume imaging of cells and tissues.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heinz Horstmann

    Full Text Available High resolution, three-dimensional (3D representations of cellular ultrastructure are essential for structure function studies in all areas of cell biology. While limited subcellular volumes have been routinely examined using serial section transmission electron microscopy (ssTEM, complete ultrastructural reconstructions of large volumes, entire cells or even tissue are difficult to achieve using ssTEM. Here, we introduce a novel approach combining serial sectioning of tissue with scanning electron microscopy (SEM using a conductive silicon wafer as a support. Ribbons containing hundreds of 35 nm thick sections can be generated and imaged on the wafer at a lateral pixel resolution of 3.7 nm by recording the backscattered electrons with the in-lens detector of the SEM. The resulting electron micrographs are qualitatively comparable to those obtained by conventional TEM. S(3EM images of the same region of interest in consecutive sections can be used for 3D reconstructions of large structures. We demonstrate the potential of this approach by reconstructing a 31.7 µm(3 volume of a calyx of Held presynaptic terminal. The approach introduced here, Serial Section SEM (S(3EM, for the first time provides the possibility to obtain 3D ultrastructure of large volumes with high resolution and to selectively and repetitively home in on structures of interest. S(3EM accelerates process duration, is amenable to full automation and can be implemented with standard instrumentation.

  6. Development of serial measurement system for three-dimensional stress determination by over-coring the strains on borehole wall

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Itamoto, Masaharu; Kuwabara, Kazumichi; Tanno, Takeo; Nakayama, Yoshiki; Mizuta, Yoshiaki

    2007-01-01

    In order to determine the three-dimensional stress state in serial order, the authors developed the serial measurement system for three-dimensional stress determination by over-coring the strains on the borehole wall. The serial stress measurements give the value of the stresses with high accuracy and bring the regional stress variations. In this paper, the authors describe the studies through FEM analysis on the effect of over-coring diameter, the influence of strain gauge length and the behavior of strain on the borehole wall, induced by biaxial external loading. We developed the multi-strain gauge mounted packer and examined it by measuring the strains on the borehole wall through biaxial loading test. The Laboratory tests showed its applicability to practical use. (author)

  7. The Paranormal: A Selected Bibliography of Serials and Reference Works, with Commentary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Charles H.

    1997-01-01

    Provides bibliography of references and serials to assist acquisitions librarians in selection of the paranormal. Topics include alchemy, astrology, magic, conjuring, witchcraft, paganism, demonology, satanism, voodooism, sorcery, cults, shamanism, UFOs, exobiology, curious physical and biological phenomena, ghosts, poltergeists, haunted places,…

  8. C-E1 fusion protein synthesized by rubella virus DI RNAs maintained during serial passage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tzeng, W.-P.; Frey, Teryl K.

    2006-01-01

    Rubella virus (RUB) replicons are derivatives of the RUB infectious cDNA clone that retain the nonstructural open reading frame (NS-ORF) that encodes the replicase proteins but not the structural protein ORF (SP-ORF) that encodes the virion proteins. RUB defective interfering (DI) RNAs contain deletions within the SP-ORF and thus resemble replicons. DI RNAs often retain the 5' end of the capsid protein (C) gene that has been shown to modulate virus-specific RNA synthesis. However, when replicons either with or without the C gene were passaged serially in the presence of wt RUB as a source of the virion proteins, it was found that neither replicon was maintained and DI RNAs were generated. The majority DI RNA species contained in-frame deletions in the SP-ORF leading to a fusion between the 5' end of the C gene and the 3' end of the E1 glycoprotein gene. DI infectious cDNA clones were constructed and transcripts from these DI infectious cDNA clones were maintained during serial passage with wt RUB. The C-E1 fusion protein encoded by the DI RNAs was synthesized and was required for maintenance of the DI RNA during serial passage. This is the first report of a functional novel gene product resulting from deletion during DI RNA generation. Thus far, the role of the C-E1 fusion protein in maintenance of DI RNAs during serial passage remained elusive as it was found that the fusion protein diminished rather than enhanced DI RNA synthesis and was not incorporated into virus particles

  9. Implementation of Bluetooth serial port based profiles in embedded systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Guanglei; Qiu, Zhengding; Wang, Quanping; Gao, Qiang

    2001-10-01

    Bluetooth is a new short-range wireless communication technology developing rapidly in recent years. Bluetooth software architecture consists of stack and profiles. Serial Port Profile (SPP) is an underlying profile that emulates RS232 serial cable connections between two peer devices. Based on SPP, Dial-up Networking (DUN) Profile establishes PPP connection with remote dial-up server, Fax Profile realizes document facsimile function and LAN Access Profile (LAP) provides local area network access service. When it comes to their implementation in embedded systems, there are several challenges such as memory consumption, code efficiency, code reliability, and code portability onto different OS and hardware platforms to be attacked. In this paper, we propose integrated software architecture after discussing the great similarities shared among the three SPP based profiles. Then implementation of the architecture is given, in which OS-dependent and OS-independent parts are clearly separated. Profile interfaces with stack and OS are specified respectively so that the three profiles as a whole can be ported onto various software and hardware platforms easily. As a result, policy of transplanting our implementation onto different platforms is addressed at the end of the paper.

  10. Serial sectioning methods for 3D investigations in materials science.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zankel, Armin; Wagner, Julian; Poelt, Peter

    2014-07-01

    A variety of methods for the investigation and 3D representation of the inner structure of materials has been developed. In this paper, techniques based on slice and view using scanning microscopy for imaging are presented and compared. Three different methods of serial sectioning combined with either scanning electron or scanning ion microscopy or atomic force microscopy (AFM) were placed under scrutiny: serial block-face scanning electron microscopy, which facilitates an ultramicrotome built into the chamber of a variable pressure scanning electron microscope; three-dimensional (3D) AFM, which combines an (cryo-) ultramicrotome with an atomic force microscope, and 3D FIB, which delivers results by slicing with a focused ion beam. These three methods complement one another in many respects, e.g., in the type of materials that can be investigated, the resolution that can be obtained and the information that can be extracted from 3D reconstructions. A detailed review is given about preparation, the slice and view process itself, and the limitations of the methods and possible artifacts. Applications for each technique are also provided. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Forgiveness and Suicidal Behavior: Cynicism and Psychache as Serial Mediators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dangel, Trever J; Webb, Jon R; Hirsch, Jameson K

    2018-02-17

    Research is burgeoning regarding the beneficial association of forgiveness with numerous health-related outcomes; however, its particular relationship to suicidal behavior has received relatively little attention. Both cynicism and psychache, or agonizing psychological pain, have displayed deleterious associations with suicidal behavior, but have rarely been incorporated into more comprehensive models of suicidal behavior. Consistent with the recent development of a theoretical model regarding the forgiveness-suicidal behavior association, the present study utilized an undergraduate sample of college students (N = 312) to test a mediation-based model of the cross-sectional association of forgiveness with suicidal behavior, as serially mediated by cynicism and psychache. Dispositional forgiveness of self and forgiveness of uncontrollable situations were each indirectly associated with less suicidal behavior via less psychache. Also, dispositional forgiveness of others was indirectly associated with less suicidal behavior via less cynicism and less psychache, in a serial fashion. The present results are consistent with the extent literature on the forgiveness-suicidal behavior association, cynicism, and psychache, and pending future studies, may be utilized to inform further treatment efforts for individuals at a high risk of attempting suicide.

  12. Energy information data base. Serial titles: Supplement 7, February 1978-December 1979

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1979-12-01

    This supplement contains changes and additions to TID-4579-R10 (the authority list for serial titles used by the DOE Technical Information Center), and is intended for use with that publication. Supplements are cumulative from February 1978 until another revision is issued

  13. Using GIS to reconcile crime scenes with those indicated by serial criminals

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Cooper, Antony K

    2001-12-01

    Full Text Available Sometimes, when serial criminals are caught, they admit to their crimes and are willing to point out crime scenes to the police. The South African Police Service (SAPS) then sends independent police officers with the suspect to document those...

  14. Lexical Access in L2 Speech Production: a controlled serial search task

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gicele Vergine Vieira

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available When it comes to lexical access in L2 speech production, working memory (WM seems to play a central role as for less automatized procedures require more WM capacity to be executed (Prebianca, 2007. With that in mind, this paper aims at claiming that bilingual lexical access qualifies as a controlled serial strategic search task susceptible to individual differences in WM capacity. Evidence in support of such claim is provided by the results of AUTHOR's (2010 study conducted so as to investigate the relationship between L2 lexical access, WMC and L2 proficiency. AUTHOR's (2010 findings indicate that bilingual lexical access entails underlying processes such as cue generation, set delimitation, serial search and monitoring, which to be carried out, require the allocation of attention. Attention is limited and, as a result, only higher spans were able to perform these underlying processes automatically.

  15. Native sulfur/chlorine SAD phasing for serial femtosecond crystallography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakane, Takanori; Song, Changyong; Suzuki, Mamoru; Nango, Eriko; Kobayashi, Jun; Masuda, Tetsuya; Inoue, Shigeyuki; Mizohata, Eiichi; Nakatsu, Toru; Tanaka, Tomoyuki; Tanaka, Rie; Shimamura, Tatsuro; Tono, Kensuke; Joti, Yasumasa; Kameshima, Takashi; Hatsui, Takaki; Yabashi, Makina; Nureki, Osamu; Iwata, So; Sugahara, Michihiro

    2015-12-01

    Serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) allows structures to be determined with minimal radiation damage. However, phasing native crystals in SFX is not very common. Here, the structure determination of native lysozyme from single-wavelength anomalous diffraction (SAD) by utilizing the anomalous signal of sulfur and chlorine at a wavelength of 1.77 Å is successfully demonstrated. This sulfur SAD method can be applied to a wide range of proteins, which will improve the determination of native crystal structures.

  16. Serial testing of refugees for latent tuberculosis using the QuantiFERON-gold in-tube: effects of an antecedent tuberculin skin test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Cristina A; Thomas, William; Stauffer, William M; Peterson, Phillip K; Tsukayama, Dean T

    2009-04-01

    Screening for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in refugee populations immigrating to low-incidence countries remains a challenge. We assessed the characteristics of the QuantiFERON-Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) compared with the tuberculin skin test (TST) in 198 refugees of all ages from tuberculosis-endemic countries. Diagnostic agreement between the first QFT-GIT and simultaneous TST was 78% (kappa = 0.56) and between serial QFT-GITs was 89% (kappa = 0.76). In serial QFT-GIT testing, 70% of subjects had an increased QFT-GIT value, perhaps the result of an antecedent TST in the setting of previous TB exposure. This boosting seemed to become less prevalent with time from TST and occurred less frequently in those with negative first QFT-GIT readings. Despite small changes in the quantitative results caused by nonspecific variation and boosting, the diagnostic result of the QFT-GIT was reliable. The QFT-GIT shows the potential to replace the TST for LTBI screening in refugees from tuberculosis-endemic areas.

  17. Preparation of HEC Serial Modules for Beam and Cold Tests at CERN in 2000

    CERN Multimedia

    Fischer, A.

    2001-01-01

    Photo 1 - Three mated HEC-1 modules in the clean room, prepared for beam tests. Photo 2 - Three mated HEC-1 modules in the clean room, prepared for beam tests. Photo 3 - Three mated HEC-2 modules in the clean room, prepared for beam tests. Photo 4 - Three mated HEC-2 modules in the clean room, prepared for beam tests. Photo 5 - Close-up of the inner-connecting bars of three mated HEC-2 modules, prepared for beam tests. Photo 6 - Mechanical acceptance tests for HEC serial modules at CERN. Photo 7 - Mechanical acceptance tests for HEC serial modules at CERN. Photo 8 - Four HEC-2 modules in the cryostat, prepared for cold tests.

  18. Developmental time windows for axon growth influence neuronal network topology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lim, Sol; Kaiser, Marcus

    2015-04-01

    Early brain connectivity development consists of multiple stages: birth of neurons, their migration and the subsequent growth of axons and dendrites. Each stage occurs within a certain period of time depending on types of neurons and cortical layers. Forming synapses between neurons either by growing axons starting at similar times for all neurons (much-overlapped time windows) or at different time points (less-overlapped) may affect the topological and spatial properties of neuronal networks. Here, we explore the extreme cases of axon formation during early development, either starting at the same time for all neurons (parallel, i.e., maximally overlapped time windows) or occurring for each neuron separately one neuron after another (serial, i.e., no overlaps in time windows). For both cases, the number of potential and established synapses remained comparable. Topological and spatial properties, however, differed: Neurons that started axon growth early on in serial growth achieved higher out-degrees, higher local efficiency and longer axon lengths while neurons demonstrated more homogeneous connectivity patterns for parallel growth. Second, connection probability decreased more rapidly with distance between neurons for parallel growth than for serial growth. Third, bidirectional connections were more numerous for parallel growth. Finally, we tested our predictions with C. elegans data. Together, this indicates that time windows for axon growth influence the topological and spatial properties of neuronal networks opening up the possibility to a posteriori estimate developmental mechanisms based on network properties of a developed network.

  19. Ficción y serial killer, cuando las mujeres recurren a la violencia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marina López Martínez

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available This article deals with the figure of the serial killer, a character whose extreme violence has constituted it as the maximum exponent of evilness in our cultural representations. My main interest is to see the treatment that some French police novel writers reserve to him: Brigitte Aubert, Maud Tabachnik, Fred Vargas and Virginie Despentes. The cinematographic adaptation of Despente’s Baise-moi (2000 is specially revealing: while the bloodthirsty murders of Hannibal Lecter or other masculine serial killers receive the approval of the great public and the critic in general, the crimes committed by the two heroins of Virginie Despentes have been put under the censorship. I try to demonstrate from this example that the use of violent women is still disturbing, a taboo after which remains old generic prejudices.

  20. Serial quantitative MR assessment of optic neuritis in a case of neuromyelitis optica, using gadolinium-'enhanced' STIR imaging

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barkhof, F.; Scheltens, P.; Valk, J. (Vrije Univ., Amsterdam (Netherlands). Dept. of Diagnostic Radiology); Waalewijn, C.; Uitdehaag, B.M.J.; Polman, C.H. (Vrije Univ., Amsterdam (Netherlands). Dept. of Neurology)

    1991-02-01

    A patient is presented with neuromyelitis optica. MR imaging, using a short inversion time inversion recovery (STIR) technique, clearly depicted the lesion in the left optic nerve. Subsequent serial STIR imaging, with and without Gadolinium-DTPA, allowed quantitative assessment of changes parallel to improved optic nerve function. STIR imaging is a sensitive technique to demonstrate optic nerve lesions, and enables quantitative assessment to be made of the effect of (steroid) medication. (orig.).